I rapidly pulled on a light sweatshirt over my tanktop, retied my PJ pants, and pulled my hair back into a quick bun as I walked towards the door. As I reached the door, I quickly looked in a mirror that was hanging in the living room; my eyes were a burning red and had faint black circles around them…I looked horrible.

I slowly cracked the door open to see Jason standing there, playing with a ring he had on one of his fingers. I quickly regretted not washing my face before coming to the door.

"Jason?" I started, "What are you doing here so late?" I asked as I opened the door wider for him to come inside. He had looked up at the sound of his name, and I noticed his eyes soften as they came in contact with mine.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly as he walked in; I closed the door behind him. "Um, yeah; I'm fine, but you didn't answer my question; what are you doing here? Is something wrong?" he gave me a look of disbelief when I answered him, but he dropped it for the moment.

"Oh, yeah; sorry about it being so late but Shane can't find his phone and he thinks he might have left it here," he said as he looked around the living room. It was now my turn not to believe him. Shane didn't even bring a cell phone to dinner for all I knew. I watched Jason as I put my hands on my hips.

"Are you sure Shane 'lost' his phone?" I asked suspiciously as I walked over and stood in front of Jason. To my surprise, he blushed. "Ok, ok…I lied," he confused quietly, "I was just worried about you and I wanted to come by to make sure everything was ok," he said as he sat down on the couch. I sat down next to him.

"Jason, that is very sweet of you," I said as I placed my hand on his knee, "but I'm fine. I'm a big, brave, strong girl," I said as I flexed my arm 'muscles'. He didn't laugh…not even a smile.

"Kristie, I saw your face earlier tonight. You were terrified and don't even try to pretend like you weren't," he said seriously. "Ok, ok; maybe I was a little shaken up," I admitted. He just looked at me. "Ok fine, I was scared beyond all belief," I admitted, defeated. Finally, he cracked a small smile.

"I just came by to make sure you were doing ok," he said softly, "and by the looks of your eyes…I think you could use a shoulder to cry on?" he offered kindly as he turned more towards me. I looked into his soft eyes, and for the first time in years I saw a true look of concern. I sighed deeply.

"Jason, it's not just the fact that I was frightened by the earthquake, but I was trying to write some music and well…everything reminds me of my ex," I said as I started tearing up.

"Really? I mean I knew you just got out of a relationship, but I didn't know how torn up you were about it," Jason said as he fiddled with his ring again.

"I try not to be so sad around people; I don't want to bring others down just because of what I'm going through, you know?" I said as I fought back the tears.

"I had no clue. I guess it's amazing what you can hide just by putting on a smile. Do you think it'd help if you talked about it? I mean I know we kinda are now but if you'd like…we could go in the kitchen, put on a cup of coffee and you can tell me all about it," Jason said as he placed his hand on my back.

"You would do that for me?" I asked astounded. He smiled softly at me, "Of course," I couldn't help but engulf him in a hug. "You really are an amazing friend, Jason," I whispered softly in his ear as we hugged.

"Yeah…friend," I could barely hear him whisper as we pulled apart.

Jason had made us two amazing cups of coffee while we sat there and talked…well while I sat there and talked; he really just listened. I had told him everything about my ex; about how we met, how I moved away from home to be with him, how I thought I was going to marry him…and finally, how he pretty much kicked me out. Jason listened intently. He never missed a beat, every tear that fell down my cheek; he was there to wipe it away, and reassure me that nothing was wrong with me…that it was all my ex.

"Oh my…it's 2AM," I said as I went for a refill on my cup of coffee. "You should really be going. I bet Shane and Nate are worried sick about you," I exclaimed. Jason only chuckled.

"Nah, they knew I was coming over. They saw the look in your face earlier today too. We were all pretty worried about you," he said softly. My heart melted. I knew it was only a short amount of time, but I pretty much loved these boys like they were family.

"Thank you so much…for everything," I told Jason as I reached across the table to gently grab his hand. I could have sworn I saw his cheeks turn a soft red, but he quickly looked down and softly chuckled, "I'll always be here for you," he said as he looked up into my eyes. I couldn't help but smile at him. For some reason, his look caused my stomach to flop. I hadn't felt like that in ages…

"I'll help you with washing the glasses then I'll head out," Jason said as we both stood up and walked towards the sink. I turned on the water and we both started to wash all the dishes. As soon as we had put them back in the counters, we were both knocked to the ground by a huge jolt that shook the entire building…

It was another earthquake, and I could tell this one was going to be big…