So this little fic came to be as I thought about how Haas & company could get Linseride back together. Will they? Nah, but a girl can dream, right? Here are my fantasy sequences on how Kelly can make his way back to a gorgeous, dimpled detective.
This first one is Sweet Kelly. We all know he's got that huge heart beneath the asshole exterior. It starts with some Jay, but keep the faith and keep reading. Hope you enjoy!
Erin enjoyed the warmth of Jay's hand holding hers, the grip tight with the self-assurance of a man who knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to go for it. They'd played the dance of flirtation for a year before taking the plunge into actual dates, a real relationship. To hell with Voight and his damn rules. Halstead was the one who confronted the sergeant, telling him he'd quit Intelligence to be with Erin.
"Yeah, it's a complicated mess, but it's our mess, and Erin's a grown woman. She can decide…" Jay's voice was rising, just as Hank rose from his desk.
"Yes, she can decide. Intelligence or you, that's the choice, plain and simple," Voight rasped out, face turning red. Who the hell was this punk?
"Just thought you'd appreciate me talking to you directly, no bullshit hiding behind your back," Jay yelled in reply, chest to chest with the older man.
"So exactly how long has this been going on?" Voight asked wanting to take a step forward but already touching the angry cop in front of him. He didn't really want to know the answer, always made it a point of steering clear of Erin's personal life. But right now, he felt like these two were pulling something over on him. And it was not a feeling he enjoyed.
"Nothing's going on, but we've got something. Yeah. Something real," Jay paused. "You can consider this my resignation because we're doing this, with or without your approval." He turned to leave, stopped by the clearing of Hank's throat.
"Just sit down," he said backing away, moving behind his desk. Voight was not a stupid man. He'd seen Erin at her best and definitely at her worst. He preferred a happy Erin … admitting to himself it had been a long while since she seemed truly happy.
"The job suffers when you start mixing the personal with business. We don't shit where we eat, my rule, plain and simple." Voight crossed his arms, leaning back deeply in his chair, waiting for Jay to respond.
"Nice. I'm outta here," Halstead got up, again walking to the door.
"Sit." Hank's voice lowered to almost a whisper. The resolve of the young man in front of him was unmistakable. And he had to give it to him for showing balls of steel, ready to give up his job for a shot at a woman. Erin. His girl. He let out a frustrated breath. "Okay. As long as you keep all the personal out of this office, we'll give it a shot. This ain't the place for no couple's massage."
Jay laughed lightly as he shook his boss' hand. Erin was smiling broadly as the two men entered the bullpen, all eyes scanning for some sign. Some sign that they weren't losing a team member.
"Are we all done playin' grab ass or are we ready to haul in some scum?" Hank was at the whiteboard drawing arrows and lines from face to face, but all Erin could see was the beaming face of her partner.
It had been over a month since Jay had fought for her and won. Since they'd stepped onto a precarious plank bridging personal life with work. So far, it was working. Erin loved the feeling that there was someone in her life who had her back no matter what. Jay was a constant. Right now she needed a constant.
Halstead was taking his girl to their favorite restaurant, a little sub place with the best meatballs in the city. They were meeting his brother, a big step for Erin. He could see the way she squirmed when he brought up family or future. Talk of moving in was clipped short the one time he mentioned it under the guise of "saving money." He was practically living at her place anyway, why not make it official?
He was trying to "take it slow" as she liked to say, again and again. Trying to live in the moment. At the moment, he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into a huge meatball sub. He felt her hand slacken in his grip before he even saw what caused it to drop like a forgotten toy tossed to the side.
Kelly Severide.
Erin's chest squeezed with pain, a pain she thought she'd let go of months ago. The news Antonio Dawson brought in about a Severide quickie marriage created the hurt so real she wondered if her heart was in fact breaking. No text from the fireman explaining the nuptials, no Kelly logic to cloud and lessen her anger. Nothing.
Erin knew she'd been the one to say she wouldn't be that girl. That girl left waiting for some man. But she also knew she said she would be there for him. All he had to do was call. He never did choosing to drown his Shay grief with alcohol and a new wife. Now he was walking down the steps of St. Pius, arm hooked in another woman's, guiding her to the waiting sidewalk.
He glanced up meeting Erin's gaze and for a split second looked like he might topple over, might drop that woman's arm and actually fall down the steps before him. Instead, he tightened his hold, moving his arm around the waist of the woman who was now laughing at something he said.
"Well, Erin Lindsay," he said reaching the bottom, standing a few feet away from the detective.
"Well, Kelly Severide," Erin echoed, her raspy voice sending a shiver down the fireman's spine. A voice he hadn't heard in over nine months.
"Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Kelly?" the elderly woman asked taking a small step toward the pair.
"Beatrice Keaton, meet Detective Erin Lindsay," Severide presented Erin like she was the prize in the bottom of a Cracker Jack box.
"Bea, call me Bea, sweetheart. Oh my, you are a cutie!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "And who is this handsome young man?" she asked turning to Jay.
"Jay Halstead, ma'am," Halstead answered holding out his hand.
Bea took it warmly in more of a warm squeeze than a handshake.
"Kelly, how are you?" asked Erin, taking him in. She'd forgotten how blue those eyes were, how that smile encompassed his face. Now it was just inches away from her own face.
"Good. Really good," Kelly said, drawn to Erin's face, resisting the urge to touch it, touch her cheek, knowing how soft it was. He put his hands in his pockets not trusting them.
"You look good," Erin said, unconsciously rubbing her hand down the length of his arm before taking a step back, realizing what she was doing. What the hell is wrong with me? Don't touch him, she told herself.
"Well, good seeing you Severide, but we've got a couple of meatball subs with our names on 'em," Jay said just a tinge too cheery.
Kelly laughed, "I don't know about that. Bea might wrestle you for them." He shrugged toward the restaurant across the street, "Costello's?"
"Well, I say we all make our way in there and get out of this lovely Spring weather my city is giving us," the older woman said reaching for Kelly's arm to guide her across the street.
The date on the calendar officially said Spring, but the temperature outside announced that winter was not bowing out without a fight. Bea clutched at Kelly's arm needlessly, he had a firm hold around her waist. She was moving at a snail's pace... the combination of the long, wool coat, the ice on the road, and the feebleness of age making progress slow.
The young couple trailed behind with Jay holding his arm out, offering a weak smile to the gorgeous brunette. "We can go somewhere else," he suggested softly.
"No, it's okay," Erin replied, her brain twisting in a thousand different wanted to run, she wanted to stay, she wanted to give Kelly a long overdue hug, and she wanted to scream at him for marrying some woman he knew for a hot second.
Once inside, the four turned to each other awkwardly, not sure if they were getting one table or branching off.
"Well, good seein' you Erin," Kelly said scanning the small area for two tables. "Here ya go," he added pointing to an open table. The only available table.
"Join us, please," Erin said looking at Bea who was teetering a little, leaning heavily on Severide.
Kelly kept a meatball in his mouth most of the dinner, trying to avoid eye contact with Erin, figuring she wanted to snap his head off for the way he handled or didn't handle their relationship or lack of one. He also knew his eyes had a tendency to linger on the detective, not unnoticed by the other detective. Best to look at Bea or his sub, he thought. But that laugh. That voice. Those eyes.
"So why were you two at St. Pius tonight?" Erin asked, her cop mind turning it over and over. An aunt? Grandmother? Family friend? What was the connection? And they were at church?
"Do you mind?" Bea asked Kelly.
"Go ahead," he said smiling at his friend, an obvious affection shared between the woman who had to be fifty years his senior, who could barely make it across the street and this picture of health fireman. She patted Kelly's hand as she began their story.
"I was heading up to my little group, we get together once a week, and was about to meet the bottom of the stairs. Now, mind you, this was in January and the snow was unbearable. I don't know if it's me getting on in years, or if the cold is getting worse." She paused for a second, remembering where she left off. "Oh yes, about to fall and this one," she said patting Kelly's hand again, "he came in and saved me."
"Technically, I didn't save you," Severide corrected. "Just hauled you up the rest of the way. Used a fireman's carry, like a sack of potatoes."
Everyone laughed at the story, Bea the loudest. "He did not carry me up like that. But we did make it in, and Kelly decided to stay. I think he was worried this old woman wouldn't make it down in one piece. And he's been taking me to my meeting every week since." She was beaming at her hero.
"I'm afraid to ask ma'am, but what do you all do at this meeting?" asked Jay, who'd been caught up in the woman's crinkled, sparkling blue eyes, her easy smile, and even easier laugh.
"That, my young friend, is for another day," she answered, still smiling but the smile had changed somehow. Going from a happy memory to something sprinkled with a bit of sadness.
"Aw, c'mon," pressed Halstead. "You got the lieutenant here knitting or something and you're not gonna fill us in," he teased.
"Nah, it's okay," Kelly said looking at Bea who nodded for him to go on. "Uh, Bea lost her husband in September. The group is really a grief counseling thing." The fireman bit into another huge meatball, leaving the words to linger. The one word hanging over the table. Shay. His Shay.
"I am so proud of you, Kelly," Erin said not knowing where the hell those words came from. Like he needs my approval or something? Just stuff a meatball in your own damn mouth, Erin told herself.
"Yeah, uh, I went a little crazy. Or a helluva lot crazy," he laughed bitterly thinking about the months of drinking, drowning his sorrows, but they didn't seem to ever really die. Just a numbing. And then there was Brittany. How many times he'd picked up his phone to call Erin, even contemplating the coward's way out… a text. But he didn't, thinking he had found his savior. When the marriage was annulled, Matt was on him like crazy to just pick up the phone.
"You know Shay thought you two were perfect for each other," Casey pushed, wanting to see his friend happy.
"Well, Shay ain't here is she?" Kelly'd countered angrily, not listening to reason. Ever.
"Boden was on me, Matt on my ass… but I guess it took a sixty year-old-woman to straighten me out," the fireman said trying to lighten the now heavy mood.
"Kelly, you know I am eighty two," Bea chuckled, her face radiant with the glow of someone who had lived a life, who savored each day and ran with it. Like her younger friend, a different story would have been told about her a few months earlier.
"You just look so young, darlin'," he teased, more laughter ringing from the table. "You about done?" he asked, aware that her eighty two years would mean she'd be wanting to get home soon.
"Ready when you are," the elderly woman turned to her new friends, "Erin, so lovely to meet you. Jay, if you two ever break up, you know where to find me on a Thursday night," Bea whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Take me home?" she asked turning to Kelly, whose expression had soured at the last comment. He nodded his head, reluctant to rise.
The fireman could have stayed at that table all night. Could have stayed for a lifetime, but Bea was ready. "Halstead, good seein' you." he shook the cop's hand, both men adding a little extra firm to their grip. "Erin," he paused, not sure if a hug was going to be met with her body or a slap by her hand.
"Erin," he said again. "Don't really know what to say," he admitted. He shook his head as if clearing a fog, "It was great seein' you. Maybe we can, uh, get together sometime…"
"I don't think so Kelly," she said, her expressive eyes always adding words that her mouth neglected. God, he missed those eyes.
Bea was entertaining Jay with a story about her beloved Arthur and his thirty year naval career while Kelly worked for some alone time with Erin. He felt it was some kind of divine intervention, call it fate, that she appeared before him tonight. Much like the run in with Bea, some force was moving the puzzle pieces of the universe to get these two together. That's what Kelly told himself as he pressed her for something, anything … "What's the harm in a coffee, Erin? That's all I'm askin' for. One coffee."
"Sorry, Kelly, but no. What we had was beautiful but it ran its course…"
"That is bullshit," the fireman interjected, gaining the attention of Jay. "Nothing ran its course. I went off the deep end. I want the chance to say I'm sorry, to let you give me hell or whatever. Just thirty minutes."
The silence from Bea and Halstead magnified Kelly's words, causing them to ring out much louder than he wanted.
"Looks like you've just said your sorry's. You ready, babe?" Jay asked reaching for Erin's hand. She shook her head yes, giving Bea a quick hug, diverting her eyes from a now fuming Severide.
Kelly helped his friend into his car, the grim look on his face warned off any jokes or talking. He revved the engine a couple of times before peeling out.
Erin watched as Kelly retreated, unconsciously pressing her hand against her chest, trying to ease the stab she felt. She knew it would take more than her hand to heal it. She knew she had a strange hollow within. It had been temporarily filled with a fireman almost a year ago. Now it was back. She told herself she was okay with it, she tried to take comfort in the familiarity of it.
But when she closed her eyes to dream, the images always held that face. That face with the piercing blue eyes. No one else.
Jay took her home, leaving for the night, knowing she needed some space. As wrong as it seemed to him, he pulled away from her apartment, the events of that unexpected dinner knocking around in his brain. Knocking so hard, he had the beginnings of a headache as he eased himself into his place. A headache he hoped wouldn't transform into some heartache.
Erin sat alone in her living room, glass of wine in one hand, phone in the other. She felt a pull to call Kelly, tell him how much she missed him, how she ached for him. But she wouldn't. She had always wondered what it would be like to have someone who knew her so well, someone who could look into her eyes, almost see her soul, and not back away. Someone who loved her knowing who she really was. Was Kelly that man? She didn't know.
She did know he was the man whose simple touch could send her thoughts to an old fashioned dream of white picket fences and a happily ever after. She could almost feel his arms around her, remembering how tightly they encircled her after the bombing. She thought she would never have to worry about those arms leaving her.
Two small raps on her door broke the spell she was under. She smiled as she thought about how little time it took Jay to come wandering back.
"Well, Kelly Severide," she said surprised, her rough voice contradicting those sweet dimples.
"Well, Erin Lindsay," he replied, devilish grin, a little unsure, plastered on his face. "You did say I never had to call," he added, nervously putting his hands in his pockets.
"I did say that," Erin agreed, cocking her head to the side, but not backing away to let him in.
"Damn," he muttered, moving in roughly, grabbing the back of her head, lips crashing into each other hungrily.
Erin pulled the fireman toward her, kicking the door shut. "You got thirty minutes, Severide," Erin breathed out between kisses. "Make the most of them."
"Damn," Kelly repeated, the softness of her lips like velvet running against his skin.
The dream was floating back on a sail of promises made by each kiss. Come back to me, Kelly. Come back. Erin could feel the hollow filling up with hope. A hope that Kelly would come back.
Erin didn't know that he was already there.
So there you go! My first little one-shot on how Sweet Kelly could lure Erin back to him. Next up, Badass Kelly. I've always wanted to crash a helicopter in FF, and it's coming. :)
For those waiting for the next update to All I Need Is… it's coming soon too.
Hope you enjoy where my plot bunnies are taking us!