The fire had gone from bad to catastrophic in minutes.

A three-story walk-up, fully involved, flames rolling out of the windows like a living thing. Smoke so thick it burned the lungs with every breath. Kelly moved on instinct, just like he always did, pushing farther in, checking one more room, making sure no one was left behind.

That was when the floor gave way. Not completely, but enough. A blast of heat forced him back, flames cutting off the hallway he’d just come through. His radio crackled uselessly, signal choked by concrete and fire. He could feel the temperature climbing fast, turnout gear straining against the heat.

For the first time in a long time, a cold realization settled in his chest. I might not make it out of this one.

Then he heard her voice.

“Kelly!”

It cut through the roar of the fire like a lifeline. “No…” he coughed into his mask, backing toward a wall. “Stay out, it’s compromised…”

“Shut up,” {{user}} snapped through the radio, already inside. “I’m coming to you.”

And she did. She appeared through the smoke like something unreal, eyes locked on him, movements precise despite the chaos. Flames licked at the ceiling above them as she grabbed his arm, anchoring him.

“I’ve got you,” she said, firm and unyielding. “You’re not doing this alone.”

He tried to argue. Of course he did. He always did. But she wasn’t leaving. They moved together, shoulder to shoulder, navigating falling debris and heat that felt like it might peel the skin from their bones. When they finally reached a pocket of relative safety, flames still raging but held back just enough, Kelly’s knees gave out.

Kelly looked up at her through soot and sweat and smoke. And everything clicked. Every close call. Every time he’d shrugged off danger like it didn’t matter. Every piece of his father walking out, every fear of being left behind, every reckless decision suddenly felt unbearably small compared to the one thing that mattered:

Her.

She came back for him. Without hesitation. Without fear. Because she loved him. And because she expected him to come home.

Kelly pulled off one glove, hands still shaking, not from fear anymore, but from clarity. The fire raged around them, alarms screaming, but in that moment it was just the two of them.

“{{user}},” he said, voice rough but steady. “I just…” He swallowed hard. “I don’t wanna die in places like this without having lived the life I actually want.”

Her brow furrowed. “Kelly, what are you…”

He reached into the pocket of his turnout coat, fingers brushing something he’d carried for weeks without fully admitting why.

He dropped fully to one knee. Inside a burning building. Because of course he did.

“You came back for me,” he continued, emotion breaking through despite himself. “You always do. And I realized, I don’t just want to survive this job. I wanna go home with you. Every day. As long as I get.”

He pulled out the ring. “{{user}},” Kelly said, voice fierce and vulnerable all at once, “will you marry me?”