Incendiary Hearts

Chapter Sixteen

"And it was so fucking awesome!" Jonathan laughed. "The chicks really dig firefighters, don't they?"

Mike scratched the back of his head, offering a small smile. "Yeah, it was," he agreed half-heartedly, not meaning it. Yesterday had meant differently to him. It hadn't been awesome how those girls had been after them like leeches all throughout the evening, dancing provocatively in front of them, and one of them accidentally spilling her drink on her shirt to make it see-through. But it had been life awakening. After three years of agony and fighting it, he'd finally come to a decision. He was going to tell Jonathan the truth. Today. Now, in fact. "Listen, there's something I want to talk to you about."

Jonathan pulled his work shirt over his head. "Yeah? What?" Michael's best friend for twenty years was looking back at him with curious eyes.

"Well, there's something I've been feeling for quite a while now, something rather serious, and it has to do with –"

The sudden, but familiar, beep resounded in the room.

"Perfect start to the day," Jonathan grinned as he efficiently jumped into the rest of his workwear and shoes, Michael not far behind as Jonathan started to jog over to the apparatus bay. They jumped inside the truck and left the station with lights on and sounds blaring.

"Okay, what we know so far, we have a fire on a two-floor apartment building. The first truck hasn't reached the scene yet, so we haven't been able to fully assess the situation, but from the sounds of it, it does not look good, lads. It's suspected that there's still people inside the building. However, the interior attack crew is almost there," the chief informed them while the truck took them to their target. The chief kept listening to updates on the intercom while Mike, Jonathan and the rest of the crew made themselves ready.

Apart from what many others might think, fires weren't the most common calls for them. It was mostly traffic accidents. And even though Michael was preparing mentally, his heart and mind was still very much on Kevin, and what he wanted to tell Jonathan. He just wanted to get the fire and the shift over and done with, so he could tell Jonathan what he'd kept on hold for so long. To put himself out of his own misery and take a chance at love before it was too late and Kevin had found someone else. Three years had already passed since their very special night together, and all Michael wanted was to have Kevin back in his arms, right where he belonged. But he couldn't do that, not without Jonathan's blessings. Jonathan, his best buddy, who was sitting beside him, practically bouncing with pent up energy, ready to face whatever would greet them. And what a sight it was. As the truck came to a stop, they rushed out, only to falter to a stop by the view that met them.

The fire had already taken over one fourth of the building, roaring and smashing windows as it went its way. It was burning through the smashed windows on the second floor, thunderous with its angry flames high up in the sky, lapping at anything it could get ahold of. It was a hurricane of a storm, a crescendo turning into a disaster. A whirlwind of people were running around, trying to solve the equation that only multiplied in its complexity for each passing second. And the heat. The heat was unexplainable. But Mike and Jonathan were thankfully used to the heat.

The crew turned to their chief, ready for any order directed their way. And the chief was quick to yell them. "There's too much gasses in the building for the attack crew to see well enough, so Kevin, Michael, and Sam you're venting the roof," he eventually ordered.

Michael, Sam and Kevin were quick to get the proper gear before climbing the ladder of the second truck on scene that had already pulled it out. They had done it a couple of times before, especially in practice, so even though they weren't veterans by any means, they knew what they were doing as they ascended the ladder.