"And on the way down I almost fell right through but I held onto you."

- Ryan Cabrera, On the Way Down

Chapter Four

The Beginning

For a moment, Sam could do nothing but stand at the foot of Laura's bed, forgetting the reason he had come in the first place, and watch the dark haired girl as she slept. Her brunette curls fell down her cheeks, framing her head, which was tucked downward so that her chin was resting against her chest, her hands wrapped tightly around the tangled sheets.

Sam watched her for a moment longer, taken by her simplistic beauty before he sighed, regretting the task at hand. It was almost eight thirty, way past time for them to figure out what they were doing and how to get home; he had been sent into the master bedroom to wake Laura so that she could join in the discussion revolving their plan of action.

When Sam gently rested his hand on her shoulder, Laura smiled faintly but rolled over, putting her back to him, as though she knew that she was about to have to leave dreamland once again. He gave her a gentle shake and whispered her name, shaking again.

Laura's eyes fluttered open and she squinted, disorientated; her eyes scanned the area in front of her and she saw that the only thing familiar to her was Sam standing beside her. Her eyes opened wider and she sat up, her mind rushing to identify her surroundings and put the pieces together; it wasn't very often that she woke in a bedroom she didn't recognize. In fact, it was a very rare occurrence. "Sam?" Laura muttered, looking in his direction. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Sam assured her. "I really hate to wake you but Brian and J.D. are in the living room and we're trying to decide how we're going to get home." He explained.

Laura let his words process as all the memories of all the days returned, seeming to shed the dreamlike quality that had been floating around inside her head. They were stuck in New York because the city was flooding and had been forced to stay the night with J.D., a kid they had just met. So that hadn't been a dream after all, as strange as the whole situation seemed.

For a moment, Sam and Laura remained silent, studying one another while listening to the rain beat against the windows. Laura's heart fluttered slightly as she remembered kissing Sam hours earlier, though she briefly wondered if that part was a dream; she doubted it, because it was too easy to remember the way his lips had felt against hers and how he had held her against him. However, Sam sure wasn't acting like a guy who had just kissed someone.

"Okay." Laura mumbled finally, after what seemed like a decade to her. Her eyes held Sam's for a minute longer and suddenly she knew that their kiss hadn't been a dream; Sam looked away then, as though embarrassed by the whole situation. Laura looked down as well, feeling her cheeks color slightly; so that sealed the deal, Sam wasn't attracted to her at all. In fact, he was embarrassed of ever having kissed her in the first place. Laura sighed, a wave of undue heartbreak seeming to rush over her; maybe it wasn't heartbreak at all, just regret, regret at having missed her chance with Sam, but either way, it made her want to press her face against her pillow and never look up again. "I'll be out in a minute." She forced herself to tell him instead, hearing the heaviness in her voice.

Sam nodded but didn't raise his eyes; no more words passed between them as he headed out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Laura watched him disappear before sighing again and flopping down on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Between the floods and the complete embarrassment, this trip was turning out to be absolutely fabulous.

Once the door had been shut once again, leaving Sam alone with his humiliation and he groaned under his breath, leaning against the wall. Laura probably thought he was a total dork, too humiliated to even mention their first kiss, as though it had never happened. It wasn't as though he wished it had never happened, that was the exact opposite of how he felt: that kiss had been the best thing that ever happened to him but how was he supposed to explain that to Laura? That would involve admitting how much he cared for her and why he had braved the turbulence in the first place, and what could would that do? None.

Because Laura hadn't mentioned the kiss either. And that had sent a clear enough message: at least one of them had wished that last night have never happened. Sam sighed again and knocked his head against the wall; how could have been such a dork, just kissing her like that? When they got back to school, Laura was probably going to be perfectly fine with pretending like nothing had happened.

Sam banged his head again. What. An. Idiot.

The bedroom door opened and Laura poked her head out. "Sam? What's going on?" She questioned, looking confused. "What's that banging?"

Sam cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "Nothing." He told her. "I mean, I didn't hear anything."

Laura didn't look quite convinced but she disappeared back into the bedroom, shutting the door once again. Feeling his cheeks burning with embarrassment, Sam headed back down the hallway. Idiot.

Laura appeared moments later, wearing the same wrinkled jeans that she had slept in but she had replaced her over-sized tee-shirt with a powder-blue turtle neck. Another reminder that the temperature had dropped even more.

On the couch, Brian looked as though he were still trying to wake up as he stirred his soggy cornflakes around his cereal bowl, watching the exploits of the overly large family in a re-run of Full House. J.D. was pacing behind the couch, talking on a cell phone and looking frustrated, his brow knotted.

No one spoke as Laura sat on the couch next to Brian, fishing around the cushions for the remote and switched the channel away from the latest family crisis and to the Fox News Channel. Brian was still too asleep to protest and her channel surfing when unchallenged; Laura shivered and wished that she had an extra layer of clothing. Or that someone would turn up the heat.

Abandoning his pursuit for breakfast, Sam drug a chair from the dining room into the living room and sat down behind the couch, peering past Laura's curly tresses and at the television screen. J.D. continued to pace around the room, ignoring the newscaster on television as he spoke to Victor, his driver.

"As of six this morning, all subway and train stations have been shut down." The female news-reporter was explaining into the camera. "And, on top of the president's ban on all flights until further notice, it appears that it is virtually impossible to get anywhere in the city."

Laura sighed and looked over her shoulder at Sam, who was watching the screen intently. When he noticed her looking, Sam gave her his full attention, easily reading the worry in her eyes. "Don't worry," he assured her as best he could, "there's got to be some way to get home."

Though she didn't seem convinced, Laura smiled faintly and turned around again, focusing her gaze on the television. Behind the female newscaster was what had once been Grand Central Station, though it looked less like a building and more like an indoor swimming poor.

As the woman continued to give her report, pretending to be oblivious of the chaos behind her, people waded through waist-high water, tugging along briefcases and bags. Some people even had their young children on their shoulders, trying to flee the building before the water level grew even higher.

J.D. finally got off the phone, sighing and shutting his eyes for a brief moment, attempting to collect herself. "I've got to get out of here and go pick up my little brother so-" He paused, seeing that no one attention was on him. "Guys?"

"What?" Brian questioned off-handedly, watching the scene unfold before him. He had never seen anything like it before, never would have imagined that the great city of New York would begin to flood.

"Look, Victor's stuck in traffic over on Fifth Avenue and I've got to go pick up my brother." J.D. continued.

Laura looked at him for a moment. "Where is he?" She asked, doubting that J.D. would be able to get anywhere with conditions being the way that they were.

"In a boarding school in Philadelphia." J.D. seemed exhausted with dealing with their interruptions. "Do you guys want a ride to the train station?"

Brian sighed, studying the television before him. "Not anymore." He mumbled, dejected, worry beginning to creep into his mind. What if they couldn't get out of the city? What if things were going to get worse?

J.D. was about to ask them what they intended to do when the same familiar, overly chipper ringing that had interrupted their thoughts the day before, filled the living room. Laura made a dive for her cell phone, as though desperate for some sort of contact from back home. Sam was relieved as well; at least they could still get in touch with their families.

"Hi Mom." Laura said, covering her free ear with her hand, trying to block out the sounds around her. "Yeah I...hang on I can't hear you...Mom?" She got off the couch, looking exasperated, stalking around the room much like J.D. had down earlier, trying to find a clear signal. "Hang on, I'm going outside...no, Mom, hang on." Without a word to her companions, Laura headed out the front door, toward the roof access door.

Sam thought about calling after her, reminding her of the rain pouring from the sky, but Laura had disappeared before he could even open his mouth. J.D. was watching her as well, and once again Sam was filled with the urge to tell him to keep his eyes to himself; Laura wasn't around now, after all, so maybe a little talk wouldn't hurt...

But before either of them could say a word to each other, Brian spoke up, turning to face his friends. "Guys," he said, seeming to sense some sort of confrontation about to spring up, "we need to figure out what to do. How are we going to get home?"

There was silence as Brian's question really set in; Sam's brow knitted and he buried his face in his hands, as though the answer lay somewhere in the darkness. He knew that the answer to his friend's question was a simple one: they weren't going to get home. It was right there, staring him in the face and he refused to believe it.

The train stations were closed, the streets were flooded, air traffic had grinded to a flight and they were thousands of miles away from home. His mom and dad were high and dry, not stranded in an apartment building and, for the first time in his life, Sam knew this his parents couldn't help him.

"Look," J.D.'s words sliced through the despair running through Sam's head. "I have to go. I have to get my brother." Sam and Brian looked at him, silently, as though waiting the judge's final verdict. "You guys can stay here if you want, there's no reason for us all to go down to Philly."

Sam sighed, regarding J.D. closely. "You're sure?" He questioned. "You'd let us stay here?"

J.D. nodded. "Sure, you guys can't get home yet so you might as well hang out here until this water clears up."

Brian smiled slightly. "That'd be great, J.D., I mean...really...great." For the first time in his life, he couldn't find the words to express what he wanted to say. No facts, no statistics would come in handy now, only unexpressed gratitude.

J.D. smiled as well, seeming to understand Brian's stuttered words. "No problem." He assured them. "Just don't trash the place while I'm gone, my dad would have a fit." He grinned.

Sam looked at him, realizing that J.D. wasn't such a bad guy after all.

It wasn't long after J.D. had left the dry sanctuary of his apartment that the electricity began to flicker. At first, it was hardly noticeable, and Sam didn't look away from his post by the window, staring out at the rapidly flooding streets below. Brian was still sitting on the couch, watching the news, which was slowly getting worse; the signal was fuzzy, going in and out, but the newscasters words were clear: it was going to get bad.

However, when the lights flickered again, longer this time, Sam turned away from the window and looked at his friend, who had finally taken his gaze away from the television. "You don't think the power's going to go out?" Sam questioned.

Brian didn't answer, for which Sam was grateful for; neither of them wanted to admit what would happen if they lost the electricity, the fear that would come with being plunged into complete darkness. Not to mention the feeling of isolation that would follow after losing the reports from the television.

Lightning snapped across the sky, leaving a jagged tail in its wake and Sam wished that Laura would come down from the roof. Just how long could you talk to your mother anyway? Not that he wouldn't love to talk to his mother right then, but still, it wasn't safe for her to be up there in weather like this.

Seconds after the lightning, thunder followed, shaking the windows and drowning out the words of the reporter on the screen. The man was looking up at the sky, looking more and more nervous with every passing second, urging his viewers to stay inside.

Sam glanced out the window once more and saw that it didn't appear that many people were taking heed to the reporter's words. People by the hundreds were wading through the waters that had clogged the streets of New York City unlike any traffic jam ever could. Several people still held tattered umbrellas, even though they were no longer doing any good and he spotted a handful of hot dog vendors shoving their carts through the water.

The lights flickered again and the room remained dark for nearly a full minute. Brian tensed on the couch, his gaze focused on the black television screen as though he were afraid to look away. Sam saw that the street lights had also gone out, as had most of the lights shining through the other windows of the apartments facing this building.

"I'm going to find a radio." Sam mumbled as the lights returned, so suddenly that he had to squint. He wasn't going to take the chance, there was no way that they could be without some form of information, they needed to know what was going on outside.

Sam went into J.D.'s bedroom first, figuring that he was more likely to find a battery-powered radio in here then anywhere else. However, J.D.'s massive stereo didn't have any batteries, running on through the cord in the wall, and ten minutes of rummaging turned up nothing.

The master bedroom yielded no results and Sam stood, for a moment, in the middle of the room, trying to figure out what to do; no one used battery powered radios anymore. The lights flickered once more and Sam groaned, growing more and more nervous with each passing second, sure that this time would be the final time.

When the lights returned again, Sam found himself staring at Laura's black suitcase, still damp in some places, nearly packed and zipped, resting at the foot of the bed. He debating going through her bag, even though he was certain that she'd had a Walkman with her earlier and then figured Laura would understand.

Sam knelt beside the bag and unzipped the largest compartment; resting on top of several neatly folded outfits were Laura's round-trip plane ticket, the souvenir I love New York hat he had bought her in an airport gift shop and a picture he barely even remembered being taken. The photo was of Laura and himself, sitting on the steps outside Brian's house, both of them posing for the camera. Brian had insisted on taking the picture before his annual family trip to South Carolina, claiming that he needed a photo of his best friends. Sam remembered teasing him about that, saying that if he needed a picture to remind him of his friends while he was away for a week, then maybe they weren't really friends at all. But Brian had insisted and the picture had been taken.

And clearly, Laura had managed to talk Brian into giving her that picture. Though, at first glance there was nothing particularly special about the picture, no reason for her to want it; it was just himself and Laura, sitting on brick steps, posing for the camera. Laura had been pulling her hair away from her face when the picture was taken, a perfect picture smile on her face, showing the dimples in her cheeks. Sam wasn't at all surprised to find his image looking over at her instead of the camera, though Laura didn't appear to notice. It was just a picture, nothing special.

And yet, Sam was so surprised by finding the photo in Laura's bag that he completely missed the Walkman right next to it, staring at the picture as though there was some secret hidden beneath it. Why did Laura have a picture of them together in her suitcase? It just didn't seem to make any sense...unless...

The lights flickered again, tearing thoughts of him and Laura together out of Sam's head and replacing them with thoughts of finding a radio. Easily he spotted the Walkman in her suitcase and snatched it up, checking to make sure that there were indeed batteries inside, though he was certain there would be.

Sam zipped up Laura's suitcase and stood, heading out of the room with the radio in hand; he clicked it on, turning up the volume and moving the tuner in hopes of finding something other then static.

Brain was still sitting on the couch, though he had changed the station to one that wasn't local, and Sam was worried to see that Laura had yet to return. This storm was getting worse and she couldn't stay up there for much longer.

"....We are getting reports that (static) a...." Sam stopped tuning the radio, turning up the volume even more in hopes of hearing what the frightened newscaster was saying. He looked over at Brian and commanded, "Turn the T.V. off" before giving his full attention to the tiny radio speaker.

"I repeat," the man was saying, "a wall of water is heading toward New York City. An actual tidal wave, heading for New York."

Sam and Brian looked at each other, all other words broadcasted by the radio completely blocked out. Sam didn't even realize he was holding his breath until he exhaled, trying to release some of the fear that was tying his stomach into knots. Surely there couldn't really be a tidal wave in New York, it just seemed impossible.

Brian hopped off the couch, heading for the window, at the same time Sam set the Walkman aside and rushed in that direction. They both pressed their faces against the glass, attempting to peer through the fog, afraid to see if there was any truth behind the words on the radio.

What Sam saw turned his entire body cold; below them, people were fleeing, running as fast as they could away from an unseen antagonist, screaming and shoving each other as they tried to escape the massive giant that Sam saw next. The ripping wave pounding through the city blocks looked like something that belonged in a movie, created by some director's imagination that had no business being real.

The wave was, at least Sam figured, thirty feet high, cresting easily over the tops of the buildings as it swallowed everything in its path. Cars were shoved against each other seconds before disappearing beneath the surf and people vanished just as easily. But Sam just couldn't get over the height of the wave; was it even possible for something to be that high? High enough to drench the tops of buildings and-

Laura! The moment that Sam's brain screamed the name of the girl he loved, he realized that he had never felt a fear so complete before. His heart almost broke that second, freezing at the thought of Laura being swallowed by the tidal wave just as easily as the nameless taxi cabs on the street. It just wasn't right, it just couldn't happen.

Without another word, another thought, Sam turned away from the window and rushed toward the door of the apartment. "Sam!" Brian shouted after him, his words falling on deaf ears. "What are you doing?" He thought about going after his friend but knew it was no use; whatever Sam had in mind, he would not be swayed.

Leaving the apartment door open, Sam tore up the stairs which led to the roof. The hallway in front of him was completely dark but he didn't falter, his fingers following the chilly metal guard-rail along the side of the wall. The stairs ascending, bringing him higher into the hallway and closer to Laura.

The only thought running through his mind was the constant prayer that he wasn't too late, that Laura was all right. Sam didn't realize he had reached the door until he ran into it with enough force to leave him seeing stars, which he quickly shook away, groping for the door handle.

Sam flung open the door and rushed onto the roof, slipping on the wet gravel, his eyes scanning for Laura. He saw her as he regained his footing, standing with her back to him and one hand still over one ear, shouting into her cell phone, desperate to make her voice heard. "Mom?" She was saying. "Are you there? Mom?"

"Laura!" Sam shouted as he hurried toward her, suddenly very away from the pounding water just yards away from him. Laura turned to face him as he reached her, grabbing her arm and pulling her back toward the stairwell. "Come on!"

"What?" Laura looked confused, staring into his frightened face and feeling her own heart begin to beat faster. "What's-" Then she saw it, the towering monstrosity of a wave, seemingly just feet away from where she stood. "Oh." She murmured weakly, her mouth dropping open and her heart slamming in her chest. Laura wasn't at all surprised to find that she couldn't move, couldn't process the simple act of running away; she had never been more scared in her entire life.

Sam pulled Laura toward the hallway that led to the relative safety of the apartment complex. His tug pulled her out of her terrified stupor and she followed him across the roof and toward the hallway, her hand holding his tightly.

The massive wave slammed into the building just as Sam and Laura ducked inside the stairwell, shaking the entire complex and nearly knocking them off their feet. Laura cried out, holding tighter to Sam as he pressed him against the wall, slipping into a sitting position and pulling Laura down beside him. She held onto him tightly, burying her face in his chest, and Sam wrapped his arms around her, whispering soothing words that couldn't be heard over the pounding of the water.

For what seemed like hours, the building shivered, buckling beneath the weight of the wave, the windows of the lower levels shattering and allowing the water to seep inside. As she shook in Sam's arms, Laura wondered if this was what it was like to be in an earthquake, the only sound pounding in her ears being the sound of the quivering building.

Water rushed into the stairwell, drenching Sam and Laura within seconds as it cascaded down the stairs. Sam couldn't but wonder, for a brief second, if it was possible for them to drown.

As suddenly as it started, the wave seemed to subside, leaving the apartment complex in its wake as it surged on, destroying other buildings. Then there was nothing but silence.

So, that was my little attempt at recreating one of my favorite scenes from the movie, the Laura rescue. I know it's not as good as it was in the movie, but I hope it's good enough. Once again, sorry for the lack of updates, school is totally sucking so far and I'm struggling to finish another story so that I can give my time entirely to this one. Until I create another long "DAT" fic that is... Anyway, thanks so much for the great reviews, as always much love to Lilly and Wally and Punkin (that's your new name, okay) and everyone else that reviewed. So, keep up those reviews, let me know what you think! Thanks so much!