Hello! Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing my other stories! It makes me incredibly happy, especially since I honestly have no idea what I'm doing when I write them. So I started this as a one shot, and the whole thing ended up being ridiculously long and I wasn't even finished. So I'm going to post it as a two shot instead. Here's part one, let me know what you think!
"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath. As if the airport didn't give me ridiculous amounts of anxiety already, I, of course had to be running late. And of course the gate number for my flight had to change. Looking around, I searched for gate number 32, and when I spotted it took off racing, as fast as I could.
I wasn't even really all that sure why had I flown out to Florida in the first place. Granted, it was my cousin's graduation, but we were never really that close. We hadn't even talked in a few years, so it honestly hadn't been all that necessary I was there. Not that it mattered anymore. I had gone anyways, and now I was here, surrounded by business men, and moms with loud sticky-fingered children. So here I was stressing out, trying to make it to my gate so I didn't miss my flight home to Chicago. My head was killing me as I tried to weave through all the people, and I felt my phone vibrating in my hand. Pulling it out I quickly checked the caller ID and declined the call. Why on earth was Shay calling me now? I was interrupted from my thoughts when I slammed into somebody and dropped my purse, the contents spilling out all over the floor.
"Shit!" I quickly checked my watch; I had 5 minutes to get onto my flight. I put my carry on and phone down and got onto the ground, collecting my things in a hurry. When all of my things were back in my bag I stood up and found myself face to face with a blonde haired, blue-eyed man. I could feel my face start to flush; amidst panicking about my flight and picking all of my things off the ground I'd completely forgotten that I'd slammed into someone. He didn't seem too annoyed though- considering he was smiling down at me as if this whole thing was amusing.
"I am so sorry, it's just I'm in a huge rush, and I've really got to go." I motioned towards my gate awkwardly, and grabbed my carry on and took off, cringing to myself. "Nice job Gabby," I said under my breath, and I looked back quickly, only to see him watching me run off with a small smile on his face.
I'd finally gotten to the gate and put my carry on away, and sat down in the window seat. I sighed, relieved I had made it onto my flight on time, hoping I could relax and sleep. I, of course, hadn't changed my shift, so I still had to work tomorrow. Work had been pretty boring since my old partner had left. I'd put in for a transfer but nothing had come through yet. I had a slight headache so I started rubbing my temples, this stupid vacation wasn't even worth it. "I am never going on vacation again." I said quietly.
"Oh really?" I jumped slightly, not realizing someone had sat down in the seat next to mine. "What about this one made it so bad?" Turning to face the person next to me I realized it was the guy I had crashed into earlier in my rush to make it to my flight.
I looked up at the ceiling, feeling my face flush again. "Wow, this is really weird."
He chuckled a little. He was a very appealing looking man, thin with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "I'm really sorry, you know, about earlier. And then I didn't even really apologize, it's just I thought I would miss my flight, so I wasn't too worried about the fact I had run into you. Which now that I think about it and say it out loud, that's incredibly rude and-" I stopped, realizing that I was rambling. He was still smiling at me, almost as if I was some kid who had said or done something hilarious, and to be honest it was getting kind of annoying now. "I'll shut up now."
"No, it's alright, really. Actually you forgot to pick this up, so it's a good thing I found you." He had my phone in his hand, and I got wide eyed realizing I had completely forgotten my phone was in my hand and I had dropped it. I took my phone out of his hand and smiled at him.
"Thank you, thank you so much. God, I didn't even realize I'd dropped it." He raised his eyebrows with a smirk and I rolled my eyes. He stuck his hand out to me and I shook it.
"I'm Matt, Matt Casey."
"Gabriela Dawson. But you could call me Gabby, or Dawson, either's fine."
"Alright, I like Gabby" I nodded slightly at him as I went about to checking my phone. "So-" I looked up but just as he began to speak the pilot came on the intercom and started talking. I turned my phone off, grabbed a pack of gum out of my purse, and then put it on the floor. I started busying myself with putting my hair up, and started flipping through one of the magazines in the pouch on the seat in front of me. I finally looked up when the plane started rolling, getting faster, and noticed that Matt was looking at me. He had a curious look on his face, as if he found me intriguing. I figured most likely he was thinking about how much of a nut I'd acted like. Our eyes met and he was staring intently at me. Getting a little nervous I tried to find a way to break the silence.
"Do you want a piece of gum?" I asked, holding up the pack.
"Sure," I grabbed a couple pieces and then handed the pack to him. I started opening the wrappers and shoving gum into my mouth. With the plane rolling towards take off, I suddenly remembered how nervous flying made me. I'd been so preoccupied with being late and Matt that I hadn't been anxious. My leg started tapping, and I heard Matt next to me talking.
"What?" I looked over, assuming he'd been talking to me.
"I asked if you were alright? You look a little nervous." He smiled sympathetically. God, he smiled a lot, it would probably annoy me more if he wasn't so attractive.
"Oh yeah, no I'm fine." I smiled shakily, hoping I didn't look too shaken, but ended up wincing when the plane hit a bump. I felt my stomach drop as we took off into the air.
"You've got a fear of flying?"
"No... Well yes, not so much that, more just the takeoff and landing." I started chewing on my gum more intently as my ears started to pop, looking out the window nervously.
"Well, it'll be over soon enough." I looked over at him, and his reassuring smile put me a little more at ease.
"Yeah, thanks."
"So, Gabby, what brings you to Chicago?"
"Oh, I live there. I was away on vacation, a family members graduation. It kind of sucked honestly." He laughed quietly. "What about you? I asked, turning to face him more.
"I live here too. I was actually just in Florida to visit an old friend. Why did the graduation suck?"
"Ehh," I shrugged "It was alright. I mean the party after just had bad food, not the best drinks. Plus it was all of my family members who get drunk. And not in the pleasant funny kind of way, you know. Just overall wasn't the most pleasant experience."
"Fair enough. So what do you do?"
"I'm a paramedic, what about you?"
"A firefighter." I raised my eyebrows in response, "why does that seem to surprise you?"
"Oh it's nothing." My mind went to Shay and a conversations we'd had a while back. "Do you work at Firehouse 51 by any chance, or is that weird to ask?"
"No, it's fine. And I do work at 51. Why do you ask?"
"You know Leslie Shay?" Now Matt raised his eyebrows.
"I do actually. I'm assuming you know her?"
"Yeah, she's one of my best friends. Wow, this is weird." He chuckled.
"I actually think it's the exact opposite, now I don't feel as weird asking you questions." I narrowed my eyes at him and grinned playfully.
"Yeah, you were really grilling me before, huh?" He smirked and leaned back. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else, when a flight attendant stopped at our row asking if we wanted water. He took a cup and I declined, turning to face the window and leaning back, closing my eyes hoping to get some sleep.
I woke up dazed, and slowly opened my eyes. There was a lot of noise going on around me, people grabbing their bags and getting off the plane. I lifted myself up straight and looked over, seeing Matt sitting next to me, and suddenly realized I must have slept through the whole flight. He must have sensed me looking at him, because he looked over and smiled.
"You talk in your sleep you know." I got wide eyed, and he started laughing at me. "I'm kidding." I shoved his shoulder and let out a croaky 'shut up', before straightening out my clothes and grabbing my purse off the ground. A majority of the people had left by now, so Matt was in the aisle pulling down our carry on bags. I got out of my seat and grabbed my bag, following him out of the plane, and we began walking to baggage claim.
Neither of us spoke, but every once and a while he would glance at me with a small smile on his face. His bags came before mine, yet he waited for me. I turned to face him when I had grabbed both of my bags. "So why exactly are you waiting for me?"
"I wanted to make sure you had a ride."
"I was just going to take a cab, actually."
"C'mon, I'll give you a ride home." He started walking away, and I stood there for a few seconds wondering if I should politely decline. He stopped and looked back at me expectantly. I thought it over for a few more seconds, and figured I'd rather avoid having to pay for a taxi, before catching up with him.
"You know my mother would probably be very disappointed with me, accepting rides from strange men I just met."
He looked over at me quickly. "What do I look like I'm a serial killer or something?"
"No but most serial killers tend to not look like serial killers" he snorted and I started laughing. "Did you just snort?" He seemed embarrassed so I quickly said "oh don't worry about it, it was adorable." He laughed a little, and quickly changed the subject.
"So what has Shay said about me?" I'd completely forgotten that our conversation on the plane had been cut off.
"Oh, not much. She just mentioned you once when she was talking about a call you guys got."
"Any other names she's mentioned?"
"Well, Severide's her roommate, so I've met him before. I've heard of Otis, and a Mouch? Whatever that means." He smiled down at me.
"Half man half couch."
"What?"
"It means half man half couch." I ran that through my mind a couple times, and figured I'd drop it when it still didn't make sense.
"How's your firehouse? Which house are you at?" he inquired.
"I'm at 32. And it's alright, the guys are all cool. But my partner was pregnant and just had her baby, so she might not be coming back. Her replacement is a pain in my ass though. Some gung-ho jo, names chute, or whatever." I looked over at him and found him giving me that same amused look he'd been giving me earlier. "I put in for a transfer, actually, so I'm waiting to see if a spot in another house opens up."
"Well I hope you end up with a better partner, if the time comes." He stopped walking and I abruptly came to a stop beside him, realizing we'd already reached a parking garage. "Alright, here's my car, you can go sit, and I'll put your stuff in the back." I got into his truck and buckled my seatbelt. Looking back at Matt putting our bags away I got to thinking. Was this weird? I met this guy on a plane and now I'm letting him drive me home. It's not that he wasn't amazing, god he's so attractive and he seems sweet but. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the door open, and I looked over as he got into the truck and started the engine.
"Is this weird?" I wondered out loud. " I feel like it's weird." He looked over at me confused. "This whole thing, I mean I barely know you." He sighed, and I looked down and started tugging on the chain around my neck.
"Gabby, I'm just trying to be nice alright. If you don't want a ride home I can call you a cab. I promise I'm not a serial killer", he said playfully. I shoved his arm and looked up at him, and god did I feel stupid. He looked so concerned it made me feel terrible for questioning his kindness.
"No, I'd love a ride home." He smiled, and started to pull out of the parking garage. "I'm sorry, I've just been so stressed out because of this stupid trip, and I'm exhausted. I'm not usually this..." I trailed off, waving my hand, and just ended up reaching over and turning on the radio. We sat in comfortable silence for the most part, me giving him directions when needed. When we finally pulled up to my house it was 8 at night. I'd lost track of time since the flight, I had been so distracted and in my head with everything going on. His car slowed to a stop, and I unbuckled and hopped out, grabbing my things. By the time I had everything together, Matt was out of the car and standing in front of me rubbing his arms with his hands. It was only spring but he was just in a t shirt, and the wind made it cool outside.
"Thank you so much for everything, honestly. You've been really nice."
He nodded at me. "It's no problem Gabby, really." We stood there for a while, just watching each other.
Finally he spoke again, "I hope everything works out with your transfer." I smiled up at him, and then wrapped my arms around him in a hug. Slowly his arms wrapped around me too, and I breathed in, taking a second to collect my thoughts. When we pulled away he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but just ended up nodding and walking around to the drivers side of his car. I figured I'd be an idiot if I didn't say something, so I called out his name and he turned around.
"Could I possibly get your number?" He studied me for a few seconds, and then smiled.
"Sure" he walked back over and I handed him my phone, and started fiddling with my hands while he put his number in. He handed me my phone back, and walked away, saying a quiet "good night". I stood outside while he got in his car and drove off. Slowly I grabbed my bags and walked up to my house, unlocking the door and dropping everything next to my door. I kicked my shoes off and just walked to my room, so tired I didn't even bother to turn any lights on. Stripping off my jeans I just fell into bed, and when I tried to fall asleep all I could think of was this man I had just met, and his smile and those ridiculously blue eyes.
It had been an incredibly slow shift, and despite the nice weather no one seemed to be in too great of a mood. I was sitting in the living room, the TV set on some random channel with infomercials playing. Everyone else seemed to be doing something else, as there were only two other people in the room with me, one on the couch next to me snoring slightly. I racked my mind for things to do. We only had about an hour left on shift, so trying to get any sleep seemed pointless. Sighing, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out I saw that Shay was calling me, so I got up and walked outside, figuring some fresh air might be nice.
"Way to not answer my call!" Her ringing voice came through the phone the second I
answered.
"You know normal people start their conversations with hi, right? I was running late for my flight and I crashed into someone. It's a long story, the point is I wasn't too worried about answering your call."
"Okay, fine, I forgive you." She sounded so disgruntled. I snorted.
"Thank you, so much Leslie. Really. I'm glad you didn't make me beg like last time." Her shrill laugh came through the phone and I lowered the volume. "Where are you that you're being so loud?"
"Oh, I'm at work," she lowered her voice, "and from a certain conversation I had with one of my coworkers," My mind went to Matt, and I figured he'd said something to Shay. " I think we need to go out for a few drinks after shift."
"Shay, it's like 8 in the morning, can't we go out for brunch or something." She snorted, and I could tell she was rolling her eyes at me.
"Fine, fine, we'll meet at that cafe by Hyde park. Do you mind if I bring Kelly along?"
"No go ahead, I'll see you then alright?" Hearing nothing back I looked at my phone screen and saw she'd hung up already. I rolled my eyes and smiled slightly to myself, turning around to head back inside. Shay wasn't one for manners when she was comfortable with you. Walking back inside I wondered what Matt had said. Had he asked about me? He must have. I suddenly realized I had his number, and probably should have texted him or something, I mean I was the one who had asked for it. Although you were supposed to wait a while, right? I'd never been good at this whole thing, whatever 'this thing' was. Besides, what if he has a girlfriend or something. It was probably a bad idea to ask for his number in the first place. I was interrupted from my thoughts when we got a call. Walking towards the ambulance I figured I'd just ask Shay about it over brunch.
Walking up to the small café, I saw Shay and Severide sitting outside. The second Shay saw me walking up her face brightened, and she got up and ran over to me, wrapping her arms around me tightly.
"Ugh I missed you, you're not allowed to go away that long again." I laughed lightly.
"I was only gone for a week, but I missed you too," she pulled back and gleamed at me. We walked over to the table, and I hugged Severide who had stood up.
"It's good to see you Dawson."
"Yeah you too, it's been a while." We all sat down, and a waitress came over to take all of our orders. When we were done ordering, I was bombarded with questions about my vacation from Shay. Severide just sat back watching her with an amused look on his face. I answered all of them, happy to be talking to my best friend. Shay had a way of brightening your day and just making you smile, and it was one of my favorite things about her. The conversation switched to a call they had gotten, and I was reminded of Matt. I wanted to ask about him but wasn't sure how to bring it up, so I hoped Shay remembered what we had talked about earlier. My thoughts were interrupted by someone saying my name. I looked up and saw both of them looking at me expectantly. "What?"
"I said, that I was wondering why Casey came to me during the shift asking about you." Shay leaned back in her chair looking at me expectantly.
"Oh yeah, that." I said slowly. Looking back and forth between the two of them I noticed even Kelly looked interested in what I had to say. "Yeah I um, knocked into him while I was running late getting to my flight. We ended up next to each other, he mentioned he was a firefighter." I stopped quickly to take a sip of my water.
"And?" Shay said expectantly.
"And I remembered you mentioning a Casey before, so I took a guess and asked if he knew you and he did." I stopped there as our food was being put on the table. I quickly took a bite of my eggs, hoping to avoid being asked more questions. After a minute of me and Kelly both eating, Shay was still looking at me.
"What?" I questioned, my mouth half full of food.
"Okay gross, and that can't be it, what else happened?" Shay looked at me exasperated.
"He gave me a ride home, okay, is that all? Are you done interrogating me?" She rolled her eyes.
"If that's all that happened, then yes" she started in on her food, eying me suspiciously.
For the most part the rest of our meal was small talk, Severide talking about some girl he met, Shay talking about some girl she met, me eating my eggs and trying to figure out some way to casually bring up Matt. Luckily I didn't have to.
"Did you at least get his number?" Shay asked as we were sitting waiting for the check.
"Yes, I did." Shay nodded slightly, looking thoughtful.
"Matt's a great guy, Dawson." Severide spoke up. He hadn't really said much where Matt was concerned. Shay scoffed, and he looked over at her.
"What?" I questioned, since obviously Shay had something on her mind.
"Him and Casey used to be best friends." Severide look at her annoyed. "What? You were!"
"Why'd you stop," I asked curiously. Shay sighed.
"Remember Andy Darden? I think you might've met him once." I nodded. "He passed a little while back. Matt and Kelly aren't exactly too friendly anymore." Thinking back I remembered Shay mentioning it. Now Severide was really shooting daggers at Shay, and he kicked the leg of her chair. "Honestly Kelly," she turned back to me "it was just a huge mess. Not as big anymore, but still kind of a mess." It got pretty quiet at our table after that. I bit my lip and looked over at Shay, who was watching him intently. I looked over at him, he was looking down at his lap. Kelly Severide, who was always confident looking was slouched down in his chair, not looking so happy to be here anymore. I figured he blamed himself, in fact I knew, you could see it in his face. I reached over and put my hand on his arm.
"Kelly, you know it's not your fault right? These things just happen sometimes, there's not always really any one to blame. But it wasn't on you." He looked up at me and just nodded slowly. We all sort of just sat there for a moment until the waitress came back. We got up and said our goodbyes, Shay making me promise to call her to make plans for later this week. I figured I'd walk around a little, the weather was nice enough.
Walking around the park I started to think about Matt. Which honestly was the only thing I'd been thinking of for the past day. I contemplated texting or calling him for a while, and then wondered if maybe I should wait since he'd only just gotten off shit two or three hours ago. Spending the next few minutes wondering what I should do, I decided that maybe if I just got it over with it would help ease my thoughts. I sat down on a park bench and pulled out my phone.
Hey Matt, it's Gabby. From the plane.
Hitting send I put my phone in my pocket. Oh god, that sounded really stupid didn't it. I groaned, and put my elbows on my knees and buried my face in my hands. Why was I getting so worked up over this anyway, I barely even knew him. I could hear Shay in my head saying 'you're obviously attracted to him Dawson'. I pulled my head up and ran my fingers through my hair, taking in a deep breath. It's fine Gabby, it's not a big deal. Whatever happens, happens. Don't stress over it, things will play out, and you'll deal with it. Trying to keep true to that and stop worrying, I started to watch the people walking by to calm my nerves. I got so lost in watching this one couple arguing that it took me a second to realize someone had sat down next to me. I looked over, and it was Matt. I must have had a very incredulous look on my face, because his face broke out into a wide smile and he started laughing. Quickly coming to my senses, I sat up straighter and turned to face him more, smiling. "Are you following me or something?"
"No, as a matter a fact I'm not. Maybe you're always just one step ahead of me."
"Maybe," I said thoughtfully. "How was your shift? Shay told me about that call you guys had."
"You saw Shay?" He wondered.
"Yeah I had brunch with her and Severide earlier." Matts eyebrows raised a little higher. "We were actually talking about you. Shay mentioned you and Kelly, being best friends or whatever." He started to chew on his lip.
"Yeah no, we were close." He looked away.
"Uh, not that it's really any of my business, but I know about Darden. I think he feels guilty, blames himself." He turned to face me, and then scoffed, looking away again.
"Yeah well, the way it looks from my end is that he blames me. He's actually said it before, that he blames me... so."
"Yeah but I doubt it." He looked over at me again, his features were soft and he looked forlorn. Realizing this was only my second time meeting him, I wondered whether I should have brought this topic up or not. "Sorry, I shouldn't have even mentioned it. It's just, he said that you were a great guy, so I figured maybe he's coming off different than he actually feels." Matt nodded slowly and then grinned at me.
"Don't worry about it. Kind of was a nice therapy session" he said jokingly. I shoved his arm and we started talking some more, about work and crazy calls we'd been on. Before I knew it it had been close to two hours. Seeing the time on my watch, I felt like I should mention it, but he was in the middle of telling me about the new candidate they'd gotten a little while back, and I really didn't want to stop talking to him. Realizing I'd completely zoned off I started paying attention again.
"Anyways, he's a pretty good candidate. Hard working, you can tell he wants to be there, and he can cook."
"Well that's always a plus."
"Yeah, seems like a cool guy. The guys convinced him to ask Shay out though."
"Oh god, poor kid. She wasn't too harsh on him right?"
"Nah, she was nice about it." Matt looked at his watch quickly. Noticing how much time had passed he looked up. "Wow I didn't even realize how long we've been sitting here. I'm not keeping you from something am I?" I shook my head.
"No don't worry about it. I was probably just going to walk to the grocery store and get some stuff, maybe go home and sleep."
"You walked?" he asked me, and I nodded. "Let me give you a ride home." I started shaking my head to politely decline and he put his hand on my arm. "Gabby, let me give you a ride home."
We looked at each other for a few good seconds and I smiled slightly.
"Okay." We both stood up and started walking to his car. This time the car ride wasn't filled with silence, and I wished it had lasted longer when we pulled up to my house. He must've noticed my face drop because he let out a concerned 'are you okay?'. I looked at him quickly and nodded, smiling again.
"We should get together again, I had a lot of fun talking to you." I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah absolutely. I'll talk to you later." I got out of the car and stood there for a moment, watching Matt wave to me as he drove away. I couldn't wait to see where this was going, and hopefully it was somewhere good.
"Yes!" I cheered, pumping my fists in the air and turning around with a grin on my face. Matt rolled his eyes from the chair.
"Alright, alright. Another strike, I get it, you're winning." I walked over and sat down next to him, smiling at him with mock sympathy.
"Will you finally admit that I'm better than you at bowling?" I poked his arm, grinning obnoxiously at him. He just rolled his eyes and got up to take his turn. I smiled to myself. We'd been texting back and forth for about a week since we'd run into each other at the park. He'd asked if I wanted to get together, and when he let me pick where, I'd chosen the bowling alley. I wasn't sure if it was a date or not, and I was good at bowling so I'd figured it was a good choice. This was honestly the most fun I'd had in a while. Since my old partner was gone, I didn't have anyone to talk to at work. There was no word about my transfer, so I figured worrying about that was pointless. Looking over I watched him bowl a second time and smiled. He was the one thing I had to look forward to. Well, he and Shay that is. He knocked down all the pins and turned around with his arms open, looking proud of himself. I started clapping, standing up and walking towards him since our game was over. "Good game!" We shook hands, and walked back over to our seats, putting on our shoes.
"So, any word on your transfer?"
"Nah, I'm sort of just trying to not get my hopes up."
"Who knows, maybe you'll get transferred to our house."
"So she stole an ice cream truck?" Matt looked at me doubtfully. I finished chewing and wiped my mouth.
"I swear! It was on the news and everything!" Matt still didn't look like he believed me. "Fine, you don't have to believe me!" He chuckled.
"I believe you, it just seems a little… out there."
"Yeah well, people are pretty out there nowadays. The other day I got a call where some woman stabbed her neighbor." He raised his eyebrows, and look at me disbelievingly. "Apparently it was an accident, or something." I got up to go refill my drink just as Matt got a call. When I got back he was talking to the person on the other end.
"I can't talk tonight, I'm getting drinks with everyone after this. Yeah we can still talk, just not tonight." I sat down and he looked at me apologetically. I waved my hand, mouthing it's okay. I wondered who he was talking to. "Alright Hallie, I'll talked to you later." Hearing the name Hallie I felt my stomach drop. He hung up and put his phone in his pocket. "Sorry about that."
"No it's alright." I took a bite off my crust, trying to keep myself from asking. In the end my curiosity won, and I asked. " Who's Hallie?" He sighed.
"She's my ex-fiance." My eyebrows raised. "She said she wanted to talk." I bit my lip, feeling my heart sink the smallest bit.
"Are you going to?" He sunk back in his chair and looked in his lap.
"I feel like I should." He looked up at me. "Not tonight though, we have plans." I nodded slowly. "We should actually get going," he said getting out of his chair and gathering his things to throw away. I nodded again, although he wasn't looking, and got out of my chair gathering my things also. I didn't know why I was so disappointed, it wasn't as if this was a date. We were just hanging out, as friends. I got lost in my thoughts as I followed him out to his car. Not that he noticed, he was obviously busy thinking about things too. Most likely thinking about Hallie. That call was most likely about one thing, and that thing was most likely them getting back together. What chance would I have against his ex-fiance. Unless I never really had a chance in the first place. Thinking about this was giving me a headache, so once we were in the car and on our way I decided to bring up something else.
"So, who's getting together tonight?" Matt looked over at me, turning his eyes back to the road after I'd startled him out of his thoughts.
"Probably Joe Cruz, Otis, Peter Mills, Shay. Maybe Capp and Hadley will be there."
"Kelly's not coming?" I wondered.
"Nah, Severide usually doesn't come."
"Yeah, he doesn't seem as sociable as Shay."
"Yeah. You know I've been trying to talk to him, after our whole conversation in the park."
"And?"
"And it's getting a little easier. He doesn't freak out at me as much anymore."
"Well that's good. Shay said you guys were best friends, there's got to still be some of that in there somewhere." He looked over at me quickly.
"Yeah I guess." We'd pulled up to the bar, and walked in. I could immediately hear Shay laughing, and I spotted her sitting at a table with a group of guys in the back. Matt lightly touched my arm and pointed them out and we walked over. Almost immediately a bald man with a moustache spotted us and started yelling.
"Hey Lieutenant, is that a hot date you've got." I let out a light laugh and looked over at Matt who was rolling his eyes and smiling. Shay looked over her shoulder and saw me, letting out a shriek and running over.
"Hey, I didn't know you two were hanging out!" She looked at the both of us suspiciously.
"Uh yeah, we just went bowling, figured we'd come here." Matt said. Shay looked between us for a few seconds. Matt gave her a confused look before walking back to the table. Shay stood there grinning at me suggestively, while I stared back deadpan.
"What?" I asked. She shook her head, still grinning. "Okay, if you're done being weird now, shouldn't we maybe go sit down."
"Nope, we're going to get you a drink." She grabbed me by the arm, dragging me over to the bar. We both sat down and Shay ordered us scotches, telling me to "drink up" when they came. "How come you didn't tell me that you two were hanging out. We got together yesterday."
"I didn't think it was a big deal." Shay snorted. "What, I didn't! It's not like it was a date or anything."
"You're not even sure if it's a date?" Shay looked at me annoyed. "Get it together Gabby!" She was starting to get louder.
I shushed her before asking "Okay how many have you had so far?"
"Not the point."
I sighed. "Even if it was a date, it's not even like it mattered. He got a call from Hallie, apparently she wanted to talk."
Shay's eyebrows went up. "Hmm, that's weird. I thought they were done." I groaned and threw my head back.
"Why wouldn't you tell me about her?" Shay opened her mouth.
"Okay first of all you obviously were trying to act uninterested in him."
"Yeah and you obviously caught on. I just feel dumb, like I was getting my hopes up for nothing. I mean we've met like three times." Shay put her arm over my shoulder. "Well, now I have to know what Hallie's like."
"Mmm yeah, see what you're up against."
"No Shay I'm not going to compete with his ex-fiance for him. Besides, he probably thought we were hanging out as friends." We sat there for a few moments before I turned to her. "Are we going to go over there now?"
"Fine. Hold on" she turned to the bartender and asked for two beers, handing me one, and finally dragging me by the arm to where she'd been sitting originally. Everyone turned to look at us when they saw us walking over, and the conversation they were having died down by the time we were standing there.
"So Shay, you going to introduce us to your friend?" The same man who had yelled to Matt earlier questioned, smiling at us.
"Yeah guys this is Gabriela Dawson." I smiled and waved at them. She pointed them each out to me as she introduced him "This is Joe Cruz, Otis-"
"Actually my name's Brian-"
"- yeah his name's Otis," everyone chuckled "that's Mills, and Capp."
"So Dawson, I heard you're a paramedic?" Cruz asked.
"Yeah, over at 32."
He nodded. "How's that going for you?" I shrugged.
"It's going alright-"
"Oh please she hates it." Shay interjected. I looked over at her bewildered, and she turned to face me grinning. "What? You do!" The guys were all grinning at us.
"Fine, it's not the best. My partner left so now I've got this short blonde guy named Chute, or whatever."
"Chout?" I looked over at Otis who had spoken.
"Yeah, I guess. Why, do you know him?"
"Came to our house for a day, drove Shay nuts."
"He seriously spends the entire time talking about spelunking, or whatever. He's asked me out like twice, I think I'm going to go crazy." They all laughed, and I looked over at Matt, who gave me a reassuring smile.
The rest of the night went by quickly. The guys were all funny, and we spent the time exchanging stories and laughing. I'd almost forgotten about the whole Hallie thing, until everyone but Matt, Shay and I had left. We were alone at the table after Peter Mills had left. We'd spent a lot of time talking about cooking once I'd found out his family owns a diner.
"You want a ride home?" Matt asked. I shook my head.
"Nah, I think I'll probably be giving Shay a ride tonight." We both looked over at Shay who was talking to some random girl in a corner.
"Alright well, I'll see you soon alright." I smiled at him and nodded, watching him walk out of the bar. Sighing, I figured it was probably better for me to not get a ride with him, whether Shay had been able to drive or not. This stupid Hallie thing was bugging me beyond belief. What annoyed me most about it was that it bothered me so much. I shouldn't really care. But I was obviously interested in him, and I was obviously making a much bigger deal about this than needed. I figured it would be best to leave and deal with some other problems, which were getting Shay home and then getting myself home. I walked over to her, apologizing to the girl, saying we had to leave. She nodded at me politely and I took Shay, walking her out of the bar. I grabbed the keys out of her pocket and unlocked the doors, helping her into the passenger seat, and then climbing into the drivers side myself. As I started the car Shay spoke for the first time since we'd left the bar.
"So did you talk to him?"
"About what?"
"You know, about Hallie." I didn't respond, hoping she was drunk enough to forget she'd asked me a question. We were both silent for a good two or three minutes before she sing-songed, "You still didn't answer the question."
"No, I didn't Shay."
"Why not?"
"Can we just not talk about it? I barely even know him, okay it's not that big of a deal." The rest of the car ride was filled with silence. When we finally got to her and Severide's apartment I looked over, and realized it was because she'd fallen asleep. I sighed and tipped my head back against the seat, closing my eyes. I was exhausted, and really didn't feel like going home. Besides I'd probably just stay up thinking about Matt, which I wanted to avoid doing right now, so I figured I'd just crash on Shay's couch. Sighing I dragged myself out of the car, and got Shay out, pulling us both up to her place to get some rest.
My eyes opened abruptly to the sound of a crash. I groaned, having no recollection of where I was, and the light bathing the room is making my head hurt. Too exhausted to care about what's going on, I close my eyes again. I lay there half asleep for a moment, remembering coming to Shay's place last night and falling asleep on the couch. I hear more noise, and groan again, figuring it's time to get up. My lack of enthusiasm only grows as I stand up and stretch, turning to see who's in the kitchen. It's Severide, bare chested standing at the stove. Obviously oblivious to the fact that he'd woken me up. I walk over the the bar in their kitchen rubbing my eyes, and sit down on the stool. He hears me coming up behind him, and he turns around, giving me a quick smile before getting back to cooking. I sit there for a minute, head propped up on my hand, eyes closing, but trying not to fall asleep. The beeping of the coffee machine makes me jolt up, and I yawn. I sit there for another minute or so watching Severide do things around the kitchen, before asking, "Is there a chance you made enough food for me too?" He turns around and I smile at his sleepily. He snorts before pulling out two plates, and putting eggs, bacon and toast on both of them. Handing one to me I give him a smile of what hopefully looks like gratitude, and start eating. I start thinking about Severide as I watch him eat (there's not really much else to do). He and I weren't close, but we were friends. Or at least close enough that sitting in silence wasn't uncomfortable, and having a conversation wasn't weird. Thinking about Him led me to thinking about Matt. I was tempted to ask if he and Matt had been getting along better, but decided against it. Instead I finished my eggs and got up to pour myself a cup of coffee.
"How drunk did Shay get last night?" I turned to look at him as he spoke, he was still eating.
"Eh, not too bad. I just figured she shouldn't be driving, and I was way too tired to figure out a way to get home." I started mixing in cream and sugar. "Hope you don't mind," I said walking back over to my seat. He looked up at me when I sat down.
"Nah it's fine." We continued to sit in silence, me sipping my coffee, him gorging down food.
"So, how's the new candidate." Severide looked up at me.
"Pretty good. Eager to learn. Pretty sure I'll have an application for squad from him pretty soon." He smiled at me haughtily. I grinned at him, raising my eyebrows.
"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?" I asked taking another sip of coffee.
"You can just tell. Besides, I'm pretty sure his dad was on squad. You know, the whole living up to your parents legacy thing." I nodded. Severide looked up behind me suddenly and I turned around, seeing Shay coming down the staircase looking frazzled and hungover. I grinned, and turned back to look at Severide, seeing him smiling also. "Rough night?" he asked, poking her in the side when she got into the kitchen.
She glared at us, giving us a quiet "shut up" before opening the fridge. "Did you eat my yogurt?" Kelly rolled his eyes and shook his head. I chuckled under my breath.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, smiling at her, slightly laughing. She fake laughed at me mockingly.
"Fine, actually. How about you?" She turned to Severide. "Did she tell you she was on a date with Casey last night. Hallie called."
"Okay, it wasn't a date-"
"It was a date," Shay interjected. "But haven't Hallie and Casey been broken up for a couple months now?" She asked Kelly. He shrugged. "Anyways, don't even worry about it, I doubt they'll get back together. Besides, if he had a choice between you and Hallie he'd choose you. I know I would. Kelly, wouldn't you choose Gabby over Hallie?"
I shook my head "You really don't have to answer that." Severide just rolled his eyes at Shay.
"So, what do you two have planned for today?" He asked as Shay walked over to stand next to me, wrapping her arm around me. I leaned my head against her shoulder.
"What you really think I want to hang out with her when she's hungover?" I said.
"Hey!" Shay protested. Severide smiled at us and left, telling Shay the rest of the food on the stove was hers. Shay took her arm from around me, and walked around to the stove. "So what do you want to do today? I'm just going to assume we're hanging out by the way. We haven't really gotten the chance to talk about anything important."
"Yeah, I've just been busy, I guess." Shay snorted.
"Oh please Dawson, you barely do anything off shift, I'm like the only person you hang out with." I opened my mouth to protest, but shut it when she raised an eyebrow at me. "Any word on your transfer?"
"No. Refill my coffee for me?" I asked holding my cup out to her. She took it from my hand. "I'm kind of not thinking about it this point, you know? It's not like thinking about it all the time is going to help or anything." Shay nodded, handing my cup back. She took the pan off the stove and started eating eggs from it, leaning back against the countertop.
"God I wish a spot at 51 would open up. My partner is so boring, every time I try to talk to her she tells me she has a headache. I mean we've been working together for what, 7 months now. There's no way she has a headache all the time."
"Yeah no kidding. I wish I could be at 51. Everyone at the bar was so fun, not to mention I'd get to work with you!"
"You'd get to see Casey more." I rolled my eyes while Shay grinned at me. "Don't even act all annoyed, you know it's true."
"Yeah well. Right now I'd just rather stay friends with him. It's nice you know, having a friend other than you."
"Although I am pretty great, right?"
I smiled at her, batting my eyelashes in mock adoration. "You're amazing."