Toothiana sneaked out of her apartment. Her younger sisters were making it difficult to study so she decided to do laundry instead. The laundry room was located in the basement, which Tooth hated. Putting on her iPod; Tooth tried not to think about its location. It was winter and freezing but, since she waited so long to do laundry, all she had to wear was a pair of shorts and a colorful T-shirt. She threw her flip flops on for convenience and hurried to the elevator. Tooth's short brown hair danced as she ran. Her violet irises, due to albinism in the eyes, closed. She bopped her head to the beat as she walked; already knowing the layout by heart. Tooth, however, didn't expect someone else to be waiting for the elevator.

Their bodies crashed, causing Tooth's eyes to open instantly. One of her ear phones fell out in the process, as Tooth herself nearly fell back. A strong grip tightened around her wrist and tugged her back up. She fell back onto her feet staring forward intently at her savoir with both awe and embarrassment.

"Are you uh…alright?"

Of course it was him. She dolled herself up every day in hopes that he would see her. And the one time she looked like an absolute mess he had to be there. Cursing in her head, Tooth forced a smile.

"O-oh, yes! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed pulling away from the boy.

He looked roughly her age only taller but Tooth was quite short to begin with. His brown hair was lighter than hers and his eyes blue. She noticed he wore the same blue hoodie everyday no matter the weather. She wondered why but the mystery of it only intrigued her more. Though, it could be something as simple as being his favorite thing to wear or his only hoodie.

"It's no problem." He stated with a smile.

Tooth nearly squealed out loud but remained silent. Her eyes dead focused on his beautiful teeth. When the elevator door opened the two stepped inside. The boy pressed the button for the lobby and, before Tooth could press it, he pressed the basement button for her.

"Laundry, huh?"

The basket of dirty clothes was a dead giveaway.

"That obvious?"

The boy smiled once more. Tooth's inside to melt as the two enjoyed a quick laugh together. They both lived on the highest floor of the building. Tooth knew the elevator wouldn't take that long but she yearned for time to slow down; that way she could remain in her crush's presence longer. He was new she noted; moving in only a few months ago. Tooth recalled the first time she saw him. It was the start of fall and school. Tooth was rushing to get to class when she passed by him in the hall way. He didn't notice her, of course, as he gathered his mail in his arms.

Hoping to at least get his name, Tooth forced herself to speak. But once she started it was difficult to stop herself, "I've never seen you in the laundry room before. You must be new here. Are you new?" She knew he was but she needed an opening.

The boy seemed to be taken off guard by her sudden questions. Glancing her way a shy smile came to his face as he nodded, "Yeah I do laundry and yeah I'm new here."

Tooth felt a wave of nervousness hit her. His smile was like kryptonite, "O-oh. Yeah, I mean who doesn't do laundry right?" Stupid! Instant regret.

The boy blinked at first before laughing. Tooth was embarrassed but his laughter was contagious. She found herself laughing as well. A smile set upon her face as confidence crept up on her.

"My name's Toothiana but everyone calls me Tooth." Introducing herself was always the hard part; due to her odd name. Toothiana rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she pushed on, "What's your name?"

But he didn't laugh. He just seemed surprised.

"Jack." He said firmly.

Tooth's smile became warm.

Finally she knew his name, "Nice to meet you, Jack."

And that would have been enough for her. At least for now. Meeting the boy she had a crush on. Learning his name and sharing a few laughs with him. She was content. But fate had other plans for them.

"Nice to meet you too, Toothiana."

A calm breeze ran through Tooth's body. Then, suddenly, the elevator shook violently. The basket in Tooth's grasp fell to the floor as she fell against the wall behind her. A knot formed in her stomach, almost immediately, as the elevator came to a stop. Jack balanced himself well enough and, as if on reflex, he grabbed Tooth's arm with narrowed eyes directed at the elevator door.

"The hell…" Jack questioned as he let go of Tooth, "Are you okay?" He asked turning his head to her.

Tooth nodded weakly as she gathered herself, "Are we…a-are we stuck?"

Jack frowned. He didn't seem to like the frightened expression on Tooth's face. Turning his back to her he walked over to the elevator doors and touched them, "Seems that way…" Then pressed a few buttons before hitting the emergency call button.

Nothing.

Tooth shook a bit, "This is bad. This is really bad. What are we gonna do, Jack!?"

Jack stared at the buttons for a moment before snapping out of it. He smiled weakly turning back to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Hey, it's gonna be okay. I'm sure someone will look for you soon and worst case we just gotta wait it out till the morning."

Look for me? What about him?

It was then that Tooth realized Jack's hands on her. They were so cold and yet her face became so warm from his touch. A tint of pink came across her cheeks as she could only nod her head to him.

"Good." Jack seemed relieved and smiled.

Pulling his hands away, he bent down and began gathering the clothes that fell on the floor. Tooth's body jerked as she quickly dropped to the ground and tossed the clothes back inside the basket. It was all female clothing. So, aside from tops and bottoms, there were a whole lot of bras and underwear. The blush on Tooth's face deepened as she attempted to gather the clothes before Jack could touch any more.

"T-t-thanks. I got it!"

Tooth was quick and before Jack could object she was done. A chuckle escaped his lips as he stood back up with her, and then blinked as he looked down at her dangling ear phone. The music was still going. It was in her ear as well, but being around Jack made her tune it out. She was captivated by him. But, when she noticed his attention drawn to the pink string falling down her shirt, she shyly pulled the other ear plug out.

"Sorry." She mumbled, though even she wasn't sure what she was sorry about.

"No, it's okay. I didn't even notice until now. You like rock music?"

Tooth pulled her IPod out of her pocket and turned it off, "Y-yeah. I like most music…but whenever I'm mad it's like the perfect music."

"Why are you mad?"

Toothiana kicked the floor, "My sisters really bug me sometimes. I do everything around the house and all I ask for is some quiet time to study. I can't even have that…"

"Ah, laundry's starting to make sense now."

"Yeah…What about you? It's pretty late and I noticed you pressed the lobby button…"

Jack glanced away from her briefly, "I was…going for a walk."

"A walk? But it's so cold outside and late." She added.

"I don't really get cold." Jack admitted shyly.

Tooth beamed, "That's amazing! I wish I didn't get cold. I freeze my butt off in the winter! But summer's so nice. Spring's my favorite though." She was rambling but he didn't seem to mind. Her heart skipped a beat when he looked back at her with a smile on his face.

Toothiana caught his warm look and relaxed a bit as she mimicked it. She felt so calm and comfortable with Jack that she didn't think about the words she spoke next.

"Your teeth are beautiful." She confessed.

There was a brief moment of awkward shock as the two burned up. Tooth's eyes grew wide as Jack could only blink. He could see how horrified she was and couldn't help but laugh. His laughter was like a remedy to her nerves.

"Thanks."

Tooth stared at his smile with a dazed look in her eyes. Though, she quickly snapped out of it when the elevator shook. Jack glanced around but Toothiana closed her eyes completely. When it finally stopped, Tooth held her chest wanting to feel relieved but she had a bad feeling. Worse than before. A loud yelp flew out of her mouth, as the elevator fell downward with great sped.

"Jack!"

She reached for him only to fall. Jack reacted quickly and caught Tooth but fell back; due to the force, and hit his head hard. Tooth cried out until the elevator finally stopped. The lights flickered on and off in tiny sparks before going off completely. Tooth's heart raced; pounding violently out of her chest and against Jack's. She could feel his heart beat against her own and something confused her. His heart wasn't racing.

In fact, it was very light.

"J-jack…"

She mumbled lowly not wanting to leave his warm embrace. But she sat up in haste when he didn't answer her.

"Jack?...Jack!"

He was unconscious.

And for the remainder of the first hour she was alone.

A/N: Like Jack I too don't get cold. Not sure if there's a name for it but I do get hot very easily and in the summer am prone to heat strokes. Random facts about the author ftw~