I've only relatively recently found 'Chicago Fire' and Kelly Severide quickly became one of my favourite characters – what can I say, I like the troubled, broody ones ; p The more I watched, the more apparent it became that Severide has been through some pretty bad things in his childhood, and with the CF characters of Severide, Darden, Rice and Sexton all linked through a shared high-school experience, the possibilities for a fic seemed endless.

This story takes place during the events that lead up to Kelly staying with April and her family, as mentioned in season three.

"Hey, you're back!" Scott Rice exclaimed loudly as he wandered towards the hunched figure of his friend, Kelly Severide, who was staring listlessly into his locker. "Woah, man, you look like shit!"

"Thanks," Kelly replied dryly, still looking in his locker as he tried to muster up enough energy to move.

"What happened?" Scott pushed, all too aware of his friend's stoic façade when it came to any and all things even remotely personal.

"Nothing," Severide predictably brushed off his concern.

"Nothing? I mean I know we're about to start the summer holidays and everything, but we're not there yet, man, yet you've been gone from classes for almost a week - no one's heard from you and the teachers seem totally fine with you playing truant all this time, even Rodgers, and that guy seriously hates your guts, so clearly something is up," Scott explained, his naturally verbose spirit going into overdrive with mounting concern for his friend. "Then you come back looking like…this. Do you really expect us to believe that 'nothing' happened?"

"Yeah, Sev," Andrew Darden said quietly, gently resting a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder, wondering at the way Kelly flinched at the contact. "No one was at your house, no one was answering the phone, no one was telling us anything…we've been really worried."

"We?" Kelly asked wearily, finally pushing himself away from his locker as he turned to meet his friends' gaze.

"We," April Sexton stated firmly as she joined the group, desperately trying to remain unaffected by her friend's appearance. She only knew Andy and Scott through Kelly, but she knew enough to know that they were good friends – Andy had even come to her when Kelly was MIA and she had appreciated the heads-up. She'd missed her classmate during his unexplained absence and seeing his haggard appearance and the fading bruises only increased her concern.

"Well, I don't imagine it will be too long before the rumour mill lets everyone know exactly what's been going on…" Kelly bitterly replied.

"I don't give a damn about the rumour mill," Andy interjected. "We're friends, we've known each other since kindergarten, and I swear to God if anyone messes with you then they're going to have to go through me first!"

"Us," Scott amended firmly.

"But we can only help you if we know what's going on - you can trust us, Sev!" Andy implored his oldest friend.

Kelly nodded, already aware of the truth behind that statement. He and Andy had been through a lot together and they had always maintained a good and strong friendship through it all, Scott could be a bit of a joker at times and somewhat overenthusiastic with his stories, but he was a damn loyal friend, and April, while someone that he hadn't known as long or as well as the other two, had already proven herself to be entirely trustworthy and dependable, if a little too serious on occasion.

"Well…you guys know that my mom has been a bit…unwell," Kelly started tentatively, trying to find the right words.

"Yeah," Andy agreed quickly – having seen one too many of Mrs Severide's episodes for himself, he thought 'unwell' was a woefully inadequate description but he knew how much his friend struggled with the reality of his family situation, and was determined not to rock the boat with a more apt adjective.

"She, er…last weekend she had a full-on breakdown, went totally postal. When the dust had settled and she was more…lucid, I guess," Kelly shrugged, struggling to explain, "She, er…she checked herself into the psychiatric wing at UIC – they assessed her and found that…they think she's a danger to herself and to others, so they're keeping her in for a while…to monitor her, get her started on some intensive therapy, maybe some meds."

"If that happened last weekend, where were you for the rest of the time?" April asked gently, caring less about what was going on with Kelly's mother than she did about what had happened to her friend.

She looked him over again, taking stock of his appearance – it had only been a week, but Kelly looked as though he had lost a lot of weight in that short amount of time. There were bruises fading along his left cheek under the remains of a black eye, purple giving way to green and yellow tinges that indicated the gradual healing that only came with the passage of time, hinting that perhaps the danger Mrs Severide posed to others started first and foremost with her own son. The bags under his eyes spoke of more than one sleepless night and the pain she saw in them was clearly related to more than just his physical well-being.

"DCFS mainly," Kelly shrugged again, trying to pretend he was indifferent to the events of the last week, although why he even bothered to try he couldn't say – his three friends knew him too well to take his bullshit at face-value.

"DCFS?" Andy queried.

"The Department for Children and…"

"I know what it means, April," Andy interrupted. "I just don't know why the hell they're getting involved."

"Because I'm a minor," Kelly explained.

"What about your dad?" Scott asked tentatively – they all knew that Benny Severide was more than just a sensitive topic for their friend.

"What about him?" Kelly spat out bitterly, slamming his locker shut. "The old man can do whatever the hell he wants, just so long as he stays away from me, and stays the hell away from my mom."

The other three exchanged silent, knowing glances – it seemed as though dear old Benny had once again well and truly failed in the father-of-the-year department. While they didn't know the details, nor did they particularly want to ask Kelly given his current mood, they could hazard a guess at what had happened – at a time when Kelly had needed his father the most during the events surrounding his mother the previous weekend, Benny Severide had yet again been nowhere to be found.

"Kelly," April interjected quietly as she rested her hand gently on his chest in an effort to stop him from walking away.

"What?" he asked, exhaustion seeping from every pore.

"Talk to us," she implored. "Please!"

"Honestly, April, we've got one week left until summer break and I just want to get through it with my sanity intact," Kelly replied quietly, a pleading tone to his words begging her to drop the subject.

"You got it," April agreed reluctantly. Kelly nodded his thanks and started to wander down the hallway, people happily shouting out greetings to him as he passed, glad to see he had returned and seemingly oblivious to his inner turmoil. April watched him leave, sadly wondering if he would ever let anyone truly help him through the darker times.

Kelly Severide was well-liked in school – his athleticism served him well with the sports teams and his dark, brooding good looks made most girls weak at the knees at the mere mention of his name. He didn't care about cliques and happily traversed the social lines drawn up in every high school, earning him friends in every group, his easy-going manner and natural charisma drawing people in like moths to a flame.

While April knew that her friend was aware of his popularity, she also knew that he didn't give a damn about it – Kelly Severide had never gone out of his way to make people like him, seeing little need in catering to other people's expectations. Rumours regarding him frequently found their way weaving through the entire school, but Kelly never sought to correct any of them, even the most absurd or the highly insulting ones, seeing no need to justify himself to anyone no matter the circumstances, his casual indifference making him seem that bit cooler than those who relied upon the whims of high-school drama to boost their standing.

However, the moment those rumours involved his friends and those he cared about, Kelly Severide turned very protective, very quickly, and more importantly, he became very reactive.

Once, a member of the basketball team had tried to kiss her at an after-game party, and she had refused, kneeing him in the balls when he started getting physical and wandering hands found themselves grabbing at all the wrong places. School the next day saw vicious rumours flying around that she was a lesbian with all sorts of weird kinks – strange looks and loud whispers followed her through the halls, and her locker had playboy pictures posted through the slots by the dozen. Her reluctance to date in high school, choosing instead to focus on her studies and work towards getting an academic scholarship for medical school, was explained away by Dwayne Addams in explicit detail as a lesbian whore who simply couldn't get her fill of kinks amongst her peers.

As soon as Kelly had heard the rumours he'd gone looking for his friend, eventually finding her in tears at the back of the library – he'd comforted her with compassion and understanding before carefully and skilfully getting the whole story out of her about Dwayne and the after-party. To say he got angry on her behalf would be an understatement to the nth degree.

He'd told her that he would make sure Dwayne didn't bother her again, kissed her gently on the forehead and sent her off to the bathroom with one of her other friends who had been standing awkwardly in the background while Kelly worked his magic. Her trip to the bathroom allowed her a little time to pull herself back together before she was forced to face the school crowd once again, and when she finally felt ready to leave the sanctuary of the bathroom, the corridors were in chaos – everyone was talking about Dwayne and Kelly and the massive fight they'd had outside the cafeteria before the teachers had broken it up.

April had rushed to the principal's office, desperate to do what she could to help her friend, thinking that if she explained the circumstances (because she knew Kelly sure as hell wouldn't) then maybe the principal would let it slide. She had dreaded it, already imagining the next set of rumours to make the rounds – 'April the grass', 'April the tease', 'April the whore' – she knew how these things worked in high-school.

But when she got there, Dwayne was already gone and Kelly was leaving the office, backpack in hand with the principal looking on shaking his head disappointedly. She'd opened her mouth to speak only to have Kelly shake his head, not wanting to drag her into trouble that he had caused, that he had willingly walked into to get back at the arsehole that had hurt his friend.

"Totally worth it," he'd said quietly, smiling crookedly at her before kissing her on the forehead and pulling her in for a hug.

"Kelly…" she'd tried to respond, even as she lost herself in the comfort of his arms.

"Andy and Scott will keep an eye on things for me while I'm out – if Dwayne or anyone else gives you any problems, any at all, then you go to them, promise?" he'd asked earnestly, pulling away a little and lifting her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"I promise," she'd agreed, tears flowing down her face as she struggled to find the right words to thank her friend for all that he had done for her, from comforting her, to confronting Dwayne, to keeping her part in it all away from the principal's office and therefore allowing her to escape another round of vicious rumours.

Kelly used his thumbs to gently wipe away the tears before kissing her once again on the forehead and silently gesturing towards Scott and Andy, who had been watching down the hall before heading towards them, Andy gently taking April into his arms as Kelly was marched off the premises by the principal.

He'd been suspended for one week, and by the time he returned to classes, the rumour mill regarding her had all but died down while Dwayne was still very much on the receiving end, as theories circulated regarding the reasons behind the fight.

That was Kelly – always so ready and willing to help out his friends no matter the cost, but someone who would not only avoid asking for help for any of his own problems, but would actively seek to hide any and all evidence of his distress whenever possible, often to his own detriment. April could only hope that this wasn't one of those times.

"Did you hear?" Andy asked April quietly as the school day drew to an end.

"Hear what?" April demanded, already expecting the worst given their mutual friend's volatile nature earlier in the day.

"Sev's been suspended," Andy sighed heavily.

"What?" April exclaimed. "Why?"

"Apparently he got into it with one of the teachers," Andy explained. "I don't know why or what he said, but apparently it got pretty heated and the principal decided to send him home."

"Home?" April said incredulously. "Right now, we don't even know where 'home' is for Kelly!"

"I know!" Andy replied angrily. He was beyond pissed at the entire situation and his feelings of utter helplessness were not making things any easier.

Andy had plenty of friends and was generally happy with his school life, but he was fully aware that he played second fiddle to Sev – he knew what people thought of him, that he was Kelly Severide's constant shadow, always following one step behind his friend, hanging onto his every word without any original thoughts or actions of his own. Once upon a time he had been upset by it all, but eventually it was Sev who helped him realise that it was all bullshit, that most people didn't have the first clue about their friendship and made shit up to feel better about their own problems.

They had grown up together, friends since kindergarten, and it made sense that they had similar hopes and dreams, having shared everything else. Kelly always insisted that one of the reasons he liked Andy so much was precisely because he didn't follow his every word – Sev was self-aware enough to know that he had a tendency to go off at the deep end when his problems got the better of him, and he had always relied upon Andy to pull him back from the precipice, to call him out on his crap.

Andy had been there for him when his father had left, leaving nothing but heartache in a young Kelly's life, and Kelly had been there when Andy's own father had succumbed to his long-standing battle with cancer. Andy had been there when Mrs Severide started fading in and out of reality, forgetting simple things like what day it was, to the more extreme end of the spectrum where meals and sometimes even Kelly himself were overlooked.

Andy had been stuck on the side-lines, watching his friend struggle with the grim reality of his home life, with Sev never uttering a word of complaint, merely shrugging his shoulders and stating 'it could be worse' if ever anyone asked. He'd done what he could for Kelly, such as inviting him over for a meal with his own family and packing extra food in his lunch-bag just to be certain that his friend would at least have something to eat that day.

Along with Scott, and lately with April, Andy did what he could to get Kelly out of the sombre atmosphere of his home during the long weekends, taking him to the park, to parties, to games, to the lake, anywhere and everywhere that was available to them. It helped somewhat – Sev's moods lately had seemed lighter, more relaxed.

But at the end of the day, the sixteen year-old simply couldn't afford to live as a normal teenager – Kelly took work wherever and whenever he could find it, doing what he could to keep a roof over their heads and food in the cupboards when his mother's mental fragility lost her yet another job and her wandering mind left things like bills and groceries in the dark.

Andy helped out when he could, and along with Severide he'd become pretty decent at home repairs and car maintenance in an effort to avoid wasting money on paying someone else, doing odd jobs around the house through necessity - it had been yet another thing to draw them closer to each other, to cement their friendship into something more than just another interwoven childhood backstory.

"Look, if we don't hear from him by tomorrow evening, then I'll ask Vince, my next-door neighbour," Andy said as he placed a gentle hand on April's shoulder in an effort to ease her very visible distress – normally Sexton was as cool as a cucumber, almost as stoic as Kelly, but Andy knew that her friendship with their troubled friend was one of the few she truly valued.

"Vince?" April wondered.

"He's a cop," Andy explained. "He works homicide, but with his connections maybe he'll be able to find something out for us."

"Can you ask him today?" April asked brokenly. "You saw the look in his eyes, too, Andy. Whatever happened, whatever he's just gone through, he needs us…needs his friends to help him, whether he knows it or not, so the sooner we know where he is, the better."

"I'll see what I can do," Andy agreed.

"Any word?" Scott asked as he joined them.

"None," Andy shook his head in dismay. "Do you know what happened? I've heard all kinds of crap second hand, but you know how ridiculous the rumours get around here."

"It was right after third period, so everyone had left," Scott shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I was waiting for him outside…only went back in once the shouting started."

In truth, Scott had heard quite a few things tossed around the room before he had gathered up enough courage to interrupt his irate friend's tirade, and frankly he thought Miss Walker deserved more than a few swear words and a whole hell of a lot of insults thrown her way – from what Scott could tell, dear old Benny had hooked up with Miss Walker and Mrs Severide had walked in on it, probably prompting her latest tailspin out of reality. However, Kelly hadn't said a word about it before, and he had not uttered one syllable about it after, so Scott figured it wasn't really his place to tell anyone.

Kelly was a good friend, and Scott didn't want to lose that friendship by betraying his trust, no matter how honourable his intentions might be. Kelly had been there for him through the worst of days in the Rice household, when his father's drinking had spiralled out of control and taken a very real and very physical toll on everyone.

Once the shit had hit the fan and Scott's mother had kicked the violent drunk out, Severide had taken the time to help not just Scott, but his siblings too – he would go with Scott and take them to the park, letting the little ones run riot on the playground while letting Scott practically break down all over him. Kelly and Andy never complained when Scott would turn up at the cinema or the bowling alley with siblings in tow because his mother had pounced on the chance to pick up a second shift, they simply smiled and helped him keep them all in check, buying them sodas and letting them ramble on about their day.

As the oldest child of a broken home, Scott knew a little something about assuming a greater degree of responsibility than would normally be required from a teenager, but every time he saw the bags around his friends eyes grow that bit darker, his frame that bit thinner, Scott thanked God his own mother had got just downright angry at the situation rather than simply given up and checked out the way Kelly's mother had done.

"Andy's next-door neighbour might be able to help us track him down," April offered up quietly, her gaze fixed on a nothing spot in the distance as her mind wandered elsewhere.

"That's good," Scott nodded absentmindedly. He'd spent as much of the day as he could with Kelly, but his troubled friend had kept all of his problems internal until he blew up at Walker, then he had quickly been marched off to the principal's office by the gym teacher and no one had seen him since. With Kelly's living situation still unknown, Scott had no clue where to even start and the relief he felt at hearing someone might be able to help them was immeasurable.

"Come on, school's out and I don't know about you two, but I really need to get the hell out of here," Andy said, shaking his head with frustration. He didn't know what he could do to help his friend, but surely finding him was the first step. "Let's go back to mine and see if Vince is back home yet – hopefully he can help us track down where DCFS has dumped Sev."

"Then what…?" April asked, wondering what the hell they could really do to help their friend when he was mired by such circumstances.

"I don't know," Andy shrugged helplessly. "But I'm sure as hell not going to give up just yet."

"Come on," Scott said as he made his way towards the exit with speed. "Let's go and get our boy back."

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think and if you spot any errors.