Chapter 1.

"Alright." "Yes." "OK." "I said yes Antonio. I'll be there."

Gabby hung up the call from her brother. She did not want to go anywhere that night, let alone see people. Tomorrow marked the day her best friend died in combat. He should have not been there. She blamed herself every day. Sometimes she dreams about him and wakes up crying. Feeling a tear drop on her cheek, she quickly wiped it with the corner of her cardigan. She was standing right in the middle of what seems to be her new home. Having moved back to Chicago after touring the world with her five year old daughter, which she needed to do after losing the one person she knew had her back just like her brother did. Well, Antonio still got her back and she knows that, it was different with him but with Marco; they cared for each other deeply. Even though they did not have the courage to admit it to one another, they loved each other. The last night they shared together was very special. They did not speak about it the next day, not because it turned tragic, but because they valued their friendship more than what they shared that night. Gabby felt her insides tighten. She started to pace around the apartment that she lived with her daughter. Marco's daughter. She really wanted to stop feeling this way. Marco would have wanted her to move on and not cry for him every single day. Marco would have wanted her to be happy and live her life despite the fact that he promised they would come back to America together but he broke that promise. Gabby was now getting angry, but still sad.

"When is this pain going to stop?"

She heard her own voice echo and realized that she had screamed. That's when she thought that her brother was right, she needed to go out and be around other people. Maybe that would take her mind off of her grief.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll be right out" Gabby yelled.

"Please open the door, I know you're going to take your time," Antonio responded.

Gabby was starting to doubt going out as a good idea. She looked herself in the mirror where a picture of her and Marco was placed. They looked so happy. Marco was nibbling her ear with his tongue and she had thought it was gross bursting into laughter as their colleague captioned the magnificent shot. She loved that photo. She loves it, Gabby thought to herself. Now there was banging at the door which startled her. She wiggled her body trying to shake away the memories filling her mind at this point. Grabbing her purse and leather jacket, she ran down the stairs. Hearing Antonio complaining about her always being late which isn't true because she's always early. She just did not want to go anywhere. When Gabby opened the door, she was met by smiles from her brother and a tall blonde woman. Antonio hugged his sister so tightly she squirmed. Her eyes were still on this woman.

"Antonio, let go," she finally complained.

He still becomes so excited to see her every time. She was gone for five whole years including the year she was in Iraq with Marco. When she got back, she was in Chicago for only a few weeks to be with Marco's family and give her respects before she went off on her own 5 month voyage.

"I can't believe you let my Lexi go to the Dominican alone!" Antonio said after letting Gabby off the hug, his hands were on her shoulders though.

"She's not alone Toni, she's with her abuella... and her cousins, your kids remember?" Gabby exclaimed trying to escape from her brother's tight grip.

"I know, I meant without you." He replied, "You've never let her out of your sight."

"Ok now you're exaggerating." Gabby raised her eyebrows disagreeing with her brother and they both laughed.

"Hi I'm Gabriela Dawson." Gabby said extending her right hand to the woman that Antonio brought along smiling.

"Oh! This is Leslie. She's my annoying paramedic neighbour." Antonio finally said.

Gabby and Leslie shook hands. Smiling. Leslie instantly felt a connection there. She did though feel like she read some sort of sadness in Gabby's eyes. She does have a beautiful smile though, Leslie thought to herself.

"Thanks for your polite intro Antonio." Shay smirked at him.

"She's straight." Antonio whispered to Leslie as he pulled both ladies down the stairs walking between them across the road to his car.

"I know she's your sister Antonio, but I don't think you know anything about being gay," Leslie replied, "I'm telling you my gaydar is on point." She said smacking Antonio's butt before grabbing Gabby and running to the other side of the car laughing hysterically. Gabby found herself giggling and smiling from ear to ear at the events happening right in front of her. She likes this Leslie girl, Gabby thought to herself smiling.

"So how do you guys know each other?" Gabby asked when they finally got on the road to where, she had no idea.

"Shay lives a block from my house, but I swear it feels like she lives right next door." Antonio smirked, "She carpools with me everywhere I go."

"I do not"

"Do too"

"Not"

"Too"

Gabby giggled at these two people who seem to be having the time of their lives. She likes seeing her brother happy especially after his divorce. He's calmer and seems to have grown from what he had to go through. It was not a messy divorce, but Gabby remembers how her brother was depressed and skinny when she came back from Iraq. She had been dealing with her own personal matters but she did make time to comfort her brother. They were there for each other, just like old times when Gabby used to get in to trouble and her brother would bail her out. She was not reckless or a criminal, but trouble seemed to follow her. When she finally decided to take a step and change her life by serving her country, she was inspired by her then best friend Marco who had been enlisted. He did not like the idea of Gabby coming along to a war country. She had convinced him that she was only going there as a first response medical personnel. She was volunteering to offer medical aid to the soldiers in combat. She had told herself that she was doing it to look out for Marco. And to spend more time with him of course. They had promised to look out for each other.

"Helloooo.." Leslie was snapping her fingers at Gabby who jumped a little bringing her hand to her chest indicating her fright.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, are you ok?" Leslie asked concerned.

Gabby swallowed and blinked. She did not want to talk about anything. Not this. To anyone. So she did what she does best.

"Yea. I'm sorry." She paused, shaking her head "…Just lost. In. my own thoughts." She let out a small laugh.

"Alright! We're here." Antonio announced.

Gabby looked out the window only to see they were parked by an old looking bar in some weird neighbourhood. She raised her eyebrow to her brother who knew exactly what she was saying without even saying anything.

"I promise you're gonna love it."

She tilted her head trying to get more information of what her brother was trying to say to her. She was not a crowd's person and he knew that.

"This bar is owned by 2 firefighters from 51 and this annoying human being right here" Antonio said as he poked Shay on her ticklish spot which made her jump laughing and slapping Antonio's hands.

"Oh wow!" Gabby said smiling. "That's…" she did not know what to say, "I mean wow!" She smiled again.

There was silence.

"Heeeyyy guys!" Otis screamed opening the door for Shay. "You're late. You think this bar is going to run itself?" He said walking to Gabby's side. "And who's this lovely beautiful thing right here?"

Gabby could only smile as she got out the car.

"This is my friend Gabby." Shay said.

"Well hello Gabby…" Otis said in a flirtatious tone, he let out his hand to greet Gabby only to be pushed aside by Shay who put her arm over Gabby's shoulders guiding her to walk from Otis.

"Not so fast mister." She said to Otis walking past him with Gabby under her arm. "I'm just messing with him. He's harmless." Shay whispered to Gabby as they walked in the bar full of people screaming, some arm wrestling on bar tables, others making out in the corners.

"Wow!" That's all Gabby could say.

Antonio walked in behind them and placed a kiss on Gabby's cheek.

"Have fun sis. OK!" Gabby smiled and nodded. Shay let go of Gabby jumping in front of her as if summoning her to the Queen.

"Welcome to the sacred place – Molly's." She shouted over the noise of drunk firefighters, police officers, and people from the neighbourhood.

Gabby only laughed. She likes Leslie, thinking to herself. She thought Shay seemed like a carefree, humorous, and loving person who she could see being really good friends with. They are totally opposite. Gabby is reserved and private. Funny yes, that's what Marco used to say to her, but more laid back. Gabby used to be crazy though. She and Marco used to say their Motto was to cease life. They were spontaneous and unpredictable. One day in high school they flew to Vegas with fake ID's done by Marco's cousin and got drunk to the point where they found themselves in the middle of the dessert with no memories of the previous day and no clue of their whereabouts. They had no shoes on, no money, no "ID's", no phones, nothing. They sat there and they laughed, and laughed, and laughed until they could not anymore. Antonio found them after two days out of concern that her sister was in danger. Gabby was shaking her head and smiling to herself when Shay grabbed her.

"Come meet the rest of 51." She said really excited to show off her new friend.

They maneuvered their way in the crowd to where a crowd of what looked like firefighters were. The Black Hawks were playing and Gabby reckoned that most of the crowd were big fans.

"Hey guys" Leslie screamed as they reached the table.

No one looked away from the big screen that Herman had put up which they use only for big nights like this one. Molly's is a great place where firefighters, police officers, doctors, the people who are out here risking their lives to save this city all come together in one place to have a piece of mind. It has become the spot for all of them and they loved it. Gabby has been smiling since. Looking at her new friend Shay who kept trying to get the guys attention but was failing. She was even threatening to turn off the screen if they did not give her 5 seconds of their time.

"Hey" Gabby tried to call out to Shay who was standing on top of the stool railing so as to be seen.

"Hey Leslie," Gabby yelled louder now, Shay turned to see Gabby flicking her hands motioning her to step down.

"What, I'm gonna turn it off I swear…"

"Don't worry about it." Gabby said laughing, "Let them enjoy their game. Can I have a beer?"

"Oh girl!" Shay jumped, "Of course. I totally forgot to offer you one. Come lets go to the bar side." "Hey Herman," Shay yelled as they approached the bar, "Grab me 2 beers there please."

"I'm working. Why don't you get them yourself? You also work here remember?" Herman replied screaming back as the noise echoed in the room.

The Hawks were winning. Gabby was staring at the big screen smiling. She remembered how good Marco used to be good at hockey and she would watch every single game.

"Be right back," Shay tapped Gabby leaving her sitting on the stool by the bar as she walked round to be on the other side where she would serve people drinks. Gabby turned to watch the game.

"Two beers please." Gabby heard a man and a woman screaming so loudly right behind her.

"I'll go find us a place to sit babe," the woman yelled, this time it was right through Gabby's ears. She turned to see what was going on and saw a tall brunette lady walk away leaving a blonde man, well built, a loose sweater slightly folded on his arm, and dark jeans standing by the counter so close to her his cologne hovered her. The man who had asked for the beers was texting, he put his phone in his pocket when the beers arrived and turned to go find his girlfriend only to find Gabby staring at him.

"Hi," he said smiling.

How can a person look this good? Gabby asked herself. "Hi," she managed to shake herself from her thoughts and greeted the man. He held both beers in one hand so he could shake Gabby's hand with the other. They smiled at each other and stood there for a moment. They did not take their eyes off each other and weirdly, Gabby did not feel a slight embarrassment. She was never good with flirting with boys or relationship stuff. Her one and only friend had been a boy and she fell in love with him. At this moment, she felt comfortable even if this man standing right in front of her was staring right into her eyes.

"There you go sweety," Shay slammed a beer in front of Gabby making the two jump, "Oh hey Matt, going solo tonight? Where's Hallie?" She asked smiling after sipping her beer.

Matt swallowed and finally took his eyes off Gabby who was now looking down. "She's finding us a place to… oh there she is," He said as he stole a glimpse at Gabby before ducking away. There was silence.

"That's Matthew Casey, he's a truck Lieutenant at 51." Shay finally spoke. Gabby only listened. She did not want to say anything in case she said something stupid or embarrassed herself. "And that's his fiancé or not fiancé Hallie, she works at Lakeshore hospital." She said sipping her beer once again.

"What you mean?" Gabby finally asked, it seemed she was interested in knowing more about this Matt guy. He seemed calm and nice. She had felt his blue steamy eyes pierce right through and instantly felt something. Only disappointed to see him with someone. Let alone a woman who is supposedly his fiancé. She shrugged.

"They break up all the time I've lost count." Shay answered Gabby's question, "Severide always tells him to just call it quits once and for all he just doesn't listen." She sipped her beer before continuing. Gabby was listening attentively to her new friend who was leaning against the bar top in order to not scream as she spoke with her friend. "But you know, we're his friends and we'll always be here for him. Every time he comes home whining that they broke up, we just gotta sit there and listen." She said waving her beer in the air. Gabby was now looking out at the couple who were laughing and drinking their beer. She could not understand how two hot people who had awesome jobs and awesome friends could make each other unhappy. They seemed happy though, she thought. Matt caught a glimpse of Gabby looking at their table and smiled. Gabby quickly ducked to face Shay but found her moving about serving people drinks.

"Let's get out of here, I feel like dancing." Shay said at around 11pm. She went to the back to grab her purse and came around with Antonio. "You mister are our designated driver for the night." She said grabbing Gabby and walking towards the door. "Hey guys, we're going to Absolute club on 9th, you coming?" Shay asked Matt and his party who sat at the table by the exit.

"We were actually trying to figure out where to take this party," Hallie said as she stood dancing and Gabby smiled.

"Sure let's go! Wohooo!" Shay shouted, Gabby could see her friend was already tipsy so she held on to her.

"Have you seen Severide?" Gabby felt someone breathe on her neck and she quickly turned to find Matt standing so close to her.

"Aah…" Gabby was lost of words. First of all, who the hell is Sever… Sever… whatever his name was, and how would she know? She thought to herself still standing in one position. She was not even holding Shay anymore and everyone but her and Matt were still in the bar.

"Are you ok?" Matt asked Gabby who was still standing there and had a confused look on her face.

"Uh, yea. Im…Im good," she gave him a double thumbs up and [resed her lips together," "thanks. I have not seen your friend, sorry." She finally said before quickly walking out the bar to find Shay.

Their night was fun. Gabby decided to let loose since her brother was there to look out for her. She was not going on shift the next day since she did not get any response to where she was going to be placed. So she decided to have fun and drink, and dance with her new cool friend. She noticed Matt and Hallie talking at one corner and at one point Hallie had stormed off to the bathrooms. The two seemed to have been in an argument. Shay and Gabby danced, sang along to the music, laughed, and enjoyed their night.

Gabby woke up feeling sore. Her head wasn't spinning anymore but she felt her body sore. She checked the time and could not believe it was almost 3pm already. They left the club at 6 in the morning and drove around the city and ended up by the lake. At that point, Gabby only remember seeing Shay, Antonio, Otis, and Matt. She could not recall seeing anyone else or even seeing them leave. She doesn't even remember getting home, but she reckoned Antonio had taken her.

Gabby decided to take a long cool shower. This time she did not cry in the shower. The hole that she had carried around all these years did not feel empty no more. She felt something there. Her thoughts drifted to the night before and realized that Shay was filling that hole. She was glad her brother introduced her to Shay. She walked to her room and put on some sweatpants and a vest before tying her wet hair in a bun that her daughter loved to copy. Letting out a big sigh, she stood in the middle of her messy room with her hands to her hips. She decided to call her aunt who had taken her daughter to Dominican Republic with her cousins. She was resistant to be separated from her daughter for so long, but she felt that it would be good for Lexi to be around her cousins and also visit their home.

"Hey sweetie,"
"Hi mama, guess what?" Lexi sounded, excited on the other line, "Abuella Dorothy took us to the beach and we learnt how to surf, I still got a long way to go, but I can teach you some of the tricks they showed us. The sunset is so pretty, and we had dinner outside last night and the stars were shining so bright mama. It was magical. You should come with us next time." Gabby listened as her daughter went on and on about her visit to the Dominican. She loved that her daughter was happy. It made her even happier.

"Alright sweetheart, that sounds like you're having the time of your life. Como estas?" Gabby said and knew her daughter was ok but asked anyway,

"Muy bien mama, thanks for letting me come with abuela," Lexi responded sounding even more excited.

"Of course honey. Well, save some stories to tell me when you get back. You should see your new room baby, it's purple, and humongous."

"I have my own room?" Lexi screamed out of excitement. She was jumping up and down to the thought of not sleeping with her mother every night and not having space for her scooter, her trucks, her mini lab, or any space to pretend she's at the stadium playing hockey.

"I love you sweety, I can't wait for you to come to Chicago," Gabby said smiling.

"Me too mama. Te amo."

"Alright sweetie, let me speak to abuela," "Thanks for everything aunty,"

"Of cource Rie, we'll call you tomorrow." Dorothy responded,

"I miss her so much, this is the first time we've been apart for this long," Gabby said in a sad tone.

"Don't worry mia mor, she's in good hands." Her aunt assured her trying to console her. She was there when her sister and brother in law died. She had taken in Gabby and her brother and raised them like her own children. She loved them dearly. Now she feels like Lexi is her own granddaughter and she brought her so much joy. "She'll be back in your arms in a week to start school. Right now, concentrate on getting your life on the ground ok." She said, speaking out of the love she had for her sister's child.

"Yes mama. Te amo. Adios." Gabby hung up the phone. She looked around and decided to go downstairs to get some ice-cream before she could start the general cleaning. She sang along to a playlist of her most favourite tracks while cleaning, unpacking, and putting aside some items she did not want to keep to be donated. Antonio had dropped off her stuff from their old house even when she had asked him not to telling him that she needed a fresh start. Suddenly she was glad he did. The boxes were filled with everything from her childhood up to the day she decided to leave for Iraq. Hours passed and it started to be dark out. Antonio and Shay had called her earlier checking on how she was doing and she had told them not to worry. She did realize that she had no food in the house so Shay offered to bring her take-out. Feeling so hungry, she opened a jar of peanut butter and started at it. She did not want to bother Shay since she was already doing her a favour. Moments later, there was a knock at the door and she jumped excited that Shay finally arrived and she would finally eat.

"Hello again," Matt said trying to shake her hand but he was carrying take-out so he couldn't. Gabby was speechless so she stood there with her mouth open. She felt the whole panic attack approaching. Taking deep breaths she held on to the door. "Sorry…I aah... Shay has a crazy hangover and she asked me to bring you food saying you were starving?" Matt explained, which calmed Gabby.

"I'm so sorry... I… sure…" Swallowing hard, she moved to the side to let him in. Matt walked in and stood by the hallway, "Oh! Sorry…" Gabby bumped into him as she turned after closing the door.

"No I'm sorry." Matt replied. Gabby walked to the kitchen motioning Matt to follow her. "Excuse the boxes, and all the mess. I'm still unpacking." Matt only nodded. He wanted to ask more. Know more without sounding too inquisitive or nosey. Gabby seemed like a nice girl, he did not get the chance to speak with her last night so he got it today.

"Would you like to have some?" Gabby asked Matt who seemed to be lost in thoughts,

"Yes please, I'm starving. Thank you." Matt said,

"No, thank you. For bringing me dinner. You didn't have to, my brother could have picked me something." Gabby said feeling embarrassed that this total stranger was in her house and feeding her.

"Shay said she called your brother first but the station said he was out on a case, and she had called her best friend Severide but figured that would not be ideal since you've not met him yet." Matt explained running out of breath.

"So she sent you?" Gabby acted confused since she hardly knows Matt as well.

"I guess she trusts me with you." Matt smiled which killed Gabby. She felt her insides burning. She did not understand what was happening. She started to feel butterflies in her stomach and wanted to slap herself but stopped before Matt could think she was a lunatic.

"Well, thanks for this, I hope I did not inconvenience you in any way." Matt only smiled. Gabby smiled back. They sat on the one couch that was in the middle of the living room eating their dinner in silence. Matt helped Gabby pack the dishes into the washer before they went to sit out at the back terrace.

"You have a nice garden," Matt finally broke the silence which was starting to be awkward.

"Oh Thanks… I found it here though…" Gabby felt that sounded silly, "I just moved back to Chicago." She was glad she recovered from that statement.

"Cool. Where did you live?" Matt asked making himself comfortable by shifting the pillows on the swing chair, leaning back to look at the stars. Gabby found herself staring at Matt smiling without saying a word. She shook her head trying to come back to reality. She started to speak silently to herself to let it be clear that nothing was going to happen. They just met and Matt is in a relationship. Complicated or not, as she witnessed, she did not want to get caught in between any of it. She was just starting her life in Chicago and was looking for a clean slate. Matt caught Gabby smiling at him, "Is everything alright?"

"Uhmm, yea… I'm good. Thanks." She lied, she was burning on the inside.

Matt's phone rang and he excused himself. Gabby sat there looking at the few stars in the sky. "What. The Hell. Is going on?" she was looking up as if trying to get an answer from God. Exactly this time 6 years ago she lost a very important man in her life, and now she's moving back to the place where they met with their daughter to start a new life. She did not want anything to compromise that. Gabby got up picking the beer bottles from the glass table to go throw them in the bin.

"Fine. You do what you wanna do Hallie." Matt yelled, though trying not to be heard. Gabby swiftly tip-toed trying not to be noticed. "What are you doing?" Matt asked smiling, his eyebrows raised and forehead squinted trying to figure out what Gabby was doing. Gabby jumped, a lil frightened.

"Uh..Uhmm.." letting out a small chuckle, she held up the beer bottles trying to show Matt that she was not trying to eavesdrop or anything, "just going to throw away the empty bottles." Matt only smiled. Shaking his head, he asked for another beer.

Matt and Gabby spent the next hour chatting about Matt's life. His journey as a firefighter. His family. Well, some parts of it. They started to talk about 51. Gabby let Matt know that she had applied to be placed at a firehouse to be a paramedic and Matt suggested she come to 51. Gabby told him that Chief Boden and her father go a long way, so she was already going to 51 which made Matt happy. Boden called her a couple of times but she was still sleeping, he left a message letting her know to come to shift at 51 the next day. He did not know why he was liking the idea of Gabby working at 51, but he found himself smiling. Gabby suggested for Matt to leave after getting another call from Hallie. "She needs you. Go on now." Gabby had said. Matt bit his lower lip. He didn't understand what was going on. His thoughts were all over the place. Gabby smiled at him pushing him out the door. Matt pretended not wanting to go by dragging his feet as Gabby pushed him. They played like they were kids. After closing and locking the door, Gabby shook her head giggling. Matt was on the other side. He realized Gabby hadn't moved away from the door. He stood there still. Smiling. He finally walked to his car, taking one last look at the door, he left.

...

Yaay! So I uploaded the first chapter of MWCBY. Thank you soo much for reading. Please don't think that I'm abandoning 'Doctor Dawson', I swear I'm not. This was actually my very first fanfic but I never uploaded it.

Summary: Gabby is back in Chicago. Her brother takes her around town to loosen up and she meets Shay whom she instantly connects with. She meets Matt who later visited her at her new house.

Next Chapter: Gabby starts at 51 and we experience her first shift. And maybe a lil more Dawsey to be. :)

Thank you for reading. Please review.

Love always,
Gaone.