If by Chance - A Jonathan Knight Fanfic

Chapter 3

~ 6 Years Ago~

Jon had stayed late after a concert they were performing at. The stage had been packed up and was on the bus to the next city. All the screaming fans had left, making the stadium seem like a deserted wasteland compared to what it had looked like just a few hours ago. There were no other noises, and Jon was certain he was the only other one in the building, leaving him with a sense of calm and serenity, and a time to finally catch his thoughts before he'd have to get on the bus and do the same thing all over again.

"We're locking up for the night, I'm sorry, but I am gonna have to ask you to leave."

A female voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He could've sworn he was the only one there, and honestly it was so late, he was surprised anyone was even awake, let alone still there at the stadium.

"Yeah, yeah I'm sorry. I didn't even realize. I'm going." he said as he finally tilted his head up to see where the voice had come from.

Standing in front of him was a beautiful young woman. Her long, chocolate brown hair complemented her green eyes perfectly. She appeared to be maybe mid to late 20's, and the soft smile she was wearing on her face made all her features come together.

Maybe he should introduce this girl to his brother. He knew that Jordan would like a girl like this.

"Wait, you don't work here do you? You're Jonathan Knight." The smile on her face grew as she seemed to know who Jon was. "My younger sister is such a big fan of yours. She has the posters, the pins, the bedsheets, the dolls, everything. I enjoy your songs, but I was always a couple years too old to ever really join the hype."

Jon laughed softly, although being in the spotlight wasn't his favorite thing, he was still shocked by how much people admired and looked up to him. He just saw himself as another ordinary person who had happened to make it big. There wasn't anything special about him. Not like the others at least.

"Well, you can tell your sister I said hi." He reached down into his pocket and pulled out the sharpie he had been using to write autographs with that whole day. "What's her name?" He asked, grabbing a leftover shirt from one of the merchandise stands.

"Lucy. And it's probably rude to let you give an autograph to my sister without even introducing myself. I'm Vanessa."

Jon smiled as he put the lid back on the sharpie then handed the shirt that had 'To Lucy with love, from Jonathan Knight.' written on it.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Vanessa." he said as he handed the shirt over to her. "And... I'm sorry for being here so late. I really thought I was the only one left."  He admitted shyly, with somewhat of a forced laugh.

"It's alright. There's a reason I choose to clean up these kinds of things after everyone's gone too. It's more... peaceful. I'm not sure if that's the right word, but it's definitely better than trying to clean up when you can't even take one step in front of you without running into somebody."

Jon laughed. Genuinely this time. "Tell me about it. I like being in the band, and I like singing and all, but not being able to get out of the stadium and to my bus because there's so many people waiting for me. It gets to be... hard. I'm not into all the 'ah girls wanna rip my clothes off' thing it seems like the other guys are into. I like having fans, but sometimes it can get a little overwhelming."

Vanessa nodded. She seemed to take an actual interest in what he was saying. Something that made Jon happy, since not a lot of girls did anymore. He thought he could be friends with her. She seemed like a nice girl, and he could use someone to talk to like this every once in a while.

"I get it. Even being famous, I'm sure you'd still want some privacy sometime."

She decided to change the conversation topic, to give Jon something else to focus on. "Since it's getting late anyway, and we should probably leave before my manager finds out I was here so long after closing, what do you say about heading back to my house? We can keep this conversation going. You seem like a sweet guy, and it looks like you could use someone to talk too."

Jon agreed, but by the time he had gotten into her car, he was starting to rethink his decision. Was she only taking me back to get with me? What if the guys notice I'm not at the hotel? Would they know I was with a girl? Would they ask me and ask me about it until I  finally break and tell them the truth?  Surely it was too late for any press to still be out that would see me with this girl, right? His head started pounding as he thought too much. The last thought that popped into his head before Vanessa announced that they had arrived at her house: Why can't I just be normal?