All you have to do is shout it out.

Roxanne had gathered some of her belongings, enough to keep her afloat in his house for about a week. She wasn’t expecting staying there longer than that. Currently, she was sitting on the couch awkwardly, waiting for Jakob to return from making up a spare bedroom. His house was on the outskirts of the city, far away from her home. Pinching her nose delicately Roxanne winced, a whirl of pain shooting through her nose.

“Roxanne?” he said reappearing in the room.

“What?” she jumped to her feet with upmost attention.

“Follow me.”

He led her down a long hallway and to the last door on the left. His house was one of modern size; not overwhelming in its texture and design. Simple yet elegant in a strange way for a lone man. Jakob pushed open the door and let her pass in, her eyes taking in the space. A twin sized bed on the left, small drawers, a closet, a bedside lamp and drawer to match. The color theme was a mixture of purple, a kid’s room.

“It’s cute,” she said on instinct, turning back to him.

“I guess the cats out of the bag,” he ran a hand through his hair, sadness taking over his features momentarily. “I was married before. But uhm, it didn’t work out…she cheated on me. We had a daughter….this was her room.”

Her head moved slightly to the left, sympathy on her own expression. “Jakob, I’m sorry….”she crossed the small space between them to embrace him in a hug; freakishly aware of all the injuries she had acquired. She was even beginning to look the part of a mentally insane person.

Jakob’s hands instantly went around her lower waist as well, shaking his head. “It’s not your fault.”

“Still, I’m sorry it didn’t work out between you two. I mean, she must have been beautiful.” He nodded his head as it bent over her head. Rose patted his back somewhat, cooing to him. The poor man lost everything. He had nothing; no wife, no beloved child. “Come, let me make you some dinner.” Dropping her bags and ushering them both out of the room, they migrated into the kitchen.

“Roxanne you don’t have to.”

“You saved my life more than enough times. The least I can do is cooking you dinner.” She smiled somewhat.

He furrowed his brows in reluctance but nodded. Roxanne picked pots and pans, cut and mixed and eventually came out with chicken stir fry. She set it in front of him, a smaller bit in front of herself. They ate in silence, Roxanne excusing herself to take a smoke.

Outside, Roxanne stared at the night sky and stars as her finger torched the cigarette a cloud of smoke erupting. This wasn’t how she expected to spend her night; she was expecting to spend it in a hospital bed or her own home. Exhaling, she sat down on the ground cross legged head in hands. She needed to get a good luck charm or something. Her eyes closed but opened when a form sat down next to her.

“Beautiful night isn’t it?” Jakob asked.

“Yeah,” she murmured, letting her stick hang in her mouth delicately.

“Roxanne….”

“What?”

“What’s it like?” he questioned as he lay on his back.

“What’s what like?” she turned to look at him.

“What’s your life like? You can control fire; you fight the bad guys and save the day.”

Roxanne blinked, lying down next to him. “It’s horrible, but I couldn’t live without it. The rush I get when fire escapes me, is like freefalling or going down a steep drop on a rollercoaster. It scares you half to death but you enjoy it so much you want to do it again. The bad guys….they’re bad. Murderous and won’t stop until someone’s dead. It never stops. The five of us…we’ll be doing this till the day we die. Fighting crime, risking our lives for people we don’t even know. We put our lives on the line so people can sleep soundly at night.” She turned on her side to face him, a skeptical look on her face. “But when you realize you’ve saved someone, gave them a second chance the feeling is beautiful. Like….like seeing flowers bloom right before your eyes, finding out you did perfectly on an assignment, or in your case making a medical breakthrough. You’re making someone’s life better.”

“What about…him?”

Roxanne closed her eyes; she supposed he would be asking about it. “Do you want the entire story?”

“Everything.”

“I met him while I was in school, when I was sixteen. He was…thirty four. Guess your typical set of illegal and looked down upon romance. He was the first guy I was even interested in, and well, he played well pretending he was interested in me too. Believe me; I should have known something was wrong when he pretended to be. And…it was a game of cat and mouse, him and me. He made the move, I was…love struck. I didn’t see that he was behind everything, and I got what was coming to me. I ended up killing him….because he tried to kill me.” she flicked her butt off in another direction, silently biting back tears.

“He didn’t deserve you whether his intentions were good or not.” Jakob said turning her face delicately back to him. His hands were cautious over the wounds from her nails, staring into her eyes. “You didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

She shook her head defiantly. “I was naïve; I was shot with a dosage of puppy love. I should have seen it coming. That’s why I need to make sure I get rid of him for good now. I’m not making the same mistake I did five years ago.”

Jakob stared at her without saying anything, Roxanne admittedly staring back with growing flush. His face moved closer to hers, she not making the attempt to retract her face. His lips were inches from hers, and softly pressed against her own lips. Roxanne’s eyes closed on instinct and blissfulness. A hand moved to the stubbly part of his cheek, caressing it as his lips deepened the kiss. It was going perfectly until his nose bumped into hers. Roxanne shot back, clenching her nose. It became awkwardly silent, until both of them burst out laughing uncontrollably, feeling carefree and relaxed for the first time. Probably the only time they would for awhile.