Cruz gets up and also walks to the kitchen. When he does, he sees Megan staring at the counter. Tears are streaming down her cheeks and she's shaking. 'Meg?'

'I need you to drag me out of this kitchen before I pick that knife up and ram it into my chest.' Megan says quietly. Cruz looks to the conference room and sees that it's empty. He then looks back at Megan.

'Why don't we go and talk in the conference room?' Cruz suggests. Megan nods and they both walk away from the counter and into the conference room. He makes sure both doors are closed before turning back to Megan.

'Do you know what triggered that?' Cruz asks Megan.

'No.' Megan shakes her head. 'Well-' She goes to say but then stops.

'Well- what?' Cruz queries.

'I guess it was just a stressful day.' Megan shrugs. 'Y'know, starting a new school and all.'

'Are you sure that's all?' Cruz asks.

'Yeah.' Megan nods. 'I mean, the therapy's working but my triggers are still, well, triggers. I'm still trying to figure out how to notice them and ground myself.' She shakes her hands and walks around the room as she tries to calm herself down. 'Stress has always been one of my triggers.' There are a few moments of silence. 'I'm Megan Levine. I'm 17-years-old. I live in Chicago, Illinois. It's 3:30 in the afternoon. I'm in the conference room at Firehouse 51. There's one other person in the room.' She then takes some time to take some dep breaths in and out. Eventually, she stops walking around the room and shaking her hands.

'What was that?' Cruz asks curiously.

'It's called an anchoring phrase.' Megan replies. 'It's a way of bringing myself back to reality. 'I haven't done it a while.'

'And it works?' Cruz questions.

'Sometimes.' Megan nods. 'It usually depends on how distressed I am.'

'Are you okay now?' Cruz asks her.

'Yeah.' Megan smiles. 'Thanks.' They then see that Truck 81 and Ambulance 61 are walking back into the common room.

'Wait here, I'll go and get Sylvie.' Cruz states.

'No, it's fine.' Megan shakes her head. 'She doesn't need-'

'Yes, she does.' Cruz nods. He then walks out of the conference room and goes to find Sylvie. A few minutes later, Sylvie walks into the conference room, closing the door behind her.

'Hey, Joe told me what happened in the kitchen.' Sylvie says softly.

'I'm fine.' Megan assures her. 'Honestly.'

'How many times have you had these thoughts since you came out of the hospital?' Sylvie queries.

'Just this once.' Megan responds. Sylvie raises an eyebrow. 'I promise.'

'Okay.' Sylvie nods after a few moments of silence. 'Were you given any homework to do today?'

'Yeah.' Megan nods. 'Just some reading for English, we're doing Romeo and Juliet.'

'Okay,' Sylvie nods, 'I'm on an overnight shift. Will you be okay on your own?'

'Yeah.' Megan smiles and nods. 'I'm just going to do this reading, get something to eat and then go to bed.'

'I'll call you to check up on you.' Sylvie tells her cousin. 'And the neighbour, she has a key, so I'll get her to look in on you too. Just to make sure that you're safe.'

'Okay.' Megan nods, understanding. 'I have to go to Barnes and Noble to get the texts on our required reading list. I already have some from Canada but there's some texts on the list that I don't have.'

'If you give me a few minutes, I'll go to my locker and get my wallet.' Sylvie tells her. 'I don't want you spending your own money if it's stuff for school.'

'Thanks.' Megan smiles slightly.

'Come on.' Sylvie motions for Megan to follow her. They both walk to the locker room and stop in front of Sylvie's locker. She opens it, gets her wallet out, takes out $50 and hands it to Megan.

'Sylvie, this is way too much.' Megan states. 'I only need to get like three books.'

'Then use the rest to treat yourself.' Sylvie says. 'You deserve it.'

'Thanks.' Megan smiles as they hug.

'I should be home before you leave for school in the morning.' Sylvie says as they part. 'If I'm not, I'll see you after school.'

'Okay.' Megan nods.

'I'll walk you out.' Sylvie states.

Five minutes later, Sylvie and Megan are walking out of the Firehouse.

'Make sure you keep your phone on.' Sylvie reminds.

'I will.' Megan nods.' Bye.'

'Bye.' Sylvie smiles. Megan then walks off. Sylvie waits until the young girl is out of sight before walking back into the Firehouse.

~

Half an hour later, Megan is at the local Barnes and Noble. She's in the classics section looking for the texts she needs. She looks at the list on her phone and then back at the shelves. Eventually, after ten minutes, she's found the text that she needs: The Handmaid's Tale, The Raven and The Taming of the Shrew. Since she still has some money left, she decides to go to the Young Adult section and gets a book for herself to enjoy. After some intense moments of trying to figure out what book she wants, she decides on Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee. She walks to checkout, pays, puts the books in her backpack and walks out.

As Megan is turning the corner, she bumps into Adrian.

'I had a feeling you'd be here.' He smiles.

'At this exact time?' Megan raises her eyebrow. 'Why don't you just say that you're following me?' Adrian looks around to make sure that no-one is paying attention. He grabs onto Megan's hand.

'Come with me.' He says. He leads Megan into the closest alley. He leads her far enough down that no-one will see them.

'Adr-' Megan goes to say but he interrupts her by planting a kiss on her lips. He slowly and gently pushes her against the wall as he does.

'I couldn't wait until tomorrow to do that again.' He whispers before kissing her again. Instead of pushing him away like she should, Megan kisses him back, letting her backpack fall from her shoulder.

~~~~~

So, a PSA, I obviously do not condone the kind of relationship between Adrian and Megan. The reason behind this will become clear later on in the book. Also, I have added a trigger warning chapter at the start of this book!

Let me know what you think!

Much love