Once Upon a Time

It was somewhere around noon when I woke up the next day. Darren had kept me out til sometime around 2 that morning. We’d stayed at the small bar swapping stories of our musical childhoods and drinking, far too much. My fingers found my way to my lips as I replayed him walking me back up to the apartment.

“Well, this is me.” I laughed, falling against the door. I was way to drunk and everything was slowly spinning around me. Darren’s arm found it’s way next to my head as he steadied himself in front of me.

“I had a good time tonight.” He smiled. “Thank you for telling me a little bit about why you came here. I feel like I cracked part of the Da Vinci Code or something.”

He laughed; once again it was that open-mouthed, eyes crinkled laugh. I admired him and his ability to seem to find humor in everything. It was at that moment I realized how close he was to me; I could feel his slow, metered breathing on my face. His breathe smelt of the gum he was chewing and the bourbon he’d been drinking all night. The mix of bourbon, mint, and whatever cologne he was wearing was heady to say the least. Almost intoxicating in it’s presence.

I barely had a chance to catch a breath before I felt his lips on mine. My eyes closed in response and I was thankful I was trapped between Darren and the door; otherwise I might have fallen flat on my ass.

He seemed hesitant at first, it may have been a momentary and split second feeling, but my inebriated mind seemed to want to stretch out time. It wasn’t until I felt his tongue sweep across my bottom lip and his free hand find it’s way to the nape of my neck that I was extremely thankful for this. His lips moved in an expert fashion to some unknown beat before pulling my bottom lip between his teeth. I couldn’t help the moan this action elicited as I reveled in the small pain it caused. I could only imagine that his moan in return and the way his hand moved into my hair, slightly pulling it at the roots, meant he was enjoying himself as well.

My hands were still stationed, palm down on the door in at attempt to steady myself but one soon found its way into his curls while the other landed on his belt, pulling him as close to me as possible.
That was when he slowly pulled his lips away from mine, his body still close as he rested his forehead on mine. I hadn’t noticed how out of breath I was until he wasn’t intoxicating my senses any longer.

“So this means I get a second date right?”

Lea was passed out on the couch when I’d walked into the apartment, and I knew that she would probably question me about where I’d been last night. I pulled myself out of bed and opened my door. Lea was still on the couch, although I assumed she was awake because she seemed to be moaning as her arm rested over her eyes.

“Where were you last night?” she asked. How the hell did she even know I was up?

“Out.” I answered as I headed into the kitchen to get some coffee, can’t come up with a good lie before coffee.

“I assumed that, where were you? You said you were staying home last night.”

I couldn’t help but sigh as I poured the coffee grounds into the machine, hoping this would be done before I had to deliberately and flamboyantly lie to my obviously hungover friend lying on the couch.
“Elle! I asked you where you were. I was worried as hell when I got home and you weren’t here.”
“I had a date.” I relinquished. I watched as Lea quickly moved from her supine position on the couch and looked at me with her trademark accusatory stare.

“With that guy from the other night?”

I nodded as the coffee finished and I quickly set to work at getting the euphoric brown liquid into a cup before I had to finish this tale.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked. She almost looked hurt, I wasn’t aware that foregoing information to my best friend would make me feel like such shit.

“You told me not to associate myself with homeless people the other night, so I thought maybe I should see what happened before I told you about it.”

“Oh Elle, I was drunk. I just remember you talking to some guy. Tell me how your date went?”

I regaled the tale to Lea, telling her about our impromptu performance at the bar with him singing a Little Mermaid song, getting way to drunk, and the intoxicating kiss we’d shared at the door.

“So do you actually like him?” she asked, her blood shot eyes were staring a hole through me.

“Yeah…. I kind of do.” Lea laughed and jumped to embrace me in a tight hug before I could steady the mug of coffee in my hand, accidentally spilling some of it onto her blanket.

“This is so exciting. I was waiting for you to finally move on.” She was referring to my ex, Bradley. It had been nearly 6 months since we’d broken up, and though getting a break from Broadway and my mother was the main reason for my move, I couldn’t deny that he had something to do with it as well. We’d dated for a year and a half before I found out he’d fucked half the dancers in A Chorus Line. To say my pride, ego, and reputation had been bruised would be the understatement of my life thus far. I’d been in the midst of trying to convince the director of a play I’d been offered a role in to remove him from the cast, unsuccessfully, before this opportunity had arisen.

“So when are you seeing him again?” she questioned, far too happily for someone as hungover as she seemed to be.

“I’m not sure. We talked about a second date but it’s been less than 12 hours Lea.” I laughed. “How was last night with Diana and everyone? You were drooling on the couch when I stumbled in last night?”

Lea fell back on the couch and relived the memories of dancing on a bar, challenging Diana to ‘Who Can Get the Most Free Drinks,’ and the awful drunken karaoke that they did. Lea was somewere in between her story about the man who’d bought her 5th and 6th drink when my phone vibrated in my lap. My gaze quickly fell down to the phone to read the text on the screen.

Darren: Ms. Elle, I had a fantastic evening last night and I wanted to let you know I think you stole my gum at some point in the evening. ;)

I couldn’t help but smile at the message. Lea must’ve noticed the change in my demeanor, for before I was able to form my reply she made a comment.

“That must be the mystery man.” She smiled.

I replied with a mumbled ‘yes’ and I quickly typed my response.

Elle: I had a good time as well. I don’t remember stealing said gum. Must’ve been the girl you went out with after me.

Darren: Well damn, I’ll have to text her later. I know it’s soon and I just saw you, but some of my friends from Michigan are in town and we’re having a party tonight at my apartment. Would you want to join us?

“He ask you out again yet?” Lea questioned with a sly smile.

“He wants me to meet some of his friends.” I replied, my memories pulling me back to my first meeting with Bradley’s friends. I’d absolutely despised them and they hadn’t been my biggest fans either. I remember Bradley telling me they’d described me as “cold”, “bitchy”, and “judgemental.” Talk about an ego killer.

“Tonight?” Lea asked. I only nodded in response. “Go!”

“You remember how much Bradley’s friends hated me Lea. We’ve been out on one date, don’t you think that’s too soon to be meeting the friends?”

“Not at all. That’s the perfect time, you’ve been out on one date. It’s not serious, so if they hate you, no loss. If they like you, it means you can go forward and see what happens without having to worry about the crap later.” She reasoned. She had a point. '

Elle: Sure, time and address?

Darren quickly responded with a smiley face and told me to be at his apartment around 7. Looking at the clock it was only a little after 1. I decided to sit around and babysit Lea for a few hours. We spent that time watching mindless television and making comments about the quality of acting on daytime television these days. It was something I’d missed doing with Lea ever since she’d left New York. Critiquing people’s abilities was always something we’d spend our free time doing. We’d listen to new albums, watch movies or TV, or even watch revivals of plays and musicals, critiquing every line, note, and phrase of the actors and actresses.

It wasn’t until sometime around 5 that I decided I needed to start getting dressed. I’d yet to actually truly move that day, spending most of it lying in my own hungover filth next to Lea.

After an insanely refreshing shower, I quickly pulled my hair back and threw on one of my most comfortable blue shirts, jeans, and my oxford shoes before heading back out into the living room. The clock on the wall read 6:30pm, my maps had said that Darren’s apartment was only a 15 minute walk from Lea’s and so I decided since it was nice weather, I would simply walk.

“Wish me luck.” I winked to Lea as I stepped out of the bedroom. She was still sulking on the couch, now devouring a box of crackers as she watched Moulin Rouge on the television.

“You’ll be fine, just be yourself. You look good by the way. I think LA has done good things for you.” She smiled.

I muttered a quiet ‘I know’ before heading out of the apartment. I stopped by the Starbucks a block from the apartment to get a cup of coffee before heading to the party. I blamed my mother for my addiction to coffee, didn’t matter the time of day I could always use a cup to get a little pep in my step.

My 15 minute stroll quickly turned into 25 as I slowly made my way to Darren’s apartment the caffeine from the coffee making me slightly more jittery than I already was. His apartment turned out to be on the bottom floor of a quaint fourplex that Lea and I passed by everyday to go to the lot. I made my way into the lobby, nervously tapping my foot on the tile as I knocked on the door. Through the thin wood, I could already hear a chorus of laughter and the strumming of a guitar. The door flew open and before me was… not Darren. Instead a man with shaggy dark hair and a crooked smirk greeted me.

“You must be Elle.” He smiled, extending his hand to me. “I’m Joey.”

I took his hand with a small smile.

“Hey Darren, your girls here!” he yelled before standing aside and letting me into the apartment. When Darren had said a few of his friends were in town, I wasn’t quite expecting the group of 10 people that were shoved into the small apartment.

Darren was sitting on the floor of the living room, guitar situated in his lap and a pen hanging from his mouth. He looked up at me and waved me over.

“Hey there.” He smiled, greeting me with a small kiss before gesturing for me to take a seat beside him. “Glad you could make it.” He whispered with a small smirk. It was at that moment I felt the familiar heat on my cheeks that this man seemed to elicit.

“Hey everybody. This is Elle. Elle that’s Joey, Lauren, Meredith, Brian, Brian number 2, Bonnie, Denise, Julia, and Joe.” He pointed to each person as he stated their name. I was mildly bad with names, so I was sure at some point in the evening I would be bound to forget their name. “We were just writing some new music.”

“New music?” I asked. The small petite girl sitting on the couch across from us, I believe her name was Lauren spoke up, answering my question.

“For our new show.” Her smile was infectious. I smiled back, slightly unsure as to what she was talking about. “Did Darren not tell you?”

I shook my head, unsure of what exactly Darren had ‘not told’ me.

“We do musicals. Write, produce, all that stuff. We actually have a little production company based out of Chicago. That’s where most of us live. Mr. Hollywood here on the other hand decided he wanted to be here. So we had to come out here to see how the composer was coming along.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you wrote music?” I asked, smiling at Darren who only regarded me with a small shrug.

“He’s far too humble for his own good.” One of the men said. His name was Brian, but I wasn’t sure if it was Brian #1 or #2. “We wrote a musical parody of the Harry Potter movies. It’s all on YouTube, but we’re in the middle of writing music for the sequel.”

“Wow.” I breathed, looking over at Darren. Why did this man have to make it so hard to not like him.

“What is it you do?” Lauren questioned, I looked over to her questioning gaze. It didn’t seem malicious, just curious.

“Currently…” I started with a sigh. “… I’m a dancer on a new show that’ll come out this fall, but before that I was attending Tisch in New York. I’ve been in musicals since I was 8.”

“Is that what you want to do? Be in musicals?” she continued, not skipping a beat from the time I’d finished my statement to when she asked her next question.

I still wasn’t sure. I loved musicals, I loved being on stage, but a lifetime of doing it? I still wasn’t sure.

“I love being on stage. I love performing. I’ll take whatever opportunities come my way, but I’ve also thought about maybe teaching. Once my time of performing is long gone, teaching musical theatre courses or something like that. Or even get into the production side of it.”

Lauren nodded at me, a small smile on her face before she flashed a wink in Darren’s direction. I looked over to him and saw the same small smile, knowing they’d just shared some secret, silent, friend conversation that I wasn’t a part of. I could only hope she wasn’t secretly communicating that I was a wretched, bitch and that she hated me.

The night passed by fairly quickly, with the people I’d come to know as ‘The Starkids’ serenaded me with songs of their musicals, most of which were from ‘A Very Potter Musical’. To say I was impressed would be an understatement, the fact that the man sitting beside me, the man who’d shoved me against my apartment door last night, was capable of writing such witty and catchy music was mind boggling. After a few beers, they’d begun drunkenly singing words to some new melody that Darren had come up with. Lauren and I had managed to find our way to one another dancing to the music as I assisted her in the choreography. Granted, drunken dancing would probably not be the moves that made it into the show, but I was grateful that she seemed to like me. Mainly, because she seemed to have a close friendship with Darren. It was somewhere around 3 in the morning when those who were staying at a hotel down the street made their exit while Lauren, Joey, and Brian began to make their perspective beds on the floor and couch.

“Are you ok to drive home?” Darren questioned, pulling himself up from the floor and looking down at me.

“I walked here. My apartment is only 15 minutes away, I’ll be o…”

“No, you’re going to stay here. Call Lea, let her know. You can have my bed, I’ll sleep out here with Joey and them.” He interrupted before standing up. He held his hands out to me and I allowed him to pull me up from the floor.

“Darren, really it’s not that far. Besides, I don’t want to kick you out of your bed. I’ll be fine, really.”
“Well, too bad I’m not giving you a choice in the matter.” He smiled before pushing me lightly on the back, leading me into the bedroom. I took a seat on the edge of his bed, admiring the pictures and artwork scattered around the slightly messy room when I was assaulted with a t-shirt and a pair of lounge pants. “They’re probably a little big, but you’ll have something to sleep in, and in the morning I’m sure Lauren’s got all kinds of girly shampoo and shit that you can use and I’ll take you home.”
I smiled at him as he grabbed a few articles of clothing from the dresser drawer and began to make his way out of the bedroom.

“Darren.” I started, nervously biting my bottom lip before the sentence even came out of my mouth. “We can share the bed if you want.”

He looked at me with a look of shock and confusion in his slightly bloodshot eyes. “The bed is big enough and I don’t want to kick you out of your own bed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” I stated, pulling myself up from the bed before making my way into the attached bathroom to change. I quickly peeled off my clothes, slipping into the Michigan t-shirt that Darren had given to me. I slipped on the pants, and upon realizing that even the drawstring didn’t make them big enough to not fall off, opted to sleep in my underwear. It’s not as if they were incredibly revealing so I only assumed I should be fine. When I walked out, Darren was already settled underneath the comforter, adjusting the pillows to the left of him. He was sans shirt and I only hoped the slight gasp that emitted was quiet enough for him to not notice.

Damn it. He seemed to finally notice my presence as I started walking towards the bed.

“Pants not fit?” he asked.

“No.” I mumbled as that damned blush once again rose to my cheeks and I hurriedly slid underneath the covers next to Darren.

“Thanks for coming over tonight. My friends really enjoyed you tonight.”

“They’re fantastic.” I smiled, sliding down into the bed and looking up at Darren with a small smile. “Really, you’re lucky to have that many people who are there for you.”

I was slightly shocked by the immediate contact of Darren’s lips with mine, but welcomed it and my hands soon found their way to the same place as they’d been the other night, tangled in his hazardous curls. He was supporting himself on his elbow while the other hand slowly and tentatively rested itself on my hip; I initially shivered at the contact of his cold hand on the sliver of bare skin. I felt the weight of him above me becoming more and more heavy as his tongue lightly swept across my bottom lip. Damn him.

This was much different than the last time we’d kissed. It wasn’t drunken and panicked; instead it was slow and needful. His hand grasped at the material of the t-shirt and I slowly moved one hand from the nape of his neck and let my fingernails slowly trail down his chest. He lowly moaned into my mouth as I felt his body jump slightly before his mouth moved from my mouth, trailing small kisses along my jaw line until he reached my neck. This was the moment when I felt cold, the sweet heat of his mouth was no longer on me and I could feel his heavy breathing, matching pace with my own.

“I’m sorry.” He panted, his head taking refuge in the space between my neck and shoulder.
“For what. I was about to ask why you stopped.” I laughed, pulling my head away just enough to see him looking back at me with an amused smirk. He quickly kissed me on the lips and sat up on the bed, leaning back against the headboard.

“Ok. At risk of me sounding like a complete girl, I actually kind of like you and I’m so incredibly attracted to you that I knew if I kept going, it wouldn’t be long before I legitimately couldn’t stop. I don’t want you to …. Regret anything that happens between us physically, so I thought it’d be best to stop.”

“I actually kind of like you to.” I started, mirroring his position against the headboard of the bed. “And I’m not the kind of person who does things I don’t want to do, or gets pressured into anything. So how about you tell me when you think it’s too much and I’ll tell you when it’s too much and we’ll go from there.”

“Sounds like an idea.” He smiled. “Now I have another one. How about we actually go to sleep now?”

I could only muster a small laugh as I nodded and settled back down into the bed. I felt him sink down beside me and his arm snake its way around my waist. His slow and steady breathing was hot against my ear.

“Goodnight Darren.” I mumbled, scooting closer to him and pulling the blanket up slightly.

“Goodnight Elle.” He murmured. His lips lightly kissed the back of my neck, and that was the last thing I remember before drifting off to sleep in the arms of this crazy, insane, beautiful man.