Hey all so this is my new idea! This is a long first chapter but I am hoping to keep them this long because I like reading long chapters so I like writing them!

I want to thank jscat2 for helping me out with this. (I lied, its up already )

Let me know what you all think! :D

Chapter 1 – If You're Sure

He had been watching her for a few weeks now, she was quiet, reserved but he could see something behind her eyes, something that resembled a fierce stubbornness that he was, for some reason, drawn to. Gabby Dawson had been working at Fire House 51 for almost a month, quickly fitting in with the rest of the team, easy to get along with, didn't mind a joke or a laugh, but there was something about her, something that Matt Casey couldn't put his finger on. He had spoke to Shay about it, hoping that maybe there was something Gabby had told her in passing, being her partner, but there was nothing, their conversations were meaningful but part of her felt that Gabriella was being slightly superficial, very vague in topic. He just couldn't work out why he cared so much about it. "Hey, get your head out of the clouds Casey!" Shay's voice caught him off guard, not realising that he had been sitting at the head of the table, his usual place, but he had been staring off into the distance, his mind fleeting back to the new PIC that had joined them. Shaking his head, Matt smiled, "Sorry, guess I was lost in thought." He laughed in spite of himself, blushing slightly as Shay gave him a knowing smirk. For some reason after he had asked about Gabby Shay had latched onto the thought that he had a thing for her, so there was a lot of teasing that was coming his way, although he was thankful that no one else had cottoned on to it. If he was honest with himself, Matt could say that there was something about the new girl, he didn't have a thing for her but he was drawn to her, or so he told himself.

It was the start of their shift, each sitting down in their usual places, most with breakfast in front of them, nothing unusual, but today was different, there was someone missing, although Matt was not going to be the one who mentioned it. He was thankful however when Herman did instead, "Hey where is our new PIC? Shouldn't she be here yet?" He looked towards Shay who just shrugged, "I'm sure she is just running late, it's not a big deal anyway…" Truthfully Shay was a little worried. In the short time that Gabby had been working at 51 they had become very close, although Shay still struggled to get anything out of her about her home life, Gabby had opened up about her life in general, which she was happy with. Shay could see them becoming very good friends in the near future. As if on cue, Gabby came rushing through the double doors, her head down, bag slung over her shoulder, throwing a 'morning' to the rest of the room as she rushed passed the table towards the change rooms. Shay and Matt shared a concerned look, there was something about her behaviours that worried them both, so Shay, pouring another cup of coffee moved to follow her, intent on making sure her was ok. Coming into the change room, Shay found Gabby sitting on the benches, staring at her phone, her back facing the entrance.

"Hey …" Shay moved closer to the PIC, making sure not to startle her more than she had already, Gabby had turned shocked to hear her voice, but relaxed when she noticed that it was only Shay. "Oh, hey, sorry I was late, I had something to deal with at home that took longer than I thought it would." She was apologizing when it wasn't needed, so Shay waved it off, smiling before handing the coffee cup to Gabby who returned the warm smile, thankful for the offer of coffee. "It's all good. We all have those days." They chatted for a few minutes, Shay coming to sit on the bench beside Gabby, who welcomed the feeling of friendship she found in Shay. "Oh hey considering shift ends tomorrow on a Friday, someone of us are heading out to a bar called Molly's, did you wanna come with us?" Shay watched as Gabby's mouth bobbed slightly for a second before answering, "Thanks, but I can't tomorrow, I have something on."

Gabby looked away from Shay, not really wanting to meet her eyes, so Shay just nodded, "Alright well the offer is on the table if you change your mind." Shay placed her hand on Gabby's shoulder, silence stretching between them. It wasn't until someone clearing their voice caught both the girl's attention. Looking up they found Casey standing in the doorway, shuffling between his feet because he didn't want to disturb them. "Sorry girls just needed to get something…" he pointed towards his locker, which had been situated next to Gabby's. "Oh sorry lieutenant, we are just leaving anyway. We need to restock the ambo." Gabby spoke softly, her gaze anywhere but on his, the word lieutenant holding more authority than Matt liked. He had introduced himself as 'Matt or Casey' but she had always called him lieutenant. With one last glance to Shay the girls left Matt alone, worry filling his eyes, shaking it off as the bells rung out through the house.

Jumping into the ambo as fast as they could, Gabby and Shay sped off towards the call, Truck 81 and Squad 3 only second behind them. They drove in silence for a few minutes, Gabby staring out the side of the ambo, Shay watching where she was driving. Breaking the silence, Shay spoke, "Hey are you sure you're ok? Looks like something is wrong." Her voice was soft, wanting to show Gabby that she was caring not nosey. Gabby laughed slightly, rubbing her eyes, "Yeah, yeah. I'm ok. Just been a long couple of days that's all. I didn't sleep well last night…" Her voice trailed off as Gabby yawned, covering her mouth. Shay pursed her lips, "Ok, if you're sure. But if you need anything, give me a yell. I have a very comfy shoulder and I have ice-cream." She was trying to get a laugh out of Gabby and it worked, a full smile had come to her lips as she looked over at Shay. "Thanks, I really appreciate it. And I will, I promise." Another smile was shared between the two girls as they pulled up to the house fire, the trucks already parking and the fire fighters jumping out ready for action. Chief had informed the girls to stay back until they were needed, something Gabby wasn't too fussed about. She had always been amazed at the job that fire fighters were able to do but knew she would never have the guts to do it herself; it took a special type of person to be a fire fighter, a type of person she knew she was not. She could hear chatter over the radio's Herman and Casey talking to the Chief who nodded to Squad that they were needed, someone was trapped in the basement that truck couldn't get to. She watched them run is, their lieutenant flashing a smile back to Shay as he went, a knowing nod received in return.

Gabby had found out very early on that Shay and Severide were the best of friends, closer than anyone would think possible, if it hadn't been for Shay being gay, Gabby honestly thought that they would have been dating. She smiled to herself, it had been a long time since she had had a friend like Shay did, hoping that one-day, maybe soon, she would be able to find someone she trusted enough to confide in. And since starting at 51, she believed that this was the house where she would find that friendship; Shay was already showing that she was caring enough to question her. If Gabby had been honest with herself she would say that she had missed human contact, the type you would get from spending time with people outside of work, getting to know them on a different level than just the professional. Pulling herself from her thoughts, a bright flash of fire entered her vision, the sound of the Chief calling into his radio, his concerned voice showing more worry than it probably should have. It wasn't until Herman's voice returned the worried call, "We are all good Chief, stove blew but we are all on our way out now." Each of them, Gabby, Shay and Chief, all let out a breath of relief, the last thing they needed was a hurt fire fighter.

Gabby watched on as one by one the fire fighters that had run into the house came out, each of the carrying an adult or a child, bringing them over to the waiting paramedics. Instinctively, Gabby reached for the small child in the Casey's arms, bringing her to sit on the gurney; Gabby started to look over the child, sighing happily when she noticed that there were no injuries just dirty. Her eyes flickered to Casey who was watching her closely, the look in his eyes telling her that he was worried about the same thing, hoping the child was ok. "You're ok honey. Why don't we go and find your mum and dad?" Gabby pulled her eyes away from Matt, looking back down at the child in front of her, the child's scared face turned to a small smile as she hugged Gabby, a "thank you" falling from her lips before she jumped off the gurney and ran to the adult that Shay was looking after.

Turning her attention back to Matt, Gabby smiled, "Good job, I think you got to her just in time. She was very lucky." Matt returned the smile, something about the compliment meaning so much to him. He shrugged slightly embarrassed, "Just doing my job …" he turned back to the scene of the house fire, making sure that his team was doing their job, also not wanting Gabby to see the embarrassment that had flashed over his face. But at the same time Gabby noticed something she didn't expect to see, there was a charred hole in the back of Matt's turnout jacket, clearly a burn that had gone skin deep. "Hey …" Gabby went to Matt's side, her hand touching his shoulder, causing him to jump at the sudden contact, not realising she had been standing behind him. He looked down at her concerned when her eye focussed on his shoulder, not being able to see it for himself. "You've been burned, come on, lets get this checked out…" her fingers brushed against the hole in his jacket, clearly telling him there was something wrong when he had felt the air. Shay was waiting by the side of the ambo now, each of the occupants had been treated, none of them requiring anything more than what they received and so she watched Gabby and Matt walk back towards the ambo, a slightly confused look on her face until she say the red, raw skin showing through Matt's gear.

She wanted to question him, but watched to see what Gabby would do as she took a seat on the gurney inside the ambo, Matt sitting with his back to her, shrugging his jacket off. "Take your shirt off so I can have a look at it." If there was any embarrassment in her statement, Gabby didn't show it but something flashed over Matt's face for a split second, glancing back he noticed that Gabby wasn't even looking at him, her eyes focused on the bandages she was reaching for, before he did what he was told, slowly pulling the grey CFD shift from his body, suddenly realising how sore his shoulder was. Glancing back to Matt when she looked up, Gabby's eyes flickered down his back; suddenly realising he was sitting in front of her half naked. Hey she wasn't blind, he was hot and she knew it, but she just wasn't allowed to think of him that way, she chastised herself before moving to touch his back, feeling his muscles contract under her touch, shaking off the reason why as she placed cream around the area, treating the wound before placing a bandage over it. "You'll have to get this looked at tomorrow, just to change the bandages and make sure it's ok." She spoke to him absentmindedly as Matt glanced back at her, a nod coming from him as a sign to show his agreement. Gabby glanced up suddenly realising that the Chief had now come to see why his truck lieutenant was sitting in the back of the ambo.

"Casey, what happened?" His deep voice filling the silence, Casey turned quickly to look at the chief, reaching for his shirt, pulling it over his head, "When the shove blew, I turned my back because I had the child in my arms, must have been caught by the flames as I turned. I didn't even feel it, it wasn't until Dawson told him to take my shirt off did I realise I was sore." There was a slight blush that had made its way to Matt's cheeks as he spoke; his words shouldn't have been something to cause the embarrassment, its what had happened. Her request was innocent and that was all. Chief nodded, glad to know that his men were all right before placing a hand on Matt's shoulder, "Make sure you keep an eye on it…" He then looked back at Gabby who had been putting away what she was using, trying to ignore the image of Matt sitting in front of her without a shirt on. "…Good catch Dawson, everyone here knows he would have ignored it if you hadn't have caught on. Good looking out for the men." And with another nod, Chief had left, Casey, flashing a quick smile "thank you" back as he followed, pulling his jacket back on so they could pack up and leave.

"So… that was weird…" Shay spoke suddenly, noticing that Gabby had turned away from her, her eyes focused on cleaning up the mess in the ambo before they left as well. She didn't even bother looking up at Shay, although still answering, "What was weird…?" It was an honest question; she wanted to know why Shay thought it was weird. Shay just laughed, "You're kidding right? Did you not see the way Casey looked back at you?" Gabby groaned, this was not what she needed right now, but she was wrong, the conversation was just about to get worse, "Do you have a thing for Casey?" Shay's question stopped Gabby's movements, her eyes flashing up to see Shay standing with her hands on her hips, watching closely. Locking her jaw, Gabby went back to her work, "No, I don't have a thing for the lieutenant. Can we please just get this cleaned so we can go?" Gabby glanced back up now; looking passed Shay to see both Truck and Squad had already started to move away from the scene. The force behind Gabby's words made Shay stop, she knew when she needed to be silence, although it didn't happen very often, it did at this time. "Alright, it should be about lunch time anyway by the time we get back." Jumping into the back of the ambo, Shay and Gabby spent the next few minutes cleaning up before heading back to the house, just in time to see lunch being served.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet for the house; none of them had any calls to go on, which they were thankful for. It allowed them to get caught up on their own things, Severide working on his new (old) bike, Herman and Mouch watching TV, Shay relaxing with a book and Matt sitting in his office, trying to work on his report from the morning that he had been putting off. He couldn't stop thinking about Gabby and how he had reacted when she had touched him, granted it had been a while for him, since the last time he had been with anyone, it was still not a reaction he liked to show in public, and there was something about her that he was so interested in. He didn't know what it was but it was something. Glancing at the time, the red numbers flashed 8:03pm he sighed, stretching his back before his hand reached over, gently touching the bandage that covered the burn, sighing once more he stood, he wanted to thank Gabby properly, she had looked after him without even bothering to give him the option, and he knew he would say it was fine had she given him the option but he was glad she had stopped him. He walked from his office, intent on find her, wanting to speak to her properly. Walking into the common room, he found that she wasn't around; he looked out towards the garage, not seeing her but seeing a shadow instead. Hoping that it was her, and that she was alone, he silently walked through the room and through the double doors, glancing around as he walked.

He was right; there she was her back resting against the side of the ambo, her hand to her forehead, as she seemed to be speaking on the phone. He didn't want to interrupt or eavesdrop so he stood at the side, enough for her to look up and see him but realising that he could still hear what she was saying. "I know baby, I'm sorry…you know I miss you…yes I do but …no baby I …yea ok… I love you …" Something inside of Matt dropped, he didn't know if it was his heart or his stomach but something inside of him shattered a little when he heard those words come from her mouth. God, why did this girl have this affect on him? He watched her move the phone from her ear, huffing as she rubbed her face, suddenly realising that someone was standing near her. Snapping her head up suddenly, a sudden look of fear flashed over her eyes before it softened, "Hey sorry, I didn't see you there…" Her voice trailed off as she moved away from the ambo, watching as Matt dug his hand into his pocket, a sudden shyness coming over him. "No I'm sorry; I didn't mean to interrupt your phone call…" he motioned to her, moving his from in front of him to the back of his neck. Gabby looked down quickly, hoping he hadn't heard too much of it. "Oh no, its fine, I was done anyway… So, what's up?" she really needed to change to subject, not wanting to linger too much on the phone call. This caused Matt to smile, she didn't pull away from him like he expected for some reason and so he took a step closer to her, smiling again, "I just really wanted to thank you for taking care of my back today. I honestly hadn't realised it happened and Chief is right, if you didn't notice, I wouldn't have said anything. I'm stubborn like that…" Her smile grew as he spoke, finding humour in the conversation, "Oh its fine, really! Anyway I know someone like you … doesn't listen to anyone but himself. A real pain in the ass!"

She laughed again, a hearty laugh that made Matt's smile grow more, he liked hearing her laugh but there was something about what she said that made his smile falter a little but he didn't get a chance to think on it as she moved to touch his arm, her warm hand finding his bare arm, he swallowed deeply. "Really lieutenant, just doing my job," She moved away from now, heading to the back of the ambo where the doors were open, jumping in and moving around. It took Matt a moment to break out of his thoughts, moving to lean up against the door of the ambo, watching her intently. He spoke after a few minutes, "Tell me something… why do you call me lieutenant?" His arms crossed over his chest as he watched her smile, not meeting his eyes, "Isn't that what you are?" She laughed, this time her eyes finding his, crinkled at the edge with laughter. Matt smirked back at her attitude, "Oh you think you're funny do you?" He tried to be serious but couldn't, his smile matching hers as she nodded. They laughed at each other for a few seconds before she shrugged, "I dunno, I guess I don't know you well enough to call you anything but…" she shrugged again, looking back down at the clip board at her lap, Matt's eyes narrowing before pushing himself away from the doors, his hand extended, waiting for her to shake it. "Well … Hello I'm Matt Casey. It's nice to meet you…" He watched as Gabby glanced at his hand before meeting his eyes, her hand stretched to meet his, "Hello Matt. Gabby Dawson." They smiled at each other, Matt relishing in the sound of his name coming from her lips, Gabby nervous as he clasped her hand in his.

She was home; finally, after a long day she was finally home. The house was quiet, not surprising considering it was about almost 8:30am, she silently dropped her bag, her keys and her jacket onto the couch, kicking off her shoes before heading towards her bedroom to get changed. After she had changed into her track pants and a loose fitting t-shirt, she crawled into bed, smiling and snuggling up to the warm body that was lying there already. Wrapping her arms around the body's stomach she pulled him towards her chest, burying her head into his shoulder, "Hey I'm home…" the body turned in her arms, snuggling closer, a sleepy voice greeting her cheery one, "Morning mama".

Any thoughts?