The feeling of Severide's lips on mine was different than any kiss I'd had in the past. This kiss was soothing, sweet, and I felt like it was rushing through my body, healing everything it touched.
He pulled away and looked at me apologetically. I saw him open his mouth to say something, but I pulled him to me and kissed him. We kissed until we couldn't breathe. And once we'd caught our breaths, we kissed again.
"Sleep in here tonight," he whispered, pulling me down onto the bed with me.
"Make me," I teased.
He wrapped me in his arms and cradled me against his chest before pulling the comforter over us. I fell into a light sleep pretty quickly, and felt Severide get out of bed a few hours later. I fell back asleep, assuming he had just gotten up to go to the bathroom. A nightmare clouded my dreams, wrenching me from sleep.
"Kelly!" I yelled, sitting bolt upright, tears streaming down my cheeks.
He ran into the bedroom, panic clear in his features. When he saw what was happening, he wrapped me in his arms, rubbing soothing circles on my back. I matched my breathing to his and felt my heartbeat start to slow.
"Did you have a nightmare?" he asked.
I nodded against his chest.
"I'm sorry, baby. I should have been here."
"Where were you?" I asked.
"I went downstairs to get water and then a friend called so I was talking to them for a bit. I was coming back up when I heard you screaming," he explained.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"Sweetheart, you have nothing to be sorry for."
We both fell back asleep, tangled up in each other, a mess of arms and legs. When I woke up in the morning, he was still asleep. I watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. Eventually, the need to pee became overwhelming so I tried to get out of bed.
"Nooooooo," Severide groaned, tightening his arm around my waist.
"Let me go or I'll pee on you," I said.
He let me go immediately and I laughed. I peed and brushed my teeth, getting rid of my morning breath. When I got back to the bedroom, Severide was sitting against the headboard, a mug of coffee in his hand and another on the bedside table.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Good," I said, snuggling up next to him.
"Did you have anymore nightmares?" he asked.
"Not after the initial one. You really do have the magic touch, Kelly Severide," I joked.
"We have the day off. What do you want to do?" he asked.
"Well, I definitely want to go for a run or hit the gym. I also need to go shopping for a dress for that gala tomorrow night."
"There's a gala tomorrow?" he asked.
"It's not for the CFD. It's for this charity that I help out with for people who have been personally affected by fires."
"I never knew you helped out with a charity," he said.
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Kelly," I replied.
"Why is that? We've been best friends for almost six years but there's still so much that we don't know about each other," he said.
"Well, let's change that. After we get back from a run and shopping, we can cook and talk," I suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," he said with a smile.
We both finished our coffee and got dressed to go for a run. I filled our water bottles and tossed them in my bag before grabbing my keys and heading down to my car. Severide came out a minute later, locking the door behind him. We drove to our favorite running trail and I parked in an empty spot.
"Ready?" I asked, stretching.
He nodded and we started running. We didn't talk much when we ran. Instead, we just enjoyed each other's company and focused on our bodies. We ran for a little under two hours before heading back to the car. I handed Severide his water bottle before taking a long drink from my own.
"Do you want to shower before we go shopping?" he asked as I started the car.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," I said, looking down at my sweat-soaked shirt.
We went back to the apartment and I showered first. After I had twisted my damp hair up into a bun, I pulled on a pair of jeans and black t-shirt. I tossed on my favorite maroon cardigan and headed downstairs.
"Is this for me?" I asked, pointing to a sandwich that was sitting on the counter.
"Yeah. I already ate. I'm going to shower and then we can go," he said.
Severide pressed a kiss to my forehead and gently squeezed my hip before jogging up the stairs. I heard the water turn on as I bit into the sandwich. I answered a handful of emails and text messages while I ate and by the time I was finished, the water had turned off. Kelly reappeared a few minutes later, wearing dark jeans and a grey shirt.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"Yep," I said.
The shopping trip didn't take very long. We went to a little boutique that Dawson and I liked and I found a flowing, floor-length burgundy gown with lace long sleeves and a relatively modest neckline.
"You look amazing," Severide said as I looked in the mirror.
I paid for the dress and we headed back to the apartment, stopping to replenish our alcohol stash on the way. While I found a recipe to make for dinner, Severide put the alcohol away.
"What did you pick?" he asked, sitting on one of the stools at the breakfast bar.
"Chicken pot pie," I said, turning my laptop so he could see.
"Oh wow. I haven't had that since I was a kid," he said.
"I figured if we're going to be spilling our souls to each other, we may as well have some comfort food to go along," I said, starting to collect the ingredients.
While Severide poured a glass of wine for me, I connected my phone to the Bluetooth speakers and turned on "Any Other Way" by We The Kings. Kelly just laughed and went upstairs to search of his phone. While he was gone, I pulled out the apron my mom had given me when I was in high school and started dancing around the kitchen, singing along to the song. I collected all of the ingredients I needed and continued to dance as I washed the vegetables and located a large saucepan. I didn't realize Severide had come back downstairs until the end of the song when I stopped dancing and he started clapping. I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment.
"I like seeing you so happy," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I let my head fall back against his shoulder, enjoying the feeling of him against me.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked, pointing to the ingredients.
"Can you cut the chicken into cubes for me?" I asked, pulling away.
He nodded and got to work while I chopped the celery and carrots, tossing them into the saucepan as I went. Severide added the chicken and a bag of frozen peas into the pan and I turned on the heat. As we cooked, we started to talk about our lives before we had met. I learned more about Benny and I told Kelly about my family.
"Tell me more about Shay?"
Severide froze for a beat before turning to look at me.
"You don't have to. I mean, I already know a little bit about her and what happened to her, but you never talk about her. I want to know what she was like. Dawson doesn't talk about her very often either. Were they as close as you were to her?"
"She was my best friend. We did a lot together. In fact, we almost had a baby together," he said, smiling at the memory.
"You got her pregnant? I thought she was a lesbian," I said.
"She was. I was basically a sperm donor for her. The first round didn't take. We were going to try again, but she died before we could," he said.
"Kelly, I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about her," I said.
"No, it's okay. You remind me of her. She was stubborn and funny and so incredibly kind and caring. She was a lot like you in that regard."
"I wish I could have met her," I said.
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a soft kiss. The timer went off and I pulled the finished chicken potpie out of the oven.
"We have to take a picture to prove everyone that you can cook," I joked.
We snapped a quick selfie of us with the pot pie sitting on the stove in the background.
"Perfect," he whispered, kissing me.
I kissed him back for a minute before pulling away. He looked at me with a small frown.
"I don't want dinner to get cold," I explained with a shrug.
"You and food," he said with a laugh.
"Shut up. You know you love me," I said, handing him a plate.
"I do. I do love you."
We continued to talk as we ate. Once we were done eating, we continued to talk while we did dishes. And once dishes were done, we continued to talk on the couch.
"So why did you become a paramedic?" he asked.
"When I at the fire academy, we went out to a firehouse for a class. We were supposed to observe. We were only supposed to jump in if we absolutely had to. It was a warehouse fire, so the firefighters were pulling out body after body. The paramedics couldn't keep up. We had just finished our basic paramedic training courses, so I jumped in to help. I helped save four people that day. And that was when I knew I would make a better paramedic than a firefighter."
"Wow. I never knew that. I'm impressed," Severide said.
"It wasn't that impressive. I just did basic first aid and helped do CPR on one guy," I said, taking a sip of my wine.
"Not that. That's not what I meant. I'm impressed with how you realize what you want and you go for it. You don't wait around for it to handed to you. That's impressive."
I leaned forward and kissed him softly.
"Kelly, where do we stand?" I asked as I pulled away.
"I'm not sure. What are you thinking?" he asked.
"Well, we both love each other but that's different than being in love with each other. Obviously we have feelings for each other. What do we call this?"
"I'm not the best at monogamy, Ev. You know that," he said.
"I'm not trying to put a ring on your finger, Kelly. At least not yet. Besides, I'm still dealing with my murderous ex-fiancé," I said.
"Why don't we see where it goes? We don't have to tell anyone just yet. It's our thing and we can keep it that way as long as you want," he said.
"Sounds good to me. Just let me know before you sleep with someone else so I can get someone else to help ward away my nightmares," I joked.
Severide just laughed and pulled me onto his lap. We cuddled on the couch for what seemed like eternity, just enjoying each other. Eventually, we went to bed. I slept soundly through the entire night for the first time since the accident.
When I woke up the next morning, Kelly was still passed out next to me. I headed downstairs and made pancakes and eggs. I had just flipped the last pancake onto a plate when I heard soft footsteps and two muscular arms snaked around my waist.
"Good morning, sweetheart," Severide whispered planting a kiss on top of my head.
"Good morning," I said, turning in his arms so that I was facing him.
"What do you want to do today?" he asked, looking down at me.
"I have a doctor appointment at 10 to make sure I'm officially cleared for full duty and then the gala is tonight so I'm going over to Dawson's so that she can help me with my hair and makeup."
"Do you want me to come to anything with you?"
"You're welcome to come to both the doctor and the gala if you want to. But you do have to wear a tux to the gala. It's a black tie event," I said, pulling away from him and cutting up some fruit.
"I can do that. Just let me shower and I'll come to the doctor with you too," he said.
"Eat first before the pancakes get cold," I said.
We ate quickly and I cleaned up the kitchen while Severide showered. When he was done, I took over the bathroom to throw my hair up into a ponytail and brush my teeth.
"Are you okay?" Severide asked as we drove to the doctor.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just kind of nervous. I really want to go back to work and I'm scared they're going to find something that will make it so I can't go back," I admitted.
"Baby, you're going to do fine. You'll be back to saving lives in less than 24 hours. Just breathe," he said.
I took a deep breath as we pulled into the parking lot. My anxiety grew as we sat in the waiting room and as the nurse took my vitals.
"You're officially cleared for full duty, starting next shift. You can return to work tomorrow," Dr. Michaels said with a smile.
"Thank you so much," I said.
"Anytime. Come back or call if you have any questions or if anything feels off," he said, handing me his card.
"I told you you'd be fine," Severide said as I got dressed.
"I just can't wait to get back to work," I said, pulling on my jacket.
"Can you drop me off at Casey and Dawson's and then go back to the apartment to get my dress? I completely forgot to throw it in the car this morning and I wanted to just go straight to the gala from Dawson's."
"I wanted to drop in and talk to Casey about a few things, but I can do it after that. Do you need anything else?" he asked.
"I need my shoes and earrings. My dress is hanging on the back of my bedroom door and my shoes, earrings, and purse are all on the foot of my bed," I said.
"I'll bring them over after I run a few errands," he said.
"You're amazing," I said.
"Oh yeah," he replied with a smirk.
I laughed, shaking my head. We pulled up to Casey and Dawson's a few minutes later. Severide entwined his fingers with mine as I knocked. Dawson answered the door a few seconds later and immediately smiled when she saw Severide and I holding hands.
"You owe me $20," she said to Casey.
"Damn it. You couldn't hold off for two more weeks?" Casey asked, pulling out his wallet.
"You bet on Severide and I getting together?" I asked, incredulous.
"Don't look so shocked. The whole firehouse was betting on how long it would take for you two to realize you're perfect for each other," Gabby said, tucking the $20 bill into her pocket with a grin before kissing her husband.
I rolled my eyes and followed Dawson into the bathroom. We talked while she curled my hair and twisted it up into a loose, romantic up-do.
"I feel like I'm moving on from Andrew too quickly. It kind of makes me feel like a slut," I admitted as Gabby pulled a few curls loose so they framed my face.
"Sweetie, you are so far from a slut. Any required celibacy period after a broken engagement doesn't apply to someone whose fiancé tried to murder her," she said.
"I guess so. And it's not like I jumped straight to screwing Severide," I said.
"Wait, you two haven't done it yet?" she asked.
"No! We just got together!" I exclaimed.
"There is so much sexual tension between you two, it's not even funny," she said.
"Oh? You mean like it was between you and Casey before you two started dating?" I joked.
"Exactly. Except Casey's and my relationship started with us sleeping together," she said, turning me so that she could get started on my makeup.
"That's not true. You and Matt were friends first. That's better than a lot of people," I pointed out.
There was a knock on the door and Severide poked his head in.
"Hey, girls. I'm heading to go pick up your dress and shoes. I'll text you when I'm on my way back," he said.
"Thank you," I said, smiling at him.
"No problem. I'll see you later. You look beautiful, by the way."
He smiled at Gabby before leaving, closing the door behind him. Dawson looked at me with a smile so big I thought her face would split in half.
"What?" I finally asked.
"You two are so damn cute together," she said.
I stuck my tongue out at her, but smiled to myself. I was happy with the way things were turning out.