better version ; fletcher

florida

"baby your phones ringing" i hear from beside me, cari shaking my arm. i open my eyes and stretch my arms out, looking around the room
in confusion. baby?

i grab my phone from beside me and answer it without checking the caller ID. "hello" i say, my voice tired and raspy. "oh shit really" i exclaim.
"what's wrong?" cari asks as i sit up and run my hand through my hair.

"grab your phone and put the news on" i say to her quietly which she does instantly. i lean into her seeing a severe hurricane warning for florida, coming right over where my mom and stepdad live. i put my phone on loud speaker, "ok mom, did you get everything you needed?" i ask her, hearing all the kids panicking in the background.

"we are about 6 hours away from new york now, we left yesterday evening" mom says. "ok just come to my apartment, i'm sure we can sort something out for where you can all stay" i tell her.

"okay, i better go because our phones don't have much battery" she says and ends the call quickly. i look at my phone seeing it's 4am, they won't get here until probably 12. cari watches her phone intently as the hurricane map is shown on the news. she looks at me and switches it off, "hey come on let's go back to sleep, there's no point worrying we can't do anything from here. but your family can stay for as long as they need when they get here" cari says to me.

i lie back down and turn on my side, cari spoons me from behind, holding me tight.

//
a couple hours later i wake up again, looking around my room, no sign of cari anymore. i force myself out of bed and make my way into the living room, where i see her and alex dancing around the kitchen to some music whilst cleaning everywhere up. "are you guys ok?" i ask, laughing at them both as i sit down on the couch and turn the news on the tv.

"good morning, cari informed me on what is going on. your family will be here soon so we figured that we would clean up the apartment for them. reggie said that after tonight they can move into his apartment for however long they need and he will stay here with us" alex explains to me.

"is he sure? that's so nice of him" i say to her and she instantly nods, both of them putting away some new glasses i'm guessing they bought this morning. cari walks over and sits beside me, her eyes on me as i watch the news.

"it looks bad, that's right by my moms house" i say, seeing all the floods, people's houses destroyed. cari puts her hand on my leg and rubs it gently.

the doorbell rings and i instantly shoot up and run to the door. i unlock it and open it, seeing my mom and my siblings stood there, my stepdad in the back. i jump into my moms arms and hug her tightly, seeing her looking absolutely drained and exhausted.

i lead them all inside and help them with their things, putting them in the middle of the living room. "guys, these are two of my housemates cari and alex" i say introducing them.

"this is my mom, my stepdad martin. my twin brothers oscar and ollie. my 14 year old brother jacob and my sister molly" i say, pointing them all out. they all shake hands and give small little hugs before alex takes them on a tour of the apartment. cari takes my hand and spins me around to face her, she puts her hands on the sides of my neck. "you can stay with me in my room tonight if you'd like give them your room?" she asks, running her thumb up and down gently.

"thank you cari" i say to her, she smiles.
"are you good?" she asks and i nod. "i'm ok, just a little stressed" i explain. she leads in and places a long kiss on my forehead, her lips lingering there for a while.

my moms going to be in new york when my dad gets released from jail and she still has know idea i know about him. cari let's go of me once we notice my little brother oscar come run into the room, with his blonde wavy hair like my moms. "how are you little guy" i say, picking him up and giving him a small hug.

"sad" he tells me, his dinosaur teddy in his right hand. "why?" i ask, seeing his little sad face.

"because my toys are all gone at home and my bedroom" he explains, rubbing his tired eyes. i look to cari and pull a sad face at her, sticking out my bottom lip as i hug him again.

"i have an idea, what is you and your brothers favourite food in the world?" cari asks him, tickling under his chin making him laugh instantly. "mcdonalds and ice-cream" he says says to her shyly.

"ok so how about, me, you and your sister go in my car to mcdonald's and get everyone something, will that cheer you up?" cari asks him and he nods instantly, getting excited. she looks at me and smiles, getting my approval. "let's go then" i say, putting him down on the floor.

i grab a piece of paper and a pen and hand it around to everyone for them to write down their orders. whilst they do that, i quickly change into a hoodie which matches with the sweatpants i'm wearing already. martin has already put the twins car seats in the car for us.

"let's go" cari says to oscar, who takes hold of cari's hand and follows her out the door, whilst me and ollie walk behind. i watch them both with a big smile on my face as he rambles onto her about his favourite type of dinosaur.

she picks him up and puts him in his car seat as i sort ollie out in his. "em how do i fasten this?" she asks, laughing to herself. i close the door and run over to that side, squeezing next to her and showing her how it works. she slaps herself on the forehead and laughs as soon as she realises how easy it is.

i get into the front passenger seat and fasten my seatbelt, watching cari mess around with the radio. "are you two girlfriends?" ollie yells out making me nearly choke on my own air. i look at the girl beside me who is also laughing.

"no we're not" i say, turning around to look at them as cari drives out of the car park. "do you think we should be?" cari asks, looking at them through the mirror.

"yeah, i like you. you like dinosaurs" he says to her. "wow i had no idea you like them, tell us a dinosaur fact cari?" i say, looking towards her. she widens her eyes and shakes her head at me.

"oh erm, they are very big" she says as we stop at some traffic lights. i instantly burst out laughing hysterically, grabbing hold of her arm whilst i laugh. she smiles and bites her lip, turning a right into the mcdonald's drive through. there's something about cari driving that's so hot and i have no idea what it is. "ok, pass me the list" she says and i hand her the piece of paper.

the pulls up and reads out the order checking it's all right. we drive up to the window to pick it up, a guy stood there smiling at us. "your fletcher right?" he asks, looking shocked. cari nods and sends him a smile. "me and my boyfriend love your music, the new album is amazing" he says whilst handing us the drinks.

cari passes them too me and i hold them on my lap. "thank you so much" she says to him, grabbing the bag of food. "don't worry about paying" he says giving us the thumbs up to go.

"wait are you sure?" cari asks and he nods. "ok we'll keep this for yourself then" she adds, handing him some money and then giving his hand a little squeeze. they say their goodbyes and cari drives out of mcdonald's, making our way back to our apartment.

"i don't think i've paid for one meal i've had since i've been in new york because you won't let me" i say to cari who shrugs her shoulders. "good" she says, with her little flirty grin.

////
i literally started this chapters a couple of days ago and just saw the news about the hurricane in florida. i hope everyone is safe, sending love to all of you. hopefully this spreads awareness so people can donate and help in whatever way they can.