Alex took a deep breath as soon as he stepped off the boat that had brought him to Amare. He closed his eyes and looked up, welcoming the sun's warmth on his face with a smile.
It had been a long journey from New York to this little island. First, he had to go on a plane that took him from the John F. Kennedy Airport to another airport. That flight alone had taken four hours but was relatively quiet and uneventful. The worst thing on that flight was the man snoring right behind him. He could have sworn that man had swallowed a special speaker specifically to amplify his snoring.
Then he had waited another two hours before he took off on another plane. He had swapped his first-class seat with that of another woman who was travelling middle class. She had looked pale and he had overheard her complain quietly about a horrible migraine. Ever being the gentleman, he offered her his ticket so she could have a quieter area.
That journey took another six hours and had been much more...well, how could he describe it... fun and tiring at the same time. He found himself seated next to a single mother with a two-year-old who fussed and cried at first. Seeing the mother struggle and getting embarrassed, he offered to take the child in his arms and within minutes, the toddler had quietened down and simply laughed at all the funny faces he ended up doing to entertain her.
The mother had ended up dozing off, probably too exhausted to stay awake. He played with the toddler until she also fell asleep on his chest. He hadn't slept, afraid she would fall if he did. Instead, he held her closer, securing her while he listened to music through his headphones until her mother woke up again. The two of them had sparked up a conversation until the flight was over and he hopped into a taxi that took him to the harbour.
Fortunately enough, he didn't have to wait long for the boat that took him from the mainland to Amare's harbour. The ride was about an hour long and he sat down and continued to read the crime novel he had started just a few days ago.
As soon as he had arrived, he could not help but feel free. As crazy as it sounded, he felt as if he could almost taste freedom in the air. Maybe it was because of how suffocated he was back home. He shook his head, not wanting to think about home just yet. He opened his eyes once more and picked up his luggage. He took a couple of steps, walking down the wooden ramp until he reached the pavement.
He could see the bus stop close by with a bus already there. It probably was timed along with the boat arrivals. His eyes darted around just as a tall, dark-skinned man jogged toward him. He was young, probably around his age. He looked slightly out of breath as if he had been running, but that did not remove the smile from his face.
"Hey man, are you Alexander Darwin?" he asked. Alex nodded as he extended a hand.
"I am, you must be Daniel Thorne," Alex replied, shaking his hand in a friendly manner.
"Yep, that's me, but call me Danny. Daniel just sounds too formal," Daniel replied.
"In that case, call me Alex. That's what everyone calls me anyway," Alex replied with a laid-back shrug as the two men began walking together.
"I'm really glad you're here and I'm sorry for being late but finding parking here just when the boat arrives is a nightmare," Daniel explained, but Alex waved it off.
"Nah, don't worry about it, dude. It's already a lot that you're picking me up yourself, without even knowing me," Alex said.
"Hey don't mention it. You're soon going to be an official member of our firefighting family," Daniel replied as they arrived next to the car.
Daniel popped open the trunk and helped Alex put his luggage inside. They quickly settled things and got into the car. Daniel turned on the radio as he started driving.
"I'll take you to meet the Chief and the guys first. Then I'll take you to the apartment and if you want, I can show you around the island, at least, the important bits," Daniel offered.
"Thanks. I would appreciate that a lot Danny. You and I are going to be flatmates right?" Alex asked as Daniel nodded.
"Yeah, sort of. It's a block of apartments. There are four flats. You and I will have the bottom flats. It's close to the station so that when we're called, it's quicker to get there," Daniel explained.
"Yeah the Chief did tell me something when I was on a call with him," Alex said, wanting to chip into the conversation.
They continued the drive chatting up, getting to know one another. By the time they arrived at the station, they were like two old friends simply catching up. They could have fooled anyone into thinking they had been friends before today.
Daniel led him to the common room where all the boys were snacking on some delicious sandwiches Daniel had brought them in the morning. He had gone over to Rebecca's and Cassandra's shop and bought sandwiches for everyone.
"Oh look who's here, the newbie," Timothy yelled out as he stood up from his place. Alex instantly recognized the teasing tone, but Timothy had a certain playful glint in his eyes that told Alex he was only joking.
"Yep, I'm here," Alex replied, trying not to sound so awkward as everyone stood up. "Name's Alex," he added.
"We're glad you're here Alex," a larger-than-life man said as he stood in front of him. He gulped slightly as he returned the gaze. Yep, Chief Huxley was a man not to mess with. He could tell that even when the Chief was being friendly.
"Alex, you've already met the Chief. This is the rest of the team. This is Kai, he's Korean-American and he might look skinny but he can kick your butt into oblivion and you wouldn't even know what hit you," Daniel began.
"It sounds like you're talking from experience," Alex joked, crossing his arms after giving Kai a nod of greeting.
"I like you already," Kai said laughing, "for the record, you're right, I did kick his ass."
"Hey! We said we would do a practice round for fun and you went all out. I wasn't prepared for that," Daniel counter-argued. He pretended to look offended but the smile on his face betrayed him. It was clear that they were used to joking around like that.
"Excuses, excuses," Kai tutted as he shook his head and beamed a proud smile.
Daniel wasn't lying when he said Kai was skinny, at least, compared to the other boys there. Yet, he was tall and considering the shirt he was wearing, Alex could tell he was pretty fit. He probably sported a six-pack beneath that white shirt.
"Whatever, these are Timothy and Thomas. They're brothers, even if you can't tell," Daniel said while Alex blinked an extra time. It took him a couple of seconds before Daniel's words registered in his brain – these two were brothers?
Thomas was tall and very well built, his muscles fighting against his slightly too small shirt. He had a clean shaved head and a slight beard. Alex could even see the tattoos covering his arm which looked pretty dope.
Timothy was much shorter and skinnier than his brother and he also had much more hair, sporting some lovely blonde curls. He also wore glasses, those fancy, gold-rimmed ones. He also seemed to be the youngest there if Alex was doing his calculations right. '
"And these are Matthew and Joshua, our paramedics and before you ask, no, they're not brothers who don't look alike," Daniel said.
"Although some people say we look more like each other than those two do," Matthew said, pointing to Thomas and Timothy.
"I wonder why," Alex said, lowly, but enough to earn a chuckle from Daniel.
"Anyways, you should go to your new home for today and then report to work tomorrow," Chief Huxley said.
"Yeah, dude. No offence but you look like crap," Timothy said.
"You try spending hours on end in an aeroplane and then some more time on a boat Goldilocks," Alex said.
"The guy's got a point bro. At least he has a reason to look like crap unlike you little brother," Thomas said looking at his brother.
Timothy widened his eyes before glaring at his older brother, 'You're one to talk. You look like you've swallowed a gym," Timothy argued.
Alex looked at them and although he knew he was still an outsider, he already had taken a liking to this little group. Character traits were easy to spot – the Chief was the down to business type. Timothy on the other hand was a jokester while his brother Thomas pretended to be tough but Alex could tell that he had a soft spot for the younger brother.
Kai seemed energetic, constantly moving, and quick on his feet but he had a soft smile that seemed to be stuck on his face, not that he was going to complain. It was nice to see friendly faces instead of the frowning ones he was accustomed to at home. Matthew and Joshua seemed rather reserved or maybe they just needed some time to open up. As for Daniel, Alex seemed to have a gut feeling they were going to get on well.
Daniel turned to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "We should probably get going so you can unpack and—"
He stopped as the alarm started blaring. The boys exchanged a look before they all looked at the Chief.
"Get geared up. Alex, you can either find your way home on your own or come join us and—" the Chief began.
"I'll join you," Alex quickly responded, earning a nod from the Chief.
"Follow me," Daniel instructed.
