I Promise (Explicit Version)

~Chapter Twenty-Five~

Opening night.

I paced nervously, from the rows, onto the stage, backstage, everywhere. I unable to keep my nerves inside. They were doing a soundcheck onstage. I couldn't focus on that. All I could focus on was how nervous I was."Luna, calm the fuck down," Robert said, not stopping his texting, which had become normally excessive. I headed into the audience and sat down next to him.

"Who have you been texting?" I asked him, peering over at his screen. He shielded it with his hand. Before he uncovered his hand, his phone was off. I took it from him. His lock screen had changed.

"Let's not talk about this," he groaned. I looked back at his lock screen.

"You fucking stalker," I said, unlocking it. I looked at who he had been texting. They were across the theater. "No mother fucking way. When?"

"Same day as you," he muttered. I hugged him and kissed his cheek.

"It's okay," I said, turning off his phone again. I resumed my pacing.

"Calm down, Luna. It'll be okay. You can't do any worse than Joe's colossal fuck-up," Clark said, taking my shoulder and forcing me to stop in my tracks.

"I'm nervous. I don't do this sort of stuff or watch it. I'm the one who stays home and sleeps instead of working on their novel," I said, looking up at him.

"Would this make it better?" He asked me, picking my small figure up. "Okay, this is only going to work if you straddle me. It's going to look super sexual and maybe provocative, but it's only gonna work this way."

I obliged a little eagerly as he kissed me hesitantly. "Are you okay with this? It appears so sex—," he started. I cut him off with a kiss while the butterflies went crazy in my stomach. Chicago truly was changing me.

"Hey Luna—hol-ly shit," someone said. Clark let me out of his embrace as I saw who it was as I regained my balance on the ground. Out of all the people in the world, it was none other than my older brother, Darren Everett Criss himself. I looked down, embarrassed.

"Darren, I can—," Clark started.

"No," Darren said cooly, leading me into the empty dressing room. I sat down on one of the chairs and tears fell as he locked the door. I felt so ashamed for some wild reason. Why should I? I'm old enough to take care of myself and Darren's not the boss of me. The next time Darren spoke, it was gentle. "Luna, come on."

I shook my head and kept letting the tears silently fall. I felt Darren's arm wrap around me securely. "I know I overreacted," he said.

"Why?" I asked. I looked at him. "What caused that? You knew. And you seemed fine with it."

"I did. I knew everything. Despite that, I hoped it was fake. I only saw you for the first time in two decades. You're still just a toddler in my eyes. I know it's not real. I wish I could go back in time and prevent this," he said. His voice started to shake. "I don't want you to grow up so quickly. I want to protect you."

I leaned closer to Darren, though very hesitantly. "I get it. But you have to let me grow up and find things on my own," I said.

"I guess I owe your boyfriend an apology," Darren said. I smiled at him and he grinned back.

"Go," I said softly. After making sure I didn't look like I was crying, I went back outside and started talking to Robert, wanting to still avoid Darren.

"I tried to stop Darren," he said.

"It's okay. I'm just mildly pissed at him," I said, "It was a lot less pretty five minutes ago."

"I've seen you at your very worst and very best. And for the record, you're always pretty minus your angry attitude," Robert said. I smiled.

"That's really nice of you, but I'll never forget what a stalker you are if that's what you're trying to do," I said.

"DAMMIT!" He exclaimed, before lowering his voice as all attention was directed to us. "I hoped you would forget that."

"I won't forget," I assured him.

"Fuck you," he said.

"I love you, too," I said, resting my head on his shoulder. "So..."

"Fine. We've gone out properly like twice," he said, rubbing my back. "Watch out, here comes your brother."

"Oh shit," I said. Robert held me closer.

"Luna, get over here," Darren said. I gave my best friend a reluctant goodbye and went to Darren.

"How did it go?" I asked him.

"It's a truce," Darren said. I could tell he was trying to drop the subject and I did not appreciate it at all.

"Expand on that," I said to him.

"So, I said I wouldn't meddle if you two wouldn't do anything like what I walked in on for a week," Darren said. My face fell. "I'm sorry, but you know me."

"Darren Ever—" I started.

"Luna Venus Criss-Manion, don't you dare use the full name," Darren warned me.

"Fine."

"Darren, you need to get out of here. Wait a while and then you can come see the show," Brian said, locking the door behind Darren. "Order of business number one, warm up."

I was running around everywhere, trying to get organized. Darren's face of disappointment from earlier kept echoing in my mind. I know that he overreacted and didn't mean it at the moment, but I felt terrible for inflicting that worry upon him. I'm an idiot.

"Luna, can you please help me find my tiger ass?" Joe asked me. I picked it up off the table.

"Here you go," I said in what I hoped was a bright tone. I really hoped. I can't act.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Joe asked me, knowing something was off. He made eye contact. "You know I'll just go—-"

"Please," I laughed, going off to help someone, anyone really. I found Robert struggling with his headpiece which had been changed the day before.

"Luna, help me," he said, bending down. I quickly got it on, not necessarily wanting to talk. I had to get my mind off earlier.

"Break a leg tonight," I said to him. Brian entered the room.

"One minute. Places. Break a leg," he said. Everyone turned on their mike and headed to their places. Rachael, Brian, and I were the only ones here. "Is Middle Criss pissed off or what?"

"He seemed pretty pissed. I'm hoping that someone was able to get him to calm down after he yelled at me," I said softly, scared of tears falling. Brian brought me in for a hug.

"It's okay. He didn't mean it. You know him. Darren's a major drama queen for that stupid truce. He'll get over it. For now, I'll cover for you guys," Brian said. I pulled back from him.

"You will?" I asked him in shock.

"Yeah. I've done it for pretty much everyone. Dylan and Jaime, Joey and Lo, Jade and Eric for a bit. Um, also Racha-" Brian said.

"I would shut up right about now if I were you, Holden," Rachael said, doing sit-ups in the corner. This had become normal. I joined her while continuing my conversation with Brian.

"Not only couples. Also TCB secret projects. I'm really good at the stuff," Brian said.

"And modest," Meredith interjected, entering the room. We worked quickly together before I sent her off stage.

Disclaimer: I only own Luna and the plot line. Everyone in here is a fictional version of themselves.

Well, I realized I have a week until I go to camp, so I'll be uploading into next week. The chapter after this one is very heavy, so I'm just going to give you guys this quick little warning. :) Have a fun time until I see you next!!!

--Luna :D