::Chapter 13::

"We hate the kindness which we understand."

-Henry David Thoreau

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Excuse me?" asked the tall, heavyset man seated on the couch with a newspaper held firmly in his hand.

"You heard me," said Mira, pulling her knees to her chest. "You're a big, buff bodyguard... have you ever killed anyone to protect the guys?"

The man raised an eyebrow questioningly. "No."

"Would you take a bullet for them?" asked Mira, shifting so she now sat on her heels.

"JC didn't tell me you asked questions like a three year old," said Dre, folding up his newspaper.

"JC didn't tell me that you're so anti-social," said Mira, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'm here to protect you from psychos," said Dre plainly. "Not provide you with interesting conversation."

Mira sighed and leaned back against the couch. She kicked her legs out and leaned them against the coffee table. Finding the edge of the table too sharp for her comfort, she pulled her legs back, lying them on the couch. She sat up and pulled her legs into a crossed position.

"Don't you ever stop moving?" cried Dre, finally fed up with Mira's fidgeting.

Mira sighed discontentedly. "Well if you'd let me go to the movies with Mike and Leanna like a normal person then this wouldn't be a problem."

"Sure, there's an idea," said Dre. "I'm going to let you go to a movie theater filled with people where I could easily lose you in a crowd and then let you sit in that dark theater where a psycho could sneak up on you and no one would see a thing. Great idea, Mira. Brilliant," he said, going back to looking over his newspaper.

Mira rolled her eyes and sighed in boredom. The ringing of the telephone provided a welcome break. Mira took off running for the kitchen where she picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Hey Mir," came JC's voice through the line. "Are you driving Dre crazy yet?"

"Of course," said Mira playfully.

"I thought you might be," said JC knowingly.

"Here's a thought... what happens if I drive Dre so crazy that he quits?" asked Mira.

"Then I'll send you another guy to replace him," said JC matter-of-factly.

Mira groaned unhappily. "JC, really, I don't need a babysitter," said Mira with a roll of her eyes. "And especially not a guy like Dre."

"Oh give the man a break," said JC. "He's used to dealing with a group of guys who are happy watching TV... not a fidgety, talkative woman like you."

"But he's cranky!" whined Mira.

"Oh don't start complaining," groaned JC. "Justin agrees with me and you know it, unless you'd like to bring the issue up with him again?"

"Oh, he's just bitter because you thought of the whole "let's put Mira on house arrest" idea first," said Mira miserably.

"It's not house arrest," said JC. "It's protecting you from a lunatic who knows your name and where you live. There's a difference."

"JC, there's a big, scary, very anti-social man sitting in my living room who wouldn't let me go see "Matrix: Reloaded"," said Mira flatly. "This just isn't cool."

"I know, Mira," said JC. "But better safe than sorry. No one wants you getting hurt."

"You sound like a Hallmark card, Jace," said Mira. "Sappiness suits you."

JC went on, disregarding her comments. "Besides, even the police warned you to be careful."

Mira rolled her eyes. "I'm a big girl. I can handle myself."

"Says the girl who can't open a pickle jar by herself," said JC, his smirk audible through the phone line.

Mira let out a sigh. "You're a punk."

"Thank you," said JC gleefully.

"Why are you calling anyway?" asked Mira. "Leanna's gone... with Mike... at the movies... without me..."

"I called to see if you'd killed Dre yet," said JC, ignoring her complaining. "That's all."

"'Yet' being the key word," said Mira. "Why didn't you go?"

"Huh?"

"To the movies," said Mira.

"Oh," said JC. "Well, I'm working right now on some stuff for the next album; speaking of which, I better get going."

"Alright, see you later," said Mira. The two exchanged their good-byes and hung up, leaving Mira standing aimlessly in the kitchen. Not wanting to go back to the living room, she opened the fridge, glancing over its contents for only a moment before the doorbell began ringing. She took off running towards the door, skidding to a stop as Dre stood in her way.

"My, my? Aren't I popular today?" she grinned gleefully, moving to step around him to open the door.

"You're not answering the door," said Dre with a firm shake of his head.

"Yes I am," said Mira with a nod. "It's my house."

"And it's my job to protect you and that involves not letting you answer the door," said Dre plainly. "I'll do it."

"You?" scoffed Mira. "You'll scare them away! I'll be stuck alone with you for the rest of the night!"

"At least I'll scare away this 'Chuck' dude," said Dre, moving to answer the door.

"I'll end up with no friends by the time you're done here," said Mira, sighing discontentedly, leaning against the wall.

"But you'll be alive," said Dre, turning the knob and opening the front door. "Hey man, what's up?" he said.

"Oh, so I can't answer the door but you can make friends with my stalker?" asked Mira sardonically. Justin's head peered around the edge of the door, his eyebrow raised amusedly. He glanced back up at Dre.

"Has she been like this all day?"

Dre simply nodded. "My God can this woman whine."

"Tell me about it," said Justin with a nod. "You should hear her when she breaks a nail."

"Um, hello?" said Mira. "I'm right here. Save the gossip until I'm at least out of the room."

"Sorry babe," said Justin, walking over and planting a kiss on her forehead. "Listen, I'm here to rescue you."

"Rescue me?" asked Mira, her brow creasing.

"Rescue her?" asked Dre.

"Want to come down to the studio with me for a bit?" asked Justin.

Mira's eyes widened in excitement. "Sure! That sounds like fun!"

"And you can give Dre, here, a break," said Justin.

Dre's eyebrow raised. "Excuse me?"

"Randy and Mike are out in the SUV," said Justin motioning behind him. Dre peered out the door to confirm Justin's story. Indeed, the familiar black SUV was parked along the curb behind Justin's silver Z4 BMW Roadster. "You get a break from her."

"Thank God," said both Mira and Dre in unision. They looked at each other, startled. Justin simply chuckled.

He reached down and took Mira's hand. "Come on... let's go."

"So this is where you spend every waking moment," said Mira with a mischievous smirk.

"Nah," said Justin with a shake of his head. "That’d be Jace… the guy lives and breathes out of this studio,” he said, taking her hand and leading her into the small, ramshackle building.

“I’m kind of surprised,” said Mira as Justin led her.

“Of what?” asked Justin, turning halfway to glance at her as they walked.

“Well, I’ve always imagined this elusive studio as some huge, immaculate building or something,” said Mira, looking around her. “Not a tiny little place like this. My old dorm is bigger than this.”

“You’re exaggerating,” said Justin, opening a door. “Besides, the smaller the better… at least, that’s what JC says. Can you imagine how much luck we’d have being inconspicuous with a huge studio like the one you described?”

“Besides, you don’t need much to make music,” came a new voice. Mira and Justin turned to see JC lounging lazily on one of the rolling chairs in the middle of the control room.

“Hey man,” said Justin with a weak smile. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“When am I not here?” he said with a smirk.

“He got you there,” said Mira. Justin rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, it’ll give me some time to go over some lyrics with you,” said Justin. “I’m sorry Mir, you might be bored for a while,” he apologized. “There’s a couch over there with plenty of magazines,” he said, motioning to the opposite side of the room. “Do you mind just hanging out for a bit?”

“Of course not,” said Mira with a shrug. “It’s a lot better than sitting in a room with Dre staring at me.” She walked over to the couch and sat down on the cool leather covered cushions. She rummaged through the magazines sitting on the coffee table and, finding nothing oriented for anyone other than the male sex, she grabbed a Sports Illustrated and aimlessly flipped through the pages, listening to Justin and JC.

“See, I finally got these lyrics written,” said JC, handing Justin a paper. “Now I’m just trying to find the right music for it,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Justin scanned over the words and smiled. “This is really good, man. Now let me see if can try something with this…” he bounced his leg for a moment, finding the right beat and softly began singing... or, better said, rapping. “All for you, everything, anything I do, and you know that these words are true babe, I don’t take my promises lightly. I try and then you know, right or left, which way I should go, cause I can’t get you out of my mind baby, I’ve tried, I’d fall for you at least a thousand times before-“

“Stop,” said JC, holding his hand up.

“What?” asked Justin defensively.

“No offense, J, but I don’t think that tune really goes with it,” said JC, shaking his head, running his hand through his hair as he thought.

“What are you talking about? It was a perfect tune!” said Justin.

“I think he’s right, Justin,” said Mira. The two men turned, regarding Mira curiously. “I mean, no offense, but I think this song is meant to be more… well, less… I don’t know… less whatever it was you were doing,” she said, standing up and walking over to the pair.

“What was I doing?” asked Justin defensively.

“It sounded like you were going to break out into beat boxing any second now,” said Mira with a small smirk. “I was listening to the words, and maybe it’s just me, but I think of something acoustic… maybe with some acapella moments in there.”

“That won’t-“ began Justin.

“What do you mean?” asked JC, his brow creased.

“I mean…” she trailed off, scanning the room. Spotting a guitar sitting in the corner, she raced over, grabbed it, and sat down on the edge of the coffee table. Balancing the guitar on her knee, she began strumming a soft, simple tune. JC listened intently to the tune and slowly began nodding.

“I don’t know about that,” said Justin with a shake of his head. “I mean, I thought N’Sync was taking a more tough approach. You know, some hard baselines with some cool special effects…”

“Yeah, but I think Mira’s onto something,” said JC nodding.

Justin let his attention stray from JC to Mira and back. They were smiling knowingly at each other, as if they had just stumbled upon a buried treasure. Justin’s cell phone began ringing, interrupting the moment of silence that had befallen the friends.

“Hello?” said Justin into the small plastic phone pressed to his ear.

“I really like what you were saying about the acapella parts,” said JC, handing Mira the paper with the lyrics. “Where were you thinking about sticking them in?”

“Well,” said Mira, her brow creasing as she looked over the lyrics. “I’d have to hear the rest of the song together, but what about about opening it with acapella?”

“Ok,” said JC with a nod. “Let’s try this. Justin?” he asked Justin who had just ended his phone call. “Wanna help me out on the acapellas here?”

“I can’t,” said Justin standing up. “Johnny wants to see me,” he said. “Something about my album. No big deal,” he said with a shrug.

“So should I find a ride with one of the bodyguards?” asked Mira, standing up.

“I’ll take you home,” said JC.

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude,” said Mira.

Justin chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, Mir,” he said, kissing her forehead. “Jace will take you home. Besides, it looks like you two are on a roll," he said with a chuckle.

"Well, JC, looks like you're stuck," said Mira with a smirk. "I'll see you later, Justin," she said, looking up at her boyfriend.

"See you," said Justin, kissing her on the cheek softly. "I'll call you." With a short wave to JC, Justin left, leaving the two alone to discuss their song for the next hour and a half.

"You know, I didn't know you could actually sing," said Mira with a giggle after their song-writing session as she threw herself onto the couch.

"How else did you think I'd have a music career?" said JC with a chuckle, leaning his legs on the coffee table as he leaned back on his chair.

"I wondered about that," said Mira thoughtfully. "I knew it wasn't based on your looks."

JC's eyebrow raised. "Tread lightly Rat," he teased.

Mira giggled. "But seriously, Jace, you have an amazing voice," she said softly.

"Thank you," said JC, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks.

"That's a beautiful song," said Mira, motioning to the lyric filled paper lying on the table. "Are you sure you wrote it?"

JC rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure I wrote it. I wrote it that-" he abruptly stopped.

Mira waited for a moment, staring at him expectantly. "Go on," she urged.

JC's eyes widened. "So, do you wanna get out of here?" he asked, standing up.

"JC," said Mira slowly. "What's up? What were you going to say?"

"Nothing," said JC with a shake of his head. "So seriously, do you want to head home?"

"Not really," said Mira with a shrug. "But if you're so eager to get rid of me..."

JC rolled his eyes. "Alright drama queen. What do you want to do?"

"I have a craving for Mexican food," said Mira, her eyes widening excitedly. JC took one look at Mira's excited face and burst out laughing.

"Alright, alright, if you're gonna get that excited, we'll go get some tacos," he said. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "But first, you have to call Dre."

Mira immediately scowled. "Why?"

JC raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to have Dre mad at you?" he asked bemusedly.

Mira rolled her eyes. "Give me the phone." She dialed and waited for him to answer.

"Yo," came Dre's gruff voice.

"Yo, what's up my homie?" said Mira. JC's eyebrows raised in surprise and amusement.

"Who is this?" asked Dre suspiciously.

"Oh, Dre, you don't know your own babysitting charge when you talk to her?" asked Mira teasingly.

"Mira? Why aren't you home? Aren't you supposed to be back by now?"

"Relax, Dre," said Mira. "JC and I are going for some Mexican, so I'll be back a while later than expected."

"So I'm supposed to sit around and wait for when you decide to come back home?" asked Dre.

"Yes," said Mira innocently.

Dre groaned. "Fine, fine. Just don't take too long. And if you die, it's not my fault."

"Thank you Dre," said Mira with a grin. "Watch out there, big guy, people will think you're going soft," she teased.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... that's why you aren't going to tell," said Dre. "I'll see you when you get home, and don't take too long!"

"Yes Dad," said Mira as she rolled her eyes. "See you." She hung up and placed the phone back in JC's hands. "See? Big teddy bear, that man is." JC chuckled.

"We don't all have feminine charms to get our way," said JC.

"Sure you do, JC," teased Mira.

"Hey now," said JC. "Do you want your tacos? Because I can just call Dre-"

"I hereby take back my comment," said Mira solemnly. "Consider yourself un-insulted." JC rolled his eyes and placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her out the small door to his awaiting vehicle.

"I knew you were a wimp," said Mira giggling, softly nudging JC as they walked.

"I prefer to maintain the few taste buds I have left after that hot sauce, thank you," said JC defensively.

"See? I told you. Pure wimpiness," said Mira with a giggle. Their conversation paused as the pair crossed the street. Having decided to walk the mere mile home from the restaurant, Randy and Ben, JC's bodyguards, followed closely along the street in a large black SUV. "Figures," said Mira.

"What does?" asked JC, his hands buried in his pockets.

"You didn't feel that?" asked Mira, pointing up with her finger.

"Feel what?" asked JC, just as a fat raindrop landed on his nose. Mira giggled.

"That."

JC scowled and wiped the raindrop off his face. The raindrops were beginning to fall faster and harder as they stood in place. "Are you two going to get into the car?" called Randy from the passenger side of the SUV that now sat on the curb beside them.

JC looked to Mira, a small smile on his face. "What do you say, Rat?"

"I say that Chas-gay needs to stop calling me that," said Mira. "Secondly, I say that I want to walk home in the rain. "

"I thought you might say that," said JC with a small nod. "No, we're good, Randy. Thanks," he called to the waiting SUV.

"Are you sure?" asked Randy. "You're gonna get soaked."

"I kind of figured that," said JC. "And I'm sure."

"Whatever," said Randy, closing the window.

JC turned back to Mira and looked her over, her body dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. "Well if we're going to walk home, then you need to take this." In one swift movement, JC pulled off his black hooded sweatshirt, revealing the gray T-shirt underneath, and dumped it in Mira's arms. Mira's jaw dropped in surprise.

"What's this for?"

JC rolled his eyes. "Come on Mir, I know you're smart enough to know what a sweatshirt is for."

"To hit you with?" she asked innocently.

"Don't be stupid," said JC. "Put it on."

"Why?" asked Mira defiantly, wiping away the raindrops that were sliding down her face.

JC rolled his eyes and pulled the hood of the sweatshirt over Mira's head. "Hey!" she cried.

"No arguments," said JC. "It's cold, it's raining, and you're wearing a white shirt." Mira reluctantly pulled the sweatshirt on, rolling the oversized sleeves up to her elbows.

"So you thought about it," she said.

"Thought about what?" asked JC.

"About the consequences of the rain and my white shirt," said Mira with a small smirk. JC paused uncomfortably.

"Don't be stupid, Mir," he said finally. "I just didn't want to hear you whining the rest of the walk home." Mira bit her lip, trying to fight off the blush that was creeping to her cheeks.

"So, what was it you were talking about earlier?" asked Mira.

"What? When?" asked JC, obviously relieved of the change of subject.

"Earlier; at the studio. When I asked you about when you wrote the song," said Mira.

Suddenly JC wasn't at all happy with the change of subject. "W-When did we talk about that?"

Mira rolled her eyes. "Come on Jace. I want to know. Is it about Leanna?"

"W-Well, yeah... it could be about her," said JC with a shrug.

"You mean it's not?"

"Well, it could be about anyone, really," said JC. Mira's eyebrow raised.

"Ok, Mr. Song Writer, give a little music minor like me some details," she said with a smile. "When did the inspiration for this song hit you?"

JC sighed hesitantly. "Well, actually, it hit me that day that you came to see me."

"I came to see you?" asked Mira, her forehead creasing as she struggled to remember.

"Yeah," said JC nodding. "That day that you came to deliver that letter... you know, from Leanna," he added quickly.

"Oh yeah," said Mira nodding. "I remember now," she paused, giving the smile on her lips to grow. "Well, I know I have quite an effect on people, but I'm surprised that you'd write a song about me," she teased.

"Yeah," said JC softly, staring down at the ground. Mira paused and looked over at JC, a look of surprise over her face. Their eyes met, holding each other's stare for a good thirty seconds, lost in their own world. That is, lost in their own world until someone pulled them out of it.

"Josh? Mir?"

The two turned to see Leanna and Mike standing in front of them, sharing a wet black umbrella. "What are you two doing here? And in the rain?"

"Well, uh- we just, um- " the two stuttered. Mike and Leanna looked at each other, the same confusing look on each of their faces.

"You're acting like I just caught you cheating on me or something," said Leanna. JC nearly choked as he forced a nervous chuckle.

"Me? Cheat on you? With Rat?" he scoffed.

"Come on Lea," said Mira. "Give me a little credit. Him?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Come on Mir. You're standing in the rain and you're going to get sick."

"I will not," she said defiantly. Mike stared at her skeptically.

"Let's go," said Mike, grabbing Mira's arm and dragging her off. Leanna walked over to JC, linked her arm with his, and together the four of them walked the rest of the few blocks back to Mira and Leanna's home.

"Hey Josh," said Leanna thoughtfully, letting her gaze jump between JC and Mira. "Why is Mira wearing your sweatshirt?"