25 Like Sugar | Chapter Twenty-five

Jared was sitting at the same table with Darnell's father, Austin, and Yves. It was late in the evening on a Saturday, and they were currently in the crowded bar that Darnell worked at. Jared watched the stage, not really interested in the other queens that were playing. He was waiting for Darnell. He bit his bottom lip as his face flooded with color at the memory of Darnell practicing a bit of his routine in his living room. If sexy could be personified it was Darnell's drag persona. As Jared looked longingly at the state Yves stared at it with a glint in his eyes. He used to do 'drag' back in France — of course, the drag he did was a lot more classed than this. He had been a parent queen. Yves hadn't seen a drag show since forever, so it was not like if he was complaining.

Austin watched Yves as the dark-haired man watched the stage with the biggest grin on his face. The current drag queen on stage was doing a dance routine; tumbling and spinning around the stage. At a point, Austin feared the queen would fall, but she had such a good eye that she landed right on the edge of the stage from time to time. When the queen was done there was a round of applause. The queen bowed, making the cotton candy-colored hair on their head bounce a bit. The queen walked off the stage, and the announcer walked towards the middle to energize the crowd.

"Who's ready for Miss Anatasu?" the man in black asked, making the crowd to cheer. That's Darnell Jared said with a mix of pride and excitement. Yves raised a brow in interest, turning back to the stage just in time to catch the younger man strutting on to the stage as Jazz music played in the background. Darnell was in a cocktail dress and he was wearing a short straight wig. Like always, his makeup with minimal compared to the other queens, and he had on padding to give the illusion of a smaller waist. Yves couldn't keep his mouth closed. Darnell looked amazing.

On the other side of the table, Darnell's father watched him with Jared. Jared felt a bit tense, wondering what Narong thought of the show. The man's face was unreadable, and it was hard to tell if he was just squinting because he didn't come with his glasses or if he had mixed feelings about the show.

Darnell started singing into the microphone, and it was then Narong smiled at his son moving his lips until he started singing along with him. Jared smiled, looking away in relief. On the other side of the table, Yves had his legs crossed and his fingers poised in a way that let him snap them to the beat. Darnell moved across the stage, engaging the audience with poses and air kisses.

The camera hung around the stage, taking pictures and Darnell strutted from one end to the other. Thankfully, the man wasn't Nyx. Darnell had the club change who taped him ever since the incident with Jared.

Surprising everyone, Darnell walked down the stage, still singing as he approached the table with Jared and the rest. For a moment Jared didn't think he was coming their way, but when he locked eyes with Darnell he shivered, feeling his heartbeat quicken as it threatened to jump out from his chest. Darnell eventually reached the table, singing to everyone. He first put his hand around Yves, pulling the man close to the fake breastplates he was wearing before heading over to his dad. He smiled at the older man, pointing the microphone towards him so that he could sing out loud.

Everyone started clapping when the old man's crisp voice filled the stuffy bar. He sang a whole verse before Darnell took the microphone away to continue singing. He had a powerhouse voice. It was something he had gotten from his mother who had been a Jazz and gospel singer. He kept singing, standing at the table before making eye contact with Jared again, and without a second thought he moved to sit on the man's lap, earning a few confused whispers, but they were drowned out by clapping and whistling.

Jared's tongue was tied. He didn't know what to say about the situation, or where to look. At first, he felt that it might be an innocent move. There were no free seats, and the bar was crowded, but a seed of doubt was sowed in his mind when Darnell started grinding against him lightly. The man was still singing, and Jared wondered how he could keep a straight face while doing something so seductive. The older man finally settled on holding on to Darnell's waist that was smaller than usual due to the corset he was wearing underneath the dress.

Darnell continued to move, and Jared's face just kept getting redder. Darnell paused singing, turning to face Jared before leaning forward to connect their lips. He pulled away when things became heated, looking out to the crowd with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my man," he said, earning another round of whistles and applause. He sat on Jared's lap for a while, singing into the microphone as he continued to make his feminine hand gestures and facial expressions. When he finished the song he was currently singing, he got up, heading back to the stage only to curtsey and walk away. The crowd cheered, and Jared was still red-faced and hot. The bar was hot — that was normal due to the crowd and all the talking and dancing that went on, but Jared felt like his body was burning. He could hear whispering and chuckles from nearby tables. Some of them were discussing what had just happened.

"That's the person he's dating?"

"I didn't expect that. He doesn't look — I don't know, they just don't look good together," someone said, making another voice chuckle.

"He must have lots of money."

"Of course, I'd date a stick of celery if it had a thousand grand."

Maybe a month or so ago those words would have cut Jared's skin like knives, but right now they couldn't even prick him enough for him to notice. They could say and think what they wanted, Jared didn't care. Darnell loved him, and he made it public for everyone to know. He only cared about that. As long as Darnell found him attractive and worthy of his love, what did he care what a random youth at a club felt about him?

Two more people went on stage after Darnell, and Nathalie was one of them. She did a comedy act, calling Yves up on stage to be her assistant at one point. When the show was over there was a round of applause and people went on to talk and dance.

"Where's Darnell?" Yves asked, looking around. It had been a while since the show was over.

"He's probably changing," Austin said with a shrug before looking over at his friend. Jared's face was still a bright red and he was quiet — at loss of words and still shocked about what had happened. Austin chuckled, making the man's gaze move to him.

"It was really something, wasn't it?" Austin said, referring to what Darnell had done in the middle of his show. Jared didn't respond. He looked down at the cup of beer he had in his hand, shrugging a bit as he opened and closed his free hand. Darnell's father had gone to use the bathroom, and Yves got up a few seconds ago to get something to drink. Austin rolled his eyes, a bit upset that his friend was ignoring him. He reached out for his glass of beer, sipping it as he looked out into the crowd. People at the bar were young, and if he had to make a wild guess, he was the oldest person here aside from Darnell's father.

"Look who I found," Yves said, making Austin and Jared turn in the direction of his voice. Darnell was behind him with Nathalie. His face was bare, and he was wearing plaid trousers and a loose tank top. Nathalie was dressed plainly too, the only makeup on her face was the heavy eyeliner she wore all the time. Darnell smiled, making his way to Jared before taking a seat on the man's lap and Nathalie walked over to the seat that Darnell's dad had been sitting on before she was stopped.

"Really? Gosh," she groaned when Austin explained that someone was already sitting there. She scanned the room, biting on her bottom lip when she realized there were no empty seats she could drag to the table. She was still thinking of what to do when Yves got up, heading to sit on Austin's lap without another word. Austin was flustered, but he wasn't complaining.

"You can have my seat," he said, making Nath turn to him before giving him a grateful smile. They all talked for a bit, drinking beer and eating the snacks Austin had ordered. Darnell's father returned to the table after a few minutes. He commended Darnell on his performance, making his son beam.

When the six of them left the bar, Yves pulled Darnell aside to talk to him for a bit. They waved each other off, and Yves left with Austin before Darnell got his father in a car. Nathalie saw herself off leaving Darnell and Jared alone by themselves. The two stood at the edge of the street in silence as they watched the taxi that picked up Nathalie leave. When it was out of sight Darnell hummed, reaching out to take a hold of Jared's hand. The older man looked down at their joined hands, swinging them a bit before chuckling.

"You show was great," Jared muttered, making Darnell flush a bit as he mumbled 'thanks' in a small voice. The younger man licked his lips, burying his free hand in the pocket of his plaid pants. When Darnell was his drag persona, he was sexy, daring and confident, but plain old Darnell was a lot shyer, and Jared didn't mind. He liked both versions very much.

The walked down to the parking lot that Jared left his car in. They were still holding hands when they got there, and Jared reluctantly let go of Darnell's so that he could search his pockets for his keys and open the door. When they got in Jared was quick to start the car, while Darnell reached to turn on the stereo. It picked up from where it stopped playing the C.D., they fed to it the day before. Darnell smiled at that, leaning back on the passenger seat before turning over to Jared who was messing with the heaters. Darnell leaned forward, surprising Jared who stopped what he was doing.

"You liked the show, right?" he asked in a soft voice as his gaze moved from Jared's eyes, and then his lips before moving back to his lips again. Jared's throat went dry as the rate of his heartbeat increased, he looked away, trying to find the words to say.

"I liked it. I told you your show was great—"

"How much did you like it?" Darnell asked, cutting the man off as he reached out his hand to touch his thigh.

Jared let out a deep sigh, reaching to take a hold of Darnell's hand before it could go up any further. "I liked it — I loved it," he made clear, looking up at Darnell who was now grinning at him. Jared was sure his face was red because it felt like he had pressed his cheeks against hand warmers. Taking Darnell's hand away had been a useless measure since the skinny man just moved his whole body until he was on Jared's seat too. He moved around until he was straddling him, and then he rested his head on Jared's chest, listening to the man's heartbeat.

"This is uncomfortable," he said after a while of them sitting in silence, and Jared laughed, making Darnell chuckle a bit. He didn't really care that his neck felt like it was about to snap in half or that his legs felt like they were being pricked by the thousand tiny plastic bits that were on either side of the chair. He didn't care. He was in Jared's arms, and Jared was holding him close.

Darnell raised his head, looking at Jared and drinking in his features. The man's deep brown eyes. The man's lips. The man's laugh lines. The way his eyebrows bent when he was worried about Darnell. Darnell didn't care what anyone said, Jared was perfect. He closed the distance between their lips, closing his eyes as he kissed Jared softly as he wrapped his hand around the man's shoulder. He ground his hips against Jared as he did earlier in the bar, but this time there wasn't the space of custom nets and foams separating them. The jazz music played in the background as they continued to kiss and feel each other through their clothes. Darnell took Jared's moans as an opportunity to press his tongue into the man's mouth.

"I love you," Darnell whispered as he pulled away, opening his eyes and scanning Jared's deep red face. Jared nodded, looking at Darnell's chest as his face continued to imitate a ripe tomato. It stung him a little that Jared didn't say it back, but it was okay. Darnell knew that he was overwhelmed.

They sat still for a while until Darnell decided that it was about time he went back to his seat.

When Jared composed himself, he drove the car out the parking lot and into the main road. Darnell was quiet for the most part, and Jared was starting to feel a little guilty about freaking out and not telling him he loved him back. Darnell made a lot of emotional space for him so that he could move at his own rate, but it didn't change the fact that he was sensitive to things like that. Darnell was a sentimental person.

"Darnell?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you." There was a period of silence after his words, but Jared could tell that Darnell was happier after he said them. The younger man's lips had curved to a smile, and he was in a better mood.

"So, what did Yves talk to you about?" Jared asked, trying to start a conversation.

"He was asking if this was the only drag bar in town," Darnell said, looking out of the window to stare at the passing scenery. The darkness was tinted with streetlights and the lights coming from store signs. "I think he's considering staying back if he can get into drag here," Darnell mentioned and Jared's eyes went back. If Austin heard that the man would probably break down from happiness, but Jared decided that he wouldn't tell him. Darnell did say Yves was considering it. It wasn't a concrete thing, yet.

Jared found himself grinning, and Darnell looked over at him, wondering what his smile was about, but he didn't question it. When they got home, they picked up from where they stopped in the parking lot. Enjoying each other's company and bodies. Loving each other until their eyelids grew heavy with sleep.