Clark was going to regret falling asleep on the bedroom floor. His back was already hurting and he hadn't even sat up or opened his eyes. Letting out a yawn, he blinked away the sleep and propped himself up on his elbow. When he was finally able to see properly, he met the gaze of a stoic Rottweiler sitting across the room.

"Um." He looked around to see if either of his parents were in the room with him only to find that he was alone with the dog. He looked back at it curiously. "What are you doing in here?" He pulled the covers off of himself and stood up. The act of popping his back got the dog's attention and it huffed.

"So. How has your day treated you so far?"

The dog simply blinked back at him. He thought about petting it but he wasn't sure if he was going to come back in one piece. Slowly, he walked to the bedroom door. The dog followed him downstairs. "Mom?" he called out. "Why is there a dog in the house?" Had it snuck in when no one else was around? Clark found his mother in the kitchen, blending up a green smoothie.

Despite everything that had happened the night before, her hair was back in a sleek ponytail and her amber skin practically glowed. It was her job to stay presentable, even in the worst of circumstances. Clark didn't buy it. He knew underneath all of it that she was struggling to get through the day.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She spotted the Rottweiler following him and smiled sadly. "Oh."

"Yeah," he said. "What's it doing inside? Whose is it?"

"It's your guard dog." Stacy brought down a glass from the counter and poured her smoothie into it. She tossed in a striped straw and looked back at the two of them. "Your father picked him up this morning. His name is Leon. I personally think he's cute, but your father says he's not that sweet. He won't bite you or anything, but don't expect fetch in the yard or anything."

Clark shrugged. Made sense to him; the dog wasn't his friend, it was his protection. Still, he wasn't sure how he felt about having a dog around. He might not have been a regular one, but he was still a dog and still had to do his business. He didn't want puddles all over the house.

"How long is he staying with us?" he asked. He poured a bowl of cereal, smirking when Leon sat still and kept from begging for food. Smart dog.

"Until that man is caught. You spend so much time here all by yourself. We want you to be safe."

Clark didn't argue. As far as he was concerned, a dog was the least of his worries. Someone had broken into his house and nearly killed him last night. He'd nearly died. Thoughts of Marie bubbled in his head and he felt a panic attack threatening to pop up. He cut that train of thought off quick and finished his cereal. As Stacy drank her smoothie, she tap, tap, tapped on her phone, checking her schedule twice.

"Alright, baby, I'm gone. Make sure to stay inside, and if you can, call someone over. Have Ruby stop by, maybe?" Stacy started for the door then stopped. Her voice lowered. "Marie's family wants us over for her funeral next week."

Clark looked at the floor and nodded. He couldn't imagine the stress her family must have been under. Not knowing who'd taken their family member away from them... It would've eaten Clark alive. "Have a good day at work," he said finally. "I'll be okay."

Clark sighed when he heard the door close and the lock click.

"Looks like it's just you and I for a little while, Leon." The dog didn't move. Surprising. "We're gonna have fun, huh?" Clark smiled and shook his head. He stood and washed out his bowl, returning it to the cabinet. He stood in the kitchen for a moment, trying to shake last night from his head. The broken glass. The initial ice bath of fear. The room felt so much more open during the day. He was thankful for the sunny skies.

Clark grabbed his phone from upstairs and was surprised to see so many notifications. Normally he got a few hundred tweets a day but he was almost at three thousand. He scrolled through the never-ending feed of messages asking if he was okay and what happened. There was a screenshot of his father in one of the tweets.

"What the hell?" Clark realized that the picture came from his stream last night. He grabbed his laptop and clicked through to find his past broadcasts. He played the one from last night and skipped to the end. There was a long moment of silence then running could be heard. A door slammed. Pounding on the door. And suddenly, a loud bang. He heard himself yelling at the intruder, demanding that he leave. The second shot startled him. Clark had forgotten he'd fired twice.

The people watching his stream had heard all of this. As quickly as he could manage, he sent out a message that he was alright and that he'd be on later to talk about what happened. For now, he needed some time alone. Clark sat down and watched the stream again. They must have been so worried about him. His phone buzzed in his hand and he opened the message from Ruby.

"What happened last night?" her text read.

"Come over? I'll tell you everything that happened."

"Shower first, then I'm coming. Have them snacks ready."

He smiled and got up from his bed. He definitely needed to hop in the shower as well, and on top of that, his room was a bit messy. He'd have to clean up before she arrived. Clark washed himself off and sang along to the music playing from his phone. He fell quiet when he thought he heard something, but Leon didn't bark, so he figured it was his paranoia and imagination. He changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top and hurried downstairs to get a trash bag. When he was back in his room, he tossed everything he didn't want her seeing, making sure it looked clean enough to make a video in.

By the time he was done, Ruby called to let him know that she was heading up to his front door now. He ran downstairs and opened the door for her, smiling as he gave her a once over. As fashionable as ever, she sported a swishy lace crop top and tight blue jeans, her mass of curly brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She pulled her sunglasses off and hugged him tight, sliding out of the way so he could close the door.

"You look cute," she said, throwing a smile back at him as she climbed the stairs.

"Yeah, I'm the cute one." Clark followed her up. He watched as she flinched and stepped away from the dog in the corner of his bedroom.

"When the hell did you guys get a dog? And a Rotty, no less."

"I actually got him this morning. It's because of what happened last night."

"Ooh," she said, plopping down onto the mattress. "Tell me everything." And he did. He paced the room, explaining everything, from the live stream to the gunfire. He knew she wasn't up to date with all the trends and hashtags on Twitter, but she'd been curious when she saw that people were praying for him. #PrayForClarphy was trending worldwide. It irritated him slightly that people knew about something so personal without his permission, but he didn't voice that frustration. The last thing he wanted to do was seem ungrateful for all the support his viewers were offering.

"Jesus," she said once the explanation was over. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Me too. Now I just have to deal with getting back to videos..."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Clark."

"Why not?"

"I mean, this just happened last night. Maybe take some time before turning on the camera again? At least until they catch the man? It's probably a lot safer that way?" Ruby had a point. If he went 'invisible' for a bit, the intruder might not be able to follow his every move and his regular schedule. This was all so surreal. Clark took a seat on the bed and brushed his dark hair from his face.

"It'll be okay," she assured him. "We should go do something. Get your mind off this. I'm sure your guard dog here will be able to hold the fort down for a while." She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and snuggled against him.

"I guess. What do you want to do?"

"Let's go get ice cream and then see a movie. Maybe see your dad's movie? I still haven't watched it yet."

"It's actually pretty good. I got to meet Chris Hemsworth. He's so much different than Thor." Ruby's eyes lit up.

"You didn't tell me you met my husband! Oh my god, Clark, you have to tell me everything. What's he like, how hot is he in person?" She stood and pulled him up to his feet. "I'll drive, you talk."

"Deal." As she let his hand go, he noticed a bruise on her forearm. "Hey," he said, catching her arm. "What's this?" Ruby looked at it and pulled her arm away a moment later. She headed for the front door.

"It's nothing."

"Ruby. Is it Dex again?" She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him. Her sunglasses were on but he could tell she was giving him a look.

"No. It's my brother. He wanted to wrestle and I kicked his ass. He has a lot more bruises than me."

Clark was skeptical but he didn't want to push the situation. He knew how talking about Dex affected her, and he didn't want to ruin the day by bringing up something that wasn't his business. Rather than killing the mood, he followed her downstairs and climbed into her convertible. Clark glanced at the bruise again and deflected his eyes, uneasy.

Ruby dropped Clark off back at his house around five that afternoon. After they'd gotten ice cream for breakfast and watched their movie, they stopped to pick up a few things at The Grove. There had been a sale at Zara and Topshop, and they'd spent a little too much money there. On the plus side, Clark knew he was going to record a haul video once things went back to normal.

"Text me later tonight and we'll finish that episode of Leverage we both passed out on," Ruby called out to him. He promised he would and waved to her as she drove off. With two arms full of bags, Clark began climbing the steps to his home. He stumbled but regained his composure, only to slam into someone as he reached the front door. The bags fell from his hands and he blinked in surprise, looking up at the person he'd run into.

The man looked back at him, his hard eyebrows softening when he'd realized all of his items were on the ground. "I'm sorry," he said, squatting down to help pick up what had spilled.

"No, it's my fault. That's what I get for trying to walk and breathe at the same time," Clark said.

The man chuckled and stuffed the items back in the bag. Clark quickly retrieved what he could and popped back up, a bit out of breath.

"Uh..." The other man rose and held up a pair of underwear. They were pastel, and, though not exactly revealing, still something Clark wouldn't want a stranger seeing. Clark took the trunks back and buried it in the bag. Without thinking, he said,

"It's for this video I'm doing online."

"I bet," the man replied.

Clark's eyes went wide. "It's not – I don't mean like a gross – yeah, I'm just gonna..." He slipped around the stranger and pushed through the front door, his cheeks red.

"Have a good night," he heard the man outside say. Clark turned around to return the comment. He closed the door immediately after.

"I hate myself," he whispered. He dropped the bags off at the foot of the stairs and walked to the kitchen for some water. He found his father sitting at the table, scribbling something down on a pad of paper. "What're you up to?" he asked.

"I just got done with my last interview of the day."

"You were doing casting stuff here? But you're just the director."

"Not for a movie," he explained. He tapped the seat next to him and Clark obliged, pulling a chair up beside him. "These are all of the men I interviewed today. Left work early and set some things up. I'm not satisfied with just the dog."

"Wait, what? Why not?" If he was a criminal trying to harm someone, Leon would scare him to death. The dog was quiet and intimidating-looking, and he doubted anyone would mess with him if they took one good look at the hulking beast.

"I called you seven times, Clark. Your mother wasn't picking up either. I was worried sick. And when I finally got home to check up on you, your mother called back and told me that you were out with your friends. I need to know these things." He looked up at Clark, and the boy could tell he was still stressed about the whole ordeal.

"I'm sorry, Dad. Ruby and I went to a movie and I turned off my phone. I forgot to turn it back on afterwards, and we went shopping." He felt guilty for not being careful and scaring his father so much.

"You don't need to apologize. I'm just glad you're safe. But it made me realize something. A dog is good and fine when you're at home, but you do go out. You have a social life. I don't want this man keeping you from enjoying your free time, but I also don't want you going out without someone there to protect you. You can't really bring Leon everywhere, but with another person there – someone trained to protect you – you're still safe, even when you're having fun."

It made the boy a bit uncomfortable knowing that someone would be following him everywhere he went, but smiled sardonically. He already had one person presumably following him. What was one more?

"Yeah, I guess you're right... Did you find any that you liked?" He looked down at the papers, turning a few over to get a better look at them.

"There were a few, actually." Darin pulled three pages from the stack and handed them to his son. "The first one is a military veteran. He lost a hand, but he's still highly trained and knows how to handle tense situations." The man in the photograph looked like he never slept, spent all his time at the gym, and ate cigars for all three meals.

"These pictures look like headshots," Clark smiled, looking over the pictures of the veteran.

"Unassuming bodyguards draw less attention."

"Hm," Clark said. He flipped to the next picture and Darin explained that the second man had been a professional wrestler at one point, but now that he was retired, he preferred a less physically demanding job. Clark recognized the man in the last picture. He was the one from outside.

"Who's he?"

"Nakota Locklear. Normally I would have passed on him, but his history is interesting."

"How do you mean?" Clark asked.

"He grew up in a lot of bad neighborhoods. Made it out, but ended up homeless somewhere in San Antonio." Darin paused and looked over the papers in front of him. For a moment, Clark was confused.

"So... that's it? Homeless?"

"No, sorry, I was fact-checking. It wasn't San Antonio, it was Burbank. Anyways, he has a record, but –"

"Like a criminal record? Dad, I don't think you know what you're doing." Clark could barely manage the idea of two guys silently sneaking behind him. The two of them both being criminals was where he had to draw the line.

"Would you just hear me out? He was arrested for third degree robbery. No violent past, no murder, nothing. It was a crime of necessity. And you know how I feel about that." Darin hadn't had the easiest childhood, and Clark knew from experience that the man was more than understanding when it came to others. If what this Nakota person said was true, he'd gotten into the good graces of his father. An ex-con that was looking to better himself and his future? It was the kind of story Darin loved to see.

"I don't know. Do what you think is right," he said with a shrug. As long as the person watching him wasn't someone obnoxious and knew how to handle stab-happy psychopaths, he was fine with whoever his parents picked out for him. Clark stood and stretched, grabbing his water and heading to the door.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me," Clark said. His father nodded.

"Love you."

"Love you, too." Clark grabbed the shopping bags and carried them upstairs, tossing them into a chair in the corner when he made it to his room. He closed the door and smiled at Leon. The dog blinked and crossed the room to sniff his hands. When he was done, he returned to the corner to lie down. Clark felt better. At least he wasn't completely ignoring him.

"You wanna be in a video, Leon? I've got some 'splainin to do." Clark grabbed his camera from his desk and set up his tripod. He flicked on one of the large lights and angled it so that he wouldn't blind his viewers with his skin. He considered changing but figured he was dressed cute enough. Once his hair was styled and his teeth were brushed, he climbed into bed and turned on the camera. He took a deep breath and looked up at it.

"Hey guys! So, you're probably wondering what the hell has been going on. I've been getting hundreds and hundreds of tweets, all asking how I'm doing, what went down last night, all of that kind of stuff. And to be completely candid, I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you. I mean, I can say that I was almost killed last night, but there's a police investigation for something else that happened, and I don't want to get into any legal trouble for talking about it.

"The simplest explanation is that someone broke into my house and tried to hurt me. I ended up scaring the man away, but I'm still really paranoid about the whole thing. I had to cut the stream short last night, obviously, so I didn't get to all of the packages, but I promise that I will later this week. I don't want any of you thinking I don't care about what you sent me, because it means the world. I'm gonna read some of your letters tonight, and I honestly can't wait." Clark glanced back at the letters on the nightstand. He kept them there in case he ever felt upset and needed some cheering up. There was something so warm about knowing that people out there cared about him and his wellbeing and that he could have such a big impact on their lives.

"I might need a week long break, but I promise you, whoever that man was, he's not going to keep me from you. You guys are my heart, and no matter how scared I am, I want you all to know that we're in this together, like High School Musical." He smiled at his own dumb joke. "Anyways, that's all for today. I plan on filming a few more things – even though my friend said to give it some time – so you guys need to be on the lookout next week. Big things are coming. That's all I've got for you guys today, thank you so much for watching. If you liked this video and wanna see more, hit that little subscribe button and be transported into a world not unlike your own. In the comments below, tell me your craziest story and how you handled it. Talk to you all later, peace!" He held up the peace sign for a moment, then dropped his hand and stopped recording.

"Phew."