Chapter 19 – Not Such A Bad Thing (Part One)

Chris drove the whole way there because by that time, she was in no position to drive anywhere. His words rang in her head the whole way.

“Their apartment building's on fire.”

There was a crowd of people gathered chaotically in the parking lot when Chris erratically parked the car and they both rushed out of it. It only took her seconds to find him when she finally got there, and she ran to him breathing a sigh of relief that he was at least sitting up, even if it was in the back of an ambulance with two paramedics hovering over him.

“Lance!”

The minute he heard her voice and saw her running toward him, he opened his arms, which she ran into immediately.

“Oh my God, what happened?” she asked once she had him in the comfort of her arms, feeling him move and breathe. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” he said, welcoming her embrace. “I'll be fine.”

“What happened?” she asked, lifting his face up to look over him.

“The building was on fire,” he said. “Addy, everything's gone.”

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Chris had run behind Addy the whole way there and he knew that she had seen Lance first when she called his name and ran to him. When he was positive that his friend was okay, he turned to look for Melissa, knowing that Addy would likely be glued to Lance's side right now anyway.

He found her in the back of another ambulance, like Lance, with a paramedic hanging over her. The medic was wrapping a blood pressure cuff around her arm when she looked over at him, an oxygen mask over her face.

“Chris,” she said, removing the mask.

“You should keep that on,” the medic said, looking up at her.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “Take the blood pressure and mind your own business, buddy.”

“Well, you're still kicking I see,” Chris responded in earnest. “Kicking people in the balls, that is.”

“Because my day couldn't possibly get any worse – you came,” she responded.

“Hey, you called me, remember?” he asked.

“Crap, that's right, I did,” she said, and turned to the paramedic who was still checking her blood pressure. “Can you check for possible brain damage?”

“You asking him for me or you?” Chris asked, hoping to bring a smile to her face.

To his surprise, she smiled. “Just to be on the safe side...him first,” she said to the paramedic.

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“He's got some minor smoke inhalation,” the paramedic eventually told Addy as she stood with him, refusing to let him go. “No apparent burns to his respiratory system and his vitals look good. We were going to transport him for some more tests to be on the safe side, but he's refusing.”

“Well that was before I got here,” she said. “He's going.”

“Addy, I'm fine,” he said in protest. “Really. I don't need to go to the hospital. I'm fine.”

“We'll let a doctor determine that,” she said. “You're going.”

He rolled his eyes and caught the glance of the other paramedic, who was standing next to him.

“Women, man.”

The paramedic only chuckled as Adeline stared at Lance.

“You are not scaring me like this and then not going to the hospital to get checked out, James Lance.”

Seeing the terrified look in her face, he softened, grabbing her hands and pulling her toward him.

“If it will make you feel better, I'll go – later,” he said. “Right now, I'd like to spend this time with you.”

Unable to argue with him, she remained silent, only nodding.

“Am I free to go, boys?” he asked as he turned to one of the paramedics.

After the paramedics had released him from their vehicle, he jumped down from the back. She immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him in towards her.

“I don't ever want to get a phone call like that again,” she whispered.

“I'm sorry it scared you,” he said, running a hand through her hair. It had been so long since she had wanted to be in his arms like this, he was going to savor every moment he got.

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Chris remained silently by Melissa's side as the paramedics checked her over, occasionally glancing back at Addy and Lance. He smiled when he saw Lance holding her closely to him, with her holding on as tightly.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the paramedics let Melissa take off the oxygen mask and gave her the all-clear, telling her to take it easy and go to the hospital if she had any respiratory problems.

“Sorry I called you Chris,” Melissa said. She was surprised when he held his hand out to help her climb out of the back of the ambulance. “I didn't know who else to call. I didn't realize how early it was...”

“Hey, it's okay,” he said. “I'm glad you called. Addy and I were up anyway. What the hell happened, Mel?”

“I still don't know,” she said. She crossed her arms against her chest as they walked the parking lot, fighting off the early morning chill in the light t-shirt she had been sleeping in. “It all happened so fast. By the time we got down here, the whole third floor was on fire – including my apartment.”

By that time, they had joined Addy and Lance.

“Mel, thank God you're okay,” Addy said when she saw her friend. She let go of Lance and grabbed onto Mel, hugging her tightly.

“Only thanks to Lance,” Mel responded. “He made sure I got out.”

Chris and Addy turned to Lance.

“Really?” Chris said, surprised.

“What was I gonna do, let her die?” he said.

“But you thought she was the one stalking me,” Addy said to him.

“Yeah, well...it doesn't make sense for her to try to kill me if she's going to die in the process too, does it?”

Addy and Chris couldn't help but smile.

“Kind of defeats the purpose,” Lance said shyly. “I'm just saying.”

Chris and Addy glanced at each other with smiles on their faces.

“Look at it,” Melissa said, looking up and away from them.

The other three looked up toward the sky. It was then that Addy and Chris could focus on what had led them here – dark gray smoke billowed up in the sky, occasionally clearing enough to see the red and orange flames that appeared to be biting at the silvery clouds. The sun had started rising, painting the sky in multiple colors and shadows.

“That's our apartment,” Addy said sadly.

“Was our apartment,” Lance corrected.

“And Mel's,” Chris said.

“All my stuff is gone,” Mel said, staring at the sight in front of her. “All that I had in the world – gone. I have no idea where I'm going to stay tonight. Since I lost my job I don't have any money...”

“You can stay with me tonight,” Chris said.

Melissa looked down at him in shock, followed by Lance and Addy.

“Really?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Chris responded. “I've got plenty of room for you. You can take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch. It's pretty comfy anyway. I'm not going to let you waste a bunch of money on a hotel room. You can stay there as long as you need to.”

Addy and Lance glanced at each other and smiled when Melissa quietly started crying and ran into Chris's arms, thanking him profusely.

“I guess I better get out of here and try to book a hotel before all the rest of the tenants get to it first,” Lance said.

“You don't have to do that,” Addy said, turning to face him. “Lance, come stay with me.”

“I don't think that's a good idea right now, Addy,” he said. “We're not getting along.”

“That was before you almost died,” she said. “We need to talk about things. I have something that I need to tell you.”

She saw the pained expression on his face as he looked down at the ground, nodding.

“Okay,” he said quietly. “At least for a night.”

Inwardly, she sighed; she realized it was going to be one of the hardest conversations she'd ever had in her life.

“Right now, I need to go buy new clothes and stuff,” he said. “We can pick up some breakfast on our way. They won't need us here for a few hours.”

“Yeah,” she said, feeling his reluctance and her own in return. “Yeah, let's go.”

Anything to distract me from throwing up right now, she thought as she walked off behind him toward his car.

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“And we're back in the same apartment. Again.”

She walked into her door, turning on the light and throwing her mail, keys, and the takeout bags of dinner they had picked up on the island counter in the kitchen.

“It's kind of funny though,” he said, setting the bags of clothes and basic necessities that he had picked up for himself next to her stuff. “Like fate is telling us we're not allowed to be away from each other.”

“I guess that's one way to look at it,” she said quietly, picking up the pile of mail and sorting through it to avoid his look. She currently wanted to curl up in a ball and hide under the covers.

They'd had breakfast at a little cafe earlier that morning, her barely able to stomach a muffin and half a cup of coffee between her nerves and her all-out sugar fest with Chris the evening before. They'd been quiet the entire time, occasionally stealing glances at each other but neither ever bringing up a topic of conversation.

They left the cafe quickly and she drove along with him, stopping first at her apartment to change into new clothes herself and then going shopping to pick up a few necessities for him. That was the only time they had talked to one another, while she helped him pick out clothes according to what she thought he would like and what would look good on him. He had bought enough jeans and shirts to last him a few days, while picking up some dressier clothes for any work-related things he might have to do.

They had then picked up a quick lunch, enough for Chris and Melissa in case they were still around, and returned back to the apartment in the hopes that they would find something out. By then, the fire department had gotten the fire put out and were able to go into the building to inspect it.

The official cause was “arson”, as Addy knew it would be – the match attached to the note was too coincidental to ignore the connection. The fire had started in an empty apartment below Lance's, one that had only been vacant for a few days as the previous tenants had moved out in the middle of the month. Once Detective Abrams had been called and shown up, he called it a “crime of opportunity” - saying that their stalker saw his opportunity to strike and snagged it.

“Lance is damn lucky to even be alive right now,” he had said to Adeline.

It had scared her. The thought that she could have lost him had eaten at her all day, regardless of the fact that he was alive and standing in front of her, and nearly unscathed at that – smelling of smoke and with a slight rasp in his throat, but otherwise unscathed.

“Maybe I should go rent a hotel,” he said. “I get the feeling you'd rather not have me here right now, Ad.”

She looked up to see him looking at her.

“No, Lance, don't go,” she said, shaking her head. “You can stay. We're both tired and running on not a lot of sleep, and it's been a stressful day. I had something on my mind, that's all.”

“What's that?” he asked.

“The fact that I almost lost you today,” she said quietly.

“Well, I'm standing right here in front of you now, alive,” he said with the slightest of smiles on his face.

She exhaled a breath and tried to smile, but instead, the tears started coming. He held out his arms and she quickly walked toward him, closing the gap between them before she ran into his grasp and started sobbing into his chest.

All he could do was hold her close to him for the first time in two weeks, running a hand through her hair.

“Shhh, Addy,” he whispered.

It took a few minutes of sobbing and the comfort of his arms, but she knew when the moment was right. She finally felt the courage.

“Lance, I have to tell you something,” she said.

He didn't let go of her, or look down.

“What's that?”

She took a silent, deep breath.

“I'm pregnant.”

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“Long day,” Mel groaned, half-asleep.

Chris walked into his apartment after her, shutting the door behind her.

“Hell of a long day,” he said, throwing his keys haphazardly. They landed on his coffee table as he had aimed, but slid and fell off onto the floor. He considered picking them up before he rethought it. “Oh screw it. I'm running on fumes.”

“Chris, I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here,” Melissa said. “Really. You don't know how much this means to me.”

“I have a pretty good idea,” Chris said with a grin. “You don't have to thank me, Mel. You're a good friend and you're having a rough spot. You're welcome here as long as you need to stay. A day, a week, a month, until you get back on your feet...forever...”

Mel inhaled a breath. Chris had stayed by her side all day – at the apartment while they watched it burn, at lunch when Adeline and Lance had returned to the scene, and then later at the store when Chris had offered to help her buy some new clothes and necessities. The tension between them had been increasing all day, since they had never spent that much time alone with each other before.

“Forever?” Mel asked cautiously.

Chris froze in place, turned away from her.

“It's only an idea, you know,” he said. “I have a spare room. It's my music room now but we could get a bed and dresser and stuff, turn it into a second bedroom. We could be roommates or whatever. You could pay part of the rent when you find another job...if you wanted. Or you could just...stay here rent-free, focus on finishing school instead.”

“Chris, what are you asking?” she asked.

“I don't know, Mel,” he said, shaking his head uncertainly. “Maybe I'm crazy. It crossed my mind that...that maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to wake up and see you tomorrow, and every day after that.”

“Chris...”

“I fell in love with you,” he said. “I didn't do it on purpose, it just happened.”

She felt herself suck in a breath of air.

“You're in...love with me?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said with a laugh. “Crazy, right?”

She stood there, shocked, as he slightly turned to look at her.

“I've dated a lot of women,” he said, his hands on his hips. “Especially in this city. I've gone out on one bad first date too many. I thought ours was going to be the same, honestly, and maybe that's why I acted the way that I did. I thought you were going to be like all the other women I've gone out with. They only wanted me for one thing – my status. You stood there and called me on all my bullshit regardless of the fact that I was a celebrity, because you didn't care and recognized that it gave me no right to talk to you the way that I did. You have guts. You've got a good head on your shoulders. I could have all the money in the world and you'd still expect me to be humble.”

He paused to face her.

“I like that about you,” he said. “I realized maybe it's not a bad thing for you to act the way you do. Maybe it's not such a bad thing to be in love with you.”

“Chris, I don't know what to say,” she said, still surprised.

“I don't expect you to say anything,” he said. “I couldn't hide it from you anymore, and I thought it was better that you know now instead of me walking on eggshells around you this whole time and you not know the reason. My offer is still open – you can stay here as long as you want, move in and be my roommate, or...you can stay tonight and find someplace else to stay tomorrow, if that's what you want to do. I don't mind either way. I won't hold it against you.”

They both stood silently for a few seconds, Melissa especially not knowing what to say.

“I'm gonna go to bed,” he finally said. “I think I'll sleep on the couch in the music room, it's comfier anyway. Good night, Melissa.”

He gave her a smile before taking a few steps toward the hallway to make his way to his music room.

“Chris, wait.”

He was about to reach the hallway when she spoke up and he turned around, expecting her to tell him that she had decided against staying with him for the night and that she was bolting on him.

“I uh...” She paused, closed her eyes in deep thought, and sighed. “I'm in love with you, too.”