How long was I in the stairwell when everything first happened? Seconds? Or minutes? What if Calvin had gotten to the apartment when it exploded? I was having trouble remembering the chain of events properly.
“Sir, put the mask back on and breathe,” the EMT said again.
“Sebastian!”
I looked up. I couldn’t really see him, but I knew. “Calvin!” I shoved the blanket off and climbed out of the ambulance.
I didn’t have to run blind all that far. Calvin grabbed me and locked his arms around me tight. I couldn’t tell who was shaking. Maybe both of us.
But I started crying.
I gripped him so hard, it hurt. Chaos surrounded me, engulfed me, but my knight had come. He was there, and he held me, and I knew everything would be fine now.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Calvin pulled his head back and kissed me with such force and desperation that I was gasping for air.
I felt his weight bear down on me, and I could feel his knees buckle. So I did what any prince was willing to do so that no one would see their knight’s weakness. I took the fall. I dropped first, pulling Calvin down with me.
I could afford to look helpless. But no one could see that in him.
He was crying now too.
And we just held on to each other for a long time.
I DON’Tremember how I got to Pop’s that night, but considering my apartment no longer existed, his place was where I would have logically ended up. I was sitting on the couch, staring at the blurry entertainment system across the room. I remember it took me all damn day to install that furniture for my dad.
I am not Bob Vila.
Pop was sitting beside me on the couch, an arm wrapped around my shoulder. He dragged me down into a sideways hug, kissing the side of my head over and over.
Calvin stood nearby, doing something. Then he turned and held something out in front of me. “Hey.”
I blinked and shook my head, coming back to the moment. “What?”
“Your regular glasses were still in your jacket,” Calvin said.
I reached out blindly, taking what he was holding and sliding the frames on. That was one minor crisis dealt with. On to my belongings, my home—Christ, I didn’t even have a change of clothes.
Calvin went to the door and answered it when there was a forceful knock. I craned my neck, watching as Quinn entered with a big plastic bag in one hand. “Did you get everything?” he asked her.
“What I assumed was his. I stopped at the drugstore too. Toothbrush, razor, contact solution….”
“Thank you, Quinn.”
She walked across the kitchen to the couch where Pop and I sat. “Sebastian.”
“Quinn.”
She set the bag down on the coffee table. “I picked up a few things for you. Some clothes you had at Calvin’s, toiletries, you know.”
“Oh.”
She nodded and sat in the chair to the left of the couch.
“That was very kind of you, Ms.—?” Pop started.
“Quinn Lancaster. I’m Calvin’s partner.”
“I see.”
