If You Only Knew

Darren's POV

I don't fully remember how I got there, but somehow my friends had managed to get me outside and into the limo where we were soon headed on our way back to our hotel. Chris didn't say anything. He just sat there beside me and gently rubbed my back. It was comforting and I found myself feeling so grateful to have a friend like him. Playing boyfriends on the show had really caused us to have a deeper connection and friendship with one another and I knew that I could always depend on Chris to be there for me.

Across the limo, I caught Lea exchanging glances with Chris. It was so obvious that they both wanted to ask about what had happened, to hear my side of the story, but they were kind enough not to ask. Well at least not yet anyways.

I buried my head in my hands, wishing I could just burrow down into some dark hole and just stay there. I don't think that I had ever been that mean to someone. I felt horrible. My stomach churned as her shocked and scared expression flickered through my mind again. She had actually been afraid of me.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I mumbled. I felt Chris stiffen beside me and when I peeked through my fingers I could see him shifting his feet away. Typical Chris. He didn't want to ruin his shoes. A small metal garbage can suddenly appeared before me and I felt inclined to look up and thank Lea for it. I gave her a halfhearted smile and a mumbled thanks before turning my eyes back down. Luckily, I did not get sick again.

I felt the limo slow to a stop and felt Lea and Chris grab my arms and help me out of the car. A bright flash nearly blinded me and I groaned. Paparazzi. I brought my arm up to shield my face. I didn't want them to see that I had been crying. I felt Lea hook her arm through my free one and lead me through the crowd of camera-wielding people, Chris staying just as close, trying to shield me from the camera's flashes as best as he could. As soon as we got inside the hotel, I felt like I wanted to collapse.

"Not here," Chris' high, musical voice whispered in my ear. I nodded, then let them lead me into the elevator and up to our room. Chris slide his key into the card reader and opened the door for us, turning on the light switches as he walked into the room.

It wasn't an overly huge room, but it was still larger than the average sized hotel room. Of course management would try to give us the best that they could. I personally could care less about the size or the grandeur of the room. I was fine with just simple things.

I stumbled away from Lea and crashed onto one of the large beds. I wished that this whole night had just been one bad nightmare, but when I peeked open my eyes, both Chris and Lea were watching me intently, which told me that it had all happened. I groaned as I hid my face again.

"Ok, you can either continue lying there, moaning and groaning and feeling bad about yourself," Chris sighed. "Or you can sit up and tell us exactly what happened." I knew that I would have to face their questions eventually, so, with a huge sigh, I sat up and told them everything that had happened.

"I keep seeing her face in my mind," I shook my head, as if I could just shake the bad thoughts out. "She was so scared and I feel horrible! I don't know why I was such a jerk! I just snapped, I guess, and she just happened to be there when it happened."

"I told you that Vanessa was no good for you!" Chris sighed. "If you had just listened to me and broken up with her that first time, then you wouldn't be in this mess! That girl was nothing but trouble! I'm sorry to say I told you so, but I told you so."

"I know," I sighed as well, running my fingers through my hair. "I just didn't want to accept the fact that our relationship was going down the drain. I loved her. And now I feel like my heart's been ripped out and stepped on repeatedly."

"It'll be okay, Darren," Lea said as she came and sat beside me, giving me a tight hug. "Time heals all wounds. I know that's a cliche thing to say, but it's true. Remember how heartbroken I was when Nathaniel left me?" I nodded. That had been one of the hardest times in Lea's life. She had basically just sat around her apartment all day, watching sappy movies and eating ice cream. It had taken Chris and I a while to break her out of the funk that she was in, but we finally did, and soon she was back to her perky, usual self.

"Well I did finally get over him and move on," Lea continued. "People are going to hurt you in life, but you've just got to keep your head up because things will get better."

"Here," Chris plopped a phone book down on my lap. I looked down at it and the first thing I read was Ivona's Flower Shop.

"Flowers?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yep," he smiled. "And a great big note that says 'Sorry that I was such a jerk. Let me make it up to you.'"

"I don't think flowers will make it up to her," I sighed. "I was a real jerk."

"Well, flowers are a start anyways," Chris shrugged as he sat down beside me. "I know that flowers always cheer me up."

"Thanks, Chris," I smiled. "And you too, Lea. I'm so glad that I have friends like you."

"Hey, that's what friends are for," Lea smiled, hugging me again.

"Of course," Chris smiled, hugging me as well. "Friends are always there for each other." I smiled as I was sandwiched in a hug between them, a tear pricking my eye, but unlike all the others that I had shed that night, this tear was a happy one.

"But you know," Chris suddenly spoke up. "If you're still in a rough mood, I wouldn't be opposed to watching a sappy chick flick." I laughed. Of course he wouldn't be.

"Go ahead, put something on," I laughed. Chris leapt up from the bed happily as he skipped over to check what movies we had brought. After a couple of minutes he came back with a DVD case in his hands.

"Okay, so this isn't a sappy chick flick," he said as he sat back down. "But I thought it'd be a better movie for cheering you up." He handed the case to me and I couldn't help but smile as I read the word Tangled.

"You know me too well," I chuckled. "Alright, Tangled it is!" I stood up and went to the tv to put the movie on. Soon I was back snuggled between my two best friends watching one of my favourite movies with my heart slowly but surely starting to feel less and less heavy as the night went on. I felt my eyelids slowly starting to droop as the song I See The Light started to play. The last thing I remember was the sweet, musical voices of Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi singing, "All at once, everything is different, now that I see you."