Stardom

Fear and Friends

"Stay safe," I called after him as the door closed behind him and my mouth became uncomfortably dry.

I'd now got twenty-four hours to go until I'd see him again. Until I'd know if he was safe, and had made it through the day without harm. It was so much worse now for me. I'd worried before, back home when he was out on calls, but at least he wasn't right in the thick of the action, walking through flames and treading the line between life and death each shift. Now, whenever I heard sirens, my heart stopped dead in my chest, my blood ran ice cold and I prayed that he'd be safe. With our initial fight now patched up, I'd kept my fear to myself as much as I could. I didn't want us to fight again, especially given that, whether I liked it or not, he had switched jobs to be with me. Instead, I was throwing myself into more work, spending as little time as I could, stuck in the apartment counting down the minutes until I could relax and breathe once more.

I'd been to so many auditions now that I couldn't help but second guess if I'd ever find that breakout role. I'd barely had a handful of call-backs, and when I did get them, I was quickly cut from the list leaving me even more crushed than before. I was feeling more like a failure each day, at both the acting and my relationship. In fact, the only place that I was feeling like I had it all figured out, was the club. Dancing was now my rock. Each night that I stepped out onto that stage, I had a plan, I nailed it, and I walked out of there better off than when I started. The only downside was the tension that I still felt around Charlie.

Looking back at my half-eaten breakfast, my appetite dwindled away further until eventually, I gave up, scraping the food into the trash and wandering back to the bedroom to change.

I'd just finished making the bed when I heard a steady buzzing sound coming from nearby. Pretty sure that my phone was in my pocket, I patted myself down, locating my phone in the back of my jeans and quickly checking the screen. When it continued, I began to look around me, checking under the covers before slowly walking around the room attempting to locate it. After a few more seconds, it fell silent. Having found no plausible source, I was about to leave the room, when I spotted a lead hanging down by Ross's side of the bed, drawing closer, I spotted the loose end and below it, just hidden by the duvet, was his phone. Relieved that we hadn't been infested with a gang of killer wasps, I rolled my eyes and picked it up, unplugging the charger and throwing it into his drawer. I pressed the home button to check for damage and saw the message on the screen alerting me to a missed call from someone named Tucker.

"Looks like I have another stop to make," I muttered to myself, tucking his phone into my other pocket.

The drive to the firehouse was shorter than I'd imagined, and it was with great relief that I noted all of the appliances were present when I parked up outside. I could see the outlines of several people moving around inside, but I was too far away to see if any of them were Ross.

The heads of two men inside, turned my way as I approached, and when I neared the entrance, the nearest one made his way toward me, a flirtatious smirk in place on his handsome face, his grey eyes glinting in the bright sun.

"How can I help you, Miss?" He asked.

I caught the echo of a nearby snigger, and saw a man and woman, both wearing the same uniform as this guy, watching with equal parts interest and amusement at the guy's obvious flirting.

"Is Ross around?" I asked with a smile.

He tilted his head in thought, the others now drawing closer, stepping out of the shadows looking curious.

"Wait, are you-?" He began, just as a door to the right burst open, and Ross stepped through, eyes glued to a clipboard as he spoke:

"JJ did you star-" He stopped as he looked up and caught sight of me standing there, "Lena? What are you doing here?" He asked in surprise.

"You left your phone at home," I answered, pulling it from my pocket and holding it out to him.

"So that's the mystery solved," The first guy commented, patting Ross on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Ross whispered, taking the phone and kissing me sweetly on the lips.

"You're welcome," I smiled against his lips.

With a chuckle, Ross tucked me under his arm and gestured to the group.

"Lena, this is Tucker," Ross informed me, introducing the flirtatious guy who'd greeted me.

"Grayson Tucker, but everyone calls me Tuck or Tucker," He replied with a broad grin.

"Pleasure to meet you, Tucker," I responded shaking his outstretched hand.

"And these guys are, JJ," He gestured to the beautiful, blonde woman in front of me who greeted me with a warm hug, "And Mike."

"Nice to meet you," The guy smiled in welcome.

"You too."

The door on the other side opened, and a few others walked out onto the floor, mid-conversation.

"And these are our EMT's, Mira and Tyler," Ross continued.

"Aww, we have guests!" Mira said excitedly, finishing securing her long, black hair in a clip and bounding forward excitedly.

"Mira, Tyler, this is my girlfriend, Selena."

After some brief conversation, the team invited me inside for a tour. They all seemed really nice and were clearly a tight-knit group here at this station. Ross fitted in well, it was as if he'd been here for years, and I was glad to see that they'd taken to him so quickly, not that I was overly surprised, he'd always been a loveable guy, but it was somewhat reassuring to see how well they treated him. All too soon, the moment came to an end as a loud bell rang through the station, and everyone jumped to their feet. There were hurried goodbyes and various friendly pats on the shoulder as each of them dove past me, leaving only Ross trailing a step behind as he paused to kiss my cheek.

"I'll see you at home."

And just like that, he disappeared from sight, hopping into the truck as it sped out, lights flashing and sirens blazing, leaving me sicker than I felt when he'd left me behind at home.

"Come back to me," I whispered to myself.