Kelly's Girlfriend
Severide rolled out of bed after hitting his alarm clock with his fist to stop it buzzing. His phone was sitting on the floor after charging overnight, and he picked it up to find three texts from Erin.
I don't know if I can make dinner tomorrow night – got undercover stuff happening.
Maybe the next night?
I love you. Let me know if you want to meet up for lunch or something.
Smiling, Kelly texted back, Lunch? Can you come to the firehouse? I love you too.
While he waited for her reply, he took a quick shower and got ready for work. He carried his phone downstairs with his gym bag, and found Shay sitting at the counter sipping a steaming cup of coffee.
"Did you save some for me?" Kelly asked, giving her a pat on the shoulder.
"This is only my first cup, don't worry," Shay replied with a smile. "Hurry up, we have to leave for work in twenty-five minutes."
"Says the girl who takes thirty minutes to do her makeup."
"Seriously, Kelly? I can do it in five if I have to." Kelly put his phone face up on the granite counter as he turned around to grab some cereal when it buzzed, signaling that a new text message had arrived.
Shay wasn't able to read anything before Kelly whirled around to grab the phone. "Someone's eager to read a text," she commented.
Without replying, Kelly unlocked his phone to read Erin's text. I'm not sure. I'll let you know. I might be able to come over later tonight though.
Kelly raised his eyebrows slightly at the last sentence of the message, and quickly texted back, I hope so.
As he hit Send, he could feel Shay staring at him, and he looked up to find her why-are-you-staring-at-your-phone face. "What?" he asked.
"Who is texting you that you are literally holding your phone so tight and jumping every time it buzzes?" When that didn't work, Shay went a more blunt route. "Who's texting you? Come on, Kelly, you can tell me."
Kelly was about to reply when a new text popped up. He held his phone nearer his face as he read Erin's reply: I hope so too.
He laughed lightly, sighed, and after seeing Shay's suspicious face, he sensed that he wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. "Erin Lindsay. From the CPD."
"From the Intelligence Unit?" Shay asked, now extremely curious. "How serious are we talking, like…just a couple of dates or what? Are you guys serious? Like boyfriend and girlfriend serious?"
As if by perfect timing, Erin called Kelly's phone, and he picked up, successfully avoiding having to reply to Shay's question. He honestly wasn't sure. "Hey there," he said.
"Hey," Erin said, checking behind her at the other Intelligence detectives. "I have a few free minutes right now. Did you get my message?"
"I did, I did," he replied with a smile, and seeing Shay curious face, he coughed and started to walk out of the kitchen.
When Kelly didn't say anything else, Erin asked, "Is someone there with you?"
"Uh, yeah, Shay's right here, and she's been asking me questions about us."
"What! Kelly, I thought we were keeping it under wraps for a little while longer," Erin replied, surprised.
"I'm sorry, but, she started asking questions and I can't exactly avoid them," Kelly replied, feeling slightly guilty.
"It's okay," Erin said, and when she remembered Shay from visiting 51, she asked, "What sort of questions is she asking?"
"Well, for one, how serious are we? And whether she could call you my girlfriend," Kelly said, looking at Shay with a thanks-a-whole-lot look. Shay just shrugged and smiled.
Erin paused for a moment, and said, "I like the sound of girlfriend, don't you?"
"I do too," Kelly said, "So I'll see you tonight?"
"Hopefully," Erin replied, "If we can get the guy we want in custody by mid-afternoon, then it looks pretty likely. But I don't know how long the bust is going to take."
"Just let me know," Kelly replied, secretly thinking that he hoped that he would be able to meet her. "Love you."
"Love you too," Erin replied, "Bye." Before Kelly could hang up, Erin hit the End button on her end. He walked back over to his now-cold toast, and Shay asked, "So? What did she say?"
After taking a bite of toast, Kelly replied, "Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"Cross my heart," Shay replied, already plotting in her head what she was going to say to Dawson.
"Not even Dawson?" Kelly said with a raised eyebrow, as if reading her mind.
Shay sighed, then said, "I'm not waiting forever."
"Okay, fine," he said, "You could say that we're boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Oh my God! I'm so happy for you, Kelly. Really, I am."
"Thanks Shay."
"Can I meet her sometime? I'd like to get to know her better."
"And share a ton of embarrassing stories about me? I'll have to think about that one," Kelly said. He looked at his watch, and realizing that he was now a little short on time, he said, "I'll be right back," and ran upstairs to brush his teeth.
As soon as Kelly's back was turned, Shay silently pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Dawson's number. After a few rings, she picked up. "Good morning, Shay," Dawson said.
"Hey Dawson, I've got something to tell you," Shay said enthusiastically, checking to make sure Kelly was still upstairs.
"And what would this 'something' be?" Dawson asked, packing stuff into her rucksack with her free hand.
"Kelly's got a new girlfriend!"
Dawson nearly dropped her phone in surprise. "What!? Are you serious?"
"I'm dead serious. It's Detective Lindsay from Intelligence."
"Oh wow," Dawson said, "I confess, I never would have picked Severide to date a cop."
"I know," Shay said, completely in agreement, "He's been texting her all morning and he's been carrying around his phone like it's his prize possession."
"That's so adorable," Dawson said. "Tell him congrats for me, will you?"
"You can do that when we get to work," Shay said, "But don't tell Casey, okay? I'm not sure if I should even be telling you."
"Well…" Dawson said, seeing Casey's questioning face next to her. He had been listening to all that she had been saying, and was curious about her remark about Severide dating a cop. "Oh, I've gotta go, Shay, gotta drive. See you soon."
"What were you saying about Severide dating a cop?" Casey asked.
"Severide's dating Detective Lindsay," Dawson said, leaning against the arm of the couch.
Casey nearly laughed. "Severide's got a girlfriend. Wow. I'm really happy for him."
"I know," Dawson said, "Although, I'm going to smile when she comes by the firehouse next."
"I know," Casey echoed as they walked out the door.
***Later That Day***
Erin strolled into the parking area for all the trucks and the ambulance when she heard, "Lindsay!" to her right. She turned, and saw Dawson and Shay chatting inside the back of the ambo. "Hey guys," she said. "Is Kelly around?"
Mills, having just walked out of the workout room ten feet away, overheard, and yelled, "I'll find him for you," and headed off into the common room.
Lindsay turned back to the two paramedics to find two very enthusiastic, curious faces staring at her. "What?" she asked.
Shay and Dawson looked at each other, and Shay said, "So…you and Severide, huh?"
