Title: You Left Some Stars In My Belly

Author: MCMGM

Characters: Jeff Buckley, Kristen, various other.

Rating: M

Content: Language, mild violence, strong sexual content, drug use.

Disclaimer: Only own Kristen and any other fictional character. Everyone else owns themselves.

(A/N) Based in an AU.

"Uh, you guys, why the long faces?" Sandra asked as she returned to the table.

"Nothing. Just tired." Kristen responded. Jeff nodded.

"Well, that's cool. I'm gonna split."

"What, where are you going?"

"I've got a, uh, coffee date." Sandra nodded her head toward a head banging looking guy hanging out by the bar.

"Sandra?" Kristen started in, concern building.

"It's cool, I know him. We work together."

"Alright then, just be careful. Call me later."

"Yeah, yeah." Sandra said, already walking back to her date.

"Well, what do you want to do now?" Jeff asked.

"You're not tired of me yet?"

"Oh no." Jeff answered with a little smirk.

"Alright, well, I guess we can hang at my place for a bit."

"Cool." Jeff packed up his guitar and they headed out.

As Kristen tried to hail down a cab, a young woman with dark hair grabbed at Jeff.

"Rebecca?"

"I need to talk to you, Jeff."

"I can't…I'm with a friend…" he nodded toward Kristen.

"Is that the WHORE you left me for?" she raged with a drunken bark.

"Stop it."

"Answer me!"

Now people were starting to gather around them, and Kristen turned back to see what was going on.

"You're making a scene, STOP IT."

"Jeff, are you okay?" Kristen pushed her way through to aide him.

"It's fine…listen, I have to do something," he said, trying to keep Rebecca from failing down. "I'll see you later. I'll stop by tomorrow or something, okay?"

"Alright, if you're sure."

"Yeah, bye." he said, no longer paying attention to anything other than getting Rebecca home.

Kristen watched him until they turned a corner. She didn't know how to feel. What was that about? Who was that girl?

"It's none of my business." she turned back toward the street and flagged down a cab.

"I'm going to West 56th."

"Sure."

Kristen looked over at the corner as the car pulled off, as if Jeff would magically be there. She sighed as they drove on.

~*~ The Next Day~*~

Kristen tapped her foot against her desk over and over, in a rhythmic fashion. It took a minute for it to register that it was one of the songs Jeff played the night before. She stared off into space, letting the paperwork pile up on her desk.

"Are you okay?" Kammy asked as she walked by.

"Huh…what? Yeah, I'm fine."

"Do you want me to get you some coffee or something?"

"No, no. I'm fine really," she looked up and smiled "But thanks for the offer."

"No problem. Just let me know if you need anything." Kammy walked off to attend to her own business.

It was almost time to head home, and most of the office was empty. Aside from Kammy and Kristen, Todd was still loitering around somewhere. Kristen didn't care as long as it wasn't anywhere near her. All day, she couldn't help but think of what had occurred last night, if Jeff was Okay. He seemed really different when that girl showed up. Distant, unfocused.

"Eh." Kristen tried not to think about it, it was none of her business. If he wanted to tell her he would. She packed up her stuff, deciding to finish her work when she returned after her week long vacation. She busted her ass and DESERVED everyday of that week. Plus that was a week of not seeing Todd, ANYBODY would appreciate that.

Kristen said her goodbyes to Kammy and the remaining employees. She made her way to the elevator. As she waited, an overhead light flicked on and off, like it was dying. Kristen shrugged it off and entered the elevator. As the doors closed, a hand shot through and re-opened them. Todd strolled into it.

"What a coincidence, me running into you."

"Yeah." she tried hard not to roll her eyes. The elevator light flickered like the hall light did moments before. Then elevator slowed down, making creaking noises.

"God, please, PLEASE no." Kristen pleaded silently.

Then, it came to a full on stop. And the main light flickered off.

"Please remain calm. We have suffered electrical failure in the…" a automated voice spoke from the intercom on the wall.

"Looks like we're stuck here for a few minutes." Todd said with a smirk. The emergency light glowed down on his face, making him look rather creepy.

"Yeah. It's probably best we conserve oxygen by not talking." she snapped, inching further away from him.

"Oh we don't need to talk for what I want to do." he moved in closer, pushing his body onto Kristen's.

"Todd, back off."

"Come on, nobody will know about it anyways." he kept pushing.

"Todd, stop it." he wasn't the type of man who heard that too often. Her resistance only turned him on more. He moved in and smelled her hair.

"Hmmm, you smell so good."

"Todd…stop…"

He reached for her breast.

"STOP IT!" Kristen kicked him in the knee.

"Owww!"

Just then the elevator started up again and they went down to level One. Kristen ran out faster than the doors could open.

"Just between you and me!" Todd called after her as he rubbed his knee. Kristen ran until she reached her door. Her hands trembled, making it hard for her to get the key in the lock. Finally she got it in, and rushed into the apartment, slamming the door behind her. She ran into her bedroom and collapsed onto her bed. Tears poured down her face, like a dam had been broken.

What would have happened if she hadn't defended herself? Would Todd have raped her right there? What was going to happen because of what she did? Was she going to be fired?

Before she could analyze it anymore, there was a knock at her door. She REALLY wasn't in the mood for company, but it could be something important. She wiped away the tears and called out.

"Who is it?"

"Jeff."

Jeff? Oh yeah, she thought. He said he would come over today.

"Hold on a second!" she yelled, trying to hide her distress.

After regaining her composure, she opened up the door.

Jeff stood there smiling. Guitar strung over one shoulder, and a bottle of wine in his hand.

"I figured I'd bring you something, as a apology for having to leave last night." he held the bottle for her to take.

"Thanks."

Jeff looked at her face, he could see something was wrong.

"Are you okay? I mean if this is a bad time, I can just come back la…"

"No, no. It's fine. Please, come in." she moved so he could get by.

"Thanks."

"Did you have a show?"

"Huh?"

"I figured you had a show because of the guitar." she pointed at his shoulder.

"Oh no, I brought my acoustic so I could play something for you. Second part to the apology." he laughed.

She just smiled.

"Um, what's with the get up?" he asked, referring to her suit.

"I just got in from…work," she tried not to think about what had happened, if she did she was bound to cry and make a fool of herself.

"I didn't have a chance to change."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to show up so randomly. Just that…well, I just needed to get away from my place. Figured you'd been home, took a shot."

"It's okay, Jeff. Really it is. Do you mind if I go shower and change?"

"No, go ahead."

"Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, I have cable too."

"CABLE?" he headed for her T.V. Kristen just smiled as she walked into the bedroom.

~*~Some Time Later ~*~

Kristen came out of the bedroom, clean and refreshed. She swapped her grey suit for a pair of yoga pants, baby doll t-shirt and extra some soft socks. She let her hair down and disposed of her glasses for the evening.

"Ohhh, you smell nice." Jeff smiled from his seat on her couch.

"Thank you, vanilla body scrub. It works wonders. I see you found something to watch."

"Not really, just surfing."

"Cool." she plopped down next to him.

"I DID raid your fridge, but there wasn't much in there."

"Oh yeah, I didn't go shopping this week. I've been so busy. I can go tomorrow though, as of today, I am on a week long vacation."

"Oh nice. Going anywhere special?"

"No, just going to relax here."

"Ahh."

"Well, since I have no food, we'll have to order something. Pizza good for you?"

"Yes, that's fine. And I'm paying for it."

"You don't have to do that."

"I insist."

"Okay, okay. I'll be right back." Kristen headed for the kitchen to grab the phone.

~*~15 Minutes Later~*~

"This is the best pizza I've ever had." Jeff said as he munched.

"That restaurant is pretty good. But, you didn't have to pay."

"It was the least I could do after last night."

"What was that about anyway?" Kristen asked, breaking her own rule of waiting until he felt like telling her.

Jeff exhaled. "That girl, was my girlfriend. EX girlfriend. We broke up recently, and she's been taking it hard. She thinks it was because of another girl, but it wasn't. I'm at a important crossroad in my life with my music, and I can't afford to be distracted. It takes a lot of work to be in a relationship and I don't think I can deal with both things right now. I know it sounds horrible for me to say that, but it's how I feel."

"It's not horrible. I know what you mean. I'm kinda like that with my job. I can't stand what I do, but I'm a perfectionist."

Jeff nodded, then cleared his throat. "Um, well, I kinda had a question. I mean you can say no, of course. But um, do you think I can spend the night here? I wouldn't ask, but Rebecca is staying at my place, trying to get over the hang over. And I really just don't want to be there tonight."

"Sure. You can stay as long as you need."

He smiled. "Thank you."

"Do you have clothes with you?"

"Yeah," he pulled open his guitar case. He had night clothes sitting on top of the guitar. "I brought some, just in case you said yes. Also, brought a little gift. Third part of the apology." he gave a big cheesy grin as he pulled out a baggie containing some pot.

Kristen just rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Well, it's really early and since you have nowhere to go, what are we going to do all night?" Jeff asked.

"We'll figure something out."