Fighting Fire - s.k.

Chapter Five

The sound and smell of frying bacon woke Stevie up the next morning and she struggled to get her eyes open, feeling just as unrested as when she went to bed the night before. She groaned, not even wanting to think about starting her day. Considering Sam was obviously cooking downstairs, she wanted to make sure he didn't burn the place down.

So, Stevie rolled out of bed, pulling her hair up into a bun before putting on her slippers and heading down the stairs slowly. When she entered the kitchen, she saw Sam standing at the stove in his sweatpants, his hair up and whistling while he turned bacon in the pan.

"Good morning," Stevie croaked and Sam jumped, turning around, "Shit! You scared me! Good morning."

She chuckled at him and crossed her arms over her chest, "What are you doing?"

"I'm cooking," Sam said, "Isn't it obvious?"

"Where did you find that? All of the food here must be bad," Stevie said and Sam looked at her with wide eyes, "Um, it was awful. But, I cleaned it all out and went to the grocery store this morning."

"In your sweatpants without a shirt?" Stevie rose her eyebrows at him and he rolled his eyes, "No, dummy. I put a hoodie on but now I'm not in public so I can be as comfortable as I want."

"Within reason," Stevie shivered, "You did all of that just this morning?"

She glanced at the clock on the microwave and it read 1:32. She gasped, "It's not almost two o'clock in the afternoon, is it?"

"It is," Sam turned back to the bacon, taking it off the pan and shoveling it onto a paper towel lined plate, "So, yes, I did do all of that this morning."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Stevie groaned, "I hate sleeping the day away."

"You needed it," he said, taking the plate of bacon to the table, "But you're just in time for... well brunch I guess."

Stevie turned and looked at the table witnessing a full spread laid out on it. There was scrambled eggs, chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, fruit, yogurt and granola.

"Damn," Stevie said, "You did all of this?"

"No," Sam said, voice thick with sarcasm, "Rosie definitely cooked some of this too."

Stevie giggled and Sam couldn't help but smile, "The kitchen cleaning was very miniscule compared to what we have to do, so I figured starting with a good breakfast would be nice."

Stevie nodded and sat the table, "Very nice. Thank you."

Stevie was discovering more and more during this visit that seeing Sam in his adulthood was jarring. In her mind he had remained this sparkplug of a teenager and to see him be a whole person; cooking, cleaning, taking care of himself, taking care of Rosie, taking care of her, it was something that she wasn't expecting. 

"You're welcome," Sam nodded and sat across from her. Rosie found her spot beside him, resting her head on his knee, begging. He snuck her a piece of bacon and raised his finger up to his lips, "Shhh, don't tell anyone."

He looked at his dog with wide eyes and Stevie laughed quietly to herself, filling her plate. They sat and ate together, Stevie still struggling to wake up fully.

"How'd you sleep?" Sam asked and she shrugged, "Fine, I guess. I just feel so tired."

"That's fair," Sam nodded, "You've been through a lot this week. I haven't necessarily helped in that."

She scoffed and nodded, "Ya think?"

He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes, "I mean, you haven't been much help in my sake either."