Not My Problem || Kai Anderson

somewhere to stay

      A loud crash and bang a few seconds later nearly had me jumping out of my skin, what was happening out there? My heaving chest and streaming tears were not doing me any good either.

   "Y/N!" A voice called loudly, seeming to be coming from my own house.

I stopped crying for a second to hear better, but couldn't find the bravery to get up. Footsteps seemed to be coming closer to my bedroom. Firefighters?

   "Please be in here!" the person shouted, and began pounding on my bedroom door. I could suddenly hear approaching sirens in the distance.

Kai. I stood up with Pumpkin, and shakily made my way to the door, struggling to get it open with my clammy hands.

   "Kai," I cried once I got it open, and fell into his arms.

   "Come on baby we gotta get out of here," he directed me out of the room, we were both hunched over and his arm was over my shoulder the entire walk to the door.

Any bad blood between us was temporarily forgotten, I was just so relieved to have the help. I noticed the forgotten candle had caught the curtains on fire, and while there was luckily a path from my room to the front door, the flames were spreading quickly. Pumpkin bounced unhappily in my arm as the 3 of us darted outside.

   "Are you alright, are you hurt?" Kai spun me once we were outside, looking me up and down repeatedly for any injuries.

   "I'm okay I'm okay," I assured him, breathing uneven. He then swiftly took off the flannel he'd been wearing, and began putting it on me; I didn't protest.

Firefighters were on the scene a few seconds later, barging into the building and pulling large hoses from the firetruck. Curious people came pouring out of their buildings in awe.

I stayed huddled in Kai's arms the best I could with a cat in one arm. He was rapidly rubbing my shoulder and whispering comforts to me, but the sirens mostly blocked his words out.

I couldn't believe this was real life. Someone from one of the buildings came running out with a pet carrier, thank god. Kai took Pumpkin from me and herded him into it, I could only glance over at the elderly neighbor with teary eyes as a thank you.

The landlord approached us next.

   "Is everybody out, nobody hurt?!" he shouted.

   "Nobody's hurt," Kai replied calmly. "It's just her place."

I imagine he gestured to me, but I kept my eyes shut and stayed clung to him.

   "Ma'am," the landlord, Al, spoke regardfully to me. "Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?"

Shit, I hadn't even thought of that. I was too concerned with wondering what of my stuff would survive the fire, and the flooding of water after that.

   "She does," Kai answered for me, and I looked up at him in confusion.

   "Wonderful," Al replied. "I'll talk to these guys and we'll estimate how long it'll take to get this place fixed up."

Nearly an hour later, all the commotion had calmed, most of the neighbors had gone in, and firefighters were leaving the scene. Kai and I were sitting on the curb, both shivering now, him especially since his bare arms were out. Al made his way back over to us.

   "Good news and bad news, which do you want first?"

   "Bad," I chose.

    "The fire ravaged about 75% of the living room and kitchen, and singed the hallway a bit," he informed me.

   "And the good?"

   "Bathroom, bedroom, and guest room are untouched."

   "So how long until I can move back in?" I inquired.

   "We're guessing about 3-4 weeks."

   "What?!" I backed off of Kai. Stress and worry immediately crowded my brain; I'm not sure what I thought the answer was gonna be, but it wasn't that.

   "Is.. that a problem?" Al looked between the two of us. "Could you possibly stay with your parents, or your boyfriend here?"

   "He's not my boyfriend," I corrected, scooting away from him finally. "I-I'll see about my parents."

   "Sounds good," he handed me a plastic water bottle. "Be careful next time."

   "Am I supposed to put out my next fire with this?" I whispered, mostly to myself.

   "How can you joke at a time like this?" Kai chuckled. "Come on, let's get inside."

He picked up the pet carrier at our feet, and guided me into his place, hand in hand.

Once we were inside, I was surprised at the lack of mess. It smelled of Old Spice and typical man-smell, but it wasn't unpleasant. It had basically the same layout as my place, only mirrored.

   "I must say," Kai shook his head slightly and gave me a once-over. "You look hot wearing my clothes."

   "You shouldn't have spoken for me," I ignored his attempt at a compliment. "You had no right."

   "Ohhh I'm so sorry," he said in mock remorse. "Should I have let you sleep in your car instead?"

I crossed my arms and glared at him.

   "You should be thanking me," he said confidently.

   "Thank you," I said in a reluctant, hushed tone. He grinned, pissing me off just a little bit more.

   "What could possibly be funny?" I demanded.

   "I bet you wanna kiss me so bad right now."

That did it; I threw my arms in the air and headed for the door.

   Kai got up from the arm of the couch where he sat. "Wha- Where are you going?"

   "That sleeping-in-my-car-idea doesn't sound half bad," I told him, and swung the door open to leave.