A Very Frightening Disaster
Charles rushed towards the doors of the hotel Denouement with only one thought on his mind: "did he make it? Is he alive?" He couldn't begin considering the other option. He couldn't set his mind to it and wouldn't give that thought any space. No, he had to be alive, he had to be okay, after all they had gone through, it wouldn't be fair. And yet again, the world is not a fair place.
This time, it wasn't fair for others, but it was fair to him. He spotted Jerome just coming out of the hotel, coughing, but alive. He basically jumped out of the taxi, leaving his luggage behind; the taxi driver dropped it before driving off. He had gone to surprise Jerome, and instead he was who got surprised when he heard on the radio on his way to the hotel that a fire had started there and it was burning the building down to flames, with its guests inside and the Volunteer Fire Department nowhere near.
"Jerome! Jerome!" He yelled as he rushed towards his partner. "Jerome, dear", he said once he reached him. He held him tight and Jerome coughed on his shoulder.
"Wha- what", he tried to say before coughing again. "What are you doing here, love?" They moved away from the entrance. Jerome couldn't breathe properly and his eyes were red from the smoke.
"I think it would be better if you didn't talk until you had let it all out and could breathe again, smoke is bad for your health, dear, and you inhaled so much," Jerome nodded in agreement. "I actually came to surprise you, I wanted to spend some time with you at the hotel, perhaps go to the sauna you mentioned," he held Jerome's hand and winked. Jerome laughed, but ended up being more of a cough.
"The last thought that crossed my mind before realizing there was a fire at the hotel was of you," he coughed again, although he sounded better. Charles tried to shut him up, but Jerome dismissed him with a hand move. "I can't even imagine what went through your head when you heard the news on your way here."
"That doesn't matter now, dear," he said, quietly. "What's important is that you made it out alive. Others were not as lucky."
"I love you so much," said Jerome.
"I love you too," replied Charles, looking into his partner's eyes and thinking for a second of how close he had been to losing him. After having found each other, he couldn't help it and teared up. Jerome noticed and moved one of his hands towards his face; he cleaned the tears and rubbed Charles' cheek. Charles was now looking at their feet, but Jerome put his chin up and said everything with a look. The kissed that followed was intended to be soft, tender, but instead ended up being, at least at the beginning, desperate. They had been longing for the touch of their lips once again, and right after a situation like the one they had just experience, this feeling had increased exponentially.
"Perhaps we should we find another place where we could stay to spend the night," suggested Charles.
"You're probably right."
"The taxi driver threw my luggage over here, so thoughtful since I rushed out of the car," Charles pointed out.
And so they made their way to pick Charles' bags, hand in hand and into the dark, into the unknown: their uncertain future as it may be, together at last.