What the hell?

JC shifts in his bed and rubs a hand over his eyes, taking a moment to wake himself up. He’d finally fallen asleep after tossing and turning for over two hours, unable to turn his mind off. He wasn’t sure what had woken him but a moment later he hears his cell phone ring: that must be it. Groaning he reaches over to the night stand beside his bed and grabs his phone.

Who is calling at…

He looks over at the clock: 2:47 AM.

Someone better be dead or dying.

“Yeah?” He grumbles into the phone, slumping back against his pillow and closing his eyes.

“…JC?” A small voice hesitantly ventures.

He sits straight up in his bed, instantly awake. He pushes the covers back and swings his legs over the bed, planting his feet on the floor, startling his dog who is lying not far away.

Something is wrong.

“Ari? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yeah…well no. I’m really sorry to bother you, I must have woken you up…I didn’t know who to call, Patrick is out of town and…I’m sorry to…” She rambles, her voice wobbling.

He cuts her off. “It’s fine, honey. It’s fine. What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Um…someone broke in…”

“What?! Are you hurt? Did you call the police?” He questions as he jumps up and grabs a pair of track pants off of a nearby chair. “Shhh…it’s okay boy,” he says softly to the dog on the floor reacting to the sudden movements of his master. “Ari?”

“I’m not hurt, the police are here now.”

He awkwardly pulls on his pants with one hand, switching the phone to his other ear as he grabs a hoodie as well. “Stay put. Don’t let the cops leave until I get there. I’ll be there as soon as I can, I’m on my way.”

He doesn’t even remember pulling on his hoodie or grabbing his keys. Next thing he knows he is taking the steps to her apartment two at a time and pushing open the door.“Ari?” He calls out looking around the illuminated apartment, finding her sitting on the edge of the couch, a blanket wrapped around her. Her hair is wet and she looks so small sitting next to a large police officer holding a clip board.

Oh, sweetheart.

She seems to realize that he’s standing there and instantly gets up from the couch to come forward and fit herself into his outstretched arms.

Is she limping?

He can feel her take a shaky breath against him and when he pulls back enough to look into her eyes he can see that they are brimmed with tears.

“It’s okay honey, it’s okay. I’m here now. What’s going on? Are you limping?”

She pulls back and pushes her hair behind her ears, clearing her throat and ridding it of the evidence of tears.

“I’m fine. I just twisted my ankle….”

“Ma’am? We’re done here. We’ll have a report ready for your insurance company within a few days. Are you okay for us to leave now?” The large police officer he’d seen earlier asks, eyeing him for a moment and then Ari again.

“Yes, thank you. I’m fine.” She nods, shaking his hand and waving weakly to the other officer that is waiting by the door.

Placing his hand on her shoulder gently, he guides her back over to the couch and sits next to her.

“Tell me what happened.”

“I couldn’t sleep, my legs were restless and I couldn’t shut my mind off so I decided to take a bath. I got out of bed and went into the bathroom. I was soaking in there maybe 10 minutes when I heard something like the sound of glass breaking.” She starts, picking at a thread on the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders. “I figured that it was that same cat, breaking one of my plant, you know. I didn’t really think much of it; I stayed there for another 10 minutes maybe. When I got out, I realized that I forgot my pajamas in the bedroom, so I walked out of the bathroom in my towel. When I opened the door…”

Noticing her hesitation he scoots a little closer and slides and arm around her gently,“Go on...”

“There was this guy…going through my bedroom drawers. I sort of froze for a second, he turned and looked at me….I screamed and ran back into the bathroom. I locked the door and thankfully I had my cell in there. I called the police. When they got here he was already gone.”

“Did you see his face? He didn’t hurt you did he?” He asks softly, sliding his arm back from over her shoulder to wipe a tear sliding down her cheek.

After a shake of her head, he releases a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding.

Thank God.

“How did you twist your ankle?”

“Just getting back into the bathroom, I was still a little wet and so was the floor.”

Nodding he leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to the side of her damp head.

“Grab a bag; I’m taking you back to my place.”

She seems to want to argue for a moment but he stands and shakes his head.

“Don’t argue with me. You can’t stay here, the front door is busted. I assume that was the cops coming in?” She nods. “And the fire escape window is broken. You’ll stay with me until those are fixed.”

He can tell she seems a little relieved at his decision. He helps her up and leads her to her bedroom where she grabs a bag from under her bed as well as a few things from her drawers. He watches her maker her way to the bathroom to grab a few more things and then looks around the room.

That guy could have come up on her when she was in bed. Sleeping. What could he have done?

He shakes the thought from his mind and takes the bag from her hand when she steps out of the bathroom.

“Are you going to be okay to walk?”

“Yeah, it hurts a little but not bad. Some ice should take care of it later,” she answers, looking around her bedroom for a moment before nodding.

“Ready?”

“Yeah…I’m ready to get out of here. We should still be able to use the deadbolt to shut the front door; it wasn’t on when they forced the door open. The sheet of plywood over the window should keep anyone else out at least tonight.”

“Then let’s go.” He motions, leading her out of her apartment and watching as she uses her key to slide the deadbolt. They walk down the stairs slowly; taking their time as she periodically holds onto is arm to steady herself.

On the way to his house he asks, “Did he end up getting anything?”

“Yeah, my good camera and a couple of lenses. It’ll get covered by insurance, but it’s still a piss off. It’ll be a while before I get the insurance money and in the meantime I don’t have enough to buy a new one. It took me a long time to save up to buy that one.”

Save up.

It's been a long time since he’s had to think about saving money to buy something he wanted. He knows her enough by now that she would kill him if he even suggested giving her or even loaning her the money to buy a new camera.

He’d have to figure something out.

Unlocking his front door, he let her go in ahead of him, his dog greeting them at the door with his tail wagging.

“Hey Maestro…” He hears her say softly and watches her reach down to pet the dog.

“He wanted to come too but I told him he had to hold down the fort until we came back.”

He sees her smile, but it doesn’t seem to reach her eyes. “Hey, come here.” He motions, opening his arms to her once more after dropping her bag on the ground.

She doesn’t hesitate and lets him wrap his arms around her. He rests his chin on the top of her head and makes soothing noises for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, inhaling the scent of green apples he has come to associate with her. He can feel her tremble slightly and he squeezes her tighter. “It’s okay honey, it’s over.”

“I know…I’m sorry,” she says quietly against his chest.“I’m not that type of girl you know, that can’t take care of herself or be without a man to rescue her all the time.”

He shakes his head and pulls her away for a moment looking into her eyes.“I don’t think that for a moment. I’m just glad I could be there for you.”

God, I want to kiss her. I really, really want to kiss her.

He licks his lower lip, leans forward again and presses his lips to her forehead gently.

Not tonight. Not while she’s this vulnerable.


“How about I let you dry off your hair a little and then get ready for bed? I think we both could use a little sleep.”

She nods and lets him go, looking around for a moment.

“You have a nice house.” She smiles softly.

“You’ll get the tour in the morning, now up the stairs young lady.” He smirks, motioning her up the stairs nearby.

Once at the top of the stairs he points down the hall to the left. “I sleep down there.” He then points to the right and completely down the hall. “There are three guest bedrooms down there.”

He can tell she is hesitating for a moment, her eyes have gone a little wide as she gauges the distance between the two areas.

“But you know. I’m sure you’re still a little jumpy. If you want….I have a really big bed. You could bunk with me tonight.” Seeing her seem conflicted, he smiles. “No funny business, I promise. We can even make a very special exception and let Maestro be the guard dog he thinks he is and sleep with us. Just for tonight.”

A smile spreads across her lips, this time reaching her eyes.

“Okay.”

Showing her into his bedroom, he lets her into his master bathroom to change and towel dry her hair a little more. While he hears her moving around in there, he goes around the room picking up a few things and straightening the bed.

“Hop in,” he says as she appears from the bathroom. “I sleep on the left side…so you and Maes can have the right?”

She nods and goes around the bed, pulling back the covers before sliding in.

“I’m going to go brush my teeth, I’ll be right back.”

After brushing his teeth and throwing some cold water at his face, he looks into the mirror.

Getting old Chasez?

You’ve got a beautiful woman in your bed and you’re not even going to consider sleeping with her?

He shakes his head at his own reflection and turns the light off before walking back into the bedroom. Once there he finds Ari curled up on her side with Maestro at her back, laying against her as he rests his head on her rib cage, looking at him with a satisfied look.

“You’re lucky tonight buddy, this ain’t happenin’ again.” He grins talking to his dog as he walks over to the security panel near his bed and taps a few buttons before getting into bed. Clicking off the bedside light he turns on his side facing her across the King size bed. “I didn’t even think… did you want some ice for your ankle?”

“Nah, thanks. It’s fine for tonight. I’m comfortable and I feel sleepy now.”

“Good. Well…Goodnight.” He says softly, shifting a little to get comfortable. After a few moment of silence he hears the sheets ruffling and feels and hand reach out. She searches for his hand and finds it, slipping her own into his.

“Thank you…again.” She says sleepily, squeezing his hand.

“You’re welcome, again.” He smiles in the dark.

“Good night.” She adds, although her hand does not move out of his.

They lay there for a few moments, their hands entwined until he feels her grip slacken and hears her breathing slow. He still doesn’t let go of her hand and starts falling asleep, thinking that even though he hasn't slept with her, this feels like one of the most intimate moments of his life.