NOT ALONE

EPILOGUE [part I]: Home

9 YEARS LATER...

Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland, August 2018.

As they left the airport main hall, a cooler breeze already reached Máirín's nostrils, and she slung her backpack over her shoulders, scanning every letter of the Edinburgh giant sign that had been placed in the square in front of the arrivals and departures entrance. She felt someone brush past her, with a luggage cart and several heavy suitcases strapped on top. Darren, his cell phone in hand, covered in his Michigan cap, dark sunglasses and a fine-trimmed beard, walked up to her and said:

'Okay, so Lauren and Joey are already in town. Jaime, Brian and Corey will be here in a couple of days and... Jeff's arriving tonight by train, from London. I don't have news from the others yet...'

Máirín didn't reply immediately, and nodded slowly, her head still fixed on the sign, feeling the tears welling up inside her. Darren couldn't see that, as she too was wearing her sunglasses, but her evasive nod was enough for him to understand that she was certainly feeling all sorts of emotions coming back here after so long.

'Are you okay, sweetie?' he whispered, moving closer to her and placing a hand tenderly on her cheek.

'It just feels strange... being here,' she said, softly.

He hugged her tightly around the waist, kissing her temple, one hand still resting on the luggage cart, but didn't retort. She didn't need him to comfort her with his words; sometimes a gesture and silence were enough to show her he understood. He took her hand and showed her the way to the car rental center. She was unable to attend to anything for several minutes, as if frozen in the past, and Darren was well aware of this, but he tried to boost her spirits before taking the car, as only she could drive on the left, with the steering wheel on the right, without too much difficulty and adaptation. Lauren and Joey, for example, had preferred public transport to the car, and would be relying on Máirín to take them around the Highlands when they had enough time to visit the country. 

Darren hadn't taken his eyes off Máirín the whole way to the city center, certainly to see her reactions, but also because she completely controlled the route to downtown without help or hesitation. It was obvious, this was her home: not one street held any secrets from her. She knew every corner. He placed his right hand on her thigh, smiling. She clung to him with one hand after letting go of the steering wheel for a few minutes.

After 9 years together, these two had never left each other. When Darren was offered a recurring role on "Glee" with a substantial contract, back in 2010, a few roles here and there, and a much bigger role recently as a serial killer in Ryan Murphy's "American Crime Story" series, things got a bit more complicated. During Glee, at the beginning, he'd had to stay in L.A. for days, even weeks, without being able to see Máirín. He couldn't stand going back and forth between Los Angeles and Chicago for long, and he just didn't want to be away from her. He had waited until she was feeling better and was less fragile after her surgery before asking her straight out to move in with him in L.A. Máirín didn't hesitate for a minute, of course!  They stayed in their tiny studio on Oakwood Avenue, 20 minutes walk from the Paramount Studios, for almost 3 years, before moving to a more comfortable, cosy and much larger place up in the Hollywood Hills, which allowed them to receive friends and family many times over. Although Darren earned more than enough to support them both for many years to come, Máirín refused to stay at home waiting for him in the evening or at night after long days of shooting. Not only did she accompany him to every one of his concerts and manage his TV and cinema career with his agent, Ricky, but she had also signed several contracts between Vancouver and Los Angeles as an Assistant Set Designer on various TV shows. Unlike Darren, who didn't have a minute left in his schedule, Máirín continued to work with the rest of the Starkid company between Chicago and L.A., building sets and props for each of their shows, at the rate of one a year. And this enabled them both to keep in touch with them, to watch the company grow and to be present at every event that was important to them. Lauren and Joey, who had finally outgrown their friendship, had joined them in Los Angeles, as had Joe, Dylan and Jeff, while Meredith and Brian now lived together in Chicago, Jaime Lyn and A.J. in New York with their respective partners, and Nick had joined his brother, Matt, in Wichita, Kansas. Their schedule was a mess: Darren has just received a nomination for his work with Ryan Murphy, and they both were supposed to fly back to L.A. right after the Elsie Festival - which Darren produces - in september, two days after the end of the Fringe Festival, to attend the ceremony. They never had one minute to breathe... As a result, It was sometimes difficult for them to see the rest of the company and their own friends for months, but friendship knew no bounds for them, and technology had helped them all stay in touch. Máirín saw to that: life and fame were not going to keep them apart. They were about to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the company and the creation of Team Starkid, and there was no way they were going to miss it.