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"the silence about it was comfortable, i don't regret it one bit."
***
PORCO DIDN'T KNOW WHERE THE HELL TO START. They didn't speak about his little quest after the initial conversation.
But he was lucky that they had begun interacting like true roommates. They ate dinner together, did occasional favors for the other, and didn't flat out ignore each other in passing.
Evelyn was a damn good cook. Porco was getting comfortable with the idea of not having to eat frozen meals anymore. Having someone cook for him was a luxury he didn't know he needed.
He wasn't the only one getting something out of their increased interaction. Evelyn began to become interested in hearing about Porco's adventures. They would sit down at the dinner table and she would just listen as he spoke about his day.
Nine times out of ten, it was more action-packed than her own.
Porco also knew some good-to-know things about her.
Evelyn was afraid of bugs. All bugs, they were terrifying to her. He bore witness to the fear when he found her on top of the kitchen counter after seeing a cockroach.
She also fainted at the sight of blood. He figured that was a good thing to keep in mind so he would know to keep any kind of small cut to himself.
He knew that she once mentioned that she was a very deep sleeper, but he didn't think much of that.
Until it became a dangerous thing.
It was silent in their apartment. Light wind gusts rustled the trees outside as the two slept in their own rooms.
That was until loud beeping filled the entire apartment.
Porco jolted awake in an instant. He took a moment to adjust to his surroundings, barely being awake and all.
He looked up to see the lights on the fire alarm blinking.
"Shit!" he yelled. Porco grabbed his phone and got out of bed at lightning speed. With panic, he threw his sandals on as well. He ripped his charger out of the wall and discarded it before stomping out of the room.
He expected to see Evelyn walking out of the apartment, but didn't see her at all. The living room and kitchen area seemed untouched. Her keys were still hanging.
Porco ran to her room and threw the door open with uncalled for force. Evelyn was still sound asleep in her bed.
The fire alarm did not affect her. She was out cold.
He ran over and shook her shoulders.
"Evelyn! The fire alarms!" he yelled. The alarms were still loudly blaring out, urging them to leave the building.
"Evelyn!" he screamed loudly.
She still didn't wake up.
Porco moved the blanket off of her, thankful that she was properly dressed. After shoving both his and her phone in his pocket, he scooped up her essentially lifeless body and made his way to the door.
That's when he recalled that it was cold outside.
He set her down on the living room couch and grabbed his jacket from the chair. After putting it on, he grabbed a nearby blanket and slung it over his shoulder.
He picked her back up and left the apartment as quickly as possible, taking their keys with him.
Once he finally made it down the stairs, Porco made his way outside where all of the other building residents were standing.
Fire trucks and ambulances were already lined up, first responders were racing inside the building.
"Shit. Fucking great." he muttered.
Porco lifted his knee to hold up Evelyn and quickly put his hand up to her neck. He made sure that she had a pulse.
She failed to wake up after fire alarms and screaming, he was well within his reasoning to do so.
Once he confirmed that she was alive, he adjusted his hold on her and sighed.
"Is she hurt?" an older woman asked.
Porco shook his head.
"No, she's just asleep. She's okay." he said.
The woman walked away and Porco looked around for a bench. It really was cold outside, the wind was not helping in any way.
Once he found a bench, he sat down and placed Evelyn over his lap. He quickly covered her with the blanket he brought and made sure the wind wasn't hitting her face.
He hoped that they wouldn't have to stay this way for hours. Porco was thankful that he wore sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt to bed.
Porco looked down to see Evelyn still peacefully sleeping, her head cradled into his chest as if she were getting the best rest of her life.
"Dammit, Evelyn." he whispered.
It took the fire department about thirty minutes to declare the building safe. There had been a small microwave fire on the first floor, and the threat was no longer an issue.
Porco was freezing his ass off. He had no idea how Evelyn had stayed asleep.
Once they finally returned to their apartment, Porco wanted to collapse on the couch so badly.
But he was still carrying Evelyn.
He slowly opened the door to her room and carried her over to her bed.
"Only you can sleep through a whole fire. Could've died." he said quietly as he carefully laid her down.
And that's when she finally decided to stir.
"Porco?" she said, seeing him as she began to wake up.
"Oh, so now you wanna wake up?" he said.
"What happened? Why are you in here?" she asked sleepily.
"You slept through a whole fire. Alarms went off, I had to carry you outside, we were out there for half an hour. If the fire was worse and I had left you here, you could've died." he said.
Evelyn just stared at him in tired disbelief. She couldn't exactly comprehend what he was saying or the gravity of the situation.
"Okay, thanks." she said before rolling over to return to sleep.
Porco rolled his eyes and stood up straight.
"Yeah. Goodnight, Evelyn." he said as she walked out.
