Disclaimer : I own nada.

Chapter 2 : Claustrophobia

"Stuck?!" Mia exclaimed. "We can't be stuck!" She joined Michael by the control panel and started hitting the buttons at random.

"Hey, Mia, calm down. It's OK." Michael caught hold of her wrists and gave her a little shake, drawing her attention back to him. "We're alright, we're going to be fine. I'll just press the alarm button and we'll be out of here in no time." He pressed the button at the bottom of the panel, which had a small image of a horn on, and a buzzer sounded.

"What now?"

"Now, we wait. Someone will call us back." He pointed out the telephone enclosed in a little cabinet beneath the buttons.

Friday December 11th 9:54pm Moscovitz's apartment building elevator.

I am stuck in a freaking elevator. I do not believe this. Seriously, I get suspended, and then trapped in a metal block dangling precariously from some wires. It could only happen to me.

Michael keeps telling me to keep calm; we'll be rescued soon.

Keep calm? I am so sure.

Talking of staying calm, Michael isn't too great at that himself. He's sitting in the corner hugging his knees, and keeps eying the ceiling like it's going to fall in on him. What's up with that?

"Michael?" Mia asked as she put her journal away. "Are you OK?"

"Uh huh," he replied, glancing up at the ceiling. "It's just the roof, it's so – low."

"No lower than fifteen minutes ago," she teased lightly. When he shot her a glare that wasn't the slightest bit amused she suddenly realised what was happening. "Michael? Are you claustrophobic?" she asked gently. He nodded.

"Yep. Really masculine, isn't it." He looked ashamed of himself, and Mia shuffled across to sit next to him.

"Don't be daft, it's completely normal. I can't say I'm too comfortable in here myself!"

He smiled gratefully, then suddenly clawed at the neck of his hoody. "Is it just me or is it hot in here?"

"I think it's just the claustrophobia. Take your sweater off, it might help."

He tugged at the bottom of the hoody, pulling it up over his head. He managed to get it caught and struggled for a moment, before Mia reached out and helped him ease it over his head, revealing a burgundy t-shirt with Rooney, his favourite band, emblazoned across the front, over a long sleeved white t-shirt. Once the fabric wasn't between them he gazed at her, his eyes containing masked emotion, his hair tousled. Something inside her made her reach out a hand and gently push a piece of hair back from his forehead.

"Thanks," he said softly. They were frozen, staring at each other, until the shrill ring of a telephone shattered the silence. Michael lunged across the small space and yanked open the door of the cabinet, scooping up the receiver and almost dropping it in his haste. "Hello? Yeah. Twenty minutes. OK. What? You can't be serious. Well, thanks a lot. And hurry." He slammed down the receiver and sank back against the wall.

"What did they say?" Mia ventured. He looked incredibly pissed, and for a very rare second she was almost afraid of him.

"Some technical fault. I mean, no shit! And it's gonna be at least an hour."

"You have got to be kidding me!"

"Unfortunately not." Suddenly, he turned round and slammed his fist against the metal wall, sending a metallic clanging sound echoing through the elevator. Mia flinched. "I'm sorry," he said quickly, once he saw her reaction. "I'm just freaking out, I can feel the walls closing in. It feels like there isn't enough air. Man, I'm an idiot."

"No you aren't," she said softly, moving to sit beside him again. "Besides, it's not the claustrophobia that's making you hot, I am now too." She removed her cord jacket, revealing a long sleeved roll-neck jumper. "It was freezing outside, but now I wish I was wearing something a bit cooler!" She pulled off the jumper as well, so she was just in jeans and a pink tank top, and leaned back against the wall. "What is making it this hot? It isn't normal! Sure we're inside, but it's December!"

"Elevator's are always warm, cos it's an enclosed space. That's why the air conditioning is always on." They looked at each other, realization dawning on both their faces, and Michael launched himself across the elevator again, this time to the vent. He passed his hand over the grate and groaned. "Nothing. Oh man."

Friday December 11th 10:12pm Moscovitz's apartment building elevator.

The air con shut off. So now not only are we stuck, Michael's freaking out, and we've got to be here for at least an hour, we're going to fry.

Fantastic, just fantastic.

Authors Note : Thanks to PunkHottie87, Maggie and sweetalycia for reviewing!

PunkHottie87 – The reason Michael is being "awkward" is cos he's totally in love with Mia but she has a boyfriend! I figure that by this point he knows the cards are from Mia, which would probably make things a bit weird especially when they were alone, and also he's just admitted he went to the store specially to get veggie burgers for her, so he'd be a bit embarrassed.

I hope this isn't too OOC !