If You Only Knew

Darren's POV

"I still can't believe that you kissed Leah yesterday," I commented, leaning my head back against the headrest. Chris looked up at me from across the limo and smiled.

"Why not?" he asked. "It was her birthday and it was something that she really wanted, so why wouldn't I?"

"Do you like her?" I asked.

"Leah?" he sounded surprised by my question. "Of course I do!"

"No," I rolled my eyes. "I mean like in a more than friends kind of way." Chris suddenly burst out laughing.

"Oh Darren, you should know by now that Leah's not my type," he laughed. "I mean, I love her to death, but ya, no. Maybe in another life." He shrugged as he returned his attention back on his phone. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he stared at the screen.

"What are you-" I started to say.

"So you know how Ryan's giving us tomorrow off?" Chris cut in suddenly.

"Ummm, ya?" I replied, not sure where he was going with this.

"Well," he continued. "I've been thinking-"

"Don't strain yourself!" I piped in, earning myself a glare from Chris.

"Funny," he rolled his eyes at me. "As I was saying, I've been thinking and since the girls both just turned twenty-one, to celebrate, we should go out to a bar tonight!"

"Great idea, except for one problem," I sighed. "Kaley doesn't drink."

"That's why we go to a karaoke bar!" Chris' eyes twinkled almost mischievously. "That way non-drinkers, like Kaley, can still have fun."

"Kaley doesn't sing though," I argued. "She said that the only way that she would ever sing in front of people would be if she was drunk, and she doesn't drink."

"Well, maybe we'll get her to do both tonight," Chris laughed, winking at me.

"Yeah, right," I mumbled under my breath as the limo came to a stop.

"I think that she would still have fun, regardless," Chris commented, getting out of the vehicle. "Like come on, she gets to hang out with us all night! Plus, the bar is just a couple of blocks away from here, so we don't even have to go that far!" He held up his phone for me to see the Google-mapped directions to the bar.

"Fine," I sighed, heading towards the theatre door.

"Is that a yes then?" Chris asked, hopeful. "You're in?"

"Ya," I laughed, amused by his excitement. "I'm in."

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

Kaley's POV

"Hey, look! I'm Artie!" I joked, popping a wheelie in Kevin's wheelchair.

"No, wait!" Lea squealed. "You need his glasses!" She snatched them off of his face and put them on me.

"Hey!" Kevin exclaimed unhappily. "I need those!"

"Oh, hush!" Lea shushed him before turning back to me. "Ok, we just need to put your hair back like this, push your bangs to the side like that and... perfect!" She clapped as she took a step back so that everyone else could see me.

She had pulled my hair back into a small bun to make my hair look shorter, more boyish, and she had moved all of my bangs to one side so that I would look more like Artie. The black glasses on my nose gave me a slight headache, so I tilted them down slightly so that I was looking out over top of the rims rather than through the glass.

I looked around at everyone sitting in the circle around me watching me do wheelies in the chair. Kevin McHale, whose chair I couldn't believe that I was actually sitting in at the moment, was trying hard to keep his face serious and mad, but ended up breaking and laughing at my silly impressions of his Glee character. Mark Salling sat beside him, giving me flirty little winks, a huge grin plastered across his face. Lea stood beside him, still admiring her handiwork with a huge smile, and last, but not least, Leah was sitting on top of a table, laughing her head off at me.

"What the devil is going on in here?" a familiar voice called out from the doorway. We all turned and smiled as Darren and Chris walked into the room. I inwardly giggled at Darren's reference to AVPM, and when I looked up at him, our eyes met and he smiled, somehow knowing that I had caught his joke.

"Party going on in here," Chris commented with a slight grin, which suddenly turned into a frown as he glared at us. "And how come we were weren't invited?"

"Because you can't get your lazy butts out of bed in the morning!" Leah exclaimed, hopping down off the table.

"That's not true!" Chris huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting. "Darren's the one who won't get up, not me!"

"Hey!" Darren exclaimed. "That's not... yeah, it's true." He laughed, making all of us laugh too.

"Well, since they didn't invite us to their party, maybe we shouldn't invite them to ours," Chris told Darren nonchalantly, snubbing the rest of us.

"Party?" Lea exclaimed, excited. "What party?"

"A party?" Mark smiled. "I'm in!"

"Oh, it's not just any party," Chris smiled, enjoying the attention that was on him. "It's a party for our two wonderful new friends, Leah and Kaley!"

"Wooo!" Mark cheered. "We're going clubbing tonight!"

"What?" I asked, caught off guard by his statement as I removed myself from the wheelchair. "Clubbing?"

"You guys are twenty-one now," he smiled slyly at me. "So it's time that we show you exactly how we like to party!"

"I found a bar just a few blocks from here," Chris started to tell everyone, but I wasn't listening. I had already started to freak out the moment he said bar.

"B-Bar?" I stuttered, looking to Leah for support, but she was lost in the excitement. She had never been as reserved as me when it came to bars and drinking.

"And that's not even the best part!" Chris went on. "It's a karaoke bar!"

"Yes!" Lea squealed with excitement, jumping up and down. "This is going to be so much fun!"

I disagreed. Very much so. Not that I could say so out loud though. I was too stunned to talk.

"So, what do you say?" Chris asked. "Are you guys in?"

"Of course!"

"Heck, yes!"

"Oh yeah!"

Their responses all blurred around me.

"Kaley?" Darren's soft voice broke through to me. I slowly looked up at him and saw concern in his eyes.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I-I can't," I whispered softly. "I just can't."

"You have to come!" Lea exclaimed loudly, catching my words. "It wouldn't be the same without you there! Come on, it'll be fun! You don't have to drink if you don't want to. You can be our designated driver."

"Except I don't have a car and you all get taxied around by limos, so..." I began.

"Oh, come on, Kaley!" Leah sighed, suddenly coming up beside me and throwing her arm across my shoulders. "It'll be fun!" She lowered her voice suddenly and whispered into my ear, "And just think, you'll get to spend the whole night with Darren!"

"Oh, shush, you!" I laughed, pushing her away.

"It would be really fun if you came," Darren's voice was lightly pleading in my ear. I turned towards him and saw that he was giving me hopeful, puppy dog eyes. How could I possibly say no to that?

"Oh, alright," I sighed, to which everyone else cheered successfully.

"Wooooo!" Mark yelled, pumping his fist in the air. "Party!!!"

Someone was suddenly tapping me on the shoulder and when I turned towards them, I unexpectedly found myself standing before Kevin.

"Umm, can I have my glasses back now?" he asked, shifting uncomfortably in front of me.

"Oh!" was all that came out of my mouth. I could instantly feel the heat rushing to my face and I quickly took his glasses off and handed them back to him, hanging my head slightly to hide my reddened cheeks.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"It's alright," he laughed as I slowly peeked up at him. There was a huge smile spreading across his lips. "I just thought that I might need these to party hard tonight!" I laughed and rolled my eyes at him as he turned away to talk to Mark.

"Oh my gosh, we have to sing that together!" Lea was saying to Chris as I turned my attention back on them.

"Oh, definitely!" Chris laughed. "And we should totally get Leah and Kaley to sing this with us too!"

"Sing?" I blurted. "With you?" As much as that would have idealistically been a dream come true, I couldn't help the terror that was coursing through my body.

"Yes, I know you know the words," Chris grinned. "I've seen you mouthing them backstage during the show."

"N-No," I stuttered, shaking my head. "I'm sorry, I just can't."

"Please, Kaley?" Lea begged, taking my hands in hers and squeezing them lightly. "It would be so much fun!"

"How about we go there and see how things are, and when we're there, if you're up for it, you could try doing a song or two," Darren suggested. "You won't have to sing alone though. We won't make you do a solo or anything."

"I guess..." I reluctantly agreed. I had never been to a bar before, much less a karaoke bar, so I was kind of scared because I didn't know what to expect. And unfortunately, that fear did not go away.

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

The panic that I felt about going to a bar tonight stayed with me all throughout the day. I couldn't really believe that I had somehow agreed to go, but yet suddenly here I was, walking down the street with the majority of the cast of Glee.

Leah and I had gone home during the second show to change outfits so that we would, according to Leah, "have something cute to wear for the boys tonight." I looked over at Leah who was walking beside Chris. She looked beautiful in her sleek, black, leopard-print top with her black capri pants and her gold wedges that she had decided to wear tonight. I looked down at my own clothes, which consisted of a scarlet, one-shoulder top and black capri pants. I had opted out of wearing heels or wedges, choosing a more comfortable pair of black flats to wear. I was not a fan of wearing heels at all. I could barely even walk in them.

Even the guys were dressed up nicer tonight, having gone back to the hotel between shows to grab a change of clothes. I peeked up at Darren who was walking beside me. He had a nice white, button-up shirt on, but he had left the top few buttons undone, exposing some of the skin on his chest. I blushed as I quickly looked away, turning my attention instead on Chris, who wore a sleek, black shirt, much like the shirt that he wore in the number, Not The Boy Next Door.

Awww, they match! I smiled to myself as I looked at Leah and Chris. They are such a perfect match for each other!

"Is this the place?" Darren asked, his question directed at Chris. Chris looked down at his phone, briefly checking the map for the fourth time that night, before looking up and nodding.

"Yep," he smiled. "This looks like the place."

I looked up at the sign hanging over the building that we had stopped in front of. It read:



"Have any of you ever been here before?" Leah asked tentatively.

"Nope!" Chris shrugged with a smile. "That's what makes it so much fun! Shall we?" He offered his arm to Leah, which she took with a slight blush.

"May I?" Darren asked. I looked back at him to find him offering his arm to me. My voice caught in my throat and all I could do was nod as I took his offered arm and let him lead me into the bar behind Chris and Leah.

"Wow!" I heard Leah exclaim as we passed through the doors, a similar remark escaping from my lips only seconds later.

I couldn't help but glance around the room with awe. The lights were constantly, but smoothly, changing colours, turning from a blue to a pink then to a purple. At the far end of the room, there was a big, white stage with microphone stands on it. The TV screens on the walls projected the words that the current stage dwellers were singing, kind of off key, to be honest.

Along the edges of the room, there were low, white tables surrounded by long, white, backless seats. Picture benches, but more couch-like. From where I was standing, they looked like they could have been made of leather, but I wasn't totally sure.

"This is a bar?" I asked, taken aback by the cozy vibe that it was giving off.

"Technically speaking, yes," Chris answered, turning my attention towards him. "Think of it as a kind of... upperclass bar." A smile slowly spread across his face. "But just you wait. It's still early for clubbers. This place will be more upbeat in a couple of hours!" He winked at me before turning his attention on the rest of the group.

"So," he smiled. "Who's ready to party?"