F | Girl On Fire (Station 19)

SIX

An hour later, Travis is pulling up in front of Station 19. He gets out of his car with Brooklyn and they both walk up the driveway and into the station.

'Are you sure that your captain is okay with me being here?' Brooklyn asks Travis.

'Yeah.' Travis nods. 'You're staying for lunch, right?'

'Yeah.' Brooklyn nods. 'Karen and Mason don't finish work until about 5 or 6 tonight.'

'Great.' Travis grins. He looks at his watch. 'I better get started on some lunch. Come on.' They both walk up the stairs and to the kitchen. Brooklyn sits down at the table whilst Travis starts preparing the lunch. Brooklyn gets her phone out and starts scrolling through Instagram. A few minutes later, Maya walks into the kitchen.

'Hey, Montgomery.' She grins.

'Hey.' Travis smiles back.

'Hey, Brooklyn.' Maya stands at the table. Brooklyn looks up at her.

'Hi.' Brooklyn smiles.

'Mind if I sit?' Maya asks.

'It's your fire station.' Brooklyn points to the empty chair. Maya sits down.

'How are you feeling?' Maya questions.

'Good.' Brooklyn nods. 'Sore, but good.'

'That's good to hear.' Maya nods. 'When did you start running?'

'Oh, boy.' Travis sighs.

'What?' Maya looks back at Travis.

'Prepare for her to go into major fangirl mode.' Travis tells her. Maya looks back at Brooklyn for clarification.

'It was after I saw you run in the Olympics.' Brooklyn tells her. 'You inspired me to start running.' Maya smiles. 'How you ran on a sprained ankle made me realise that being socially awkward wasn't a good reason for backing out of taking up running.' Maya laughs. 'Trav and our parents took me out shopping the day after you ran to get me some running gear.'

'That's really sweet.' Maya smiles. She then looks at Travis. 'What was "major fangirl mode" about that?' She asks him.

'See, Trav, I can keep my cool.' Brooklyn raises her eyebrows at him. Instead of replying he sticks his tongue out at her and she also sticks her tongue out causing Maya to laugh.

'C'mon,' Maya looks at Brooklyn, 'we can go into the common room and I can give you some running tips without distracting your brother.' They both stand up.

'No sharing embarrassing stories!' Travis points at Brooklyn.

'No promises.' Brooklyn smirks before following Maya to the common room.

When they walk into the common room, they both sit on the sofa.

'You and Travis seem to have a really good relationship.' Maya points out.

'We do.' Brooklyn nods. 'Although he does enjoy being the overprotective brother.' She adds, laughing.

'I bet he does.' Maya also laughs. 'Anyways, I said that I'd give you some running tips. Some of these worked for me but-'

'Everyone's different.' Brooklyn finishes.

'Yeah.' Maya nods. She then goes on to give Brooklyn her own running advice: don't run on an empty stomach, always stretch before and after, take a bottle of water with you, don't push yourself to do more than you can handle, start off slow, if you start to feel tightness in your muscles stop running and stretch and do some weight training as well. 'As I said, some of these might not work for you, but give them a try and see what works best for you.'