Categories > Celebrities > Savage Garden > Night and Day
And here it is...the next installment of Night and Day. Hopefully, I can make up for leaving you the way I did.
Disclaimer: This is a silly little, completely fictional story. I have borrowed the fantastic names used in this fic but do not intend to make money or cause harm.
Rating: PG.
Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated more to one of my favorite dynamics in this fic, concentrating more on Colby and Darren than Darren and Daniel. It's mostly background information. Enjoy!
Night and Day 11/20
"All the times without number, darling, when I say to you. Do you love me as I love you? Are you my life to be? My dream come true? Or will this dream of mine, fade out of sight like the moon growing dim on the rim of the hill in the chill, still of the night?" In the Still of the Night, written by Cole Porter.
Colby Taylor Hayes sat down, exhausted, in the chair by her husband's bed. She hadn't left the man's side since he had stumbled into her arms just days before, though it had seemed years. Over the past four days, she had brought every single decent doctor in New York City to see her husband, to diagnose him. Unfortunately, with each doctor that came, Darren became more withdrawn and refused each doctor's presence with just a shake of his head. One doctor had simply told Colby, "I did not see much of him, Mrs. Hayes, but he needs to eat. Force feed him if you must. He will die if you do not."
"Do you know what's the matter with him?" Colby had asked, following the rushing doctor.
The doctor looked at her sadly and then shook his head. "No, Mrs. Hayes. I'm sorry."
Mrs. Hayes. Colby hated the name. If they had been in England, the doctor would have called her "your ladyship", as that were her proper title in her country. But here, the vile Americans refused to call anyone by a title and so she was simply "Mrs. Hayes". She hated America; hated the people and the noise and the vulgarities. It was a terrible country, a country still in its infancy and making more mistakes than she had ever dreamed possible. And yet, Darren loved it here. He loved how free America was, how little it depended on morals. Of course, her husband wasn't exactly an expert on morality and she supposed that was why he loved the country so much.
She got out of the chair and went to Darren's bureau, smiling as his scent came over her, a mixture of his expensive cologne and his own special scent. She loved the way her husband smelled and now she grabbed one of his sweaters to put on, inhaling the wonderful smell. She still remembered the day she met Darren Hayes, almost as if it had only been just a few days earlier. He had smelled wonderful then too, though she couldn't have known that when she looked across the room at the ball they were at. She knew who he was before he had even come over to introduce himself; Lord Darren Stanley Hayes, the youngest child of Lord and Lady Robert Hayes, also known as the Marquis and Marchioness of Somerset. She knew he had attended Eton, but instead of going onto the military as had his older brother, Darren had decided to enter the theatre, and he was supposed to be very good. And so, when he had finally come over to introduce himself, her heart had raced with the prospect of him talking to her, a lowly baronness's daughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello," Darren Hayes smiled at her, causing her poor breath to catch in her throat. "I couldn't help noticing you across the room. I'm----"
"Lord Darren Hayes," Colby finished for him. "I know. I'm Colby Taylor, daughter of the deceased Baron and Baroness, Lord and Lady Philip Taylor."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Taylor," he grinned at her. "Could I have this dance? Or is your dance card filled for this evening?"
"No," she shook her head. "You may have this dance, Lord Darren."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
After that dance, she had fallen madly in love with Darren Hayes. He wasn't at all like most children of the upper class; he was fun and adoring and lived to entertain. He took her to the theatre, where he would brag that he could do just as well, if not better, than the main actors. They would go out for walks and have picnics, and life seemed to be perfect. He had spent quite a bit of his time telling her how beautiful and inspirational she was and she soon realized that Darren was the only man in the world who could make her blush.
And so, when her mother had told her that the Hayses had agreed to a wedding, Colby became too excited for words. She absolutely loved Darren, though she had never told him so. Darren gave her a beautiful ring, a family heirloom that had graced the hand of his grandmother, a duchess. Colby's mother had been ecstatic to be moving up in rank, even though Colby had reminded her mother that Darren would never gain the title of the marquis, seeing as he was the youngest male. Nevertheless, Colby would no longer be known in society as Ms. Taylor, but as Lady Colby, the woman who had been lucky enough to marry the intelligent, charming, youngest son of the Marquis.
It had not been until her wedding night, however, that Colby realized her life was not going to be the perfect fairy tale her mother had described to her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"God damn it all to hell," Darren swore for the fifth time as he rolled off his wife, again failing to be able to penetrate her.
Colby lay in bed, suddenly frightened. Was there something the matter with her? Was she not comely enough? Perhaps Darren was unfruitful, unable to complete the task. Did that mean she would have to be childless for the rest of her life? Her mother had never told her what to do in this situation, and now she watched as Darren stood up in the moonlight, running his hand through his dark locks. "Darren?" she murmured. "Darling?"
He turned to look at her, and his face fell automatically as he read her facial _expression, which betrayed her fears. "Oh, Colby, my dear girl," he came back into bed and pulled her close, "it's not you, my love. Not you at all. It's, well, it's really my father's fault."
"Your father?" Colby straightened and brought the sheets to her chin, hiding her nakedness. "What does your father have to do with this?"
"Colby, my love, I," he frowned for a moment, staring at her, his blue eyes troubled, "I am not what you need."
"Whatever do you mean?" she asked. He was everything she needed. Darren was her life, her one true love.
"You are beautiful, Colby," he smiled at her. "Stunning. Absolutely a beautiful vision straight from the heavens."
She blushed, "But, Darren, if I'm all of those things then why can't you---why can't we do what we must do?"
"Because I am not in love with you, Colby," he said it bluntly, and she felt as if she had been slapped. "I love you, yes, but I do not find you tempting. I cannot be with you, Colby, as a man should be with his wife."
"But why?"
He got up again, pouring a bit of champagne into a glass and drinking it down as fast as possible. "Because I prefer men, Colby."
"You're a sodomist?" she gasped. Her husband was depraved. Her husband came straight from the towns of Sodom and Gomorah, and he would burn for all eternity in the fiery pits of hell.
"I prefer not to use that term, but yes," Darren nodded. "My father wanted me married, Colby, so as not to raise any suspicions about my, well, tastes. You were a perfect candidate, be as it were. Young, fatherless, a mother who wanted to climb up in society. I told him you did not love me, were not attracted to me, and that the marriage would be unfair to us both, but of course he did not listen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was at that moment, that she had told the greatest lie of her life. She had laughed and told Darren quite plainly that she did not love him and that she hadn't wanted to be married to him at all. His eyes had lit up at that moment, and they had made their little deal that evening, the night before they left for New York. It had hurt her to make the deal, to allow Darren to go and have sex with random men whenever he wanted, and she often made up men that she was going to the theatre with. Darren was a good husband, though, that she could not deny. And despite the past six years, the several hundred affairs Darren had had and the one serious affair she had found herself swept into, she still loved the dark haired man. She adored him and his sense of humor, his smile, his laughter, and most of all, his loyalty. Because, no matter how many men Darren slept with, he always came back to her. He always kissed her cheek and called her, "my darling girl". And that was the most important thing to Colby Taylor Hayes.
She wrapped herself in the sweater, blocking out the cold of New York's January and then took off her shoes, smiling at the sleeping form in front of her. She leaned forward and swept a piece of hair off of her husband's damp forehead. "Darren, my love," she murmured as she crawled into bed next to him, something she had not done since he had found out about his father's death four years earlier. The news of his brother's death came two weeks afterwards, officially passing on not only the title the Marquis of Somerset, but also his family's fortune. Colby still had the letter from Darren's solictor that greeted them both, "my lord and lady". It had been devestating to see Darren's eyes widen with the fear of this responsibility, as he had never been raised to be anything short of Lord Darren Hayes. And so, she had climbed into bed with him, and he had held her, the deal momentarily forgotten.
And now, as Darren lay in bed, it suddenly dawned on her that Daniel Jones had not called to check on his lover. And the words that Darren had said that first night, "I did it for you", suddenly made quite a bit of sense. Had Darren ended the relationship with Daniel in order to be a husband to her and a father to her child? Had she truly beaten Daniel in the race to win her husband's heart? A smile spread across her features and she put her arms around Darren, cuddling even closer to her body. It did not occur to her that her victory would be in vain if her husband died of a broken heart.
Disclaimer: This is a silly little, completely fictional story. I have borrowed the fantastic names used in this fic but do not intend to make money or cause harm.
Rating: PG.
Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated more to one of my favorite dynamics in this fic, concentrating more on Colby and Darren than Darren and Daniel. It's mostly background information. Enjoy!
Night and Day 11/20
"All the times without number, darling, when I say to you. Do you love me as I love you? Are you my life to be? My dream come true? Or will this dream of mine, fade out of sight like the moon growing dim on the rim of the hill in the chill, still of the night?" In the Still of the Night, written by Cole Porter.
Colby Taylor Hayes sat down, exhausted, in the chair by her husband's bed. She hadn't left the man's side since he had stumbled into her arms just days before, though it had seemed years. Over the past four days, she had brought every single decent doctor in New York City to see her husband, to diagnose him. Unfortunately, with each doctor that came, Darren became more withdrawn and refused each doctor's presence with just a shake of his head. One doctor had simply told Colby, "I did not see much of him, Mrs. Hayes, but he needs to eat. Force feed him if you must. He will die if you do not."
"Do you know what's the matter with him?" Colby had asked, following the rushing doctor.
The doctor looked at her sadly and then shook his head. "No, Mrs. Hayes. I'm sorry."
Mrs. Hayes. Colby hated the name. If they had been in England, the doctor would have called her "your ladyship", as that were her proper title in her country. But here, the vile Americans refused to call anyone by a title and so she was simply "Mrs. Hayes". She hated America; hated the people and the noise and the vulgarities. It was a terrible country, a country still in its infancy and making more mistakes than she had ever dreamed possible. And yet, Darren loved it here. He loved how free America was, how little it depended on morals. Of course, her husband wasn't exactly an expert on morality and she supposed that was why he loved the country so much.
She got out of the chair and went to Darren's bureau, smiling as his scent came over her, a mixture of his expensive cologne and his own special scent. She loved the way her husband smelled and now she grabbed one of his sweaters to put on, inhaling the wonderful smell. She still remembered the day she met Darren Hayes, almost as if it had only been just a few days earlier. He had smelled wonderful then too, though she couldn't have known that when she looked across the room at the ball they were at. She knew who he was before he had even come over to introduce himself; Lord Darren Stanley Hayes, the youngest child of Lord and Lady Robert Hayes, also known as the Marquis and Marchioness of Somerset. She knew he had attended Eton, but instead of going onto the military as had his older brother, Darren had decided to enter the theatre, and he was supposed to be very good. And so, when he had finally come over to introduce himself, her heart had raced with the prospect of him talking to her, a lowly baronness's daughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hello," Darren Hayes smiled at her, causing her poor breath to catch in her throat. "I couldn't help noticing you across the room. I'm----"
"Lord Darren Hayes," Colby finished for him. "I know. I'm Colby Taylor, daughter of the deceased Baron and Baroness, Lord and Lady Philip Taylor."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Taylor," he grinned at her. "Could I have this dance? Or is your dance card filled for this evening?"
"No," she shook her head. "You may have this dance, Lord Darren."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
After that dance, she had fallen madly in love with Darren Hayes. He wasn't at all like most children of the upper class; he was fun and adoring and lived to entertain. He took her to the theatre, where he would brag that he could do just as well, if not better, than the main actors. They would go out for walks and have picnics, and life seemed to be perfect. He had spent quite a bit of his time telling her how beautiful and inspirational she was and she soon realized that Darren was the only man in the world who could make her blush.
And so, when her mother had told her that the Hayses had agreed to a wedding, Colby became too excited for words. She absolutely loved Darren, though she had never told him so. Darren gave her a beautiful ring, a family heirloom that had graced the hand of his grandmother, a duchess. Colby's mother had been ecstatic to be moving up in rank, even though Colby had reminded her mother that Darren would never gain the title of the marquis, seeing as he was the youngest male. Nevertheless, Colby would no longer be known in society as Ms. Taylor, but as Lady Colby, the woman who had been lucky enough to marry the intelligent, charming, youngest son of the Marquis.
It had not been until her wedding night, however, that Colby realized her life was not going to be the perfect fairy tale her mother had described to her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"God damn it all to hell," Darren swore for the fifth time as he rolled off his wife, again failing to be able to penetrate her.
Colby lay in bed, suddenly frightened. Was there something the matter with her? Was she not comely enough? Perhaps Darren was unfruitful, unable to complete the task. Did that mean she would have to be childless for the rest of her life? Her mother had never told her what to do in this situation, and now she watched as Darren stood up in the moonlight, running his hand through his dark locks. "Darren?" she murmured. "Darling?"
He turned to look at her, and his face fell automatically as he read her facial _expression, which betrayed her fears. "Oh, Colby, my dear girl," he came back into bed and pulled her close, "it's not you, my love. Not you at all. It's, well, it's really my father's fault."
"Your father?" Colby straightened and brought the sheets to her chin, hiding her nakedness. "What does your father have to do with this?"
"Colby, my love, I," he frowned for a moment, staring at her, his blue eyes troubled, "I am not what you need."
"Whatever do you mean?" she asked. He was everything she needed. Darren was her life, her one true love.
"You are beautiful, Colby," he smiled at her. "Stunning. Absolutely a beautiful vision straight from the heavens."
She blushed, "But, Darren, if I'm all of those things then why can't you---why can't we do what we must do?"
"Because I am not in love with you, Colby," he said it bluntly, and she felt as if she had been slapped. "I love you, yes, but I do not find you tempting. I cannot be with you, Colby, as a man should be with his wife."
"But why?"
He got up again, pouring a bit of champagne into a glass and drinking it down as fast as possible. "Because I prefer men, Colby."
"You're a sodomist?" she gasped. Her husband was depraved. Her husband came straight from the towns of Sodom and Gomorah, and he would burn for all eternity in the fiery pits of hell.
"I prefer not to use that term, but yes," Darren nodded. "My father wanted me married, Colby, so as not to raise any suspicions about my, well, tastes. You were a perfect candidate, be as it were. Young, fatherless, a mother who wanted to climb up in society. I told him you did not love me, were not attracted to me, and that the marriage would be unfair to us both, but of course he did not listen."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was at that moment, that she had told the greatest lie of her life. She had laughed and told Darren quite plainly that she did not love him and that she hadn't wanted to be married to him at all. His eyes had lit up at that moment, and they had made their little deal that evening, the night before they left for New York. It had hurt her to make the deal, to allow Darren to go and have sex with random men whenever he wanted, and she often made up men that she was going to the theatre with. Darren was a good husband, though, that she could not deny. And despite the past six years, the several hundred affairs Darren had had and the one serious affair she had found herself swept into, she still loved the dark haired man. She adored him and his sense of humor, his smile, his laughter, and most of all, his loyalty. Because, no matter how many men Darren slept with, he always came back to her. He always kissed her cheek and called her, "my darling girl". And that was the most important thing to Colby Taylor Hayes.
She wrapped herself in the sweater, blocking out the cold of New York's January and then took off her shoes, smiling at the sleeping form in front of her. She leaned forward and swept a piece of hair off of her husband's damp forehead. "Darren, my love," she murmured as she crawled into bed next to him, something she had not done since he had found out about his father's death four years earlier. The news of his brother's death came two weeks afterwards, officially passing on not only the title the Marquis of Somerset, but also his family's fortune. Colby still had the letter from Darren's solictor that greeted them both, "my lord and lady". It had been devestating to see Darren's eyes widen with the fear of this responsibility, as he had never been raised to be anything short of Lord Darren Hayes. And so, she had climbed into bed with him, and he had held her, the deal momentarily forgotten.
And now, as Darren lay in bed, it suddenly dawned on her that Daniel Jones had not called to check on his lover. And the words that Darren had said that first night, "I did it for you", suddenly made quite a bit of sense. Had Darren ended the relationship with Daniel in order to be a husband to her and a father to her child? Had she truly beaten Daniel in the race to win her husband's heart? A smile spread across her features and she put her arms around Darren, cuddling even closer to her body. It did not occur to her that her victory would be in vain if her husband died of a broken heart.
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