gleeverse fic challenge!

Title: Living on a Latte and a Prayer
Rating: PG-13 for light language
Wordcount: 6,460 (YES, I WENT OVERBOARD. AGAIN.)
Pairings/Characters: Darren Criss/Chris Colfer, Ashley Fink, Lea Michele, Naya Rivera
Spoilers: YOU CAN'T SPOIL REAL LIFE, HOMIE.
Summary: Chris has never had a boyfriend or friends at all, for that matter. But when he happens to meet Darren in Starbucks, his entire life turns upside down.
Warnings: Yes, this is RPF. Yes, I know it's not everyone's thing. BUT it's AU in which Chris and Darren are not famous and have never met before, so maybe it won't squick out non-RPF fans. I feel like this has become my fic baby, so please be nice to it.



"Darren?" The barista holds up the drink, some sort of frappucino with whipped cream on top, and Chris eyes it critically, wondering why on earth someone would order a cold drink on a cold, rainy day like this. He rubs his hands together, trying to warm them as he waits for his own chai latte, when he sees the person who ordered the drink walking toward him.

He's the most beautiful man Chris has ever seen in his entire life.

His hair is long, longer than what Chris is usually attracted to, but it frames his face beautifully and he has these amazing curls that Chris kind of just wants to run his fingers through. He's wearing a tight blue Michigan shirt underneath a thin jacket, a pair of skinny jeans that are just as tight as his own -- which, as he steps forward to take his order, Chris can't help but notice accentuates his absolutely perfect backside -- and he's got a pair of pink sunglasses on top of his head, which Chris finds incredibly endearing. He can hear this guy, this Darren, thanking the barista and his voice is low and it sounds genuine and he turns to leave and crashes right into Chris.

"Oh hey, I'm sorry!" he says, his eyes widening in surprise, and Chris hates that they're the most gorgeous golden eyes he's ever seen. Is there anything about this guy that isn't perfect? "Didn't mean to bump into you, dude. You okay?"

Chris is decidedly very not okay, but not for the reasons Darren is concerned about, and he nods quickly, not wanting to open his mouth and say something stupid. His own eyes are wide and he realizes he must look like the world's biggest loser, and he wants to melt into the floor, his cheeks red.

"Good," Darren says slowly, eying him like he's crazy. "Good. I don't generally make a habit out of running into people in Starbucks, but when I do, it's always better when I don't hurt them."

"Nope, not hurt!" Chris manages to squeak out and oh god, his voice is even more high pitched than normal, and he watches Darren's eyebrows fly up a little into that curly mane that he's already in love with, and this has to be the absolute most mortifying moment of his entire life. "Seriously, I'm fine," he says, his voice quieter, lower, trying to minimize the damage. "Really."

"Chris?" Saved by the barista.

"That's me," he says and he makes some weird hand gesture toward the barista as he laughs nervously and stumbles toward the counter. "But I'm fine and sorry for ... you know, being there for you to bump into. Or whatever."

Darren is laughing as he raises a hand to wave goodbye. "No need to be sorry, Chris. Have a good day!" He's walking out the door then and Chris wants to run after him, to jump on top of him, to spend his life with him. It's not until he's taking his drink from the girl, who looks incredibly amused, that he realizes Darren called him by his name. How did he know his name? His eyebrows furrow together in confusion.

"I called your name," the barista supplies helpfully. His confused gaze fixes on her. "That's how he knew what it was. I would've been flustered too. He is gorgeous, isn't he?"

Chris kind of wants to kill her.

---

He feels incredibly stupid sitting in the same Starbucks a week later, the same time, just hoping to get a glimpse of Darren again. Darren with his stupid curly hair and his stupid golden eyes.

"He comes in at four," the barista, whose nametag reads Ashley, says with a knowing smile. Instead of playing dumb, which he knows he's no good at, he crosses the room and leans close to her, not wanting anyone to hear their conversation, even though he's only one of three people there.

"Do you know him?" His voice is soft, and she leans in too, her elbows on the counter.

"All I know is his name is Darren, he always comes in at four and orders a java chip frappucino," she says, and she thinks. "Sometimes he's got a guitar with him. Sometimes he stays and sits for awhile too, but usually he's in and out. He's so nice though, he's always putting his change in the tip jar and giving the entire staff compliments. He's like, the perfect customer."

"He's like, the perfect everything," Chris corrects her, and she laughs.

"Yeah, he's definitely a hottie. I haven't figured out what team he plays for yet," she sighs, then shrugs. "If it's mine, then I've got dibs. And if it's yours, then I'm hooking you two up."

Last week, he wanted to kill this girl. This week, he kind of wants to kiss her.

As soon as his phone changes to four, he sees the door open and like clockwork, Darren's walking into the store, a bag slung across his body. He's got the pink sunglasses covering his eyes this time, and he's wearing a Michigan hoodie instead of shirt, grinning as he walks up to the counter and orders. Ashley meets Chris's eyes, raising her eyebrow, but he looks away and busies himself with his phone. After waiting all this time to see Darren again, he doesn't know what to do with himself.

"Chris?" The voice is deep and so unmistakably Darren and Chris jumps, looking up, his eyes wide. Was this a dream? Or did this gorgeous, perfect man really remember him?

"Oh, hi," he says, trying to play it cool. He watches as Darren takes the sunglasses off, pushing them up on top of his head, trapping some of his curls and making Chris want to giggle at how cute he looks. "You're the guy who bumped into me last week, right?" As if he hadn't been thinking of him every waking moment. And even in his dreams too. "How did you remember my name?" He blurts it out before he can stop himself, his cheeks tinting a light pink color.

"It's my last name," he says with a smile. "It stuck with me."

"Your last name is Chris?"

"C-r-i-s-s, but yeah, it's pronounced the same way and all. I'm Darren, by the way." He sticks out his hand and Chris takes it, feeling callouses and rough skin and definite man hands. He likes it. "This is probably a better way to introduce myself than crashing into you, right?" He laughs and it sounds like music.

Chris laughs too and shrugs a little. "Probably. A handshake is less memorable though. I definitely remember the dude who bumped into me." Dude is a word he never uses and it slips uncomfortably off his tongue, but it's better than what he wants to say. 'I definitely remember the hot guy who bumped into me. Like I could forget HIM.'

"So do you hang out here a lot?" Darren asks, as if he's genuinely interested in what Chris does, and he feels vaguely like he might faint. He shrugs and gives a little non-committal hand wave.

"Yeah, sometimes," he says, trying to be nonchalant. "Is this your Starbucks of choice too?"

"It's closest to my apartment," he confesses, running his fingers through his hair. "Caffeine fix and all, y'know. I'm unfortunately an addict." He laughs, shrugging as if to say 'What can you do though?' Chris hangs onto each little piece of information he gets, wondering where exactly Darren's apartment is, though he firmly tells himself that he's not going to go looking. That just crosses way too many lines into stalkerdom. "It works for me though. I'm usually up half the night working on my music, so it's nice to have the extra buzz. Sleep and I aren't exactly friends."

"You're a musician?" Chris is immediately intrigued. He sings sometimes on his own time and he was in a few musicals in high school, but he can't imagine writing his own songs.

"Sort of," Darren laughs. "I went to school for theatre, but I love writing and performing for people. I don't have too many gigs, so I couldn't call it a career or anything. But it's my passion." He shakes his head, running his fingers through a few stray curls. "Sorry, I'm probably boring the shit out of you."

"You're not," Chris breathes. He is utterly enchanted with this man, and he wants to digest every last detail that he can. "What kind of music do you write?"

"I like to call it 'soul-folk'," he explains, and his lips turn up into a beautiful smile. "Just me and my guitar, y'know. Real easygoing stuff. I don't really know if any of it's that great, but I hope other people like it, at least."

"I'd love to hear it sometime," Chris hears himself saying, and he doesn't know what's happening. Talking to people is not his strong suit. Being awkward is, and yet he hasn't been awkward once in this conversation. Something about Darren makes him feel at ease, and his heart gives a little leap. "You know, if you have a gig or something."

"Yeah, for sure!" He practically bounces, his grin wide and just beautiful. "I'll definitely let you know when I'm having one. So what do you do, man of mystery? I feel like you know so much about me and I barely even know you."

"There's not that much to know," Chris says softly, his cheeks still flushed pink. "I guess you could call me a writer. I've done some screenplays, and I'm working on a novel that's--"

"Holy shit, dude," Darren says, his eyes wide. "That's fucking awesome. Are you serious? How can you say there's not that much to know?" He's looking at Chris in a way that no one has ever looked at him before, and it makes him feel almost uncomfortable with the intensity of it.

"Hey, Dare," he hears Ashley call, and they both turn to see her holding his drink up. Chris takes the opportunity to breathe, to let his cheeks cool down and maybe let his heart even out into a regular pattern. "You're not allowed to look at the cup until you leave, deal?" His eyes light up and he nods eagerly.

"This is like something out of a movie, isn't it," he says, and it's a statement instead of a question, which makes Chris's lips quirk up. "Like an adventure. Hey, you'll be around again, won't you?" He grins at Chris. "Since we both hang here and all. I would love to just stay and talk with you, but." He points at Ashley, unable to hide the eager puppy look that has taken over his face. "I've got to read the cup. The curiosity is killing me."

"You're not allowed back in here today," she tells him as she passes him the frappucino. "It's an answer for another day. Have a good one, Darren." He's running out the door and Chris flies up to the counter, practically jumping over it.

"What did you write on it?"

"It said 'Whose team: mine or his?'" Chris can feel his blood run cold.

"No, it did not. You're making that up." She laughs, throwing her head back, and his heart is beating even crazier, and he doesn't even know this girl but he prays she's just a really big practical joker. Even his high from actually talking to Darren doesn't make him feel better about this.

"Why would I ever make that up? We want to know the answer, don't we?" Nearly his entire life, Chris has tried to hide the fact that he's gay as best as he can, even though his sexual orientation seems to ooze through his pores. Paired with his feminine voice, high school wasn't his favorite place in the world, the bullies still haunting his dreams occasionally, and even though now he's out, sometimes it's hard for him to stop from slipping into that familiar hiding spot in the closet, especially when it comes to attractive men. Chris is 21 years old and has kissed approximately no one outside of his family. He simply doesn't know what to do with himself when it comes to men.

"I kind of hate you," he mumbles.

"You mean you kind of love me."

---

The next day, Chris shows up five minutes late accidentally-on-purpose and he knows immediately that he's already missed Darren. Ashley isn't there either, a short brunette with a killer grin in her place.

"Are you Chris?" She chirps as he steps up and one of his eyebrows raise.

"Yes," he says warily. "Why do you ask?"

"There was a guy here about five minutes or so ago, he already paid for your drink." Chris feels his head spinning again. "He described you to me and told me your name was Chris, but he wanted something different on your cup. He said you'd know what it meant. I'm kind of curious myself."

"Stupid baristas getting into everyone's business," he mutters under his breath and the girl, whose nametag reads Lea, looks offended.

"Excuse you, I am just trying to help out here," she says in a snippy voice, but she smiles as she hands him his latte. "So what does it mean?" Chris takes a deep breath as he turns the cup to face him, reading what Lea has scrawled onto it in neat handwriting.

'Wouldn't you two like to know?', it asks him.

"Um," Chris says brilliantly, his face nearly glowing with how red it is. "Ashley and I asked him a question and I guess he's playing hard to get. Hard to read. Whatever."

"I bet you asked him if he was taken," she guesses. "Ashley's had a crush on him for awhile."

"Something like that. Thanks, Lea."

"I want to know what's going on!" Lea calls after him as he exits the store. "You guys can't include me in your games and not give me the details!"

---

He gets to Starbucks as soon as it opens the next day. Thankfully, Ashley is working and he brings the cup with him, feeling strangely like he's lost his mind and also like he's playing a part in a movie, like Darren had first suggested.

"You're here early," she quips, taking a sip of her own drink. "Places to go, people to see?"

"You," he says, and plunks the empty cup down on the counter. She picks it up, reads it, and lets out a squeal. He doesn't think he'll ever understand girls.

"You know what this means, don't you?"

"Uhhh, no, I don't. Can you please fill me in?" She sighs, rolling her eyes, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Which it probably is. Chris can be pretty oblivious.

"Straight guys want you to know they're straight," she explains, like someone would to a five year old. "There's no ambiguity there. When you ask a straight guy what team he plays for, even if he's not interested in you specifically, he's going to make sure you know he's into chicks. This," she says, pushing the cup toward Chris. "This is a point in your column." His cheeks flush deeply, and he swallows hard. Could this guy, the most beautiful man he's ever seen in his life, really be gay too? It seems like it's too much to hope for. Ashley lets out a little sigh. "I've wanted that guy forever," she admits, and he doesn't tell her that Lea informed him of the same thing the day before. "But I won't lie, I'm pretty into the idea of hooking you two up."

"Hooki... Ashley, what exactly does that entail?" She wiggles her eyebrows at him, and he wants to melt through the floor. "I, um... I'm not exactly experienced in the art of picking up guys. I--" She holds up her hands, cutting him off.

"You let me do all the work, homie," she says, and he snorts. "What? It's a term of endearment!"

"Okay," he says sarcastically, his eyebrows raised. "I really do not appreciate being called 'homie' though." The word feels even more wrong coming from him than 'dude' did.

"Well, I usually call people by their last names, but considering I don't even know yo--"

"Colfer," he supplies quickly. "It's Colfer."

"Fink," she says, pointing to herself and it takes him a second to get that it's her last name, that they've crossed some sort of weird barista/customer line that he didn't know existed until this very second. It's early morning though, and he steps aside as he lets Ashley take care of her job and the zombie-like customers that come in for their caffeine fix. Chris briefly wonders how they even got to Starbucks in the state they're in, and he can't help but laugh.

"Listen," he says, grabbing a napkin and scrawling his number on it, sliding it across the counter. "Text me when things are a little less busy. I'm going to go ... I don't even know what. Think about what you've told me. Think about everything. I'll be back at--"

"Four," she says along with him, smiling. "Later, Colfer."

---

(9:30 am)
ashley: the zombies are out, i hate early morning starbucks

(9:32 am)
chris: i can't imagine being that dependent on coffee, honestly.

(9:33 am)
ashley: so you've really never had a boyfriend?

His face flushes as his phone lights up and he lets his head fall back onto the pillow, pulling his covers up over his face. He's back at his apartment, hiding out until 3:30, and he doesn't know exactly what to do with himself. What has he gotten into here? This isn't the kind of thing that happens to him. This is the kind of thing in stories, in movies, situations about made up people. These things just don't happen to Chris Colfer. He's the kid with the high pitched voice, the kid people pick on. Somehow his mindframe hasn't allowed him to completely move on from feeling like that, especially when he's alone, and he squints at his phone before texting back with a sigh.

(9:45 am)
chris: is this surprising?

(9:45 am)
ashley: HELL YEAH! you're a total hottie, colfer!

He snorts out a laugh, shaking his head as he texts back.

(9:47 am)
chris: me, hot. alright. if i didn't know your feelings on darren, i would greatly question your taste.

(9:49 am)
ashley: oh fuck off, you are totally hot and i'm done with you until you show up here again

(9:49 am)
chris: see you at four, ash!

(9:50 am)
ashley: imagine me giving you the finger right now

She sends him a picture then, of her flipping off the camera with a smirk on her face, and he shakes his head, snapping one of himself looking disapprovingly at his screen. He laughs a little at just how judgmental he's managed to look in his picture.

(9:55 am)
ashley: have i told you lately that you're a dick

He doesn't text back, just sighs and lays flat on his back and wills himself not to look up Darren on facebook. He's been good about not doing any of those things that he considers creepy, but it's so tempting to just type in his name and get a glimpse into his life beyond the tiny sliver that he knows. His hands fist into the sheets and his eyes fall closed and he just breathes. Darren's face never leaves his mind once. He has it so, so bad.

---

It's 3:45 when he walks into Starbucks and he wants to turn right back around when he sees both Ashley and Lea behind the counter.

"Hi!" they chorus together, and exchange furtive glances that make his stomach twist.

"You told her what was going on," Chris deadpans, his eyes flickering from Ashley to Lea and back. Ashley nods eagerly, her grin wide.

"I couldn't leave her out. Lea's a cool chick, she's not going to blow anything," and Lea opens her mouth to speak.

"NO," Chris says loudly. "Please, please, please do not go there."

"You're no fun," Lea pouts. "I thought you said he was fun, Ashley."

The fifteen minutes before Darren shows up are spent mostly listening to Lea talk, letting Chris learn about her and what makes her tick, and he feels nearly overwhelmed at the whirlwind that his life has become in the past week. He feels almost ashamed to admit to himself that he's barely ever had any friends in his life, no one to sit and gossip with like this, and he wonders if it's fate that brought all of them together. If maybe Darren is somehow part of his fate too.

Today, Darren shows up with a girl.

Chris isn't sure he believes in fate anymore.

He watches Lea's happy smile immediately fold into this angry, pointy glare and she has to step aside, letting Ashley come to the front. Darren grins that dazzling grin at them, then at Chris.

"So what, do you work here now too, man?" His laugh is so gorgeous and Chris looks at the girl instead, letting out a soft sigh. Of course his girlfriend would be stunning. He doesn't even like girls and he can appreciate this girl's beauty. She's got caramel skin, long dark hair, and her face is made up in a way that accentuates her features without being too over the top. His smile is small as he looks back to Darren.

"It'd be nice if I got paid to hang around with these two," he jokes and he feels proud to earn a laugh, even though his stomach still feels like it's filled with glass. Ashley reaches across the counter to playfully smack his cheek, and they all look at each other, as if this isn't weird at all. Which it shouldn't be, but it is. It is so, so weird. Chris doesn't know how to handle himself in this kind of situation. Part of him wants to ask about the cup, wants to ask what he meant about it, and then the other half can't even think about the possibility as he watches the girl study the baked goods. He listens as Darren orders his drink, and he turns to the girl.

"What do you want, Naya?" It's nice to be able to put a name to the girl who singlehandedly ruined what could have been the best thing in my life, Chris thinks. He doesn't listen to what she orders, but he does notice that Darren pays for it, dumping his change into the tip jar. Why does he have to be so damn perfect? Chris is starting to hate him almost. Sort of. Oh, like he could ever hate him.

"So what's the deal with you two?" Lea blurts out, as if she's been trying to contain herself since the beginning, but couldn't hold the question in any longer. Ashley gives her a special kind of death glare. Chris wants to melt through the floor. Darren and Naya both laugh. At least they're okay with her inappropriate line crossing.

"We're friends," she says, her voice full of amusement. "Just friends, I promise." Her gaze fixes on Chris and he feels almost like she's staring into his soul. She looks him up and down, then gives an approving nod. He has no idea what is going on anymore. Of course, when did he ever have any idea what was going on in this situation? The staring lasts for so long that Chris starts to feel uncomfortable and he doesn't know exactly what to do, so he looks away toward Ashley, not wanting to see Darren or Naya's faces anymore.

"Here you go, dude," Ashley says as she passes Darren his drink, sighing a little as she passes Naya hers.

"Don't I get a dudette?" Naya asks with a smirk. Ashley grins.

"I try not to call people I don't know names," she explains, and Chris stifles a laugh, wondering if it's because Ashley wants to call her something worse than 'dudette' or if she's also thinking of how he chewed her out for calling him 'homie'. Naya shrugs and smiles, and they both thank Ashley before they leave, Darren giving Chris a little wave that makes his stomach twist.

"Well, that sucked," Chris says the second the door has closed, and Lea nods. Ashley, however, just continues to smile and she shrugs up one shoulder.

"I don't know," she finally says. "I think they might just be friends."

"Oh, please," Lea scoffs. "No man hangs around with a girl that beautiful and doesn't want to have his way with her. Even I wanted to have my way with her." Chris nods a little in agreement.

"I guess we'll find out though, won't we?" Ashley says, and her eyes are sparkling, and Chris immediately knows she's done something he isn't going to like.

"What did you write on his cup?" His voice is soft, and he speaks slowly, because he wants to delay the inevitable. He wants to hear it, but then again, he doesn't. "Ashley, what did you put on the cup?"

"I can't tell you that, Colfer," and he can almost hear something like sympathy in her voice.

"But you can tell me, right?" Lea says, her grin wide, and Ashley shakes her head.

"Later," she insists, and Chris gets this awful feeling in his gut. This feeling is one he's familiar with, one that doesn't leave him confused and wondering what's happening. This is the feeling of people talking behind his back, of people doing things to hurt him, and he feels nearly foolish for trusting Ashley. This is why he doesn't have friends, because this always happens to him.

"I've got to go," he says, mostly to the floor than to them, and he's running out the door. He doesn't look back.

---

(4:30 pm)
ashley: hey where were you? it's like everyone's ditching me or something

---

(6:32 pm)
ashley: sorry if you came in today, i wasn't working

(6:33 pm)
ashley: hope lea didn't attack too strongly

---

(5:22 pm)
ashley: is everything alright? you weren't here today either

(5:22 pm)
ashley: well obviously you know that ha

(5:23 pm)
ashley: darren was here though wiggles eyebrows

---

(4:30 pm)
ashley: did i do something wrong? are you mad at me?

---

(2:15 pm)
ashley: chris seriously this isn't funny anymore

Chris tosses his phone aside, and he feels this funny guilty tug in his stomach. He's never had someone outside of his family worry about him, and he doesn't like the way it feels, making someone scared because he's being an idiot. But then he wonders why Ashley would bother if she didn't care, and he lets himself think that maybe he thought wrong about her.

(2:23 pm)
chris: i'm okay.

(2:24 pm)
ashley: fuck you, no. you don't get to do that to me

(2:25 pm)
chris: do what?

(2:30 pm)
ashley: make me worried and scared that something awful happened and then just say 'i'm okay' out of the blue. what kind of bullshit is that?

(2:37 pm)
chris: do you consider me your friend?

(2:41 pm)
ashley: uhhh well i did, but obviously you don't care about me that much if you let me get scared out of my mind like that

(2:42 pm)
chris: i'm coming in.

---

He looks like shit and he knows it, not even caring. Ashley's eyes widen when she sees him, but she doesn't say anything. Just like a real friend, or so he's heard.

"Have I ever told you that you're my first real friend?" It isn't what he meant to say, but it works too. She raises an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything. "High school was a special kind of hell for me," he mumbles. "And I ... sometimes I don't get people, I guess. Sometimes I think--"

"That they're picking on you, because you're not used to people being nice to you," she guesses, and she's right. She's so right. "You think high school was easy for me? People are assholes, but you just have to have confidence in yourself. Not let their shit get you down. It took me a long time to learn that."

"I'm so sorry," he blurts out. "I'm sorry for being an asshole and not coming in and ignoring your texts and everything. All of it." He knows she has every right to not accept his apology, and he half expects her to turn her back on him. Instead, she smiles and she leans over the counter to give him a hug, pulling him in close.

"It's okay, Colfer," she says, rubbing her hand up and down his back. "You're a little shit for making me worry so badly, but I get it. I do." He steps back and nearly wants to cry, and then her smile grows. "You are going to be so pissed that you haven't been here though."

"Why, what happened?" He can't help how curious he is, even though everything seems like a distant dream now, or possibly like a movie he's seen. Then something occurs to him and instead of being scared of it, he smiles. "Am I going to finally find out what was written on that cup?"

"You're still probably going to want to hit me when I tell you," she warns.

"Did you know that the first day I met you, I wanted to kill you?" He says cheerfully. "Now tell me before I go crazy trying to guess."

"It said, 'It's him and not her, isn't it?'" Whatever Chris has been expecting, it isn't this. His smile immediately fades and he takes a step back for fear that he will cause actual bodily harm to Ashley if he's too close to her. He hears a ringing in his ears and his blood is running cold even though he can feel his face burning.

"Ashley, how could you?" His voice is nothing more than a whisper. "You can't just do those kind of things. He is a real person with a real girlfriend and no matter what you say about straight guys insisting they're straight and not playing games, you cannot just write things on people's cups that inscinua--"

"Will you calm down for a second?" His voice has been getting louder and louder with each other word, nearing hysterical levels and she grabs his shoulder, shaking him lightly. "Stop that. You're going to give me a panic attack and I know the end of this story."

Right. Because there's more to the story that is most likely going to humiliate him too.

"So anyway," she says, sighing a little. "He didn't come in the next day. STOP," she insists, holding up a hand as Chris starts to freak out more. "But then I wasn't working the day after that, and he did come in, Lea was working. She told me that he acted like normal, like nothing had ever happened, he left his tip and joked around with her. Just like he always did." Chris lets out a soft sigh of relief. "Then he asked if I was working and Lea told him no, so he asked if she could give me a message." His eyes are bright as they look up and meet Ashley's dark ones. "He said, 'Listen, tell Ashley she's right, okay? She'll know what it means.'"

Listen, tell Ashley she's right, okay?

Chris doesn't know if there's more to the story because he has simply lost the ability to function.

He feels Ashley steering him toward a table, sitting him down in one of the oversized chairs, and he pinches his arm because this has to be a dream. Or maybe he heard her wrong. Something, anything than what she just said, because there is no possible way that Darren is actually interested in him. Her mouth is moving, but Chris can't comprehend the words coming out of it.

"Stop talking for a second," he finally says, his voice about three octaves higher than normal, which is saying something for him. "Are you saying he's..." He can't even say the words aloud. He has never in his life been the object of someone's affection.

"If you would listen," she chastises him, and kneels in front of him, taking both his hands. "He came in the next day and we talked. Really talked, for the first time." Chris just stares at her, mentally willing her to continue with her story. "He's openly gay and he's been attracted to you ever since he bumped into you."

"You're making that up," he says immediately. She smacks his knee, hard, before taking his hand again.

"I would not toy with you like that, Colfer," she says and somehow he believes her about that, but it's just ... what she's said is so hard for him to believe. "Anyway, there's more. He brought Naya in because she's his best friend and he wanted her to see you. Best friend approval and all that. Don't say it," she says, before he can. "I know you've never had a best friend. But that's what you do, you show your crush off to your best friend so they can give their opinion. Apparently, you passed Naya's test." She then takes a napkin out of her apron pocket and hands it to Chris, who flips it over. There's a phone number written on it.

"Is this..." He feels his heart beating faster.

"Darren's number? Why, yes it is." Chris stands up and he feels dizzy. "Hey, wait, where are you going?" Ashley's still on the floor, looking up at him, and he doesn't even know the answer to that. "Darren's going to be here in a little bit, don't you want to see him?"

"I just need time to process this," he manages to get out, and he leans down to kiss Ashley's forehead. "Thank you for making my dreams come true. I have to go though."

---

Chris stares at the napkin. The napkin stares at him. He loses the battle and blinks.

When he looks at himself in the mirror, all he sees is plain old Chris Colfer. Tall, plain brown hair, and okay, his eyes are kind of pretty, but he still sees the other flaws. His teeth are too small. His mouth is too wide. His ears are kind of pointy. Then there's the matter of his voice, which ends up embarrassing him on a near daily basis. He just can't see what Darren possibly sees in him. It just seems too unbelievable. Darren, who could have anyone he wants. And he wants Chris.

He knows he can't call Darren or he'll end up making an ass of himself on the phone. No, he has to make an ass of himself in person. But not today.

Instead, he goes to his computer and does what he hasn't let himself do. He's staring at Darren's facebook a minute later, and his face flushes at how gorgeous his profile picture is. Scrolling through his interests, he almost can't believe how similar they are. Star Wars, Harry Potter, every dorky thing that got Chris labeled as an outcast in high school, they have in common. He smiles as he reads the 'about me' section -- 'I was born a while ago... Now I'm here. Pretty cool.' -- and then he sees it, plain as day.

Interested in: Men

His heart gives this weird little flutter as his eyes focus in and out, hardly believing what he's seeing. Hearing it from Ashley is one thing, but seeing it on facebook, somewhere that Darren consciously put it himself, that's what makes it real for him and suddenly, he needs to be at Starbucks.

---

It's five minutes past four when Chris runs through the door to Starbucks and literally right into Darren.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Darren jokes, right before Chris plants a kiss on his lips.

It is, of course, his first kiss. And nothing has ever felt more perfect or right in his whole entire life. It feels almost as if their lips were made to fit together, like they're pieces of some cosmic puzzle designed by fate. He registers the surprised noise leaving Darren's lips before he returns the kiss, close-mouthed but passionate, and he pulls back first, his cheeks burning. He feels Darren trying to keep the kiss going, which causes his heart to do the same fluttering thing it did earlier, and he places his hands on his shoulders, looking into those golden eyes as they open.

"I thought you weren't interested," Darren finally says. "I gave Ashley my number for you and you never called or texted or anything."

"I was too busy being an idiot," he explains, and he feels proud that his voice isn't higher. Then he pauses. "You mean Ashley didn't tell you how interested I was?"

"She was mysteriously quiet," he says with a smile. "She has an excellent poker face, I hope you know. I didn't think she had it in her."

"Neither did I," Chris mutters, and suddenly he can't bring himself to look up at the front of the store, where he knows Ashley must have witnessed the kiss.

"I thought maybe I wasn't your type, and that would've been okay," Darren rambles on, waving his hand in the air. "But you are ... god, Chris, you're everything I never knew I wanted. Looks wise and ... and everything else too. I've never met someone who loves all the same things I do or who has the same sense of humor or ..." He trails off as Chris eyes him oddly, wondering how Darren could possibly have gotten all of that from a few conversations. He watches with a small smile as the other turns red and shrugs a little. "Lea, she's uh. She's not as stoic as Ashley. She told me your last name when I asked, and the internet is a mighty tool. If you weren't aware."

"Darren," he finally laughs out. "You are the epitome of my type." His fingers reach out and wrap through one unruly curl, twisting it and letting it spring back into place.

"Go on a date with me," Darren blurts out. "Please, Chris. Will you go out with me?"

"Two conditions," he says with a small smile, thinking that maybe it isn't as hard as he once thought to talk to cute guys. Maybe he just hadn't been talking to the right guys. His eyes flicker up toward the counter, where he sees both Ashley and Lea making googly-eyes at them. "I've never... well, there's a lot I've never done," he finally says. "Like I bet you didn't know that Ashley and Lea are my first real friends, and that I met them the same day I met you. But that's just who I am." He thinks back to what Ashley told him earlier, about having confidence in himself, and he feels that in a way he never has in this moment. "I've obviously never had a boyfriend either, so my first condition is that you don't... that you help me learn," he says softly. "I don't want to do anything wrong."

"You know, I don't recall asking you to be my boyfriend," Darren teases, his voice playful. "Is someone jumping the gun here?"

"Someone has a little inkling that our date is going to go well," Chris says, not even bothering to hide his smirk.

"Okay, so what's the other condition?"

"That our date does not involve coffee in any way, shape, or form." He sees the twinkle in Darren's eyes, the way his lips turn up into the most beautiful smile he's ever seen, and he thinks, for the first time ever, Life has been good to me.

"Deal."