14 comments/ 14934 views/ 51 favorites The Fireman and The Librarian Ch. 01 By: kmillerk1 Note from the Author: I want to truly thank kv5reed, for all the insight that he has given me. I have been emailing back and forth with him about this story. He would question and comment on areas or even say to delete sections. I hope that our finished product is well received. This is only chapter 1, the first 27 pages of 71 written so far. (If you are wondering, this is why there are no updates to my other stories.) Also want to thank Big Jon, he has also read it, but his only comment is, "where is more, you need to send more." :) Unfortunately I am not writing fast enough for Big Jon. :) I do work 8 1/2 hours a day with an 1 1/2 daily commute [funny thing is, I only work 20 miles from home, sucks living in a Metro area], and it doesn't help that Big Jon keeps distracting me with naked pictures of men :) Again, I thank everyone for their comments public and private. ******** Chris Johnston was walking towards the fire station; he was more than an hour early for his shift. He is a floater, which means he is not in the same fire station; he fills in where he is needed. For the next four days he will be calling The Engine 46 and Ladder Company 27 his home. He has been working for the city for just under six months now, but has been a firefighter for almost six years. Chris is six foot two and around two hundred and twenty pounds of muscle, light brown eyes, black hair cut close and a little bit of a five o'clock shadow, as much as he shaved it, it didn't matter he always had a shadow. He just moved back to near his hometown after being away for the last eight years. He didn't want to leave his hometown but he had no choice, his father was mad at him and told him to leave and never come back. So he did, he called his friend Aaron and moved to DC to live with him until he got on his feet. He decided to take a two year course to become a Firefighter/EMT. He worked in Virginia for a little over five years before he got the urge to move back to New York State. He had his turn out gear in a large duffle and had a smaller duffle with his change of uniforms, underclothes and bedding. He was walking from the subway when he passed a club and he heard a band warming up, he looked at the sign and it said that "Turning Point" plays there every Wednesday night. He laughed to himself because it was his brother's band, he was happy to see that his brother continued on with his dream, even though they haven't made it big, at least he hadn't given up. Chris looked at his watch it was a little before nine in the morning he couldn't believe they would be practicing this early but he could hear the music and knew it was live. He walked up to the doors of the bar/club and they were open, so he walked in and stood in the back and just watched them practice. He noticed some men in the bar who were eating in the corner but he didn't look closely at them. He had closed his eyes while listening to the music, he didn't notice a woman approaching him. "Chrissy is that you?" Which made him open his eyes and jerk his head in the direction of the woman, he saw who it was and smiled. "Hey Sara, I can't stay, I just saw the band's name outside and walked in, I better go." "Chris, please stay." Chris looked down at the five foot two woman and laughed, she looked to be ten months pregnant. She was so round it looked like she was trying to hide a beach ball under her shirt. "You let my idiot brother knock you up, Sara?" "Yeah twice." She smiled at him. "I would love you to come visit and meet your nephew." She pleaded with him. "You know that isn't a good idea, Dad would surely cut Jeff off his trust fund and then what would you guys do, he loves playing too much to get a real job." "At least stay long enough to see your brother, he is about to end this set and rest for a bit." It didn't even take that long, when Jeff saw who his wife was talking to he cut the song short and jumped off the stage. "You motherfucker, how the hell are you?" He came and grabbed Chris in a hug. "Damn it Chris, where have you been?" "Virginia mostly, I moved back six months ago." "Why didn't you contact us, why did you cut all contact and change your number?" "One name - 'Dad'. He said if I contact you or Emily, you would get cut from your trusts, and I didn't want to risk that he was bluffing." "That is bullshit man, you know Mom would kill him if he cut us off." "He cut me off, she didn't stop him." "He was just so mad; he wasn't ready to hear what was to come from his oldest son." "He was never going to be ready for that anyway and he would have found out eventually. It didn't help that he walked in on Sam and I kissing." "It was only kissing? Shit, he made it sound like you two were going at it hot and heavy." "We were only standing there kissing, I didn't hear the door open to my room and then he was yelling at the two of us, and telling me to pack my shit. Nice graduation present that was, get the fuck out of my house and never come back." "Mom went to the graduation ceremony to see if you would come, she has your diploma for you." Jeff looked at Chris. "Mom would love to see you." "I don't think that would be a good idea, Jeff. Dad was clear when he told me to leave, he told me never to contact any of you again, I probably shouldn't have even walked in here. I just saw your band name and couldn't believe you were still playing." "What are you doing for a living, where are you staying?" "I live here in the Bronx, I am a firefighter, I am not stationed at one house yet, I have to wait for an opening, so I rotate from one house to the next for my shifts. This is my first time at this house, I will be here the next four days." "Why didn't you move back home to Eastchester?" "And risk being seen by Dad, no. I will pass. At least living in the Bronx I don't need a car, if I lived there, I would. "Can I come down and see you tomorrow?" "You shouldn't, but I know I can't stop you. I got to go and report in to the chief. It was nice seeing you little brother." "Yeah Chris, my number is still the same, please call me." Chris went to turn around and Jeff grabbed him up in a hug, he hugged back and then turned towards the door and froze. There stood their Father; Jeff immediately looked down because he knew his father will be going off his rocker. Chris looked at his father and then nodded his head and walked out. ***** "What the hell was he doing here, Jeff?" "Dad he was walking by and he saw my band's name and came in. He didn't seek me out, I swear." "Remember you are not allowed to talk with him that was the last, remember that." "Yeah Dad, I know." ***** Chris walked the rest of the way to the firehouse and reported in with the chief. He was mad at himself, he should have never walked into the bar, he knew better than to contact his family. After getting briefed, he was directed to which bunk was his, which he made his bed and then placed his turn out gear in the engine room. He dropped the pants of his turn outs so they were around the boot ankles, for fast jumping into, he had his coat on the peg and his hat on a peg just a little higher. He looked at his duty assignments he was due to make dinner for the crew that evening, so he needed to sit down and make out a list and see what they already had. So he went to the kitchen and opened the fridge and saw they didn't have much in there. He looked in the drink fridge it was full of water, milk, juice and pop. He checked the cupboards and there was rice, so he thought the easy thing would be cooking chicken and rice and a side of some type of veggie. "Hey where's the floating Probie?" One of the guys was coming through the door of the kitchen. It was officially ten in the morning now, so Chris was now on duty. "Hi, I am Chris." "James, this is Harry and Tom. You will meet the others in a bit, they are still over at the bar eating breakfast." Chris groaned a little, he hoped that bunch of guys in the corner weren't the other fireman, I am sure they got an ear full after he had left and his Father reamed Jeff out for talking to him. "I see you are the dinner crew tonight." "Yeah, I hope to make it to the grocery store in a bit." "Yeah we will grab our gear in an hour or so and go, Tom is on lunch today." Before they could make plans, the tones were going off in the building and then the voice came over the speakers stating it was a 4 alarm fire in a warehouse district. They were already running to the engine room to suit up and head out, the guys from the bar were just walking in, when they heard the tones and grabbed their gear and jumped in the trucks. When their two tankers pulled up to the fire, the crew jumped out and immediately started pulling out the hoses, Chris was told to climb the ladder and spray the fire from above along with Tom. Two other guys were doing the same on the other truck. The others were hooking up their hoses at the hydrant to spray through the windows and doors of the warehouse; they were told no one was inside. The blaze took several hours to contain, the warehouse was a total loss, by time they were just putting out hot spots, the roof had caved and taken some of the walls with it. When they finally were able to clear the scene it was well past six in the evening. They loaded the trucks back up with the hoses, lowered the ladders and headed back to the station. "Hey Probie, what are we having for dinner?" Tom asked. "Well, I still need to go to the store, was going to do chicken and rice." "Did you leave your list on the counter when we got the call?" James asked. "Yeah." Chris responded. "Then the food will already be in the fridge, the Chief would have called his wife and she will do the shopping if we are at a fire and can't make it to the store." "That would be nice." They made it back to the house and checked all the hoses that were used, and folded them the right way and loaded them back on the truck. Then they finished their truck check for any supplies that were used. In the morning they will wash the truck, but right now everyone was tired and needed a shower bad. "Hey Probie?" Someone shouted back to Chris. "Yeah?" "Heard you were gay?" "Yeah, I am, is it going to be a problem?" "Nope, just heard you were gay, just giving anyone else that might have a problem with it a chance to wait to shower is all. I'm Bill." They all headed to the showers, no one seemed to shy away from Chris. He wouldn't have cared if they did. It wouldn't have been the first time that someone refused to shower when he was in the shower. Chris stripped at his bunk and grabbed his towel and headed to the shower, most of the men had done the same, a few just headed straight to the shower stripping off their clothes as they went. It was noisy as all the men were talking with one another and all the showers were running. The chief stopped by the shower and told Chris that the dinner he wanted to prepare was in the fridge. Chris thanked him and left the shower to go get dressed so he could make the food before he had someone complaining they were hungry. Preparing the dinner was easy, getting the guys to stop telling him that they hated chicken and wanted anything else was a pain in the ass, so he just left it on the counter for guys to serve themselves and ate and went to his bunk to sleep a bit. Sleep didn't come, they were dispatched on a few more calls that night, one was a small kitchen fire, it only took an hour, then around midnight that night they had smoke in a building no fire. They had to go apartment to apartment clearing people out of the building until they found the source of the smoke. It turned out to be someone had forgotten eggs on the stove and they had boiled all the water out and each egg had blown up. What remained around the pan, the burner was burning and causing the smoke. The tenant had left his apartment to run for some smokes and forgot that he was boiling eggs. Chris was thinking to himself as they loaded back in the truck to head back to the station that life in the city was never boring. When they returned to the station, everyone headed straight for their bunks and quickly fell to sleep. The next few days went about the same, there were fires and rescues, not much sleep. They came back from another fire that took most of the day to fight, everyone was tired, but they did their truck check and made sure the hoses were still in good shape and folded them correctly. Some of them went straight to the shower, some went to the kitchen to eat. Chris chose both, he stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a sandwich that the Chiefs wife must have made and headed to the shower while eating it. After showering, he went straight to his bunk and fell right to sleep. Someone touched him and he stirred from his sleep. "You have a visitor." The voice said, Chris just grunted and nodded, he sat up on the edge of his bunk and rubbed his eyes. He actually fell back to sleep sitting up, the person had to come back and wake him again. He put his pants and shirt on and started making his way down to the kitchen to where the voice said his visitor was. Chris walked into the kitchen and was surprised to see his Mother, Brother Jeff and Sister Emily, they were talking amongst themselves while they waited for Chris to come down. Chris also noticed Bill had a visitor they were talking quietly in the corner. "What are you guy's doing here?" "Is that the way you talk to your Mother." She was smiling. "Chris, I am so sorry, Babe." "Mom, it is ok, but don't get in trouble on my behalf." She hugged him, as did Emily and Jeff. "Shit man, Dad can go and fuck himself. If I would have known where you disappeared to, I would have contacted you years ago." "You were sixteen then, I didn't want to get you in trouble, and he told me to pack, I did and left." "Honey, I still wish you would have stayed. I couldn't have changed your Father's view but at least I could have gotten him to let you stay." "And you weren't around, when I needed a tough ass brother to beat up the boys that were after me." "And you would have gotten mad if I scared off anyone that you were interested in. How are ya, Sis." "I am good, it sucked not having you around while I was growing up." Chris just looked down, he couldn't respond to that, because he was sad that he didn't get to see his sister grow up. He noticed that the guy talking to Bill was staring at him, he just smiled and turned his attention back to his Mother. "Honey, if you just tell your Father that you aren't gay, he..." "Mom, I am not going to lie just to get accepted by him. If that is what you want, I guess, we won't see one another either." "I didn't mean it that way Christopher, just lie to him, I want my boy home." "I can't Mom, if he found out later; the shit would hit the fan even worse. I love you, but I can't." "Mom, hate to cut this short, but we are supposed to be meeting Dad at the restaurant." Emily informed her. They all hug once more before they took their leave, but his Mom again asked him to lie so they could all be together and he told them again that he couldn't that it wasn't in him. He gave them his number before they left and then he was standing in the kitchen alone. He was just staring into space but at the guy that was talking to Bill. He noticed that the guy was about five-eight, Bill and the guy had been standing for a while when Chris had first walked in but now they were sitting. The guy had a fair complexion, blonde hair, cut short but not as short as Chris'. He could see that he had blue eyes and a nice build. He looked similar to Bill, but Bill was six foot, blonde hair, cut short like Chris' and a bigger build, than the guy. Bill called Chris over, and because Chris was off in his own world thinking it took Bill a minute to break through to him. "Chris, I would like to meet my brother Jasper." Chris stuck his hand out to shake and when they shook hands they literally got a shock, they both laughed. "Nice to meet you, guess one of us has a shocking personality." Chris smiled at Jasper. "Yeah I guess." Jasper laughed. "Well I would say have a seat Probie but you look like death." "I just need some coffee that is all." "Well, have a seat and talk to Jasper, and I will get you some, how do you like it?" "Black, thanks." As Chris sunk down in the chair. "Bill, can I see you for a few minutes?" The Chief walked into the kitchen. "Yeah, give me a sec." Bill walked over and handed both Chris and Jasper a cup of coffee and then went to talk to the Chief. "Yeah, what's up Chief?" "Was going to ask, what you think of the Probie?" "Chris he is good and hardworking, seems to get along with the crew. Why what's up?" "Was thinking about offering him the open position, I hate seeing a good man having to be a floater when he can have a department he can call home." "Are you asking me to put feelers out in the crew to see what they think?" "If you could, that would be great." "Will do, Chief." He walked back in the kitchen and noticed that Chris and Jasper we holding their own on chatting, so he decided to run through a few chew members to see what they thought. "So what do you do for a living, Jasper? Since you already know what I do." Chris smiled. "My job is a little on the boring side, I am a Librarian at the New York Public Library down on Morris." "I am sure it has its days for being interesting, you have to deal with the crazy public patrons. We just have to deal with them setting fires or doing other stupid stuff." Chris laughed. "Yeah we have had our share of the crazies coming in." Jasper responded. "When you have some time, I can tell you some stories about them." He chuckled. "Well I will have to take you up on that, on one of my days off." "When is your next day off?" "This is my last 24 hour shift, it will finish tomorrow morning at ten. But my first couple of days off, I am usually asleep." "Yeah so is Bill, his wife hates it, but then she loves that he is home for four days then back here for the next four. I don't know how you all can do it, I know Bill has sometimes fought a fire for sixteen hours straight and then turn around and was sent on a smaller fire." "It is because we love the job." Bill came back into the room, he grabbed a cup of coffee ask if they needed a refill and sat down with them. They talked for a while longer, than Jasper got up and said he had to head out, he pulled out his wallet and handed Chris his card, telling him that his private number was on the back. Chris walked over to the kitchen area and grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down his number and handed it to Jasper. They smiled at one another and Bill led Jasper out of the building. "Isn't that just dandy, trying to date one of my coworkers?" "Trying, we didn't set up anything." "And how did he know you were gay and that he is?" "I overheard him talking to his mother, so I know he is gay, for me, I know he just knows." ***** The last twenty four hours was a little calmer they were only sent out on a few rescue calls. Chris was packing up his gear, he had already stripped his bunk and packed his dirties, when the Chief asked him to come to his office when he was through. Chris went to his office and dropped his two duffels by the door as he entered. "Yeah, Chief what's up?" "I will cut to the chase, how do you like working here?" "I like it here, Chief." "Would you like to stay on, permanently?" Chris smiled, "Yes Sir, I would love that." "I will call down to Headquarters and see what I can do, I am sure they will let you know if a few days, but if you don't hear anything, give me a call by your third day off." The Fireman and The Librarian Ch. 01 "Yes Sir, I will. Thank you, Sir." With that he shook the Chief's hand and grabbed up his duffels and headed out of the station towards the subway to head home. When he finally got home he took a long hot shower and thought about Jasper, he thought he was very nice, and now he knew why Bill didn't have a problem with him being gay, he had to laugh at that. He finished his shower, he wanted to eat something, but he knew there wasn't really anything in the cupboards, so he just dropped into bed and was out within a few minutes. ***** Chris woke that evening to his phone ringing, he forgot to put it on silent before he crashed. He reached for his uniform pants and dug it out of the pocket, he didn't even look to see who it was. "Yo!" "Is that how you answer your phone?" His brother Jeff responded. "It is when you wake me up. What's up, Jeff?" "Wanted to know if you would like to hang out tonight." "Not tonight, I generally sleep a day or two before I am even able to be social." "When are you back on duty?" "Thursday morning." "Then come down to the club on Tuesday, the one that is near the fire station, we could at least hang out and have a drink together." "Yeah, I will give you a call Tuesday afternoon." "Ok man, I will let you sleep. Take care." With that Chris turn over and went back to sleep and didn't wake until the next day. When he clawed his way out of bed, he drug his ass to the bathroom, afterwards he made himself some coffee and looked through the cupboards and fridge. He decided to just give up and go down to the little diner around the corner. He liked the waitresses and it was a friendly environment. When he walked in the waitress that always serves him smiled. "Want your usual?" "Yeah, thanks Tina." When she had put the order in she came over to the table to chit chat. "Have you found mister right yet?" "Nope, haven't, but have a prospect." "Really, honey? It is about time, you have been here for over six months now." Chris laughed. "Thanks Tina, did you have to remind me how lonely I am?" "Sorry Hon, just looking out for you. Are you going to bring this guy around so I can meet him, to make sure his is good enough for my guy?" "If it turns into anything, sure, we have just met that is all and exchanged numbers. He said he will call in a few days." He smiled. "Please tell me you didn't have sex with him and are going to wait for him to call? If you have his number why don't you do the calling, Chris?" "We didn't have sex and we will see, you know me, I am shy and I don't want to seem too forward." "Well if you want some cock, then you have to start being a little more aggressive, Chris. Do you hear me?" "Yes, Tina." Tina went and got his breakfast. "Not going to give you a hard time about eating this crap because I know you work out, but you should give it up, you don't need a heart attack." "Everything this place sells can get you a heart attack, Tina." He said with a laugh and dug into his Coney Island omelet with hash browns and pancakes. When he made it back to the apartment, he vegged out on the couch for a bit while reading, he thought about going down to the library to get a new book, but he didn't want Jasper to think he was there for him, but he honestly never saw him at the library any time he has been there. He thought that Jasper may work behind the scenes, he never did ask what type of librarian he was. When he finished his book, he looked around, he didn't have another that he hasn't read, so he decided it was a good time to just go, maybe he will run into Jasper or maybe not. He grabbed his backpack and put the three books that he had inside, pulled on a ball cap and headed to the library. He decided just to walk the mile and half, it would hopefully tire him out some so he can sleep when he gets home. When he reached the library he returned the books to the desk, and continued on to the fiction area of the library, he would go to the new books section but they never have his authors in, so he is content in reading older books, not that he had read all of them anyways. Since he hadn't made any friends yet, he pretty much has a boring four days off, so he has been filling that time with reading. At least when he was in Virginia he had a few friends, and they would go out and do things. Chris was lost in his fiction world, looking for his next few books when Jasper saw him while walking through the stacks. He stood there watching Chris for a few moments before he decided to walk over to him. He thought he looked really fine in his jeans and tight t-shirt. Jasper almost didn't recognize him, what caught his eye was the t-shirt it was a bright blue and it molded to Chris' body like a second skin. It showed off every muscle that Chris had, it left nothing to the imagination. "I think I am going to have to buy you some loose fitting t-shirt if we start hanging out." Jasper whispered from behind Chris. Chris jumped a little, he was reading the first chapter of a book to see if he would like to take it home, so he wasn't paying attention to anyone around him, and when he heard Jasper speak, it jolted him back to reality and turned around to face Jasper. "What no comment to that." Jasper smirked. "Just trying to restart my heart that is all." Chris said with a grin. "When you had said you worked at this Library, I couldn't recall ever seeing you here when I would get my books." "Oh, I have seen you before, as has every other woman in this building." He smiled. "At least now I know I may have a chance and they don't." He looked at the little pile of books that Chris had set aside. "Have you figured out your next reads?" "Yeah, probably over estimating but, I have decided. What time do you end your day?" "I only have an hour left, would you like to do anything?" "Maybe hang out and talk some more and get some dinner?" Chris responded. "I thought you needed two days before you would be up to seeing someone?" Jasper smiled at Chris. "If you don't want to, it is ok." Chris picked up his books and started heading for the checkout desk. "I didn't mean it that way." Jasper whispered. Chris turned around and smiled. "So do you want me to wait for you, or start my mile and half walk home?" "Yes wait please. I will be back in about forty-five minutes." With that Jasper disappeared back where they had just come from, so Chris checked his books out and sat down in a chair and started to read one. Chris was lost in his book when Jasper walked back up, which he just stood there and watched Chris for a few minutes. He bent down and whispered in his ear. "You look cute there just lost in your reading." They both heard someone at the desk say that it was a shame that all the good looking ones bat for the other team. Both of them chuckled and smiled. "I take it you are ready?" "Yeah what would you like to do first?" "Up to you, we could grab some dinner or a pizza and head back to my apartment, if you would like." They were walking out of the library by then. "I don't mean to sound crass, but I'm not just some quick fuck." Chris started back pedaling. "I didn't say you were, I am sorry, I didn't mean it that way. Just thought we could go up to my apartment to get to know one another, instead of having others around listening. That is all. Maybe I am just still too tired to be around anyone, I am sorry if I came off wrong there." "It is ok, I was just making sure you understood, I have been there and done that, I am not looking for the quick fuck anymore." "Well, so there is no misunderstanding, let's just have dinner, talk and then go our separate ways." Chris didn't want to come off the wrong way, so he will just stay far from the topic of his apartment for the time being. "What do you like to eat?" Boy he thought that was a loaded question and chuckled after he asked. "Just about anything, let's just keep it simple there is a little diner not far from here that has good food." They walked to the diner, and proceeded to talk and eat, they were both having a good time with one another, and now they were both regretting their decision of eating and going their separate ways. They lingered outside the diner talking for nearly an hour before Chris decided that he was too tired to continue standing there. "Which way are you walking?" "The subway, I live in Brooklyn." "Oh, that is a distance for work." "Just a little but I like where I live and I like where I work." "Which line are you taking?" "D line." "Well I will walk you to the subway, but then I will walk home, there is no station where I need to get off." "What station is closer?" "138 Street off the 4. But it wouldn't matter anyways because it is past rush hour so it doesn't stop there. I walked up here, I can walk back." Chris said with a smile. "Let's get you to your station so you can get home, it will be a while before you make it." It didn't bother Chris to do this; it just meant he had a little more time to get to know Jasper. "You are going to walk me to 167th and then back to 138th?" Jasper was stunned that he would do that. "No, I am going to walk you to 167th and then walk down to 133rd and Alexander. Don't worry, I like walking, or I wouldn't be in this city, if I change my mind there is always the bus that runs down there." He could see the concern come across Jasper face. "If you insist." They walked to the stations talking all the way. They even set up a date, at least that is what Jasper was hoping it was. They agreed to meet up for dinner at a little restaurant near the library on Wednesday. Chris let Jasper know if it all works out, he should be at his brother station permanently that he should know in a day or so, but either way he will be at a station house come 10 Thursday morning, but Chris knows if it becomes his permanent station then he will start at 8 in the morning with all the other guys. After Chris said his goodbyes to Jasper he headed south, he didn't notice the dark clouds coming in and it started to rain. He stopped long enough to put the books that he had in his backpack into the storage bags that he always carries and then headed towards his apartment. The rain never bothers him, he likes it actually because it clears the sidewalks of all the people. When he arrived home, he was soaked through but he just stripped off his clothes threw them in the bathtub and dropped into bed. When Jasper got off the subway at 79th Street he rushed to his home, he felt bad now that he made Chris walk that far in the rain, he hoped that he got on the bus. Once in his home and dried off, he decided to call Chris, he knew he shouldn't but there was too much of a draw there to not call him, he was hoping that Chris won't mind. When the phone began to ring Chris just grabbed for it, again he didn't look at the number, he was tired and it woke him. "Yo!" "Chris?" "Yeah, who is this?" Chris sounded a little annoyed when he asked and pulled the phone away from his ear to look at the number, it wasn't in his phone. "It's Jasper, did I wake you?" "Hey." He smiled and was calmer. "No." Chris lied. "I take it you made it home alright?" "Yeah I just got in, I know I woke you, I am sorry." Jasper felt bad. "No, don't worry about it. I have a few more days off to sleep." Trying to ease Jasper a little, really hoping that he would stay on the phone for a bit. "If you are sure. Did you get caught in the rain?" "Jasper, I am a grown man, I choose to walk you to the station, it doesn't matter if I got caught in the rain, I had a wonderful evening." "Ok, I had a wonderful evening as well. What are you doing right now?" "Currently I am lying in bed." Chris debated if he should have said he was naked. "Oh." Jasper's voice went up a little and he got a little flustered. "Well, I didn't mean to interrupt." "Not interrupting anything, you working tomorrow?" "Yeah, mostly Monday through Friday sometimes, not too often I have to work a Saturday. Last Saturday I had to work part of the day that is why I was up at the fire station visiting Bill." "Well I am glad you were visiting your brother." Chris couldn't believe that he was getting hard just talking about nothing with Jasper, just Jasper voice was enough to turn him on. He was wondering if he should even touch himself while talking on the phone with him. He started debating this in his mind when he missed what Jasper said. "I am sorry can you repeat that." "I said, it was a nice surprise to meet you there, I am hoping that Bill doesn't mind that we date." "Why would it bother him?" Chris put his hand down on his cock and just started to rub. "He has always told me never to get involved with a fireman, but I tell him getting involved with anyone is always risky, you never know how long they are going to live." "Oh, he is trying to protect you from losing your love, I can understand that. We do have a risky job." Chris stopped rubbing his cock on that one. "Well Chris, let me let you get back to sleep. I hope that is possible for you." "It will be a little hard now, something came up." Chris smiled hoping Jasper got the reference. He laughed. "Well maybe one day we can work on what gets too hard. Have a good night, Chris." "You too." With that they hung up and Chris now had to deal with a raging hard on. And for once he was at a loss; he liked Jasper a lot but couldn't picture him at all naked, or what he would think he would look naked. This frustrated Chris more than it should have, after a while he just gave up trying to figure out what is under the clothes, he figured it was because how Jasper put a stop to them going back to his apartment. He is starting to realize that Jasper is on the controlling side, and it intrigues Chris. ***** Chris met up with his brother the next day; they had a few drinks and parted at the train station, Jeff going north, Chris walking home. He did pick a semi bad location for his apartment; it has bus service, but really no subway service, at least not after six at night, and a hike to the right station. He didn't feel like hailing a cab, so he walked the few miles home, it was a nice night. He had gotten the call from headquarters that he has been assigned to the Engine 46 and Ladder Company 27 station, which made being out with his brother a celebration as well, and to top it all off, he is to meet Jasper up this way at a little restaurant for dinner Wednesday night. When he got in Chris was tired, it was almost three in the morning. He undressed and dropped into bed, sleep came quickly. When he opened his eyes the light was blinding, he didn't think he drank that much but his head was telling him another story, he didn't even bother to look at the time, he just covered his head with a pillow and went back to sleep. When he woke again, he was thirsty and really needed to use the toilet. After those basic needs were serviced, he looked at the time and was caught off guard, it was almost four and he was meeting Jasper at five. He jumped up and showered, and quickly ran out of the apartment, he caught a bus heading north and got off near the library and walked to the restaurant that they agreed to meet at. He arrived there just a little before five, he was happy that he was there first, he would have hated for Jasper to wait for him. He got a table for two and ordered some coffee while he waited. He waited ten, fifteen, then twenty minutes still no Jasper, he kept checking his phone to make sure he didn't call or text. When five-thirty rolled around he felt bad for taking a seat from someone that could have ate and left by now. The waitress kept coming around and asking if he was ready to order. He asked for the check and left her a large tip and walked out. He tried calling Jasper and it went to voicemail. He waited outside the restaurant until six-thirty; he decided just to head home, he needed to be at the station by eight, so he decided just to walk the way home. ***** "Hey, Bill you got to get an address for me. Please." "Why do I have to get you an address?" "Because I messed up, and now I can't get a hold of Chris. Can you please get his home address for me?" "How did you mess up Jas?" "I was supposed to meet him for dinner tonight, but I had to work late and my phone was in my bag and I didn't realize the time until it was seven and he is not answering his phone now. I want to go to his place, please." "Where are you?" "Around the corner from the library." "Ok, meet me at the station; I will see what I can do." Bill was in his car and drove to the station, he figured by time he gets there, Jasper will have walked there. He parks on the side of the building and goes straight to the Chief office. "Hey what are you doing here?" The Chief asked. "I need a favor and please don't ask why I need it." "What is it?" "I need the Probie's address." "I know it is near Alexander and Bruckner, give me a minute to find his file. Remember I didn't give this to you." The Chief found his address and showed it to Bill. "Thanks Chief see you tomorrow morning, or is it the Asst. Chief?" "Asst. for the nights, me during the days, but you know I prefer to be around here more than around my wife." He smiled. "Yeah I know, but your wife is going to move in here if you don't start going home." Bill laughed and looked at his phone he got a text from Jasper, telling him that he was outside next to his car. "Well thanks, see you tomorrow." Bill walked out to his car. "You owe me, now get in." "Thanks, Bill." It took them just as long as it would take Chris to walk from the station to his apartment to drive there. Jasper explained again on the way of what happened, Bill just listened and smiled. When they pulled up outside his apartment they parked and got out. "Call him again." Jasper tried again but still it went to voicemail. They walked up to the door and pushed his buzzer, it was now getting closer to nine, Bill rang it again. The intercom light came on and a very sleepy sounding Chris answered. "Yeah?" "Open up Probie." "Bill?" "Who else Probie, buzz me in." Chris buzzed the door and they walked up the narrow stairs to two apartment doors, one was ajar, so they walked in. There was no one there, then they heard the toilet and Chris walk into the room pulling on a shirt and stops at the sight of both Bill and Jasper standing there. "Seems here my brother stood you up by accident and he couldn't get a hold of you." "Sorry, I generally turn my ringer off when I sleep, if I remember." "Do you have some place private we can go for a minute?" Jasper asked, Chris turned towards his little bedroom and walks in, Jasper closed the door. "I am sorry, I worked late and I didn't realize the time until I finally was able to check my phone and realized you had called and texted." Jasper stepped closer to Chris and put his hand on Chris' hips. Chris looked at his eyes, he could see that he was sorry. "It's ok, I didn't turn my phone off, not to talk to you, really I do turn it off to sleep." Jasper stepped closer. "May I?" Chris nodded his head and Jasper reached up and placed one hand on each side of Chris face and raised up and kissed him, it was a soft sensual kiss. Chris grabbed Jasper by the waist and pulled Jasper towards him, after a few minutes and when they decided they needed to breathe, Jasper smiled when he pushed Chris away. "Do you forgive me?" Jasper could feel that Chris was hard, he only had on shorts and a t-shirt. Chris smiled. "There is nothing to forgive, you got caught at work, you tried calling, I would have seen that when I woke and would have called you back when I had a chance." "Thank you." Jasper pulled Chris back for another kiss. The Fireman and The Librarian Ch. 01 "Are you two done in there, or am I just the awkward third party?" Bill called from the little living room. Jasper was the first to leave the bedroom followed by Chris who took a minute and grabbed a pair of jeans. "Damn Probie, if I knew you two were going to make out I would have left you." That statement got a blush out of the both of Chris and Jasper. Chris offered them some coffee and they sat in the living room for a bit until it was ten and Bill said if he doesn't head home, he was going to be late for his shift tomorrow. Jasper didn't want to leave but he also knew that Chris had to be in in the morning as well so he left when his brother did. Jasper said he would be down in a minute when Bill stood at the door, Bill just smiled and left. Jasper walked back over to where Chris was standing and pulled him down for another kiss, than he turn and left. Chris walked over to the door and locked it and turned off the lights as he walked to his bedroom striping as he went, he ignored his hard-on and when to sleep. When Jasper made it down to street level, Bill was leaning against his car with a smile. "What?" "Nothing, get in and I will take you home." "You don't have too." "Just get in, I am going to stay at your house tonight, and Mary will come and get the car." They talked on their way to Jasper's, and Bill found out that Chris had went to the library to check out some books, and that Jasper had seen Chris before but never let it known to him until they saw each other at the library the other day. Jasper's little place was a two bedroom but he only had one bed, so Bill crawled into bed with Jasper and went to sleep. The Fireman and The Librarian Ch. 02 Author Note: Again, I want to thank k5vreed, he has put up with a lot from me. He has given me ideas and also questioned areas of this story, has read and reread it every time we have corrected something. He is trying to keep me on topic, (for the ones that are waiting for certain chapters to come out, he has a rotation for me to go through, lol, he tries to keep me on track). But he found out my mind is a tough mind and I have already started writing another story when he told me just file it away for another day. When it was done 20 pages later, he found that I couldn't file it away for later. :) For the edit police I found someone to send my stories to after k5vreed and I finish getting them together. So I am sending out a thanks to TesoroMio, she didn't know how far to go in correcting my stories, so this was the first one that I sent her. I am sure you will start noticing a different in my story, I know she is working hard on my past/present tense. For the person that pointed out I named a neighborhood in my story as a city. It is now a city to me, I am not going to change it now, but I don't see me mentioning it much after this chapter. Remember this is a work of fiction not a true story. I am sure I have other things wrong, hell I work in a library I am not a fireman (but my Dad was before he passed). So I don't even know if I have anything on that right. I can only do so much research to try to find out. I could go back and change things but again it is a story, I could have made up a fictitious town and everything, but I decided on New York. Hell, I couldn't even find a bar around the Engine 46/Ladder Company 27, but in my mind there is one. :) Do I know if they work 4 on and 4 days off, no. I hope that you enjoy this addition of The Fireman and The Librarian, as always I do appreciate public and private comments. Another note, a Dave and Leroy Chapter is coming soon and one short story. I have a writer's block on Jake and Toby, and I don't know what I am doing with Adam and Steve. So you might get a few short stories and Dave and Leroy Chapters before the other two. FYI – No sex in this chapter. ********* When Bill walked into the station at seven-thirty that morning, Chris wasn't far behind him. As soon as Bill saw Chris enter, he pulled him aside. "Hey, just going to say this once. I love my brother. I can see that you two like one another. Please don't hurt him, or you know what I will have to do." Then he clasped Chris on the shoulder and laughed, "You should have been sleeping with him last night instead of me. It was quite weird waking up with a boner in my backside." With that he laughed and walked away. Chris just stood there for a moment digesting what Bill just said; he smiled and chuckled, then he went to the chief office to report in. Chris went to the bunk area and Bill was making his bed. "So I take it you stayed with Jasper last night," Chris said, smiling. "Yeah, he can always sleep like the dead, but shit, he must have been thinking about you this morning." He laughed again. "Anyways, how was your time off?" "It was good. Slept most of the time. When you have nothing to do, it is easier to sleep to make time go by." "Need to make some friends then." "Little hard to when I was shuffled around from one house to the next. Now that I'm permanently here, it may be easier. But at least I know I can stop off at the library a bit more now." Chris said with a smiled, Bill smiled too, but he was turned away from him. Even though Bill didn't like that Jasper may be getting involved with a fireman, he was still happy that Jasper was getting out there to date. Bill wanted him to find love, and if it has to be with a fireman, then that is what it will be. The calls came in and the guys went out. Jasper came by to see Bill on Friday. He didn't want to be too forward and ask to see Chris, when everyone knows he comes to see his brother every few days. When Bill came into the kitchen, he just smiled. "Do I need to go get Chris?" Jasper smiled. "Not yet. I did come to see you too." "Yeah, but I think I'm not the person you really want to see." "I'm not going to take Chris over my own brother. Please just sit down and talk with me for a bit." "Want some coffee?" Jasper nodded and Bill got them both a cup and sat down. "Did Mary come and get the car?" "Yeah, and she left me some home baked cookies." "You know she loves you more than she does me. She won't let me eat her cookies," he laughed. Jasper pulled out a container and opened it up to reveal cookies. "Woo hoo." Bill grabbed up a cookie and ate it whole. "That is why she doesn't give you cookies. You don't know how to eat them right," Jasper chuckled. "But I did want to talk to you before I talk to Chris." "What about?" "Chris." "Shoot." "Will it bother you if I get involved with one of your coworkers?" Jasper was looking Bill in the eyes; he really wanted to know how Bill felt. "Jas, I want you to find happiness. You can date whomever you would like. Now for it being a fellow fireman, it scares me. Not that I know I couldn't seriously hurt him if he hurts you, but you know this isn't a safe job. I would hate for you to lose someone you love." "Bill, I love you and I could lose you at any moment. I understand it will be slightly different, that I would be in Mary's shoes if I got involved with Chris. Bill, I don't know what it is, but I really like him." "If you are looking for my blessing, Jas, you have it. I have already done the older brother threat, so do you want me to go and get him, so you two can talk for a bit?" "You threatened him?" "Yeah, I've got to make sure if he hurts you that he knows he will be hurt." Bill smiled, laughed and went to find Chris. He knew he would be on his bunk. When Bill was told he had a visitor, Chris was reading a book. "Hey Chris, you have a visitor." Chris looked over at Bill and got up and left the bunk room following Bill. He didn't even realize he still had his book in hand when he rounded the corner and saw Jasper. Chris walked to the table and sat down. Bill poured him a cup of coffee and sat it on the table. "I will leave you two. Jas, remember Mary wanted you over on Tuesday for dinner." "Yeah, I remember." As Bill stole another cookie and left, Jasper looked at Chris. "Hi." "Hey." Chris smiled. "Wish we could have talked more last night." "Yeah, so do I. I'm sorry, that I stood you up. I didn't realize the time and when they asked me to work over a little. I didn't realize it cut that much into my night, until I saw the missed calls and texts." "Jasper, no worries. Now if it happens again, then I would think you didn't really want to see me," Chris said while he smiled. "Would you like to go out Monday since your Tuesday is filled?" "But you said you generally sleep the first two days off?" "I do, but you could always come by and we could order pizza from around the corner." He was looking at Jasper and he had a funny expression on his face. "Well, how about we talk about that over the next few days. Do you mind me stopping in here to see you?" Jasper smiled at him. "That would be nice, but you know we could be out on a run when you stop in." "I'll take my chances." "Will I get to kiss you when you stop in?" Chris said with a smile. "Don't know if guys here are ready to see that yet." Jasper smiled back. "Well no one is in here right now." They leaned towards one another, but just before their lips met, the tones went off. Chris dropped his head and jumped up and ran for the engine room. Jasper could see everyone running by the kitchen. Jasper looked down at the book Chris left on the table as he ran out and smiled. It was one of the Jack Reacher books. He was thinking it was nice that he finally met someone that actually likes to read. Even when he would date women, they usually didn't like to read. Jasper decided to leave Chris a note in the book since he was doing the absolute wrong thing to the book, leaving it face down on the table to save his page. When the guys returned five hours later, they were tired, thirsty and hungry. They walked into the kitchen. Most grabbed a water and headed to the showers, but some stopped at the fridge to see if there was anything to quickly grab and were surprised to find a couple trays of sandwiches there. They sat them out of the table as they started grabbing for them. By the time the ones that went to the showers first made it back to the kitchen, one of the trays was already finished off. Chris saw his book sitting next to one of the guys and grabbed it up as he grabbed for a sandwich. He saw the paper sticking out the top to mark his page. He just thought Jasper marked his page so he didn't bother to open the book. He took a seat next to Bill and they were all passing a few bags of chips to one another. "Can I look at that?" Bill asked. "I like his stories." "Sure," Chris said and pushed the book to him. Bill picked it up and opened it. He read the book jacket and then opened it to the page that was marked and saw his brother's handwriting. "Here this is for you, and you are on page one-sixty-four." Bill handed him the note. Chris took the slip of paper from him and looked at it and smiled. "Will you put the book on my bunk if you head that way, I need to step out and make a call." Bill nodded and Chris walked outside and sat down of the bench in front of the fire house. Although the side that he was sitting on did get light traffic, he should be able to hear Jasper on the phone. "Hello." When he heard Jaspers tired sounding voice he realized it had to be late. He looked at his watch. It was after midnight. "I'm sorry. I didn't even look at the time before I called. Please go back to sleep." "I'm up now, Chris. Please talk to me." "Thank you. It was a nice note. It was your brother that found it though. I was just going to set the book on my bunk and go to bed in a bit after we all ate." "You all just got back now?" "Yeah, it was a restaurant fire, total loss, but it could have taken a hell of a lot longer to fight. The building collapsing help put some of the fire out." "No one got hurt did they?" "No, everyone was out of the building. By time we got to it, it was fully ablaze. All we could do is drown it with water. Other than being sleepy, how are you doing?" "I'm good, Chris. I'm wishing we could have had that kiss this evening." "Yeah, me too." Chris smiled. "I would love to see you tomorrow, but I would hate to have you come and find us gone or to have to leave out like I did tonight." "Chris it wouldn't be my first time being left when everyone runs out for a call. I do come and see my brother quite a bit." Jasper smiled. "And it would be nice to see you." "Well how could I deny you that?" Chris laughed. "So I will call before I come. I know there is a chance that you could be on a run by time I get there." "Okay, see you tomorrow. Sorry for waking you. Have sweet dreams." "I'm glad you did wake me, thanks. Goodnight." Before heading to bed Chris walked back into the kitchen to grab another water and found Bill was still sitting there. "How's Jas?" "Good, I woke him. I feel bad. I didn't even think to look at the time." "Chris, if he didn't want you to call, he wouldn't have left the message. Is he coming by tomorrow?" "Yeah." They both headed to their bunks. When Bill got to his, he found the container of cookies on his pillow with a note to share with Chris. Bill just smiled and sat them on his duffle under the bed. Once he closed his eyes, he was out like a light. The next day Mary met Jasper at the subway station and they walked the few blocks to the fire station. When they walked up, the guys were washing the truck and folding the hoses. They looked tired, but they all greeted Mary and Jasper. Chris was refilling the first aid kits so he was in the storeroom. Bill was in talking with the Chief. "I will get Bill, but the Chief and he are having a heated argument right now." "What about now, Jesse?" Mary asked. "Nothing, just stupid shit as always. A wall almost came down on the Probie, and the Chief is the one that sent him in without someone else. He was coming in to relieve another guy, but there was a miscommunication. He went in the wrong entrance and almost bought it. He was trapped for a few minutes until we made a hole for him." Jaspers eyes were wide. Jesse didn't know that Jasper knew whom he was talking about. "Is Chris okay? Where is he?" Jasper asked. "Yeah, you know him? He is in the storeroom. He is reloading the first aid kits." Jasper knew where to go and walked away quickly. When he walked over to the storeroom he could see Chris with the door open. His face was covered in soot, but he looked unhurt. When he turned to walk out of the storeroom and their eyes met, Chris walked right over to Jasper. "Are you okay?" Chris asked him. "I was just going to ask you the same thing. I just heard about the wall." "I'm here, Babe." He didn't mean to call Jasper that, but it came out, and there was no taking it back now. "I'm not hurt. I'm okay." "But they said you were trapped." "Only for a few minutes and it was more that I couldn't get out. I wasn't trapped under anything. I went through the wrong doorway; the stairwell had already collapsed and when I walked through the rest of it collapsed around me, and blocked off the doorway. I had to wait until someone could clear it to get out. I'm fine, really, I am." He could see the panic in Jaspers eyes. He wanted to pull him close and reassure him. Bill came out of the chief's office still spitting fire, when he saw Jasper talking to Chris and then Mary with Jesse. "Ah shit," he said. He walked over to Mary and hugged her. "Hey Baby." "Sweetie, what is this about Chris?" "Nothing you need to worry about. Why don't you come with me to the lounge so you can rest? I don't want you getting upset." "Are you trying to let on that I'm pregnant to everyone? I thought you wanted to wait until Tuesday to tell your brother?" She whispered to him. "I do. I'm sorry." Bill said. "What are you sorry about?" Jasper walked up behind them, while Chris finished doing what he needed for the truck check. "Nothing, I'm always apologizing to Mary. You will find that when you and Chris get together that he will probably have to apologize to you for everything." Bill laughed. Jasper shoved Bill. "Yeah, yeah Bill." Which caused Mary to laugh. "Come on you two, let's go and sit somewhere comfortable." Bill led them to the TV room full of couches and chairs. Chris did not follow them, but went straight to the showers. "Bill, go and shower. You smell like smoke," Mary told him. "Yes honey, I will." Bill left them and ran to the showers where he found Chris. They just nodded to one another and continued to shower. Chris finished first and went back to his bunk to grab clean clothes. Bill walked into the bunk room a few minutes later. "Hey before I forget, the cookies I gave you were wonderful, if Jas asks." Bill smiled. "Cookies? What cookies?" Chris responded and laughed, he saw the container when he was talking to Jasper and then earlier today when Bill was eating one. "Man, it's okay. I generally don't eat sweets much. But I will lie for you." Chris smiled. "Here." Bill handed over the container. "I will get in deep shit with Jas, if I didn't really give them to you." Chris just laughed and sat the container on his bunk. "Where are they?" "TV room." Chris went down first and sat on the couch opposite of Mary and Jasper. Jasper looked at him and smiled, then moved over to Chris' couch. Bill came in and sat next to Mary. There were a few other men with their families in the room. They could hear some in the kitchen. Jesse came by with his wife. "Jasper, you know I like you, and Chris you too, because we work together, but please no kissing with us around. We don't mind that you are gay or anything, but it is weird and there are kids running through." Bill hit him. "Ouch." "Stop being an ass. They can do anything they please." Bill had been teaching his follow firemen over the last few years to accept men that are gay, because if they didn't, he would beat their asses. Most of the guys really didn't have a problem with homosexuality. "Don't worry about it, Bill. It is okay." Chris responded. "No man it isn't okay. You have just as much right to hold Jas' hand as any of these guys in here have to hold his girlfriend's or wife's hand." Bill raised his voice so everyone in the room could hear him. Nobody said anything after that. Chris just looked at him. He decided when they were alone he would have to ask about that, having never had anyone want to stand up for him before. Chris knew it was more for Jasper than for him, but he was still amazed. They continued to talk for a long time. Chris and Jasper did hold hands. They would talk to one another for a while, then Bill would bring them back into Mary and his conversation. After Bill had brought everyone some coffee and Mary some water, Jasper looked at the water. "Mary, you love coffee." "Yeah, but it has been messing with me lately, so I'm trying to give it up." Mary looked over at Chris, to try and change the subject. "So Chris, where are you from?" "Not too far away, Eastchester." "Really, I grew up there. Did you go to Tuck or East?" "East, class of 2004." "Wait, Christopher Allen Johnston, extreme geek and helluva track star?" "GEEK?" Jasper turned to Chris, Chris smiled. "Yeah, kind of." "Kind of? You were the smartest guy in the whole fucking school, and you didn't show up for your Valedictorian Speech. Everyone couldn't believe you didn't show. What happened?" "I just didn't show up is all. It was for the best." Mary didn't push him. She could tell that it bothered him that she knew who he was. "Anyone need a refill?" Chris got up and grabbed his cup. Everyone said they were okay, but Jasper got up to follow him. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, Jasper, I am." "My Dad is the same way; he will have nothing to do with me either. If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you." Chris just smiled and pulled him by his hand out into the engine room; Chris backed him up to the wall and kissed him. "Wow, what was that for?" "No reason." Chris smiled. "Chris, can I ask you something?" Chris nodded his head. "You were a geek and you became a fireman?" "Well, yeah, I didn't want to follow my father's footsteps after he threw me out, and I liked helping people out, so I decided to become a firefighter." "What does your father do?" "He is in finance, but it doesn't matter now, I love my job." Chris tried to change the subject by pulling Jasper back to him to kiss, but some kids walked in to climb on one of the fire trucks, so Chris and he broke apart quickly. They walked back through to the kitchen and found Bill and Mary standing there. "Hey where did you two run off to?" Bill asked, both Chris and Jasper smiled. "Never mind." They sat at a table and Mary pulled out a few things from the bag she was carrying with her. "You brought cookies?" Mary just smiled and opened the container. "You know you are just a little kid, Bill." They all laughed and talked for a little while longer, until the tones went off and all the guys jumped up and ran for the trucks and left. All the families that were still there cleaned up what they had been eating or doing and left the station. Jasper walked with Mary back to the subway. "Do you mind if I accompany you home before I head home?" "You don't have to do that Jasper." "I don't have to, but I want to, Mary." They took the subway to her station and he walked her home. He sat down with her for a bit and they talked about Tuesday. "Jasper, bring Chris with you." The Fireman and The Librarian Ch. 02 "I can't do that, yet. I don't think Bill is ready for me to start bringing home a date." "Jasper, he loves you. He will do anything for you. He was so happy after he saw the two of you exchanging numbers last Saturday." Mary was beaming. "Jasper, you know Bill always knew there was something different about you. Remember that when you came out to your parents and your other siblings, he stood by you when no one else did." Jasper looked like he was going to shed a tear. "I know. Bill lost a lot standing by me, and I love him so much for that." "And he doesn't care. He always said he would defend you and disown the family again if he had to. He knew you were miserable dating women. He knew you only did it to pacify your mother and father." "Yeah, Bill always did know more than I thought he ever did about my life." "So are you going to bring Chris with you?" "I will ask him, but he might already have plans." "Just ask him Jasper. What do you have to lose? Either he will be free that night or he won't." Mary and he talked for a bit longer and then Jasper got ready to leave, but before he left Mary handed him another batch of cookies. He laughed at her, telling her that she was trying to make him fat. She just said she needs the practice of making cookies is all. Jasper thought about what she said on the walk back to the subway line. Once he was home, he got himself prepared for work for the week. He knew it was a day early, but he wanted to go back down to the Station on Sunday, so he made his lunches for a few days. At least he didn't have to bother about dinner for Monday or Tuesday, and he knew Mary would pack him leftovers for Wednesday and possibly Thursday. He was counting the days. Chris went to work on Thursday, working four days then getting done on Monday morning. He would then be off for four days, going back to work on Friday morning. Jasper was thinking maybe one of these weeks they could actually have a real Friday or Saturday night date, where he couldn't fuck it up by working late. Jasper got everything ready for the week, and when he got ready for bed, he was hoping that Chris would call him before he fell asleep, but he didn't know if they were still out on the run or another call. He really wanted to talk to him. He picked up his phone several times to call Chris, but kept setting it down. He finally got the nerve to text him, thinking if he is out on a run, he will get it later, but if he was just sitting around the station then maybe he would call him. 'Hoping everything went alright today. How are you?' Jasper typed. He debated hitting send and finally did. Chris was lying on his bunk, reading with a book light. Not everyone was in the bunk house but some were there sleeping. Bill was on his bunk just staring at the ceiling. Chris' phone was on silent. He didn't like it on vibrate when he worked because it would still be annoying to hear when others are trying to sleep, but when the flash of light caught his eye he turned the screen on and saw the message from Jasper and smiled. 'Everything was fine. It was just a small fire. I'm good, just reading while others are sleeping.' He smiled as he was typing it. Bill had looked over to see what he was doing because he saw movement other than Chris reading a book; he was hoping that he was texting Jasper. 'Do you want me to call you or is it too late?' 'You can call if you want, or we can text, but I wouldn't mind hearing your voice.' 'So you want me to call. Hold on, going to get dressed and I will go somewhere private.' Chris stuck the note that Jasper gave him the other day back in the book to mark his page. He still smiled at the note said that read, "Chris treat the book with care, so I know how you would treat me." Then he had written to call him. Chris got up; put on his uniform pants and shirt, but left that unbuttoned. Bill watched him as he picked up his phone and left the bunk room. He went down and found the kitchen empty so he sat down at one of the tables and dialed Jasper. "Hi, did you find a private place to talk?" "Semi private, no one is here right now. What are you doing?" "Just lying in bed, thinking about you. Can't wait until Monday. What would you like to do?" "It is up to you. We can either meet somewhere or order in." Chris really wished Jasper would say his apartment would be okay. "Okay, we can order in then. I think that would be nicer, then we can talk and be ourselves." Chris smiled. "Cool that will be good." They talked way past two in the morning. When Chris closed his phone and looked up at the kitchen clock, he was shocked to see how late it was. When he walked into the bunk house he had to be as quiet as possible so he didn't wake anyone. When he settled on his bed, he smiled because he really liked Jasper and he couldn't wait to see him on Monday. They were called out on run after run on Sunday. When Jasper stopped by, they were out on another run, but the Chief's wife Linda recruited him to help make some dinner for the guys. She told him that they have had a busy day being called out within an hour of returning since three that morning. When Jasper heard that they have been non-stop busy since three he felt bad for keeping Chris up until after two. Linda said they were going to be on their way back shortly and that the crew was just clearing the scene when Jasper showed up. He heard the trucks pulling back in and the crew coming through the station. Jasper was still making the sandwiches and Linda was setting out potato salad and chips for the guys just to grab and eat. He heard the Chief tell everyone to eat first just in case they were called back out. So they were walking in one by one into the kitchen and grabbing some food and sitting down. Jasper saw Chris, but Chris didn't even look up to see who was in the kitchen. He just grabbed a plate some chips and a sandwich and sat down with everyone else. They were all tired and some weren't even eating, just closing their eyes. Jasper could have sworn they were asleep. When Jasper finished making the sandwiches he helped Linda pass out waters to everyone. He gave Chris one and Chris finally looked up at him and gave a very tired smile. Bill realized when he saw Chris cheer up a bit that it was Jasper, and smiled to himself. Bill could see that they really liked one another. Chris hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, but Jasper's presence alone made him smile. He really hoped that they would start dating. Jasper squeezed Chris' shoulder as he walked behind him to give the next person some water. Guys were filing out of the kitchen as they got full and headed to the showers. Everyone was exhausted so they were dropping onto their bunks as they came from the showers, some not even getting clothes on to sleep. Chris stayed in the kitchen for a while to talk to Jasper. Jasper told him to go and take a shower, and if he makes it back out from the bunk room that was okay, but if he needed to crash it was more than fine. Chris pecked him on the cheek and went to take a shower. He stopped long enough at his bunk to get on clean boxers, t-shirt and uniform pants, not even bothering with a shirt. When he came back out to the kitchen, Jasper and Linda had everything cleaned up and she smiled at Chris as she left the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone. "Chris let's go into the TV lounge, then you can relax better. You know I won't mind if you want to sleep." "I know. I can stay up with you for a bit." They walked into the lounge and Chris took a seat on one of the couches. Jasper decided to stand behind him and massage his shoulders. "Oh god, Jasper that feels great." He didn't say anything for a bit and kept rubbing his shoulders. After a while Chris grabbed his hand and pulled him around the couch to sit down. "Did you have a quiet day today?" "Yeah, it was pretty quiet. I got all my things prepared for the week and my place semi-cleaned." "Mmmm that is nice." Jasper looked at his watch. It was only six in the evening, but he could tell that Chris was tired. "Let me go home, so you can sleep." "No, don't leave yet, please." Chris said with a huge yawn. "Only if you lie down. Let me move down and you put your head in my lap." Chris didn't argue. Jasper moved down to the other end of the couch and Chris proceeded to lie down and put his head in Jasper's lap. He didn't face him so people wouldn't feel awkward if they walked in. Jasper started massaging Chris scalp. "If you keep that up, I'm going to be asleep on you." Jasper just continued, he knew Chris would be asleep shortly, it didn't even take two minutes and Jasper could hear Chris' even breathing. Jasper smiled. He was content just holding Chris. He figured they had lots of time to get to know one another. Linda walked into the lounge to turn the lights off and saw Jasper sitting there. She was about to talk, but saw that Chris was sleeping, so she whispered instead. "Do you need anything, Jasper?" "No, thank you, Linda," Jasper whispered back. Linda left for a minute then walked back in with a blanket and lightly laid it over Chris. "Thank you." She nodded and left. Jasper didn't realize he fell asleep while holding Chris, but when Bill tapped him on the shoulder, he looked at the clock and it was after midnight. "Hey Jas, what are you still doing here. Other than falling asleep holding your boy toy." Bill smiled at him. "I didn't realize I fell asleep. The last time I remember was sevenish. Did you get some sleep?" "Yeah, I woke up thirsty and was heading for the kitchen when I saw you sitting here. When you get ready, I'm paying for your taxi home." "I can afford my own taxi, Bill." "I know you can, but I know you too well. You will just walk to the subway or take the taxi to the subway because you don't want me knowing you didn't take it home." Jasper chuckled lightly. "You know me too well." "Do you work in the morning?" "Yeah, I'm supposed to be there at eight-thirty. You know we open at nine." "Why don't you call in sick tomorrow and stay here tonight?" "What if you guys get a call? I would feel weird being here all by myself." "You can go and sleep at my place if you want," Chris said when he woke up to them talking. "Then when I get off in the morning, I will join you and sleep until you wanted to have dinner." He smiled he knew he could sleep until Wednesday at this point, but he wouldn't mind being curled up next to Jasper for the entire day. "I will go home. I have gone to work on less sleep before." "Bill, we could just both lay on top of him, then he will not be able to go." Chris laugh along with Bill. "Or I'm sure one of us knows how to tie a good knot." "If you two are going to talk like that, then I'm going to leave." Jasper laughed at them. "Stay, Jasper. Why don't you get comfortable and I will stay here with you?" Chris suggested as he was about to sit up, but Jasper put pressure on his head to keep him in his lap. "Why don't you two get on that couch over there? It is deeper so you two can really cuddle." Jasper started to object, but Bill continued. "You have Chris' head in your lap. You are going to hurt you neck if you stay sitting up. You know you would like to lay down with him, so just go over to that couch and sleep." "What if some of the other guys come in? I don't want them to feel uncomfortable," Jasper responded. "Then I will stay here too, if you want. We will have a Jasper sandwich." They all laughed. "No, I like you Bill, but I prefer your brother," Chris chuckled. Bill pulled Chris up off the couch and pushed him over to a couch that was comfortable and deep and then pulled and pushed Jasper over there too. Chris didn't think twice about it. He lay down because he was tired, and when Jasper lay down in front of him, he smiled and wrapped his arms around him. Bill tossed the blanket on the two of them and shut the light off as he left the room. It didn't take Chris long to fall back to sleep, but it did Jasper. Bill woke with a kink in his neck from sleeping on a couch. After going to the kitchen and grabbing a bite to eat and water, he walked back into the lounge and lay down on one of the couches. He could see that both of them were asleep and he knew that Jasper would prefer him being in the room if one of the guys walked in later, so he grabbed a blanket off his bunk and slept there for the rest of the night. The guys for the next shift were coming in and that is what had woken Bill. He could see Jasper starting to stir from the noise. A few of the guys came into the lounge and when they saw Chris and Jasper, Bill heard one of them say 'What the fuck.' Bill jumped up and they shut up immediately. But it woke Jasper and he sat up quickly, and the abrupt movement woke Chris. Chris looked at the other guys and then at Bill, he could see that Bill was upset. "What time is it?" Chris asked. He couldn't focus on the clock on the wall yet. "Seven-thirty," One of the guys from the new shift said. "You the new guy?" "Yeah, Chris." "Alex. This is Tom and Mike. You're gay?" "Alex, could you be a little less subtle about it?" Bill responded. "Bill, they are spooning on the couch. That isn't quite subtle, is it? I'm just asking a direct question." "Yeah, I'm gay, Alex," Chris responded. "Well, why is your boyfriend even here? It isn't like we have our girlfriends stay the night," Mike replied. "For your information, Mike, Jasper came and helped Linda. She made the squad food because we were out pretty much all night and day on runs. He fell asleep and I told him to stay, but if you have a problem with it, go talk to the Chief. Do you have a problem?" "No, Bill, we do not." Alex responded for the three of them and pushed them all towards the door. "Chris go strip your bunk, I will stay here with Jas." Chris got up, stretched and left the room. "You okay?" "I wish you wouldn't have to defend me all the time." "Jas, I love you and, as the oldest, it is my job to defend you." Bill laughed. "Yeah, by a whopping three minutes." Jasper smiled. "Are you going to call off this morning?" "I don't think I have any other choice. I don't have a change of clothing and to get to my place and back will take over two hours." After grabbing out a clean shirt, Chris packed his dirties and his bedding in his duffle and was about to walk out of the bunk area. "Bill won't always be around to defend you," Mike stated. "Never said I needed Bill to defend me," Chris stopped and turned around to face Mike, Alex and Tom. "If you got a problem with me being gay, it is your problem, not mine. Just choose when you shower if you happen to be on my shift." With that Chris walked out of the room. He knows he shouldn't provoke them, so he decided it was best that he left before he said something that would really get them riled up. Chris dropped his duffle in the lounge, and then went to get his gear. When he came back he sat down with Jasper, then Bill went and packed up. "Chris, how tired are you?" Jasper asked. "Depends on what you want to do?" Chris smiled.