Acting On Love

Ville's body tensed in horror.

"A fire?" he repeated; his eyes widening. Immediately he took my hand and pulled me from the bed. He didn't stop moving this fast until we were both in his car. I barely had time to buckle myself up before he slammed his foot on the acceleration. I'd never seen him drive so fast and it was beginning to frighten me.

"Ville, slow down..." I whispered, gripping the car anxiously. His eyes stared down the road, refusing to move.

"Kristen, there's a fire..." he said, forcing out a little laugh. "This is serious!"

I stared at him for a while, wondering why it was getting to him so much. I feared for the university; for the people inside. But he seemed to be taking it particularly badly. Why?

Then it hit me.

"Oh, no. You don't...you don't know anything, do you?" I whispered, making him close his eyes for a second. He finally looked at me with a pained look.

"I didn't think it would lead to this..." he whispered, putting a tightly taught fist to his mouth. He looked down at the road in thought. "It happened after you left..." he said, beginning to explain what had happened.

"After you left the hall, Samantha got worse. She didn't get the picture. She took me into a back room...it was dimly lit with candles. At first I didn't know why, but then...then she..." he swallowed, almost unable to get the words out. "She kissed me."

I felt my heart hurt in my chest hearing this. "Then what?" I whispered.

"I pushed her away," he said, frowning as he saw it over again in his head. "But she didn't understand. She still didn't understand," he said, getting angrier. "She tried to kiss me again. And again. We struggled...I managed to get her off me, but she...knocked over one of the candles," he closed his eyes for a moment. "I was too angry with her to do anything. I left and came to find you. I didn't think that..." he paused, taking a deep breath. "I didn't think she'd just leave it."

"W-what...but I don't understand...Lisa said the fire started in one of the halls," I stuttered - my tongue tripping over the fear.

Ville's voice was much lower when he replied. "Then that means it spread. There's a block of halls which is near the main hall. Fuck," he hissed in anger. "I'll be fired. Or worse..." he said, trailing off, lost in a world of terrible possibilities.

"No," I said, almost begging. "It was an accident! They don't even know it was you!"

Ville smiled weakly, and took my hand.

"We'll see, love," he said, parking the car. I looked up to see the university gates across the road. I couldn't see any flames from where we were, but I knew that the main hall was further into the site. We stepped out of the car.

Instantly, I could smell the smoke; I could hear the distant sirens of the fire engines. My heart trembled with nerves.

Slowly, we walked into the university. The smoke began to grow stronger, as well as the sirens. Eventually, I could see the fire. I gasped and stopped in my path. Flames spat from the windows of one of the halls; fire circled upward, encaging it and turning the bricks black. A thick cloud of smoke streamed up from the wild, lashing flames. I grabbed hold of Ville's arm. He looked at the fire with equal fear.

We finished the walk towards the crowd of people surrounding the burning building. Fire engines were working on the fire which I assumed was the "back room" Ville had been talking about.

"Kristen!" I heard someone call. I looked around at the panicking crowd, to find Lisa pushing her way through to us.

"Lisa..." I said as she pulled me into a hug.

"I was so worried, I thought you were still in the hall! There was a fire right next to the hall. But they managed to put it out in t-" she stopped as she pulled away from the hug, noticing Ville standing next to me. "Mr. Valo..." she said, looking back at me, confused.

"Kristen, I thought you said you were in town, taking a walk?" she said, trying to be quiet so Ville wouldn't hear her. It didn't work.

"I bumped into her in the town, and brought her back here," Ville said confidently.

"But...I didn't see you here - how did you know about the fire?" she pressed.

Before Ville had to answer her, a man began shouting through the crowd. A fireman.

"Could everyone please stay off the site until the fire has been put out!" he called through the various noises.

Ville put a hand on my shoulder and began to lead me away.

"Come on..." he muttered, as the crowd begin to step away from the burning building.