If You Only Knew

Kaley's POV

"Joe, how are you?" I could not even describe how happy I was to see my old friend. He had not changed a bit since I had last seen him, which had been almost eight months ago.

He was still super tall, with the same long, shaggy black hair that fell into his bright, hazel eyes. He had grown some stubble on his chin, which made him look more manly. That, and his muscles, muscles that were much larger than I remember them being.

I had totally had a crush on him when I had worked here, but he had had a girlfriend at the time, so we were never an option. And then he had left for half a year on a mission's trip to Africa. Guessing by the dark tint to his skin, I would say that he just got back only recently.

"I've been good, terrific actually," he smiled, very charmingly to be honest. "Hi, I'm Joe Thomas." His attention had turned on Darren, whom I had momentarily forgotten about. Darren did not look happy at all for some strange reason.

Why is he so angry? I wondered as I watched him begrudgingly introduce himself to Joe. He seemed fine a minute ago...

"It's nice to meet you, Darren," Joe was saying as I turned my attention back on him. "And as I was saying, I'm terrific. I just proposed to Ashley and she said yes! I'm seriously the happiest man in the world right now!" I couldn't help but feel a little saddened by his comment, though I truly was happy for him.

It's like how I felt when I found out that Kevin Jonas was getting married, I laughed inwardly. Sad and jealous, yet totally happy for him that he had found the person that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

"I'm so happy for you!" I smiled at Joe, my eyes briefly flickering back to Darren. He seemed less tense now, the smile on his face less forced.

"Congratulations," Darren said.

"Thanks," Joe beamed. "I gotta getting going, but I'll see you around? Sorry bout interrupting your date!"

"It's not a d-" I started to say, but he was already gone. That was one of the things that had always bothered me about Joe. He was really bad at walking away in the middle of a conversation.

"So," I turned my attention back on Darren. "Where were we?"

"We were having ice cream," Darren smiled.

"Oh really?" I laughed. "So is that why I have an ice cream cone in my hand?"

"It could be possible," he winked at me, bringing a huge smile to my face. Joe leaving had brought back Darren's fun, flirty side. I still didn't understand why Darren had acted so weird when Joe had showed up, but instead of dwelling on it, I just shook it off, focusing on the moment now instead.

"So besides coming for ice cream," Darren started to say, pausing to lick his ice cream. "What do you do for fun?"

"For fun?" I echoed his words back to him. "I honestly don't even know... Write, I guess, or try to at least. Watch movies, read books, explore New York. I don't know. Typical stuff, I guess. You?"

"When I'm not working?" he started, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought. "Well, I like to read sometimes too. I absolutely love the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling is a genius, in my opinion... You have read Harry Potter, right?" I nodded, though it was only half true. I hadn't read all of the books yet, but I had seen all of the movies, so I figured that was close enough to count.

"I play video games sometimes," he continued. "But most often I play and write songs, usually on my guitar, but sometimes on a piano if there's one around."

"I would love to hear you play sometime," I sighed dreamily. "I absolutely love the sound of a guitar. I don't know, maybe it's my country background kicking in, but, in my opinion, nothing beats the sound of a single, acoustic guitar. Nothing."

"Really?" he seemed surprised.

"It's just so... real, you know?" I continued. "It's just so pure and natural. So... magical. I feel the same way about pianos sometimes too. Seriously, I could probably just sit and listen to someone play a guitar or piano all day and not get bored."

"I'll have to keep that in mind," he smiled at me.

We continued chatting, about random things, for a little while until I noticed that Darren was starting to seem less and less comfortable.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, noting how he was shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"What?" his attention snapped back to me, his eyes big and confused.

"Are you okay?" I repeated, getting a little worried. Had I done something to bug him? Was he getting bored of spending time with me?

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he forced a smile. "Just a little anxious to get moving again. I'm not very good at staying still for very long."

"So I've noticed," I laughed, watching his hands move as he talked. Seriously, I don't think his hands were ever still when he was talking. "Do you want to go?" His eyes quickly glanced out the window before he nodded.

"S-Sure," he seemed really nervous. "But don't we have to pay for these?" He started to pull out his wallet.

"No, it's my treat," I stopped him, starting to stand up. "Oh, and before I forget, Talia wanted to get your autograph. Is that okay? We can give it to Grace when we leave."

"Yeah, that's no problem," he smiled, pulling out his notebook from his back pocket. "You go pay, and I'll do this."

"Alright," I smiled back, turning away to go see Grace.

"How much do I owe you?" I asked her once I reached the counter.

"No charge," she smiled. "It's on me."

"Grace," I sighed. "You know I can't let you do that." I proceeded to put a five dollar bill up on the counter.

"Two dollars a cone, right?" I asked, pushing the bill towards her. She just rolled her eyes and nodded her head yes.

"Keep the change," I told her, starting to turn away.

"So Darren seems like a nice guy," Grace commented, making me turn back to her.

"Yes, he is," I sighed. "But we're just friends."

"And why do I have a hard time believing that?" Grace asked, a smile still lingering on her lips.

"We are just friends," I sighed. "I've only known him personally for a couple of days. That's not really enough time to establish any real feelings for each other."

"I don't believe that," Grace argued. "I fell in love with my husband the moment that I met him. That love-at-first-sight ideal isn't false. It does happen."

"Well, not to me," I sighed. I didn't want to talk about this anymore, so I quickly changed the subject. "So, Joe and Ashley, eh?"

"Yes," Grace smiled. "That boy is quite smitten with her. It's too bad that nothing happened between you two though..."

"Grace!" I exclaimed, surprised by her very blunt comment.

"What can I say?" she shrugged. "I would have loved to have you as a granddaughter... or step-granddaughter... or however that works out." I laughed, slightly flattered by Grace's comment. It was hard being so far away from my real family sometimes and Grace had always made me feel so welcomed in hers.

"I already feel like I am sometimes," I admitted. "You really are like family to me, all of you are."

Behind me the door to the shop jingled as it opened, and I heard the voices of two people deep in conversation enter the shop. I didn't bother looking to see who it was. I probably even didn't know them, and it was rude to stare at people when they walked in. I always hated it when people would stare at me so why do it to other people?

"I should probably getting going," I told her. "Darren's probably getting impatient waiting."

"Alright, well, come back and visit soon, okay?" she replied, starting to turn her attention away to her new customers. "What can I get for you two today?"

I turned away and headed back for the table where I had left Darren. I was so lost in thought that I almost passed right by it.

How could I have missed it so easily? I wondered as I turned back to the table.

And then I realized how. It was empty. Darren was gone. And all that was left on the table was two pieces of paper. One had his autograph on it, dedicated to Talia, while the other only had one word on it: Sorry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darren's POV

I felt horrible just leaving her there, but I couldn't let them catch us together. I saw my chance to slip out when an older couple came into the shop. They were so concentrated on each other and their conversation that they didn't even notice me grab the door and smoothly slip through it before it hit the bells again.

I only had to walk a couple of steps down the sidewalk before they caught up with me.

"Darren, Darren, who was that that you were with?"

"Darren, is that your new girlfriend?"

"Darren, how are you recovering from Vanessa leaving you?"

They swarmed me with questions, just as I knew that they would. Taking a deep breath, I began to answer their questions.

"She was just a fan who wanted my autograph when I stopped in for ice cream," I lied. "And I'm doing fine, especially since I'm the one who left Vanessa. She didn't leave me. I left her."

"Darren, if this is true, then why were you crying the night of your break up?" one of them asked.

"We all have our bad nights," I told them. "I never cried over her. More than one thing can happen in a night to upset you. Honestly, I'm glad that Vanessa and I are finally over."

"What happened to make you cry?" now the questions were getting way too personal for my comfort.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time for any more questions," I said, starting to back away from them. "I have another show to do tonight, so I have to get back to the theatre." I turned and briskly walked away from them. A few of them tried to follow me, but I quickly lost them in the now busy street that I had entered. Once I was sure that there were no more paparazzi following me, I pulled out my phone and texted Kaley.

Me: I am so sorry for leaving you like that. Paparazzi found me somehow. Had to get rid of them.

Kaley: ... Ok... But you didn't have to ditch me to get rid of them...

Me: I had to. If they saw us together, they'd make assumptions, and after my break up and all, I just don't want to have to deal with any of that right now.

Kaley: ... So now what?

Me: There's a Starbucks on 7th Ave. Meet me there?

Kaley: ... Ok. See you soon.

I slid my phone back into my pocket as I started to head towards the coffee shop that I could see down the street. I had to think of something to make it up to Kaley for ditching her back there.

But what? I wondered. What can I do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaley's POV

I closed my phone with a loud sigh, quickly sliding it back into my pocket. This "date" had taken a not-so-pleasant turn, much to my displeasure. Things had been going so well between us and then he had just ditched me.

My phone suddenly started to play the Kim Possible ringtone, signaling that I was getting a phone call. I hurriedly pulled it out, looking at the name that appeared on the screen. It was Joe.

"Hello?" I said as I placed the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Kaley," Joe's deep voice flowed into my ear. "Sorry to interrupt you again, but someone wanted to say thank you..."

"THANK YOU, KALEY!!" Talia's voice suddenly screamed into my ear. I quickly pulled my phone away from my ear, wincing at sudden increase in volume.

"You're welcome, Talia," I laughed, bringing the phone back to my ear. I had left the autograph with Grace, who had obviously given it to Talia.

"Is Darren there?" she asked eagerly. "Can I talk to him?"

"No, sorry, Talia," I sighed. "Darren had to run off, so he's not here to talk to you right now."

"Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, a hint of anger, yet also a little bit of curiosity in her voice.

"No, Talia," I sighed once again. Why did everyone assume that we were together? "No, we're just friends."

"Huh... Okay," her voice was lighter and peppier again.

"Can I have my phone back?" I heard Joe's voice in the background.

"But-" Talia whined. There was a slight bit of rustling on the other side of the phone and a high-pitched, unhappy squeal from Talia.

"No fair!" she pouted. Then I heard a door slam.

"Sorry about that," Joe's voice was back.

"It's alright," I laughed. " I know what it's like. I have siblings too."

"Alright, well, I guess I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing," Joe said. I could hear the slight smile in his voice and I instantly knew what he thought I was doing.

"Joe-" I started to say.

"I'll talk to you later!" Joe cut me off. "Bye!" The line went dead between us and I knew that he had hung up on me. I just kind of stared at my phone for a second before letting out a deep sigh. He really was horrible at just leaving conversations.

My attention suddenly turned back to where I was heading. I looked up and saw a sign that read 7th Ave.

I must be getting close... I thought as I continued walking.

"Umm, excuse me," I caught the attention of a dark-haired woman walking past me. In her hand she held a Starbucks cup.

"How far is it to the Starbucks?" I asked her. She tilted her huge, black sunglasses down and proceeded to look me up and down, raising a judgmental eyebrow at me. I suddenly became very self conscious of what I was wearing. Compared to her sleek, black, probably designer dress, I looked like a slob. I was wearing loose fitting blue jeans that had a huge hole in the left knee and a navy blue, slightly baggy, band t-shirt.

"It's up ahead," she finally told me, pointing briefly back in the direction that she had just come from as she put her sunglasses back up to cover her eyes. She was giving off the very snobbish vibe of "why are you talking to me?" Then, with a toss of her hair, she strutted away.

Probably a supermodel, I thought, rolling my eyes at her as she walked away. Pushing her out of my mind, I turned and continued down the street, spotting the Starbucks only moments later. And there, sitting at one of the tables outside, was Darren, sipping from a Starbucks cup.

As I got closer, Darren finally spotted me. He quickly stood up and walked over to meet me.

"I didn't know what you would have wanted," he said, motioning towards his cup.

"It's fine," I told him. "I don't drink coffee." The look he gave me was priceless. He was staring at me as if I had grown another eyeball on my forehead and it was winking at him.

"I just don't like it," I said before he could speak. "I've never been a fan of coffee. I'm more of a green tea with honey kind of girl."

"I could probably get you that," he said, starting to turn towards the Starbucks.

"It's fine," I grabbed his arm, stopping him. "I don't need anything. I'm fine, really." He seemed hesitant, looking back at the Starbucks briefly before looking back at me and I suddenly realized that he was looking for ways to make it up to me for ditching me earlier.

"I don't want anything," I told him sternly.

"Well then, it's on to Plan B!" he smiled.

"Plan B?" I laughed. He just smiled, stepping out towards the road.

"Taxi!" he called out, holding up his arm. A yellow cab suddenly pulled up to the curb and Darren opened the door.

"After you," he smiled, giving me a slight bow. I felt a giggle in my throat and had to cover my mouth with my hand to try to keep it from coming out, but I was unsuccessful. It slipped from my lips as I slid into the back of the taxi cab. Darren's smile was huge as he slid onto the seat beside me, glad to have made me laugh.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Just drive," Darren told him. "We're sightseeing." He turned to me. "That was something that you said you liked to do, right? Explore New York?"

"You were listening," I commented, surprised.

"Of course I was," he smiled, his eyes twinkling at me.

The cab started moving and New York suddenly began to fly past us. I don't know how long we spent driving up and down random streets, pointing out various sites to each other, but when my eyes finally happened to flitter across the watch on my wrist, my heart almost stopped.

"Driver, take us to Radio City Music Hall," I blurted anxiously. "As fast as you possibly can!"

"What's wrong?" Darren asked. I could almost feel the worry and concern emanating from him. I showed him my watch. It read 6:30.

The second show went up in half an hour.