All Over Again- Sequel to I'm Not Fine At All

Chapter 31

"Harry, please tell me that you're done. This apartment is cold as shit and my balls are about to freeze off," Liam called from Harry's kitchen, hopping around to keep the blood flowing through his legs. Harry opened the door to his bedroom a moment later, dressed in a horrid sweater decorated with cherubic angels carrying presents.

"What do you think? Perfect for a firehouse Christmas party?" Liam sighed and his eyebrows rose as he looked over Harry's outfit.

"It's definitely...something. You ready to go?" Harry nodded and pulled his coat and bag from the rack by the door. The two left the apartment, Harry locking it behind them, and they went down the stairs to Liam's car. Liam opened Harry's car door for him and then got in on his own side. He turned the car on and Harry fiddled with the radio as they headed to the firehouse on the other side of Doncaster.

When they arrived, the small firehouse was popping. Christmas music blasted through the speakers outside of the building, Christmas lights decorated one of the firetrucks in the parking lot, and a few couples were making out under the small bundles of mistletoe hanging down from the gutters.

"Now remember, Harry. You stay close to me. I don't need you running off and dancing with some guy that you barely know."

"Don't you trust me, Liam?" Harry pouted.

"No, I really don't. Now please, be good for me. I don't have the energy to deal with you being drunk. Watch what you drink. The punch is generally spiked, so I'd stick to bottled soda. Okay?"

"Fine," Harry said, rolling his eyes as he got out of the car. Liam followed him and kept a tight grip on his elbow as they walked into the building.

The inside of the firehouse was beautifully decorated for the holiday season. Christmas lights covered every surface, the fireman's pole was wrapped in tinsel, all of the lockers had pinups of Santa, reindeer, and elves, and the garage had been turned into a makeshift bar, loaded up with holiday cocktail menus and cheery people in Santa hats. Harry took a Santa hat from a man standing at the door and put it on his head, walking with Liam further into the main room. A few people turned to see who had just arrived and Liam waved at some of his colleagues.

"Hey, mate, who's this lovely arm candy?" A man in a bright red sweater asked as he clapped a hand on Liam's shoulder. Liam gave him a tight-lipped smile and pulled Harry a bit closer to him.

"Greg, this my little brother, Harry. Harry, this is Greg, one of our newest recruits to the team." Greg grinned and reached a hand toward Harry, shaking it enthusiastically.

"So you're the famous Harry, huh? Liam adores you, talks about you non-stop. Says you're a great teacher."

"It's nice to meet you, Greg. I'm glad to finally meet Liam's coworkers."

"Would you boys like some drinks? There's punch, cocktails, beer. I will say, Emerson makes a mean Manhattan."

"Thank you, Greg, but I've been told by Liam I'm not allowed to drink tonight. He doesn't trust me around all of these fit firefighters."

"Well, if I'm being honest, I shouldn't be trusted around you, but here I am." Greg tried to put an arm around Harry's shoulder but Liam pulled him away, giving Greg a sharp look.

"Greg, leave him alone." Greg stuck his tongue out at Liam but backed off.

"Come on, mate. Loosen up. It's Christmas. Here, I'll go grab you a beer and you give Harry a tour of the place, alright?" Liam nodded and dragged Harry to the other side of the room, taking him to a small circle of people.

"Hey, guys, how's it going?" Liam asked, smiling at the group. A few gave nods and one of the women enveloped Liam in a hug.

"Hey, Payne, haven't seen you for a while here. Who's this?" She gestured to Harry.

"Evelyn, this is Harry. Harry, this is my old partner, Evelyn." Evelyn shook Harry's hand and Harry gave her a sweet smile.

"I didn't know firefighters had partners. I thought that was just police." Evelyn chuckled.

"Normally firefighters don't really have partners but Payne here was a scaredy-cat and he refused to go into a place without someone by his side. So, they put him with me, and then he jumped through the ranks and left me down at the middle tier. Now he has a desk and an office and I have a locker that I share with a newbie."

"Don't be jealous that the chief likes me more than he likes you."

"The chief loves me, Payne. That's why he keeps me on call. You, however, he does not like that much. That's why he puts you behind a desk. You don't get much action behind a desk." She winked at Harry and leaned in to him. "He likes to pretend that he's the big man here but we all know that's me." Harry laughed and nodded but he felt tense. He sensed there was something between Liam and Evelyn.

"So, um, do you all know Marie?" He prompted, hoping to get some kind of negative reaction out of Evelyn, but she only smiled and nodded. Liam, however, tensed and his expression became stony.

"Yes, I have. Wonderful girl, wonderful girl. Liam got himself a real catch." Liam just nodded and cleared his throat.

"Enough about me, why don't we all go see Greg about those drinks, Haz?" Harry frowned.

"Hold on, Li. I haven't even gotten to know these other people yet. I'm sure Greg can find us, it's not a big building."

"Haz, you said you would be on your best behavior this evening," Liam whispered, giving Harry a sharp look.

"I know, but you're being very rude to your friends. What is your problem?"

"I don't have a problem. Just...can you please not bring up Marie around Evelyn? I'd rather her not talk about Marie."

"Why? Please don't tell me you're cheating on Marie with Evelyn because I swear to God I will rip your testacles off and-"

"I'm not cheating on Marie. Why would you think I'm cheating on Marie? Do you really think I would do something like that?"

"I don't know, you're just being really weird. Why don't you like Evelyn? She seems sweet."

"I don't not like her." Liam took a long pause. "Marie and Evelyn used to date, back in college. They were seriously in love. They broke up right before I started working here. Marie and Evelyn are totally cool about it, but I like to keep my personal life and my work life separate. Their history makes it hard to keep things separate."

"I don't think you should be jealous. Evelyn seems like a nice girl. I can't believe you're taking her friendship for granted."

"I'm not taking her friendship for granted. And I'm not jealous. Now come on, let's go see where Greg is with those drinks." Liam took Harry's arm and dragged Harry over to the bar, away from any other possible awkward encounters.