The Friend I Needed

Eleven.

Eleven.

Halloween was literally around the corner, only a week away and Oddie was taking her free time to decorate the house for the occasion. Gabriel and Elliot were carving pumpkins with Tommy’s help and she had to admit they were doing a pretty damned good job at it.

“Look, Oddie!” Elliot called out for the young woman who stood on the latter trying to attach fake spider web on top of the chimney, she turned around towards the door of the kitchen to see the happy kid with a face covered on pumpkin.

“What is it, darling?”

“I finished my first pumpkin!”

“Oh, you did? Give me a second and I’ll be there.” He nodded before running back to the kitchen with the other boys.

Liam and Sally had gone to the store to get some more candy bags to give away on that special night and more decorations for the garden.

When she was done with the spider web, she got down just in time to hear the doorbell ring catching her attention. Not really expecting anyone on a Tuesday afternoon, she walked to the entrance with curiosity.

Opening the door her eyes went wide at the sight of Henry’s usual annoyed expression. He lifted a paper bag handing it to her, taking the bag she moved aside to let him in.

“Good afternoon, Henry.”

“Yeah, yeah, hello to you too.” He sighed taking off his coat to hang it, he heard the children laugh on the kitchen and he turned to Oddie. “Having fun, uh?”

“Yeah, they’re carving some pumpkins dad brought yesterday.” She closed the door behind her leading him to the kitchen. “Not that I mind, but what are you doing here? No, wait I got a better question. How the hell did you get out without my signature?”

“I escaped, obviously.” Her unimpressed expression amused him greatly smirking her way. “Relax, my wild days are far gone. Nathan wanted to spend the day with me and like he now has permission to pick me up and visit me because of you, we decided to go for lunch today.”

“And where is he?”

“Well, on our way to the restaurant he had an emergency call and like we were close, he dropped me off here.” He sighed looking sheepishly at her. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“Come on, you know you’re always welcome here.” She smiled kissing his cheek lovingly, having her hand around his arm they entered the kitchen with her staring curiously at the paper bag on her free hand. “By the way, what you got here?”

“Nathan mentioned you were decorating the house, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to teach you something I learned long ago.”

“Uh?”

“Have you ever had homemade pumpkin cake?”

“Only pies I think.”

“You’re gonna like this and just my luck, the boys are carving pumpkins. So we’ll have fresh ingredients for it.”

They smiled at each other before she frowned, she was so into her conversation with him that she failed to notice the dead silence surrounding the kitchen but only the TV bringing some sounds.

Both turned and before she could ask what was wrong the news answered her and it was definitely not something she wanted to hear, the bag she held on her hand was dropped at the sight.

“Braking news! What started as a small spark of flame turned into a massive wildfire on Crimson Tree St., when apparently an elderly couple tried to turn on the fireplace. The emergency call was made by a neighbor and the fire department and paramedics didn’t take long to arrive, having their team to work the moment they parked the truck. This fire is one of the biggest and wildest we’ve seen in months and to the fear of many of the neighbors it’s starting to reach more than three houses.”

The kids held onto Tommy’s hands and shirt with their eyes glued to the screen, not even the young boy knew what to think at what he was seeing.

The screams of people and the running and shouting of the firefighters were too overwhelming, he wasn’t there and he could feel the fear everyone there was feeling.

Oddie held onto Henry’s arm tightly when she caught a glimpse of Nathan’s face running around and shouting out orders, he was a captain after all so he had to guide the team.

“Be calm, sweetheart. He’ll be ok, he’s a strong man.” Henry whispered to her resting his free hand on hers, never tearing his eyes from the tv. “He’ll be alright. He trained for this.”

“I know…” She whispered back, her voice trembling at what she was seeing. The news reporter was right when she said it had been a while since a fire that wild had been seen and it terrified her.

“We can see the battalion chief and the captain getting ready to enter the fire consumed house! The rest of the team has separated to enter the rest of the houses to help the residents out of there before the fire gets worse. Look there!”

The camera man focused and zoomed on the house’s windows where the firefighters could be seen running around looking for the people in.

“Oh my God! The roof is falling down! I repeat, the roof is collapsing and they’re still inside! Stand back, stand back! The whole place is crumpling, stand back!”

Elliot and Gabriel hid their faces on Tommy’s stomach as he held them tightly, he could feel tears run down his face and his heart beat faster than ever. The thought of his friend and those innocent people getting hurt was killing him.

“Oh God…” Oddie covered her mouth hugging Henry when her ringing phone caught her attention, grabbing it with shaking hands she answered without looking at the name on the screen, “H-hello?”

“Oddie! Is Nathan with you?!” Sally’s panicked voice was heard over the call.

“No, he’s not.”

“Oh God, then he really is at the fire?! We’re on our way back and every radio station is talking about the fire. Are you watching the news? Please tell me what’s going on!”

“I know, we’re seeing it. Sally this is terrible, he’s in the house and it’s collapsing. I can’t even begin to explain; damn, I can’t even believe I’m seeing something this bad.”

“The traffic is too disastrous right now; I don’t think we can get back to yours right now.”

“Please be safe, guys.”

“We will, we’re close to my apartment so we’ll head there.” Oddie could Hear her father’s voice on the back before Sally spoke again. “When all of this calms down we’ll go back to you, alright?”

“Yeah, sure. Text me when you get home.”

“I will.”

She hung up just in time to hear the kids and Tommy take a sharp breath and Henry curse under his breath, she turned to the TV feeling her heart stop almost completely.

“Oh my god… Christian, are you seeing this? The house… it disappeared completely and the house next to it too! The building has completely fallen and we haven’t seen anyone out yet, we can see police officers and paramedics work with the people that managed to get out in time before the collapsing, but the Battalion Chief and Captain and their teams haven’t come out yet.”

The blonde reporter could be seen with tears in her eyes as she stared at the horrendous scene before her, she turned to the camera man with fear evident on her expression and trembling hands holding barely holding the microphone.

“We still haven’t seen any movement from the heroes but we can see the fire finally dying out. We can only wait for the people inside, we’ll get back to you with the details of the incident and hopefully with good news about the ones fighting t save the lives of innocents. This is it for us, I’m Stella Jensen, reporting on live this terrible situation and hoping for the best.”

The special Halloween edition cooking show Tommy and the kids were watching came back on as if nothing had happened, but no one dared to make a sound nor comment about what they had heard and seen.

Two hours later and they still didn’t know anything about the firefighters and the people trapped inside. Stella hadn’t come on live again and the news didn’t really say anything about the situation.

The kids had finished what they were doing with the pumpkins and with Tommy’s help they set them out on the porch to add some spooky feeling, while Henry and Oddie had started to bake the pumpkin cake trying to ease their minds.

She had send a text to Nathan asking for him to call her when he got the chance, but as expected he never answered nor called. She wasn’t even sure if he had seen the text at all.

Another hour had passed and still nothing, Tommy had taken the children to the living room to watch a movie with Luca cuddling the three of them on the couch distracting them from the horrible things they had seen.

Sally called Oddie saying she was staying home and will visit her the next day, she also let her know that Liam had gone back to his own place calming the poor brunette a little. Knowing her loved ones were home safe and sound was a complete relief.

“Try not to worry too much, darling.” Henry tried soothing her setting a cup of tea in front of her on the kitchen island before sitting himself right across.

“He didn’t text back.” Curling her hands around the warm cup she sighed. “What if something really bad happened to him and we don’t know? What if he’s in the hospital right now and we’re here, drinking coffee as if nothing happened?”

“Oddie, please.”

He saw the tears come to her eyes threatening to escape, he could be grumpy all he wanted but he couldn’t deny he had warmed up to her a lot and seeing her like this was breaking him.

“I always feel like this when I hear things about the war and I have no idea of what happens to Oliver.” She closed her eyes resting her hands over her face with a heavy sigh. “I guess it’s a relief that I don’t get to see nor hear what war is like, but with this I just saw everything, even if it was through a screen it’s too much.”

“Drink your tea, it’ll help you calm down a little.”

Drinking up the warm liquid slowly, she felt how it warmed up her throat and chest. Sighing in content trying not to think of anything too bad or discouraging, Henry was right when he said she needed to have faith in Nathan, he was indeed a strong man.

Ding~ Dong~

They both shared a look before standing up and walking to the hall that lead to the door, before Oddie could move one more step closer the doorknob turned a little and the door opened revealing a very dirty looking Nathan.

His soot covered face and arms, a few burns and scrapes here and there, he hadn’t even taken off his uniform.

He opened the door wider with one hand holding his helmet and the other his duffel bag, his breath was ragged as if he had run a marathon but his eyes only locked with Oddie’s, never breaking contact.

When the first tear left her right eye, he dropped his things on the floor and both run into each other’s arms, hugging his shoulders tightly she felt his arms circle her waist pulling her closer to him.

Closing his eyes, he breathed her sweet scent with a peaceful sigh, his heart was beating incredibly fast but at the same time he felt so calm. No one said a thing until he felt his neck wet, he realized she was crying harder than he thought.

“Oddie…” he barely whispered feeling her sobs grow louder. “I’m fine.”

“Nathan?” Henry finally spoke catching the young man’s attention, he looked up and smiled at the old man, but his smiled faded when he saw the terrified look on his face.

Oddie let him go caressing his dirty face with her small hands smiling softly at him, kissing his cheek she pulled away for Henry to hug him, surprising him completely at the strong hold the old man was giving him.

“Henry.”

“I’m so glad you’re ok, son.” They pulled away smiling, when the kids and Tommy entered the hall with wide eyes.

“Hey, guys.” The three of them ran full speed towards him sobbing inconsolably, Nathan panicked when he saw their intensions. “Wait, guys wait, wait!”

It was too late, he was already on the floor with two kids clinging to his stomach and Tommy hugging his shoulders all three of them crying uncontrollably and calling out to him so fast that he couldn’t even understand what they were saying.

“Guys, I’m fine I swear. But please, let me breathe.”

He chuckled slightly, he wasn’t going to tell them that he was in fact hurt with more bruises and burns that he dares to tell, he was happy they were happy to see him.

They got off him with wide smiles and tear stained cheeks, Nathan was about to speak when he saw the same look on Oddie and Henry.

He felt his heart fill itself with love and warmth, they had seen the news obviously and they had seen the place collapse. He didn’t like the idea of them seeing such a thing, but he also didn’t expect them to react this way towards him.

Nathan had seen the text Oddie sent him not long ago and was meaning to text back, but he figured it’d be better to go and tell her personally that he was alright.

Something told him it was the right thing to do, but not even in a million years could he expect a reaction like that. Even though it made him extremely happy, the feeling of coming back home to a loving family.

“Come one, get up.” Tommy helped him up, Gabriel closing the door behind with a wide smile he high fived with Elliot.

“I told you he was the best firefighter!”

“I know! He’s so amazing!” Both children started talking about how cool Nathan was making him blush madly.

“Hey, Nate.” Oddie caught his attention walking closer to her when he lifted his helmet and bag again. He looked down at her waiting for her to speak. “Welcome home.”

“I’m back.” He lifted his hand to clean a rebel tear from her cheek.

Luca didn’t want to be left behind so he ran and barked to Nathan putting his front paws on his stomach liking his face all over. Everyone laughed at that as he tried, and failed, to stop the overly excited dog from liking his face off.

“You were worried too, uh big boy?” He said receiving another happy bark from the long eared dog.

…

After another hour of talking with Nathan about what had happened, Oddie told him to take a shower and change while she took Henry back to the nursery. He had tried to convince her to drive him back as he had been the one to take him out but she was way too stubborn to fight with so he did as he was told.

Staying in with Tommy and the kids, he let them know he would be upstairs trying to get rid of the soot all over his body. The three of them nodded watching him head up and turned to Henry and Oddie as they were leaving.

“See you tomorrow, kids.” Henry hugged the kids and then pulled Tommy to his chest surprising the young boy. “Take care.”

“I will, sir.” He smiled at him widely, then looked at Oddie. “Drive safely, alright?”

“Of course, I won’t take long.”

When they were on their way to the nursery, Henry couldn’t help himself and stare at her as she drove with a soft expression decorating her face. Even though she already had a month with him, he still couldn’t quite understand her at all.

“Take a picture, lasts longer.” She mocked making him scoff annoyed, turning away from her crossing his arms over his chest.

“Why the hell would I want a picture of you? It’d only remind me of how annoying of a companions you can be.”

“And yet here you are, constantly coming to my house, spending time with all of us and even worrying over a guy who’s not even related to you.”

“Yeah? Well I can say the same about you, young lady. Why would you worry like that over him if he’s only your friend, uh?” She froze at this glaring at him when she stopped the car at a red light. “Ah, caught you.”

“Shut up, grumpy man.”

“That’s not an insult, it’s a statement.”

“I’m not trying to insult you.” She looked back at the road waiting for the light to turn green when he spoke again.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand how am I still tolerating you, I swear I can’t believe I let you drag me into your life this much.” He shook his head trying to sound as annoyed as possible.

“Yeah well, when you find the answer let me know. I’m curious to know that too.” She winked his way driving once more.

“You drive me crazy, girl.”

“I’ve heard that one before.”

“Oh, shut up.” She laughed softly ignoring his scoff, he wouldn’t admit it just yet but he wasn’t completely bothered with her.

Yeah, it was hard for him to adapt to this new environment with such strong family and friendship bonds, but even though it was a big change to his daily life, he liked how his solace filled with pure light little by little.

When they arrived at the nursery, she helped him out and held onto his free arm as his other held his cane for support to walk. He hated that his knees didn’t let him move as he wished, but he was also well aware another surgery would be too much for his heart.

Oddie greeted the nice nurse who usually attended the reception and signed Henry in again before heading with him to his room. Once inside, he sat down on his bed with her helping tidying the place a little before standing straight and smiling at him.

“Well, I’ll be on my way now. I’ll come see you tomorrow, alright? I’ll bring some lunch and the cake we baked, I might bring Elliot too so you can spend some time with both children.”

“How nice of you planning my life.” He rolled his eyes mockingly.

By now she was used to his weird almost bipolar self, it was obvious he enjoyed spending time with her and her family, but whenever he got back to the nursery he would act all cold and evil. She suspected he was trying to keep his reputation as human representation of grumpiness.

“Quiet now, Henry. We both know you’re enjoying this companionship.”

“Not that I have an option either way, darling.”

“See? You even give me sweet nicknames.” He grumbled getting up to head to his closet and grab his pajamas. “But really I have to go now.”

“Text me when you get back home.” She turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, he frowned at her expression. “What?”

“I don’t understand you.” She crossed her arms under her chest with her car key hanging from her fingers, he fully faced her tilting his head to the side a little.

“What do you mean?”

“One moment you’re reassuring my worries, telling me that everything will be alright, even coming to birthday parties and helping me deal with my weird family.”

She shrugged her shoulders before looking back at him, staring directly into his eyes, resting one hand on her hip and the other on the doorknob of his bedroom door. He looked at her not saying a word, but listening intently to what she had to say.

“And then here you are, being the same grumpy annoyed old man you were when I first met you, not even wanting to acknowledge my presence and even talked rudely towards me.”

“What’s your point?”

“What’s your deal, General?”

“It’s hard for me, try to understand my situation.” He started taking a seat on his comfy chair, never breaking eye contact with her. “I’m not used to this, maybe at some point of my life I did had something similar to this, but that was many years ago.”

“Does it really bother you that I entered your life? Do you regret it?” He saw the sadness take over her expression, she started to play with her keys letting go of the door. “Is it really that bad?”

“I never said that.” He sighed looking down briefly before looking up back at her again. “I’m just surprised you’re accepting this.”

“Accepting what?”

“Such a horrible human being like me.”

“Yeah well, I like a good challenge. I thought I already told you that when we first met.” She smiled again, making him feel at ease.

“You’re unbelievable, Odette.” He chuckled drily, but not at her, more at the situation, he couldn’t even believe himself at this point.

“Am I?”

“You are the weirdest yet most enticing woman I’ve ever met, and goodness stubborn as a mule.” He stared at her with a small smirk over his lips.

“I know that.” Oddie smiled brightly, showing a dazzling pearly white beam.

“Why are you really here?” The expression of both soften at the sudden question, he held his hands together waiting for her response. She was taking a moment to answer, but never tearing her gaze from him, for a moment her face went expressionless before smiling once more.

“Because… I am the friend you needed.”