"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer."-Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer."-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Things had seemingly settled down in Mira's life. She had finally gotten her office back in order and had started a new project with Dr. Cohen. Dre was trusting her more and more, leading to more time without the large man standing behind her, watching every move she made. Although, in the few days that he had been assigned to be her bodyguard, the two had bonded in a way neither had expected and were actually enjoying their time together. They no longer clashed as a rebellious teenager and an overprotective parent.
Leanna was spending more and more time away from home, having managed to earn herself an internship with a leading record company in the city of San Francisco a half-hour away. She was away in Seattle, attending a business meeting with several of the associates with the company, leaving Mira the house for the following few days. JC had been spending all his time in the studio, putting the finishing touches on the song that Mira and he put together. After the confession in the rain that the song had been inspired by Mira, the fact that JC spent all his time away from her was probably the wisest decision, he had figured. The rest of the men of N'Sync were planning to fly in within the next week or so to record the song. Justin, however, was in New York, attending a benefit for the record company. He had begged Mira to go with him, but with finals in the next few weeks, Mira had declined.
All of that led to where Mira currently was, sitting cross-legged on the couch dressed in her sweats, reading over a biochemistry text book in review for finals. She slipped her reading glasses off and pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. She glanced up at clock, quickly reading that it was well past midnight. She was completely alone, having insisted Dre go home for a while, leaving her to study. He did, after giving her a ten-minute lecture on the many ways to reach him and not to answer the door.
"Studying on a Saturday night," said Mira with a shake of her head. "I'm such a loser." She placed her textbook on the coffee table and uncrossed and stretched her legs, standing up and walking into the kitchen for something to drink. She stood at the sink, allowing the cool water from the faucet to fill her glass, when she saw something just outside the window. Her brow creased in confusion, Mira looked out. She saw nothing, minus the darkness of the midnight sky. With a shrug, she turned off the faucet and was headed back towards the den when suddenly the lights flickered off.
Muttering several curse words under her breath, she felt her way back to the kitchen where she somehow found the flashlight and flipped it on. Finding her phone sitting on the counter, she stared at it for a moment, deciding whether or not to call someone. Granted, it was late, and there really was no reason to make a call, except for the tiny fact that Mira was still scared of the dark. It was something she never grew out of as a child. And as embarrassed as she was to admit it, she was much more willing to admit it to someone over the phone for the sake of company as she stood in a dark room.
Picking up the receiver, she dialed Mike's number, only to hear the answering machine click on. She hung up, deciding this wasn't important enough to leave a message. She sighed, hanging up the receiver again. The familiar feeling of deja vu hit her, as the last time she debated on who to call rang through her mind. And, having pretty much the same options as before, she dialed JC's number, only to realize that nothing happened. She hung up the phone and picked it up again, realizing that there was no dial tone.
The phone was dead.
"Don't panic, Mira," she told herself. With the flashlight's weak light ahead of her, she blindly felt along the counter for her cell phone. She found it, and too spooked to think twice, she dialed JC's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey JC," she said, trying her best to sound normal.
"Mira? Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Mira. "Don't worry. I just needed to talk to someone."
"Why? What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing, I said. Just the power went out here and the phone line's dead and I needed someone to talk to," she explained.
"This may be a stupid question, but if the phone's dead, how'd you call?"
Mira smirked. "You're right. That is a stupid question. Have you ever heard of cell phones?"
"Mira, need I remind you that you're the one calling me in the middle of the night?"
Mira sighed, knowing he was right. "I'm alone in a dark, empty house, JC. I need some comforting."
"Comforting? Why?" asked JC.
Mira sighed. "No reason."
"Don't pull that," said JC, his smirk audible through the line. "I know you too well to know that you're lying."
"I'm scared of the dark," she said abruptly.
"What?" said JC with a small chuckle.
"I'm scared of the dark, okay?" she said, her fingers playing with the edge of her shirt nervously as she was painfully aware of the darkness surrounding her. "And I'd appreciate you not laughing at me over it."
"Alright," said JC, muffling his laughter. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, you better be," she said. She paused, having heard a small scratching sound outside the front door. "JC..." she trailed off.
"What?"
"I hear something outside," she whispered.
"Mira, it's really windy," he said. "It's probably just the wind."
"What if someone wants to kill me? I mean, my power went out and my phone's dead... it's just like in the movies," said Mira suspiciously.
"Mir," said JC, chuckling. "That's precisely what it is. A movie. Not real life."
"Yeah, they say that in the movies too!" said Mira.
JC ran his hand over his face, sighing. "Look, Mira, why don't you get to bed? I mean, it's late, you aren't going to get any studying done anyway..."
"You know, you're right," said Mira with a sigh. "Thanks for talking with me."
"No problem," said JC.
"Ok... I guess I'll see you... when I see you," she said with a small giggle.
"I guess," said JC.
"Hey, JC?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you," said Mira softly. "I mean really thank you. You don't know how much it means to me that you didn't hang up on me."
JC smiled. "You're welcome Mira," he said softly. The pause on the phone line was enough to make both their hearts skip a beat.
"Ok... I'll see you," said Mira finally.
"Bye," said JC.
Mira hung up the phone, her heart fluttering in her chest. Deciding not to think about it any further, Mira headed down the hall to her bedroom where she changed into shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in. Fifteen minutes later, she tucked herself into bed, laying her head against the soft pillow. The wind outside had picked up. It was howling through the trees, ruffling the leaves and pushing branches against her window. With Mira already being a bit spooked, the sounds weren't helping her at all. She curled up in bed and pulled the blankets over her shoulders.
It was then that she heard it. The shattering of glass.
Mira sat upright in bed, completely terrified. The sound had definitely come from inside the house. Reaching down beside her, she pulled her old baseball bat out from underneath her bed. She slowly crept out of bed, holding the bat high above her head, ready to swing. The sound of heavy footsteps filled the house and echoed in Mira's ears, challenged only by the pounding of her heart. She felt along the night table beside her and cursed her forgetfulness at leaving the cell phone in the kitchen. She leaned against the wall and blindly stepped out into the hallway. Spotting a light ahead of her, she realized that whoever had broken into the house had a flashlight with them, meaning they knew the power was out. It was then that Mira realized that it wasn't just a coincidence that the phone lines had gone dead as well.
She had to get out the front door. Or to her cell phone... whichever one she could manage. At the moment, with the stranger in the kitchen, out the front door seemed the best of escapes. She stretched against the wall when the light swept out of the kitchen and into the den. The heavy footsteps followed the light, landing on her piles of papers. Suddenly, the stranger began rummaging through the piles, obviously looking for something. Mira didn't give herself time to wonder about it. She bolted for the front door.
Before she could make it, the stranger grabbed her long hair and pulled her backwards against him. She yelped in pain as he dragged her backwards. He threw her against the wall and pressed his arm to her throat, snatching the baseball bat out of her hand and tossing it across the room. "Where is it?" he growled, his hot, sour breath on her face. In the weak light, Mira made out the features of her attacker... Chuck, the same man who had attacked her in the parking lot.
But, at the moment, she didn't worry about it. What she did worry about was the arm pressing heavily against her throat, cutting off her air supply. "Where is it?" he repeated.
"What?" she choked out.
"The report, you little bitch," he hissed. "Where is it?"
Before Mira could respond, the lights went on. Both Mira and Chuck gasped in surprise. Mira, taking advantage of his momentary distraction, brought her knee up as hard as she could, kneeing Chuck and weakening his grip on her throat. The front door flew open and JC stepped in. Immediately seeing Chuck, he leapt at him, throwing punches and knocking Chuck to the ground. Mira stood by helplessly as she watched the two men wrestle and fight in front of her. Suddenly, Dre burst through the open door and immediately pulled Chuck to his feet and held him in a chokehold. "Call the police," said Dre, struggling with Chuck. Mira, tearing herself out of her stupor, ran for her cell phone on the counter in the kitchen and called the police.
An hour later, the house was filled with police at every nook and cranny, collecting evidence and questioning Mira, JC, and Dre. Mira stood with an officer, answering questions regarding the break in when she spotted JC a few feet away, glaring murderously at Dre.
"What the hell were you doing? I didn't hire you to take care of Mira to have you spend all your time away from her! Do you know what could've happened to her tonight?" cried JC.
"Excuse me," said Mira, leaving the police officer. She rushed to JC and grabbed his arm. "Please, JC, it's not his fault."
JC turned to Mira, his eyes filled with fear and worry. "What?"
"I asked him to leave," said Mira, glancing quickly up at Dre. "I asked him to leave me alone to study."
"He still shouldn't have left you alone," said JC, grabbing her hands. "Do you have any idea what could've happened to you tonight?"
"I'm fully aware, JC," said Mira, trying to still her shaking body. JC, however, noticed. He looked down at her hands and back into her eyes. He enveloped Mira in a tight hug, pulling her close. That, being the last straw, burst into tears. She sobbed quietly into JC's shoulder, releasing all the emotions that had built up in the course of the last hour. Dre excused himself, leaving JC to comforting Mira.
Two hours later, the police had finally left with Chuck in custody and the promise of contacting her as soon as they knew anything. Dre stood outside, refusing to leave, feeling extremely guilty for not having been there. JC stood with Mira inside the house, questioning her repeatedly.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I’m sure, JC," said Mira with a nod. "Shaken up, but I'm fine." She reached up and gingerly traced the swelling surrounding the cut on JC's lip. "That's a nasty cut you have," she whispered.
"Battle wound," said JC with a shrug.
She paused, biting her lip anxiously. "JC? What were you doing here?"
JC smiled. "After your call, I began to worry about you." He paused, expecting one of Mira's signature sarcastic remarks, but the ashen look on her face clearly said that she wasn't in the mood to kid around. "I thought about how you're scared of the dark, so I thought I'd stop by to check out your fuse box to make sure you didn't blow something. When I saw the fuse box open, I saw that the electricity switch had just been shut off. That was suspicious in and of itself," he said thoughtfully. "So, I walked around front and saw the broken window, so I got the key that Leanna gave me and came in."
Mira paused. "Thank you, JC. Again."
"You're welcome. Again," he said with a smile. "Listen, why don't you come spend the night at my house?" Mira's eyebrow raised suspiciously. "Nothing bad," said JC with a chuckle. "I just mean you must be really shaken up... too shaken up to sleep in this house alone. So why don't you come spend the night at my place?"
"I really appreciate the offer, JC," said Mira with a nod. "But if I leave tonight, then I'll never be able to sleep in this house again."
JC nodded in understanding. "Ok then. I'll spend the night."
"What?"
"Yes," said JC firmly. "I'll spend the night. There is no way in hell I'm going to leave you alone in a house that was just broken into."
"I'd appreciate that, JC," said Mira softly.
"Then you've got it," said JC. "I'll sleep on the couch."
It was two hours later and JC still couldn't sleep. After the "exciting" evening he'd had, he couldn't manage to calm down enough to allow himself to go to sleep. Well, that and the fact that he lay on a very uncomfortable couch in a room with a draft coming in from the broken window, which was now covered with a sheet that had been haphazardly thrown over the curtain bar above it. He shifted uncomfortably as he turned on his side. He let out a loud sigh as he let his eyes focus on the clock. It was 5:23 in the morning. He sighed again and closed his eyes, willing himself to go to sleep.
The sounds of footsteps in the hall made him sit up. Still overly cautious from earlier in the evening, he reached over and flipped on the light, grabbing a poker from the fireplace. He stood up and held the poker tightly, waiting for the source of the footsteps to appear. Suddenly, Mira peered around the corner. JC immediately let out a sigh of relief.
"Nice to see you too," said Mira softly, stepping out into the den.
"Can you blame me for being a little paranoid?" said JC, putting the poker back in its stand.
"Not really," said Mira softly, nervously playing with the edge of her shirt.
JC regarded her closely for a moment, noticing her nervous actions. "Mira?" he asked, stepping towards her and taking her hands in his. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," said Mira, shaking her head. "I just... I was wondering..." she trailed off.
"Yes?" urged JC, meeting Mira's brown eyes. Mira smiled weakly and tore her eyes away from his, not wanting to think about the dangers of holding his heart melting stare for too long.
"I feel stupid for asking this..."
"Don't feel stupid," said JC, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "What's wrong?"
"Could... could you come sleep in my bed?" she whispered.
Needless to say, JC was a bit surprised at the request. "In your bed?"
"I only asked because I can't sleep because I'm still a little scared and you totally don't have to and I completely understand if you don't want to and I just want company and I don't want anything else from you because I know it sounds weird that I'm inviting you to my bed but I swear it's completely innocent and-" she rambled all in one breath until JC placed a finger over her lips to silence her.
"It's alright, Mira," he said softly. "I understand."
"Ok good," she gushed. "I was really worried about asking you." She abruptly hid her hands behind her back to hide their trembling.
"No need to worry," said JC. "I can't really sleep on this couch anyway." Mira giggled softly. "Well then, let's head back to your room, then," he said, motioning to the hallway.
After making it to the bedroom, they awkwardly crawled into the bed. Mira pulled the covers up over her and turned to see JC lying on top of the covers. "Aren't you going to be cold?" she asked.
"Nah," he shrugged. "Besides, that way I can make sure you won't try anything," he joked.
Mira rolled her eyes. "You wish, Chasez."
JC grinned broadly. "There's the Mira I know and occasionally hate."
Mira giggled and leaned over, kissing JC's cheek gently before rolling over. "Goodnight JC. And thank you. Again."
"You're welcome," said JC, his breath catching in his chest. He reached up and gently traced where Mira had kissed him. Remembering that he was laying beside his girlfriend's best friend, he rolled over, making another futile attempt at going to sleep. "Goodnight."
