Silence Can Seem So Loud

There are few people that Darren would consider to have an infectious laugh. Eleana was number one on that very, very short list. She holds true as Darren leans against the kitchen counter waiting on their pizza to finish baking. Soft chuckles run through him as he listens to her chortle from the other room.

Eleana is running around their home in black sweatpants, one of his many Michigan hoodies, and a pair of knee-high Gir socks. Her laughter has to be coming from the picture Darren had framed and mounted behind where the desk is going to be placed. It’s an image from Darren’s time at Michigan. Probably his favorite picture as well as his favorite memory with Eleana. He’s dressed as Harry Potter, lightning scar and all, and Eleana just has the biggest smile on her face. It was taken right after she nearly tackled him to the ground with her extreme happiness for him right after they wrapped the final showing of A Very Potter Musical. Darren keeps a copy of that picture with him wherever he goes.

Muffled footsteps alert him that Eleana is shuffling her way into the kitchen. When she appears, a wide smile on her face, Darren can’t help but smile as well.

“What?” He fights to keep the laughter out of his voice.

“You’re a stinker.” She wrinkles her nose before walking over and wrapping her arms around him.

“Okay, I’m so stinky you have to come over and dive nose first into my chest.” He chuckles and holds here to him.

“I mean, I was gone for what, fifteen minutes and I come back seeing that.”

“Okay, I’m a stinker.” Darren kisses the top of Eleana’s head as his fingers spread out over Eleana’s back. “Hungry?”

“Famished.”

“Pizza is just about done.” He releases Eleana as she shifts to pull out of the embrace. “How’s your nose?” His hazel eyes move down to where Eleana’s newest body piercing shines in the afternoon sun that’s filtering through the kitchen window behind him.

“Fine. I just put some of the medicine on it a couple minutes ago, so no pain right now.” She beams before spinning on her heels to hop upon the counter adjacent to Darren. “Does it bad?”

Darren just shakes his head. “I like it.” He smiles and reaches up to gently run his thumb over the opal colored jewel. Eleana winces slightly and Darren instantly pulls his hand away. “I’m so sorry.”

“I was just kidding.” Eleana squeals with laughter before jumping from the counter and running out of the kitchen. “Darren, no!”

He takes off after her and Eleana makes it to the doorway of their bedroom before Darren can get his arms around her, tossing her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. “You’re mean for making me think I hurt you.” He secures her by wrapping an arm around her hips just over his shoulder and the other arm around her knees that are pressing against his ribcage.

“I sorry!” Eleana squirms and tried to get back on the floor. “I’ll pull the full name out if you don’t put me down this instant.”

“Yeah, because I am so scared of my name.” Darren teases as he slowly makes his way back to the kitchen.

“Darren Everett Criss.”

The firm tone that usually accompanies Eleana’s voice when she would say his full name comes out now in a breathless whisper. That is enough to cause Darren’s stomach to flip and warmth to flood his body. It’s the slap to his ass that causes Darren to groan and tighten his grip on Eleana so he doesn’t drop her. Since the weekend he spent with Eleana in Sacramento a couple weeks ago, the pair had barely ventured out of Eleana’s comfort in making out on the sofa when Darren gets home from shooting for the day. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t wish they could take just a toe closer to the next level of their - whatever it was they had going on. But instead of pushing her, Darren let’s Eleana lead how far they go - or don’t - because it’s what he promised.

“All right, all right. Eleana Kathryn Gentry.” He says once he reaches the kitchen, gently settling Eleana solidly to the ground.

She just flashes him a smile before walking over and grabbing an oven mitt to pull the burnt pizza out of the oven. “Proof that you should listen to me when I tell you to put me down.”

- - - - -

“Darren! We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry it up!” Eleana says as she fastens the earring and walks into the living room.

“I’m coming!” He responds and Eleana watches him walk into the living room, one shoe on and the other one in his hand.

“Jesus.” She sighs with a smile as she walks over and acts as a balance beam for Darren while he slides his foot into the black shoe. Once he’s righted himself, Eleana reaches up and smoothes out the lapel of his blazer. “For someone who had fifteen minutes to change, you did a pretty bang up job.”

Darren just laughs and shakes his arm slightly to adjust the sleeve of his white button down inside of the black blazer. “For someone who had all day to get ready, you look breathtaking.” He steps back to fully take in the image of Eleana’s pale skin and dark, curly hair perfectly matched by the navy dress.

A blush rises from Eleana’s chest all the way up to her forehead as she looks down to her shoes. “Thank you.”

Stepping so he’s closer to Eleana than before, Darren wraps an arm around her waist and tips her chin up so her blue eyes meet his hazel ones. She offers him a small smile and Darren takes that as his invitation. He gives her a matching smile before leaning down and slots his lips with hers. He knew that a long time ago that Eleana’s body would fit perfectly with his, just as their lips fit effortlessly together as they stand in the living room, kissing fervently.

Darren chuckles lightly as he watched a zombie like Eleana walk into the living room of his tiny apartment on campus. She sheds her coat, leaving it over the back of the couch and slides out of her boots. “We go to bed now, Dare?” She asks while looking over at him, a huge jaw cracking yawn stops her where she was standing.

Nodding, Darren slides out of his own coat, tossing it besides Eleana’s and pulling his feet out of his shoes. “Yeah, let’s go, Sleeping Beauty.” Eleana just smiles and walks with Darren to the bedroom portion of the apartment. Eleana lays on the bed, still in her jeans and sweater. “Don’t you wanna change?” Darren asks quietly as he walks over and gently brushes milk chocolate colored bangs out of Eleana’s closed eyes.

“Too tired.” She shifts and whines as her snow covered jeans move as well, causing her skin to grow cold. “Help me?”

“Of course.” Darren moves so he has one knee on the bed, on the other side of Eleana’s body, and one foot planted on the ground. “My hands might be cold.” He warns before pulling Eleana’s sweater up and off her body.

“More like ice.” Eleana giggles some before laying back down.

Darren just smiles and moves his hands down to the button of her jeans, popping it open and pulling the zipper down. “Now, I would normally be so turned on by this.” He says softly, a light chuckle in the hushed tone.

“Is it cause I’m a narc right now?” Eleana pulls her legs up and out of the jeans after Darren gets the fabric down to her knees.

“Only because you’re a narc.” He tosses the jeans toward his closet and grabs a pair of his sweats and a hoodie. He holds them out to a now awake Eleana. She just takes the hoodie and quickly pulls it on over her bra before snuggling back into the bed.

Darren just smiles after quickly stripping out of his wet clothing and into the sweats he offered Eleana and a t shirt. He gently moved himself around her so his back was against the wall his bed was fitted against. “Come here.” He whispered softly to the barely conscious girl. He smiles as she makes a sleepy noise and slowly snuggled her way closer to him. Her head set perfectly under his chin and against his chest.

Eleana is the first to pull away from the kiss. “We’ll be late.” She steps back and slowly slides her thumb across her lips.

Little things like that, the simple gesture of Eleana cleaning her lips off after they kiss, is what gets Darren’s blood rushing through his veins. He nods and rubs his hands over his face, smiling as his fingertips run over his own lips feeling a light coat of Eleana’s lipgloss.

A soft giggle makes Darren look over to the doorway where Eleana stands with her hand on the doorknob. “I like the rosiness of your lips, Darren. What shade is that?”

“Just been kissed.” He smirks and walks over and hold the now opened door for Eleana as she exits their house. He follows her out the door and places a quick kiss to the back of her head as he shuts the screen door as well.

“It suits you.” She turns to flash him a teasing smile as she walks down the front steps. “So, what is this thing you are dragging me out to?”

“A dinner with the cast and crew of Imogene.” He shrugs as they walk to the car.

Eleana smile widely before hurrying after Darren to the car. “Are you sure about this?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Coming from the guy who never talks about his personal love life. It’d be a little weird if pictures of us show up online.”

Darren opens the passenger side of his car for her but instead of getting in, she stops and awaits his answer. “What do you want me to do? Leave you here?”

“How is that different from your other outings?” She steps back and away from the car.

“Eleana, baby-”

“Why is now any different?”

“Because I want to be seen with you. And when you’re dressed like that you deserve to be seen.” He says softly, trying to defuse Eleana before it got out of hand.

“So, if I was dressed in sweats and gross looking going to the SuperMarket for some allergy medicine, snot pouring from my nose, I wouldn’t deserve to be seen then? But me putting two hours into my appearance-”

“Eleana, stop!” Darren shuts the door. “You’re blowing this so much out of proportion.”

Eleana lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and turns to walk back to the house, digging through her clutch for her house key. “Go by yourself. I don’t feel like going anymore.” Tears forming in her eyes from the sting of Darren yelling at her.

Darren lets out a loud, frustrated sigh before walking around to the driver’s side and getting in. Eleana shakes her head and opens the door just as Darren backs the car down the driveway before taking off down the street.

Pushing the door, Eleana rubs her eyes as the tears start to quickly fall over her eyelashes. She locks the door behind her and heads into the bedroom, quickly ripping the clothes from her body and pulling on her sweatpants and a tank top. Her flats are thrown into the bottom of the closet. As she turns to head out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, Eleana forces herself to stop crying. Emotionlessly, she walks over to grab her favorite tea kettle, filling it with water and placing it on the stove to start heating up.

She waits. An hour has passed. Eleana drinks three mugs of tea while sitting on the counter of the kitchen, waiting for the sound of Darren’s car pulling into the drive.

Two hours have gone by now. Eleana sits on the couch, mindlessly flipping through the channels on the television.

By the third hour, Eleana is sitting in her office, writing down her classes and what books she would need to pick up from the campus bookstore before the end of the month.

On the fourth hour, Eleana is laying on her side of the bed, facing away from the door as she hears Darren quietly shut the front door behind him. About a minute passes before she hears his footsteps stop outside the door.

“Eleana?” He whispers and she hears him shuffling out in the hall.

She turns to see him standing at the edge of the bed, tears swimming in his eyes. Without a word, Eleana is up on her knees and tightly embracing Darren. His arms curl around her waist and pull her as close to him as possible. He buries his face into her hair and takes deep, shaky breaths. One of her hands come to rest on the back of Darren’s neck, fingers threading into his hair, while her other hand rubs circles on his lower back.

“I didn’t do to the dinner.” He whispers after he composes himself enough to speak.

“Darren, you don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“I went to the beach and watched the sun set. I couldn’t help but think about how much I wanted you there besides me as we chatted mindlessly about anything and everything.” His voice starts to crack again and he clutches Eleana tighter to him. “I’m so sorry for earlier.”

“It’s fine, sweetie.” Her thumb rubs over the back of his neck as he releases her fingers from his hair. “I tend to blow things out of proportion when I should just shut up and go along.”

“No, please don’t tell me it’s ‘it’s fine’ because it’s not. I swore I would never hurt you and I did.” His hands run up and down her back as he slowly withdraws himself from her embrace. His usually honey hazel eyes have changed to green with his saddened emotion. “I love you and just want to show you off to the world. I want everyone to see how happy you make me.” He offers a tiny smile as his hand comes up to cup her cheek, caressing the skin softly with his thumb.

Eleana just nods, not really knowing what she could say to Darren’s words. She swallows the lump in her throat and moves to sit in the middle of the bed. Darren wordlessly moves away from the edge of the bed and quickly strips down to his boxers.

“I’m going to go shower really quick since I didn’t get a chance to earlier.” He grabs a pair of basketball shorts from his dresser drawer before turning his eyes to look at Eleana. “I love you.”

Eleana smiles softly and pulls her knees up to her chest. “I love you too, stinky.” Darren’s smile fills his face as he backs into the bathroom and shuts the door.

After hearing the shower turn on, the sound is followed by the clinking of the curtain rings sliding against the metal rod comes twice as it opens and closes. After the curtain slides shut, Eleana moves so she is laying back down on her side, facing the bathroom door. As she hears Darren’s voice, singing softly from the shower, she smiles and closes her eyes while she waits for him to come to bed.

“Eleana?” His voice sounds softly right below her ear just before his lips press to that exact spot.

“Hmm?” She hums out as she tilts her head some to give Darren better access to the spot. One of her hands mindlessly reaches across the bed in search of Darren. When his hand clasps around hers, they give each other a gentle squeeze.

“I was gone for not even six minutes and you’re about to pass out on me.” He whispers as his lips move across her cheek instead of the skin of her neck.

“Had someone not worried me so much that I ended up staying up way later than usual, I would have be sound asleep by now.” She smirks and slits one eye open to look at Darren.

The pout on his face makes Eleana smile and sit up. “You hurt my feelings.” His pout becomes more pronounced.

“Aw, is da baby sensitive?” Eleana asks in a mocking bab voice.

Darren sniffles and brings his free hand up to rub his eyes and whine a little. “Kiss, make it better.” He removes his hand from his face and puckers his lips.

Taking her hand from his, Eleana moves to her knees and cups Darren’s face in her hands. She sees Darren visibly relax and slow shut his eyes. As Eleana moves in, her eyes close as well. Just as their lips touch, Darrens arms circle around Eleana’s waist, pulling her body flush against his. Threading her fingers into Darren’s hair, she moves so her thighs are on either side of Darren’s, straddling him as their kiss deepens.

This is new territory for the both of them. They have been pressed so tightly against each other that it could seem they were trying to mold into one person, but never have they moved to be above the other.

Darren moans softly into the kiss as his hands slide down Eleana’s back before they slowly move down to cup her ass. As his hands press against her, Eleana pulls away from the kiss and just rests her forehead on Darren’s. One of her hands is still buried in Darren’s hair while the other holds onto his shoulder for leverage.

“I’m so sorry.” Darren whispers, his voice an octave lower and husky, as he slowly moves to slide his hands off of Eleana’s ass.

“No, it’s fine.” She emphasises the point by shifting her hips over Darren’s so she can sit up some.

That small amount of friction of Darren’s hardening dick was enough to make him buck his hips up and replant his hands to their previous perch. His arms flex as he tries to fight the urge to pull her down and just grind up against her until his release. “Eleana, we either stop now or we keep going and I will be physically unable stop later.”

Eleana knows she isn’t quite ready to do anything beyond a heated make out session so she nods and slowly moves off of Darren, trying hard to avoid touching him more than necessary. “I am so sorry. I know this has to be harder on you than it is on me.” She whispers, a blush covering her face as she sits on her side of the bed.

Darren gives a soft chuckle and kisses Eleana’s temple as he quickly peels the covers of his side of the bed down and gets under them. “I want nothing more than to make you feel comfortable. I’m good for whatever you want to do, as long as you're comfortable. So please, don’t feel bad. We stopped before the point of no return anyways.” He winks over at Eleana before opening his arms. “Now, come cuddle so we can get some sleep.”

Eleana smiles and moves to be under the covers and attached to Darren’s side. Her head rests on his chest and her free arm is wrapped around his waist. Darren circles Eleana in their usual embrace before kissing the top of her head.

“I love you.” She says softly before circling her fingers around Darren’s palm, her thumb running in gentle circles over his wrist.

“I love you too, baby.” He gives her a soft squeeze before resting his head on top of hers. “So much.”

That is the last thing she hears before she falls into yet another night if peaceful slumber.