Play my heart

Chapter XXVI

Connor and Caesar drag the musicians (and Lisa) to a celebratory dinner after the show. They find a restaurant and, in the flush of excited teenagers moving around, Darren and Lee end up sitting far away from each other. Adrenaline is just now beginning to simmer down, so the dinner goes by in a blur of laughter, people messing up his hair and Connor crushing him in impromptu hugs under the excuse of being incredibly proud of his boy.

Darren spends most of the following forty-eight hours at Adryan's—his father is still in the hospital and his mother is out of the country covering for him. At this point, they're used to making up for each other's missing families, so there's no question about spending the festivities together. Adryan's older sister arrives on the morning of the 24th and bullies them the whole time she's there, though she makes up for it with presents and homemade gingerbread cookies.

Despite having fun, Darren can't help but glance at his phone every few minutes. He gets some texts from Lee over the days, but their conversations are short and feel distant. Lee says he's busy with something and gives no more explanation. It's not like Darren's in the place to demand anything, though, so he settles for impatiently waiting.

Connor and Caesar drop by a few hours before their Christmas party, barely getting a chance to greet Adryan's sister as she goes away once again. They bring more excitement than Adryan or Darren can resist, so they end up overtaken by it.

Snow is gently falling from the sky by the time they arrive at the venue, one of the Wang family's luxury hotels. Everything's already set up—white clad tables with several kinds of food scattered to the sides, leaving room for the dance floor in the midst of it; crystal chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings.

People start showing up a few minutes later, and he's obliged to greet at least some of them along his friends. Some he recognizes from school, others are children of partner families to Adryan and Caesar's, many more are brought by Connor's charm and incessant flirting around.

He perks up when Dawn and her friend finally arrive, though he barely has any time to talk to her before Adryan whisks her away. As the crowd of young people starts getting thicker, he sticks to Caesar's side, and pays no attention to the people that come talk to them, growing restless with each passing second.

His only two personal guests are yet to show up an hour into the party. Music pours from the speakers and he taps the beat on his thigh, refusing Connor's food offer with a wave. He hadn't considered the possibility until now, but what if they're really not coming? Why would they? This is, after all, a stuck up party for posh people, including some of the classmates that made Lee's life impossible at school.

That's right, he's not coming. Darren's an idiot for not realizing sooner.

A nudge to the ribs snaps him out of his brooding. He meets Caesar's eyes as the boy gestures towards the entrance with a smirk.

Lisa's lilac dress flutters around her as she drags her cousin into the venue, waving with a grin when she spots Darren staring at them. Lee stumbles to a halt and stuffs his hands in the pockets of his tight-fit blue suit, though that's not what Darren's paying attention to.

He blinks several times and the image doesn't change, so he swallows and tries to accept the fact that it's real, it must be. But what...

"What happened to your hair?"

Caesar voices his question out loud as soon as Lee and his cousin stop in front of them. Lisa covers his mouth to stifle a laugh while Lee scowls.

"Fucking nothing."

That's not quite true, though, if the sudden silver color of his hair is anything to go by. It catches the lights of the chandeliers, makes his dark eyes seem brighter than ever, and fits perfectly against his tan skin.