Beautiful Disaster 02 Walking Disaster (43 page)

Abby gasped at the sight, and then coughed. My eyebrows pulled in, wondering where in the hell he was. If he was at the end of that hallway, he couldn’t have made it. A sob welled up in my
throat, but the look of terror in Abby’s eyes forced it away.

“I’m gonna get us outta here, Pidge.” I pressed my lips against hers in one quick, firm movement, and then climbed on top of her makeshift ladder.

I pushed at the window, the muscles of my arms quivering as I used all of my remaining strength against the glass.

“Get back, Abby! I’m gonna break the glass!”

Abby took one step away, her entire body shaking. My elbow bent as I reared back my fist, and I let out a grunt as I rammed it into the window. Glass shattered, and I reached out my hand.

“Come on!” I yelled.

The heat from the fire took over the room. Motivated by pure fear, I lifted Abby from the floor with one arm, and pushed her outside.

She waited on her knees as I climbed out, and then helped me to my feet. Sirens blared from the other side of the building, and red and blue lights from fire engines and police cruisers danced
across the brick on the adjacent buildings.

I pulled Abby with me, sprinting to where a crowd of people stood in front of the building. We scanned the soot-covered faces for Trenton while I yelled his name. Each time I called out, my
voice became more broken. He wasn’t there. I checked my phone, hoping he’d called. Seeing that he hadn’t, I slammed it shut.

Nearing hopelessness, I covered my mouth, unsure of what to do next. My brother had gotten lost in the burning building. He wasn’t outside, leading to only one conclusion.

“TRENT!” I screamed, stretching my neck as I searched the crowd.

Those that had escaped were hugging and whimpering behind the emergency vehicles, watching in horror as the pumper trucks shot water through the windows. Firefighters ran inside, pulling hoses
behind them.

“He didn’t get out,” I whispered. “He didn’t get out, Pidge.” Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I fell to my knees.

Abby followed me to the ground, holding me in her arms.

“Trent’s smart, Trav. He got out. He had to have found a different way.”

I fell forward into Abby’s lap, gripping her shirt with both fists.

An hour passed. The cries and wailing from the survivors and spectators outside the building had softened to an eerie quiet. Firefighters brought out just two survivors, and then continuously
came out empty-handed. Each time someone emerged from the building, I held my breath, part of me hoping it was Trenton, the other fearing that it was.

Half an hour later, the bodies they returned with were lifeless. Instead of performing CPR, they simply laid them next to the other victims and covered their bodies. The ground was lined with
casualties, far outnumbering those of us that had escaped.

“Travis?”

Adam stood beside us. I got up, pulling Abby along with me.

“I’m glad to see you guys made it out,” Adam said, looking stunned and bewildered. “Where’s Trent?”

I didn’t answer.

Our eyes returned to the charred remains of Keaton Hall, the thick black smoke still billowing from the windows. Abby buried her face into my chest and gripped my shirt in her small fists.

It was a nightmarish scene, and all I could do was stare.

“I have to uh . . . I have to call my dad,” I said, furrowing my brow.

“Maybe you should wait, Travis. We don’t know anything, yet,” Abby said.

My lungs burned, just like my eyes. The numbers blurred together as tears overflowed and poured down my cheeks. “This ain’t fucking right. He shoulda never been there.”

“It was an accident, Travis. You couldn’t have known something like this was going to happen,” Abby said, touching my cheek.

My face compressed, and I clenched my eyes shut. I was going to have to call my father and tell him that Trenton was still inside a burning building, and that it was my fault. I didn’t
know if my family could handle another loss. Trenton had lived with my dad while trying to get back on his feet, and they were a little closer than the rest of us.

My breath caught as I punched in the numbers, imagining my father’s reaction. The phone felt cold in my hand, and so I pulled Abby against me. Even if she didn’t know it yet, she had
to be freezing.

The numbers turned into a name, and my eyes widened. I was getting another call.

“Trent?”

“Are you okay?” Trent yelled in my ear, his voice thick with panic.

A surprised laugh escaped my lips as I looked at Abby. “It’s Trent!”

Abby gasped and squeezed my arm.

“Where are you?” I asked, desperate to find him.

“I’m at Morgan Hall, you dumb fuck! Where you told me to meet you! Why aren’t you here?”

“What do you mean you’re at Morgan? I’ll be there in a second, don’t you fucking move!”

I took off in a sprint, dragging Abby behind me. When we reached Morgan, we were both coughing and gasping for breath. Trenton ran down the steps, crashing into both of us.

“Jesus H. Christ, brother! I thought you were toast!” Trenton said, squeezing us tight.

“You asshole!” I screamed, shoving him away. “I thought you were fucking dead! I’ve been waiting for the firefighters to carry your charred body from Keaton!”

I frowned at Trenton for a moment, and then pulled him back into a hug. My arm shot out, fumbling around until I felt Abby’s sweater, and then pulled her back into a hug as well. After
several moments, I let Trenton go.

Trenton looked at Abby with an apologetic frown. “I’m sorry, Abby. I panicked.”

She shook her head. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“
Me
? I would have been better off dead if Travis had seen me come out of that building without you. I tried to find you after you ran off, but then I got lost and had to find
another way. I walked along the outside wall looking for that window, but I ran into some cops and they made me leave. I’ve been flippin’ the fuck out over here!” he said, running
his hand over his head.

I wiped Abby’s cheeks with my thumbs, and then pulled up my shirt, using it to wipe the soot from my face. “Let’s get out of here. The cops are going to be crawling all over
the place soon.”

After hugging my brother again, he headed to his car, and we walked to America’s Honda. I watched Abby buckle her seat belt, and then frowned when she coughed.

“Maybe I should take you to the hospital. Get you checked out.”

“I’m fine,” she said, interlacing her fingers in mine. She looked down, seeing a deep cut across my knuckles. “Is that from the fight or the window?”

“The window,” I answered, frowning at her bloodied nails.

Her eyes turned soft. “You saved my life, you know.”

My eyebrows pushed together. “I wasn’t leaving without you.”

“I knew you’d come.”

I kept Abby’s hand in mine until we arrived at the apartment. Abby took a long shower, and with shaky hands, I poured us both a glass of bourbon.

She padded down the hallway, and then collapsed onto the bed in a daze.

“Here,” I said, handing her a full glass of amber liquid. “It’ll help you relax.”

“I’m not tired.”

I held out the glass again. She might have grown up around mobsters in Vegas, but we’d just seen death—a lot of it—and barely escaped it ourselves. “Just try to get some
rest, Pidge.”

“I’m almost afraid to close my eyes,” she said, taking the glass and gulping the liquid down.

I took the empty glass and sat it on the nightstand, then sat beside her on the bed. We sat in silence, reflecting on the last few hours. It didn’t seem real.

“A lot of people died tonight,” I said.

“I know.”

“We won’t find out until tomorrow just how many.”

“Trent and I passed a group of kids on the way out. I wonder if they made it. They looked so scared . . .”

Abby’s hands began to tremble, so I comforted her the only way I knew how. I held her.

She relaxed against my chest and sighed. Her breathing evened out, and she nuzzled her cheek deeper into my skin. For the first time since we’d gotten back together, I felt completely at
ease with her, as if we’d returned to the way things were before Vegas.

“Travis?”

I lowered my chin and whispered into her hair. “What, baby?”

Our phones rang in unison, and she simultaneously answered hers while she handed me mine.

“Hello?”

“Travis? You all right, man?”

“Yeah, buddy. We’re okay.”

“I’m okay, Mare. We’re all okay,” Abby said, reassuring America on the other line.

“Mom and Dad are freaking out. We’re watching it on the news right now. I didn’t tell them you would be there. What?” Shepley pulled his face away from the phone to
answer his parents. “No, Mom. Yeah, I’m talking to him! He’s fine! They’re at the apartment! So,” he continued, “what the hell happened?”

“Fucking lanterns. Adam didn’t want any bright lights drawing attention and getting us busted. One caught the whole fucking place on fire . . . it’s bad, Shep. A lot of people
died.”

Shepley breathed deep. “Anyone we know?”

“I don’t know, yet.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, brother. I’m . . . Jesus, I’m glad you’re ok ay.”

Abby described the horrific moments when she was stumbling through the dark, trying to find her way out.

I winced when she recounted how she dug her fingers into the window when she tried to get it open.

“Mare, don’t leave early. We’re fine,” Abby said. “We’re fine,” she said again, this time with emphasis. “You can hug me on Friday. I love you,
too. Have a good time.”

I pressed my cell phone tight against my ear. “Better hug your girl, Shep. She sounds upset.”

Shepley sighed. “I just . . .” He sighed again.

“I know, man.”

“I love you. You’re as much a brother as I could ever have.”

“Me, too. See you soon.”

After Abby and I hung up our phones, we sat in silence, still processing what had happened. I leaned back against the pillow, and then pulled Abby against my chest.

“America all right?”

“She’s upset. She’ll be okay.”

“I’m glad they weren’t there.”

I could feel Abby’s jaw working against my skin, and I inwardly cursed myself for giving her more gruesome thoughts.

“Me, too,” she said with a shiver.

“I’m sorry. You’ve been through a lot tonight. I don’t need to add anything else to your plate.”

“You were there, too, Trav.”

I thought about what it was like, searching for Abby in the dark, not knowing if I would find her, and then finally kicking through that door and seeing her face.

“I don’t get scared very often,” I said. “I was scared the first morning I woke up and you weren’t here. I was scared when you left me after Vegas. I was scared
when I thought I was going to have to tell my dad that Trent had died in that building. But when I saw you across the flames in that basement . . . I was terrified. I made it to the door, was a few
feet from the exit, and I couldn’t leave.”

“What do you mean? Are you
crazy
?” she asked, her head jerking up to look into my eyes.

“I’ve never been so clear about anything in my life. I turned around, made my way to that room you were in, and there you were. Nothing else mattered. I didn’t even know if we
would make it out or not, I just wanted to be where you were, whatever that meant. The only thing I’m afraid of is a life without you, Pigeon.”

Abby leaned forward, softly kissing my lips. When our mouths parted, she smiled. “Then you have nothing to be afraid of. We’re forever.”

I sighed. “I’d do it all over again, you know. I wouldn’t trade one second if it meant we were right here, in this moment.”

She took in a deep breath, and I gently kissed her forehead.

“This is it,” I whispered.

“What?”

“The moment. When I watch you sleeping . . . that peace on your face? This is it. I haven’t had it since before my mom died, but I can feel it again.” I took another deep
breath and pulled her closer. “I knew the second I met you that there was something about you I needed. Turns out it wasn’t something about you at all. It was just you.”

Abby offered a tired smile as she buried her face into my chest. “It’s
us,
Trav. Nothing makes sense unless we’re together. Have you noticed that?”

“
Noticed
? I’ve been telling you that all year!” I teased. “It’s official. Bimbos, fights, leaving, Parker, Vegas . . . even fires . . . our relationship
can withstand anything.”

She lifted her head, her eyes fixed on mine. I could see a plan forming behind her irises. For the first time, I didn’t worry what her next step would be, because I knew in my core
whatever path she chose, it would be a path we walked together.

“Vegas?” she asked.

I frowned, forming a line between my brows. “Yeah?”

“Have you thought about going back?”

My eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “I don’t think that’s a good idea for me.”

“What if we just went for a night?”

I glanced around the dark room, confused. “A night?”

“Marry me,” she blurted out. I heard the words, but it took a second for them to register.

My mouth widened into a ridiculous grin. She was full of shit, but if that was what helped get her mind off what we’d just gone through, I was happy to play along.

“When?”

She shrugged. “We can book a flight tomorrow. It’s spring break. I don’t have anything going on tomorrow, do you?”

“I’m callin’ your bluff,” I said, reaching for my phone. Abby lifted her chin, making a show of her stubborn side. “American Airlines,” I said, watching her
reaction closely. She didn’t flinch.

“American Airlines, how can I help you?”

“I need two tickets to Vegas, please. Tomorrow.”

The woman looked up a flight time, and then asked how long we were going to stay.

“Hmmmm . . .” I waited for Abby to give in, but she didn’t. “Two days, round-trip. Whatever you have.”

She rested her chin on my chest with a big smile, waiting for me to finish the call.

The woman asked for my payment information, so I asked Abby for my wallet. That was the point I thought she would laugh and tell me to hang up the phone, but she happily pulled out the card from
my wallet and handed it to me.