Blown Away

“This is the third time this week, Jack,” was the first thing Alex said as the other man pulled his front door open. Jack’s cheeks flushed as he shrugged and attempted to stutter out an explanation. Had it really been that many times already? It wasn’t even Friday yet! “You know, when I said if you needed anything to just call the station, that didn’t mean set off your alarm and wait for me to show up.”

“I-I don’t know what you're, um…” Jack trailed out. He really hadn’t even thought about what he’d say when he was finally caught.

“No, you do,” Alex cut in. His tone was serious and there was a scowl on his lips. “At this point, all I have to do is say your address and the other guys immediately go back to what they were doing. It’s illegal, y’know. You could get into a lot of trouble for doing this. Honestly, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that the only reason you’re doing this is because you’re not sure how else to talk to me. It’s getting old, Jack. You’re sort of like the station’s boy who cried wolf.”

“Well, I… it’s just t-that I, uh…” he tried again. How was he supposed to think up a good excuse when a cute guy was yelling at him? Now he was just feeling terrible and he really did just want to disappear into the floor. Maybe if he wished hard enough, he would.

“What do you think we’re gonna do if there ever is a real emergency? What if, that one time, we just decide to not show up? Or, more specifically, what if I don’t show up? This isn’t a game, Jack. Maybe the first time I thought it was cute or whatever, the whole, ‘I can’t cook and it started to burn really bad and I didn’t know how to put it out,’ thing you had going on, but now? Come on, Jack, you’re clearly a big boy. I think you know how to take care of yourself. Now, is there anything you have to say for yourself? Hm?” Alex prompted as he crossed his arms over his chest and deepened his glare.

Jack had never felt so humiliated in his entire life, he was absolutely positive about it. Maybe if he cried, it would get him out of being in trouble with the man he had a kinda but not quite crush on… or maybe that would just ruin his already horrible reputation… maybe if he—

Alex cleared his throat to gain the younger man’s attention before he quirked an eyebrow. “Well? I’m waiting. I do have other things I could be doing right now. There could be a real emergency, and you’re holding me up here.”

“I’m not making you stay here. Since there’s clearly no emergency, you could leave whenever you want,” Jack mumbled back, no louder than a whisper. When he realized that his thoughts had slipped past his lips, a hand reached up to cover them, as though that would keep Alex from hearing what had already been said.

Once again, Alex’s glare seemed to deepen. Jack flinched away from it. He could only guess what the consequences of his mistake would be. What if Alex hit him? Well, that would just be unprofessional, wouldn’t it? Maybe, instead, he’d actually set Jack’s house on fire. That would be unprofessional, too, wouldn’t it? It’d probably be good for business, though. Did they get paid for every fire they put out? Maybe it wouldn’t be too good for business after all.

Only, before he could decide whether or not having his house actually burn down would do any good for anyone, Alex was cracking a smile… and then he was laughing like he hadn’t a care in the world.

“I’m sorry, dude, I’m just… shit, man, I’m totally fuckin’ with ya. I’m not even on duty right now, honestly. The guys called me when they saw your address and sent me over to see if there was an actual emergency before they rallied the troops. Oh, man, you should’ve seen your damn face…”

If it was possible, Jack’s cheeks probably flushed an even brighter red than they’d been before. “So I’m… wait, am I still in trouble? Are you still mad at me?” he stuttered out as he watched Alex double over to regain his breath.

“You weren’t actually in trouble to begin with, idiot,” Alex teased as he glanced up through the hair hanging in front of his face. “I mean, you should be, but I talked them out of it. If you keep pulling stunts like this, I’m really not gonna be able to help you anymore. Which is one of the reasons I’m here, now, actually.”

“You’re here to… get me out of trouble?” Jack asked. His voice was tinted with confusion, and he could only imagine how his face looked.

Alex shrugged. “Kind of. Look, it’s just that… y’know, you can’t keep setting off your alarm to make me come see you—” At that, Jack opened his mouth to interrupt (because that wasn’t the reason, okay?), but Alex held up his hand and continued, “—that is the reason, and you cannot tell me otherwise because then you’d be even more of a liar than you already are. Anyway, since you can’t keep doing that, and since I know I wanna see you just as much as you wanna see me, I figured, y’know, maybe I could just leave my number with you… or something. Like, what harm could it do, right? It’d save everyone at the station a lot of stress, and then you wouldn’t have to deliberately set perfectly good food on fire just to get me to stop by, like, every day.”

Jack’s jaw fell open and closed quite a few times as he went over everything he’d been told. Alex wanted to see him, too? Alex was giving him his number? Had he actually died in a house fire?

“And, I mean, I don’t really know you all that well or anything, so maybe you are a super shitty cook, which would work out cause I’m an awesome cook,” Alex continued, shrugging his shoulders to seem more nonchalant. “That would save you the trouble of attempting to cook while also keeping you well-fed. That’s gotta be at least a little tempting, right?”

When Jack nodded, still not really understanding what was happening, Alex smiled. A hand fumbled into the pocket of the jacket that Alex was wearing before a slip of paper was pulled out and handed over. With blank thoughts, Jack took it into his own hands and opened it up to read what had been written.

“Maybe tonight I could show you some of my awesome cooking skills?” Alex said as he shoved both of his hands into his pockets and began to rock on the balls of his feet.

When Jack could finally comprehend what the numbers on the paper were for, he folded it back up and grinned widely at the man stood across from him. “Yeah,” he agreed, tone a little too breathy for his liking. “That’d be great. Um… I don’t really have much here, so…”

“Don’t worry about that,” Alex said with yet another shrug. “It’s kinda too early to start cooking anyway. I wanna stop by the station to see if they need any help with anything or whatever, then I’ll go pick up some ingredients. Just, y’know… call me or text me if you think of something specific you want.”

When Jack nodded again, Alex smiled. He seemed to contemplate something for a moment, his teeth beginning to chew at his bottom lip in deliberation, before he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Jack’s cheek. For the first time since they’d met, Alex was the one to become a stuttering mess. Jack sort of liked it a lot better that way, truth be told.

“Great, so I’ll, uh… I-I’ll see you in a bit, yeah? Just, um… yeah, let me know if you can think of anything. I’m sure I could whip it up no problem,” he said as he began to back away from the front door. His cheeks had the slightest rosy tint to them, and Jack just wanted to kiss them himself.

Jack watched as Alex climbed into his car and waved his goodbye until the older man had disappeared down the road. When he was left alone, stood in his front door and visible to anyone who so much as looked his way, he unfolded the paper in his hands and all but squealed at the knowledge that he’d scored a date with a hot fireman.

He still hated his job. He always would, but he was more than glad that he’d been the one working that day. He was glad he hadn’t drowned, and he was even thankful for the week of unpaid leave due to more damage than had recently been estimated. After all, a hot, sweet fireman who was also a self-proclaimed chef was worth all of that, wasn’t it?

Jack was sure that he wouldn’t have traded Alex for anything.