For all you uneducated chillings. Those italics mean it happened last chapter. ⬇️

Then he began playing, closing his eyes and losing himself in the music, just revelling in the melody he was able to create before the words brought meaning to the song that others could understand.

Of course Darren knew what this song meant, he understood, he could feel what his music was feeling without ever singing any words. And that, to him, was the most powerful thing about writing and creating your own music- that one moment of silence when there's no voices- just instruments and their music, and you're the only one who understands.

Darren braced himself, drawing his shoulders in up high and breathing deeply out through his nose, allowing his eyes to slip close as he sang the first line.

I've been alone
Surrounded by darkness

"He calls that not being able to-" Bonnie's words were cut off abruptly when almost everyone in the room, minus Darren, hissed at her to 'shut up'.

I've seen you crying
You felt like it's hopeless

Darren shook his head in disbelief, a small unbelieving smile lifting the corners of his mouth up. A few days ago, he'd never even dream of being able to sing in front of people.

Baby, you're not alone
'Cause you're here with me

Of course Darren knew he wasn't that bad at singing. He was well aware that he could carry a tune. But he wasn't convinced he was good enough to perform. He'd always thought he'd get lessons in the future if he ever wanted to pursue a music career. And that was exactly why he'd said he couldn't sing; because he didn't really want to sing in front of anyone, not yet.

It don't matter what'll come to be
Our love is all we need to make it through...

But he had never been more thankful for his new friends, not that he'd had much time to be thankful for them. Anyway, the point was; that Darren was singing in front of a big group of people that wasn't his family, for the first time. And not to mention he was singing his own song, as well.

Everytime I see you smiling
And I feel you so close to me...

As he hit the chorus, Darren turned his head around slightly to be able to see his friends, finding every one of them staring at him in awe, quite a few of them unable to keep their jaw shut.

Baby, you're not alone
'Cause you're here with me

Lauren, along with every person in the room, apart from Darren, sat in shock as they watched their new friend singing. Joey also seemed unable to keep quiet, turning around after almost every verse to make a comment on how good Darren's singing was and how he'd love to hear what Darren singing good sounded like, if the man called this 'not being able to sing'.

I still have trouble
I trip and stumble

Darren bounced up and down on the piano stool as the slow pace of the music picked up. He always got like this when it came to playing an instrument; particularly the piano. He got completely carried away in the music, which meant he completely forgot about everyone else around him, often leading to some very dramatic performances.

All I need is to look in your eyes
And I realize...

Joey whistled loudly, clapping and laughing in disbelief as his friend hit an extremely high note. Joey was quickly silenced by a slap across the back of the head by Meredith. Darren cleared his throat and fought down his laughter as he hit the chorus again.

Baby, I'm not alone
'Cause you're here with me

The pace of the music slowed down again, and Darren did the same. He finally managed to sit still, his eyes slipping shut as he enjoyed the last few moments of being the only noise in a room full of silence, which would undoubtedly erupt into applause soon.

Cause nothing, nothing, nothing
Can keep me from lovin' you

Nodding his head to the last notes of the slow melody he was creating, Darren breathed out deeply through his nose. His fingers stilled as he belted out the last words, his eyes shut tight as he did so.

Our love is all we need
To make it through...

Just like he'd predicted, the room's silence was quickly filled with excited cheering and applauding, the loudest being Joey, who seemed unable to sit still.

"That was awesome, man!" Joey exclaimed, punctuating each word with a bouncy step towards Darren, throwing two arms over his shorter friend's shoulders when he reached him.

"I don't kno-"

"I thought you said you couldn't sing!" Lauren grinned, "You really are the perfect Harry."

"You still want me to play Harry?" Darren frowned, scrunching his face up in confusion, "But why?"

"Dude, have you seen your hair? It's exactly like Harry's. In the books, anyway. We don't trust the films." Brian shuddered, "It missed out way too many details."

Darren's mouth dropped open, "You guys don't like the films?"

"Oh, no. We love the films. Brian over here is just very dramatically obsessive." Lauren shrugged, "I mean, we agree with him; the films missed out loads. But they're still amazing."

Darren nodded, agreeing completely.

"Anyway, how could you say you weren't a good singer?" Bonnie asked, "You're, like, better than all of us."

"Hey!" Joey cried.

"Don't even try to deny it." Meredith chimes in, "I agree with Bonnie; you're totally awesome at singing. Why would you try hide it?"

"I-"

"He obviously just didn't wanna make us jealous, right Dare?" Joey interrupted, sensing Darren's uncomfortableness.

"No." Darren shook his head, "Why would I make you jealous anyway, I'm kinda terrible at singing."

"Stop lying to yourself! And stop lying to us! We heard you, remember? You literally just sang for us." Brian clapped his hands together once.

"Yeah, when will you start believing how amazing you are?" Bonnie nodded, her comment causing Darren to shrug, swallow thickly and look down at his shoes.

OOPS I FORGOT TO POST THIS K BYE IM GOING TO SCHOOL IM LATE AGAIN BYE