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Chris likes to think it didn't happen right away. That he didn't take one look at Darren in his Warbler uniform and fall in love, but if he's honest with himself it happened long before that. Chris Colfer has never hid the fact that he's a major geek. That anything to do with anything remotely nerdish doesn't have him jumping up and down like a high school cheerleader. So when he overheard Ryan talking about how they were considering bring in Darren Criss, Chris knew right away who they were talking about. He had spent hours online going over the youtube video's Darren had put out. Right down to his Harry Potter musical. That was probably the moment Chris fell for Darren.

Now almost a year later their friendship had moved from the awkward stage of getting to know each other into a real friendship that Chris could rely on. He knew if he had to he could call Darren in the middle of the night for any reason what so ever. And Darren in returned at spent many nights on the phone to Chris talking about some weird idea he had for a musical. In fact it was probably Darren's voice that got Chris interested in the first place. He loved just putting in his earphones and listening to whatever song Darren was willing to sing for his fans. It was easy to fall for Darren Criss because he made it so hard not to. But that didn't mean that Chris was that pathetic. He wasn't going to just fall for the straight guy like Kurt would. He had so much more respect for himself, so whenever Chris felt himself slipping into a Darren daydream, he focused on something else. He wrote scripts, he came up with ideas for TV shows. And when ask him how he found the time to do it all. He smiles to himself, because the only answer that enters his mind is that Darren Criss is hot.

Chris finds himself snuggled into a corner on the bus as they travel to their next stop on the tour. His lap top is perched on his knees, and his glasses hang low on the bridge of his nose. He's in the middle of his 'ignore whatever cute thing Darren is doing now' routine, which is actually helping him write a whole new idea he wants to pitch during his next meeting with Disney. The rest of the cast are spread around the seats of the bus, all talking amongst themselves, but it's Darren that's making the most noise. From what Chris can see from his little corner, Darren and Lea are in the middle of a heated debate over what Broadway musical is the best. From Lea's raised voice and animated hand gestures, Chris can tell that Darren is putting his point across forcefully. Not that Chris is going to look close enough to see. Looking at Darren will only lead to staring, and staring leads to thoughts, and Chris has no intentions of letting those thoughts creep into his mind. All of that works out well for Chris until Darren is up on his feet and calling out his name.

"Chris seriously, explains to this girl how modern musicals can't even compete with the classics."

"Chris tell him Wicked is every bit as good as anything Cole Porter could have came up with," Lea says as she marches over to stand beside Darren.

Chris is forced to abandon his script to look up at the two people now fighting for his attention. "What answer is going to get you both to leave me alone?"

"Remember we're sharing a room tonight," Darren pointed out. "I could make it a very long night for you."

Chris tries to ignore the giggling coming from the corner where the boys all sit together playing cards. "Your threats don't scare me, Mr. Criss."

"Yeah, you should be scared though Criss," Mark laughs from his corner. "I shared with him last year. The boys got a bad case of sleep wandering."

Chris keeps his eyes trained on Darren's face as Mark's words fill the tour bus. "You sleep walk?" Darren asks in mix of amusement and confusion.

"Not anymore," Chris answers. "I got over that little problem months ago."

"You did it last week when I stayed at your place," Amber points out. "Right into the bathroom door."

Another round of giggles comes from the boys and Chris is forced to drag his eyes away from Darren to look at them. "I know all of your secrets," he warns pointing at the boys. "And I'm running out of chat show stories. Do not make me start using you guys as material."

The corner gets unusually quiet causing Chris to turn back to his laptop.

"Dude?" Darren whines and Chris has to take a deep breath.

"Yes?"

"Tell her Cole Porter rules."

Chris looks up at the two people he's probably closest to on the bus. Both wearing the same pouty expression. "Wicked kicks ass."

"YES!" Lea giggles doing a little happy dance. "In your face."

"I can't believe you did that," Darren sighs shaking his head in disbelief. "We're supposed to be a team."

"My man knows his stuff," Lea giggles throwing herself down on the empty seat next to Chris.

"My man," Darren corrects causing Chris's heart to do a little leap. "Don't you forget who you're going home with tonight," he warns pointing a finger at Chris.

Chris can't do anything but roll his eyes and pretend to be bored by them all, before looking back down at his laptop. Darren is always doing things like that. Talking like they're really a couple. Chris knows he's joking, that he's only doing it to ease the tension of having to make out with another guy. Chris is thankful Darren can be so easy about it, but it doesn't stop him from feeling just a little bit sad at the idea of it being a joke. He knows Darren would never do anything to hurt his feelings, just like the rest of the cast wouldn't, but being the only gay cast member among them, is hard. It feels a lot like being back in high school again. He looks over to where Darren has now joined the guys. They all huddle together laughing and joking, and Chris knows if he went over there he wouldn't be able to join in. Sure they would make him welcome, but he wouldn't get any of their jokes. He never understands why Chord insists on doing so many impressions of sports people he doesn't know. Or how Mark and Cory have this need to brag about girls they're seeing. He couldn't go over to them and start talking about boys. Not that he's got anything to brag about, but if he did, the guys wouldn't want to know. That's why whenever they go somewhere, Chris always makes sure he's with the girls. Sure they can be just as confusing as the boys, but at least he doesn't feel intimated by them. He can listen to their problems, offer his advice, and maybe in return they'll talk about something he's interested in. But then they start talking about fashion or something so boring it sends him to sleep, and he finds himself slipping into some remote corner of the room and pulling out his lap top. Just like high school he finds himself in the corner writing and trying to pretend he's not interested in the cute boy.

Chris lets his eyes wander from the screen to Darren. He can't let himself be interested in the cute boy again. Chris already knows how that one ends.

Flashback Colvis East High School 2007

Sixteen-year-old Chris clutched his books closer to his chest as he made his way towards his next class. He would say it had probably been a good day so far with no one really paying attention to him. It was a depressing thought when Chris realized that a good day for him at school was when no one knew he was there. It's so unlike home where he gets all the attention he wants from his little sister Hannah. She will happily sit on the sofa smiling wide as he goes over Defining Gravity yet again, just in case he's allowed to sing it at the next talent show.

But in school he's classified one of the unimportant. His interests weren't the same as the rest of his year. He didn't care if the football team won yet another game, or if the head cheerleader really was dating that one kid that almost got expelled last year. None of that was important in Chris Colfer's life so he didn't pay any attention to it until it was thrown in his face.

His good day turned bad when he left math class behind and headed towards the lunch hall. He had just turned the corner to head to the stairs when he felt himself being shoved violently into the wall.

"Watch it, faggot."

He heard that word so often now that it didn't even register with him. He just held himself against the wall and waited for whoever it was to walk past him. There were times when he might have a witty comeback but at that moment he really wasn't prepared for it. It was halfway through the day and no one had even looked at him. He was sure he had gotten away with it this time.

"Problem faggot?"

Chris didn't realize he had been staring until he was called that name for the third time.

"I said is there a problem faggot?"

When he forced himself to out of his thoughts and back to the situation in front of him, he found himself staring at Anthony Smith, one of the many football players in the school. Anthony was probably one of the more aggressive bullies of the school. One who would happily use violence when the mood took him.

Chris took a step to the side hoping he could slip away from Anthony's reach and make it to the lunch hall without anything really bad happening to him, but the second he moved, Anthony moved too.

"Why are you such a faggot?"

Chris had no idea how to answer that so he just kept his mouth shut.

"You think you're so much better than the rest of us, don't you?" Anthony asked as he dug his index finger into Chris's chest. "You're nothing but a little fag, who no one likes."

Chris tries his best not to show how much Anthony's words affect him, but he can't help but flinch. "Leave me alone." It came out weak and so not what Chris really wanted to say. He wanted to be able to push himself away from the wall and stand up to Anthony properly. To tell him to back off before he knocks him on his ass, but he can't. That's just not how Chris is made.

"I'll leave you alone when I don't have to look at your ugly face again," Anthony smirked.

"Dude?"

Chris's head shot to the side at the sound of another voice filling the hall way. Mike Young stood a few feet away, his book bag hanging from his left hand as he watched at what was going on in front of him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm explaining to queer boy here that looking at him makes me sick," Anthony says in a casual tone like he's telling Mike the time.

"Dude," Mike repeated. "Is there a need for that?"

"The fag needs to know his place," Anthony answered.

Chris just stood there looking back and forth between the two jocks.

"The coach needs you in the gym… now," Mike pressed giving Anthony a push towards the direction of the gym.

Chris watched in slight confusion as Anthony did as he was told.

"You should stay out of his way," Mike remarked pulling Chris's attention back to him. "You shoudn't standing out so much."

Chris nodded slightly as Mike turned and followed Anthony down the hallway.

And that was the moment. The moment Chris first fell for the cute boy.

Life after that day became little more bearable for Chris in school. Now instead of looking at the ground when he walked down the hallway between classes, he held his head up high in hopes of seeing Mike again. They would walk past each other in the hall between Art and History, and on a good day Mike might look at him for a second. Just one glance and Chris would be happy for the rest of the day. And even the bullying didn't seem so bad after it. The pushing didn't hurt so bad, the names didn't sting as much. Life was pretty good for sixteen-year-old Chris Colfer.

End of flashback

Chris throws himself heavily down onto the hotel bed closet to the window and finally accepts that his body has had enough. Between the show that night and the after party Mark insisted on having, Chris is feeling like he's been up for days. He thinks about dragging himself towards the bathroom for a shower, but he's really not sure he would make it. He thinks of taking off his shoes, but even that feels too much like hard work. The only thing he can do without too much effort is roll onto his side and face the empty bed beside his own. The bed that will soon be filled when Darren decides he's had enough partying.

…

Chris's eyes are closed but he's still awake when the door of the hotel opens and closes quietly. He can hear Darren tip toeing around as he hums some unknown song, that Chris doesn't recognise. He fights hard not to open his eyes and see what Darren is doing, but it doesn't work. His eyes open slowly and he finds Darren directly in front of him fighting hard to unbuckle his belt. His chin is almost touching his chest as he tugs at the leather strap.

"Need a hand?"

The words are out of Chris's mouth before he can even think about it. Darren's head shoots up and he's wearing a silly smile.

"I didn't mean that," Chris stutters in a panic.

"That's the funniest thing you've said all day," Darren laughs before throwing himself down on the edge of Chris's bed.

"You just looked like you were struggling," Chris tries to explain.

"Drunk." One word sums up what Darren is feeling before he's attempting to kick off his shoes.

Chris sits up on the bed so that he's sitting directly behind Darren. "Party over?"

"The girls and Mark are still at it," Darren answers as he finally manages to get his shoe off. "Ha."

"You know we have a show tomorrow." Chris tries his best not to sound like a nagging wife, but when Darren manages to kick the other shoe off causing it to land on the bedside table, he can't help but let out a sigh.

"I'm going to kick ass tomorrow."

Chris can't argue with that. He just nods his head then watches in confusion as Darren crawls into the bed.

"This isn't your bed," Chris points out, but Darren's already pulling the cover over him and snuggling into Chris's pillow.

There is an uncomfortable silence in the room while Chris figures out what the hell he is going to do to get Darren out of his bed. He looks towards the empty bed before his eyes cast towards the door. There is no way he can sleep in that bed. He's never been able to sleep in the bed closest to the door in hotel rooms. It's one of his many weird things that makes him Chris.

"Darren, you're going to have to go to your own bed," Chris says giving the older boy a gently nudge.

"Prefer yours," Darren mumbles into his pillow in a sleep whisper. "Smells so good."

Chris's eyes land back on the empty bed as he gives it a suspicious look. "But Darren I need my sleep. Tomorrow's shows important. My friends and family are going to be there. Practically my whole town is coming."

That's all new information to Chris that his Mom only let slip the day before. Apparently the high school had put on a bus for anyone wanting to go and within a day they had to arrange for two more buses because of all the people buying tickets. It should fill Chris with joy to know that his home town is finally recognising him, but instead he can't think of anything but the bullies. He's sure none of them will turn up, and if they do he knows he's not the scared little boy he once was. And if all else fails, he'll hide behind Mark and Cory.

"Can't wait to meet your family," Darren says pulling Chris from his thoughts. "Hope they like me."

Chris wants to know what Darren would care if they do or not, but he doesn't say anything. He just keeps looking at Darren hoping that he will get the hint and move to his own bed. He doesn't though. Instead he rolls onto his side and snuggles against Chris's leg.

"You're drunk," Chris accuses in a tone that sounds so much more bitchy than he wanted it to.

Darren's eyes open sharply in surprise. "I'm sorry," he says in such a pathetic way, that all Chris wants to do is rub his head and tell him it's okay.

Instead he turns his head to the side and tries to avoid eye contact.

"I really am," Darren presses. "I know you don't like all this…" he pauses shaking his head.

"All this what?" Chris asks finally looking at him again.

"It's nothing," Darren answers. "I was going to say something stupid. Forget it."

"You were going to say you know I don't like all this boys stuff," Chris says with a knowing look. He can tell but the way Darren is now looking at him that he's right.

"I told you it was stupid," Darren answers. "It makes it sound like I don't think of you as one of the guys."

"You don't," Chris points out and Darren has to nod.

"You're right," he says closing his eyes. "I don't see you just as one of the guys."

"So what am I?" Chris asks before instantly regretting it when Darren opens his eyes to look up at him.

"You're Chris," Darren answers in a tone that makes Chris's heard miss a beat. "You're not just any guy to me."

Silence fills the hotel room again as both men stare at each other. Chris has so many things running through his head that he wants to say, but every time he opens his mouth he forgets how to speak. He's too caught up in the look Darren is now giving him. He's had the look from Darren before. That look that says he's about to do something dramatic, but before anything happens Darren's eyes change and he's back to the same old Darren.

"I want to meet your sister," Darren says finally breaking the silence. "She sounds so cool."

"She won't be there," Chris says ignoring the pounding in his chest. "She's too sick to be at concerts."

"But…" Darren frowns as he struggles to sit up. "I have a gift for her and everything."

"You bought my sister a gift?" Chris frowns. "She's fifteen, man."

"I'm not hitting on her," Darren groans as he crawls off of the bed and onto the floor.

Chris watches confused as Darren crawls over to his bag on his hands and knees before crawling back again with a box in his hand.

"You just… you talk about her so much, I feel like I know her personally," Darren explains as he hands Chris the box. "I bought her this."

"What is all of this?" Chris asks as he looks inside the box.

"You told me she was a Harry Potter fan," Darren shrugs. "Those were the glasses I worn during A Very Potter Musical. I thought she would like them. And I got her the whole set of Potter books too."

Darren looks inside the box only to find a bundle of CD's. "I think you forgot them."

"No," Darren shakes his head pulling out the Cd's. "You told me someone had to read to her. So I read them aloud… and recorded them…" Darren trails off as Chris watches him closely. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You recorded yourself reading all seven books?"

"What did I do wrong?" Darren asks frowning.

"No," Chris shakes his head. "This is… " he wants to cry. No one has ever done anything like this for him before. He can feel Darren's eyes on him so he looks up with tears in his eyes.

"Tell me what I did wrong," Darren pleads.

"This must have took you days to do this," Chris finally says causing Darren to let out the breath he was holding.

"Five weeks actually," Darren points out and Chis really wants to cry now. "I wanted to make sure they were perfect for her."

"She's going to love them," Chris remarks. "She's going to love you. Probably more than she loves me."

Darren's face softens when he finally realizes Chris isn't upset with him. "I just wish I could give her them myself. I really was looking forward to meeting her."

Chris looks back down at the glasses as he blinks back the tears. He can't think of a time when someone was so sweet to him before. Sure it was one thing being nice to Chris, but when someone goes out of their way to be nice to his sister it affects him more. He can remember so clearly all of the times when people went out of their way to be mean to her. Mean to him because of her. How the bullies would taunt him over his sister. Over something that she couldn't control.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Darren whispers and Chris realizes he's really crying now.

"It's silly," Chris answers wiping his tears away with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Its not silly if you're crying over it," Darren points out as he rests his hand on Chris's shoulder. "Tell me what's wrong. Did I do something?"

"You've done…" Chris shakes his head. "You've went out of your way to be nice to my sister," he finally answers. "You have no idea how much that means."

"We should visit her," Darren says before springing up onto his knees. "Tomorrow. Its only like an hour's drive to your town from here. We should totally go and visit her before the show."

"We can't do that."

"Why not?" Darren asks full of excitement.

Chris doesn't have a good enough answer so he just shrugs.

"We'll go first thing," Darren says as he grabs his phone. "I'll set the alarm."

"You're nuts," Chris points out.

"Then you can show me around the famous Clovis," Darren says ignoring Chris's comment. "This is so cool." Darren throws his cell back onto the nightstand before crawling back under Chris's covers again.

"This isn't your bed," Chris says weakly as Darren throws back the covers and motions for him to get it. "But…"

"It's either sharing or you sleeping in the bed next to the door," Darren smirks and Chris wants to smack him for knowing all of his weird little habits.

He doesn't though. Instead he does what Darren asks and crawls into the bed beside him, but not before making sure there is enough space between them.

"Don't be so weird," Darren laughs affectionately as he rolls to the middle of the bed. "You're acting like you haven't shared the bed with a man before."

Chris had to chew on his bottom lip before he reveals that it is actually the first time. Before he can answer Darren with a witty comeback he looks over to find Darren's eyes already closed.

…

Chris is woken with a loud bang and he's up on his feet before his eyes have opened. "What the hell?"

"Come on," Darren smiles already dressed. "I want to get to Clovis for breakfast."

"But…" Chris looks at the clock beside the bed. "Don't you get hangovers?"

"Hangovers?" Darren laughs. "Hell I'm still drunk.

"I am so not introducing you to my parents drunk," Chris points out as he struggles out of his t-shirt.

"Relax, I'll hang my head out of the window and be sober before we hit your town."

Chris grabs his bag from the bottom of the bed, pulling out a t-shirt and jeans, not really paying attention to what he's got. He's far too interested in what Darren is up to.

"Got the shower already started for you," Darren says.

"Are you sure about this?" Chris asks. "I mean, going to Clovis with me?"

"Why?" Darren asks. "Are you not?"

"No it's not that, it's just… why go to all of this trouble?" Chris has no idea why Darren would spend weeks recording himself reading Harry Potter, just for a girl he's never met.

"I guess I want her to like me," Darren shrugs and looks suddenly unsure of himself. He tugs on the bottom of his shirt and shifts from side to side under Chris's confused stare.

"Why do you care if she likes you or not?"

"She's your sister," Darren answers weakly. "I guess… I don't know," he finally admits with an exasperated sigh.

Chris doesn't push him anymore because he really has no clue what Darren is thinking. Instead he just excuses himself and disappears into the bathroom.

Chris has never really introduced his sister to any of the cast. Sure he talks about her a lot, and the cast probably feel like they know her personally, but when it comes to actually letting people meet Hannah, Chis is a little guarded. He knows deep down the cast would be nothing but sweet to his little sister, but he can't help but feel protective over her. It's something he's had to do for years now.

Flashback Clovis 2009

Chris didn't believe his parents actually let him borrow their car on the first day he past his test. Sure it was only to take Hannah for a milkshake, but it still felt like a big deal. He had picked her favorite diner on the edge of town, and she had quickly ordered herself a milkshake.

"We should drive to LA," Hannah remarked excitedly. "You could drive all the way to LA, right Christopher?"

"I think Dad might freak if we tried that," Chris laughed lightly. "Maybe we'll just settle for the milkshakes for now."

Hannah looked down at her milkshake and nodded slightly. "You're going to LA."

"Not right now," Chris remarked.

"Are you going and not coming back?" Hannah asked finally looking up at Chris.

"I'll always come back," Chris answered honestly. "No matter what."

"Even when you're a big star?"

"We're a team," Chris said reaching across the table to hold Hannah's hand. "I'm never going to be too far away from you."

Hannah happily accepted Chris's answered and went back to drinking her milkshake without another word about it. Chris on the other hand couldn't stop thinking about it. The future was always so unsure of. With Hannah being in and out of hospital all of her life, the Colfer's had pretty much taking each day as it came, but now Chris was weeks away from graduating life had to be thought about. He was sure he was going to be heading to LA for the summer. Maybe try out on some auditions and then head back to Clovis for the beginning of college. He hadn't actually thought what all that mean to Hannah. She wasn't going to get out of Clovis like Chris insisted he would. Her life would be with his parents. That made Chris's determination to succeed even more greater. He wasn't just making his dreams come true for himself but for his sister too. She would have a better life with him being an actor. He could make more people aware of what Hannah was suffering from. Maybe even finally find that one thing that would make Hannah's life better.

Chris was pulled out of his thoughts by Hannah's voice.

"I'm his sister," she said with such announce in her voice Chris is forced to look in the direction she is facing. There in the booth across from theirs is Anthony and a few of his jock friends. Mike is standing off to the side, but all of Chris's focus is now on Anthony and whatever he is saying to his sister.

"Then when are you holding his hand?"

Chris felt Hannah's hand instantly slip out of his own as he pulled his close to his chest. Hannah's eyes looked at him stunned and he couldn't help but see the hurt that was there.

"Are they your friends?" Hannah asked softly.

"His friends?" Anthony laughed and everyone copied him. "Like faggot boy has friends."

Chris could feel his cheeks beginning to burn as his sister looked at him. She had no idea what that word meant. She was only thirteen and had no idea what that word meant. She had no idea what Chris was, he had never felt the need to explain it to her. His parent's didn't even know, and Hannah really didn't need to know. He was just Christopher to her. Labels weren't important in Hannah's eyes.

"I'm his friend," Hannah announced causing everything at the booth to laugh even harder.

Chris knew he would have to say something. He couldn't let them just laugh at his sister. She wasn't used to so much hatred being directed at her.

"Look, why don't you back off," Chris said causing the laughter to stop and the full table of jocks to look at him. "She's not done anything to you."

"Is the fag talking back to me?" Anthony asked looking around at the other jocks.

Chris felt his heart sink as he looked over at Mike. Even he was laughing. The one person in the school that Chris thought might actually be the good guy was laughing at his little sister like the rest of them. That was the moment Chris realized guy good just didn't exist.

End of Flashback 2009

Chris feels his heart beat pick up as they pass the sign welcoming them into Clovis. They're about five minutes away from his parent's front door and he hasn't even called them to tell them he was coming.

"Will you stop that," Darren says sending him a look. "You're thinking too much to be driving."

"Look, when we get there…" Chris really doesn't know how to explain all of his thoughts to Darren. He knows Darren isn't like the jocks in his old school, but he just doesn't want anything bad to happen to Hannah. "You should just know that Hannah goes through a lot in her life."

"I know," Darren says softly. "You told me all about her."

"She doesn't see the world like we do," Chris continues. "Her life is pretty simple. She likes everybody and expects everybody to like her back."

"I'm going to like your sister," Darren remarks.

Chris nods his head and looks down at the box of gifts Darren has been clutching since he climbed into the car. "I know," he says softly. "I'm just… I know." Chris turns back to the road and breaths out. "Here we are."

"Nice," Darren smiles as he looks at the house in front of him. "Your Dad?" he asks pointing to the man standing at the front door.

"That's him," Chris answers taking off his seat belt.

"How did he know we were coming?"

"Someone in town probably saw my car and called him," Chris shrugs.

"When you said this was a small town, you really weren't joking, were you?"

"Come on," Chris breaths out trying to make out that he's perfectly calm about the fact that Darren is about to meet his whole family for the first time.

Chris's Dad is already in the drive with his arms open wide as Chris climbs out of the car to hug him. "Mrs. Becker from the butchers called us and told us she saw you passing."

"Hey Dad," Chris smiles into his father's shoulder. "Darren wanted to see the town."

"Darren doesn't get out much," Mr. Colfer jokes lightly before outstretching his hand for Darren to take.

"It's really a pleasure to meet you," Darren says causing Chris to look at him. If he didn't know any better he would swear that Darren was nervous.

"Mom's already making breakfast," Mr. Colfer says taking Darren by the shoulder and leading him into the house causing Chris to follow behind. "You're not one of those weird Hollywood kids that doesn't eat, are you?"

"No sir," Darren smiles and Chris can finally see his shoulder begin to lower as he relaxes into his Dad's hand. "I'll eat anything."

"Then you're in the right home," Mr. Colfer smiles.

Chris enters the kitchen last and he's instantly hit by Hannah throwing herself against his back. "You came back," she says with so much excitement Chris is sure his parents are going to spend the rest of the day trying to coax her back down to normal.

"Don't I always come back?" Chris asks. It's the same routine they have every time he comes back from LA. He learned a long time ago to never call LA home when he's around Hannah. In her fifteen-year-old mind Chris's home is wherever she is.

"And he brought a friend," Mr. Colfer points out causing Hannah to glance over at her Dad where he stands still with his hand on Darren's shoulder.

Hannah's whole face changes from happiness sheer excitment as she looks across the kitchen at Darren.

"Hi Hannah," Darren says, waving his hand and looking so at home in Chris's kitchen it actually makes Chris's heart ache.

"Say hi, Hannah," Mr. Colfer presses.

"Hi Blaine," Hannah blurts out causing Darren's whole face to light up.

"It's Darren," Chris says as his parents laugh quietly. "Just like I'm not Kurt," he adds.

"And Mark isn't Puck," Hannah says with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Yeah, I've heard this before."

Darren's smile grows stronger as he takes a cautious step towards where Hannah and Chris are standing. "I brought you something."

"That's really the reason we're here," Chris explains to his parents. "Darren thought Hannah was going to be at the show tonight."

Both Chris's parents watch with a smile on their faces as Hannah begins pulling out the contents of the box.

"Chris told me you like Harry potter," Darren explains. "Those were the glasses I worn when I did my musical. I don't know if Chris told you, but I was it…"

"Harry Potter musical," Hannah says before Darren can explain anymore. "Christopher and I watch it all of the time."

Chris ducks his head and hopes Darren doesn't see the blush forming on his too pale cheeks.

"And those are all of the books on cd," Darren says as Hannah pulls out the bundle of cds.

"Darren has been recording himself reading them," Chris explains to his parents, who simple nod and continue to watch their daughter and Darren interact.

…..

"You have not seen Mulan over a hundred times." Darren slaps his knees with his hands as he laughs loudly.

"I so have," Hannah says laughing just as loud. "I've seen Toy Story over two hundred."

"Now I know you're lying," Darren laughs.

Chris sits on the chair opposite the sofa and watches as his on screen boyfriend and his little sister act like he's not even in the room. They have been going on about Disney movies for over an hour, and Chris can't help but realize that Hannah hasn't looking unwell once. She's too busy hanging on Darren's every word, and if Chris didn't know any better he would think that Darren was actually enjoying himself.

"Christopher honey?"

Chris looks up to find his Mom standing in the doorway. "Yeah?"

"Can your father and I have a word with you in the kitchen for a moment?"

Chris looks back to Darren who's already waving his hand and him and telling him they'll be fine without him.

Chris walks into the kitchen to find both his parents already sitting side by side at the kitchen table and his chair already pulled out for him. "What did I do?"

"lots of things probably," Mr. Colfer smiles, "but you've always been too smart to get caught."

"Your father and I just wanted to say how pleased we are."

"Okay," Chris says unsure as he looks between his parents. "I'm happy your happy."

"We're talking about Darren, honey," Chris's Mom explains gently and just at that moment Hannah's loud laugh fills the kitchen. "She's been raving about him for weeks."

"I think she's got a little crush," Mr. Colfer jokes.

Chris can't help but feel a little uneasy to learn that he and his sister seem to have the same taste in men.

"We're so happy for you too," Chris's Mom remarks, reaching across the table for Chris's hand. "You have no idea how long we've waited for this day."

Now Chris is confused as he looks at both his parents smiling faces. "Yeah, what's going on here?"

"Your Mom and I just want you to know how happy we are that you've finally found someone."

"Now it all makes sense," Chris's Mom adds. "You've been talking about this boy for months now."

"So how long have you been dating?"

"What.. Dad no," Chris sighs. "Darren and I aren't dating." Chris can't believe he's having this conversation when his parents now. For almost ten years since he realized he was gay, he's never felt the need to talk to his parents about it. He didn't even come out to them. They watched the Chelsea Lately interview and figured the rest out for themselves. Now they're sitting in front of him all smiles and ready for the big talk, and all Chris wants to do is run.

"You're not dating him?" Chris's Mom's hand slips from his.

"He's straight," Chris explains and his Mom laughs.

"That boy is not straight."

"Mom," Chris gasps.

"She's right," Mr. Colfer shrugs. "The boy's got gay written all over him. He makes Kurt look straight."

Chris can't actually believe he's having this conversation in his parent's kitchen. He can't believe how cool they're trying to look about it all.

"Please don't try and be all cool about this," Chris pleads. "You don't have to be cool about it."

"Well I'm not cool now," Chris's Mom almost pouts. "I thought my son was bringing home a cute boyfriend. I've already called Carol to brag about it."

"Who are you people?" Chris asks.

For years his sexuality has been an none talked about issue at home, and now they're sitting around the kitchen table talking about it like its normal.

"We know you're gay," Mr. Colfer finally says and Chris takes a moment to realize his world didn't end.

"We knew before you did," his Mom adds before smirking at him.

"Seriously, who are you people and where are my real parents?"

"You're so uptight," Mr. Colfer complains.

"I… Chris pauses at the sound of Darren's voice calling his name.

….

There's a rush of panic as Chris and his parents all fight to get into the living room first. He knows by the sound of Darren's voice calling his name what's happened, but when he gets into the living room after his Mom, he's not seeing what he thought he would. Usually when Hannah takes unwell around new people it's loud with the person panicking, but when Chris stops at the sofa he doesn't see Darren in any kind of panic. He's already lay Hannah down on the floor on her side and is the middle of pushing the furniture out of her way. Chris's parents are on the floor by their daughter's side but she's already coming around.

"How did you…"

"When you told me about Hannah, I sort of googled some things," Darren answers Chris's question before he even has time to ask it. "Just in case anything happened when I met her."

Chris doesn't know what to say. He just stands behind the sofa and watches as Darren helps his Dad put Hannah back onto the sofa again.

….

Chris can hear the crowd screaming from the boys dressing room as he steps out of the bathroom and into the main room. The boys are all crowded around the TV playing video games except for Darren, who's huddled into the corner of the sofa with his laptop on his knee. Chris can see from way over in the other side of the room that he's talking to someone on a webcam.

"Who's he talking to this time?" Chris asks looking towards all of the boys.

"Some girl," Cory finally answers after a few seconds of Chris waiting. "He's been sitting over there giggling with her for the last forty minutes."

Chris thinks about leaving Darren to it, but his nose is bothering him and he needs to know who can make Darren actually sit down for a full forty minutes. He's about half way across the room before he hears his sister's voice coming from the laptop.

"Hannah?"

"There you are," Darren smiles warmly before patting the sofa beside him. "Hannah was just telling me about the time you guys went to Disneyland. You threw up on Big Thunder Mountain?"

"Hannah," Chris scolds as he sits down next to Darren to look at the webcam.

"Darren doesn't care if you puked," Hannah giggles and Chris can't help but smile at her. It's rare to see his sister looking so free and happy. When it happens he feels like he should pause and capture it. Save if for a time when she's not so good. Like when it's four in the morning and she's been rushed into hospital after a bad turn. He likes to sit by her bed and remember the times when she smiles. It's so much more better that seeing her suffer.

When he looks away from the webcam he finds Darren looking at him with a warm smile on his face. "What?"

"I think it's sweet," Darren whispers so that Hannah doesn't hear. "You're both so sweet."

"Can I talk to you outside for a minute?" Chris asks and Darren nods.

Chris quickly tells Hannah to wait before following Darren into the hallway. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You wanted to talk," Darren answers confused.

"Why are you so interested in my sister?"

"Wow.. I was just…" Darren holds his hands up as Chris steps towards him.

"Look if you're just doing this to make yourself feel better about something then don't bother. My sister doesn't need your pity."

"I don't pity her," Darren frowns. "I just wanted to get to know her."

"Why?"

Darren shifts uncomfortable from one foot to the next. "I don't know. I just… I thought getting to know her would please you."

"And why do you want to please me?"

Darren doesn't have an answer. He just looks at Chris with a hurt expression and Chris only stares at him a few seconds before he can't take it anymore. "Look, I know you're a nice guy, but that's my sister."

"You really can't think I was hitting on her," Darren frowns. "She's fifteen."

"I'm going to go say goodbye to her," Chris breaths out leaving Darren alone in the hallway.

….

Chris has only closed the door to his hotel room when he gets a message from his Mom telling him Hannah wants to see him on webcam. He quickly changes into something more comfortable before throwing himself down on the bed and loading up his laptop. Hannah's eye is the first thing he sees when he turns on the webcam.

"Back up a little," he laughs as Hannah's whole face comes into view. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"You were so good tonight," Hannah smiles. "Not as good as Darren, but you were really good."

"What are you talking about?" He couldn't actually believe the fans had gotten video's up online that fast. The concert had only ended two hours ago.

Chris's Mom comes in to view as she sits down beside Hannah. "Darren asked Ryan if he could hook up his laptop with the camera's so that Hannah could see everything that was happening on the big screen."

"I saw Darren doing his funny dance," Hannah says with excitement in her voice.

Chris can't help but blink away a few tears forming in his eyes as his sister continues to tell him all of her favorite parts of the show.

"He's so nice."

Chris looks back at the screen to see his Mom nodding in agreement to what Hannah just said. "He's been so sweet to her all day, Christopher. He's even arranged it so that we can watch all of your shows on the webcam."

"He's a good guy," Hannah remarks. "You were wrong you know."

Chris nods his head as he remembers exactly what Hannah is talking about.

Flashback Clovis 2009

"But why are they mean?" Hannah asked as Chris takes her by the hand across the parking lot towards his parent's car.

"People are just mean," Chris answered not looking at Hannah.

"Not you," Hannah said. "Or Mom and Dad."

"That boy is," Chris said taking his keys out of his pocket. "He's not a good guy." He looked up to see Mike walking out of the diner. "There is no such thing as a good guy,"

End of Flashback Clovis 2009

Chris looks up from the webcam as the hotel door opens and Darren walks in looking cautiously towards him. "Yeah I was wrong," Chris says looking back down at Hannah and his Mom. "I guess good guys do exist."

…..

Chris waits until Darren has showered and climbed into his own bed before he works up the courage to say something. He's practiced this little speech in his mind for months now, but when he opens his mouth the words just fall out.

"You I like."

Darren looks up from his phone with a surprised look on his face and Chris just wants the ground to swallow him up. "Yoda?"

"Nothing," Chris says turning on his side away from Darren.

It's a few seconds of silence before he feels the bed dip beside him. "You too I like."

Chris can hear that teasing of Darren's voice. "Forget it."

"I know you like me," Darren says sounding so serious Chris as to roll over and look at him. "I just can't believe that you don't know I like you."

"You can't like me."

"You can't say I can't like you," Darren shrugs and Chris is left confused.

"What?"

"I can like who I want," Darren explains. "And I like you."

"You don't know what you're saying." Chris rolls back over until he can't see Darren's face any more. "You don't understand."

Chris feels the bed dip even more before Darren's hand comes to rest on his hip. He can feel Darren's breath on the back of his neck as he begins to talk.

"I spent the last five weeks reading aloud three thousand eight hundred and thirty pages of Harry Potter." Darren's hand moves up from Chris's hip to the side of his stomach. "Before that I searched my whole apartment plus my parent's house, before finding those glasses in my car."

Chris can feel Darren's whole body pressed against his back down as Darren's hand moves up slightly to rest over his chest. "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know."

"Why did I sit up all night trying to bid on those tickets for us to go see Mickey on ice?" Darren asks. "Or why do I go forty minutes out of my drive to work every morning just to pick you up breakfast from that place you like?"

"You told me you got that from the place on the corner of your street."

"I lied," Darren admits. "Just like I lied about getting that t-shirt and realizing it was too small for me so I gave it to you. I didn't realize it was too small. I bought it small, because I bought it for you. I saw it hanging there in the store, and I just wanted to see you wearing it."

Chris is frozen on the bed with Darren's hand pressed against his chest as both his knees are pressing against his thighs. He really can't believe what he's hearing from Darren. He doesn't know if it's a confession of feelings or if he's really just hearing what he wants to hear. What he's wanted to hear for a long time.

"You're hearts beating really fast," Darren comments against his ear. "Chis look at me." Chris does as he's told and turns his head to the side. "I needed Hannah to like me because I'm in desperate need of you to like me."

"I don't understand."

Darren seems to think of a few seconds before reaching down at pressing his lips softly against Chris's. Chris without thinking brings his hand up to wrap it around the back of Darren's head pulling him closer.

Darren makes a mmm sound with his lips before pulling away. "I so wish I was as cool as Blaine would be at this moment in time."

"You're doing okay."

"He would know what to say to you," Darren confessed. "He would tell you how much you mean to him and how you move him. He would get it so right, but when I look at you, all I can do is give you a goofy grin and pray you know what I mean."

"I have one question," Chris says wiping his bottom lip with his thumb.

"Anything."

"Are you gay?"

Darren lets out a loud sigh before taking Chris's hand in his own. "I'm not brave like you are."

"What does that mean?"

"You came out right at the start," Darren explained. "Without caring what anyone thought of you. You've always been brave, but… I've never found the strength for that."

"Are you saying you're in the closet?" Chris asks cautiously as he looked down at their clasped hands.

"I've known I was gay for a long time," Darren confesses. "I've just never wanted to disappoint anyone."

Chris nods knowingly. "You shouldn't worry about what other people think. People will surprise you."

"Maybe one day I can be brave," Darren says.

"But for now?"

Darren thinks for a moment before taking hold of Chris's other hand. "For now I'll stand back and watch how brave you are."

"And what does this mean?" Chris asks nodding down at their clasped hands.

"Hannah says I have to be a good guy for you," Darren answers. "Apparently you've not met many of them."

"You told my sister you were gay?"

"The first person ever." Darren gives Chris a shy smile. "She told me she would help me though. She told me she helped you a lot before you came out."

"I didn't even know she knew I was gay," Chris frowns.

"Your sister knows a lot more than you think," Darren smirks. "She told me the next time you bring me home, we better be dating."

"You want to go back home with me?"

"I have to," Darren smiles. "She invited me to her sweet sixteen. Apparently I have to sing."

Chris feels like he's in a dream as Darren reaches down to press another kiss on his lips. "You're not going to disappoint your little sister are you?"

"You're really playing dirty," Chris warns.

"I promised her I would make you my boyfriend before the end of the night," Darren admits. "She's expecting a phone call first thing. What am I going to tell her?"

Chris thinks for a moment with a soft smile on his face before he gives Darren his answer. "You better tell her you've got a boyfriend now."

"I think she'll approve of that," Darren smiles before moving in to capture Chris's lips again.

The End…