- 21 minutes ago
My Hot Firefighter Ex-Boyfriend Episode ENGSUB Second Chance Romance ARS
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Short filmTranscript
00:00So my ex just kicked down my bedroom door. I'm handcuffed to my own bed frame, wearing a black
00:06lease slip that barely covers my ass. Three firefighters are staring at me. Let me back up
00:1230 minutes. I bought pink fluffy handcuffs off Amazon last Tuesday. Don't judge me. I'm 26 and
00:17single. A girl gets curious. Tonight was supposed to be wine, candles, and a little me time.
00:30Then the little release pin slipped through the crack between my mattress and the wall.
00:35I tried for 20 straight minutes. My fingers couldn't reach the gap. My wrists were turning
00:40purple. Looked cute on TikTok. Turns out the fluffy part hides actual steel. Like real steel. I scooted
00:46my phone over with my chin and hit speaker. 911, what's your emergency? I panicked. I'm chained up.
00:54I can't get out. My hands are going numb. I think I'm losing circulation. Please send
00:59somebody. Ma'am, I'm dispatching fire rest to your location. Stay on the line. I should
01:05have explained it was a sex toy situation. I was hyperventilating. My hands were turning
01:11blue. I was hoping a narcliffe would show up. Then I heard the sirens. They got louder.
01:17Then they were right outside my window. I heard boots running up the stairs. One kick and my
01:23front door was open. Fire rescue. Anyone home? Three guys in full turno gear flooded down
01:29my hallway. I tried to scream stop. Nothing came out. They burst into my bedroom. The captain
01:35pushed to the front. I stopped breathing. It was Liam. My ex-boyfriend. The man I broke
01:42up with three years ago. He was standing in my bedroom. Staring at me. And I was just laying
01:49there. Dress up. Hands up. Everything. Knees apart because that was the only way the cuffs
01:54didn't pull. The rookie behind him made a strangled sound. He spun toward the wall so
02:04fast his helmet almost flew off. Oh god. Oh god. Captain, I'm sorry. I didn't, uh, sir,
02:10these are novelty cuffs. There's no keyhole. We're gonna need the heavy-duty bolt cutters
02:13from the rig. Liam didn't acknowledge him. Liam didn't even blink. He just kept staring
02:19at me. Like he was trying to figure out what he was looking at. Three years ago, he used to
02:23look at me like I was his whole world. Right now? He looked pissed. Like, really pissed.
02:29Everyone out. His voice came out low and flat. The rookie froze. Sir, protocol says we maintain
02:35a two-person- Tyler. Out. Nobody argued. Tyler practically ran. The other two followed with their
02:41eyes glued to the floor. The bedroom door clicked shut. And then it was just us. My heartbeat was so
02:47loud I could feel it in my teeth. Liam pulled the bolt cutters off his belt. He set them down
02:51on my
02:51nightstand. He didn't move toward my wrists. He put one knee on the mattress instead. The bed sank.
02:57I literally slid toward him. My strap fell off my shoulder. I tried to shrug it back up. Couldn't.
03:04The cusses held my arms in place. His eyes tracked the strap. Then my collarbone. Then lower. He didn't
03:11reach for the cusses. He reached for me. Then he looked at my thighs and I felt it. Physically. Like
03:20he'd
03:20touch me. His hand wrapped around my ankle. His hand was so hot. And rough. Firefighter hands,
03:28you know? I got goosebumps everywhere. Like, everywhere. My thighs clenched together on
03:34instinct. Because I knew that hand. I knew exactly what that hand could do. That hand used to be on
03:42me every single night. My body reacted before my brain even processed it. He felt it. His thumb
03:49dragged a slow circle on the bone of my ankle. My breath hitched. Out loud. The corner of his mouth
03:55twitched. He heard it. Liam, what are you doing? He didn't answer. He leaned over me. His mouth went
04:05to my ear. His chest brushed mine through the lace. My back arched off the mattress without my permission.
04:12Then his hand started sliding up my calf. Up the inside of my knee. He stopped right above my knee
04:19and just
04:19left his hand there. Burning a hole through me. So where is he? His voice scraped against my eardrum.
04:29Your hookup? Tinder match? Whatever. He chained you up and bounced?
04:38Real stand-up dude. I'd love to meet him. Every word hurt. I wasn't scared of him. I was guilty.
04:46So guilty I couldn't speak. He thought there was another man. And I had no idea how to tell him
04:52the truth.
04:54Liam picked the bolt cutters back up. Cold steel pressed against the soft skin on the inside of my wrist.
05:00I sucked in a breath. His hands were rock steady. This guy pulls people out of car crashes for a
05:08living. He talked a jumper down off the 17th floor last spring. His hands don't shake. He was
05:14clenching his jaw so hard it looked like it hurt. I asked you a question, Chloe. His voice was dead
05:18quiet. Did you use protection? My brain stalled. Protection? Like a safety release on the cuffs?
05:24Did Amazon sell something I missed? I was panicking. I spit out the truth. No, I didn't. Wrong answer.
05:32Wrong, wrong, wrong answer. Liam froze. Completely froze. His knuckles went white around the bolt
05:37cutters. Then he snapped the chain. The metal cracked so loud it made my ears ring. A piece
05:43of the broken link ricocheted and sliced across his knuckle. Blood started dripping down his fingers
05:48onto my sheets. Liam, you're bleeding. Your hand! Don't. He threw the bolt cutters on the floor
05:55with a thud. My wrists were finally free. I scrambled back against the headboard and yanked
06:02the duvet up to my chin. Okay, thank you for the rescue. You can leave now. My voice was somewhere
06:08between a squeak and a sob. I really appreciate the response time. Tell the department I said thanks.
06:13Bye. Liam didn't move. He stood up. He turned his back to me. And he started unbuckling his turno
06:19coat. What are you doing, Liam? Hello? The heavy coat dropped off his shoulders. He had on a black
06:28compression shirt soaked through with sweat. You could see every muscle in his back. I just stopped.
06:32Like, brain stopped. He grabbed the chair from my vanity, walked it across the room, wedged it under
06:37the doorknob. He sat down, knees wide, elbows on his thighs, bloody hand dripping onto my floor.
06:43He didn't even look at it. I have to file an incident report. His tone was pure venom.
06:48So walk me through it, ma'am. Start to finish. When did he get here? How long was he here?
06:55What position were you in when he left? Take your time. Be specific.
06:59My nails dug into my palms. This was revenge. He'd been holding this in a long time and now I
07:04was
07:04going to pay for all of it. He didn't bandage his hand. He didn't even glance at it. He was
07:08100% locked in on me. I snapped. Are you insane? I sat up with the dupe still wrapped around
07:15me and
07:15screamed it at him. There is no guy. There was never a guy. Get the hell out of my apartment.
07:21This is my house, Liam. You don't get to do this. He didn't flinch. His mouth pulled into a slow
07:28smile with no warmth in it. No guy. So you cuffed yourself. To your own bed. Dressed like that.
07:37And then he stood up and started searching my room.
07:42I opened my mouth. I closed it. What was I supposed to say? That I bought sex toys to feel
07:48something. That this was my Saturday night, Liam. This is who I am now. He ripped my closet open.
07:53Hangers screeched across the bar. Scanning for anything male. Nothing. He kicked the storage
07:58bins out from under my bed. Flipped one open. Just my shoes. He yanked back my balcony curtains so hard
08:04the rod rattled. Empty. His eyebrows pulled together harder with every drawer. There was nothing in this
08:10apartment except me. There never had been. Then his eyes landed on my vanity. My heart stopped.
08:16Don't go over there. Please don't open it. He started walking. I jumped off the bed so fast the
08:22dupe fell. I sprinted across the room and threw myself in front of the vanity with my arms spread
08:27wide. Stop! You can't open this one! My voice came out shrill and wet. He looked down at me.
08:34I'm 5'4". In a slip. Trying to block a six-foot fire captain. Yeah. It was not going to
08:40work.
08:41Move, Chloe. No. I'm not asking twice. No! He didn't repeat himself a third time. His arm went around my
08:49waist and he picked me up like I weighed nothing. He set me down against the wall and held me
08:53there
08:53with one hand on my hip. With his other hand, the bloody one, he pulled open the bottom drawer.
09:01There were no men's things inside. Just a brown Amazon box. Sealed and resealed with packing tape
09:07so many times the cardboard had gone soft. He sliced the tape with his thumbnail. The box flopped open.
09:12A photograph fluttered out and landed face up on the floor. Us. Summer. Three years ago. Outside
09:20Station 12. He was in his Navy duty uniform. I was up on my toes holding a Gatorade above his
09:26head,
09:27laughing because he was reaching for it. We looked stupid happy. Next to the photo was a leather
09:32journal. Forest green. The spine was cracked from being open so many times. Liam crouched down. He picked up
09:38the photo first. His thumb dragged across my face on the paper. Real slow. Then he picked up the
09:44journal. No! Don't! Liam, don't! I lunged at him. I clawed at his arm. I grabbed at the cover. He
09:51held
09:51it straight up over his head. I jumped. He stepped back. I jumped again. He stepped back again. The
09:58world's most humiliating game of kippawa. My bare foot caught the edge of the photograph and slipped.
10:03I fell forward. His arm caught my waist before I hit the floor. He never lowered the journal. He
10:09sat me down on the edge of the bed. Like a kid in timeout. He backed up two steps. Out
10:15of my reach.
10:17He opened the cover.
10:20First page. The day I dumped him. His pupils flinched. He flipped through the pages faster and
10:26faster. His hands started to shake. He stopped dead on the last entry. Yesterday's date. And then he read
10:32it out loud. His voice was already breaking before he got the first word out. Day 1023. They changed
10:39the sign tone at the firehouse down the block. Took me three days to get used to the new one.
10:46The old one was the siren Liam used to roll out on. I used to count seconds until the trucks
10:51came
10:51back. He kept reading. Walked past a guy at the mall today. Smoking Marlboro Reds. Liam used to smoke
10:57Marlboro Reds. I stopped in the middle of the food tort. I couldn't move. People were staring
11:02at me. I told myself I was just waiting for someone. I was actually waiting for my eyes to
11:07stop watering so I could keep walking. And then the last line. The one I wrote last night. Drunk on
11:13cheap wine. His voice cracked all the way through. Why does the smell of cigarettes still make me want
11:19to cry? The journal dropped from his hand and hung at his side. His knuckles were bone white around the
11:25spine. And then his whole face changed. His eyes were bloodshot. Like he hadn't slept in a week.
11:33The bedroom was completely silent. He looked down at the pink fluffy cusses on the floor. The anger
11:37drained out of him. The cruel smile was gone. What was left says I'm never seen on his face before.
11:42Grief. He'd figured it out. There was no guy. There was no hiccup who ran. There was just me.
11:50Three years of just me. Sleeping with his photo in a drawer. Writing his name in a book I never
11:56let
11:57anyone read. Even the sex toys were mine. There's been nobody else. I slid off the bed onto the floor
12:03and put my face in my knees. My shoulders were shaking. This was officially the worst moment of my
12:08entire adult life. I looked up and gave him the most pathetic smile I've ever produced.
12:15There. Happy now, Captain? Mystery solved. Chloe Park, 26, certified loser. Can't get over her ex
12:23three years later. Buys sex toys to cope. You can put that in your incident report. Have a great night.
12:29I pointed at the door. Get out. Just leave me a little bit of dignity. Please.
12:35He didn't move. He should have left. I had ghosted him. I had blocked his number and ignored 137 phone
12:43calls. That's what a normal person would do. Instead, I heard the journal hit the rug. Soft. Then
12:50footsteps. Coming closer. Close enough that I could smell him. Smoke. Sweat. Iron from his blood. His hand came up
13:00under my chin and lifted my face. His palm was rough and warm. His fingertips were trembling against
13:05my jaw. I had to look at him. His eyes were wet. Red rimmed. He looked like he was barely
13:11holding it
13:12together. He dropped to one knee in front of me. This is the guy who rips car doors open with
13:18his
13:18bare hands. He carried two kids out of a 15th floor fire last year. And I'm the idiot who walked
13:24away from him. If you missed me this bad. His voice was barely working. His thumb wiped the tears off
13:33my
13:33cheek. He reached for the duty belt at his hip. The buckle came undone with a metallic clink that I
13:39felt
13:39in my stomach. He leaned in and pressed his forehead against mine. Nose to nose. Why are you using plastic
13:46toys, baby? Use me. I couldn't speak. He kissed me. Hard. Like everything he'd swallowed for years coming
13:54out at once. The back of my head bumped against the side of the bed. His palm shot up to
13:58cradle it
13:59before I felt it. His other hand grabbed my waist and hauled me onto the mattress. He climbed on top
14:05of me. And then my brain finally caught up to what was happening. I shoved both hands against his chest.
14:13I bit down on his bottom lip until I tasted iron. He didn't pull back. He didn't slow down. He
14:19kissed me
14:19deeper. I beat my fists against his shoulders. He didn't move. At all. I twisted my head sideways
14:25and screamed. Who the hell do you think you are? You don't get to disappear for three years and then
14:32just show up and kiss me. What am I to you, Liam? He braced himself over me on his elbows.
14:39His chest
14:40was heaving. He licked the blood off his bottom lip and looked down at me. I disappeared? His voice
14:46dropped to a whisper. Chloe, you have some nerve. His right hand caught my wrist. He laced his fingers
14:54between mine and squeezed until my knuckles popped. Three years ago, you're the one who left me. And
15:01just like that, I was sobbing. Because he was right. Three years of running. Now we're left to run.
15:08Because... My voice cracked. Because I was terrified you were going to die in a fire.
15:13Liam went completely still on top of me. His breathing stopped. Then it came back fast and
15:19unseavened. Hot against my collarbone. I looked at him through tears. His face had gone white under
15:24the soot. It was pure terror. What did you just say? His voice was barely a thread.
15:32I lifted my hands. The cuffs had left thick red welds around both my wrists. I cupped his face anyway.
15:38My turn. Every time I hear a siren downtown, I start counting seconds. I never stop. Every fire on the
15:44news. I scroll the comments. I look for your name. Two years ago, a firefighter died at a building
15:50collapse over on 6th Avenue. I locked myself in my office bathroom and threw up for an hour.
15:56When I found out it wasn't you, I sat on the bathroom floor and laughed until I cried.
16:00Like a literal crazy person. My thumb brushed the old scar under his cheekbone.
16:05The one from the collapse he survived two summers ago.
16:08Liam, I never stopped loving you.
16:10I loved you too much to sit around waiting for that phone call. I'd rather lose you on my terms
16:16than lose you to a fire. At least this way I got to choose. At least this way I could
16:21lie to myself
16:22and say I left you. Liam's eyes spilled over. He couldn't get a word out. He buried his face in
16:28the cook of my neck. I could feel his heart slamming through his shirt. He held onto me like if
16:33he let go,
16:34I'd evaporate. I pushed my fingers into his sweaty hair. I cried so hard I couldn't get a full breath.
16:40And then his breathing started to change.
16:45It got hotter. Heavier. His mouth moved up the side of my neck. Under my jaw. To the corner of
16:53my mouth.
16:54My fingers fisted in his hair. My back arched up off the mattress. Then a radio shrieked.
17:00We both froze. The radio on the chest of his coat. The red transmit light was blinking.
17:05All units. All units. Multiple explosions reported at Sinclair Chemical on the east side.
17:10Active fire. Structural failure. Engine 12. Respond code 3.
17:13Liam's eyes changed instantly. Heat gone. Hesitation gone. Pure work mode. He pushed off me so fast my
17:20fingers ripped out of his hair. He swiped his coat off the floor. Shrugged into it. Snapped every buckle in
17:25under
17:2515 seconds. Belt back on. Rodeo on his shoulder. Helmet under his arm. He stopped at my bedroom door
17:31with his hand on the knob. He looked back at me. His face was calm. Almost flat. Lock the door
17:36behind
17:37me. If I make it back. The corner of his mouth lifted into that same crooked half smile. We're not
17:44done. The door closed. His boots pounded down my hallway. The fire engine roared to life on the street
17:49below. The siren screamed past my window and faded into the distance. And I was alone again.
17:55Counting seconds. Just like three years ago.
17:59I sat on the bed in the dark. The only thing in the room was the broken pink cuffs on
18:04the rug.
18:05I pulled my knees up to my chest and started shaking. Chemical fire. Multiple explosions.
18:11Active structural failure. Every nightmare I'd ever had was happening tonight. I scrambled for my phone
18:17and opened the news app. The top story was already live aerial footage. The eastern sky over the city
18:22was orange. Black smoke pumping into the air. The fire glow lighting up half the skyline. The anchor
18:27was talking fast. 27 units on scene. Heavy rescue is now pushing into the interior of the second
18:33structure. Liam, come back. Please come back. And just like that, I was right back where I'd been
18:38three years ago. Back then, I lived two blocks from his firehouse. The second the siren faded,
18:43the waiting would start. The longest he was ever gone was almost two hours. When he finally walked
18:49back in, his left eyebrow was singed off. He poured himself a glass of water in my kitchen
18:56and drank it without saying a word. That night, I cried into my pillow until three in the morning.
19:01The next day, I told him it was over. And now here I was. Same fire glow. Same silence. Same
19:09fear.
19:11I watched the news for two hours. The fire was getting bigger. The first explosion had set off
19:17a chain reaction. The storage tanks were going one after another. The comments under the live stream
19:23went from praying for the crews to any casualties yet in real time. The aerial footage went from full
19:28dark to gray dawn to actual sunrise. The fire was still burning. By hour 10, I'd stopped crying.
19:34My eyes were swollen shut. Hour 11, a push notification dropped onto my lock screen.
19:38Breaking. Secondary collapse at Eastside Chemical Fire. Two firefighters reported critical.
19:43Identities pending family notification.
19:45My phone hit the floor and the screen shattered. There was a high ringing sound in my ears.
19:50I don't remember putting on shoes. I don't remember leaving my apartment. Uber wouldn't load.
19:56I started running down the sidewalk in my pajamas. One of my converse came off around the third block.
20:01I kept running with one bare foot. A cab pulled over for me eventually.
20:06The driver took one look at me and fluttered it across town. The ER doors were propped open.
20:12Wall of noise. People crying. Doctors yelling. Radios crackling. The hallway was packed.
20:17Hospital gowns. Sochford turnout coats. Family members with red eyes. I pushed through.
20:21I checked every face. I must have looked at 20 firefighters. None of them was Liam.
20:26At the end of the corridor, I spotted Tyler.
20:31The Rucky. Curled up in a plastic chair like he wanted to disappear into it.
20:36His turnout coat had melted holes in it. The right side of his face was wrapped in gauze.
20:40He was sobbing into his fire gloves. I crossed the hallway in three steps and grabbed his collar.
20:47Tyler. Where is he? Where is Liam?
20:50Tyler looked up. He saw me and his face crumpled.
20:53Oh ma'am. Oh god, ma'am.
20:56The captain, he pushed us out first. He stayed in the front so we could get clear.
21:00And then the wall came down right on top.
21:02I didn't hear the rest. My knees folded and I dropped onto the line emolium.
21:06I couldn't breathe. Like physically couldn't breathe.
21:09I crawled across the floor to the trauma room doors.
21:12The red light above them was on. In procedure.
21:15I bought handcuffs. I played with them alone in my bedroom.
21:18He came in to save me.
21:20Now he was on a table behind those doors and he wasn't coming out.
21:24The light over the doors clicked off.
21:25The doors swung open.
21:27A white sheet was pulled all the way up over the body.
21:30The corner hung off, swaying as the orderly pushed it.
21:33I lost it.
21:34I crawled to the gurney.
21:36My knees hit the metal frame and I didn't feel it.
21:38I grabbed a fistful of the sheet.
21:42I was crying so hard I didn't even sound like myself.
21:47Liam.
21:48Liam!
21:49You son of a bitch!
21:51You do not get to die on me!
21:53I swear to God if you die I'm going on Tinder tonight.
21:56I'm going on Hinnage.
21:57I'm gonna date a hundred guys.
21:58Do you hear me?
21:59The orderly froze with his hands on the gurney rails.
22:01The nurse just stared.
22:03The whole ER was watching.
22:04I did not care.
22:05The only thing in the world was the white sheet.
22:07And then, from behind me, a voice.
22:10Tired.
22:11Horsey.
22:12A little amused.
22:13Hi.
22:14Looking for me?
22:16My spine locked up.
22:20I'm not dead yet, sweetheart.
22:22I didn't dare move.
22:24I was still gripping the sheet.
22:27If I turned around and he wasn't there, I was gonna die right on this floor.
22:31Chloe.
22:32He said my name again.
22:33Closer now.
22:34Weak.
22:35Smiling.
22:35I turned around so slowly.
22:37Liam was heening against the wall at the end of the hallway.
22:40His termout coat was bunched around his waist.
22:42There was a thick wad of gauze taped to his left shoulder.
22:45His left arm was in a temporary cast in a sling.
22:47His face was streaked with soat and blood.
22:49His bottom lip was split.
22:51His left eyebrow was scorched off again.
22:53He was upright.
22:54He was breathing.
22:55He was smiling crooked at me.
22:59The doctor walked up and pushed his glasses up his nose.
23:02Ma'am, there's been a misunderstanding.
23:03The patient under the sheet is one of the chemical plant employees.
23:05He didn't make it.
23:06Captain Reyes here walked into the ER on his own two feet.
23:09He refused the wheelchair, refused the gurney, refused the elevator.
23:12The doctor looked at Liam.
23:14He's a pain in my ass, frankly.
23:16I stood up off the floor.
23:17My legs were jelly.
23:18One bare foot.
23:19One sock.
23:20I walked across the hallway in slow motion.
23:22And then I ran the last two steps and threw myself at his chest.
23:25He grunt hard.
23:26His back slammed into the wall.
23:28His cast banged against the doorbrain and he sucked in a sharp breath.
23:31He didn't push me away.
23:32His good arm wrapped tight around my waist.
23:34I shoved my face into his shirt and started screaming.
23:38He patted my back.
23:39Real awkward.
23:40Hey.
23:41Hey.
23:42What's all this?
23:44His voice was scratchy and warm.
23:46You know what they say.
23:47Bad guys never die.
23:49And I still owe you a real night, baby.
23:51I'm not gonna miss that for a fire.
23:53His mouth dropped to my ear, to a whisper only I could hear.
23:57I cried harder and hit his chest with my fist.
24:00The nurses started laughing.
24:02Tyler was wiping his eyes and laughing too.
24:04A few bandaged up firefighters poked their heads out of the next room.
24:08One of them whistled.
24:09Get it, Captain!
24:12Liam flipped them off over my head.
24:14The tips of his ears went red.
24:21Three days later, Liam signed himself out AMA.
24:25He said the hospital bed was too hard and the food was an insult.
24:29He moved into my apartment with a paper bag full of prescriptions and zero discussion about it.
24:35He was propped up against my headboard, with his clasped arm on a pillow,
24:39flipping channels with his good hand.
24:42Water.
24:44Water.
24:46I brought him water.
24:48Babe, peel me an apple.
24:50I peeled an apple.
24:51Did you peel this with a chainsaw?
24:53The skin is still on half of it.
24:56I took a deep breath.
24:57I owed him three years.
24:59I could take this.
25:00He took a bite and talked with his mouth full.
25:03There's chicken soup in the fridge.
25:05Heat it up.
25:05I'm dying over here.
25:07I started walking toward the kitchen.
25:09Hey!
25:10Hey, hold up!
25:12I turned around.
25:14His good hand came out of his pocket, holding the broken pink cuffs.
25:18You kept those?
25:19When did you even pick those up?
25:21You were on a call!
25:22He held them up to the light and examined them like an antique.
25:27Stuffed them in my coat pocket before I rolled out.
25:30He said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
25:33I lunged at him.
25:34He held the cuffs up over his head, way out of my reach.
25:38I climbed onto the bed and tried to push up on my knees.
25:40Because I could not get close.
25:43Liam, give them back right now.
25:47Nope.
25:49You are literally a 30-year-old man.
25:54Yep.
25:56And then I lost my balance and tipped forward.
26:01He laughed under his breath.
26:03His good arm caught me around the waist and pulled me down against his chest.
26:06The cuffs landed on the pillow somewhere.
26:08I ended up straddling his lap with his good hand splayed on my lower back.
26:12Our faces were two inches apart.
26:14I could smell antiseptic on his bandage.
26:16His good hand slid down past my hip and gripped my thigh.
26:20Hard.
26:21My breath caught.
26:22He stopped smiling.
26:23His eyes went serious.
26:25Chloe.
26:26He said my name really quiet.
26:28Really careful.
26:29In the hospital.
26:31I didn't get to finish what I was saying.
26:34When you broke up with me three years ago, I already knew why.
26:40I stopped breathing.
26:42After you moved out, I went to your old landlord, Mr. Henderson.
26:47He told me you'd been calling him at three in the morning, every week.
26:52Asking him if he'd heard whether any firefighters got hurt that night.
26:56You thought you got out clean.
26:58You did not.
26:59You weren't as careful as you thought, baby.
27:03He tipped his forehead down against mine.
27:06I knew you still loved me.
27:08I knew you were scared.
27:11I didn't come after you.
27:13Because you were scared I was going to die.
27:15And I was scared of that too.
27:17I'd go down in a fire one day and you'd be a 23-year-old widow getting a folded flag.
27:23I couldn't do that to you.
27:27His good hand slid up into my hair.
27:29So I let you go.
27:31I figured you deserved a clean break.
27:34I thought you'd meet some accountant.
27:36A nice guy with a 9-to-5 who came home every night at 6.
27:40That was the plan.
27:42His voice dropped soft.
27:46Then I read your journal tonight, baby.
27:49A thousand and 23 days.
27:52You weren't free for a single one of them.
27:55He looked up at me.
28:14He looked up at me.
28:24I'm done hiding.
28:25He looked up at me.
28:26I was holding back.
28:27I straddled him with both palms flat against his chest.
28:31I could feel his heart mummering through his t-shirt.
28:35The kiss moved off my lips, across my jaw, down to the side of my throat.
28:42His good hand slid down the length of my spine, slow.
28:45When his palm hit the small of my back, I shivered.
28:49My tank strap slid off my shoulder.
28:51His mouth moved down to my collarbone.
28:53He bit me there.
28:54Soft.
28:55And then he froze.
28:59His thumb had pressed into the bruise on the inside of my wrist.
29:02I winked.
29:02He stopped instantly.
29:04He pulled my wrist into the light of the bedside lamp.
29:06The marks the cuffs left behind had bloomed into ugly purple bruises.
29:10Chloe, why didn't you put anything on these?
29:13His voice went sharp.
29:14This is bruising plus surface abrasion.
29:16You're going to get a skin infection.
29:17What is wrong with you?
29:18I forgot.
29:19He glared at me.
29:20He used his one good arm to physically lift me off his lap and sit me down on the mattress.
29:24He stood up and immediately started walking weird.
29:27His good leg and his casted arm tried to swing at the same time.
29:30He had to stop and reset.
29:34On his way out the bedroom door, his shoulder banged the door fame.
29:38I laughed out loud.
29:39From the hallway, I heard a very loud...
29:41Shut up, Chloe!
29:42He came back with the first aid kits tucked under his good arm.
29:44He dropped down on one knee next to the bed and pulled my wrist into his good hand.
29:48Everything about him got gentle.
29:49He squeezed a little neocabine onto his fingerfip and rubbed it in.
29:52Slow, careful circles.
29:54His fingers were rough with calluses.
29:56His touch was almost too soft.
29:57Other one.
29:58I held out my left wrist.
29:59The bruise was darker.
30:00His jaw clenched.
30:01He rubbed in more knee-openon and blew a slow breath across my pulse.
30:04He capped the tube and put it back in the kit.
30:07He stood up and looked at me.
30:08His eyes dropped straight from my wrist to my mouth.
30:10And then he did the last thing I expected.
30:14He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead.
30:17He grabbed my comforter with his good hand and pulled it up over me.
30:21One corner was way too high.
30:23The other was on the floor.
30:25It looked like a disaster.
30:27He nodded at it like it was a job well done.
30:30Okay.
30:31Medicine's on.
30:32Get some sleep.
30:33I'll make you breakfast in the morning.
30:38He turned and headed for the door.
30:41Two steps in, he stopped and looked back.
30:44His face was dead serious.
30:47One more thing.
30:48His ears went red again.
30:50No more playing with weird stuff by yourself, okay?
30:55You've got me now.
30:58He turned around and his shoulder hit the door frame a second time on his way out.
31:03I heard a muttered, God damn it, from the hallway.
31:05Then the couch creaked as he laid down on it.
31:08I lay there in the dark, smiling like an idiot, crying the good kind.
31:12One thousand and twenty-three days.
31:15I waited.
31:16He came home.
31:22I curled up under the lopsided comfort.
31:24I listened to him breathing on my couch in the living room.
31:27I whispered to him through the wall.
31:30Okay, Liam.
31:31From now on every single day, sirens or no sirens, I'll be right here waiting.
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