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If Darren could describe himself in one word, it would be ‘absorber.’
He absorbs absolutely everything: information he reads online, stories his friends tell him, music, art. He pays very close attention to stuff he likes and even to things he’s not really into. But if he feels intrigued by something or, well, someone, that’s when he pays attention the most. He observes every single detail of the thing that catches his interest so much. It’s just usually not as… creepy as his current situation.
Darren’s intrigued, in a way that he hasn’t been in a very long time.
He knows the guy’s name is Christopher because he got his mail delivered to his apartment by mistake once. He knows Chris owns an overweight cat that he feeds a generous portion of food every morning and then once again in the afternoon, when he gets home from whatever it is he does during the day.
Darren wishes he knew whatever it is Christopher does during the day.
He also knows Christopher has a friend, a very nice-looking young lady that sometimes lets herself in when Christopher isn’t home. She usually just feeds the cat (which is probably the reason why the thing is overweight in the first place) and leaves. But sometimes she’s there with Christopher and, well, those are the days Darren finds himself (creepily, he admits) watching the most.
Those are definitely the days Christopher looks the happiest.
He tries really hard not to do it so often — really, he does — but the guy’s got him hooked and he doesn’t even know why. It’s not really Darren’s fault that his neighbor always leaves his curtains open, alright? It’s a big window. Darren gets bored more often than not. It’s only convenient.
At least that’s what he keeps trying to tell himself.
The thing is, when Darren says the guy never closes his curtains, he means the guy never closes his goddamn curtains. Never. Which is how Darren has seen Christopher in some compromising situations.
The first time Christopher appears at his window with only a towel hanging from his waist, hair wet and messy and cheeks slightly flushed (yes, Darren notices even from a distance, alright?), he tries really hard not to look. Even his creepiness should have limits, so he draws his gaze away and distracts himself with something else.
But then it happens again the next day. And again.
On the third day, his neighbor loses the towel altogether. And Darren loses his fucking mind.
*
“Get your ass over here!” Darren hears as soon as he sets foot in the small café. He obediently makes his way over to his friend Lauren, smiling when she smacks a kiss against his cheek. “Now get your ass on stage. You’re late, you fucker.”
“I’m sorry! I don’t know if you noticed but it’s raining like hell outside and there are people with umbrellas blocking the way.”
She laughs at Darren’s exasperated tone. “Go! Come on, before Joey comes out here and drags you to that stage himself,” she warns.
“Alright, alright, I’m going.”
He plays at Joey’s café every Friday afternoon and he even has some regulars that come in every week just to watch him play. It’s almost embarrassing how much it makes him happy but Darren’s too concerned playing the setlist he chose (and some songs prompted by the customers) to really care.
*
He’s sitting by the bar for a small break from his little show when it happens.
Clearly irritated and soaking wet, mumbling words Darren guesses are a series of curses, a very annoyed man sits on the stool right next to his. Of course it only takes Darren two seconds to realize who it is.
Darren can’t help staring at the lines of his profile, from the strong set of the man’s jaw to the way his damp hair falls over his forehead and eyes, making Darren want to run his fingers all over it.
Christopher looks even more stunning up close.
Darren ducks his head down and his index finger moves nervously around the rim of his glass when he realizes the man notices his shameless staring.
“How can I help you?” Lauren politely asks.
“Just some water, please?” Christopher answers, both hands moving to his hair. “Actually, make that a margarita.”
“Coming right up, sir.” Lauren turns on her heel and shoots a look at Darren that screams ‘talk to him!’ and Darren finds himself starting to blush. What the fuck. He’s blushing.
“Ugh, this is pathetic,” Christopher mumbles next to him. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this! I have to be dreaming. This is a nightmare. This is nothing but a very fucked up dream and I’m going to wake up in my nice, warm, dry bed and everything is gonna be alright.”
“Um, do you- do you need some help over there?” Darren hesitantly asks, turning on his chair to get a better look at him.
“Unless you have dry clothes, a goddamn towel, or you know how to fix a car, I don’t think you can help me.” Christopher looks up at him for the first time then, recognition written all over his face. “Oh! I know you!”
Darren giggles, cheeks warming up once more. This is ridiculous. You’re ridiculous. “Yeah, I’m your neighbor.”
“The one who watches me feed my cat?” His tone turns teasing then, a drastic change from the grumpy Christopher of a few seconds ago.
Darren almost chokes on air. “I- I don’t- I don’t do that.”
It’s obviously a lie and Christopher doesn’t believe him at all. “Yeah, sure.” He says sarcastically.
“I’m Darren, by the way.” he decides to introduce himself, a bright smile on his face. “And I think I can find you a towel.”
*
He comes back with a face towel in one arm and Joey in the other. Christopher smiles a little when he sees him, then looks confused when he sees Joey, who is holding a rumpled, but dry white shirt on his hand.
Darren hands him the towel as Joey introduces himself to Christopher and offers to hang his wet jacket and shirt inside. “I have this, so you can wear it while your clothes get dry.” He hands him a clean t-shirt and smiles politely.
Christopher accepts with a nod and a pleased grin on his face. “Thank you. Really, thanks a lot.”
“No problem at all,” he responds. “Whenever you’re ready. Darren can show you where the bathroom is.”
Joey leaves with a tiny nod just as Lauren passes by them again, shooting Darren that same look she did before. Darren ignores her and focuses back on Chris, who is moving the towel up and down his wet hair, making it all spiky and crazy.
Darren smiles, almost hypnotized.
“You work here?” he asks.
“Well, kind of,” Darren shrugs, eyes still focused on the movement of Chris’s hands on his own hair. “Joey is kind enough to let me play here every Friday.”
“Oh, you’re a performer?”
“Yeah,” Darren murmurs shyly. “And I have to get back on stage now. Is there anything in particular you’d like to hear?”
He seems to think it over for a moment, then gives him a small smile. “Surprise me.”
*
And apparently, Darren does (the song was already on his setlist, but Christopher doesn’t need to know that.)
“I don’t know you, but I want you all the more for that,” he sang the lyrics slowly, fingers strumming his guitar softly.
He looks at Christopher twice while he plays, just to see if he’s paying attention, he tells himself, and both times, Chris has a small smile on his face.
“Words fall through me and always fool me, and I can’t react.” Darren chants as he finds himself blushing for the second time that night. He feels ridiculous, really, especially when his fingers start to shake slightly over the strings.
And okay, yes, the song was already on his setlist and Darren always knew exactly why it was there. He just never thought he would get to sing it to the person who made him want to sing this song in the first place. It’s insane, this whole night is turning out to be completely insane, but Darren keeps singing anyway.
When he somehow manages to find Christopher’s eyes in the small crowd — even though it’s dark and Christopher is, like, so far away right now, — he lets out a nervous laugh right in the middle of the song. He shakes his head in embarrassment and recovers quickly, biting his lip through a pause in the song and meeting Chris’s gaze again.
And then Chris is looking embarrassed too as he grins and bites on his thumbnail, his drink sitting in the bar table, completely forgotten.
Darren feels like flying.
*
“Christopher, right?” he asks when he comes back as if he doesn’t know already, taking a long gulp from his water bottle and lowering his guitar to the spot next to his neighbor’s seat. “What did you think?”
“You’re really good,” he answers, lowering his gaze to meet Darren’s eyes. “And it’s just Chris.”
Darren ducks his head, cheeks already warming. “Did, um, did it work?”
“Did what work?”
“The song.”
It’s Chris’s turn to look shy. He looks down at his glass and takes a sip before he says, “I guess it depends.”
“On what?”
“On what your intentions were.”
Darren steps closer, a sheepish look in his eyes. “If what I was trying to do worked,” he almost whispers, touching the straw on Chris’s drink with a finger. “you’ll let me buy you another drink.”
With a flirty smile painted on his lips and a happy expression on his face, Chris touches the finger Darren has on the straw with his own. “Okay.”
*
They’re both somewhat tipsy and stumbling a little over their own steps, but somehow, after Chris changes back to his own clothes, Darren manages to convince him to walk back together to their building.
(“We’re neighbors, it’s only convenient.”
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s only convenient.”)
Once they get there, Chris leans against his apartment’s door with a smile. Darren swallows down the dryness in his throat when brilliant blue eyes look directly into his.
“You really did surprise me with that song,” Chris whispers. Darren doesn’t miss the nervous tone in his voice.
“Good. I meant every word.”
He takes a step closer as Chris snorts and bites his lip, looking down at the floor with a crooked smile. “It was an intense song.”
“I know.”
Those beautiful blue eyes return their gaze to Darren and Chris stills at Darren’s sweet smile. He tips his head to the side, trying to read Chris’s reaction, but that’s exactly when Chris surprises him with two fingers hooking on Darren’s belt loops, tugging him closer, a flirty and slightly giddy expression on his face. Darren feels all the air leave his lungs.
“Was it already on your setlist?” Chris asks in a low voice, face suddenly incredibly close to Darren’s, chests almost touching.
Darren swallows audibly. “Actually, yeah.”
“Any particular reason?”
As a way of answering, Darren slides a hand up Chris’s arm. He runs his palm over Chris’s biceps and shoulders, settling it against the softness of Chris’s neck. He caresses Chris’s face with his thumbs and nuzzles their noses together.
“Yes,” he murmurs against Chris’s lips before pressing his own against it.
It’s sweet and tender at first, but Chris rapidly takes control and suddenly it turns passionate and intense. Chris’s lips are soft and cold, Darren notices; his lips are cold. Darren wants to warm those lips so much that he pushes Chris even closer, opening his mouth wider and kissing harder. He sucks on Chris’s bottom lip while his fingers run through smooth hair.
Chris takes a deep breath, moving his hand to touch the one Darren still has on his face. Darren tangles their fingers together and gently pulls back.
Bright blue eyes stare openly back at him, so close Darren nearly looses his footing.
“I don’t want this night to be over,” Darren quietly admits.
“Do you- um-” Chris stutters. “Do you want to come in and maybe see what’s on Netflix?”
*
“I have a confession,” Darren blurts out while they’re both sitting on Chris’s couch with their legs crossed and their knees touching. “I’ve been watching you. Through your window.”
Chris tilts his head and meets Darren’s gaze. “You’ve been watching me.”
“Yeah,” Darren murmurs, defeated. “In my defense, you always leave it wide open, okay? And I tried not to look. Trust me, I did. But you just— Have you looked at yourself?” He gestures wildly in Chris’s direction. “You think I’m the creepiest person on earth right now, don’t you?”
The sound of Chris’s laugh startles Darren a bit and his gaze shoots up to meet his neighbor’s face.
“I know,” Chris confesses, a bashful grin on his lips.
“You— What? You know?”
“Well, you aren’t exactly discreet,” he teases. “After a while I just started leaving it open on purpose.”
“You—” Darren is speechless. He’s never speechless. Darren has always had something to say in every situation ever. And yet, here he is, utterly and completely out of words. “I can’t believe this!”
“It was flattering, really. Especially coming from the cute guy next door.” Chris’s eyes soften and he takes Darren’s hand in his, lacing their fingers together.
Darren beams. “Cute, huh?”
Chris moves closer, face an inch away from his. “Very.”
Darren closes the rest of the distance between them and presses a small kiss against Chris’s mouth. “We’re very strange, stupid people.”
“We are. But for some reason, I seem to like you anyway.”
It’s so sweet and genuine that Darren finds himself gleaming with happiness.
“I know we’re doing it all in the wrong order.” Darren laughs, “But I’d really like to take you out again. Properly. If tonight even counted as taking you out.”
With a flirty smirk, Chris nods and squeezes his hand. “Of course,” he says. “You better surprise me again.”
“If that’s what I get when I surprise you,” Darren says, pulling Chris closer by the hand, “you can bet your ass I will.”