The next morning brought a new awareness to what Viera was feeling and thinking. She had tossed and turned all night in her bed…wait, she wasn’t in HER bed but…
“Hel…hello? Is anyone here?” She asked as she slowly sat up in the darkened room. She saw a low light coming from the window but a heavy curtain shielded most of it out. She looked around the room, not seeing anyone with her but knowing she wasn’t at her apartment.
She slid her still tired body out of the bed and shuddered when her bare feet hit the cool floor. She hurriedly wrapped her arms around her body and searched for something that would help her warm up…and fast.
She walked over to towards where the door was and flipped the light on, to reveal the room she was in. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in this room. It was quite simple in fact. Viera spied a sweater on the back of a chair pushed up to the small desk in the corner. She dragged her feet towards it and quickly put it over her upper body. She smiled at the instant warmth she received but then turned when she heard something outside the bedroom door.
She wasn’t sure exactly where she was this morning but her curiosity got the best of her and she had to venture out of her sleeping chamber to see what was on the other side of the door.
She crept closer to the door, slowly turned the handle and listened as it creaked open to reveal a short hallway, lined with pictures on both sides. She hesitantly stepped out of the room, making her way down the hall and towards the sound that seemed to be coming from below her floor.
She hit each step of the stairs, carefully, not to make too much noise and alert the person making noises. She wanted to be the one to sneak up on them to get a better feel of her surroundings. She got that when she rounded the corner of the stairs and walked to the doorframe of what appeared to be the living room.
She knew whose home she was in immediately when she saw the back of the familiar dark hair that she had ran her fingers through several times in the past few days, and the same body that had sent her every senses into overtime just the other night. She felt a tear come to her eye but quickly willed it away before it had time to fall, this wasn’t the time or place to lose it now. She had to speak to this person whose back was to her, today and figure out his part in all this mess that was her life.
She drew the courage to lightly knock on the wooden frame that she stood in, getting the attention of the young man who had stayed awake all night, silently watching over her to make sure she was okay. He quickly turned around, telling the person with whom he was talking to that he had to go and hung up the phone.
“V…Viera, you’re up?” He asked, surprised she would be awake this early after what had happened to her last night.
She nervously nodded her head as her eyes met the carpet below her feet. “Yeah, I guess I had too much on my mind to sleep.” She informed him as her feet played with the smooth carpet - anything was better than looking him in the eyes.
JC slowly made his way over to where she was standing and as his hand reached out to touch her arm, she jumped back and held up her own to stop him. “Don’t. Please don’t, JC.”
He simply nodded his own head and lowered his eyes to watch her feet play below him as well. “Did…did you remember anything else last night?” He asked, not really knowing what to say to her.
She never raised her eyes but still spoke to him. “Yeah, I remembered…” She began and when she paused, both of them lifted their heads and finally looked at one another. “Everything.” She got out then felt that same annoying tear try to worm its way to the surface but she continued to battle it back down.
JC saw the struggle and knew she was very fragile right now so anything that he did or said would have to be gentle so he wouldn’t take advantage of the situation - any more than he had already done. “I see.” He replied as he tried once again to touch her arm. This time she allowed his feel on her skin, for she needed it more than she thought. “Viera, I don’t know what to say or where to begin but whatever answers I can give you, just ask.” He said, running his strong hand up and down her arm in a comforting way.
She gave him a slight smile before reaching over with her other hand and taking his away. She let it fall beside him and spoke to him in a whisper. “Why’d you do it?” She said as the smile faded.
He looked at her confused and hurt face, wanting to die right there. She had gone through so much in such a short time that he had no idea where to start. “Please, come sit down.” He said, leading her over to one of the couches and sitting on the other side, not wanting to put any pressure on her now.
She folded her legs under her and cupped her hands together to get as comfortable as possible for his answer. JC took a deep breath, thought about what he was going to say to her, then began to tell her about his part in this horrible plan of the girls.
“Viera, first let me just say that…” He began but she interrupted.
“JC, I know you have a lot to say but please, just the facts. You can say whatever you want after that but right now, I need to know why you pretended to be with me and allowed me to…well you know.” She finished and had to lower her head. She felt so used at that moment and couldn’t even admit what her heart had felt towards him.
He knew what she was going to say, for it was written all over her face, but he pushed that to the side and told her the truth - well, what he knew to be the truth at the time.
When he was finished, Viera raised her head and looked at him for the first time since he had started explaining the situation to her. “I…I can’t believe they did that to you…to me. Are…are you sure that’s what happened?” She asked him as that lone tear got the best of her and fell. She couldn’t fight it any longer and it surprised her for it wasn’t alone.
JC saw the tears racing down her face and wanted to scoot closer to her to wipe them away but wasn’t sure if she would allow him to do that so he simply nodded his head to answer her question.
Viera felt a little hurt - okay a lot hurt - that he didn’t try to comfort her but she couldn’t still think that the two of them were together. It was all a sham and since the truth was out, JC was free of being with her. She felt a pain in her heart at the thought of being without him, even though he had lied about what they were for these past weeks.
She just wished that somewhere inside, he would feel the same as she did, but didn’t think he did. “JC, I really don’t know what to say. I know that Holly and Brooke were evil - I knew that before the accident and tried to get Shelly away from them but she wouldn’t listen. She liked hanging around them and they’d go out all the time. I just wish I hadn’t…I hadn’t…oh, I don’t know. I just wish I could have changed things.” She said, lowering her head and placing it in her hands.
JC sat there for all of two seconds before giving up his fight to stay away. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she needed someone to comfort her and he was the only one in the room to do it. He crept slowly over towards her and reached out his hand to lightly touch the top of her head. She jerked it up immediately at the contact and looked through the tears at him.
“You miss her?” He asked, not needing an answer but asking anyway.
Viera didn’t answer him at first but instead, flung her body towards him and wrapped her thinning arms around his neck. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and let the tears flow harder when she felt him reciprocate the action and hold onto her. “It hurts so much, JC. I…I did this to her and…and I have to live with it for the rest of my life. Why? Why Shelly? Why not…me?”
JC brought one of his hands up and rubbed her back with it while speaking into her ear. “Shhh. You can’t say that. I know you feel to blame here but you’re not.” He started as he put both hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently away so he could look at her face. He gave her a sympathetic smile and wiped the watery residue away from her face before speaking again. “And as far as why Shelly was the one taken, I don’t know but I’m gonna sound awfully selfish right now but I’m so glad that it wasn’t you that died that night.”
Viera jumped back away from him and looked hurt by his words. He tried to speak again before she misinterpreted it. “What I mean is that I wouldn’t want either of you to have to go through that awful night but if it had to happen, I’m just glad that you survived because if you would have died, I never would have gotten to know you and…and fall in love…with you.”
Viera was so taken back by his comment that she didn’t know if she should slap him for saying that God picked the right person to die that night - for which she lost her sister - or kiss him for the fact that he did indeed feel the same way about her that she did for him. She chose somewhere in the middle. “JC, I understand what you mean but losing my sister was the last thing I’d ever want to happen, even if it meant that we’d never be together and would have never been thrown into this mess.”
JC merely nodded his head at her. He didn’t know what else to say.
“I’m not saying that your words didn’t mean anything to me because they did. I just mean that these past few weeks have been so confusing but at the same time, some of the best times of my life - and I can compare it now with my past because I remember. Being with you meant everything to me when I thought my world was falling apart but now…I just don’t know.”
JC sat there, inches away from her but feeling miles apart. He didn’t know what to do, what to say, how to act, how to feel, where to go from here but he had to start somewhere. “Viera, I know that I told you a lie and going along with the plan that the girls cooked up was beyond cruel to you but once I got to know you, I wanted to tell you what was going on - you deserved to know the truth but I was afraid that you’d hate me. I was falling so fast for a stranger, someone that I was only suppose to pretend to be with, and I didn’t know what to do so I held on and didn’t let you find out so you wouldn’t leave me. I’m sorry I was selfish. I’m sorry I lied. I’m sorry I was drinking that night and didn’t see your car. I’m sorry I hit you with mine. I’m sorry I didn’t tell anyone for fear of losing my music career. I’m sorry…”
“JC, I think you covered just about everything.” She informed him, slightly smiling at the fact that he was now rambling on and on to her.
He caught her grin and it warmed his heart. At least she still had a smile in her. “Okay, sorry about that.”
“Ugh, quit saying you’re sorry. I get it!” She told him, actually letting a chuckle escape her mouth.
JC began laughing as well at himself and almost slipped and apologized one more time but caught himself before he did. “I won’t say it again but you know I really am.”
Viera calmed down and looked over at him, still sitting only inches away. “Yeah, I know.” She said as she involuntarily reached for his hand to hold onto. She didn’t even think about what she was doing until he latched his own fingers with hers and smiled at her. She looked down at the tangled mass of digits then raised her head to look at him. “This is going to be complicated.”
JC agreed and began to tell her what he thought they should do from here on out. “Yeah, and I know you said last night that you wanted to go to the police to tell them what happened. Well, I think that there is no way they can blame you and give you jail time for what happened, it was an accident but as far as I’m concerned, I did drive off without seeing if anyone was okay. They may throw the book at me but I really don’t care. This was something I should have done months ago and I think that finally getting it off my chest, I’ll be free of the guilt and maybe get lucky in this whole thing.”
Viera simply heard him ramble again and had to place her other hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. “JC, I wasn’t meaning that.” He gave her a confused look by crinkling up his brow at her and wondered what she was talking about. She smiled sweetly to him for merely a second before scooting ever so slightly closer to him and removing her hand. Her face raised to his and she breathed against his. “I was meaning us. That’s what going to be complicated.”
He saw the hurt still present in her eyes but that was fading and in its place was the same look he had received so many times in the past few days that lit his world up. He removed his hand from hers and placed them both on either side of her hips, slowly licking his lips at the same time. His eyes roamed from her eyes to her lips and he wondered if he would be taking advantage of her if he leaned forward. He didn’t want to force her into anything but his heart was pounding so loud at just the thought of feeling her lips on his again. “This could be VERY complicated.” He returned the airy breath against her face.
She almost shuddered at the feel of him being so close to her but she was able to contain some composure and reply. “I’m up for it if you are.”
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that she was giving him the green light and he took it. “Count me in.” He said a split second before he lowered his head towards her and their lips met once again.
They had a lot ahead of them: talking to Holly and Brooke was at the top of the list, telling the guys of JC’s decision to come clean about the accident, Viera having to go home and find her parents to patch things up, and finally telling the police the whole story - once they got the girls take on things, and praying that some good would come from this - but the two knew that they could do it together now.