Chapter 4

“Yeah?” he, said turning around to look at her from the doorway.

“Do you think you could stay here with me until I fall back asleep?  I mean I know you’re tired and all and if you don’t want to you don’t have..”

JC, cut her off.  “I’d be happy to.” he, said walking back across the room to her bed.

“I just don’t want to be alone right now.” she, said as she started to cry again.

“Zoë, you’ll never be alone, I’m always gonna be here!” he, said as he climbed into the bed.

“Yeah, that’s what my parents said too.” she, said in a whisper.

“Zoë, they couldn’t help it.  They didn’t leave you by choice.  It was an accident.”

“But what happens if you get in an accident or something.  Then I really wont have anyone.  Then I’ll really be all alone.  You’re the only family I have left, Josh.”

“Not gonna happen.  I’m here to stay.  I’m too stubborn to leave you and not have the opportunity to tease and torment you every day!  I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“You know I don’t!  I plan on keeping this one.  Now stop with all this and go back to sleep.  You’re just upsetting yourself more.  We can talk about all this in the morning once we’ve both had a good nights sleep.  Things will seem better then.” JC, told her has he slid his arm around her and pulled her into a hug.

Zoë, snuggled up against him, as he held her tight.  “I missed you so much Josh.  I missed how we always you to be so close and I could tell you anything, and you were always there.”

“I missed you too Zo, but I am always here.  Even before I was just a phone call away.”

“I know but it’s not the same.”

“I agree.  I have to admit it’s great having you around again.  I’d almost forgotten what it was light to hug you and have my Best Friend there to talk to.”

“You’ll be sick of me in a couple days.  Especially, if I keep up all this whining shit.” she, laughed.

“Not possible.” JC, laughed back.  “Now, go to sleep.”

“Goodnight, Josh” she, whispered as she closed her eyes.

“Night, Zoë.”

Josh, laid there for a while remembering all the crazy times they’d had as kids.  How they’d stayed over at each other’s houses.  They played sports together, went to school together.  They were inseparable.  Whenever the other one was upset or hurt about anything the other was always there.  They had such a tight bond.  He didn’t know how he was going to get Zoë through her pain, but he was determined to do it.  It made his heart ache to see her hurting so badly.

Rather than going back to his own room, JC decide to just stay put.  He was so worried about Zoë and at the moment he felt like he could keep her safe.  So he laid there a little while longer reminiscing before he finally drifted back off to sleep.

Zoë, woke up the next morning and was slightly startled by the masculine arms that were wrapped around her tightly.  It took her a moment to remember what had happened, and she smiled to herself at the thoughts of JC being such a sweet friend.  She knew he was worried about her, obviously that’s why he didn’t leave her side.

She slowly started to pry his arms off of her so she could slip out of the bed.  He stirred a bit but then rolled over to the other side of the bed.

Once, she saw he was still sleeping she disappeared into her closet and came back out with a pair of sweats on, and decided to go explore the house and let him sleep.

She was wandering around the house checking out all the rooms when she came across JC’s studio.  It had a huge “Keep Out” sign on the door, but she knew JC wouldn’t care if she went in and looked around.  So she did.  She looked at all the equipment, she was amazed.  Had never seen anything like that up close and personal before.

Then she came across some sheet music JC had obviously been working on.  She smiled as she read through the lyrics.  It all flowed together so well.  “He’s always been a great song writer” she, thought as she placed the music back in it’s place, and then made her way out of the studio.

She decided she was hungry and was going to make something to eat, only when she started sorting through the refrigerator and cupboards there wasn’t hardly any food.  At least nothing she was really interested in eating.  So she went back up to her room where JC was still sleeping soundly and changed into some jeans, and a fresh T-shirt.

She’d seen a small grocery store just a few blocks away from JC’s house when they were coming from the airport the day before.  She was going to borrow JC’s car to go, but couldn’t find the keys so she decided to walk since it wasn’t that far.

Once, she was walking she realized the store was actually a little farther down than she’d thought, so she made a mental note to herself to only pick up a couple things so she wouldn’t have to carry a bunch of bags back with her.  She didn’t mind the walking.  She usually went for long walks anyways so this was just getting that bit of exercise out of her way.

She made it too the store and picked up some milk, eggs, pancake mix, bacon, and a couple other smalls things and then headed back towards JC’s house.

She’d only made it about a two blocks when a tiny silver sports car with tinted windows pulled up next to her, and honked the horn.  Zoë, looked at the car but couldn’t tell who was driving so she kept walking.

“Girl, what the hell are you doing walking down the street?” a man’s voice yelled out to her.

Zoë, stopped and turned to see Justin leaning across the seat with the passenger window rolled down, and a cheesy smile on his face.  “I had to go get some stuff from the store.  JC, has no food in his house.” she, said walking closer to the car.

“Well, why the hell didn’t he drive you?” Justin, asked puzzled.

“He’s still asleep and I didn’t want to wake him.  I was gonna take his car, but couldn’t find the keys.”

“Well, get in, I’ll give you a lift back.  I was just on my way there anyways!  We’ve got a meeting this afternoon.” Justin, said opening the passenger for her to get in.  Zoë, hopped in the car with Justin, and he drove them back to JC’s house.

When they got back there was still no signs of JC being awake, so Zoë told Justin to be quiet and make himself at home she was going to make breakfast.

She went to work in the kitchen.  Wiping up some scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon for the three of them.  When it was done she hollered for Justin to come eat.  They sat down at the table and were eating their breakfast when they heard JC yelling for Zoë upstairs.  “ZOE?  WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Josh, I’m in the kitchen!” she, yelled back.

JC, came flying down the stairs yelling out “When I woke up and you weren’t next to me, I freaked out are you ok?” his sentence ended when he stopped in the doorway to the kitchen and seen Zoë and Justin sitting at the table.  Justin, was giving JC a funny look.  “Oh, hey Justin.” JC, said and then proceeded on into the kitchen.

“When he woke up and you weren’t next to him, huh?” Justin, asked giving Zoë a questioning look.

Zoë, just looked back at Justin oddly.  “I had a bad dream and fell out of bed last night.  JC, came in to check on me and I asked him to stay with me, so he did.  We used to sleep together all the time growing up, it‘s not a big deal.”

Justin, got an amused look on his face.  “You slept together all the time?”

“Not like that Justin!  Does everything have to be sexual with you!  She scared the crap out of me man.  I woke up to a loud crash around 4:00 in the morning and her screaming at the top of her lungs.  I thought someone had broken into the house or something.  When I got in there she was flopping around on the floor.  She cut her arm on the lamp she took with her too.” JC, said setting down at the table.

“I’m just teasing C, jeez don’t get all worked up about it!” Justin, laughed.

“ANYWAYS!” Zoë, sighed.  “I made breakfast, I’ll make you a plate.” she, said as she got up to make JC’s plate.

“Zo, you don’t have to make my plate I can do it myself.” JC, said started to get up to stop her.

“Shutup, and sit down I’ll get it.” she, said motioning for him to sit back down so he did.  Then she made her way around to the stove and started piling everything up on his plate for him, then took it back around and sat it in front of him.  She asked if he wanted some orange juice, and he nodded as he dug into his eggs and bacon, so she filled him a glass of juice and took it back to him and sat back down at the table.

“Where’d you get the stuff to make all this with?  I know I didn’t have anything in my fridge.”

“I walked down to the grocery store and got some things.” she, answered and then took a bite of her pancakes.

JC, dropped his fork, as he partially choked on his food.  “You WALKED to the grocery store?”

“Yeah, why?”

“What the hell were you thinking, just going off like that?  Someone could have grabbed you or something!” he, glared at her.

“Josh, really!  I’m not a little kid, I can take care of myself.  And the store was just down the street.”

“Well, what if you would have gotten lost or something?”

“How could I get lost?  The stores just down the street.  I’ll admit it was further down than I remembered, but really JC it’s a straight shot.  I’d have to be YOU to get lost doing something like that.” she, laughed and Justin joined her.

“Chill, man.  I was on my way over when I seen her walked down the street on her way back so I stopped and gave her a ride.  And I already lectured her about it, so it’s all good.”

JC, just continued eating as he shook his head.  “You should have woke me up, I’d of taken you.” he, added.

“Well, it’s over now, so just eat and quit treating me like a child.  I’m 24 years old, I think I can manage.”

“OK, OK, I’m sorry.  I just worry about you.  I wont freak out on you again.” JC, said.

“Good!” Zoë, laughed as she cleared her and Justin’s plate from the table when they were both done eating.

The three of them sat at the table talking as JC finished eating and then thanks her for the delicious breakfast.  He then explained after Justin’s reminder that they had a meeting that afternoon so he’d be gone for a couple hours, but she could use his car if she wanted to go back to the grocery store and get more groceries this time, or she could wait for him to get back and they could go together and get them.

Deciding it would be MUCH easier for her to go by herself, she made a quick list of the things JC wanted from the store before he left with Justin for their meeting.  Then she retreated to her room to shower and freshen up before going to the store to load up on groceries.

Later that evening when JC, and the rest of the guys came back to JC’s place Zoë was nowhere to be found.  JC’s car was in the garage, and the kitchen was fully loaded with groceries but she was nowhere in the house.

JC, was starting to freak out again, when Chris found a note that JC had overlooked on the kitchen counter.  “Hey C, she left a note dumbass!”

Chris, opened the note and read it aloud:

Josh,

I just went out for a run.  Gotta get my daily exercise and I was bored.  I’ll be back later.

Zoë,

“Well at least she left a note this time!” JC, shrugged and moved on into the living room where Joey and Lance were watching a game on TV.

“Dude, why do you keep freaking out when she’s not around.  Zoë’s a big girl, she can take care of herself you know!  Didn’t she just tell you that this morning?” Justin, reminded.

“J, she’s going through a lot of shit right now.  And I was worried for a while she might do something stupid to hurt herself.  EXCUSE ME, if I worry about my friend.  I mean she’s in a strange city, and she doesn’t know anyone here but us!  So I freak out a bit, I cant’ help it.  She’s my Best Friend!” JC, defended.

“Well, all I know is you better cut it out.  She looked pretty annoyed by your little lecture this morning.  You can’t treat her like a kid.” Justin, reminded.

“Do me a favor J, and bud out!  This doesn’t concern you!”

“She’s my friend too.  And so are you.  And the last thing I want to see is you pissing her off and having her go running back to Maryland.  I’m perfectly aware of what she’s going through right now.  And that last thing she needs is you acting like a Dad to her.”  Justin, scolded.

“You don’t even know her all like that, Justin.  Don’t pretend to know all this about her and like you two are such good friends.” JC, yelled.  He was growing annoyed by Justin’s words, and by the fact that Justin was acting as if he and Zoë were all close.

“Well, I don’t know her as well as you, NO.  But she’s still my friend.  And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the girls hurting!” Justin, yelled back.

“OK YOU TWO!  SHUT UP!” Chris, yelled.  “Quit acting like two year olds fighting over a fucking toy or something.  Zoë’s, a person, and she doesn’t belong to anyone!  So chill out already.”

“I didn’t say I owned her!  I said I” JC, started but was cut off by Justin.

“Well, then stop acting like you own her then!”

JC, jumped off the sofa and got in Justin’s face.  He was about to go off on him when Zoë walked in the door.  “I’m back!” she yelled.

“We’ll finish this discussion later!” JC, commanded and then walked off in the direction of Zoë’s voice.

Joey, looked a Justin and laughed.  “You about got your ass beat over that one!”

“Whatever!” Justin, sneered and threw himself down in the recliner.

Zoë, was using the stairs to stretch her legs back out after her run, when JC walked into the entry way.  “Did you get my note?  I figured I should leave one this time, so you didn’t freak out again.”

“Yeah, I got it.” he, answered watching her as she continued to stretch.  “Where’d you get that outfit at?” he, asked referring to her sports bra and capri spandex like workout pants.

“At a store back home.  Haven’t you ever seen workout clothes?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t know you owned any.” JC, laughed.

“I probably own a lot of stuff you don’t know I own!” Zoë, laughed and then pushed her way by him into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

She then headed into the TV room and said hello to all the guys.  “Have a nice run? “ Chris, asked and then gave JC a funny grin.

“Yeah, I feel much better now.  Had to burn off some of my energy.” she, laughed.

“Hey Zo, we’re gonna go out tonight you wanna come with us?” Justin, asked.

“Thanks for asking, but not tonight.  I’m still worn out from yesterday and I wanna get up early tomorrow to go job hunting.  But again thanks for asking.” she, smiled.

“You can’t go job hunting yet!” Joey, exclaimed.

“Yeah you just got here.  You haven’t even let us show you around town yet!” Chris, added.

“Well, I need a job.  I need money.  So I gotta find one!” Zoë, laughed plopping down on the sofa between Lance and Joey.

“JC’s got plenty of money, I’m sure you can put it off for another week.  He’s not gonna go broke in that short time.” Chris, laughed.

Zoë, just looked at Chris as if he were crazy.  “Yeah, JC’s got plenty of money, but I don’t!  Therefore I need a job.  Surely, ya’ll didn’t think I was gonna succumb to being his charity case anymore than I already am!  Besides, I already owe him for that crazy ass bedroom him and his mom went all out on.  And the plane ride down and all that stuff.”

“You owe him?” Joey, asked puzzled.

“I’ll explain later!” JC, said with a wave of his hand.

“Yeah, you do that!” Zoë, said jumping back up from the couch.  “You boys go out and have a good time.  I’m gonna take a shower and play on that brand new computer in my room and type up a new resume and do a little job searching online.” she, said as she walked out of the room.

“Oh yeah that sounds like fun!” Chris, hackled.

“Different strokes, for different folks!” Zoë, smiled before she disappeared.