Thank you for the kind words, faves, and follows. It means a lot to all us fanfic writers. Hope you like where I'm going. Enjoy!


As tempting as that one word was, Kelly knew he couldn't. He wouldn't "stay." Too much alcohol involved for that to happen. Way too much.

"I'd love to, believe me, I would, but I can't," he said grabbing her hands and taking them away from his face.

Erin was already rolling over on her side, eyes closed, letting sleep wash over her. She mumbled, "Thanks, Kelly."

He laughed softly figuring this would be the only time he'd lay eyes on her place, have her hands touching his face, hear her ask him to stay. He shook his head as he let himself quietly out of her home with regret deep within him.

Erin Lindsay woke up the next morning, splitting headache, not looking forward to a long day searching for some meth dealer who went by the name of Chuco, but also with her mind on a fireman. Squad's lieutenant at house 51. God, did I call him "hero" last night, she thought with embarrassment. What an imbecile. She tried to push the more humiliating moment out of her mind, when she asked him to stay, but it kept creeping back into her brain. Halstead was in a super chipper mood making hers even darker.

"So you gonna tell me what happened last night?" he finally asked when she volunteered no information.

"Nothing."

"That fireman just called you a cab and that was it?" he inquired again.

"No. He dropped me off. Got me to the couch and left. That's it," she answered shortly indicating that nothing further would be said.

His whistling was infuriating. He kept whistling to any tune that came on the radio. Erin finally turned the damn thing off.

"Hey, I need you to stop by 51 for a second," she said nonchalantly, almost as an aside. As if it were one of their usual stops, for coffee, a bagel…

"I knew it!" he shouted. "I knew it! Something happened and now you want to drop by. You'll be havin' lunch there soon. Voight's gonna invite him over for dinner…"

"Shut up. Nothing happened. Just do it." Her steely eyes said just try to mess with me some more. He didn't. Instead, he drove the short distance to the firehouse.

"I'm waitin' in here."

"Yes, you are," she replied, slamming the door on her way out. Only made her head hurt worse.

Nervously, she headed into the building. She was a confident woman, always self-assured… not now. She knew eyes were on her making her even more self conscious. For a split second, she thought about just turning around, but Mouch saw her and spoke up.

"May I help you in some way, Detective…" said the redhead hoping this didn't mean trouble.

"Lindsay," she replied smiling. "Yes, could you point me in the direction of Lieutenant Severide?" she asked hoping it sounded all business.

"Hope you're not here to arrest Kelly," laughed Mouch regretting his words when no laughter came from her. "Uh, let me show you back. I think he's in his office." Mouch walked swiftly to the lieutenant's closed door, not offering to knock or open it. He just pointed at it like "you go right ahead."

"Thanks," Erin said waiting for him to leave. She knocked lightly on the glass, the blinds closed so she couldn't see anything inside.

Nothing.

She tried again, a little louder.

Nothing.

Crap, he's probably looking though those blinds and not wanting to answer. Thinks I'm a damn stalker. She started to turn when the lock on the door began to make some noise, like someone was trying to unlock it.

Kelly opened the door, rubbing his eyes, ready to lay into whomever woke him from the best sleep he'd had in 24 hours. He rubbed his eyes a little harder not quite believing who was standing in front of him, crooked smile on her face. Erin Lindsay.

"Hey," he said smiling. "Sorry, trying to catch a few z's before our next run. Everything okay? Come in," he continued opening the door wider.

Erin took a small step inside deciding to remain standing.

"Yeah, uh, everything's great. I just wanted to thank you for everything last night. For getting me home. For being a perfect gentleman. I hope I didn't make too much of a fool out of myself. I honestly don't remember much." Erin hoped the lie sounded authentic.

"No problem. And you did not make a fool out of yourself. It was my pleasure."

"Well, that's really all I wanted to say. Halstead's waiting outside. I better head out," she said hesitantly, awkwardness created by the following silence.

"Like I said, no problem," said Kelly wanting to say more but not knowing what words should come. She obviously made the effort to show up here. To thank me personally. Do something.

Nothing else came out. He was left watching her walk down the hall and around the corner, out of sight. What a stupid ass, he thought, slamming his door shut. Why didn't I ask her out? Tell her we could go back to Molly's. Let her know he understood how she felt about Jules, if she ever needed to talk, something, anything. When does a woman turn me into an adolescent idiot? Apparently, now.

He laid back down on his bed, not surprised when the sound of the alarm called out. Truck, ambulance, and squad… all needed. Great. Perfect.

The next day, Kelly arrived at the Academy his usual 15 minutes early, but on this day, the last of the class, all of his students were already there. They all clapped when he entered the room, Dawson handing him some huge, lumpy package and Rebecca handing him a smaller one. Kelly set the gifts down on the desk, smiling, proud of these men and women who made it through. He'd cut them no breaks, and they'd all proven worthy. He had no doubt they would make excellent firefighters.

"Severide, in spite of your best efforts, we've all made it," Gabby started with all the recruits whooping and hollering. She shushed everyone and continued.

"Seriously, we all agree you were the toughest of our instructors but also the best. We learned more from you than all the rest… don't tell them that though. We might end up working for one of 'em." Everyone clapped and yelled for Kelly to unwrap the smaller package.

He pulled away the wrapping and found a bottle of scotch inside. An expensive bottle of scotch.

"Wow, thanks guys. This is great," he said. He looked at the large gift, strangely shaped and wrapped with lumps and bumps sticking out. "I'm afraid to see what's in this one," he joked grabbing it. He pulled back the paper to expose part of a fire hose. Hmmm, they're getting me a hose, he thought. Pulling back the rest of the paper, he could see the hose turn into a bull whip at the end. He broke into laughter at the gift waiting for the first "crack the whip" joke to appear. The room roared with everyone jumping in with their own special 'Kelly as a slave driver' story. It was the perfect way to end this class. He'd been wrangled into teaching it, but it had turned out to be a great experience. Rewarding in ways he hadn't imagined.

All were heading to Molly's for a huge celebration. Kelly vowed he'd make it a quick stop tonight. Shay wasn't going to be makin' any demands after ditching him the other night. As soon as he got to the bar, he realized he'd have someone else to contend with. Jones had her sights set on a target and Kelly Severide was going to have to be a Houdini to get out of this one.

"Well, lieutenant, looks like our teacher, student relationship is over," she said seductively handing Kelly a beer. "If you want something stronger, we can attack that bottle of scotch at your place."

Couldn't accuse her of beating around the bush. Truth be told, no matter how beautiful, no matter how perfect her body, Rebecca Jones was just not Kelly's type. The way she sucked up constantly, the way she seemed to be looking out for number one only, just wasn't Kelly's type. If he even had a type. Zoya hadn't been his type, he thought, but the sex had been incredible. Just what he needed. Maybe Jones was what he needed. At least for now.

She fed him beer after beer, getting closer and closer, letting that soft hair brush against his face, letting other things brush up against him. She did smell good he had to admit.

Erin Lindsay let Antonio talk her into going back to Molly's. He insisted they all show up to celebrate his sister's accomplishment. She hoped she wouldn't see Severide, especially after she went to the firehouse only to have him watch her walk away. One look at the bar thoroughly convinced her she was literally the dumbest woman on the planet. There was Kelly Severide with a beautiful woman on his arm, on his leg, practically on his lap.

Jay felt his partner tense up the second they walked in. One glance at the bar told him why. He stared at that asshole really wanting to open a can of whip ass on a fireman. Then he saw Gabby and decided to make it two firemen. There she was all over Matt Casey. Yeah, CPD needed to find another hangout, he decided.

"Let's get outta here," he whispered in Erin's ear. He tried to lead her out, but Antonio was there handing them two beers and leading them to a table. Two can play at that game, thought Jay. He pushed his chair up against his partner's and draped an arm around her. The look in her eyes told him to tread lightly, but she didn't push him away.

It was about that exact moment that Kelly noticed the beautiful cop he'd talked to for hours just the night before. Noticed how beautiful she looked. Noticed her partner right up against her, arm possessively saying "mine." He was mad without really understanding why.

Detective Voight walked in and the entire bar seemed to pause for a second everyone looking at Casey to see his reaction. Casey didn't react, so a collective breath was released. Voight did react.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked Jay, sitting right next to him, staring at the arm around his protege.

Halstead's arm dropped off of Erin immediately. "Nothing, sir. Just relaxing, kicking back."

"I'm done," said Erin disappointed in the nervousness of her partner. "Take me home?" she asked Voight.

He grabbed her hand and led her out of Molly's. Kelly watched all of this unfold, watched Detective Lindsay leave with a monster, and watched his budding desire for Rebecca leave as well. He quickly excused himself and was out the door before she knew what hit her.

The next day on shift, it was Severide's turn to make a pit stop.

"Capp, swing into PD on your way back. I gotta check on something," Kelly instructed.

Kelly hopped out of squad's truck and strode into the station.

"I was wondering if Detective Lindsay was available," Kelly asked the sergeant at the front desk.

"Let me see if I can track her down," the older lady said stopping a younger officer. "And who is this handsome fireman asking for her?"

"Kelly Severide," laughed the lieutenant giving her a broad smile.

"Hey, tell Erin to get her ass out here," she instructed the young cop.

Kelly waited for a few minutes growing fidgety, knowing it was a matter of time before a call came in.

"Something I can help you with?" asked Detective Voight appearing from behind the fireman, taking him by surprise.

"No, thanks. I'll wait," answered Severide stubbornly refusing to budge.

"If it's a police matter, I can help ya out."

"Uh, not really a police matter," Kelly responded.

"She's busy right now. She's working," Voight added.

"It's okay. I'll wait," said Kelly stubbornly crossing his arms.

Voight crossed his arms and leaned against the front desk firmly planting himself there.

After what seemed an eternity, Erin made her way to the front, eyes lighting up when she spotted the handsome lieutenant. Her brow quickly furrowed when she saw the look on Voight's face.

"Hank, I've got this. You can go," she said giving him a little pat on the arm. He didn't move. Not one inch.

"You can go," she said firmly, giving Voight two raised eyebrows that said move your ass now.

Voight walked slowly to the back wanting to say something but remaining silent, just that smile on his face.

"Everything okay?" asked Erin curiously.

"Yeah, great. Everything's great. I just wanted to come by and say you caught me off guard the other day." Kelly stopped waiting for some reaction.

"And I wanted to know if you'd want to grab lunch sometime, or coffee... or something," he trailed off hoping she would say yes.

"I should make you squirm a little," she laughed with that sexy rasp in her voice. "I'm off tomorrow and Tuesday. What does your schedule look like?"

"Tomorrow it is," said Kelly excitedly pulling out his phone.

"We were gonna send Clarke in with the jaws," joked Capp when Kelly finally returned. "We figured you got yourself in some kind of trouble."

Kelly smiled.

"Yeah, I may have," he confirmed, smile spreading across his face.