Well, needless to say, JC and Viera were hitting it off better than expected. Both Holly and Brooke called Viera that day to see what she was up to and wondered if they could come over later. She informed them that JC was staying for awhile but she would call when he left. She didn't really like either of the two girls that much and wondered what she had seen in them but they said that they were all good friends in the past so Viera just figured when her memory came back that she would remember why she even hung out with them in the first place.
Her and JC had lounged around her apartment for most of the day. They watched a little TV, grabbed a bit to eat, and were now in Viera's room searching her closet for anything related to her past. She wanted to go through some of her stuff, hoping that SOMETHING would jog her memory - much to JC's protest.
He said that she could do that later or that he wanted her for himself now. She didn't know why he didn't want her memory to return but shrugged that - and everything else - off when he grabbed her and hold her tight against his body to kiss her.
It took every bit of strength she had to push him away, she really wanted him with her incase something came back to her and she didn't understand it. She was certain that there were wonderful memories that would flood her mind and then there had to be some bad ones and she wanted JC there if she had a bad one. He would certainly help her deal with those...right?
"Oh my, please don't tell me I EVER wore this awful thing?" She asked, stepping out of the walk-in closet, holding up a hotpink crop top with the word "SEXY" written on it in silver glitter.
JC had to cover his mouth so she wouldn't see the smile on his face and he tried to contain his laughter. "Um...well, I can't say that I've ever seen you in that but you never know." Viera just rolled her eyes at him and threw the small shirt in his direction. It landed beside him on the bed, where he was laying on, and he picked it up to examine it closer. "Hey, maybe you should try this on to see if it still fits." He suggested but felt the air in the room suddenly turn cold.
"In your dreams buddy." She answered him and walked back into the closet.
She emerged a minute later carrying a box. She eyed it closely and motioned for JC to scoot his body over so she could sit down and look in it. JC's eyes darted to the small square container and asked where she found it. "It was hidden behind some sweaters I had on the shelf. Maybe I was trying to hide it from someone but who? I live here by myself."
JC wonder too. "Um, are you sure you want to look in there? Maybe I could do it and tell you what I find." He suggested. This way, if there was anything that she DIDN'T need to see, he could withhold that from her and save him the agony of explaining things later.
She kept her eyes on the box but leaned her body closer to his. Her lips grazed the side of his cheek for just a moment before she sat back up. "Thank you but I think I need to do this myself. Something about this box seems so familiar." She whispered as her fingers slid over the outside of it.
There wasn't anything particuarlly interesting about it. It was a plain brown colored box with nothing written on it. Maybe it had another sweater in it or something like that but for some reason, Viera was drawn to it and she couldn't shake the uneasiness about opening it - but she HAD to do it. It might lead her mind to opening up itself and releasing a memory or two.
She took a deep breath - along with the one she heard JC take - and slid the top off. She spied the contents closely and merged both eyebrows together when she noticed what was inside. A look of guilt rushed over her and she put a hand up to her mouth when a gasp escaped.
JC hadn't noticed what was inside, he only watched Viera's face for any sign of a memory to come back. When she gasped and tried to hide it, he feared the worst. His moment of peace from this day was soon to be over - or so he thought. "Viera, I can explain..." He began but she immediately interrupted him.
"JC, what do YOU have to explain? I'm to one who needs to explain here." She told him as her eyes filled up with tears and she bit down on her lower lip.
JC had NO idea what she was talking about. Maybe she hadn't found a piece of her missing life in that box. "I...I don't understand. What do you have to explain?" He asked, concerned that she was getting this upset over something he knew nothing about.
Viera took a deep breath and slowly slid a few of the contents of the box out for him to see. She placed them in his hands before looking up at him and speaking. "I don't know who or what I was before but I think I was cheating on you." She got out, then let a tear make its way down her cheek.
JC shook his head, trying to understand, then looked down at his hands. In them, there were three pictures of a couple - who looked VERY close. The girl was sitting on the guys lap and they both had their arms around one another while they were kissing. The other two were similar to the first and when JC examined the date on the back, it appeared to be right before the accident.
He didn't know what to say to her. For a split second, he became jealous - she had been with another guy - looking far more than friendly with him - but then reality set in and JC realized that this guy, this man who had Viera's attention in the picture, was probably her boyfriend at the time of the accident and not JC. He wondered where he was and if he even knew about the accident.
But the first thing that JC had to deal with was the fact that Viera was feeling guilty for something that she didn't do. She hadn't cheated on JC, for her and him weren't even really a couple to begin with...but it still bothered him.
He looked at her sitting across from him, tears running down her face, and he felt like scum. She didn't deserve to feel like this for something she thought she did. He had to make her see that she wasn't to blame here. He scooted closer to her and raised a hand up to wipe the tears away. She kept her eyes locked on his and begged for forgiveness.
"JC, I'm so sorry. I didn't know I was doing this. I didn't know that I would be capable of cheating on you. I don't know why I would ever do something like that. I swear I don't know..." She began as she pleaded with him but he just held his hand to her lips to silence her.
"Viera, I don't blame you for whatever you had with this guy. You don't know the whole story behind the picture. Maybe you were playing a game or something and had to kiss him - or maybe he grabbed you and kissed you. You can't say you were cheating on me because you don't remember, right?"
She slowly shook her head to acknowledge that fact that she really didn't remember. "JC, but the picture looks like..."
"It looks like you were having a good time. Viera listen, whatever happened before your accident, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you are here and alive." He told her as he pulled her into his arms. He hated saying those words to her - what if that guy was trying to find her, that they were in love at one time and JC had taken her from him? Something inside JC didn't care. HE wanted Viera to himself. HE didn't want another guy with her. HE wanted to be the one she held, she kissed, and she loved.
Viera held tighter onto his body and let a few more tears shed while speaking to him in a whisper. "Yeah, I'm alive...and with YOU." She started, then pushed herself away from him so she could look him in the face again. "And whomever this guy is, I don't care. I don't know why I was in this picture with him but I do know that I don't want another taken unless it's of you and me." She began as she pulled a hand up to his face and ran her fingers across his lips. "It's you that I want, JC. It's you that I need."
That statement alone sent JC's heart racing. He put the thoughts of the awful deal he made with Holly and Brooke, along with anything that would relate to the guy in the picture, out of his mind and concentrated solely on the woman in front of him that was reaching out to him.
"I want you and need you too." He told her as he closed the gap between the two and pressed his lips on hers, triggering something inside both of them and causing an avalanche to occur.
Neither one of them knew exactly where this rawness, this pure adulterated hunger came from but they weren't fighting it now. Both of them dove head first into a situation that they shouldn't have and it would only make things that much worse when Viera got her memory back.
The next morning, Viera woke up to find JC still laying beside her. He hadn't left last night, therefore, she never called the girls. Viera wondered if they would be upset that she didn't do anything with the two of them. 'Who cares what they think, I wouldn't have had a better night with them anyway', she thought to herself as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight streaming in through the curtains and hitting her companion's face.
She turned to her side and had to stiffle a laugh when she looked at him. She just couldn't believe in her wildest dreams that she would be laying here along side someone like JC. She wanted to shout atop the roof how she was feeling at that moment. She was beyond happy...and yet, she wondered if they had been together before. They seemed to fit just right last night but something was off. She couldn't put her finger on it but she knew there was something different about last night.
She slowly slid a hand towards him and let her fingers draw unidentifable lines on his face as she inspected his sleeping form. She saw the light hit his features and she rose her eyes to the ceiling to say a quick 'thank you' for bringing him into her life.
'Is it wrong to be in love with someone after only knowing them for such a short time?' She asked herself this but didn't realize that she had actually said those words out loud until she heard JC stir.
"Not if they feel the same way."
Viera's eyes widened when she heard his response and she could feel her cheeks heating up - and not by the sunlight. "Um, oh JC, I didn't know you were...you were..."
"That I was awake?" He asked as his arms moved above his body and he stretched his back out. His eyes slid open for merely a second before shutting them hard and placing his hands over to cover them. "Ah, turn out the lights."
Viera had to laugh at that. She was beyond embarrassed to have admitted her feelings to him without knowing that he heard her but then seeing him laying there - not running out the front door after her confession - she had to smile. 'Maybe he does feel the same way.'
She decided to let it go and not worry about it. He was here and that was all that mattered. She crept closer to him, lifted the covers over his head then took both hands away. "I can't turn out the sun but I can help block it if you like."
JC opened his tired eyes to notice the light not so bright and Viera smiling at him. He got a warm, loving feeling inside of him when he remembered the previous night and moved his hand over to touch her. His fingers met the bare skin of her shoulder and he made his way up to her neck. He pulled at her to get her to move closer to him, for which she easily did.
Her lips found his almost without trying and she leaned into him to relish in their feel. He was the first to break the kiss and he pulled his head back to look at her. "Although I enjoy morning breath as much as the next guy, I really can't stay any longer. I have to get to the studio to meet with the guys and I'm sure by now, I'm already late."
Viera didn't like the sound of that so she stuck out her lower lip and began to pout. "But JC, since you're already late, will a few more minutes really hurt?" She asked, bringing her head down to his chest and resting it on there.
JC sighed and pulled the covers back to reveal the sunlight once again. He blinked a few times until his eyes adjusted to the light. He placed one arm around Viera's back and the other stretched over his head again to scratch it while he thought of the proposition. "You know, a few more minutes wouldn't be so bad..." He started as Viera's head popped up and she gave him an excited smile.
Then it quickly faded when he continued his thought. "But I'm more than a few minutes late. I'm sorry but I really do have to go." He said as he saw the hurt in her eyes returning. "Now don't go looking at me that way. I promise that as soon as I finish up, I'll be right back here, okay."
Viera didn't want him to leave but she knew that he had to go. "Yeah I guess that's okay just as long as you find a way to make it up to me when you get back." She told him as a sparkle returned to her eyes.
JC laughed at the site then moved his body towards hers and gave her a quick kiss before sliding his own body out of the bed and walking into the bathroom.
Once the two of them had gotten up and out of Viera's room, she walked him to the door to say goodbye. "I'll call you when I have a break today, okay." He told her as he leaned back in for one last kiss.
"Yeah okay." She replied before letting him go. She thought of something she wanted to ask him and stopped him before he got too far. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
JC turned around and eyed her carefully. "Viera, everytime you have a question for me, things get very...heated, shall I say...and I really have to go."
She gave him another pouty look and smiled triumphantly when his shoulders slumped in defeat and he walked back to her. She held out her arms and wrapped them around his waist then looked up into his blue eyes. "You are such a sucker, you know that." She stated as he simply rolled his eyes playfully at her and reached behind her to hold her closer to him.
"Go ahead with the question." He told her as he returned her stare.
"Well, I was wondering if what you said was true back there. You know, when you heard me talking as you were waking up...about it not being wrong to be in love with someone so soon if they feel the same way." She asked, worrying about his answer but wanting to hear him tell her.
He took a deep breath, concentrated on the twinkle in her eye and smiled. "Yes, I meant every word." He informed her as he leaned his head forward and brought his lips to hers. She began to slide her hands from around his waist to his chest, working their way to his neck and twisting her fingers in his dark hair. He broke the kiss a moment later and shook his head. "I told you that your questions can be dangerous. How am I suppose to leave now?" He asked, but Viera had an answer.
She tightened her hold on him and kissed him once again. "Just don't go." She told him as their lips separated.
He let out a deep groan and willed his body to follow what his head was saying. He slowly let go of Viera and gave her a stern warning before he turned to leave. "No more questions until I get back, you got that young lady?" He asked, waving a finger at her.
She merely laughed as she walked back to her apartment and smiled at him from the door. "I got it. Now get out of here before the guys find someone to take your place." She said as she waved him goodbye then shut her door.
She was still chuckling to herself when she heard the phone ring and had to calm down to answer it. She found out that her car was ready to be picked up whenever she was. She asked the gentleman on the other end what he was talking about and he informed her that they had been holding her car until she was out of the hospital and could pick it up. It was fixed from the accident and needed to leave their place because it had been there for a while.
Viera thanked the man and said that she would get someone to pick her up so she could come down immediately, then hung up. She called Holly, who was more than willing to help her out - and find out about her night with JC. She said that she would pick Viera up in about 20 minutes.
Viera hung up on her and ventured into the bathroom to wash her face. She didn't understand why she had a car sitting in some lot for over three months but shook it off as just another question that had no answer. 'JC said to ask no more questions until he got back...so I'll just leave it alone' she said to herself then smiled brightly when thinking of JC.
Her mind was wandering back to last night and what had happened, when she pulled her hair up to put it in a loose ponytail so she could wash her face. When she did so, she stopped and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She squinted her eyes then leaned closer to the mirror when something caught her eye. She wondered why she hadn't noticed it before but there, just into her hairline, on the side of her temple, she noticed a small scar.
Without thinking, she reached her hand up to it and ran her index finger across it. 'Huh, must be from the accident' she told herself but then something hit her and she spoke out loud. "No, that's the scar I got when Shelly hit me with a rock after I broke her Barbie doll."
It took all of two seconds for Viera to realize that she had just had a memory...but who was Shelly? She was joyous in the fact that something was coming back to her but then that all changed when she felt the life rush out of her and the air no longer able to reach her lungs.
Shelly was her sister...her TWIN sister.
Fear overtook her and for the first time, she thought she was going to pass out. "Shelly...Oh my God, where's Shelly?" She screamed into the mirror as she looked at the reflection that matched her sister. Suddenly, as if a light had been turned on inside of her, her sister's face appeared and it all became much clearer to Viera.
Shelly was dead.