Contagious Chemistry

“Are you feeling better, uncle Stephen?”, Casey asked as she placed the warm cloth on his forehead. She tilted her head, making some of her auburn hair fell to her side, looked so much alike her mother. Her brown orbs were so intense, staring at the man who was lying on her mother’s white sofa helplessly. “Are you? Are you?”

“I’m better, Case-bear. Thank you.”, he smiled thoughtfully to the little toddler. Casey smiled widely and clapped her tiny hands before standing up and running to her mother in the kitchen. He sighed and closed his eyes. There were too many thoughts in his mind and he couldn’t shake it off. The first one that popped up was the one that just happened with Jack. Stephen thought that he was right. His comeback was just making Ally’s life harder than it already was.

Ally lived peacefully with their daughter and Jack, living day by day, probably trying to forget about him and John, and everything that happened three years ago. The second one was his band that was probably on the edge because of his relationship with Jess. Brian, Josh and John were on her side because they thought Stephen was the one who always ‘cheated’ on her back because he couldn’t forget about Ally.

Now, he wondered about what if the situation was turned back? What if Ally was the one who chased him around while he and Jess lived peacefully together? It would break his heart to see the girl he loved chasing him, when he should be the one who did it. Stephen opened his eyes again, staring up to the wooden paneled ceiling.

“Stephen?”, the velvet voice echoed on the walls. He launched up to a sitting position, making his headache kicked back in. “You don’t need to sit up!”, she chuckled, half worried.
He lie back onto the sofa and when he turned his eyes to the side, they met her ocean eyes while she kneeled beside the sofa. Stephen bit his lower lip and tried to control his raging heartbeat. “Y-Yeah?”

“Are you feeling better?”, she asked before running her fingers through the bruise that blossomed on his jaw line softly. Her fingers were like silk to him, soft and silky. “I’m sorry about it.”

“You’re not the one who should apologize, neither does Jack. I should be the one who apologize.”

Ally arched her eyebrows and her lips turned into a straight line. “What do you mean?”

Stephen took a deep breath before sitting up slowly and carefully, taking off the cloth that Casey placed on his forehead earlier. “Ally, I’m sorry I came back. I ruined everything. I ruined your relationship with Jack, your friendship with Jess, made our daughter terrified. I’m sorry for everything.”

She stayed silent and just stare at him. There were no words in her mouth or tongue, she just didn’t know what to say to him. Ally cupped his face in her hand and just pecked his lips lightly. “Don’t say you’re sorry. Just say… you’re glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here.”, he whispered right into her ear. “I’m ecstatic to have you back.”

Her hands fell down to his shoulder and pulled herself up into his arms. Stephen wrapped his arms around her waist while his face buried into the side of her neck. He inhaled the scent that made his mind blown away since three years ago, and the one he craved ever since she was away.

Suddenly, something inside his pocket buzzed and they had to pull away. Stephen groaned as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered the call.

“Hello?”, he answered unwillingly. The other line was fuzzy and chaotic. More than one people screamed or tell other people to do something. “Hello?”

“Stephen!? Where the hell are you!? You have to come to the apartment now!”, Josh slurred through the fuzzy speaker quickly, making his words barely understandable.

“What?! Dude, I couldn’t understand a word you said!”

The reception was getting worse, so Stephen stood on his feet and walked near a window. “The apartment is on fire, like literally! Jess is still in the room! It happened when Brian and I just came back from the hospital!”

Stephen’s eyes widened before he ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He didn’t need to hear what Josh would say after that. Jess was still in the room while the apartment was on fire. She was probably trapped.

“I gotta go.”, he rushed through the living room where Ally was still standing there, confused on what was going on. She followed him to the foyer and to the front door, until the driveway.

“Stephen! What’s going on?”, she asked when Stephen got into the driver seat of his car and turned in the ignition. He had his window down, so he could still hear Ally’s question. “Steph, what’s going on!?”
“The apartment my band is staying is on fire right now. Josh just called me, telling me that Jess is still trapped in the room.”

Ally put her hand over her mouth and took a step back. “Save her, Stephen. I don’t care. Save her.”

He nodded before pulling out from the driveway and drove away. Ally watched as his car disappeared at the end of the street. She couldn’t bear the pain if her friend lost her life.
*************
Traffic was already occurred five miles away from their apartment building. People were getting out from their car and just run to the flaming building, trying to get some information on their relatives. Stephen decided to do the same and ran to the blue and red sirens. The temperature was rising as he approached the fire trucks and the ambulances. Paramedics and fire fighters were evacuating everyone from the building but he couldn’t see Jess’s figure.

“Stephen!”, Brian waved his arms in the air, trying to get notice. “Over here!”

Stephen just gave his band mates a look before he did something out of the box. Instead of waiting for one of the fire fighters to save Jess, he ran through the flaming doors and got into the burning lobby.

“Kid, get out of here!”, a fire fighter shouted to him, but Stephen didn’t mind it and just rushed to the emergency stairs. Their room was on the 15th floor and the stairs were burning too, but the only thing in his mind was Jess.

He rushed up the stairs and skipped or jumped some of the steps that were already on fire. Sweats dripped down his body because of the stairs and the rising temperature. When he found the 15th floor emergency door, he kicked it open. There was a high pitch screaming at the end of the hallway and he could recognize it by Jess’s.

“Jess!”, he cupped his mouth with his hands, making his voice echoed against it and louder than usual. Stephen ran to the direction of the scream and found Jess with her leg stuck between the floor and a huge vase that fell right on her leg. “Jess, are you okay?”

“I can’t feel my leg.”, she whimpered in pain. “Stephen, help me.”

Stephen looked down to her and his heart cracked to see his own girlfriend like this. Maybe his heart only belonged to Ally, but he still care about Jess. “Okay, I’m getting us out of here.”, he said before kissing her temple. Stephen pushed the vase off her leg and picked her up bridal style. Jess screamed in pain because her leg was probably broken.

He ran with Jess, still groaning in pain, in his arms down the stairs. When they reached the lobby, some of the fire fighters who were still trying to save the others, helped them first. One of them led them out and when they were already out, Stephen let his lungs filled themselves with fresh air.

Paramedics rushed to them and got Jess to a wheeled bed before pushing her into an ambulance. One of them escorted Stephen into the same ambulance to get oxygen help. They sat him down and gave him oxygen can to get the smoke out of his lungs.

“You’re a brave boy.”, one of them smiled at him. “Risking your life for someone you love.”
After he finished the can, he checked on Jess in the ambulance and sat on her side. The paramedics were casting her leg and treated some of the burned wound on her arms. Stephen took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “I’m sorry.”

Jess turned her head to him and smiled a little. “I’m sorry too.”

He shook his head and moved closer, resting his head on the edge of the bed. Their faces were a few inches away. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I should beat myself up if you want me to. I cheated on you, I loved another girl when you loved me with all your heart next to me, I let you get into an accident like this.”

“Just let it pass, Steph. I’m ready and would like to open a new page in our relationship, forgetting the past.”

Stephen swallowed the lump in his throat and decided to make Jess happy. He broke her heart too many times, and he couldn’t do it anymore. Stephen wanted to learn how to love her properly. “I love you.”