Jade's keys scraped against the lock as she let herself in. It was three o'clock in the morning. She was weary, in want of a quick shower and her own warm bed. She cast a dirty look at the shadow in the corner, a groan escaping her lips.

"Drake," she said. "What are you doing? It's like…" Suspicion overcame her. Her dog usually greeted her at the door. Her faithful Shark was missing. "Where's my dog?"

"He's safe. I had to shut him in a different room." The shadowed man looked at her briefly, the moonlight from the window catching a piece of his face.

She narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?" Only now did she register Shark's growls and barks coming from Drake's bedroom. He scratched against the door, eager to be left out. Jade wondered how he had managed to trick her guard dog.

A gun. The man had a gun. "Give me your valuables." He kept his face in the darkness, shrouded in shadow. He stepped closer, his face still obscured but his gun clearer than ever. "Where do you keep your cash?"

"And if I don't?" Jade hissed, challenging him. She was fearless. He replied that he'd shoot her. Jade could only shrug. "So, shoot. Save someone else the bother."

He cocked the gun. "Don't make me do this."

"No, don't make me." Jade murmured. She moved swiftly, extracting her concealed pistol. The small, but mighty black gun gleamed as she aimed it at his head. "Get. Out. Of. My. House."

The robber faltered. He hesitated, just for a moment. He hadn't thought she would be armed. "Mine's bigger."

"Compensating for something?" Jade sneered. "Mine's faster."

"I don't think so."

She cocked her pistol. "Want to find out?"

The door opened, and the robber glanced ever so quickly at the door. Behind the guitar case was a very exhausted Drake.

Drake's jaw dropped at the sight of the standoff taking place in his living room. "What the hell?" He held up his hands to surrender. "Take what you want. Just don't shoot."

The robber snarled, pointing his gun at Drake. "I'll shoot him if you make one wrong move."

Jade didn't wait. She pulled the trigger. The robber was down before he could retaliate. "Call the police!" Jade demanded. Drake did as she asked.

"Did you kill him?!"

"I don't know!"

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"He had a gun on me- then you- I had to defend us." Jade muttered. "Crap. He's getting blood on the floor!"

"That usually happens when someone gets shot." Drake said. He gave the dispatcher their information, and then hung up the phone.

Jade's deadly glare chilled him. "If I didn't do that, you'd be dead. Get it? Good."

Drake met her eyes, knowing it was true. "Thank you."

"Don't expect me to save you twice." Her dark eyes flashed. Drake was sure of that. He hadn't even expected her to save him once.

x

Three days passed. They had gotten word the robber would survive to spend life in prison for multiple break-ins and a few cold-blooded killings. He was healing up nicely, and wouldn't even have a scar. Jade was considering working in law enforcement. The local paper hailed her as a hero. She had even landed a spot on the evening news.

"It was the right thing to do. That creep was breaking into MY house, holding a gun on me and my- room mate."

"So, I'm still not your friend, I see." Drake muttered to the television. He flipped the channel.

Onscreen, Jade said, "I would do it again. No one threatens me and gets away with it. Not with life and death in their hands. I would encourage everyone to go out and buy a gun. It's the best way to protect yourself."

The newscaster nodded enthusiastically. "And there you have it, local hero Jade West-"

Drake snorted, rolling his eyes and turning off the television. "Local hero. If I had gotten home first, this would have been a different story."

Drake had convinced himself he would have been able to take the guy down with his bare hands. Never mind he was unarmed. Never mind the guy was crazy. Never mind Drake had already had his butt kicked by one of his sister Megan's ex-boyfriends. All of those facts paled in his mind. His jealousy had him seething.

He pulled himself off of the couch, heading to the fridge. "To cook, or to order out… That might be the question." Drake said to the cold machine. He paraphrased an old quote he used to hear Josh mutter when he was stressed. Ah, the days of living with Josh. Things had been so much simpler back then.

Jade came home, a bag of something balancing on her hip as she closed the door behind her. "I brought Chinese. Hope that's okay."

"No, thanks." Drake said, even though he was sure she could hear his stomach growling. "I just ate."

"Liar." Jade put her hands on her hips. "I'm actually trying to be nice here. It's killing me."

"Good."

"What is with the tension?" Jade snapped. She pushed her black hair back out of her face. "I mean, come on! Why are you the king of suck lately?"

"You know why?" Drake fumed. "You were in the right place at the right time. You got lucky. Anyone could have done what you did."

"I'd like to see you take down a robber with your invisible gun." Jade hissed. She gathered her bag of hot food, storming away. "I'll be eating in my room."

But, Drake was already gone.

x

"What's wrong with you, lately?" Noel frowned. Drake had come over for dinner. The couple sat at the table, sipping from wine glasses.

"Nothing." Drake shrugged, trying to act natural. He took a long sip of his white wine, hoping she'd buy the act.

"Drake," Noel said softly, "Tell me what's wrong."

He sighed. "It's this whole thing with Jade. Her ego's inflated even more- I can't live like this."

Noel pursed her lips. "Maybe yours is just a little bruised?"

Drake frowned. "Why would you say that?" He was running low on wine. He refilled his glass and Noel's.

"She did save your life… I know she can be awful, but if she hadn't been there, where would you be?"

"I'd have my hands around that guy's neck and I would have saved my own life." Drake replied. He was getting uncomfortable. "So, um, I can stay over, right?"

"Listen to me." Noel pleaded. "You nearly died. There's no shame in letting someone else save you." She reached up, gently running her fingers down the side of his face. "It's okay." She kissed him, hard, lingering on his mouth. "I'm just, I'm so glad you're okay." Her arms laced around his neck as she kissed him again.

Drake could feel his last irritations melting away. Noel was a calming influence, stripping away his irritation as easily as his anger. He exhaled, letting her help him forget his stresses, whispering against her lips. "Okay."

x

Drake came home around noon the next day. Jade was reclining on the couch, munching on popcorn and watching The Scissoring… again. Shark lounged at her feet. His ears swung in Drake's direction as he walked over, but other than that, the dog took no notice of him.

"Hey," Drake called to her.

"Hey." She answered without looking up from the screen.

"Thank you. For, you know, saving my life."

"You're welcome." Jade murmured.

"How did you learn how to shoot?"

"April taught me." Short, not necessarily sweet, but simple. She wasn't shutting him down. That was a good sign. "She had a really great teacher and passed it on."

"Yeah? That's cool." Drake said. "Pretty badass, actually."

Was that a smile? "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Onscreen, a girl screamed as the killer cut off her victim's hair before plunging her scissors into that same girl's chest. Drake winced. "Yikes. You like this stuff?"

"Love it." Jade confirmed. "Want to watch it with me?"

Drake absolutely did not, but he also didn't want to disrupt this very rare moment of peace. "Sure." He sat down next to her, dipping his hand into the popcorn bowl.

Jade abruptly jerked it away. "No. Get your own popcorn."

"Well!" Drake answered, standing up. He wasn't sure he'd be able to eat during this bloody chop-fest. Still, he made some in the microwave before returning to his seat. He pointed at the next character he saw, asking, "Does she survive?"

A wicked smile pulled at Jade's lips. "Watch and find out."

The answer was an inevitable and gory no.

A/N: So! Little bit of trivia. This chapter is actually two years old. I wrote it two years ago during one of my day jobs when I had some free time. I forgot I had written it, and the one that I will post next, for those two years. (I had a ton of free time at that job.) I then got into Parks and Rec and wrote the last chapter, only to rediscover these when I uploaded that one. So this story is the first that I haven't written completely in order. I just find that interesting. Hope you're liking it, and glad you are all sticking around! I don't get much time to write anymore, hence the two year old chapters, but when I do I love working on this story and hearing your feedback! You guys are awesome! Love y'all!

Xoxox

Invisiblemirage