I'm cleaning the Ladder truck when a woman, a man, and a baby walk into the station. Jumping down from the truck, I walk up to them. The woman, she looks so familiar.

"Hi, how can I help you?" I ask the woman.

"Uh, hi, I'm looking for Blake."

"Blake Wilson?" I ask.

"Uh, yeah."

I look closer at the woman.

"Wait, you're Maddie, aren't you?" I ask.

The woman looks at me, shocked.

"You know who I am?" she asks.

"Yeah, you're Blake's older sister, Maddie."

"Yeah, yeah, I am." she says. "You are...?"

So he hasn't told Maddie about me. I mentally take note.

"Lia." I introduce myself.

"Hi."

"Yeah, Blake told me so much about you guys." I turn to the man. "You must be her husband, Kevin?"

"Yeah."

I hold my hand out to each one and they shake it.

I look at the baby.

"And who is this young lady?" I ask.

"This is Iris." Maddie says, bouncing Iris up slightly.

"Hi!" I coo.

"Hi." Iris responds.

"Aww." I say. I turn to Kevin and Maddie. "Uh, what are you guys doing here?" I ask.

"Is Blake around?" Maddie asks, shifting her baby a bit higher on her hip.

"Yeah, he-uh-he's in Cap's office." I say, gesturing upstairs.

"Oh my god, what did he do now?" Maddie asks, worried.

"Oh, no, he's not in trouble or anything. Cap likes doing routine checks on us every month. You know, to see how we're doing."

"Oh, that's nice."
"Yeah. He'll be right down." I say.

Maddie smiles and nods.

"This is a nice house you've got here." Kevin says.

"Thanks-" I start, but TK walks up behind me.

"My Dad renovated it when the original team had died twenty five years ago." TK says.

"Oh." Kevin says.

"Hi, TK Strand, Paramedic Captain." TK holds his hand out.

"Kevin Lee, medic, LAFD."

"Nice to meet you."

They shake hands.

"Maddie Lee."

Another shake of the hands.

Maddie looks between me and TK.

"Are you two...married?" she asks, pointing to our nametags.

I look down at my nametag, then at TK, and realize why she would think that.

"Wha-no, no, we-uh-we're siblings."

"Siblings?" Maddie asks, shocked.

"Yeah, half-siblings."

"Oh."

I just nod, putting my hands into my pant pockets. Just then, Blake walks out of Cap's office.

"Hey Lia." he says to me from the balcony. I turn around. "Who's there?"

"Come on down." TK beckons.

Blake walks down the stairs and walks up to us. He starts off at a quick pace at first, slowing down when he sees Maddie, Kevin, and Iris.

"Maddie." he says, walking up to us and stopping.

"Hi Blake." Maddie says.

I look between the two of them.

"What are you doing here?" Blake asks.

"You weren't answering any of my calls or texts. I was worried."

Blake chuckles. "You know, if you're so smart, you should have gotten the message when I ignored all of your texts and calls."

"Blake, we miss you."

"Oh yeah? Is it just you or your parents as well?"

"Blake-"

"Why are you here Maddie?" Blake interrupts. His voice is so cold, so void of emotion. I've never seen him like this before. It scares me.

"We need to talk."

"Well, I have nothing to say to you." Blake says, turning to walk away.

"I'm sorry." Maddie blurts out.

Blake stops in his tracks and turns.

He opens his mouth to say something, but stops. "No. I can't Maddie. Not now. Not here." he says.

"Blake-"

"135 Whitewoods Road. That's my address." he says to Maddie after a while.

"Wha-"

"There's a key under the doormat. Let yourself in. I'll be there as soon as my shift's over."

"Blake, are you sure?" Kevin asks.

"I'm sure, go." He says. "We'll talk after my shift."

Maddie and Kevin exchange glances before nodding and walking out.

Blake stares after them. I reach out and put my hand on his shoulder, making him jolt lightly and look at me.

"Go home." I tell him. "Take the rest of your shift off."

"You can't do that." Blake points out.

I roll my head over to look at TK, who moans and turns away.

"TK." I say, an edge on my voice. I'm not taking his shit. Now not, not today.

He sighs and looks at me.

"Fine." He turns to Blake. "Take the rest of the day off Wilson," he says.

"You sure Cap-" Blake starts, but TK holds his hands up.

"Shut up. Just take it, and go."

"Okay." Blake looks at me. "Thanks."

"Bye, see you later." I say.

He gives me a quick hug before running off to the changing rooms to grab his stuff.

"You okay?" TK asks when Blake leaves.

"Hmm? Yeah, yeah." I say.

"Lia, I practically raised you."

I sigh. "I don't think he told Maddie about me."

"They don't seem to be talking."

"I know, I know. But he also didn't tell me that he and his sister aren't talking."

"That bothers you?"

I shrug. "I just thought things were going well, that we were at a stage where we trust each other with everything."
"Maybe he's not ready to talk about it." TK offers.

I turn to him.

"Are you supporting him?" I ask. He shrugs. "Where has the world gone?"

****

I take a deep breath before knocking on the door. I have my own key, but there's a car parked in front of the house, so Maddie and Kevin are probably here. I decided that if they were there, I was going to cut Blake some slack, just in case he still didn't talk to them about me.

Nothing. He doesn't open the door. I ring the bell again, but still nothing. I start to panic. Pulling my key out, I fit it into the lock and open the door. Rushing in, I close the door behind me.

"Blake, Blake!" I shout as I practically run through the house. "Blake, where are you?"

I see the basement door open. Shit. That's where all the alcohol is. I drop my bag.

"Blake! Blake!" I shout, running down the stairs. I freeze when I'm met with Blake, Maddie, and Kevin sitting down and drinking together. They're all laughing. Iris is playing with a couple of Nia's toys on the other side of the room.

The three of them look up at me when I run downstairs.

"Oh, thank god." I close my eyes and sigh in relief when I see that Blake is not passed out, or even worse, dead.

"Lia." Maddie says.

I open my eyes. Wow, she remembered.

"How did you get in?" Kevin asks.

"I have a key." I answer.

"Blake, why does a girl have a key to your house?" Maddie asks. "Are you hooking up again?"

I open my mouth to say something, but find myself unable to form words. Blake walks over to me and puts his arm around my shoulder.

"She isn't a hook up." Blake says. "She's my girlfriend."

"You never told me you had a girlfriend!" Maddie exclaims.

Blake squints his eyes. "We weren't really on talking terms." He points out.

Maddie shrugs. "Fair enough." She says before turning to me. "So, Lia, you poor girl. How did you end up with my stupid brother?"

I look down, laughing.

"Trust me, I never thought this was possible either." I say, pointing to me and Blake.

"Is it because of his inability to keep it in his pants, or his stupidity?" Kevin asks.

"Hey!" Blake exclaims.

I chuckle. "I don't mind the first one, actually," I say, smiling and looking up at him, "but his ability to annoy the hell out of me is not that tolerable."

Kevin raises his eyebrows and turns to Blake. "You've caught a keeper Blake," he says to him.

"I did." Blake says, smiling at me as he wraps his arms around me tighter.

I smile and look up at Blake, my hand on his chest. I lean into him, sighing.

Everything's perfect.

Heyyyyyyyy! I know I'm late today. Sorry for that! I had to go out, and came back like half an hour ago. Today was so weird. I completely forgot that it was a Wednesday. Loll. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Please don't be a silent reader! I am always looking forward to your comments. You don't have to vote, but please comment! I love reading your comments! Love you all!