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"You're the closest to Heaven that I'll ever be and I don't want to go home right now. And all I can taste is this moment and all I can breathe is your life. 'Cause sooner or later it's over and I don't want to miss you tonight."
- The Goo Goo Dolls, Iris
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Chapter Three
3 A.M.
Laura shivered as thunder rattled the windows of J.D.'s apartment and crossed her arms, trying to ignore the sounds from outside. Though she wasn't quite sure why, the constant rain was beginning to cause a cold pit to develop in her stomach and, while a part of her still wanted to believe that the rain would stop by the time dawn arrived, she wasn't so sure.
For the moment, Laura managed to turn her attention away from the vibrating thunder and the sound of the water tapping against the windows, staring instead at the flat-screen television set a few feet in front of her. Brian and J.D. had long since given up playing video games and had instead turned to watching one of J.D.'s many DVDs, South Park if she wasn't mistaken.
After a minute of watching three stout children sing about what their idol, whom she had never heard of, would do in their situation, Laura cleared her throat and got J.D.'s attention. "J.D., I really hate to ask but do you think I could use your shower?" She questioned. "My hair's matted from the rain."
J.D. nodded. "Sure, no problem." He assured her. "There's one down the hall and one in the master bedroom." He explained, seeming reluctant to leave the animated movie in front of him. "There should be towels on the racks."
Laura smiled, thanked him, and headed off toward the bathroom that had been the scene of her latest embarrassing feat. She had barely spoken to Sam since she had tumbled into the bathtub, too embarrassed to look him in the eye, constantly chastising herself for being so stupid.
In the kitchen, Sam routed through the refrigerator, trying to ignore the fact that Laura was going to be taking a shower within minutes. In order to gain at least some control over his thoughts, he pushed aside jars and cans, trying to find something to eat for dinner, other then ravioli, which J.D. and Brian were happily munching on. Finally, Sam decided on frying up a grilled cheese sandwich and stood up, shutting the refrigerator door.
"Laura," he called from the kitchen, causing her to pause halfway down the hall, "do you want me to make you a grilled cheese?" Sam hoped that his offer would at least convey a little of how much he cared about her. However, he doubted it, because a grilled cheese sandwich wasn't exactly the way to say 'I love you.'
Though Sam couldn't see her, Laura smiled. "Sure." She told him. "That'd be great." She ducked into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She smiled at her reflection, the earlier embarrassment momentarily forgotten, though she wasn't exactly sure what she was grinning about. As far as she knew, making someone a sandwich wasn't the best why to say you care, it was just a friendly gesture. Regardless, Laura kept smiling to herself.
In the kitchen, Sam stood for a moment in front of the closed refrigerator, as though he couldn't believe that he had gotten out a complete sentence. Sure, he could talk to Laura but their conversations were largely her speaking and him inserting a few choice words here and there.
From the living room, the sounds of South Park could still faintly be heard over the pounding rain and the water running from the shower. Every-so-often, Brian would snicker at something on the cartoon but Sam wasn't paying much attention to his friend, once again thinking about Laura.
Inside the bathroom, Laura was singing quietly to herself beneath the pounding of the water from the showerhead. Her voice was soft, as though she didn't want anyone to know that she was singing but unable to keep herself from doing so, running through the verses of an old song by Matchbox 20. The song was "3 A.M.", which had been his favorite song when it had first come out; he remembered sitting in the backseat of his mother's car, inharmoniously shouting out the words along with the radio. It was a wonder that his mother hadn't wrecked the car during those impromptu concerts.
But Laura's voice was the exact opposite of his, clearly beautiful despite the hushed volume. Sam stood still, as though unwilling to do anything that might change the moment, and listened to her sing.
Brian noticed his friend staring and cleared his throat, causing Sam to look over at him, abandoning his view of the empty hallway. His friend was regarding him with an amused look on his face. "What?" Sam muttered, opening the refrigerator again and retrieving cheddar cheese.
Brian dropped his empty bowl into the sink and, after a moment of debating, turned on the faucet and washed it out. "She's been singing in the choir since she was in the first grade." He remarked and Sam retrieved a frying pan, trying to act as though he had no idea what Brian was talking about. "Laura's got a great voice."
Sam agreed, turning on the stove and slathering the pan with cooking oil; that was how his father always made sandwiches and they turned out all right. He paused and turned to look at Brian, who was washing off his spoon. "You and Laura have known each other for a long time, right?" He asked.
Brian nodded. "Yeah, my dad and her mom went to high school and college together." He answered. "I've known her nearly my whole life."
Sam slapped four pieces of bread into the frying pan. "How's her mother?" He asked. "I mean, Laura just seemed upset when her mom called earlier, so I was just wondering..." He trailed off, not quite sure what he was wondering. Sam suddenly felt like he was prying into Laura's private life and not even sure why he wanted to know. But that look on Laura's face was still nagging at him, breaking his heart and he couldn't resist the question.
Brian looked almost thoughtful for a moment as he shut the water off; Sam realized that the shower had shut off as well and Laura was humming quietly to herself as she no doubt toweled. He forced his mind toward other things. "Laura and her mom don't really get along." Brian answered finally, after a moment of listening to the rain beat against the glass windows. "They never really have."
Sam pursed his lips, more intrigued now because it was easier to place the look on Laura's face. He'd had that very same look on his face before when he had learned that his father was going to miss his seventh birthday party and that Jack Hall wasn't going to see him in the school's product of The Wizard of Oz. It was the look that spoke of disappointment, of being hurt when you knew that you should be expecting it anyway.
Brian seemed to be able to read the look as well, though he had never experienced it first hand, and was about to say something more when the bathroom door opened and Laura stepped out. Her hair was still wet and stringing, sticking to her cheeks and the back of her neck and she was wearing a baggy tee-shirt and jeans, no doubt retrieved from her soaking suitcase.
Sam stared at her for a moment, surprised by how he was still utterly enthralled every time Laura came into view. She didn't seem to notice, retreating to the window once more and staring outside; it was still raining sheets and even from the top of the apartment complex, she could tell the water level down below was rising. She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and cradling her elbows in her palms, hugging herself. "Do you think this rain is ever going to stop?" Laura questioned to no one, though she figured that someone in the room was bound to answer. She didn't turn away, keeping her back to the boys that were watching her closely.
"I hope so." Sam mumbled, trying to concentrate on something other then how utterly beautiful Laura looked at the moment. "I'm ready to go home." Brian seconded that statement.
For a brief moment, there was no sound other then the rain trickling down the glass window and the muffled shouts coming from the cartoons on the television. Then, Laura turned around, a confused look on her face; she wrinkled her nose. "Is something burning?"
Sam turned around so suddenly that he nearly knocked into the kitchen table and wasn't surprised to see that the pieces of bread that he had set to toast on the stove were no burning and smoking. Shooting off a string of choice words, he quickly turned off the burner and picked the pan up with a potholder, dumping it into the sink.
"Fabulous." Sam mumbled to himself as he turned on the faucet, dousing the flaming pieces of bread and causing more smoke to invade the kitchen. "Just great." Not only had he ruined both his and Laura's dinner, but now she probably thought that he couldn't handle himself in the kitchen. Just fabulous.
Laura entered the kitchen and gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. Sam looked up at her and smiled slightly. "I could try again." He offered.
"Please don't." J.D. called from the living room before Laura could even open her mouth. "We'd all asphyxiate."
Sam glared at him, his anger toward J.D. for his most recent comment only softened by the fact that Laura's hand was still on his shoulder. "I don't have much of an appetite right now, Sam." She told him, a faint smile on her lips as well. "I guess I'm just nervous about the storm." Her eyes flicked back to the window again.
"I know what you mean." Sam said with a sigh, his eyes leaving Laura's face to watch the window as well. There was nothing to see but velvet blackness, the streetlights were slowly ticking off, one by one. "I hope it ends soon." He'd heard rumors that, on top of grounding all air traffic, many train stations and subway stations were going to close down. He wasn't looking forward to being stranded in New York with all this weird weather going on, his father had sounded worried over the phone earlier that afternoon.
Laura nodded her silent agreement, yawning and trying to hide it behind her fingers, wondering her sudden exhaustion had come from. All the stresses of the day seemed to be suddenly catching up with her and she felt as though she could drop right where she was standing. At least the upside of that would be that Sam would be there to catch her.
J.D., who had been watching both Sam and Laura closely, stood up when Laura yawned and said, "Maybe we should turn in. Who knows what kind of day we could have tomorrow."
Though she wasn't exactly excited about sleeping in a stranger's house, in a stranger's bed, Laura nodded in agreement, hiding another yawn. "Sounds like a good idea to me." She mumbled, fighting the urge to lay her head against Sam's shoulder.
Sam looked over at Laura, who looked exhausted and, when he looked back at J.D., brought up the topic of sleeping arrangements. J.D. waved his hand dismissively. "They're are six bedrooms, take your pick." He reminded, shutting off the television but leaving several of the lights on. No one seemed particularly eager to plunge the room into complete darkness.
The master bedroom was designated for Laura, J.D. kept his old bedroom and Sam and Brian took two of the other, largely unmemorable rooms. At the moment, the queen sized bed in the guest bedroom looked so inviting to Sam that he thought about just kicking off his shoes and climbing under the comforter. But the clothes he was wearing were still damp from being in the rain earlier in the day and it wasn't difficult to hear his mother's voice in the back of his head, scolding him for sleeping in wet clothes.
With a grumble, Sam turned away from the bed and retrieved a dry pair of clothes from his suitcase and headed down the hallway once more. The bathroom was already occupied and Sam voted against standing and waiting; there was another bathroom in the master bedroom and he was sure Laura wouldn't mind if he popped in for a second to change.
When Sam entered the master bedroom, he saw that it was empty and figured that Laura was in the bathroom as well; the door was open, so he crossed the room and headed in that direction. Laura was standing by the sink, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, brushing her teeth. She didn't notice him when he walked in so Sam knocked lightly on the open door, not wanting to startle her.
At the sound of his knock, Laura jumped slightly, surprised anyway and looked in his direction. Spitting out the remainder of the mixture of water and toothpaste in her mouth, she hastily wiped her lips with a towel and gave him her full attention. Sam couldn't help but smile at how embarrassed she appeared at being caught brushing her teeth.
"I didn't mean to startle you." Sam apologized when he managed to force the smile aside. "The other bathroom's being used, so I wanted to know if I could use this one." He held up the change of clothes in his hands as though it would further explain why he was there.
Laura nodded and set the towel on the edge of the sink. "Sure." She told him, shutting off the water flowing from the faucet. Sam smiled and entered the bathroom as Laura left, brushing past him and shutting the door behind her. For a moment, Sam stood in the middle of the empty bathroom, holding his dry clothes in his hands, as though the thought of Laura being so close in the other room was enough to make him rethink getting dry.
Sam sighed finally, looking at his reflection in the mirror; nothing about what was staring back at him -the pale, cold skin, wearily eyes and exhausted face- was attractive, so there was no doubt in his mind that Laura saw him any other way. He just had to gain control over himself. Which seemed much easier said then done.
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Laura figured it was well past midnight but that information did little to ease her mind, no longer exhausted, into the realm of sleep. All she could do, it appeared, was lay in the gigantic bed in a gigantic bedroom, listening to the rain knock against the windows in the dark.
Thunder rattled the windowpanes seconds after lightning illuminated the room for a brief second and Laura pulled the comforter higher up around her body. She felt like a little girl again, hiding under her covers from the rain storm outside. She figured it had more to do with being in a strange place, a strange room where she didn't know the shadows and the sounds, then being frightened of the actual storm but Laura knew there was a bit of that involved too. The strange weather was scaring her more then she'd like to admit, it wasn't natural for it to rain without stopping for nearly four days and the streets below were being to show evidence of that fact.
Regardless of what was causing her to shiver beneath the goose-down comforter across her shoulders, Laura knew that one thing was for certain: it was highly unlikely that she was going to get any sleep tonight. The fact that she was beginning to feel the effects of skipping dinner and a large lunch just seemed to confirm that revelation and Laura found herself torn between the decision of getting up and rummaging through the kitchen and disturbing the rest of her housemates. At least when she was at home and got up for a midnight snack, she knew where the floor creaked and which cabinets needed oil.
Lightning flashed again, booming thunder following instantly in its wake. After it had passed and the room had returned to darkness, Laura sighed and pushed away the covers that she had been clutching so tightly. She'd just duck into the kitchen for a moment, grab some crackers or something and get back into the room before anyone even noticed she was awake.
Laura shivered as she stepped out of bed, rubbing her hands along her arms as she headed toward the door. The temperature was definitely starting to drop and she wondered if that had anything to do with the weather outside; for all she knew, a massive cold front was causing it all: the rain, the storms, everything. She'd have to ask Sam what he thought of the whole thing in the morning; his father worked with the weather if she wasn't mistaken, maybe he'd heard something about an approaching front.
The hallway and rooms beyond were dark but Laura didn't want to risk turning on even a lamp; she put one hand against the wall and started down the hallway, trying to remember if there was anything to bump into along the way. Nothing came across her path and she made it into the living room without making any noise.
Laura stood for a moment in the living room, attempting to let her eyes adjust to the blackness; every time lightning would flash across the sky, her vision would seem to reset itself, leaving her staring through the dark once again. Finally, she gave up trying to penetrate the darkness and walked in the general direction of where she figured the kitchen to be.
When the reached the kitchen, Laura decided her journey had been a successful one; she'd only knocked her hip against a table once and stubbed her toe twice and both times she had managed to keep from crying out. Once she was in the kitchen, it wasn't hard to find the massive refrigerator and opened that first, squinting her eyes against the sudden onslaught of light.
The refrigerator yielded no results and she closed it again, turning toward the row of cabinets and putting her back to the living room. Laura pushed aside a box of popcorn -too noisy-, one of oatmeal -which she refused to eat- and was just above to shove aside a can of instant coffee when someone's hand dropped onto her shoulder.
Unable to stop herself, Laura cried out in surprise and dropped the coffee can onto the ground, where it thankfully didn't spill and froze on instinct. She had never been very good with dealing with a surprise threat, often freezing up and remaining that way until something snapped her out of it. It was a reaction that had caused her little sister, Tessa, to stop trying to scare her all together, because the out come wasn't exactly what she had been hoping for.
"Laura," The sound of someone calling her name caused Laura to blink and slowly turn toward the person that had startled her. Sam was standing behind her, barely visible in the poor light and she let out a slow sigh of relief. It wasn't as though she had been expecting some mass murderer to pop up behind her, but she felt a little better when she saw that it was only Sam.
"I didn't mean to scare you." Sam apologized quickly, just as he had done hours earlier. He seemed honestly concerned and Laura waved her hand dismissively to let him know that she hadn't been that scared...really.
Laura bent down and retrieved the coffee can, slipping it back into its place and shutting the cabinet door. "You couldn't sleep either?" She guessed and Sam nodded.
"I kept hearing strange noises." He explained, though that was only part of the growing insomnia. "Turns out one of them was you." He smiled at her through the darkness, a gesture that Laura appreciated. There was something about Sam's smile that managed to put her at ease, no matter what.
Laura sighed, smiling slightly herself. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was in need of a midnight snack."
Sam nodded in agreement. "That makes two of us." He told her. "I guess that's what happens when you have a handful of peanuts for lunch." Laura's smile grew wider. "Find anything appetizing?"
"No." Laura answered. "Unless you like oatmeal." She wrinkled her nose at the thought. "Or instant coffee."
Sam gave her that crooked smile again. "Coffee doesn't sound so bad right now." He remarked. "I could use something to warm me up." Laura nodded in agreement, though she had never been a big coffee drinker. "Is it just me, or is it getting colder?"
"It's not just you." Laura told him, stepping aside to allow him access to the refrigerator and freezer above. "I've noticed it too." She shivered, as though the thought of the temperature dropping was enough to cause such a reaction. "Do you think it has something to do with all the rain?"
Sam shrugged as he shut the refrigerator door and opened the freezer. "It's possible." He told her. "Could be a cold front." It was times like these he wished he had paid more attention to what his dad did for a living. Laura was silent, watching him as he poked around inside the chilly freezer. Finally, Sam glanced over his shoulder at her. "I know it's a little cold but," he turned and showed her what he had taken from the freezer. "Ice cream?"
Laura smiled and nodded in agreement. "Why not." She said, peering at the carton to see what type of ice cream it was. "Mint Chocolate Chip." She read aloud as though Sam hadn't seen the label already. "My favorite."
"Mine too." Sam said, shutting the freezer door and setting the carton on the counter. After several minutes of opening cabinets and cupboards, he managed to find the bowls and placed to beside the ice cream.
After both bowls were filled with the mint ice cream and cartoon returned to the freezer, Sam and Laura took their late night desert to the couch and flopped down on the cushions. A few moments of comfortable silence passed between them, the only sounds being the clinking of the spoons against the side of the bowls and Sam wondered if he had ever been in a more perfect situation. Just being there with Laura was enough to make the hellish plane ride to New York completely worth it.
The silence was broken with Laura laughed quietly to herself. Sam looked in her direction. "What's so funny?" He questioned.
"Nothing." Laura told him, her face lit up for a moment by a jagged flash of lightning and he could see that she was shaking her head. "It just that, if you had told me a week ago that we'd be stuck in New York in the apartment of a guy we barely know because the streets are flooded, eating ice cream, I never would have believed you." She wondered if that was the longest sentence ever to come out of someone's mouth at one time.
Sam smiled as well. "I know what you mean." He said. "It's bizarre."
The silence returned and Laura soon found herself watching Sam out of the corner of her eye; she turned her head slightly to study him in the darkness, to pick out his adorably boyish features as she had done so many times before, only to find him staring back at her. Embarrassed more at being caught then being studied herself, Laura looked away, not noticing that Sam did the same and they both turned their attention to studying the dark patches that laced the walls of the apartment. At that moment, studying the unfamiliar terrain, Laura had never felt more homesick.
Sam cleared his throat, causing Laura to give him her attention once more. "Feeling tired yet?" He questioned and Laura shook her head, her exhaustion had not returned. "Wanna play?" He gestured toward the video game console, which was still out and unattended since the earlier matches and Laura couldn't help but smile. "That is," Sam continued, "if you're up to being beaten."
"Please," Laura scoffed, setting her empty bowl aside and retrieving one of the computers. "I think someone needs to be reminded of what happened earlier."
Sam rolled his eyes and picked up his own controller, turning on the video game system. "I'm not as inexperienced as J.D." He told her. "You're about to see what happens when you underestimate someone."
Laura laughed, amused that Sam's competitive side seemed only to show itself when it came to video games; during the Decathlon, he hadn't been near as interested as herself and Brian, doodling on one of the answer sheets the entire time. But now, that didn't appear to be the case. "We'll just see about that." Laura remarked.
Once Sam and Laura had chosen their characters, the game began; Sam was true to his word, easily dodging the attacks that Laura had used earlier on J.D. The game lasted much longer then the match against Laura and J.D. but she was still surprised at how quickly Sam had managed to toss her video game character out of the ring and deliver the killing blow.
Laura's mouth dropped open, though a smile was already forming on her lips, and she dropped her controller to the ground, accepting her sudden defeat. Sam smiled as well and tossed his controller aside as well, looking over at her. "I told you." He said jokingly, an enormous grin on his face. "I told you I could kick your butt." He pointed his finger at her to accent his words.
"Sore winner." Laura muttered gamely, unable to stop smiling. She pushed him away, batting his hand aside.
Sam didn't seem phased by her brush-off. "What did I tell you?" He grinned, giving her a gentle punch on the arm. Laura rolled her eyes, trying to hide her smile behind her hand. "I guess we know who's the video game master in this house."
Laura snatched up her controller quickly. "I don't think so." She said, hitting the button that designated a rematch before Sam could so much bat an eye. Before he could retrieve his own controller, Laura leaned across the couch and picked it off the ground, holding it out of reach. She then proceeded to pummel Sam's character, trying to act as though she weren't blatantly cheating.
"Hey," Sam muttered with false indignation, reaching for his controller. "You don't get to be the video game master by cheating."
Laura grinned at him. "I don't know," she remarked, "it looks that way to me."
Sam leaned across her and snatched up the controller before he even realized what he was doing; it was only after he had recaptured his controller that the fact that he was all but lying across Laura Chapman had sunk in.
For a moment, neither of them moved and it seemed to Laura that she had forgotten how to breath; never in a million years would she have imagined this moment. It seemed as though Sam felt the same way, remaining where he was, so close to the girl that had been in almost all of his waking thoughts for almost a year that their noses were almost touching, unable to look away from her face, his eyes locked with her large, doe-brown ones.
Sam suddenly released his controller, ignoring the sound it made when it clattered against the ground and Laura figured -regrettably- that he was going to sit up and they were both going to pretend like this whole thing had never happened. Instead, he cupped her cheeks with his fingers and pulled her face closer to his so that his lips were against hers.
Sam would never figure out where he had gained the sudden courage to kiss Laura, and he found himself surprised by his actions; Laura was probably going to be disgusted by the whole thing and write him off forever but, at the moment, he didn't really care. He was even more surprised when Laura returned the kiss, dropping her own controller so that her hands could find his, their fingers lacing together.
For the moment, everything was perfect, nothing else mattered and nothing else processed. And Laura wished that moment could last forever, because she liked the feeling she got with Sam, the sensation of falling and not caring when she landed again.
The kiss was finally broken but Sam didn't pull away, staring into Laura's eyes and trying to read the thoughts that swam behind them. Her palms were warm against his, her chest rising and falling rhythmically, a faint smile on her lips. Sam knew that he had never been so happy, never felt so complete.
Before a word could be said or another kiss given, a door opened and shut from down the hallway and the footsteps of the approaching person could be heard. "Hey, you guys playing video games without me?" Brian questioned as he entered the living room, seemingly unmindful of the late hour and the intrusion that he was causing.
Both Sam and Laura pulled away from each other at the same moment, sitting up and turning away from each other and back toward the video game. Laura seemed flustered, perhaps even a little embarrassed at Brian's sudden appearance and attempted to act as though Sam were the farthest thing from her mind.
Though he had known Brian his entire life, Sam had never hated him more then he did at that moment. There should have been so sort of friend signal passing between them to let his friend know to steer clear; now whatever had passed between him and Laura had vanished and Sam was absolutely terrified that he would never get it back again. He tried to catch her eye but she was staring down at the floor.
Brian picked up another controller and flopped down on the couch beside his friend. "I want to play." He informed them, as if it weren't obvious already. "We could do multi player."
Laura stood up suddenly. "No, that's okay." She mumbled breathlessly. "I was just going to bed." Without another word, she disappeared down the hallway and into the master bedroom once more.
Once Laura had gone, Sam turned to look at Brian, who was obviously choosing his own character and hit him across the face with a throw pillow. "Ow." Brian complained, batting the pillow aside before it could make another attack. "What did I do?"
Sam sighed and tossed the pillow to the ground. There weren't words that could describe just what Brian had done.
So, here's another chapter, sorry it took so long, I started school again (ugh!). But, I'm trying to be better at updating, getting back in the flow of school work and all that comes with it...but anyway, thanks for all the great reviews, you guys don't know how much it means to me. Keep them up, it gets me through the long school days. I hope that some writers will update soon (that means you Lilly and Wally!) and give me something else to help get me through those long hours. Anyway, I hope this chapter was good enough to make up for the lack of updates, I hope to update soon. Keep up those reviews!