If You Only Knew

Kaley's POV

"Two Strawberry Daiquiris for my two favourite girls!" Mark's voice whispered in my ear and suddenly there was a glass of frothy, pink liquid in front of me.

"Umm, is it non-alcoholic?" I asked, turning to look up at him.

"One of them has alcohol in it," he smiled, winking at me before slipping away into the small crowd that had started to grow in the room.

"But which one?" I called out after him, but he was already gone. With a sigh, I turned back to look at the glass in front of me.

"Chill, Kaley!" Leah laughed from beside me. "I'll try mine and if I taste alcohol, then yours will be fine and if I don't, then I'll switch glasses with you."

"Thanks," I smiled, breathing a sigh of relief.

She just nodded, kind of silently saying, "That's what friends are for," as she took a sip from the blue, bendy straw.

"Ok, yep, this one definitely has alcohol in it," she stated, taking another sip from her drink. "Yours is good then."

"Ok, thanks," I smiled, taking a small sip from my drink. I winced slightly as it hit my tongue.

That's funny, I thought, looking down at it. I don't remember it ever tasting like that...

"Hey, Leah," I started to say, looking up from my drink. "Can you... Oh." She was gone. I turned around in my seat and looked across the room. I finally spotted her over near Chris and Lea, giggling at something that one of them had said.

"Oh well," I sighed, turning back to my drink. "Maybe they just make it differently here."

I had had Daiquiris before, non-alcoholic versions, obviously, but I didn't remember them ever tasting like this. But before I could contemplate this thought further, Darren suddenly plopped down on the seat beside me.

"Hey," he smiled. "Having fun?"

"I guess," I shrugged. "I mean, I've never been to a bar before, so I don't really know what to think." I took another small sip from my drink.

"What about you?" I asked, turning his question back on him. "Are you having fun?"

"I'm about to," he smiled, standing up again and holding his hand out to me. "Come with me. I want you to have a front row seat."

"Front row seat to what?" I asked suspiciously, taking his hand while still carrying my drink in the other.

"To my performance," he laughed, quickly leading me over to a seat closer to the stage. "Sit here."

"What if I don't want to?" I asked, teasingly.

"Then I will be very sad and will sing sad, sappy songs about heartbreak all night long," he replied, pouting his lip slightly and giving me his sad, puppy dog eyes again.

"Oh, alright," I laughed, sitting down in the seat that he had brought me to. "Happy?"

"Uh huh!" he beamed, nodding his head. I just laughed and rolled my eyes at him as he turned away and got up on the stage.

"Could I get some of my lovely lady friends to come join me on the stage?" he asked, speaking into one of the mics. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow questioningly, but I just shook my head and let Lea, Heather Morris, and Amber Riley go up on the stage with him. They all huddled around the song selector machine and seconds later, a familiar tune started to blast through the speakers.

"If you see a faded sign at the side of the road," Darren started to sing. "That says fifteen miles to the-"

"Love shack!" Amber cued in. I smiled as I listened to them sing the song, taking little sips from my drink every couple of seconds. I was finally starting to get used to the funny taste it had.

"So hurry up and bring your jukebox money!" Darren belted into the mic, jumping down off of the stage and coming towards me, dancing to the music as he did so, as Amber, Lea, and Heather all continued to sing.

"The love shack is a little old place where we can get together! Love shack, baby!"

Darren stuck his mic out to me, hoping that I would sing along, but I just shook my head and tried to hide my face. The mic was suddenly snatched away from my face and I looked up to watch Chris very smugly sing into it.

"Love shack, baby!" he winked at me as he turned away and got up on the stage. Darren looked at me and shrugged, smiling as he turned away and followed Chris back up onto the stage, grabbing a new mic along the way.

I watched, entranced, for the rest of their performance, giggling at the funny, quirky faces that Darren kept giving me.

"Wooo!" I cheered along with everyone else as they finished the song. Darren smiled at me as he put his mic back on its stand before jumping down off the stage and flopping down onto the seat beside me.

"So," he said, wiping some of the sweat from his brow. "On a scale of one to ten, how awesome were we?"

"Hmmmm," I pretended to contemplate his question. "I would have to say... eleven."

"Eleven?" he laughed. "Why eleven?"

"Cause it's my favourite number," I replied sheepishly, ducking my head as I started to feel heat flushing my cheeks.

"Awww, you're too cute!" he laughed, making me blush even harder as my heart fluttered in my chest. Darren had just called me cute!

"You look really pretty tonight," he said suddenly. I slowly looked up at him as his words registered in my mind. He was staring at me with his big, beautiful hazel eyes and as I looked into them, I could see that he truly meant what he said.

"Darren, I-" I started to say.

"Darren! Kaley!" Mark's voice cut me off. I inwardly sighed as we both turned to look at him.

He looked like he could already be slightly intoxicated. A goofy smile was plastered across his face and there was a wild look in his eyes. In his hands he held four bottles, two in each hand.

"Beers or coolers?" he asked, gesturing to the bottles in his hands.

"Mark, I don't drink," I sighed. I was sure that I had explained that to him before.

"But you already have," he replied with a cocky smirk, pointing at the Daiquiri in my hands. I felt my blood run cold as I stared down at the almost empty glass.

"But you said it wasn't alcoholic..." I whispered, though it was somehow loud enough that he could hear me.

"Nooooo," he chuckled. "I said that one had alcohol in it. I never said that the other didn't have it too!"

"You tricked me!" I gasped, angrily.

"That was dirty, Mark!" Darren snapped. There was anger in his voice as well.

"Oh, come on!" Mark sighed. "Have some fun, Kaley! Live a little! It won't kill you to have a couple of drinks, for once in your life!"

"That was still really disrespectful," Darren argued.

"Alright, I'm sorry, okay?" he sighed, looking at me. "But you liked it, didn't you?"

"What?" His question caught me off guard.

"You liked it, didn't you?" he repeated with a slight smile, pointing at my glass again. "You've basically polished that thing off!"

I blushed as I realized that he was right. And the worst part was that he was right on both counts. Not only had I basically finished it off, but I had also really enjoyed it.

"Cooler," I finally said with a slight sigh, setting my glass down on the table behind me.

"What?" both guys said, surprised by my response.

"Though unintentional, I've already broken my vow to never drink," I explained. "But now that I have, I might as well use this opportunity to try all of the things that I wouldn't have normally tried. I finally get to see what some of these drinks taste like. I've always been a little curious." I shrugged as I stood up and took one of the bottles from his hand.

"I'm trying to 'live a little'," I continued, echoing Mark's words back at him.

"Now it's a party!" Mark laughed, clinking a beer against the bottle in my hand. "So, Darren, beer or cooler?"

"Beer," he sighed, taking the offered bottle from Mark. "Are you sure that you want to do this, Kaley?"

"Why not?" I shrugged, taking a sip from the bottle. "You only live once, right? ... Holy crap, I can't believe that I just said that!"

"What?" Darren laughed.

"You only live once?" I repeated, rolling my eyes at the stupid saying. "I hate all of that YOLO crap! Why did I say that?"

"That would be the alcohol talking," Mark laughed as he turned away to leave. "Have fun, you two!"

I rolled my eyes at his back as he walked away before turning back to Darren, who had a very concerned look on his face.

"What?" I asked, furrowing my brows at him questioningly.

"I just don't want you to do anything that you'll regret," he replied honestly.

"I'll be fine," I laughed, taking another sip from my cooler. "I just have one question though... Is it bad if my hand is tingling?"

"Oh dear," he laughed, shaking his head. "This is going to be an interesting night."

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

Darren's POV

I was a little worried about Kaley, but she continued to brush off my concerns, so I turned to the person that I trusted the most for advice.

"Chris, Kaley's drinking and I'm worried about her," I sighed as I leaned back against the bar and looked over to where she was standing across the room talking to Leah and Lea.

"Ha! I was right!" Chris exclaimed. I turned to look at him and found that he was wearing a smug look on his face.

"Right about what?" I asked, playing along.

"Didn't I say that we'd get Kaley to drink tonight?" he replied, giving me an I-told-you-so look as he took a sip from the glass in his hand. I wasn't totally sure what it was that he was drinking.

"Yeah, but only cause Mark tricked her," I rolled my eyes at him, upset that he wasn't more concerned about this.

"Everything happens for a reason," Chris smiled mischievously, setting his glass down on the bar behind him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must go put part two of my plan into action." He gave me a quick, playful wink. "You may want to find a closer seat."

"A closer seat to what?" I called out after him as he turned to leave. He didn't respond. Instead, he just kept walking, smoothly making his way through the crowd towards where the girls were standing.

"Could I get a Scotch, please?" I sighed, turning around to talk to the bartender. "I think I'm gonna need it."

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

Kaley's POV

I was starting to feel really light-headed as I took another sip from my third drink of the night. This one was called Sex on the Beach. I couldn't help but giggle at its name as I took yet another sip of the orangey-pink liquid.

"Hello, my lovely ladies," Chris smiled as he joined our small group. "Been having fun?"

"Oh, yes!" I nodded, giggling. "Sex on the Beach fun!"

"I love drunk Kaley!" Leah giggled beside me. "You're so much more fun this way!"

"Are you saying that I'm not fun when I'm not drunk?" I exclaimed, pouting my lip at her.

"Nah, you're just less fun than you are now," she replied, punching my arm playfully.

I turned to look at Chris, who was watching us with an amused expression, and cocked my head at him slightly.

"I don't know if I should be insulted or not," I told him, scratching my head.

"You think you're having fun now?" he said, ignoring my comment. "I'll show you what's even more fun!" He grabbed my hand suddenly and started to pull me away from Leah and Lea.

As I passed by Lea, she reached out and smoothly took my glass from me. I wanted to argue with her about it, but Chris had already pulled me too far away to do so. With a sigh, I turned my attention back in front of me, curious as to where Chris was taking me. It wasn't until we started to go up the steps that I realized what he was doing.

"No, Chris!" I exclaimed, stopping sharply halfway up the stairs. "You can't make me do this." He let out a deep sigh as he turned back to face me.

"Kaley, you can do this," he stated, fully confident in his words. "Trust me. This'll be fun."

I somehow let him drag me the rest of the way up onto the stage and place me behind of one of the mic stands. As he turned away to select a song, I slowly looked out at all of the people sitting at the tables around the room. I could feel my heart starting to beat faster, kind of sobering me a bit, and making me realize and regret this decision.

"You ready?" Chris asked, turning my attention back to him. He was standing behind his own mic stand beside me, his finger hovering over the song selector machine, waiting for my approval.

"I can't do this," I whispered, starting to turn away, wanting nothing more than to get off of this stage.

"Kaley," I felt Chris' hand grab mine and pull me back. "You can do this. I believe in you. Okay?" I couldn't speak, but I somehow managed to nod my head. Chris smiled, giving my hand a light squeeze, as he pushed the play button on the screen. A familiar tune drifted through the speakers and I started to panic as I recognized the song and realized that I would have to sing first.

The words slowly rolled onto the screen and I opened my mouth to sing, but nothing came out.

"I can't do this," I whispered to Chris as I turned away from the mic.

"No," Chris insisted. "You can do this." I slowly turned back to the mic, but by that time my part had passed by.

"Just follow my lead," Chris whispered, giving my hand another light squeeze, before turning back to his own mic. Then he opened his mouth and began to sing the lyrics that rolled across the screen with his beautiful, musical voice.

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the woods
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

Chris' voice trailed off and he looked over at me and smiled. I suddenly realized that it was my turn to sing now. I took a deep, shaky breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I did the one thing that I never thought that I would ever do again.

I sang.