Arson Bros//Setting Fires In My Heart

Chapter 12

Jake's POV
It's finally Friday! I got my cast off on Tuesday. It felt great. Rich moved in with me. I have a tiny apartment. 1 bedroom. But it's fine he's my best friend so it doesn't matter if we share a room. It's pretty nice actually. Michael picks us up for school everyday which is great. He says it's fine. I can drive again but I think everyone likes it this way. We get to school, say hi to everyone then off to class. I see Rich in second period so yay!

—Mini time skip to 2nd period—

Me and Rich say in our regular seats for science. I'm excited. Today we are doing an experiment. I'm kinda nerd when it comes to science but oh well. Today we were using bunsen burners. I was doing most of the work because science is not Rich's strong suit. Then the teacher walks up to us, "Richard you have to do something. At least turn on the burner." He says with a shake of his head then walks away. I raise an eyebrow at Rich and he grabs the lighter, turns the knob and it turns on with a whoosh. I look over to see Rich on the ground. He looked scared. The fire. By now the whole class is watching. I'm pretty sure they were watching when Mr.Tyson told Rich to turn on the burner. I got off my stool and bent down to Rich's level. I was about to speak when Rich jumped up, took his bag and ran out of class. I grabbed my bag, looked to the teacher for approval, he nods then I run out of the class after Rich. I found Rich on the floor by his locker.

"I'm just tho thcared it'll happen again. I don't want anybody to get hurt again." He says quietly and I sit down next to him. "I still have dreamth. That he'll come back. That you will get hurt or not forgive me." I take his hand intertwining our fingers. He looks up at me like a helpless puppy.

"Don't ever think that. The SQUIP is gone. I will always forgive you. And the thing that hurt me most is seeing you upset and hurting. More than that fire could have."

"Can we thkip thiencthe?" He asks.

"Yeah. I'll stay with you. And if you ever have a nightmare, wake me up so I could be there for you." I say as he puts his head on my shoulder. He just nods and we sit there in silence for a while.