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They fight over what hotel to stay at.
It’s not a bad fight. It’s the kind they bounce back from in almost an hour.
The stupid thing is, they’re not fighting for the hotel they want to stay at. They’re fighting over wanting to stay at the hotel the other would like best.
Chris insists on the All-Star Music Resort, because it’s cheaper (stretching their gifted dollars further) and Darren will fit right in with the cheesy music-themed decor.
Darren says the money was a present anyway and they should spend it in style. He wants to book them at the Caribbean Beach Resort. “It’s perfect for you. It’s a beach resort without the beach.”
“The pool is shaped like a guitar,” Chris counters, pointing at a picture on the website he’s got pulled up on his laptop. They’re side by side on the couch, Darren with his own computer open to the Beach Resort site.
“There’s a water slide in this pool.”
“There’s a bar at this pool.”
“There’s a bar at this pool, too. And they do pizza delivery.”
“You suck.”
“You suck more.”
Chris slams his laptop shut and gets up, going into the bedroom.
Darren plays his guitar loudly.
The tension lasts until Chris gets hungry and comes back out. “You want to order pizza? I’ve been craving it since you mentioned the delivery thing.”
Darren looks up at him and grins. “Sounds good.”
In the end, they stay at a totally different hotel - the Swan Resort, because Chris says it feels like a fairytale and Darren says he could totally be a prince.
Chris almost picks another fight, because he’s still touchy about some things, and he doesn’t want anyone to think he’s the one that needs a prince to rescue him from anything. But Darren looks at him with those sweet eyes and Chris knows he doesn’t mean it like.
“You be the prince and I’ll be the ugly duckling?” Chris says, instead of the more cutting response he’d had to begin with.
“No way,” Darren says. “Are you kidding? We’re gonna write our own Disney story, okay? Prince gets the prince, they both live happily ever after.”
*
Bags are packed and waiting by the door. The stove is off and none of the faucets have been left running. Chris has double and triple checked everything that could possibly need to be checked. Beni is safely relocated to Julia’s for the week with lots of food and her favorite toys. (Chris may have already put in a request for at least twice daily pictures just to make sure she seems happy.)
“Can you check again?” Chris asks.
Darren probably rolls his eyes, but Chris isn’t watching. This is the fourth time he’s requested that Darren see if Joey is here yet to give them a ride the airport. Chris fibbed about the time of their flight just in case Joey was running late, since Joey does have a tendency of doing that. They’ll end up an hour early but Chris is insistent on needing the padding and Darren is all right humoring him, even if it interrupts his level of Candy Crush. “This one was timed and I totally just lost a life!” He calls out, shoving the phone into his pocket.
“You’ll survive,” Chris shouts back from the bedroom. He comes out with the tail end of a phone charger cable sticking out of his pocket and his favorite hat on.
Darren makes a face. “I hate that one.”
Chris ignores it. “He here yet?”
Darren turns and looks out the window. “Oh hey, coming up the street now. “
“Got everything?” Chris asks, grabbing his suitcase.
“Yep!” Darren grins at him. They get out the door and actually hear it lock shut before Darren says, “Shit, hold on, I forgot my jacket.”
Chris groans and elbows him. “I told you-“
“Shut up, Chris,” Darren says, beaming. “We’re going to fucking Disney World.”
Chris makes a face, but it works like a charm – he smiles back. “Asshole. Go get your jacket.”
*
They’ve managed to snag decent nonstop tickets for less than three hundred bucks each, which means they get to skip the drama of layovers and connections and carting their carry-on bags around unfamiliar airports.
Instead they spend two hours watching a movie together on Chris’s laptop, sharing earbuds and leaning into each other’s space.
When the drink service comes around, Darren whips out his debit card and orders two glasses of champagne.
“Do you know how overpriced that is?” Chris whispers.
Darren just shrugs. “Hey, we’re on vacation, baby.”
The flight attendant smiles indulgently at them. Once she’s walked away, they toast by clinking their plastic airline cups together.
*
It still doesn’t take much to get Chris drunk. They have another glass of champagne each, with Chris finishing off the final quarter of Darren’s last one. It leaves him giggly and mellow by the time they land.
He takes Darren’s hand as they walk through the terminal without even thinking about it. This is so far removed from normal life and home.
He’ll be whoever the fuck he wants here.
(And maybe once they get back home, too.)
*
They don’t plan on going to any of the parks the first day, but when they check into the hotel the attendant tells them that if they want they can go to the park after hours.
Chris already knows this, but Darren had seemed to like the idea of the pool the first day and he hadn’t wanted to push his own agenda. This is their trip but it’s Darren’s graduation present. He wants to set aside special things just for Darren.
Darren lights up at the suggestion, though. “Chris! We fuckin- I mean, we gotta. Can we?”
“Oh my God, you’re five-years-old,” Chris says. The guy behind the counter is busy keying in information but he’s laughing at them while he does it. With them, maybe, not at them - because Chris and Darren are both laughing. “Of course. That sounds fun.”
“Awesome, glad I could help you out there,” the guy (whose name tag reads Adam) says. “And you’re all checked in, here are your keys. We’ll get those bags up to your room soon.”
As soon as they’ve cleared the lobby and entered the elevator bank, Darren grabs Chris. He swings him around and kisses him on the mouth. “I love you.”
“I know,” Chris says. The champagne buzz is gone but he still feels high on being here. He wraps his arms around Darren and presses their bodies together. He whispers like he’s about to say something sweet and romantic but what comes out of his mouth is, “Hey, Adam was kind of hot.”
Darren’s jaw drops and he shoves Chris back. “Feeling that love, man.”
Chris leans against the wall, hand darting out to hit the floor up button. “What? I’m in a stable, committed relationship, but I still have eyes.”
Darren leans against the wall on the opposite side of the elevator doors. “Fine. That chick in front of us at the car rental place? Great rack.”
“Really? I thought they were a little.” He makes an up and down gesture with cupped hands in front of his chest. “Fake?”
“You think fake boobs can’t still be great boobs? Naw, I mean, whatever floats her boat.” Darren gets a far-away expression on his face. Chris has come to know this as Darren’s ‘thinking about boobs’ expression. He cuts Darren some slack; it has been a while since he’s seen any outside of straight porn.
(Which they’ve watched together, once or twice. Chris does more looking at Darren than watching the screen, but Darren shows no signs of complaining. Chris stopped minding the idea of Darren looking at porn with girls in it totally when he realized that the sex afterwards is really hot. Plus, it apparently puts him in the running for best boyfriend ever, he’s learned.)
“Mm, and those would probably float,” Chris agrees. There’s a ding and an elevator opens - not one they’ve been talking in front of, but a couple doors down. They let an elderly couple step out and then get in. Chris grabs Darren’s arm and kisses his cheek. “By the way, I love you, too.”
*
The texts from their friends start to come in that afternoon. They must all be together, because the line of thought moves from one person to the next fluidly.
From Joey:
There has never been a sadder face than this face right now.
From Lauren:
Bring me back Minnie ears. Or Goofy ears. OR GOOFY. BRING ME BACK GOOFY.
From Nick:
Ignore Lauren. Bring ME back Goofy.
From Julia:
[beni misses you.jpg]
There are more - so many more. They sit side by side on the bed in their hotel room and Darren reads through the rest of them out loud.
From Chris (Group Message):
Next year you should all come, too.
*
They shower and stretch out on the bed in their underwear, a celebratory makeout session turned impromptu nap. It’s good, a couple hours of rest before their stomachs wake them up.
Or at least Darren’s stomach wakes Chris up. Somehow, Darren sleeps through it.
It lets out another grumble. Chris scoots down on the bed and rests his head on Darren’s stomach, ear right up to it.
When the next noise comes he snorts. That wakes Darren up.
“Uh... oh. Hello there. Whatcha doing down there?” Chris is facing away from Darren - facing his crotch. Darren sounds hopeful when he adds, “Is this going to a blowjob place?”
Chris hums like he’s considering it. His breath blows across Darren’s belly button and he watches with interest as the line of Darren’s cock in his briefs starts to shift and thicken. “I don’t think I’ve ever watched you get hard like this before,” he notes.
Darren whines. “You can’t wake me up with your head right there and expect it not to happen.”
“Your stomach was growling,” Chris explains. Darren still getting hard - halfway there now, maybe. “This is kind of fun to watch.”
“More fun if you’d touch it,” Darren says. “You’re - stop - you’re just watching it! That’s creepy?”
Chris sits up briefly and then lays back down in a more comfortable position. He crosses his arms over Darren’s stomach, resting his chin on them. “No. I like this. This is interesting.”
“Chriiiiiis.”
“Daaaaarren.”
Darren’s hips shift restlessly. He props one knee up and whines again. “You’re so mean.”
Chris leans forward and blows his breath where the tip of Darren’s cock strains against the material. He can see Darren’s cock trying to twitch and then a damp spot forms. “Oh... neat.”
He feels Darren’s hand on his head, fingers raking through his hair. “You know you just want a little taste.”
Chris snorts and rolls over to look at Darren. “Did you really just say that? That’s so cheesy. That’s not sexy.”
Darren pouts. His hair is flying all around his face and there’s a flush spreading down his chest.
“You like being watched, too.” Chris moves around, straddling Darren so that Darren’s cock is snug against his ass. He rocks back and forth a little bit. “You got turned on so fast.”
“Like you didn’t?” Darren reaches out and traces his fingers along Chris. He’s a little behind Darren but showing some interest, for sure. “Fuck then food?”
Chris leans forward, arms on the bed on either side of Darren, and kisses him. It’s open-mouthed from the first touch, tongues dragging across each other while their bodies fall into form with practiced ease. “Blowjobs?”
Darren grabs two handfuls of Chris’s ass, spreading the cheeks apart and digging his fingers in against the cloth against his hole. “I wanted to fuck.”
“But we’re walking around a theme park all day tomorrow...” Chris kisses down Darren’s neck, feeling the tendon thick and hot under his lips. He drags his teeth across it to see Darren shiver. “And I don’t think either of us wants to be sore like that.”
“Screw you and your logic.” Darren flips them over, laughing. “Fine. But I’m hungry, so let’s sixty-nine.”
Chris laughs so hard he has to cover his face with his hands. “Are you serious? My come is not that filling.”
“Hey- not what I meant! Just, like, it’s faster, so we can go eat sooner!” Darren bucks down against him in what Chris assumes is supposed to be punishment, but really just feels good.
Chris pushes Darren off of him and shoves his shorts down, cock flopping heavily against his stomach. He wraps his fingers around himself and looks at Darren, smirking. “Come on, then. What are you waiting for?”
*
They have dinner on the boardwalk and then stroll, fingers loosely tangled, from the restaurant to the park. It’s dark out, and the heat of the day has been taken down to a tolerable level. They’re both in shorts and t-shirts, and Darren has his sunglasses tucked into his pocket. Chris smiles when he sees a little girl that can’t be older than three eye the bright pink frames and reach her hand out.
If Darren had noticed he’d probably have given them right to her. Darren likes kids; Chris didn’t realize that for a long time, because they’re never around any, but over the last Christmas when they’d been with Chris’s family he’d gotten to see how Darren acted around all of his cousins and their younger offspring.
It shouldn’t really surprise Chris that Darren is good with kids.
It does surprise him how easily he can imagine Darren a father. He can see it in his head, how perfect Darren would be.
Kids have never been something Chris wanted, but when Chris thinks about Darren being a dad he thinks of himself there, too. He’s even dreamed about it... murky memories of holding a little girl’s hand and listening to Darren laugh.
Not any time soon - probably not for years yet, but somehow a never has turned into a maybe, eventually without him even realizing it.
*
“No,” Chris groans, seeing Darren eye the line for Figment again. “We’ve been through it twice already. We can go again tomorrow.”
They were both disappointed to find that they couldn’t go to just any park after dark, but Chris thinks it might be good. They’ll enjoy the others during the day but Epcot is the one they’d been struggling to fit into their schedule. They both want Magic Kingdom, and Darren wants to try out the water park, but they’d been trying to decide between Animal Kingdom or Epcot for their third day of park hopping. Chris loves that now they won’t have to sacrifice either of them.
But by now they’ve got barely an hour left before they’re booted out, and Chris wants to see something besides an imaginary dragon.
“Let’s just walk,” he says. “It’s so pretty.”
“Your face is so pretty.” Darren says it like it’s an insult, but even the tone is diluted by his grin. “Can we get ice cream after this?”
“You really are five.”
“But we’re on vacation!” Darren says.
“I didn’t say no, did I? Ooh, look, let’s do the space one again.” He grabs Darren by the hand and drags him over to the short line.
*
After the park closes, they do get Darren his promised ice cream.
They debate the merits of having a drink or two but Chris is tired and doesn’t trust Darren’s alcohol tolerance with a full stomach of dairy.
“Ew,” Darren agrees, so they make their way to the ferry to go back to their hotel, where their rental car is parked.
They make it to the ice cream place fine, on the instruction of one of the hotel employees, but once they leave Darren won’t use the GPS and Chris doesn’t really remember how to get back. The night culminates in a one AM drive through Orlando with their windows down and music blasting.
Chris looks over at Darren, who is making a stupid face and biting his lip as he one-handed air guitars to the song.
He has one of those moments where his heart feels too full for his chest and he grabs his phone, turning the video camera on.
“Whatcha doin’ there?” Darren asks once he catches on. He eyes the way Chris is holding his phone upright suspiciously.
“Making a movie,” Chris says. He keeps his comments brief because his own voice played back for him still makes him cringe.
“Am I the star?” Darren drops his mouth open in exaggerated shock. “Is this my close up, Mr. DeMille?”
“I think the line is I’m ready for my close-up,” Chris corrects him.
“That was an artistic recreation.” Darren looks back at the road but returns his eyes to Chris every few seconds. His one-person concert gets ramped up a bit and he sings along loudly now.
Chris will forget about the video for a few weeks, until he’s uploading pictures from their trip to his Facebook album for his parents and Hannah to see. He’ll pull it back up and play it then and wish that he’d remembered to turn on a light or two in the car because it’s so dark and grainy for most of it. But two or three times during the clip cars pass by them and wash Darren in the glow of their headlights and in those seconds he’s never looked more vibrant and alive to Chris.
*
They sleep in the next day, shower together, and have margaritas with lunch. By the time they make it into the park the sun is at its peak and Chris knows he won’t escape the day without some measure of pinkness to his skin.
In addition to the sunburn (low grade thanks to constant slathering of sunscreen, while Darren looked on in pity and turned a more delicious shade of golden with every passing minute), Chris has two blisters and his back hurts but they stay the entire day long and try to do everything they love at least twice.
Darren is whining about wanting Space Mountain a third time when Chris calls it quits. Darren looks at him and must realize Chris is at the point of it no longer being fun because he kisses Chris on the cheek, tells him to sit, and comes back ten minutes later with a diet coke in one hand and a funnel cake in the other.
The sugar helps his energy level and the drink soothes his soul. They sit there watching all the people around them and when Chris feels like his legs aren’t about to fall off they make their way to the exits.
*
“We’re never telling anyone about this,” Darren says.
They’ve splurged on room service. Chris doesn’t really want to even know how much the meal cost him, though he knows they’ve still got over half of their present money left on their cards. The emptied dishes are by the door and they’re on the bed, naked and damp from a shared bath.
Chris has his legs in Darren’s lap, Darren’s fingers digging soothingly into his calves. Chris is working on Darren’s feet, thumbs circling the insoles. “This might be better than sex,” Chris says.
“Shut up. That’s blasphemy,” Darren says, but his defense lacks passion.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever heard you say just like that, harder in a more sincere voice than you did two minutes ago,” Chris says. “Seriously, the neighbors might complain.”
“I don’t even care, just don’t stop what you’re doing.” Darren slumps back on the bed, arms spread out over his head. “Don’t ever stop.”
*
Day three brings more sun.
Darren becomes fascinated with Chris’s freckles. He stops at least once an hour to coo over them, taking pictures that Chris feels almost certain Darren is sending to his mother. Maybe both of their mother’s.
“Stop,” Chris says, swatting him away.
Day three is also the day of character photos. Darren suddenly wants them to take pictures with everyone, every character they can find.
He picks up on Chris’s interest with the princesses around the time they find Snow White. It takes him about twenty minutes to wheedle the full story out of Chris.
Chris is surprised he holds out for as long as he does. Once they’re sitting in the restaurant for lunch he says, “Okay, so just - since I was a little kid, sometimes I like making up stories about fairytale characters. Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and Cinderella and.... all those.”
Darren just grins at him. “I think that’s awesome.”
“It’s silly,” Chris says. “But it’s fun.”
So for the rest of the day, they do that. Every time they have to wait in line behind three dozen kids wanting their photos, every time they walk away after getting their own, they pass stories back and forth. They run the gamut from tragic to ridiculous. Aurora is not secretly a space alien whose species sleeps for a hundred years, but Darren latches onto the idea and won’t let go.
Darren even buys a little autograph book and starts getting the princesses and fairytale-type characters to sign it. “It’s for you,” Darren insists. “It’s like, a reference guide, or something.”
“These are for little kids!” Chris tries to say.
“Like those chicks don’t cream themselves when you walk up.” Darren rolls his eyes and then reaches out to pinch Chris’s cheek. “All the ladies love a baby gay.”
“Uh huh, and Tiana slipped you her number, not me.” Chris isn’t annoyed - he’d seen Darren throw it away as soon as they were out of sight. “You charmer.”
“Can’t help it, just comes naturally.” Darren does a hammy little twirl and blows Chris a kiss.
“Uh-huh...” Chris starts to say more, but Darren spots Jasmine and takes off after her, shouting for Chris to follow.
*
They end the day with Fantasmic, arriving early enough to get good seats.
Neither of them have ever seen it before, and Chris isn’t prepared for how sucked in he’ll be. He barely takes his eyes off of the story unfolding in front of him.. When he does manage to look over, he finds Darren staring just as wide-eyed and raptured as he is. He hadn’t been expecting anything like the grandeur of this, seeing the Disney heroes and heroines, villains and dragons and explosions and perfection all play out.
As it nears the climax of the show they’re grasping hands, clutching tightly and pressed together.
“Wow,” Darren says, once it’s over. He looks at Chris. “Wow.”
It’s one of those moments where Chris doesn’t need to explain that he’s just as into this as Darren is. They’re on the same wavelength, and all Chris has to say is an echo of his, “Wow.”
As they leave the park they hear distant explosions, fireworks going off in a different part of the park. Like lots of people around them they stop walking and move off the walking path to find a place that they can stand and watch. Chris wraps his arms around Darren from behind and Darren leans back into him, his arms covering Chris’s while they enjoy the display.
*
Day four is a break from theme parks to enjoy the water park. “Blizzard Beach, here we come.”
Darren has obnoxious lime green and pink print shorts that he claims he had to get because they match his favorite sunglasses.
“I’m going to spend all day under the umbrella,” Chris threatens, but luck and mother nature are on his side. It’s cloudy enough that he survives with only four coats of sunscreen, though he does admit defeat when it comes to trying not to freckle.
“I’ll make it worth it,” Darren whispers in his ear while he slathers sunscreen over Chris.
“If you say you’ll kiss every freckle, I’m breaking up with you,” Chris whispers back.
There is a decidedly guilty silence on Darren’s part. Then, in a small voice, “I wasn’t gonna say that.”
*
Chris likes the lazy river best. Darren can’t get enough of the huge slides with the drop-offs that makes Chris’s stomach flip in a way that he can’t pinpoint as exactly good or exactly bad.
“It’s an adrenaline rush,” Darren says.
Chris laughs. “I get enough of that just living with you.”
His eyes keep wandering back to Darren, no matter how restrained they’re trying to be. Neither of them wants the day to be spoiled by an overly conservative mother screaming that they’re being indecent in front of her precious little sheltered offspring. But - Chris keeps looking.
Because his boyfriend is hot. Hot, and half naked, and dripping wet, with his shaggy dog hair in ringlets that frizz up again as soon as he starts to dry off. His swim shorts dip low enough on his pelvis for Chris to see the start of his pubic bone sometimes and it makes Chris want to squirm and do dirty things.
That’s why he lets Darren convince him to go down to the hot tub that night. That’s why he lets Darren tug Chris’s hand over to the front of his shorts and jerk him off nice and slow while they make out, content that anyone around that late at night deserves what they see. It’s flawed logic but Chris has been half-hard around Darren for most of the day, turned on and aware in a way he’s not really used to anymore. Darren’s presence, the attraction and chemistry between them, is normally something that is just woven into the fabric of their lives together, constant and not surprising.
It’s nice, he realizes, that after years together Darren still does this to him. He kisses Darren’s stubble-covered jaw and breathes harder at the muted sounds Darren makes. It’s even nicer that he can still do this to Darren.
*
Day five starts out like the others: sleeping in, waking up, and Chris fucking Darren against the hotel room bed nice and slow, making Darren beg underneath him.
They shower and Chris fingers his come out of Darren while Darren jerks himself off to Chris’s fingers in him and the knowledge of why they’re there. “So fucking dirty,” Darren gasps, just before his come splatters against the shower wall.
Breakfast is at the hotel restaurant, a huge platter shared between them. It’s delicious, and Chris wants to keep eating long after he’s full. “Why can’t we have food like this every day?” He stares mournfully at the heaping fruit platter in front of him.
“Because. Reasons.” Darren nods sagely, and grabs a strawberry quarter that is easily the size of an actual whole strawberry they’d buy in the grocery store near their apartment.
Since their park pass lets them choose where they go, they spend the afternoon and the twilight hours of the day exploring the animal kingdom. It’s not the most exciting or exhilarating but Chris is glad they do it. The long boat ride they take almost puts him to sleep, his head resting on Darren’s shoulder.
It’s their last night, so they decide to live it up. Downtown Disney beckons and Chris is twenty-one now. It’s not like he hasn’t been drinking for years under Darren’s bad influence, but mostly the stuff of college bartending and a student budget when they go out. Darren decides that it’s time Chris try some grown up drinks, and figure out what he likes.
“I hope your parents know they’re funding you getting me wasted,” Chris says, some time between the apple martini and the seven-and-seven.
Darren ends up finishing most of what Chris decides isn’t his thing, in addition to the whiskey sours he’s getting for himself. By the time they leave they’re drunk and wobbly, laughing at everything whether it deserves it or not. Most of the things they find funny can’t even be translated between them, but the sight of Darren losing it is enough to make Chris laugh all by itself.
*
“I don’t want to go.” Darren crosses his arms like the five-year-old Chris so frequently claims him to be and sits cross-legged in the middle of the bed. “Chris, why can’t we stay.”
“Do you want to find a side job that would fund this kind of lifestyle?” Chris asks. “Because short of doing internet porn, I’m not really sure how you’d manage that.”
“Hey, I’d be fucking awesome at internet porn.” Darren seems insulted at the insinuation that he might not be.
“I know, sweetie,” Chris says. He stuffs a dirty shirt he hadn’t noticed on the floor into his carry-on, then checks for a fifth time to make sure he has his phone and laptop chargers. Their flight isn’t for another six hours, but checkout is soon. They’ll linger over a late lunch and try to kill enough time that they aren’t waiting at the airport for too long.
*
They get back into Detroit just before midnight.
Julia picks them up in her car, Beni’s cat carrier strapped into the back seat. She’s wearing pajamas and her hair is in a bun. “I hope you appreciate what a good friend I am.”
She yawns into the back of her hand as if to prove her point.
“Aw, Jules.” Darren drops into the front seat beside her. He leans over and kisses her cheek, which she benevolently allows. “We got you presents.”
Chris is happy to sit in the back. He’s missed his cat.
“Presents?” Julia perks up. “Gimme.”
Chris digs in his backpack. They’d kept Julia’s stuff out, knowing they’d see her first. She can’t open the bag up while she’s driving so she puts it down by Darren’s feet.
Chris goes back to wiggling his fingers in between the bars of the carrier so Beni can bat at them. “Did she miss me?”
“Of course! She pined every day,” Julia tells him.
Chris is fairly certain that didn’t happen, but he’ll pretend it did.
He’s distracted with the cat and misses what must have been a silent conversation going on between Darren and Julia, because when he looks up again Julia is mouthing something at him and Darren is gesturing. “What?” Chris interrupts, curious.
Both of them look guiltily over their shoulders at him. “Nothing,” Julia says. “I was just - personal problem.”
Chris isn’t going to pry into Julia’s personal problems, even if he doubts that’s really what they were not-quite-talking about. He knows Darren well enough to see that he looks grateful at Julia covering.
It leaves him unsettled but Darren reaches a hand back behind the seat, fingers outstretched. Chris slips his into it and Darren squeezes, a silently little gesture of affection.
“So,” Julia says, taking a turn that gets them closer to home. “Tell me all about it.”