If You Only Knew

Darren's POV

"Does it usually get this busy?" I asked the bartender, taking a sip from my glass.

"It's a Friday, so yeah, I guess," he replied nonchalantly, focusing his attention more so on the glass in his hand that he had been cleaning for the past two minutes. "It probably doesn't help that you and your friends are here." I could tell by this comment that he was not a fan of Glee.

Haters gonna hate, I laughed to myself, taking another sip from my drink.

Within minutes, my drink was gone, so I ordered another one, opting out of having another Scotch and choosing to get a glass of Bourbon instead.

As I took my first sip from this glass, I heard music starting to play. I instantly recognized the Wicked classic, For Good, which Lea and Chris had sung on the show.

They're probably going to show off their amazing duet to everyone, I smirked to myself as I took another sip. Sure enough, Chris' voice slowly started to fill the room. I smiled as I listened to him sing. He really did have an incredible voice.

His voice slowly trailed off as his part ended and I waited for Lea's powerful voice to replace it... but it didn't. Instead, a quiet, shaky voice slowly started to sing.

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a hand print on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend

The voice slowly grew stronger and more confident as it continued singing, and as it grew in confidence, it grew more and more familiar.

"Oh my gosh!" I gasped, my mouth dropping open. It was her. The mystery singer.

My heart started to race in my chest. This was the moment that I had been dreaming of for days now. This was it. I was finally going to find out who she was.

I slowly turned around and looked towards the stage. And there, standing beside Chris, singing into the mic, was none other than Kaley.

"Kaley?" I whispered, completely stunned. Kaley was the mystery singer?

My mind suddenly flickered back to a memory of Kaley talking about how she didn't sing.

"I don't sing in front of people anymore," she had said.

You don't sing in front of people... but you sing when you think you're alone, I realized suddenly.

It was finally starting to make sense. Why I could never find the mystery singer. Kaley would have stopped singing if she thought that anyone could hear her.

My mind suddenly flickered back to another memory, a memory of me charging into the black box, trying to follow the voice, but instead finding Kaley and Chris.

Chris! I suddenly looked over at him. Chris had been in there! Had he heard her too?

At that very moment, Chris looked over at me and gave me a sly smile. His eyes suddenly flickered over to Kaley, then back to me, his eyebrows raising as if to say, "Got it now?"

I felt my mouth drop open again. He had known! But why didn't he tell me?

"Why didn't you tell me?" I mouthed to him, to which he just smiled and gave me a wink before turning his attention back on Kaley and rejoining her in the song.

I followed his example and turned my attention back on Kaley as well. She was smiling, and her eyes lit up as she stared back at Chris and sang along with him.

Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

"And, because I knew you," Chris held Kaley's hand up and lightly brushed his lips against it, making something tingle inside of me.

"Because I knew you," she echoed back, blushing slightly.

"Because I knew you," they both sang together, their hands still tightly clasped. "I have been changed... for good."

Their voices slowly faded away with the music and after a second of silence, the whole room burst out in applause. This made Kaley blush even more and I couldn't help but smile at how cute it made her look.

Chris leaned down and whispered something in her ear, to which she smiled and nodded her head. And then she looked up... and our eyes met.

Suddenly, I felt like I had always known that it had been Kaley that I had been looking for, not some mystery singer... I had just been too afraid to admit it, too afraid to start feeling something for someone else again. I had been using the mystery singer as an excuse to ignore the feelings that I very clearly did have for Kaley, feelings that seemed to grow stronger and stronger every time that I saw her.

Kaley suddenly broke eye contact with me as Leah and Lea ran up to her, squealing with excitement, of course. I watched her blush and smile bashfully for a couple of seconds as she talked to her friends before I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"So," Chris smiled as I turned towards him. "What'd you think?"

"You sneaky, little-" I started to say.

"You can thank me later," Chris cut me off, laughing lightly.

"How did you know? That it was her?" I asked. "Or better question, how long have you known?"

"Since her birthday," he admitted with a shrug. "I didn't tell you because, honestly? Which is the better way to find out? Me just telling you or you getting to kind of find out yourself... with a little help from me, of course."

"Though I'm mad that you didn't tell me," I replied, giving him a small shove before sneaking a quick glance at her. "I have to admit, hearing her sing was... kind of surreal. I just still can't believe that it was Kaley that I've been searching for."

"But wasn't she the one you were always searching for?" Chris commented, echoing my own thoughts from just moments earlier.

"Chris, you know me too well," I laughed.

"So," Chris poked my arm playfully. "What are you going to do with this newfound knowledge?"

"I'm going to do what I do best," I smiled. "I'm going to sing about it."

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Kaley's POV

The adrenaline rush that I had gotten from singing onstage would not go away. When I had first gotten up there, I felt like I was going to die, but once I had started singing, it all started to feel more natural and comfortable again. It felt like I was finally coming home to a place that I had not been in years.

Ever since my confidence had been shot, I had struggled to perform onstage, worrying that maybe I wasn't good enough. It just got worse and worse after that until I wasn't able to sing in front of people anymore. I was too afraid of them judging me and making me feel like I wasn't good enough, like I didn't deserve to be singing onstage.

"Kaley, that was amazing!" Lea exclaimed with a small squeal, pulling me back out of my thoughts. "I knew that Chris was going to try to get you to sing, but I also knew how you felt about singing in front of people, so I wasn't sure if you would do it or not, but I am so glad that you did! Seriously, Kaley, you have a beautiful voice!"

"Thank you," I blushed, ducking my head.

"Ahhh, Kaley! That was awesome!" Leah squealed, tackling me into a hug. "I knew that you could do it!" She lowered her voice and leaned in closer to whisper in my ear. "I think that Darren was impressed too. He couldn't take his eyes off of you!"

I suddenly got a strange, bubbly feeling in my stomach as I thought about how Darren had been staring at me, how our eyes had met just moments ago. He had looked at me with such awe... and something else that I just couldn't place...

I slowly peeked over at him again out of the corner of my eye and caught him sneaking little peeks at me too, which made my stomach bubble even more.

"I think I need another drink," I told the girls, wanting an excuse to go over to the bar and talk to Darren.

"Here, I've still got yours here," Lea said, handing me the drink that she had taken from me before I went onstage. I inwardly sighed as I took it from her. My talk with Darren would have to wait. I snuck another glance over in his direction and was surprised to find that he was gone.

"Let's go sit down," Leah suggested, shifting uncomfortably. "Though these shoes look amazing, they are not the most comfortable things in the world."

"Alright," I laughed, following her over to one of the tables. I sat down on one of the cushioned seats and took a small sip from my drink. My head was starting to buzz slightly, but I wasn't totally sure if that was from the alcohol or the excitement of being onstage again... It might have been a combination of both.

I pushed away these thoughts as music started to pour from the speakers again and I looked towards the stage, eager to see who was performing. I looked up just in time to see Darren spin around and point at me. And then he started to sing.

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Darren's POV

"You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar," I started to sing, pointing straight at Kaley. "When I met you."

I jumped down off of the stage and moved towards Kaley, grabbing her hand pulling her to her feet.

"I picked you out, I shook you up, and turned you around," I proceeded to spin her around, making her giggle. "Turned you into someone new." She tried to sit down again, but I wouldn't let her, not yet at least.

"Now five years later on, you've got the world at your feet," I smoothly dropped down to her feet, never breaking eye contact with her. "Success has been so easy for you." I slowly started to shimmy my way back up.

"But don't forget it's me who put you where you are now, and I can put you back down too!" I lightly pushed her so that she fell back down into her seat before turning away and going back up on the stage.

"Don't, don't you want me? You know I can't believe when I hear that you won't see me," I slowly beckoned Kaley with my finger to come up on stage with me. She seemed hesitant at first, but as I continued to sing, she finally caved and came up with me.

"Don't, don't you want me? You know I don't believe it when you say that you don't need me." By this time, Kaley was onstage beside me, ready to sing into her mic with me.

It's much too late to find
You think you've changed your mind
You'd better change it back or we will both be sorry

Don't you want me, baby?
Don't you want me, oh?
Don't you want me, baby?
Don't you want me, oh?

Kaley jumped down off the stage as she started to sing her solo part and I followed her.

"I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, that much is true," she stood in the middle of the room and beckoned me to come to her, which I gladly did.

"But even then I knew I'd find a much better place," she grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me down closer to her, so close that if I leaned a little farther down that our lips would be touching. "Either with or without you!" She suddenly pushed me away and moved around to the far side of one of the rows of tables. She slowly beckoned for me to come to her again and, in the spur of the moment, I crawled up on top of the table and crawled down to her, watching as she swayed to the music.

"The five years we have had have been such good times," she continued to sing as I reached the end of the table. "I still love you." She playfully traced a finger along my cheek and I found myself leaning into her touch. She stepped away suddenly and I tumbled off of the table. I looked up at her, surprised, but she just gave me a cute, innocent smile as she continued to sing.

"But now I think it's time I live my life on my own," she gave me a playfully shrug as she turned away and headed back towards the stage. "I guess it's just what I must do."
I smiled, shaking my head as I got back up and followed her back to the stage to sing again.

Don't (don't), don't you want me? (don't you want me?)
You know I can't believe it
When I hear that you won't see me

Don't (don't), don't you want me? (don't you want me)
You know I don't believe it
When you say that you don't need me.

It's much too late to find
You think you've changed your mind
You'd better change it back or we will both be sorry

Don't you want me, baby?
Don't you want me, oh?
Don't you want me, baby?
Don't you want me, oh?

There was a short, little, musical interlude here, to which we started to dance around to. Kaley kept giving me flirty little looks that made my heart do somersaults as she danced around the stage.

Don't you want me, baby?
Don't you want me, oh?
Don't you want me, baby? (baby)
Don't you want me, oh?

We started circling each other at this point, our eyes locked on each other's, completely forgetting about everyone else in the room. At that moment, it felt like we were the only ones there. And it felt like I was pouring out my heart to her through this song, and that she was pouring it right back to me too.

Don't you want me, baby? (baby)
Don't you want me, oh?
Don't you want me, baby? (oh)
Don't you want me, oh?

We stopped and stood face to face as we sang the last line, our bodies so close to each other that we were almost touching.

Don't you want me, baby?

The music slowly faded out, but I barely noticed. I was so lost in her eyes, her deep, beautiful, brown eyes, eyes that always seemed to sparkle, that I barely even noticed the thunderous applause that we were getting. All I could see was her. And at that moment, I knew that I was falling for her. And I was falling hard.

I slowly reached up and brushed a piece of her hair away from her face, carefully tucking it behind her ear. I let my fingers linger there, not wanting to break away from her.

I began to picture kissing her in my mind. I could see myself slowly leaning down as I pulled her closer to me, gently placing my lips on hers. I pictured how soft they would feel against mine, how sweet they would taste. Just thinking about it made me want it even more, and I slowly started to lean down towards her.

But then she suddenly turned away.

"Kaley! Darren! You guys were incredible!" Leah squealed, jumping up on the stage and coming over to us, with Chris and Lea following right behind her.

"Thanks," Kaley smiled shyly, her eyes briefly flickering over to me as a blush slowly spread across her face. "Can we get down from here now? Everyone's staring..." Sure enough, everyone was still watching us.

I was suddenly glad that I hadn't kissed her. Kaley was not a fan of being in the spotlight. She didn't like being the centre of attention and me kissing her here in front of all of these people would have been too much for her. Plus, I secretly did want our first kiss to be special... and hopefully more private.

As I followed everyone else down off of the stage, I made a promise to myself that I would try to keep Kaley out of the limelight as best as I could, especially if something did start to happen between us. I knew how harsh some fans could be on any girlfriend that I had, having seen it multiple times when dating Vanessa, and Kaley was so sensitive and sweet...

I don't know if she'd be able to take that kind of backlash, I sighed to myself as I watched her lean back against the bar and take a sip from her glass. But I'm going to do everything that I can to keep her safe. She's too special to lose...

That thought suddenly made me realize something.

I don't want to lose her.

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

Kaley's POV

I must have passed out because the next thing I knew, I found myself lying in bed, slowly starting to wake up. My head pounded slightly, a side effect that I decided to credit to all of the alcohol that I had had.

Crap, how much did I drink? I wondered, wincing as the sunlight streamed in through the window and pierced my slowly opening eyes.

"Uhhhh," I moaned, closing my eyes again and burying my face in my pillow, hiding it from the light. It took me a couple of minutes before I attempted to open my eyes again.

I quietly yawned as I slowly turned my head and opened my eyes, blinking slowly as they adjusted to the light.

Ok, that wasn't so bad, I smiled to myself, snuggling back into the warm embrace behind me as I let my eyes slowly drift close again. I can handle a little hangover...

My eyes suddenly shot open and I was suddenly very aware of the extra body heat pressing up against my back. I felt my whole body tense up as my mind raced to try to recall what had happened last night.

You went to the bar with Darren, Chris, and Leah... Leah! I felt a huge weight being lifted off of me. Leah and I had must have both crashed in the same bed last night, probably both too wasted to even care.

It's just Leah, I told myself, letting my eyes close again. It's just Leah.

Then why is Leah's arm draped over you? my subconscious piped in and I was suddenly very aware of said arm that was gently draped across where my waist was.

We both move around in our sleep, I argued with myself. You can't control what your body does when you're asleep.

As if on cue, her arm suddenly curled tighter around me, pulling me back closer into her embrace.

"Leah," I moaned, trying to shove her arm away from me. It wouldn't move.

"Leah," I sighed again, turning my body slightly to look at her.

Oh good Lord, please no, was all that I could think as my eyes fell on the sleeping figure beside me.

It was not Leah.