Season 7 Episode 1
A Closer Eye
Kelly swung his legs over the edge of the bed and listened to the rapid fall of water in the shower and the soft sounds of happy humming reached his ears.
Tossing back the covers, he stood up and crossed the room until he stood in the bathroom doorway.
The steam on the sides of the shower walls wasn't heavy enough to block his view completely, but it wasn't just Stella's amazing body that he liked, it was the way she moved. And in the shower, under all of that pulsing water, every step of hers looked like a dance.
It was… stunning.
And suddenly he didn't want to be on the outside looking in.
"Hey, babe?"
"Hmm?" She lifted an arm and moved the bath-scrubber up and down her arm, giving it a thorough scrub. "What's up?"
A slow indrawn breath told him she was using coconut again. He was going to take some serious flack from the guys, but…
"I was wondering if you wanted to share the shower?" He grinned as she turned toward him, lowering the scrubber as she went.
"Uhhh…"
He huffed. "It's not that big of a decision, Stella. It'll save water. Right?"
"Save water?" Her laughter was a short cough of sound. "If you come in here it'll take twice as long, and I'll be late to the House."
That caught his attention. "Why would you be late?"
The shower door cracked open and he saw her peek out. "I told you last night-"
"I don't remember that-"
"Because," she rolled her eyes at him, "you were trying to distract me at the time."
"Distract you?" He lifted his arm and leaned it against the doorframe by his head. "Is that what I was doing?"
"Well, it's the PG version, but if you like I could explain it in detail, but that would be NSFW for most folks." She closed the shower door. And reached for the bath soap. "I told you I had to stop by Med before shift."
That caught him unawares with a twist in his gut. "Why Med? You okay?"
"Sure, sure," he could hear her laughter. "I just need to update some of my paperwork. I thought I turned it in last year, but someone in records called and said it was missing."
The water turned off and Stella grabbed her towel off of the top of the shower wall and bent over to dry her legs.
"Which papers are you missing?" He was already wondering if he'd turned in the paperwork. He didn't remember the last time he'd turned in anything like that.
Standing up, she wrapped the towel around her body and tucked it in at the top. Opening the door, she stepped out and took in the view from head to toe.
"Mornings with you look good, Severide." With a long sigh she walked past him and gave him a nice, solid, smack on his backside. "I can't believe I'm walking away from you right now."
He turned and watched her stop beside the bed, the diffused sunlight coming through the curtains cast a golden light across her skin as untucked her towel.
"You can get back in the shower. We can drop your papers off before next shift."
He watched in rapt fascination as she pulled her clothing on, piece by sexy piece. She didn't wear anything fancy under her work clothes, but anything against her skin was sexy… that is until he took it off and then it looked better on the floor.
She looked up and met his eyes a moment later, her dark eyes sparking with laughter. "I thought you were going to shower."
"Sure," he grinned right back at her, taking a bit of the edge off, "in a minute. I'm enjoying the show."
Stella picked up her brush. "Get in the shower. If you're quick enough, I'll give you a decent kiss before I leave."
He took a few steps back, watching her eyes move over him as he went. "If I'm quick enough," he parroted back, "maybe you'll give a not-so-decent kiss."
Stella laughed, a full-throated peel of joy. "Keep dreaming, Severide. Get in the shower."
A long sigh later, he clicked the door closed behind him. He reached out to turn on the water and as the water spurted out of the shower head, he called out to her again. "Hey, what paper was it? You didn't tell me."
"Oh," he heard a bit of distraction in her tone, but the heated rush of water was doing its work on his tired body, "my Emergency Contact paperwork and Living Will."
"What?" He turned and lifted a hand to wipe off the steam on the glass. He couldn't see her near the bed. "Stella? What did you say?"
She popped her head into the open doorway. "Sorry, I've got to run, it's later than I thought. You better get a move on, Lieutenant. The Chief will want to talk to you and Casey before the morning meeting. Later!"
"Stella, wait." He reached out a hand to turn off the water and snatched up his towel from the top of the shower wall, but by the time he stepped into the main room of her apartment, she was gone.