AN: I saw a post on Tumblr saying "We need more there's-a-fire-alarm-and-my-hot-neighbor-is-next-to-me-in-their-underwear AUs", and then I was bored in class, so here it is! It's a one-shot, but follow me if you like it because I write a lot of Skyeward AU one-shots, so there's more to come! And please review!
God, it was cold. Why the hell was it so cold? Skye was shivering. Her pajama pants were just thin cotton and her tank top did practically nothing to protect her from the chilly night air as she stood on the sidewalk in front of her building. Still, she was better off than her across-the-hall neighbor, Grant, who was evidently in the habit of sleeping in nothing but his boxers. And while she had had the common sense to grab the blanket off the end of her bed on her way out, he clearly hadn't had the same foresight. Taking pity, she went over to him.
"Here, my blanket is big enough for two."
Grant sighed in relief and gratefully wrapped himself in the offered half of the fleece fabric. "What kind of dumbass sets off the fire alarm at 3am?" he demanded.
"Probably the stoners down the hall" Skye mused. Grant just rolled his eyes in response.
"Well, at least someone on our floor has a brain" he said, holding up a corner of the blanket to prove his point.
"Stop that, you're letting the cold in!" Skye protested, reflexively pulling closer to him and away from the frigid air. Suddenly there was no more blanket between them, and she was leaning right up against his bare chest. "Oh, sorry!" she blushed, starting to pull away.
"No, it's okay," Grant assured her. "It's warmer anyways."
Skye's blush grew, but she leaned against him again anyways. He was right, it was warmer, but she was suddenly very aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra, and he wasn't wearing much of anything. She was trying to think of something to say to break the silence, but couldn't think of a single topic. Thankfully she was saved by the bell or, in this case, saved by the sirens, as several fire trucks pulled up to the curb.
The arrival of the big red trucks drew everyone's attention, and the men were immediately running into the building. Their urgency confused Skye for a moment… The guys in 406 had just tripped the alarm with the smoke from their joint, right? She looked up at the building and was shocked to see the orange flames licking out of a shattered window on the fifth floor, and the smoke billowing out into the night sky.
"Oh shit!" Skye exclaimed, as she finally noticed the blaze. Her cry drew Grant's attention to it too, and his eyes widened. One of the firemen came along then to push the crowd back, and the group flocked over to the other side of the street. A couple of firefighters came out of the building with a few residents who hadn't bothered evacuating, and then they gave the all clear. The rest of the crew turned on the water and the fire was quickly extinguished.
Grant groaned as they hosed down the side of the building.
"What?" Skye asked.
"My room is down and over one from the one that was on fire… They just blew the window in and flooded it."
"Oh no!"
Once they'd put the fire out, the team went back inside and checked for any residual flames that could be lingering in the walls. They found it to be safe, and the residents were finally allowed back in from the cold.
"You guys got lucky. The burn was contained to just the one suite" they over heard the fire chief saying to the landlord as they filed back inside.
When they finally got back up to their rooms, Grant groaned again as he surveyed the mess of his room from the doorway. Everything was soaked and there was glass on the floor from where the window had shattered.
Skye grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the trashed room. "Come on, big boy. You're sleeping in my room tonight. Deal with that in the morning."
Grant allowed himself to be pulled away but the look of distress on his face remained. "My autographed posters… my books… my laptop! It had all my assignments on it! Skye!"
"Deal with it in the morning big guy" she repeated as she pushed him down on to her bed. He just sat there. "Lie down." Grant sighed and did as he was told, rolling over as far against the wall as he could. Skye quickly turned off the light and then hopped into the bed too, staying pretty close to the edge.
"Hey Skye?" Grant whispered into the dark a few minutes later.
"Mmm?"
"Just, thanks."
"Go to sleep you big goof."
Grant smiled and turned over to face the wall. The quiet, rhythmic sound of Skye's breathing quickly lulled him to sleep, and the smile never left his face.