Emanon: Darren
Hello y'all. This is the second story I work on – the first one being Alex and Sebastian. I'll place the link for that one below.
Hope you guys enjoy!
Sorry for the long delay – I don't have a laptop and am borrowing one at the moment.
Don't fret, though. I love this story and have really good plans for it.
This chapter concludes the end of Season 1.
I will start the next Season soon, so stay on the look out!
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/college/alex-and-sebastian/
A fellow reader made a playlist with most of the songs I've either used or will use in the A&S series. I've given him full control as to whether he wants a new channel for this story or just to continue on the original one. If y'all want to listen to the previous one while reading the chapters, the link for it is this:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJZWEUrY9KRSfQ98rYlMYix46VM0CJ7XS
Songs on YouTube:
Lee Brice – Rumor
I will keep you posted if another link is created.
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Every story is free on here, so please let's keep it that way and donate, guys.
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The Island Trip
Michael
I raised my hands to my head, exasperated. "Because I don't want to go to NYU, Vanessa! I just want to stay here for a few more years. Maybe just for my basics," I shrugged.
"Why not?" Vanessa asked, her brown eyes staring incredulously at me almost like what I said insulted her. "It's a much better school up there, Michael."
For the past couple of weeks we had been arguing about our choice of schools. Well, not our choice of schools, really, just mine.
"You might not like it but it's where I want to go." All I had wanted was her support, instead I had gotten condescending and disapproving remarks for weeks. "Why can't you just be happy for me?"
"Because I don't understand why you'd want to stay here for community college." She said the word community college the way one would say piss-covered toilet seat. "Everyone is either going to UT at Austin or Baylor or even A&M. Staying here - It's such a loser town!"
I stared at her, a dead panned expression on my face. "You think I'm a loser if I stay here? Is that what you're saying?"
She rolled her eyes at me like I was a small child saying something stupid. "No, Michael. But you can do so much better than ... community college."
Again, that condescending tone.
I couldn't take it anymore. I hated it when she used that patronizing tone with me. I hated how she just assumed everyone was as smart as her and had parents who could pay any and all her bills. "That's easy for you to say! You're Salutatorian at Veterans - the third highest senior. I'm barely top ten percent. I can't afford tuition anywhere else!"
"You could if you just take out extra loans," she said, matter-of-factly. "You can't just stay in this town and be a loser like, like -"
"Like my mom?" I finished for her, knowing full well what she meant.
"I didn't say that, Michael."
I shook my head, looking at her but not really wanting to see her. "No, you didn't. But it's what she did. What's so wrong about wanting to stay here?"
She seemed to notice my frustration at her lack of empathy. "Ok, look, I'm sorry." It would have been nice had she not said what she said next. "Maybe my dad can give you a loan or can pay your bills for a while up there."
"Jesus Christ. I'm not asking your parents for money, Vanessa!"
"Look, how about you just come with my friends over the winter break then. You'll see New York and you'll know what I'm talking about." She walked closer to me and placed her hand on my arm.
"I don't want to go to New York. I've told you I've always wanted to go back up to Austin."
"Again with that? Geez it's not even that nice of a town!" She pulled her hand away from me and looked at me, angry I hadn't accepted her offer.
"Look, you can do whatever you want over the break, Vanessa, but I had already told you Diana had invited us all to South Padre Island for Christmas. I had already told her I'd go and kinda wanted you to come with me."
"I'm not giving up New York for SPI." She crossed her arms and pouted her lips.
I hated when she did that. She had basically made up her mind on what she wanted. Not even the devil himself would change her mind.
"Fine," I said, already walking away. "Don't. I'm going with them, though. I'll see you after the break, Vanessa." I walked out of her house and headed to my car even as I heard her shout after me.
The drive to SPI might be long but I was sure the rest of the group would help me forget about this stupid fight.
I was right.
The drive to South Padre was long.
Luckily, between Diana, Tay, Kyle and Darren, it was not boring. We decided that, while I was driving shotgun, I'd get to pick the music we'd be listening to but Diana, the driver, could veto one song out of every four. It was a nice system we worked on that kept our moods up the closer we got to the island.
After about an hour, we finally arrived at the Causeway Bridge connecting Port Isabel to South Padre Island. While waiting to drive over the bridge, I lowered the music while Diana asked the group if they were ready for a badass weekend.
"Hell yeah!" Darren said, eagerly leaning forward on his seat and getting a little closer to me. "I actually ... borrowed my brother's ID just in case we wanted to buy some extra booze or something, guys." Darren's mischievous smile at the end made us all laugh.
"That's good thinking, D." Diana fixed her hair in the rearview mirror and smiled back at Darren. "I got a fake ID though, just in case. We really shouldn't be needing to use them – I think I got us enough to last us all three days, ha."
"I saw you pack four bottles of wine, Di." I looked over at my friend with the most innocent look I could muster. "But what are the rest of us gonna drink?"
Diana blushed and slapped my hand making me laugh. "Oh, shut up!"
I noticed her eyes look up at the rearview mirror and quickly look away. I wondered what that was about. I had about 30 minutes to wonder about it because that's how long we were stuck on the Causeway Bridge due to all the other people that chose this weekend to vacation here.
Still, the way the sun was setting on the island wile Christmas lights lit up was beautiful. As we drove down the main boulevard, I noticed that every corner and every store had its own set up making the whole street look like one huge Christmas village. I took a small sip of a flask I saw Diana hide in the glove compartment. From my peripheral, I saw Diana give me a quick, surprised glance. I chuckled after taking another sip and shrugged.
After some time, we finally got to our condo near the busiest part of the island. We unpacked our stuff rather quickly while Diana and I set up the drinks to make a quick toast. We finished setting up some cheap champagne glasses and called the rest of the guys over. Everyone grabbed a glass and we stood in a circle around the small table.
"To the holidays," Kyle raised his glass first, "And to Diana for letting us hang out in this awesome condo."
Diana covered her mouth while she laughed. "Thanks," she blushed but I wasn't sure if it was from the toast or if she had already been sneaking extra drinks. She raised her own hand, too. "To friends and to new and old loves this upcoming year."
I locked eyes with Diana and raised my glass. "To our senior year." I glanced at the juniors standing around and smiled. "And to the rest of your junior one, too."
"To making this new year our best one yet," Darren gave a small nod after raising his glass.
"To us," Tay smiled.
"To us," we repeated and gulped down our champagne. I looked at the newbies and couldn't help but laugh at the face Tay and Darren did after drinking the bubbly champagne. It seemed only Diana, Kyle and I were down for a refill. To Tay and Darren's credit, though, they did end up drinking another glass and a half of champagne. Granted, by then, Diana, Kyle and I were already on our third or fourth one. Still, it was nice to get a small buzz going.
We all grabbed our coats and began making our way downstairs before tonight's Christmas parade started. Despite how well I had done lately, thoughts about the fight I had with Vanessa still filled my head making it hard to stay in the holiday mood.
It took a small while, but we were able to finally find a small opening in the crowded street to be able to see the parade. Because Darren and I were the tallest, we let the girls and Kyle be closer to the edge of the street while we stood on a small ledge a little further back.
A few minutes later, I saw a group of three cute girls show up and stand a few feet next to us. They looked to be about twenty-one or twenty-two with two of them being brunettes and the other a blonde. Now, it wasn't how pretty these girls were that got my attention, oh no, it was how they were dressed as sexy elves.
Sexy elves, ha. Who would have thought?
What a time to be alive.
I excused myself from Darren to sneak in a quick cigarette at an intersection a few feet away.
"Hey, my friends and I are having a small get together close by if you want to join." She gave me an obviously flirty smile.
"That sounds like a dream." I gave her one of my own flirty smiles. "I could really use a drink tonight."
"Good," she winked. "Here," I furrowed my eyebrows, surprised, as she took my hand in hers. "Follow me."
"Michael? Hold up!"
I barely registered the sound of Darren's voice after the cute elf girl pulled my hand and we turned a corner.
Glancing back, I couldn't see signs of anyone in my group following me. Probably not the best thing to allow to happen when you're in a different city by yourself. I was confident, to an extent at least, that this sweet elf was innocent and wouldn't end up mugging me.
After turning yet another corner, elf girl finally stopped in front of a small building lit up by hundreds of white Christmas lights.
The Kraken Lounge.
The elf girl gave me a quick wink before tracing my arm with her hand and walking inside.
"Michael!"
I turned, surprised to hear a familiar voice.
Darren slowed his jog to a brisk walk when he finally reached me and turned to look back at where we came, likely trying to remember the way back. "Damn, you're lucky I ran cross country for two years or I would have lost y'all." At this point, he seemed to finally look at the building in front of us. On both sides of the door_, The Kraken_ had two large, protruding, orange tentacles giving the impression there was an actual kraken behind the door. "What is this place?" Darren asked, placing his hand on one of the tentacles.
"I'm not sure, the elf girl just walked in though."
Darren shot me a curious look after I mentioned the elf girl. He shook his head and continued looking at the door. "I think it's a bar," Darren said, pointing to another black, angry looking octopus above the name. "We can't go in there."
I gave the place one more glance before deciding that, after my fight with Vanessa earlier, I really could use a drink. "Come on Darren. Where's your sense of adventure?" I smiled. "Besides, you got your brother's ID for a reason, right? I got a fake one I can use, look." I handed him a fake ID Diana had found for me this past summer when I went to Austin with her.
Darren took my fake ID and studied it. In the dark, he had to squint to make out the details. "Well, yeah guess you're right ... Ernie Greene. That is literally the dumbest name I've ever read, ha-ha."
I snatched my ID back but couldn't help laughing, too. "Leave me alone! At least it looks like me."
"Yeah, if you had been left out in the sun a little too long and shrunk, like, three inches."
"Well, I can tell you where those extra three inches went, though. Ha-ha." I cracked up at my joke while Darren rolled his eyes and smiled. It seemed I had won him over.
After being let into the bar by the very negligent doorman, Darren and I made our way through the bar. I saw the cute elf girl talking with some of her friends near a corner booth and I motioned for Darren to follow me.
I waved as elf girl looked up at us and smiled. She met us halfway to her booth, winding and swaying through the modest sized crowd, and grabbed my hands.
"Hey," I said with a flirty smile. "So, can I ask why you brought us here?"
Elf girl smiled back at me.
What a cute smile she has, I thought.
"Well," she placed her right hand gently on my left shoulder.
Damn, this feels nice, I thought
"I kinda thought you were cute." She wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her body a little closer against mine. "And I wanted a little more privacy than what the parade was offering."
I smiled at the attention she gave me and glanced at her friends. They didn't seem to notice their friend throwing themselves at a complete stranger, though.
"Name's Michael by the way. What about yours?" I pulled her hands off my neck and held them at waist level.
"Elliott here." She smiled and, for the first time, seemed to notice Darren behind me. "And what about you, babe?"
I turned to look at Darren and found him looking back at us, eyebrows raised, surprised at her forwardness.
"I'm Darren," he waved and shot her one of his pearly white smiles. "You seem friendly," he laughed.
"It's Christmas. Everyone is friendly today! Especially," she leaned over and picked up two clear shot glasses with what appeared to be gummy bears at the bottom of the glasses, "If you have a few of these." She offered me one and held the other near her lips.
"What are they?" I asked, intrigued at the shot she offered.
"Gummy bear shots," one of her friends sitting near us offered Darren one and he took it with a questioning look aimed at me. "We're about to do a toast."
I shrugged at Darren and shot him a nervous smile. "What do you say?"
Darren seemed to ponder the ramifications of accepting drinks from strangers but, like me, must have appreciated free drinks regardless of where they came from. "When in Rome," he shrugged again.
Elliott moved between Darren and me and wrapped her hands around us both. "To New friends and fun times!"
I shot Darren one last look before we both tossed our heads back and drank the shot. For a shot, it didn't taste too much like alcohol ... but if I my older brother had taught me anything about booze, the smoother it goes down, the more fucked up you could get.
Elliott unwrapped her arms from Darren and me and sat back on the booth with her friends. Her hand caressed my chest a little longer than appropriate as she moved away.
"Yo, Michael." Darren elbowed me nonchalantly and motioned for us to walk to the bar.
"We'll be right back," I excused us and walked to the bar with Darren. We both ordered two draft beers and looked at each other while we waited for them.
"This place has a lousy underage drinking policy," I whispered in Darren's ear as the bartender gave us our glasses without so much as looking up from our debit cards.
"Well, I'm not complaining about the drinks," Darren laughed. "This is the most I've ever drank and I feel great. I don't know why people don't do it more often." He took a long sip of his beer before looking back at me with a goofy smile. "It feels great."
I smiled as I noticed Darren's cheeks begin to blush from the alcohol. "You should take it easy, pal." I laughed and took a drink from my beer, too. I blinked a couple of times and realized that I, too, was beginning to feel a little light-headed. I should take it easy, too, I guess.
Before heading back to the corner with the girls, Darren elbowed me lightly again.
"That girl is super into you man," he said, taking another small chug of his beer.
"Yeah," I looked back at Elliott and saw her look back at us and wave. "Yeah, she is," I waved back and smiled.
"What are you gonna do?" Darren asked.
I looked back at him and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm still with Vanessa, I guess."
Darren nodded but remained silent.
A quick thought popped up in my head. "What about you? I could probably set her up with you if you want."
"Nah," he smiled and took a longer sip from his beer. I laughed at the foam mustache that formed on his upper lip. I handed him a napkin and he cleaned himself up before continuing. "Not interested in her."
"Who are you interested in then?" I asked, fully expecting him to say Diana. The two of them had always been very friendly, more so than even mentors should be. God knew I wasn't as close to Sam as she and Darren were.
"Not an elf," he laughed.
"Yeah, I guess that is kind of a turn off, huh?"
"Unless you found Will Farrell in Elf arousing, then yeah, kind of a turn off, ha-ha."
"We can just keep drinking here then. It's clear Tay, Diana and Sam ditched us back there. We can catch up later." Lately Diana had felt a little weird to me but I didn't want to push the subject until she was ready. "Diana's gonna be pissed we got free drinks, though." She did like to drink, that one.
Darren and I walked back after deciding to stay with Elliott and her friends for a bit longer and enjoy the attention. At one point, one of Elliott's friends, a red head named Candace, began to cozy up with Darren.
A small tinge of annoyance hit me when I caught Darren and Candace begin making out after doing another two gummy bear shots.
I guess I was just a little jealous he was single and could mess around unlike me.
I blinked the thought away as Elliott offered me another gummy bear shot. She insisted in locking arms and facing each other while taking the shots. She leaned into my left ear and whispered, "We have an after party at my friend's apartment if you boys want to join us." She pulled back to see what my reaction would be.
I looked over at Darren as he broke his kiss with Candace and looked in my direction. I looked away, quickly, and shrugged. "Yeah, why not." I turned to look back at Darren. "You down for an after party, D?"
It took a second for my words to register with him. "Sure, where at?"
"It's not too far," Elliott smiled. "It's walking distance from here, actually."
Their place really wasn't too far away. After walking only a couple blocks, we walked through the front doors of a hotel near the shore and quickly beelined towards the stairs. Up on the third floor, we walked through a short hallway and waited for the people inside room 302 to open the door.
Inside, it seemed a party had already started and, after a few more gummy bear shots, a good chunk of the group had decided on drinking games. When a random couple called out to play spin the bottle, the rest of us were more eager to agree.
While the first few spins paired up others from our group, the next spin landed on Candace, the red head next to Darren, and Elliott, the elf girl to my right. After a few cheers, Candace and Elliott moved closer and kissed. They moved away and flashed everyone flirty smiles.
Darren and I locked eyes and laughed as Elliott grabbed the bottle and took her spin. The bottle spun for a few more seconds before finally landing on the next kisser – me. Elliott takes no time to wrap her arms around my neck and pull me to her lips.
Being that it was part of the game, I decided to go with the flow and give her a good, sexy kiss. Hell, I even bit her bottom lip a bit before pulling away.
.
Girl you know I've know you forever.
How many nights we hung out together?
Same little crowd, little bar, little town
'Round this old dance floor.
_.
_
"Damn, that was hot, Michael." Elliott placed the end of her beer to her forehead and fanned her face.
"Thanks," I laughed. "So, I just spin this?" I asked as I grabbed the bottle and spun. Round and round it went until it finally slowed down a few people before Candace. Little by little the bottle crept until it looked like it was about to land on her, but it didn't. It landed on the person next to her.
It landed on Darren.
"Ooh", the circle teased.
Elliott leaned her body into the circle. "You guys got to kiss," she said, accidentally spilling some of her drink on the floor. She paid it no mind, "It's the rules!" Elliott laughed and took a long sip of her strawberry flavored hard lemonade.
.
My boys are laughing and tap me on the shoulder.
Making a motion like, "Could y'all get any closer?"
They wanna know what's up why I'm still holding you.
Even when the song is over.
.
Darren and I locked eyes, both likely debating whether to go through with this or not. There were worse things to do while drunk, I decided. I smiled and gave him a small shrug. "It's the rules," I said with a smile.
Darren drew in a short breath but continued to look at me with nervous eyes. Slowly, we both leaned into each other until we were no more than a few inches apart. As we got closer, smaller details of his face came into focus. I could make out a small scar on the left side of his forehead, the way his eyes were not just blue, but had shy traces of grey and black, and even how his lips trembled a bit as he got closer.
.
Well I can shut 'em down, tell 'em all they're crazy._
I can do whatever you want me to do, baby.
Or you could lay one on me right now.
We could really give them something to talk about._
.
It seemed everyone held their breaths as we stopped inches away. Before we could overthink it and fuck this night up, both Darren and I closed our eyes and locked lips. The first thought that popped in my head was how warm Darren's breath was as we kissed. The second was how soft and warm his lips were. What started as a small peck grew into a longer, more drawn out kiss. The shots we had taken were clearly getting the better of us. We only broke apart when we heard Elliott and her friends cheer. I opened my eyes in surprise as someone grabbed me by the back of the shirt and pulled. From across, I saw the surprise in Darren's eyes as Candace did the same to him.
"Damn that was hot!" Elliott laughed and let me fall into her lap. "You boys were hot!"
I gave a nervous laugh as I rested my drunken head on her lap and smiled nervously in Darren's direction. Like me, his cheeks were flushed and he seemed out of breath but when our eyes met, we shot each other a smile. I blinked when a vibration coming from my pants registered in my brain. Pulling my phone out, I saw a few missed calls from both Diana and Tay as well as Vanessa and my mom. Quickly, I texted my mom that I was okay and we had called it a night early. Afterwards, I replied to Diana and got a response back in less than a few minutes.
"Darren, we need to go!" I called out to Darren from in the middle of another make out session with Candace.
He broke his kiss and looked at me, confused as to why I'd make him stop.
I slapped his foot a bit to get him to focus. "It's Diana. They are nearby on an uber. We got to go." Turning to look back at Elliott, I grabbed her hand and smiled. "Thanks for having us. We had a great time, but we need to go now."
"Baby, why? You should stay." Elliott leaned down closer to me – close enough for me to really, really want to stay.
I gave her a small laugh. "We can't – I can't. Really sorry about this, Elliott." I heard her give a small groan while I stood up and looked for Darren. When I didn't see him by the door, I looked back on the ground in front of me.
I should have known – they were back to making out. I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face as I walked over and helped pick him up by his arm. "Buddy, we really need to go now," I laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. OK." Darren got to his feet and helped Candace up, too. "To be continued?"
Candace fixed a few locks of her red hair that had gotten in the way of her eyes. "That would be great yeah. Here's my number." She stuck her hand in Darren's pocket and pulled out his phone.
I don't know if, in my buzzed state, my face did a look that made it obvious how forward I thought that was. I waited for them to change information and then pulled Darren through the door.
"Ok, you dog. Keep it in your pants," I laughed as we walked down the hallway towards the stairs we came up from.
"Ha-ha. She really wanted me to stay, man, but I told her I couldn't. Damn near broke her heart," Darren laughed.
"Shut your mouth, ha-ha!" I stopped near the bottom of the first set of stairs and looked back at him, his cheeks were flushed from the booze and the stairs. "I'll give you that, for a junior, you're pretty good."
"Ha-ha, thanks." Darren was quiet for a second before I heard him add something else. "Wait. What do you mean for a junior?"
"Nothing, nothing, ha-ha." I continued to make my way down the stairs but stopped when I realized Darren was still at the top of the second-floor stairs giving me a look letting me know he was waiting for me to continue. "Just meant that you still have ways to go," I teased.
"Ways to go? Ha-ha." Darren made his way down the stairs and stopped a few steps before joining me on the platform for the first floor. "I've never had complaints from any of my past girlfriends, you know?" His blue eyes met my own and I saw a glimmer of ... something in them - I couldn't place it. "Besides," he shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I was the best kisser tonight."
"You cocky little shit," I laughed and walked up a few steps to get closer to him. Jabbing his chest, I laughed. "You know I rocked your world back there."
"You couldn't rock my world even if you sat me in a rocking chair, Mike." He shot me another cocky grin as he walked down another step to get closer to eye level.
.
Oh, be honest girl now._
Do you want to do this or not?
Should we keep them talking, girl
Or should we just make 'em stop?._
.
"Oh yeah?" I asked, placing my right hand on the rails as I looked at him. My other hand rested on the wall to my left, both helping me stay balanced.
"Yeah." Darren got up close to my face, not aggressively, just close enough for me to see and remember how soft and warm his lips were.
My eyes traveled down from his lips up to his blue eyes. Damn, the guy was an eye full. If his older brother was any example, Darren would grow up to look just as chiseled and good looking as him. With his blue eyes, sandy brown hair, lean body and killer smile, I knew that if Darren wanted to, he could get whatever girl he wanted.
Before either of us knew it, the inches separating us where gone. I felt the warmth of his lips again right before feeling that warmth that comes from a really good kiss. Something about the alcohol or the holiday vibes or maybe even the sexual tension from the party made this kiss feel so much hungrier and longer.
.
There's a rumor going 'round about me and you_
Stirring up our little town the last week or two.
So tell me why we even trying to deny this feeling -
I feel it, don't you feel it too?_
.
I pulled his head closer to mine and felt his warm hands reach under my shirt and touch my back. My own hands began tracing his back and I felt the muscles tense and stretch as I ran my fingers across them. In my drunken state, the feeling of his mouth moving to my bottom lip and give a playful bite fried my brain. I smiled as I realized what was happening – Darren wanted to settle who the best kisser was.
I pulled away from his lips and made my way to the left side of his face. I licked and ran my tongue across his neck until I reached his ear and began to nibble. Darren's body noticeably shivered and a proud smile stretched across my lips. I made my way back to his mouth and kissed him again, hungrier, more provoked.
.
There's a rumor going 'round, and 'round, and 'round._
What'd you say we make it -
Make it true?_
Let's really give them something to talk about, baby.
.
To my surprise, Darren grabbed my waist and spun us so that my back was to the wall now. He grabbed my arms and pulled my hands up above my head. After this, he moved his mouth and began kissing my neck again. He gave my neck and shoulders playful nibbles that sent shivers down my body. Fuck, I figured it wouldn't be long before Darren accidentally felt my hard on through my jeans if he hadn't already.
A few second after he made his way back up to my lips, I pushed him back and shook my head. "Hold up, wait."
"What's wrong?" He asked out of breath.
"I - I can't." I cleared my throat and shook my head again. "We can't."
Course we couldn't, the guy was hammered and I was – well, I didn't know what I was. Maybe I was lonely because of my fight with Vanessa? Maybe I was just really horny from the booze? Whatever it was, neither of us should do something that could fuck up our social lives tonight.
Darren blinked a few times and began sobering up. "But – "
"I know." I locked eyes with him and shrugged. "I'm drunk, too. But there's Vanessa and it – well, it wouldn't be fair to her."
"You're right," Darren said, the color draining from his face as he sobered up. "It wouldn't."
"We should - we should probably find our way back to Diana and them." I tried not to make it obvious as I fixed my shirt and adjusted my pants. "They must be worried sick about us." I was silent for a few seconds after, thinking about everything that happened tonight.
"Michael," he said, looking at me, for a second, with what appeared to be a downhearted look.
"Yeah, man?"
"No - nothing." He shook his head and that look with it. "Thanks for looking out for me tonight."
"Yeah. It's alright, bud. We were just drunk tonight and having fun."
From my peripheral, I saw Darren nod in agreement. "Yeah. Glad we ditched the other three, ha."
I gave him a small smile. "Yeah, glad here, too."