Just a Walk in the Park

After your ice skating trip the next few days seemed to fly by as you spend them mainly with Darren. Darren takes you shopping and you go to the cinema to watch a film, although Darren insisted on not watching the film, you also went to watch Darren perform at a gig he was doing which was really fun and you got to meet Charlene Kaye which was beyond brilliant.

You’re round Darren’s house one day and you’re waiting for Darren to get ready so you can go out, Darren had planned to take you someplace special which you really excited about but still slightly nervous. As you’re waiting for him you find Joey comes and sits down with you and you start talking about random things when you suddenly realise something,

‘So you know how it’s close to Christmas… I was wondering.. do you have any ideas for a good Christmas present for Darren? I honestly haven’t got a clue.’ You say starting to panic about it,

‘Hmmm.. you could always get him some more Blaine Gel because he’s forever running out of that.’ Joey jokes,

‘Hey! I’m being serious here,’ you say but can’t help but laugh,

‘Okay, okay, hmm… well I’ll tell you a few things he’s been saying he wants lately…’ and Joey ends up giving you loads of ideas for Darren.

After a while, Darren is finally ready as he rushes downstairs and swoops you off your feet,

‘Are you ready?’ he asks you kissing you on the cheek,

‘I’ve been ready for ages!’ you tease,

I know, I know but I had to pick out the right clothes for today!’ Darren says smiling down at you,

‘And why is that? Where exactly are we going?’ you ask hoping he’ll tell you,

‘Haven’t you learnt by now that I’m not going to tell you.’ Darren says grabbing his keys and leading you to his car.

You happily jump in and prepare for a day of surprises. On the car ride you can’t help but notice how nervous Darren is,

‘Hey… are you okay?’ you ask concerned,

‘Yeah.. of course. It’s just that I want today to be perfect.’ He says smiling at you and holding your hand,

‘I’m sure it will be perfect. Things are always perfect with you.’ You say squeezing his hand,

‘I think you’re the perfect one. I love you, (Y/N).’ Darren says squeezing you hand.

You lean over and give him a quick kiss, ‘I love you too.’

Darren seems to calm down a bit after that and you finally arrive at a house. You have no idea where you are so you just follow Darren’s lead. Before you leave the car Darren looks to you,

‘Okay, so please don’t kill me but… I thought it was about time you met my family so here we are!’ Darren says with a hopeful smile on his face.

You’re shocked, ‘Are you serious? Bu- but what if they don’t like me, oh god! They’re going to hate me aren’t they?’ you start freaking out.

Darren just grabs both your hands,

‘(Y/N)… hey… they’re going to love you because I love you and that’s all that matters, okay?’

You calm yourself down and look at Darren, ‘Okay… I can do this.. let’s go.’ You say with a small smile.

Darren leads the way and knocks on the door to a lovely home. A woman answers the door and immediately grabs Darren in a tight hug,

‘Oh Darren it’s so nice to see you.’ She says as she kisses him on the cheek,

‘Hi mum, how are you?’ Darren says,

‘I’m very well,’ she says and she looks to you with a smile, ‘And who’s this?’

‘Mum… this is (Y/N).. My girlfriend.’ Darren says with a smile as he puts his hand around your waist,

‘Oh how lovely. It’s so nice to finally meet you (Y/N), please come in, come in.’ she says and you immediately warm to her, she seems so kind hearted.

As you walk into the cozy home you can’t help but feel slightly nervous as you want to make a good impression. You soon get introduced to Darren’s dad who is just as nice as his mum. You all sit down with tea and biscuits in their living room and they ask you loads of questions which you happily answer. They seem to like you and you hope they do, you keep sneaking glances in Darren’s direction and he just gives you reassuring smiles which makes you feel much better. They ask you to stay for dinner and you end up helping Darren’s mum in the kitchen to cook the food because you feel it’s the least you could do. As you start cooking you hear someone come into the house, it was Darren’s brother Chuck. He walks into the kitchen and greets his mum, he looks to you,

‘Erm, I’m sorry but.. Who are you?’ he asks,

‘Oh I’m (Y/N)… Darren’s girlfriend.’ You say holding out your hand to him.

But instead of shaking it his eyes seem to darken and he rushes out to the living room where Darren is sitting with his dad. You look to his mum,

‘Don’t worry dear.. he’s always funny with new people.. he’ll soon warm to you.’ She says trying to make you feel better.

You suddenly hear Darren and Chuck arguing in the living room and you can’t help but feel awkward as you know they’re arguing about you. You hear Darren’s voice starting to raise but know you can’t do anything about it but luckily you hear his dad breaking them up so you just carry on focusing on making the dinner.

After a little while Darren comes in to check on you,

‘How are you?’ you ask him,

‘Yeah I’m good,’ he says still a little shaken from earlier, ‘My parents absolutely love you to bits.’

This makes you smile, ‘That’s good… but.. what about your brother?’ you ask hesitantly,

‘He just doesn’t know you, that’s all. Once he knows what a wonderful, perfect person you are he’ll come around.’ Darren says walking over to you and hugging you tightly.

‘I hope so, Dare.’ You say snuggling your face into his jacket,

‘So, do you need any help with the dinner?’ Darren says smiling at you,

‘You know what I think I’m okay.. Besides we know what happened last time you helped me cook.’ You say smirking back.

You feel better about everything as you sit down at their dining table next to Darren to eat dinner. You notice Chuck hasn’t said anything all night which you feel bad about,

I wonder why he doesn’t like me?

You think to yourself as you listen to all of the stories Darren’s parents tell you about embarrassing moments for Darren which makes him wine at them telling them to stop. This makes you smile as you feel like you’re a part of their family. After dinner Chuck takes the plates into the kitchen and you decide to help. As you walk into the kitchen you notice Chuck starting to wash up,

‘Do you need some help?’ you ask grabbing a towel and drying up the plates,

‘No. I’m fine.’ he says not looking at you.

There’s a long silence and you finally have the guts to ask him,

‘Why don’t you like me, Chuck?’ you ask quietly.

At first he doesn’t answer but he put the plate down in the sink and finally turns to you,

‘I care about my brother, and I don’t want him to be in a relationship like he had with Kirsty because I absolutely hated her. I just don’t want you to be anything like her.’ He says looking down at his feet,

‘But how can you know what I’m like if you don’t even give me a chance in the first place?’ you ask confused,

‘I- I don’t know I guess I just wasn’t thinking.’ He answers going back to the washing up, ‘I’m sorry I judged you.’

‘That’s fine, so do you think we can have a fresh start?’ you ask hopeful,

‘Yeah.. that would be nice.’ He says finally smiling at you,

You smile back as you hold out you hand to him, ‘Hi, I’m (Y/N).’

Chuck laughs at you as he shakes your hand, ‘I’m Chuck.’

You talk for a bit longer as you help with the washing. Once it’s done you both walk into the lounge with smiles on your faces as you sit down next to Darren who just looks to you with a confused face,

‘You seem in a good mood.’

‘Yeah.. your brother is awesome.’ You say intertwining your fingers in Darren’s.

He eyes widen in shock as he smiles, ‘So I’m guessing you worked it out with him then?’

You just nod, ‘I mean once he found out what a huge fan I am of his music well, you know, that was part of the reason why he changed his mind about me.’ you say with a smirk,

‘Oh, really? Well maybe I should tell him about your music.’ Darren’s says teasing you now,

‘Oh no.. no, no, no.. you can’t do that! I suck compared to him!’ you say worried,

‘Fine I won’t but you do not suck, (Y/N). You’re amazing!’ he says smiling at you and grabbing you in a hug as you sit in his lap on their sofa.

‘I love you.’ You say smiling up at him.

The rest of the evening seems to fly by as you play some family games and Darren finally persuades you to join him and his brother in a song together and you have a great time. When it’s finally time to go you don’t want to leave,

‘It was so nice meeting you, (Y/N), I can’t wait to see you again.’ Darren’s mum tells you as she gives you a big hug,

‘Thank you for having me, I had a brilliant time tonight,’ you say hugging her back.

Darren’s dad gives you a hug to,

‘Just make sure you keep Darren in line. He can be a handful sometimes.’ He says jokingly,

‘Oh, I will don’t you worry.’ You say laughing as Darren looks hurt,

‘I am here you know.’ He says now laughing.

Chuck says goodbye to you and you hug him which he returns,

‘Maybe we can perform together sometime, seeing as how you’re such a big fan.’ Chuck says smiling at you which shocks you completely,

‘That’d be perfect!’ you say literally squealing.

You finally get into Darren’s car as he start driving back home,

‘Now that wasn’t so bad was it?’ Darren says squeezing you knee,

‘I love your family so much, Dare. They’re just perfect.’ You say leaning across and hugging him,

‘I’m glad you like them. I’m so proud of you, I know how my brother can be sometimes, and especially how he was with Kirsty, but he actually likes you which is hopeful.’ He says which makes you laugh,

‘Seriously, we have to go see them again soon! I wanna here more stories of baby Darren,’ you say teasing him,

‘Somehow I don’t think we’re going to be able to see them anytime soon, sorry.’ He says laughing,

‘Oh but those stories were so adorable. You were like the cutest baby.’ You say in hysterics now.

‘Well if they make you happy then maybe we can see them soon. But in the meantime you’ll just have to put up with me.’ he says grabbing your hand,

‘I’m sure that won’t be too much of a hardship for me, I guess.’ You say kissing him on the cheek as you enjoy the rest of the journey home.