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The second he rounded the final bend and caught sight of Sabrina’s home, the tightness in his chest exploded into full panic. Half of her house was smashed beneath her walnut tree, which must have been struck by lightning based on the splintered rip where the trunk shifted from standing tall to splayed horizontal through the side where her bedroom and kitchen were located.
He flung gravel and spun his tires as he sped up her driveway way too fast. Freddy couldn’t consider what he was about to find. He’d never make it inside if he did. Instead, he focused on action as he slammed his car into park and leaped out with the enginestill running, screaming Sabrina’s name as he rushed to yank open the storm door so hard he knocked one of the hinges free.
“Sabrina,” he called again while shoving his shoulder into the back door before he’d turned the knob. His heart was throwing itself against his ribs, trying to escape the possibility of life without her.
“What?” she called back, walking from the front office into the makeshift living room. “Freddy?”
He froze and inspected her bare toes, her favorite Winnie the Pooh sleep pants, an old Nirvana t-shirt that he thought might be his, and her eyes, which were boring into him the way they always did when he suggested something insane.
A squirrel chirped and darted through the bushy part of the tree tangled in her kitchen, making them both jump. And then Freddy collapsed to the floor, numb. Gasping for air, he pulled at his hair and stared at her. Was she real? Or had he snapped and started hallucinating?
Sabrina dropped to her knees beside him and set her coffee to the side. He could smell it now. That was good, right? People didn’t hallucinate smells.
“Freddy?” She reached out for his shoulder but stopped just shy of touching him. “What’s wrong?” she asked instead.
“What’s wrong?” His voice cracked like a teen, but he didn’t care. Freddy shifted around so that he could grab her shoulders and feel that she was real.
“Hey, woah,” she cautioned as his grip pulled her off balance enough to fall into his lap.
“You’re real?” he asked.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she countered as she adjusted herself to straddle him when she couldn’t pull free of his arms.
“I can’t let you go until I know you’re really real, and this isn’t a hallucination.”
“Um, okay.” She was back to giving him thatI think you’re nuts, but I’ll humor you because you’re my friendlook again.
Freddy nodded and pulled her into his chest. Her fingers danced along his ribs as she tried to figure out what to do with her hands. The scent of orange blossoms that he knew came from her shampoo but clung to her no matter how sweaty she got invaded his senses, and Freddy was finally able to breathe again.
At first, Sabrina’s shoulders were stiff, and she held her back rigid. But soon, she relaxed into him, allowing the band strangling his lungs to loosen even more. She was okay.
As his breathing settled and his trembling subsided (when the hell had he started shaking?), Sabrina dropped her head onto his shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Can you tell me why you’re so freaked out?”
It was enough to shatter the last of Freddy’s fears, and he laughed before giving her a final squeeze and kissing her forehead without thinking. “You never texted me back, and then I pulled up and saw the tree.”
He relaxed his grip on her, but Sabrina didn’t wiggle off his lap right away.
“You were worried about me?” she asked.
He tried not to scowl as he cupped her cheeks with both his hands and forced her to look at him. “Of course, I was worried about you. I was terrified you were dead.”
She cut her eyes to the side. “Oh.”
“Oh?”
“I didn’t think, I mean, it’s not that bad.” At least she had the decency to blush as she told him it wasn’t that bad while they sat on the floor beside the tree that was nowinsideher home.
Freddy gave her a stern look before shifting his gaze to said tree. Then he looked back at her and raised an eyebrow in question.
Sabrina rolled her eyes but admitted, “Fine. It is that bad, but I figured you’d want to check on your family or at least get some sleep first. How did you even get home this fast? I didn’t think you’d be back until this evening.”
“I caught a redeye into Dulles and took an Uber to Charlottesville,” he said through clenched teeth. “What, the fuck, do you mean, you thought I’d want to sleep before coming here when you haven’t texted me back, and why in the hell did you not text me? How long has it been since the fucking tree fell? Have you let anyone know that you’re okay? Why are you even here? You should have gone to my place, or HQ, or anywhere that still has a fucking roof!” Freddy could hear himself getting louder and louder, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He couldn’t hold back his fears or stifle his language either.
Before he could apologize, or yell at her more–he still wasn’t sure what would come out of his mouth next–she grinned the way she did before kicking his ass at one of their competitive video games. But then she leaned forward and smashed her lips against his.
If he’d been hooked up to an EEG machine, Freddy might have been declared brain dead at that moment.
He should have tangled his fingers in her hair, tasted the flavor of her soft lips before dipping his tongue between them, and pulled her close enough to feel just how happy he was to be kissed by her.
