Love From the Ashes Chapter 8
Warning: This story does not contain any sex. None of the characters are based on real people nor are they meant to resemble any living or dead people.
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Copyright © 2017-2020
Character list for Chapter 8:
Cameron Lockhart – Age 24, boyfriend to Jamie
Jamie Best – Age 29, Boyfriend to Cameron
Brayden Yost – Age 28, friend to Jamie
Princess – the puppy
Crystal – age 27, girlfriend to Brayden
Time in relation to the last chapter – It is literally the same exact night and into the next morning.
Love from The Ashes
Chapter 8
"It's My Job"
Cameron and Jamie are watching television, when the news came on normally, the news would be turned off, but since the guys are talking, they leave it on in the background. One of the segments is about a fireman in Chicago who was injured in putting out a fire. His injuries are serious which landed him in the hospital. It's always a possibility that any fireman can get hurt while on a call. It's on Jamie's mind every time that he goes on a call. For Cameron, it's been shoved to the back of his mind. He's never thought about the possibility of Jamie being hurt. Now, it's very clear that it could happen and it's not something that he wants to see happen to Jamie. He wonders how he will handle it if Jamie does get hurt.
***
Cameron looks at Jamie as he's sitting on the couch. He doesn't want Jamie getting hurt and he has no problem telling him. They turn off the television and Cameron looks Jamie in the eyes. He's silent just staring into Jamie's eyes.
"Cameron are you okay?"
Cameron is quiet for a second or two, then Jamie repeats himself.
"I can't get that firefighter from Chicago out of my head. I'm just worried about you being hurt."
Jamie get's it he does. Each call comes with some danger, and there is always a chance of being hurt, and he's been hurt before pretty badly too, and someday he'll tell Cameron about it, maybe even show him the scar. Tonight though, he can't. It would only add to the Cam's worries.
"Honestly, I could get hurt, just like you could get bit at work."
Cameron looks angry.
"Oh come on Jamie, I know dam well that I could get bit, but you...you could get seriously hurt or even killed."
Cameron isn't lying. They both know that it could happen but somethings are worth the risk. Jamie accepts those risks because lives are important. All lives are important and between the two of them animal lives and human lives are covered.
"I don't want you thinking that way. You'll drive yourself crazy with worry."
Jamie is telling Cameron the facts but the question is will they stick in his guy's mind.
"Aren't we supposed to worry about each other?"
While Jamie's last sentence held much truth, there is also wisdom in what Cameron just said. Still the question is what does Jamie think of what was just said by his best friend?
"Yeah we are supposed to worry about each other. Cameron, we do what we do because we love our jobs. You and me do it because we love people and animals. I get to save both people and animals. I'm not quitting my job because of a guy, and I am not asking you to stop your work either."
Maybe Jamie's words are starting to sink into Cameron's head.
"I don't want to see you get hurt. I can't see you get hurt, I just can't."
Jamie is done. He can't talk to Cameron anymore.
"We'll talk about this later. I shouldn't' have to convince you like this, Cameron."
There is only one thing left to do.
***
Jamie doesn't want to end the day on a sour note, and maybe it's best to go their separate ways for a little bit.
"Cameron, I think you should go home."
There is an edge to Jamie's words that Cameron doesn't like. Jamie has never used this tone with him before, and it bothers him a lot.
"Babe?"
Cameron says as he reaches out for his keys.
"Yeah!"
It's all Jamie can manage get out of his mouth. Cameron gets up head towards the door. His heart is dropping down to his stomach. He pauses at the door hoping Jamie will change his mind.
"Come on Jamie, I'm sorry."
Cam tells Jamie with as much heart as he can.
"No, you need time to think, and I need time to cool down."
Jamie walks over to the door as Cam walks out the door.
"We aren't over, but this is best for both of us."
They may not be over according to Jamie, but it sure does feel like they are over at least to Cameron.
***
The drive home for Cameron has been horrid. They haven't had a disagreement like this since they met. What's worse, is that he just wants to be in Jamie's arms, and Jamie doesn't want him there. He knows that fire fighting is dangerous, but seeing that part of video on the news was unsettling. He just doesn't like this feeling. How is he going to spend the rest of the day knowing that Jamie is sitting at home upset with him?
***
For Jamie, he's trying to calm down after trying to tell Cameron that his job is what he wants to do with his life. He couldn't get through to him at all, and the more they talked, the more he got upset he got with the guy who he is in love with and wants so badly. Can he date a guy who doesn't understand why the risks and why what he does is so important to him? He hated having to send Cameron back home, but he was getting angry with him, and he didn't want it to get bigger then it was. Getting angry is going to happen in a relationship, but at the same time having a break away from Cameron is a good thing. Still, he knows and understands Cameron's feelings. He wanted to cry when he saw the look on Cam's face as he stood at the door hoping that Jamie change his mind and let him stay. He knew that, he needed time away from Cameron.
***
A full twelve hours have passed since Jamie sent Cameron home. Cameron realizes that, he doesn't want to spend any more time away from the man he considers to be his boyfriend. He grabs his phone that has been sitting beside him all this time, and stares at it.
`Should I call him or text him?'
He debates between one or the other, but in the end decides on texting. It will hurt like no other should Jamie give an answer that Cameron doesn't like, but at least he won't hear it.
"Jamie, we need to talk. Can we meet at the beach?"
When the message comes through, Jamie smiles. He's hoping that this means that Cameron has figured everything out.
"Okay, we can meet up? I just don't want to meet up if you aren't sure about us."
They agree to meet up with When the guys arrive, they don't kiss, hug, or even take hands. Instead, they simply walk. They come to a log that washed up on the shore, and this is where they decide to sit down and talk. The guys talk for several hours.
***
While, they are sitting on that log Jamie and Cameron speak with each other. Trying to do it from the heart, they both want to fix the situation that they find themselves in at the moment.
"Jamie, I don't want to be apart any more. I hated being apart yesterday. Leaving your house, was the worst feeling in the world."
Jamie admits to himself that it was a horrid feeling watching his bestie walk out of the house. It sucked when he saw Cameron's face after being told to head home. It was heart wrenching to say the least.
"Last thing, I wanted was too send you home, but I didn't know what else to say to you. I wanted you to understand that I love what I do."
How can anyone argue with Jamie on that thought? He really does care for the guy sitting next to him.
"You know how I feel about you getting hurt. I just..."
Cameron wants to see his bestie safe and sound after every call. Jamie doesn't want to have this argument again. Somehow, there has to be a way to get Cameron to see that the job is important to him.
"Cameron, I don't want to be hurt either, but if I go out just once and save a life, then it's worth it. I don't want to see someone die because I'm afraid of getting hurt."
Again it's not something, that anyone could argue with Jamie about what he said. Cameron just nodded his head to show his understanding of what Jamie just said. It's all about saving lives for Jamie. If someone is in a house that is on fire, Jamie will do what he has to do in order to save a life.
"I don't want to see someone get hurt either. "
Cameron gets that part of it, and it's important to him. The disconnect is where Jamie is concerned. He still doesn't want to see Jamie hurt, but is that such a bad thing?
"So if you don't want anyone hurt, why is there a problem?"
Jamie asks Cameron because, he's wanting to know what the problem is exactly.
"You know how I feel about it. I just don't know how I would feel if something happened to you."
Jamie can't say a thing about it because Cameron has every right to be upset if he got hurt. Jamie decides to just drop everything for right now. Jamie doesn't want to ruin anything. They decide to just relax and enjoy the moment.
***
Jamie doesn't understand why Cameron is so upset over the job, but maybe it's really him with the problem. Still though, it worth having this discussion. Cameron doesn't want to be a stumbling block. Jamie just wants to have him understand what is going on in his companion's mind. Jamie decides that they should head back towards the house. He's still sort of troubled by this issue.
***
On the way home, Cameron thinks back to the night that Princess appeared at the clinic. She came in with three other puppies; her siblings. Jamie and the puppies smelled of smoke, and was clear that the fireman was worried sick about them. From the minute that Jamie walked into the pet hospital, there was some sort of connection between the fireman and the vet tech. Everyone in the clinic that night picked up on it, and Cameron was doing everything he could to hide it. Every time that, Jamie came into the clinic pulled the vet tech into his heart a little bit more until they exchanged numbers, and went on their first date. More importantly, Cameron realized that despite the muscles, the tattoos, and the sense that Jamie could at snap time snap him in two, that he truly wanted to have a chance with stud, and still does; he still does.
***
At Jamie's house, there is a point where Jamie receives a phone call and a short time later Brayden and Crystal show up at the house. Brayden introduces Crystal to Cameron and the two quickly become friends. Jamie breaks out a trivia game and it quickly becomes a match between Jamie and Cameron facing off with Brayden and Crystal. Then there was another game of trivia between Crystal and Cameron versus Brayden and Jamie. Jamie and Crystal retire to the kitchen to get lunch going which leaves Brayden and Cameron to talk.
"Brayden, I know that I like Jamie, but something has been bugging me lately."
Brayden thinks, he knows exactly what is bugging him.
"Does this have anything to do with the fact that Jamie is a firefighter?"
Hearing Brayden say those words hits Cameron like a knife.
"Yeah, it does. Has Jamie ever been hurt on the job?"
Brayden chuckles a bit. He's a little uncomfortable discussing this with Cameron when he could just ask the man himself.
"Cameron, I'm sorry but that is something you'll have to ask Jamie yourself. Okay?"
Cameron doesn't respond just nods his head in agreement. Another question pops up in his head.
"Have you ever been hurt or been afraid during a call?"
Brayden nods his head and then pats Cameron on the back.
"Yeah, and it was your man who helped me get out of the fire in one piece. But yeah, I have been afraid. I think we are all afraid at some point. Sometimes, we try to push that fear aside so we can do our jobs without so it doesn't distract us."
Cameron can't help but feel the need to get up and hug Brayden but it's Jamie that he wants to speak with before he is taken home. What Cameron doesn't know is that Crystal has been asked to speak with him, so he'll have to speak with her before he can talk with Jamie.
"Hey can we talk for a second?"
Crystal says and Cameron follows right behind her. She walks into Jamie's bedroom, and sits on the bed.
"Close the door for a second."
She tells Cameron and he does as he is asked despite some misgivings about being in the bedroom with someone else's significant other.
"So what's up?"
Cameron asks wanting to get out of the room as soon as possible.
"I wanted to talk with you about our boyfriends. I know what it is like to worry. I went through it with Brayden in the beginning and sometimes, I worry about him but I've learned that Brayden doesn't need me worrying about him. He has a whole team whose job it is to keep him safe and he helps keep all of them safe as well. I will say that sometimes accidents happen, and they suck. It boils down too that old saying of not being able to control every little thing that happens. You can't worry that Jamie is going to get hurt every time he goes out on a call. If you ever need to talk, you can call me. Here let me see your phone."
Cam hands Crystal her phone and she enters her number and her email into the phone. Cameron does the same with her phone, and then the friends leave the bedroom and join Jamie and Brayden.
***
Cameron finally gets it. He understands why Jamie was upset, now there is only one thing left to do. He has to talk to his Jamie. He walks into the living room and finds him speaking with Brayden and Crystal.
"Jamie can we talk?"
Jamie excuses himself and follows Cameron into the bathroom. It's as good as a place as anywhere else in the house.
"I'm sorry!"
Cameron for whatever reason starts to cry. Jamie wraps him up in his arms and doesn't say a thing. He stands with his guy until the tears stop. When Cameron looks up into Jamie's eyes, he sees his smiling face.
"It's okay Babe, can we go back to our friends?
Jamie doesn't need this be long and drawn out and neither does Cameron.
"Yes."
With that, Jamie hands Cameron a clean face cloth. Cameron takes it and wipes his eyes, and then he puts down in on the sink. Together, they head out to the living room. Crystal smiles at Cameron and Cameron smiles back at her. Neither Jamie or Brayden know what's going on, but Crystal and Cameron get it.
***
After Brayden and Crystal leave the house, Princess comes up to Cameron looking for some lovings. Cameron gets down the floor and Princess immediately goes for the face. He gets tons of puppy kisses. At point, she puts her paws up on his chest and gives him a few licks and then gets her back legs up on him and lays down. She looks at him like she is wanting him to play some more. He carefully sits himself up so he is sitting on the floor and the puppy is in his lap. His right hand is petting her.
"What is she going to do when we are here 24/7?"
Jamie says as he joins Cameron on the floor. He kisses Cameron on the lips, and Princess looks at him trying to figure out what she just saw.
"I was just giving him a kiss."
Jamie says she he reaches out to pet her. For the next 10 minutes, Princess gets all the attention from Jamie and Cameron. As they are playing, Cameron catches sight of something on Jamie's left leg.
***
Jamie knows that Cameron saw it, and now he needs to come clean about it. He wasn't hiding the scar from him, but somehow Cameron has missed it. Cameron reaches out and touches it. The whole time, he was moving his hand towards it, his eyes were locked with Jamie's eyes. He didn't want to touch if, his touch was unwanted by his bae. Jamie flinches just a little because this scar could open up old wounds that neither of them want to open back up.
"What happened?"
Cameron says as his fingers make contact with the scar. He traces the scar as he waits for an answer. Jamie watches each move that Cameron makes.
"I was carrying out a child who was hiding from the fire, and made it outside with the child, and turned to head back inside. I made it fifteen feet into the house, when the floor gave out from under me. My gear protected me from the heat, but when I landed, I hit something and it caused my tibia and fibula to break. I was lucky they didn't shatter, and also lucky that I wasn't carrying out anyone. As lucky as I was, I ended up with my tibia coming through my skin. I was able to call out for assistance, and they got me to the hospital. Funny thing was, I was going in to assist another fireman with a rescue, a pet. They were able to fix me up, but I'll always have that scar."
Jamie lifts Cameron's hand away from his leg. A part of Jamie wears this scar like a badge of honor, a reminder of a day that he saved a child's life. He just doesn't like being reminded of the pain. They spend another twenty minutes cuddling and talking.
***
Cameron is on his way home from Jamie's which leaves Jamie alone in his house. Jamie feeds Princess and refills her water dish. As he is making his dinner, he starts to wonder about Cameron. Random thoughts start to run through his mind. Some of them are pleasant thoughts while other thoughts are not so nice. He wonders if Cameron will be strong enough to handle the painful times that might spring up in their time together. You just can't promise that you're not going to get hurt, because accidents happen. Will he crumble in response to the Jamie being hurt or will he stand strong? It's easy to imagine Cameron not standing by his side should things get rough, but at the same time, Jamie is fighting to stay positive. Eventually though, he gains control of his thoughts and pushes the negative thoughts away.
***
Meanwhile at Cameron's place, he is safely arriving at home. Parking the car, he unlocks and enters the house. First things first, he takes out his phone and calls Jamie. The call goes straight into voice mail, so he leaves a message.
"Hey Cameron here, I just wanted to let you know that I made it home safely. You don't have to call me back. I am going to have dinner and then get to bed early. Talk to you later."
Cameron washes his hands and then gets out one of the frozen pizzas from the freezer, gets it ready to throw it into the oven, and then makes a quick salad. After dinner, he brushes his teeth and heads off to bed. As he's lying in bed, his mind goes back to Jamie's leg and that scar. He can see it in his mind, and he's tracing it on his own left foot. What he put Jamie through is not fair. It's not easy realizing how much you hurt someone else.
***
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