Reasons To Stay; Sapnap x OC

Chapter 3

"Fuck him!" I shouted, watching the flames rise and flicker, the black smoke curling towards the sky in ominous tendrils.

I opened the back of the photo frame, taking the glossy picture out. I didn't bother being careful, crumpling the photo in my hand as I removed it. Setting the frame gently down with the others I examined the photo. The one I had seen just a week prior, myself on Liam's shoulders.

"Fuck him!" I repeated, but louder, as I threw the photo into the fire, watching it burn.

Nick stood beside me, throwing another one in, letting out a cheer.

The fire crackled and thrived as we burned more photos of myself and Liam together, or any of Liam in general. The fire illuminated the trees around us, casting shadows. 

“Wait here,” I say to Nick, before running into the apartment building, up the stairs to my apartment.

I tore into my closet, finding the hoodie Liam had made me for our half a year anniversary. It had two L’s monogrammed in the center, under it in small text ‘Leah & Liam’. The sweater itself was a sage green and pretty thin. I threw it over my shoulder and began my descent back to the bonfire.

Nick wanted to see the sweater before I threw it in, and he handed it back to me with an ew. I took the hoodie, and threw it into the fire. The flames grew tall at the sudden fuel and I grabbed Nick’s arm and took a step back.
We waited for them to die down, but they didn’t. Huge, tall flames lashed out from all angles.

My eyes landed on the fire extinguisher 30 feet in front of me, but running to it required running past the raging, unpredictable fire. 

I let go of Nick’s arm before running towards it, trying to dodge the unpredictable flames. I barely missed one, and was able to feel the heat as it passed my ear. 

“Leah!” Shouted Nick. I wanted to look back, to turn back but I couldn’t bring myself to.

I jumped as a flame lashed out at me, I hit the ground with a small grunt escaping my lips, rolling next to the extinguisher. I grabbed it and jumped to my feet, as I did the flames only grew higher. 

I steadied my feet, before using it, foam shooting out at the flames. I aimed for the bottom, and seconds passed before the flames went away completely. 
 
A sigh of relief passed my lips, and the suffocating blackness of the night swallowed us again. I found my way back to the small area where the fire was lit, happy to find that nothing of what we had burned remained, all that was left was ashes. 

Nick had whispered my name, and I found myself running towards him. “Please don't do that again,”  He whispered as he pulled me into a hug.

“I won’t have to,” I responded, knowing I probably wouldn’t be starting any more fires anytime soon.

Nick’s chin was resting comfortably on the top of my head, and his hand came up to start stroking my hair. My right arm was resting on his shoulder, my head facing the woods, eyes closed. My left hand reached down to find his hand, and we laced our fingers together. 

“Tomorrow I’m taking you for a day out, you deserve it” He whispered, still stroking my hair. His chest smelled like faint smoke, and I'm sure I did too.

“Thank you, I'll pick you up tomorrow,” I say.

“No, i’m picking you up,” 

“Fine,” I sighed.

We broke apart, and I noticed we were still holding hands as we walked towards the parking lot, but I didn’t dare mention it. His touch was always gentle, despite his muscular, tough-looking beautiful build. It was something you wouldn’t expect.