Slow Burn | HS

don't let the flame burn out

February 2017

Once again, Joelle and Mia find themselves surrounded by people in Liam and Mara's tiny apartment. Mia drinks from a dark bottle of Blue Moon, while jo makes herself comfortable with a vodka Diet Coke. Music plays softly in the background, a soft rock melody with lots of strings and careful bass. Voices fill the apartment to the brim. She recognizes a few familiar faces, and of course Mara, Niall, and Louis are all in attendance. She spots a few people that were at the dinner gathering the Payne's hosted a few weeks prior, as well as a few firefighters she remembers seeing when she went to the station's winter carnival.

A text from Liam to Mara indicates that Liam will soon be arriving with the guest of honor in tow. There's a big birthday cake, vanilla with chocolate frosting, apparently his favorite. Twelve boxes of pizza form a wall on the kitchen table. At first, Joelle thought that was overkill, but with the way that some of the guys from the station are hastily finishing the boxes one by one, she decides it's the perfect amount.

"Okay everyone, they're making their way up the stairs!" Mara says to everyone. "Get into position." At Mara's instruction, people scatter throughout the open-concept of the apartment, taking advantage of the fact that it's basically just one large room with the exception of the kitchen which is separated by an arched doorway. No one is able to hide, given the limited amount of concealed areas of the apartment, so Mara settles for turning off all the lights while another person quickly kills the music.

Joelle and Mia are standing in the living room, not quite close to the door but not hidden away in the back either. Everyone faces the door, a stripe of light from the hallway visible in the small gab between the bottom of the door and the floor. Jo finds herself holding her breath in anticipation, and the room becomes absolutely silent when two shadows appear in front of the door. Two feet.

The door unlocks with a click and the light from the hallway filters into the room. Joelle recognizes the silhouette of the birthday boy due to his curly hair, and she figures that he leads the way while Liam is the second to enter.

"Why are all the lights off? Is Mara not—"

"SURPRISE!"

With the flick of the lights brings a wall sound, every voice in the room shouting the same single word in greeting, effectively cutting Harry off mid-sentence. His face changes from a startled look at the abrupt noise to a bashful grin once he registers all of the faces beaming at him. He glances back to Liam, who's laughing at Harry's reaction. Harry gives him a playful shove in response, shaking his head at him. Mara is already on her way over to greet them, a bottle of beer freshly opened and ready for Harry. Music begins again, and Harry thanks Mara as she hands him the bottle and smiles when she pulls him down to smack a kiss on his cheek.

Joelle's eyes remain following his form as he begins to greet the guests the immediately surround him. He's dressed casually today, clad in a red flannel and a pair of black jeans. Familiar boots cover his feet. Letting her eyes trace the lines of his shoulders, Joelle decides that she loves the color red on him.

Mia fixes Joelle with a look from where she stands at her side. "You're absolutely fucked."

Turning, Joelle asks, "What do you mean?"

Mia takes a sig from her beer bottle and couples it with an eye roll. "You are so into him. Go over there and say hi."

Joelle is unimpressed with this suggestion. She isn't the type to cross a room full of people and go straight up to the focus of their attention to say, "Hi," and Mia knows this. Joelle would much rather wait for the initial hurrah of "Happy birthday, Harry,"and "Good to see you, man," to dissipate before she approaches him. She'll wait until he has settled, had a few sips of beer, and, is not so much the immediate focus of attention before she makes her way over to him.