A/N: Hi, guys! Sorry for take me so long to update. But now I promise to be more regular on updates. Probably, I'll post another chapter soon (hopefully, by the end of the week). So, thank you SO MUCH for all the great reviews and for all the people who put the story on alert! :D Enjoy!

In One of Those Nights

It was one of those nights. She was tossing and turning in the bed, but could never seem to find the right position. It seemed that the bed didn't want her to sleep. The sheets were sticking against her skin. The mattress was either too hard or too soft. Her brain wasn't helping, either. It was traveling in possibilities: it wondered what could have been; wondered about the others that weren't there. The roof seemed to be about to crash on her; the walls seemed to be moving; the 'ping-ping' of the tap against the kitchen sink; someone's heavily breathing in the other room; that damn branch hitting softly against her window... everything was going to drive her crazy!

When she couldn't take it anymore, she got up and walked in quick steps into the living room of the little house. She noticed that there was a pillow on the couch, some sheets all over the floor and pajamas trousers on the coffee table. The door was open.

"Trouble with the mattress?"

Juliet asked when she saw James sitting on the porch, wearing only his blue underwear, drinking Dharma beer (of course). He was looking forward, to somewhere else, but didn't seem to be really seeing anything. He seemed to be lost in his own head. He looked, in fact, very cute. He startled a little when he heard her voice, all of sudden. Never the less, he eyed her with the dimpled grin of his.

"Nah, the mattress was great, but Jin... he snores a lot. An' Miles is talkin' again."

She sat by his side. Some blessed cold breeze blew up against her hot and sweaty skin. She closed her eyes and passed her hands over her arms, thanking whoever up there did this.

"What abou' ya?"

He looked at her. He seemed so tired and older than she'd ever seen him. She noticed a worried wrinkle was forming in his forehead. Whatever was the reason of his insomnia, she highly doubted that the noises of his roommates were the only problems. She decided not to push him: if he wanted to talk about it, they would talk about it. She sighed and looked at the sleeping Dharmaville.

"Mattress..." She sighed when he laughed. "And this damn heat." She pulled her hair off of her neck.

"Yep, I know. Doesn't matter how long you're in here, you never get used to this. This place is like hell!"

She smiled at him. He looked charming mad.

"How do you know that? Have you ever been down there to know it?"

He sighed, laughing. Sitting there, in the middle of the night, he felt that he could do this for the rest of his life. She was fun, and could keep up with his sarcastic comments. Except when she was such a wise-ass, like now. In fact he liked her very much. And of course, she was beautiful. Too damn beautiful for her own good.

"Touché, Blondie"

She laughed that unique (and weird, but very charming) laugh of hers. Yeah, he could do this (whatever this was) for the rest of his life.

"Tell ya what, for this, I'm gonna give to ya my last beer."

"And this is supposed to flatter me?"

She said, grabbing the last Dharma beer out of his hand. She didn't like beer. And hated Dharma's. And James knew it. But she popped up the can and took a long sip. It was really cold and left a bitter flavour on her tongue. She liked the sensation; maybe it was her insomnia, maybe the damn heat...

"Ok, you have to stop to be such a wise-ass on me. It's late, I'm tired and kind drunk, so it's really difficult to think abou' a good enough comeback to that..."

She nodded. She came closer to him and put her head against his arm. First he was surprised. Then, he got used to it and enjoyed it. It was a good feeling; it meant that she trusted him, enough to lay down her head and be this close to him. He smiled, without intending to. They didn't talk at all; even the silence, the absence of words, was comfortable to them. After a while, he felt her breathing get heavier. He looked down and saw her sleeping form. She had a small smile on her lips. And she was holding onto his arm.

He got up, slowly, holding her in his arms. She looked exactly like an angel when she was asleep. He knew what was hiding behind this angelic look. It was an incredible woman; a strong, smart, funny woman. And he liked the woman much better than the angel. The woman was real, true; he could touch, laugh, read or share a beer with her. But the angel didn't exist, wasn't real.

He put her in the bed, softly. She turned her back to him and didn't wake up. He stayed there looking at her for a few minutes. She seemed so comfortable there; but she was alone, little in that huge bed. And she was so quiet when she was asleep. He sat in the edge of the bed and, carefully, lay down by her side. She didn't move. He made himself comfortable in the bed too. He didn't know what was wrong with her mattress that made her unable to sleep; it was a damn good mattress...

This wasn't right! This was her bed! Her mattress! He wasn't supposed to be there... But it felt so right. And he felt so good on that mattress by her side. He was going to leave by the morning. Yes. She didn't have to know about this. He closed his eyes and took a deeeeep breath. And then he felt a weight, something lay downagainst his chest. He smiled, but didn't open his eyes. He didn't need to see to know what that weight was... And he fell asleep. And he had best, the safest and quietest sleep he'd had in a long time.

And he didn't leave by the morning.