Work Text:
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well…in this case, hopefully just one word in particular.
Yes.
******
Taking pictures can be considered preserving a memory. After all, the moment lasts for a second, but the memory lasts forever. For Darren, it’s almost a way a life. There’s rarely a moment you won’t catch him without his phone in his hand either snapping away at a caterpillar on his keyboard, his best friend ice skating around Bryant Park, or even taking selfies in front of a large group of fans. Pictures are forever…and yes, even the “fake” ones will live on for eternity.
But there’s a second thing in Darren’s life that he also loves, and that’s Chris. To Darren, photography and Chris go together like peas in a pod, ice cream and cones, well…you get the picture (no pun intended of course). Darren has always wanted to take professional photographs of Chris. Of course, Chris has said no every single time. Darren just doesn’t understand the big deal with taking photographs for his “personal” collection, even if Chris swears up and down that “somehow” they’ll get leaked. “There’s no way my naked white ass is going to be posted all over the internet” Chris argues every…single…time. In his defense, he’s probably right. Naked celebrity pictures seem to always get leaked somehow. However, that doesn’t stop Darren in his pursuit. So when Darren’s birthday draws nearer, he realizes that he’s going to use it to his advantage. In his line of work, Darren knows you sometimes just have to use the little things to your advantage. In this case, his birthday, and he thinks he knows the perfect way to get him to commit.
******
Chris is in the middle of baggage claim when he feels his phone buzz indicating a new text. He shakes his head knowing exactly who it’s going to be from. Darren never was the patient one. After grabbing his bag and making his way to the waiting taxi, he finally pulls out his phone from his pocket and swipes the screen to send off a quick “safely landed” message. He’s supposed to make a quick stop at Alla’s office first before heading to the apartment and assured Darren before he left that he wouldn’t take too long. When he finally gets his screen unlocked, he realizes the message came from Alla.
“I’m assuming you haven’t heard yet since you’ve not called me.”
Chris quickly types a reply.
“What’s going on?” He almost picks up the phone to call her but remembers she was in the middle of fashion week and knew she wouldn’t be able to hear him. A second later, he gets her reply.
“My office had a small fire on the first floor so they’ve evacuated for the time being. Just go on to your apartment and I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Got it.” He replied. This suits him just fine. One less boring meeting he’ll have to attend.
After giving the cab driver the new address, he sends Darren a quick message about the change of plans and instead that he’s on his way. He half expects tons of heart emojis and exclamation points and any other type of excited message you can relay through text messaging to come in reply. He knew Darren would be excited that he wouldn’t have to wait like was originally planned. However, all he got was a “will you stop and pick up some bagels from our favorite bakery on your way?”
Chris reads the message four times. That’s it? No “yay you’re here”. No “omg hurry and get naked”. Nope, instead he just gets a damn food order. Chris just shook his head trying to figure out what was going on with Darren. Something must have happened. Chris got a sudden sinking feeling, hoping everything is ok. Fortunately, the bakery was right down the street. As soon as he reached his destination, he wasted no time hopping out and running to grab Darren’s damn bagels. “They better be good” Chris muttered to himself. Little did he know, Darren was just buying a little extra time.
******
Bagels in hand, Chris walks into the lobby of the apartment building. The first thing he notices is that two out of three elevators are marked “out of service”. So, while thinking how odd it seems for two elevators to be out, Chris walks to the only working elevator and pushes the button. A second later, the doors open. Just as he’s entering something catches his eye on the ground. He hits the button for their floor and bends over to pick it up. Chris’ heart races. It’s a picture of him and Darren. And not just any picture. It’s a selfie that Chris remembers vividly Darren taking of them when they were sitting on the couch arguing about whether to watch The Voice or The Sound of Music.
“But how-“ Chris quietly says aloud, talking to himself. His mind immediately goes into panic mode thinking that quite possibly Darren has been carrying around the picture and dropped it. Just thinking about this picture getting into the hands of paparazzi makes Chris sick to his stomach.
The doors to the elevator open and Chris steps out, not even looking up. His eyes are so focused on the picture in his hand that he almost misses the object by his feet. Suddenly he stops. He turns his focus and realizes there are more pictures on the ground. In fact, it’s a trail of photographs that lead to the door of the apartment. If he had to guess, Chris would probably say there were a 100 photographs lying around, all of them of him and Darren, and some of just him alone that Darren had taken.
“What the hell?” Chris asks aloud, but still not loud enough for anyone not standing directly by him to hear. Just when he’s about to storm his way into the apartment and demand an answer, he hears it. Darren playing the piano. When Chris hears the song, he rolls his eyes.
“Shit” he says quietly. Shaking his head and trying to hold back the smirk that’s forming on his face, he finally opens the apartment door and leans on the door frame. True enough, Darren is sitting at the piano singing and playing the Beatles.
I'll be coming home again to you, love And till the day I do, love P.S. I love you You, you, you
Darren sneaks a glance to Chris, knowing he’s there….and knowing he knows exactly what this song means. In reality, when he got his text that he was on his way, Darren hurried and scattered the remaining photographs and started playing immediately. He wanted to make sure that he was playing when Chris walked in. He had already arranged for the “fire” at Alla’s and the elevators to be taken care the previous day. He wasn’t taking any chances.
While Darren played, Chris took a moment to look around the apartment. His vantage point from the doorway gave him a complete view….and in his view was nothing but photographs. Thousands and thousands of photographs. They were everywhere. On the couch, on the television, on the kitchen counter, on the floor. Hell, even in Cooper and Brian’s bed. But Chris didn’t ask. Not yet at least. He waited until Darren finished the song before starting in.
“Alright, what do you want this time?” Chris asked, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
Darren stood up and walked to him. “Ok, just hear me out.”
Chris finally gave in and laughed. “Darren please. Every time you’ve ever played that song for me you always had a request to go along with it. And when I say request, I mean that in the most generous way. First there was the request to move to Europe. Next, there was the request to perform at Elsie Fest. What was next? Oh yes, the request to…well, let’s just say become an exhibitionist during one of your performances of Hedwig. But I have to say, the granddaddy of them all was when you asked me to pose nude so you could take pictures of me for your…collection. Any of this ringing a bell?”
Darren just gave Chris the biggest puppy dog eyes ever known to man, right along with the pouty mouth.
“No.” Chris answered, not even waiting to hear the request. “No no no no no, whatever you’re about to ask me, the answer is no. And what the hell is up with all the photographs? They’re everywhere.” Chris laughed.
Darren waited for Chris’s eyes to stop roaming the room and settle back on his own. When they did, Darren just gave him “the smile”.
“Oh no, don’t do that to me. You know I cave. Not the smile. Not that one. Stop it Dare. Stop it right now.” Chris said as he tried to back up slowly away from Darren and from where he had previously been rooted. But as he started to move away, Darren grabbed his hips and held on for dear life.
Chris just shook his head with a smile on his face, waiting for Darren to say something.
“But would you deny me my only birthday wish?” Darren asked innocently, looking up at Chris as though he were a 5 year old asking for candy.
“Oh my god. Well, I have to give it to you, you are definitely upping your game this time around. Throwing in the birthday card is a good one. I can’t believe I’m going to say this. I can’t believe I’m even asking.” Chris paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Ok, what do you want for your birthday?”
Darren hopped on each foot one at a time like a kid. “Ok, just hear me out.” Darren said trying to contain his excitement. “You see how beautiful you are in these pictures? I have taken thousands of pictures of you. Just take a look.” Darren says as he motions around the room and doing a 360 with his arms.
“Yes Darren, I can see that. Pretty hard to miss,” Chris chuckled.
“But you know what’s different about these pictures than every other picture ever taken of you?” Darren asks, a little more serious than before.
Chris turned and looked at Darren after noticing the change in his tone. He just shook his head.
“No one has ever seen these, but me. Only me. You know what that means?” Darren asks.
Chris pretends to think a moment. “Umm, that you’re a stalker and possibly a hoarder?” He jokes.
“No, that I can in fact prevent pictures from being leaked.” Darren says seriously. When the words are out of his mouth, his unspoken birthday request finally sinks in to Chris. Darren can tell the moment Chris knows what he’s going to ask by the sudden change in expression on his face.
“Oh my god. So we’re back to the naked pictures? Not only are you throwing in the birthday card but now you’re asking the same request twice? This is a new approach for you. I’m not sure how to respond.” Chris laughs, but sinks down to the nearby couch. Darren knows Chris is thinking about it and, with a little more nudging, he’s going to give in. After all, this isn’t exactly as crazy as a request as his others have been. He just needs a little more time. Maybe it’s time to kick things into high gear.
“I could always change my birthday request and ask you to marry me.” Darren said innocently, sliding down beside Chris. Chris gasped and whipped his head around to Darren so fast he’s surprised he didn’t pass out. Chris had thought about it before. Of course he’d thought about it, but the fact that Darren even suggested it, jokingly or not, made him do a double-take.
“So Chris, will you?” Darren asks.
Chris looks at Darren with an amused expression on his face, tilting his head to one side, and asks, “Will I what?”
Darren just grinned. “Let me take your picture of course. What did you think I meant?”