As a White Knight on His Steed (CrissColfer)

Wait - You Mean That Was Supposed To Be a Secret?

Chapter 15 – “Wait – you mean that was supposed to be a secret?”

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Chris felt like a weight he hadn’t even realized that he was carrying had been lifted from him.  Coming out to David and Ryan about his relationship with Darren had been such a relief.  Now, he felt like he wanted to come out to the whole world.

Once the majority of the campers had departed on Saturday, Chris and Darren found opportunities to talk with the rest of the staff members about their relationship.  The reactions they got ranged from Kevin’s surprised “Wow - that’s great - congratulations!” to Cory’s “Wait – you mean that was supposed to be a secret? I thought everyone already knew.”  The bottom line, though, was that all of their friends were happy for them, and supportive of their relationship.

Chris had written to his family about the change in his relationship with Darren over a week ago.  Now, Darren wanted to come out to his own family, who had no idea he was gay, let alone that he was in love with his best friend. 

Since both boys had left their cell phones at home (all staff members, as well as campers, having been asked not to bring any electronics to the ranch) Darren asked Ryan if he could use the landline in the camp office.  While Darren made his call, Chris paced nervously outside.  Darren had assured him that his parents would be “cool with it,” but Chris knew that people sometimes had unexpected – and negative – reactions to such news.

It was with a sigh of relief, therefore, that Chris finally saw Darren emerge from the office, his face wreathed in smiles.  “They think it’s great!” Darren enthused.  “And they want you to drive up to San Francisco with me next weekend.  My brother Chuck’s band is playing at a coffeehouse on Saturday night.  Will you come?”

“Are you sure it won’t be weird?”

“No – it’ll be totally awesome.  Please, please, please!”

“Okay.”

“Yea!”

Every Saturday evening, the handful of boys who were staying over at camp were treated to a movie in the dining hall.  Having been separated from their video games and televisions for a week or more, the boys were understandably enthusiastic.  After a dinner of frozen pizza (since Ian and Brad had the night off) Ryan would hook up his laptop to the LCD projector while David pulled down the retractable screen on the wall.  Then the boys – along with the two counselors who were on duty that weekend, and whatever other staff members cared to join them – would settle down with bags of microwaved popcorn to watch the movie.

As kids, Chris and Darren had spent many a happy Saturday evening together, holding hands and leaning into one another as they watched whichever Disney film Uncle Mike had selected.  The camp had had a fairly limited collection, since Aunt Lisa had insisted that all of the movies needed to be G-rated.  Chris and Darren soon knew them all by heart, mouthing lines to each other, and singing along at full volume.

This summer, Chris and Darren had skipped the movie nights, choosing instead to spend their Saturday evenings ensconced in their bunkhouse.  Tonight, though, Ryan had mentioned that they’d be showing Mulan, and Darren had begged Chris to watch it with him.  Chris had pretended to be reluctant, just so that Darren would turn on the puppy-dog eyes he loved so much.  Secretly, though, he wanted to see the movie again as much as his boyfriend did.