Fighting Fire - s.k.

Chapter One

It was around eleven o'clock on a chilly evening in late April when Stevie's nightly reading routine was interrupted by a knock at the door. She doesn't usually have any visitors, especially at this hour, so she was hesitant to even go to the door. However, when the knocking happened again, she got off the couch and shuffled her feet into her slippers, hurrying to see who was there. When she peeped through the peephole, she audibly gasped seeing her childhood best friend standing on her doorstep.

Stevie hadn't seen him in over a year at this point and was usually well aware when he and his brothers came back into town from their lavish rockstar life. This time, he was here unannounced and she knew that was very unlike him. Immediately, she undid the locks and threw the door open to find a wide grin across Jake's face and his long, tangled hair hugging his shoulders.

"Jake!" she exclaimed before tackling him in a hug, "You're back!"

"Surprise!" Jake chuckled, wrapping his arms around her, and lifting her a bit.

His clothes were cold to the touch and she rubbed her hands against his back, excitedly. Once her feet were planted back on the ground, she let him go and ushered him through the front door in a rush to keep the chill out.

"Come in! Come in!" She locked the door and led them to the living room, turning the lights on and settling on the couch next to each other.

"I didn't even know you were coming to town!" Stevie sighed, still smiling so big it was starting to hurt.

"I really didn't know until a couple of days ago myself," Jake laughed, "But I just got in and wanted to see you right away!"

"Probably because if I found out you were here from someone else, I would kill you," she laughed, "What brings you home?"

Jake rubbed his hands together, still trying to warm up and he furrowed his eyebrows before smiling shyly, "Stuff."

"Wait a minute," Stevie ran her hand through her hair, "Aren't you supposed to be on tour? What happened?"

Jake rubbed his face with one hand and shrugged, "It's not exactly my place to say. Some family stuff I guess."

Stevie scooted closer to him, concerned, "Is everyone okay? Did something happen?"

Jake nodded, patting her on the leg, and smiling, "Yes! Everyone is okay! It's something to do with Sam but I can spare you the details. Everyone is healthy and okay!"

Stevie sighed and clutched her chest, "Oh my gosh! You scared the hell out of me!"

"Enough about that," Jake laughed nervously, "How are you? Sorry to show up so late!"

"I'm glad you're here," Stevie smiled, "I've missed you! Will you be staying for long?"

Jake nodded, "Well, we aren't entirely sure yet. Not until we kind of grasp our situation."

She studied his face, knowing he was doing his best to dance around the subject. Jake was never particularly vulnerable and neither was Stevie. They bonded quickly over their natural invertedness when they were young and stayed close ever since.

In high school, Jake was naturally popular, playing soccer and such. However, since Stevie was a writer, she was constantly working on fun little projects with Josh, Jake, and Ronnie outside of school. While they ran in different crowds, Stevie and Jake just always understood each other on a deeper level.

He was popular. Everyone loved Jake, but he never made anything about himself, always knowing how to keep things fun and light-hearted without ever having to be transparent with people about heavier things. She knew him better than she knew anyone and because of this, she was prone to picking up on when a topic needed to stay where it was without any further prying or investigation, so she nodded.