Beretta (MC#1)

Chapter 27- Him

Blaze

Hot blazing air warms the tips of my ears as we arrive at the scene. Ambulances, paramedics, firefighters and- you guessed it- police swarm the place. Red and blue lights overwhelm the place but above them the orange flames still wave defiantly.

I turn to Rose who stares into the flame with an intensity that puts the fire to shame. Her hair fly behind her with the wind as she walks forward. And then I realize it, she's walking towards the flames. Somewhere I can't go after her- I'd rather have my skin peeled off while I'm still alive than to go any closer to the flames.

"Rose, Rose!", I jog after her and pull her elbow to stop her. "Darling, where are you going?"

"My- my stuff. Clothes and diaries and books-", she rushes out looking at the ground, eyes wide and a simple frown marring her features as if she herself doesn't understand what she's saying.

"Look at me. Look at me, Rose", I tip up her chin and she meets my eyes. "Take a breath. Yes, good. Your life is way more important than everything inside", I pull her into me when I realize she's shivering despite the hot currents still around us. "You understand that, darling? We'll buy new clothes, new diaries and a shit ton of books. I'm just thankful you weren't in there. Got it?", she nods against my shoulder as the ground shakes in sync with the rumble of Harleys heading our way.

I hug her tighter while behind us the fire has been extinguished. People are being escorted in ambulances but there have been no confirmation of the number of casualties and the injured. 

The bikes park in front of us and the Prez gets off his bike first followed by- oh my god- the whole fucking club. Even Don stands alert behind Prez. And Raven is helped off the back of Prez's bike by Harlow as they all rush towards us.

"Are you both hurt?"

"No, we're good", I answer Prez as he looks worriedly at his sister who still has her face in the crook of my neck. I can feel her eyelashes caressing my neck gently as she blinks. But I understand her. "We're just gonna head home. Can you deal with the detective? She's is no position to give any statements", Prez nods at that and pats his sister on the head before going to meet the police officers heading our way.

Then I lead Rose by her hand towards my bike. She stares at our locked hands and nowhere else. Not at Raven as she gently squeezes her shoulder or at Harlow as she pats her arm. Not even at Psycho who looks at her worriedly then silently conveys his message to me when she doesn't look up. You better take care of her.

"Come on, darling. Let's get you out of here"

A half an hour ride to the clubhouse later, Rose is much more responsive and thank god for that. I silently cheer when she actually nods when I tell her she can go shower while I arrange clothes for her.

I look through my wardrobe to find old boxers and a cotton shirt bound to be oversized on her. Moments later she emerges from the bathroom with a towel around her and god damn. I try to control myself because this is not the fucking time to check out how hot she looks with her damp hair and long bare legs, not while she's devastated after watching her home burn.

"Here", I pass her the clothes and she takes them with a small 'thanks'. "I'll- uh, go get some- some food. Yeah?"

Some minutes later I walk in after knocking on my own door. Two bowls of steaming noodles in my hand. She sits up on my bed still under the blankets and stares.

 God, I'm so fucking stupid. What if she doesn't even like noodles. I should've asked. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Sorry, I- that's all I know how to cook. I can get you something el-"

"No, no, it's perfect, Blaze", she gets up and takes one of the bowls from me. "Come, sit", and pulls me to sit down on the carpet with her.

"How do you feel?", I ask cautiously after a while. Noticing her fingers tighten on her fork I wonder if I shouldn't ha-

"Much better now", she looks at me with genuine gratitude. "Thanks for everything. For getting me out of there when I blanked out like an idi-"

"It was a normal reaction, Rose, don't blame yourself. And there's no need to thank me", I tell her quietly after swallowing my noodles. She looks out the window at the passing traffic almost in awe.

"You have a really nice view from here. Do you have the best room in the clubhouse?", she turns to me and I ignore the fast topic change to answer her because she needs this.

"Yeah, I checked out all the rooms and this one had the best view" , and really it does have a nice view because after that we're both staring at the sun peaking from behind the mountains as the road beneath us remain ever busy with a heavy flow of traffic.

Later, she sits in between my legs and leans back into my chest while I sit against the bed leaving occasional comforting kisses on her forehead as we both stare out the window. By the time she's asleep my legs refuse to cooperate, and it take a while for them to be functional enough for me to get her in bed.

"Stay", she mumbles when I move to lay on the small sofa and just like that, we're both cuddling in bed. I'm just happy the night has passed, and she won't be disturbed by my screams as I witness another painful memory with flames the color of her hair eating up my father's face. 

A/N:

That got dark super quick don't you think? 

Anyway, Happy Reading!

Love, Jare.