(Screen is black. The harsh buzzer sound of a prison door unlocking. Show INT. feet walking, chained together. They stop. Shouts are heard and the camera moves up the person’s body to focus on Darren’s face, his expression blank as he looks around. The prison guard is in front of him, unlocking his handcuffs.)

GUARD
You have two minutes to shower and change.

(Darren nods and feels the guard’s gaze on him as he strips and steps into the dirty shower area. The water comes on and he gasps. It’s ice cold. Shivering, he hurries and rinses himself off and runs his hair through the water. He steps back as the water shuts off and quickly dries himself off before getting dressed in the orange jumpsuit. His handcuffs are put back on and he is led down a hallway, down a cellblock. They stop and open the barred door to a tiny room with a toilet and two bunks. There is a lump of a man on the top bunk.)

GUARD
That’s Mops. He’s your new friend.

(The guard shoves Darren into the cell and the door is closed behind him. Through the opening, he stick his hands out for them to undo the handcuffs. Once they do, they leave and he is left in the cell. Taking a deep breath, he sits on the bottom bunk. Above him, the top bunk shifts, and then a man jumps down. He is tall and thin, older. He has thinning hair and a scar on his face, and when he grins at Darren, most of his teeth are missing.)

MOPS
They call me Mops. What’s your name?

DARREN
(trying to hide any fear) Um…Darren.

MOPS
What are you in for?

DARREN
Murder.

MOPS
Oh, murder? Well then I’ll just settle away from you, then.

DARREN
What are you in for?

MOPS
(grins) I raped a stripper.

(Darren’s eyes get wide, but he makes no move.)

MOPS
A boy stripper.

(Darren lets a look of fear pass over his eyes before masking it.)

MOPS
I been in this cell for three years. Never shared it more than a month with the same person.

DARREN
I can’t imagine why.

MOPS
(laughs loudly, causing Darren to jump) I like you. You’re funny.

DARREN
May I ask why they call you ‘Mops’?

MOPS
(laughs again, then flops down on the bed beside Darren, leaning back and looking over what he can see of Darren’s backside) That’s a story for another day.

(Darren can feel the other man’s eyes on him, and he stand up, leaning against the top bunk and looking down at Mops.)

DARREN
Look, buddy, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you better leave me the hell alone.

(Mops looks amused, but surprised at Darren’s change of demeanor)

MOPS
And what will you do if I don’t?

DARREN
I’ve already killed one man. I’m not afraid to do it again.

MOPS
You think I’m afraid of you? I’ve seen your type before.

(Mops begins to get up, Darren swiftly moves to trip him, then grabs his arm and bends it behind his back and shoved him against the wall, hard.)

MOPS
You’re strong than you look.

DARREN
Shut up. Here’s how it’s gonna work, old man. You’re gonna stay up there and you’re gonna leave me the fuck along. I’m gonna stay down here and mourn the loss of my future. You make one move against me and your guts will be all over the floor, just like I did to the other asshole who pissed me off.

MOPS
Alright, alright! Just get the fuck off me.

(Darren shoves him hard against the wall again before backing off. Mops stares at him long and hard before climbing up to his top bunk, lying down and staring up at the ceiling. Darren breathes heavily for a moment before lying down, curling up by the wall. He unzips the orange jumpsuit a bit to slip his hand into the pocket of his white t-shirt underneath. He pulls out a picture of Chris that the guards had allowed him to slip from his wallet before he was forced to hand over his things. He runs his fingers over the picture. Chris is smiling, happy, carefree, leaning against the balcony off their bedroom, wearing one of Darren’s t-shirts.)

DARREN
(whispers) I didn’t do it, Chris. I swear.

(He kisses the picture before pressing it against his chest, just holding it there. Scene fades to black.)

. ~ . ~ .

Kurt smiled as Blaine practically bounced up to him, grinning. Kurt reached out his hand, his fingers spread, silently asking Blaine to link their fingers. Blaine did so, squeezing Kurt’s hand and bumping shoulders with him.

“Ready to go?” Kurt asked, already knowing the answer.

“It was awfully nice of the record company to throw me a party,” Blaine said. Kurt just continued to smile at him, loving how adorable he looked in his casual violet button down and faded jeans. He’d been spending a lot more time lately just looking at Blaine and noticing all the little things about him that he loved.

Kurt tried to make a list of all the things he loved about Blaine, but the list grew so quickly that he knew he’d never be able to list them all. He started with Blaine’s hair, loving the way it looked when he just got out of the shower, the tight curls starting to dry and set. He loved the way he could twirl his finger in them and even though it looked unruly, Blaine’s hair was actually really soft and surprisingly tangle free. He loved Blaine’s skin, how it was soft and smooth and a few shades darker than Kurt’s, and he even loved Blaine’s eyebrows, which were kind of thick and triangular but they gave Blaine character. He loved Blaine’s eyes, with their greenish gold color that sparkled with love and happiness. He loved the way they squinted when Blaine smiled, showing his Asian heritage, and the way they got wide and round like a puppy’s.

See?

That was just four little things.

If Kurt tried to list everything, he’d never get anything done. He loved Blaine that much.

“Well, you deserve a party. You’ve worked really hard on this album,” Kurt said, leaning over and kissing Blaine’s cheek.

“Yeah? I’m excited for you to listen to it. Almost all of the songs are for you,” Blaine said, still smiling that ridiculously attractive smile of his. Kurt just smiled as they went to Blaine’s car in the parking lot outside of the studio. They’d finished filming for the day and were headed to a banquet hall downtown where the record company had invited their biggest executives for a party to celebrate the release of their newest star’s album.

“You are too sweet,” Kurt said with a chuckle. They climbed into Blaine’s car, Blaine driving, and resumed holding hands.

“Well if I don’t show you how much I love you, then I don’t deserve you.” Blaine just smiled and turned on the radio as they got on the road.

Kurt bit his lip and looked over at Blaine, wondering how he deserved a man as wonderful as Blaine.

“You don’t have to do anything,” Kurt said. “You’re perfect. But since you sang an entire album of love songs to me, I suppose the least I could do would be to give it a quick listen.”

Kurt glanced over at Blaine, glad to see he was smiling after catching the sarcasm in his voice.

“You sure you’re ok?” Blaine asked quietly, looking over at Kurt before turning back to the road. Kurt’s brow furrowed and he looked straight ahead as they came to a stop at a light.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. You were supposed to be the one recording an album. You were supposed to be having this big release party. You were supposed to be holding my hand as I supported you, not the other way around. I kind of feel like I’m stealing this from you.” Blaine half shrugged and kept his eyes on the car in front of him.

“Blaine, stop. You’re not stealing anything from me. You deserve this,” Kurt said. “I’ve already given up on being able to sing again and I’m ok with it. Something about have a tumor in your throat twice kind of sucks the dreams right out of you.”

Without speaking a reply, Blaine reached over and grasped Kurt’s hand, squeezing tightly and running his thumb over the engagement ring that Kurt had finally had the courage to put on his left hand. Kurt just bowed his head a bit and smiled to himself.

“I love you,” Blaine said after a moment.

Looking up at him, Kurt grinned. “I love you too.”

. ~ . ~ .

Episode Seven: Strong Enough
Scene 3

(INT. Chris and Darren’s bedroom. The door opens and Ashley is there. She’s holding it open as Chris’s mother steps in. Karyn looks to the bed, where Chris is lying, facing away, covered in the blankets.)

ASHLEY
Well there he is, Mrs. C.

KARYN
(whispers) Thank you.

(Ashley closes the door behind her, and the room if silent.)

KARYN
Chris, honey, are you awake?

CHRIS
Yes.

(He doesn’t move. He just continues to lay there. Karyn moves to the edge of the bed and nervous runs her hand over the wrinkled comforter.)

KARYN
I hear you won’t get out of bed.

CHRIS
It’s nothing personal. I just don’t feel like it.

KARYN
I know you don’t, sweetie. It’s understandable.

CHRIS
If you don’t mind, I’d like to sleep before the meeting this afternoon.

KARYN
Your father and I tried to help, but we just couldn’t get the money together. Not with Hannah in the hospital right now.

CHRIS
It’s fine.

KARYN
Just so you know, we support him.

CHRIS
Don’t tell me you joined that god awful support group.

KARYN
How could we not? You should see Clovis. Every business has a “Free Darren” poster in the windows.

CHRIS
Unless they’re willing to give us money to pay his bail, I don’t care.

KARYN
(lets out a frustrated sigh) Chris, please just get out of bed and talk to me. I know you miss him…

CHRIS
(finally sits up. He looks awful, like he hasn’t slept in days) Miss him? Miss him is an understatement! I need him!

KARYN
Oh Christopher…

CHRIS
I just want to see him. To know he’s ok. I don’t even know where he is right now! No one will tell me anything. I just wish I could get one phone call or something.

KARYN
Chris, honey, why don’t you get out of bed and we’ll go downstairs and tell them that’s what you want.

CHRIS
I have told them.

KARYN
Yes they haven’t heard it from me. And I’m your mother. Besides, you’ve got to be involved in this “Free Darren” campaign. You’re his boyfriend.

(Chris looks down at his lap, then smiles a bit.)

CHRIS
How far did it get in a week?

KARYN
It’s all over the internet. After you made that press release the day after Darren was arrested, the LGBT community has been all over this. No one believes he did it.

CHRIS
He didn’t.

KARYN
I know, sweetie. (She smiles a bit at Chris, feeling sad seeing her son like this.) Ok, Christopher. If you get out of bed, have a shower, shave, and put some clean clothes on, I will get you a meeting with Darren.

CHRIS
(Raises both eyebrows) How?

KARYN
You leave that to me. A mother will do anything to make her child happy.

(Chris almost smiles, staring at her for a few moments, then he gets up and stands.)

CHRIS
Ok. You got a deal.

. ~ . ~ .

The party was surprisingly informal, and was already in full swing when Kurt and Blaine arrived. Smiling, as usual, Blaine grasped Kurt’s hand and led him towards the building. There were photographers outside, which the two of them were used to by now, and they just smiled and waved. Kurt found himself not caring for the first time whether or not people found out that he and Blaine were getting married.

Let them find out, he figured.

Let the world know that he was in love.

Let the world know that a man as wonderful as Blaine was his.

“You look like you’re having fun already.” Blaine brought him out of his thoughts as they entered the building. He hadn’t even realized that he was smiling so widely.

“I’m just happy to be here with you,” Kurt said, leaning over and kissing Blaine’s cheek.

As they entered, Blaine was instantly separated from Kurt as he was surrounded by record company executives and investors. He had hands to shake and people to meet, and it wasn’t Kurt’s place to intrude in Blaine’s special moment. Deciding that it would be best just to leave Blaine to what he needed to do, Kurt headed over to the dinner tables, looking for his own reserved seat. He spotted Blaine’s and tried to quell a wave of jealousy that swept through him. Blaine’s seat was beside the last person Kurt wanted him to sit by: Jesse St. James.

Kurt found his own seat nearly across the room, four round tables separating his table from Blaine’s. He didn’t recognize the men sitting on either side of him, but across from him there was a space for Artie’s wheelchair. He let out a sigh. At least he would have someone to talk to while he gazed jealously across the room.

He sighed and took his seat, knowing that Blaine would be too busy for him for the majority of the rest of the night.

He loved Blaine. He really did.

He just hated the stupid, overwhelming jealousy that seemed to come with it.

Kurt tried to tell himself he had nothing to worry about.

. ~ . ~ .

It was hours later when Kurt finally saw Blaine again. The meal had been great, toasts had been made, Blaine at least acknowledged Kurt as his supportive “partner”, then drinks had been handed around until hours had passed and Blaine showed up at Kurt’s table giggling like mad. Blaine draped himself over Kurt and grinned at him.

“We’re going to a bar,” Blaine declared.

“No, we’re going home,” Kurt said, seeing how drunk Blaine already was.

“Nooo we’re going to a bar! I promised them,” Blaine said, jabbing his finger in a random direction.

“Blaine, no, I’m not letting you go to a bar like this. You’re already drunk.” Kurt circled his arms around Blaine’s waist and held him close.

“Buzz kill,” Blaine muttered the words kind of slurred.

“The last thing we need is for you to go out and make a fool out of yourself. You know as well as I do that the second you have too much to drink you turn into a horny bisexual and do things you regret.” Kurt tried to hold onto Blaine, but to no avail. Just because he was smaller didn’t mean he wasn’t stronger, and he got away.

“You don’t have to come,” Blaine said, pouting. “I’ll just go with them!”

Blaine started heading over to a group of guys, one of which happened to be Jesse who looked particularly eager to see Blaine would be joining them, and Kurt knew he couldn’t let Blaine go alone. He grabbed his fianc�’s arm and looped his around it. “You’re not going anywhere without me,” Kurt declared.

Making a face, Blaine just pouted and tugged Kurt over to the group.

Kurt managed to convince Blaine to let him drive to the bar, so he dumped Blaine in the back seat and followed the limo where most of the others were riding.

“So how many girls are joining this party?” Kurt asked.

“None,” Blaine said, tossing his head back against the head rest and smiling at Kurt. “It’s a gay bar.”

Kurt raised both eyebrows and looked back towards the road.

When they arrived at said gay bar, Kurt was suddenly quite nervous to go in. He didn’t want to drink anymore, but he didn’t want to send Blaine in there alone. He grasped Blaine’s hand and they headed inside. The music was already pounding through the walls, thrumming through the floors, and giving everyone the urge to dance. Blaine was already bouncing back and forth on his feet, grinning his stupid drunk puppy grin.

“I wanna dance!” Blaine declared, ripping his hand from Kurt’s. He disappeared into the crowd of mostly attractive half naked men and Kurt just stared after him, already worried.

Kurt let out a squeak as he felt someone’s hand grab his ass, and he turned around, looking for the culprit but seeing no one. He shuddered and headed to the bar, thinking maybe he need a drink after all. After several more pinches to the ass and a couple gropes of his crotch, Kurt made it to the bar and slipped onto a stool, turning towards the dance floor to try to seek out Blaine.

He found his curly-haired fianc� dancing with a bunch of guys, laughing and just having a good time, regardless of the hungry looks on the faces of the men around him. Kurt vowed to keep his eyes on them. He didn’t want anyone taking advantage of Blaine.

“What’ll it be?” The bartender leaned against the counter, smiling at Kurt flirtatiously. Kurt frowned and looked at the man. He had green eyes and red hair and he was totally not Kurt’s type.

“Something strong,” Kurt said. “Surprise me.”

He looked back out now to see Blaine was now sandwiched between Jesse, who was practically humping Blaine’s ass and loving it, and another guy who Kurt didn’t recognize. Blaine looked like he was having the time of his life.

“You never come to this place with your lover,” the bartender said, sliding Kurt a glass full of something clear. Kurt took the drink and sipped it, then made a face.

“What the fuck is that, straight vodka?”

He received no answer to his question as the bartender continued. “I lost my husband out of jealousy here, once. I was devastated. He got a lot of sex.”

Kurt just raised an eyebrow and chanced a glance back over at Blaine, who was currently accepting a shot of something from Jesse, who was holding him close. Kurt itched to intervene, but decided he would just deprive Blaine of sex for the next couple weeks to punish him for this night of fun.

He turned back to his drink and noticed the bartender was already gone, talking to someone else. Bitterly, he took his drink and downed the rest of it in three big gulps.

That was the last thing Kurt remembered.

. ~ . ~ .

Episode Seven: Strong Enough
Scene 6

(INT. Prison. The sound of a door unlocking echoes, and camera focuses on feet walking, slowly going up to see Chris, a man in a suit with a briefcase, and two prison guards. They stop before another barred door and the guard steps forward to unlock it, leading them down another quiet, empty corridor. At the end of the hallway is a room with a barred door and a table, with a man sitting inside. The door opens and the man looks up. It’s Darren. He stands, but before he can say anything, Chris rushes forward and hugs him tightly, nearly knocking him over.)

CHRIS
(crying) I’ve missed you so much and I didn’t know where you were or if you’re alive and they wouldn’t let me see you but there’s this “Free Darren” thing and they put enough pressure and they finally said I could come see you and I missed you and I’m so sorry!

DARREN
(softly, hugging Chris back like he never wants to let him go) Chris, baby, it’s ok. It’s ok.

CHRIS
And we had to pressure them to give us this room far away from everyone so no one could see us because I just want to kiss you and hold your hand because I don’t know when…

DARREN
Chris, baby, just calm down. It’s ok. We’re here now. Together.

(Chris finally pulls back, tears streaming down his cheeks, and he looks at Darren.)

DARREN
(Reaches up and touches Chris’s cheek) How I’ve missed these eyes.

(Chris leans forward and kisses him, slowly, with building passion. They kiss for a full minute before the man in the suit clears his throat, making Chris pull away, blushing.)

DARREN
(smiling) How I’ve missed those lips.

CHRIS
And I’ve missed your lips as well.

(Chris hugs him again before reaching down to take his hand and squeeze it. The man in the suit, Darren’s lawyer, Bradley Stevens, steps forward and motions toward the table.)

BRADLEY
Why don’t we have a seat and discuss the case? We’re going to have to figure out your defense.

CHRIS
Brad is the best lawyer we could get, and the best thing is that he was inspired by the “Free Darren” campaign and he’s doing all this pro-bono!

(Chris and Darren sit down at the table, still holding hands, across from Bradley. Darren extends a hand to shake his lawyer’s)

DARREN
Thank you so much. I don’t know much about this thing, but I hear a lot of people believe in me.

CHRIS
Everyone knows you’re innocent, Dare.

BRADLEY
Now it’s up to me to prove it. All I need, Darren, is for you to tell me exactly what happened that night.

DARREN
(Takes a deep breath, then looks at Chris, staring, then he smiles slightly.) I went to see Charlie the night he died, but I didn’t kill him. I told Chris I was going to L.A. for a songwriter’s workshop, but really I was going to talk to Charlie. We met outside this caf� by that park where he was found.

(Flash to EXT. at night, outside a bustling caf�. Charlie is standing with his hands in his pockets, shifting back and forth. Darren walks up to him.)

DARREN
Charlie?

(Startled, Charlie jumps, then turns towards him.)

CHARLIE
Darren. So it was you?

DARREN
Yeah. Look, man, I want to talk to you.

CHARLIE
I’m not sorry for what I did.

DARREN
You should be. You should see what you did to him. You destroyed him.

CHARLIE
He destroyed my sister.

DARREN
Is that why you did this? Because of Serena?

CHARLIE
What other reason would I have to beat the living pulp out of your little faggot boyfriend?

DARREN
(visibly angered by the statement, but notably keeping his hands shoved in his pockets) That was a while ago now. Don’t you think it’s time to forgive and forget?

CHARLIE
Serena was my baby sister. I loved her and I cared more about her than anything. I just…I can’t do it without her. We were always there for each other and now she’s gone.

DARREN
You almost killed him, you know. He died in the hospital, but then he came back.

CHARLIE
Yeah, well, lucky him.

DARREN
You’re an asshole, Charlie. You really should make this right.

CHARLIE
Yeah? How the fuck am I gonna do that?

DARREN
Turn yourself in. Do the right thing.

CHARLIE
Yeah ,well, fuck the right thing. I’ll shoot myself before I’ll turn myself in.

DARREN
You’re not actually going to do that, are you?

CHARLIE
What do you care? Maybe I wanna die. Maybe I wanna go sit in the god damn bushes and just shoot myself dead because I miss my fucking sister and I can’t stop feeling guity!

DARREN
Guilty for what?

CHARLIE
For what I did to Chris! Why else would I be guilty?

DARREN
Charlie…look, we used to be friends. Maybe we can work this out? You could get a deal. You could apologize to Chris and maybe…

CHARLIE
No! Fucking no, Darren. Just get the hell out of here. I don’t want to see you right now. I don’t ever want to see you.

DARREN
Don’t do anything stupid. Just do the right thing.

CHARLIE
Whatever. (walks away)

(Flash to INT. prison room. Chris and Bradley are staring at Darren.)

DARREN
So he walked way and I got in my car and headed back to Clovis. That was the day before we moved into the new house.

CHRIS
Why didn’t you say anything before?

DARREN
I just didn’t want you to worry.

(Chris smiles at Darren, then leans forward to kiss him.)

CHRIS
We’re gonna get you out. I promise.

DARREN
Just knowing you believe in me is enough to make me strong enough.

. ~ . ~ .

Dave Karofsky grinned from across the bar as he spotted Kurt. He couldn’t have been more fortunate. His first night out after being paroled on good behavior, and he spotted the one true object of his desires right across the room. It was fate. More proof that he and Kurt were meant to be. That beautiful man was supposed to be his.

Watching, he followed Kurt’s gaze from his drink to the dance floor, where that ungrateful little bastard Kurt was dating was dancing with some other guy. Dave considered going after Kurt later and just killing Blaine now, but his desire was too great. He’d been too patient. It was time now. Time to act on the burning ache that told him Kurt was right there for the taking.

He moved closer, weaving through the dancing guys, flirting just for the hell of it and getting plenty of response. As Kurt was turned away, Dave quickly pulled out the little bag of powder in his pocket and took his own drink, which looked similar enough to Kurt’s to pass for it, then dumped the powder into it. Kurt was still turned away, and Dave managed to switched their drinks without Kurt noticing.

Sliding onto the stool beside Kurt’s, he watched the movement of his slender body, a lot slimmer than he used to be. Dave would have to fix that. He would have to feed him and take care of him, which that bastard clearly wasn’t doing. Kurt drank the whole drink, much to Dave’s delight, and it didn’t take more than ten seconds for Kurt to be falling backwards off his stool, right into Dave’s eagerly waiting arms.