Abigail's hand was hovering over the doorknob of her father's bedroom door, as she tried to work up the courage to open it, when there was a knock on her front door. Surprised, but grateful for the distraction, she went to answer it.

"Hey," Kelly greeted her, smiling somewhat shyly once the door was open. Abigail froze.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" She asked as her previous task suddenly seemed like the less painful option. Kelly's smile fell.

"I told you that I'd come help you go through your dad's stuff..." He reminded her, hoping she hadn't forgotten about everything that had happened. However, based on her sudden upset at the mere sight of him, he assumed she hadn't.

"Yes, you did, but you also kissed me so I figured you weren't really aware of what you were doing," Abigail pointed out.

"I might've been a little drunk, but I knew what I was doing," Kelly insisted, slightly offended by what she had said. Abigail sighed.

"I appreciate you coming over, Kelly but I think you should go."

Without even waiting to hear his protests, Abigail moved back and attempted to close the door, but Kelly was too fast. Just before it had closed, he forcefully pushed it back open and stepped inside.

"Oh, yes, please come in," Abigail muttered sarcastically.

"I'm not gonna let you do this again," Kelly informed her, ignoring her comment as she closed the door behind him before crossing her arms.

"Do what?"

"Run away without a reason!" Kelly barked, his voice rising as his frustrations did.

"I had a reason," Abigail reminded him quietly.

"Yeah, last time you did, but now you're just being really fucking confusing!"

"I have my reasons this time too..." She insisted, looking down at her feet.

"Oh really? Well please share because I'm dying to know why all of a sudden you don't want anything to do with me again!"

"Because I can't just be friends with you!" Abigail yelled surprising them both as her voice finally rose to match his. Possibly due his shock and possibly due to what she had just said, Kelly stayed quiet for a moment and Abigail suddenly felt bad for snapping at him. "I'm sorry. I know that it's all my fault that we're not together anymore and it was my choice to leave, but I still have feelings for you and I can't just be your friend." She explained. "So I think, to prevent anymore awkwardness, you should just leave. We were stupid for thinking this could work."

Abigail hadn't meant to ramble so much, but once she had started she couldn't stop. Part of her was relieved to get it off her chest, but a bigger part of her was saddened by the last words that fell from her mouth and worried about how he would take them. Her worries only grew as he simply stared back at her, taking in what she had blurted out. However, just as she was about to once again ask him to leave, his face softened.

"Abigail, I kissed you," He reminded her, taking a step closer.

"So?" She asked, moving back slightly.

"So I think it's safe to say that I don't want to be just friends with you either." Kelly clarified, but instead of being pleased as he had assumed she would, Abigail sighed.

"You were drunk, Kelly. You weren't thinking straight."

"I knew exactly what I was doing," Kelly repeated. "Being drunk just gave me the extra confidence."

He smiled, but Abigail still looked upset.

"We can't do this, Kelly," She told him, her voice returning to the quiet, nervous tone it had earlier.

"Why not?"

Kelly's voice was low and huskier than it had been moments before, but as he leaned in towards Abigail, he was surprised to feel her place her hand against his chest and gently, but firmly push him away.

"Because you deserve better than me," She informed him, a slight waver in her voice the only hint that she wasn't altogether convinced of what she was saying. "And I don't deserve a second chance after how I hurt you."

"Shouldn't I get some say in that one?" Kelly asked, smiling again, but Abigail shook her head.

"No,"

At first, Kelly thought she was joking to tease him, but the look in her eyes quickly told him otherwise so, realizing that this was going to be a long battle, he pulled away.

"Okay," He said with a sigh. "But all that aside you need help today and you've said yourself that you don't have anyone else."

"I'll be fine." Abigail insisted. "I managed just fine coping by myself for the last year, this is just one more part of that."

"Abbie, I bet you haven't even opened that door yet," He pointed towards her father's bedroom. "You're gonna need help."

"I-" Abigail started to argue, but at the thought of going into that room her stomach was suddenly filled with knots. "Fine, but..."

"But it doesn't mean anything," Kelly finished for her.

Abigail nodded before moving past Kelly and walking back to her father's bedroom door.

Not wanting him to see how weak and anxious she was feeling, she didn't hesitate this time before opening the door. However, her brave face faltered slightly at the sight of all of his things. Kelly paused in the doorway, watching as her breath hitched in her throat and a few tears pricked in the corners of her eyes. His first instinct was to go to her, to comfort her like he had so many times before, but after the conversation they just had he assumed that would only make her feel worse. With a sympathetic glance in her direction, he settled for simply striding across the room and opening the window to get rid of the stuffiness while giving her a moment to herself.

"So he left everything to me," Abigail informed him a few moments later after she had composed herself. "But obviously I don't need or want all of this stuff, most of it's probably garbage. You can start at his desk and I'll start with the closets. Just ask me before you throw out any papers that look like they might be important or something I'd want."

Kelly nodded and they both got to work.


After the first half an hour of sorting through Abigail's father's things, the awkward silence began to fade away. The process was proving to be very emotional for Abigail, as they both knew it would be, but to Kelly's surprise, after stumbling across a shirt from Disneyland, she began telling him the story of when her father got it. After that, they continued on that way, sharing stories they had of her father, some brought up by what they found and others just fond memories.

Kelly was in the middle of telling Abigail the story of how intimidating her father had been when he had asked for permission to propose when he stumbled across something that made him trail off in the middle of his sentence.

"We'll don't stop there, I wanna know how a deathly sick man could possibly terrify the great Kelly Severide," Abigail joked, as she turned around, but the smile fell from her face as she saw Kelly holding an envelope. "What's that? What'd you find?" She asked, not sure if she should be concerned.

"It looks like a letter," Kelly told her.

"To who?"

"You,"

Abigail felt a lump rise in her throat, but quickly moved across the room to take the envelope from Kelly. With shaky hands she carefully tore it open before pulling out the letter.

"My Dearest Abigail," She read. The writing was not her father's, but he wasn't capable of writing towards the end so she was hardly surprised. "If you are reading this letter that means that I'm not with you anymore. I know you are probably struggling, but please know that at this point it is for the best. This is no way for me to live and I feel I'm becoming more of a burden than a father to you. My only regret is that I'm no longer there to share in the many wonderful things that I'm sure you'll accomplish in your life, but remember that where ever I am, I'm watching you and I'm so proud.
I do have my concerns though. I know you spent much of your childhood alone and for that I am sorry. Leaving you in California was the hardest thing I ever had to do. However, I know that because of this you've grown accustomed to coping with things on your own. This is a handy skill to have, but not always the best choice. For me, please don't try to deal with this alone. There are many places you can go for support and I'm sure several of your old friends would be happy to help.
On that subject, I feel I owe you another apology. I'm not sure how much my illness influenced your decision to call off your wedding, but I'm not too blind to know that it was part, if not all, of the reason. I'm sorry for that because I've never seen you happier than when you were with Kelly and you two had a very promising future. However, all hope might not be lost there, Abigail. He loved you and I'm sure if you were to explain he would, at the very least, forgive you. To rid yourself of the guilt that I know you feel, you should try to get some closure. And please, if he does forgive you, accept it. There is no point in punishing yourself forever for something you did with all the best intentions.
I love you with all my heart, Abbie, and nothing I could ever say would be thanks enough for what you've done for me these last few years.
Love,
Dad
"

By the time Abigail was done reading, tears were steadily rolling down her cheeks. She was so engrossed in the letter that she hadn't even noticed Kelly move behind her, reading over her shoulder. He gave her a minute to compose herself and process what she'd read before making his presence known.

"Your father is a smart man," He said, referring to the part of the letter that was about him. Abigail spun around, surprised by how close he was.

"That was private," She mumbled, not having the emotional strength to really be mad.

"I'm nosey," He told her, offering her a smile. "But he's right. I do understand and I have forgiven you."

Suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed, Abigail's eyes flooded with tears once again.

"But," She sniffled. "You should hate me."

"I did," He confessed. "For a while, I did. I was angry and hurt, but the anger disappeared and I was just sad. I missed you."

"I missed you too, but I don't deserve your forgiveness..." She insisted adamantly.

Kelly sighed, moving his hand up to brush a few stray tears off her cheek.

"Listen to your dad, Abbie," He advised. "You do deserve it and I've given it to you whether you like it or not."

Abigail managed a weak smile and subconsciously leaned against his hand. Taking this as a good sign, Kelly slowly leaned a little closer. Abigail realized what was about to happened and licked her lips nervously. Her tongue had barely disappeared back behind her lips when Kelly pressed his own against them.

At first, Abigail stood frozen, surprised by his actions, but as he persisted she relaxed, quickly leaning into him and returning the kiss. Even without the help of alcohol, it all felt as natural has it had a few days earlier and again, Abigail was comforted by how familiar it felt. However, now that her mind wasn't clouded she could feel something more in his kiss. There was lust of course, but it was much more than that. Kelly wasn't kissing her because he wanted to get into her pants, he was kissing her because he loved her and because he wanted to make her feel better like he had so many times before. After allowing herself to indulge in the sensation for a few more moments, Abigail pulled away. A few tears glistened in her eyes, but as they both stared at each other, breathing hard, Kelly figured he had nothing left to lose.

"Come over for dinner tomorrow night," He requested. "Please."

Abigail could hear a slight hint of desperation in his voice, but despite the building desire to forget about everything and agree, she hesitated.

"Kelly..." She started. "We shouldn't..."

Kelly winced. As much as he was expecting that response it still hurt.

"Please?" He repeated, practically begging. "I'm not saying we have to jump in with both feet right away, but just give it another chance."

After everything she had dealt with already, the look of anguish in his eyes was too much for her to resist.

So, as she chewed on her lip anxiously, still unsure of her decision, she nodded slowly. A smile burst onto Kelly's face as he let out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.

"Thank you," He mumbled before stealing another quick kiss. "You won't regret it."

Abigail forced a smile of her own, not quite as sure of his words.


Authour's note: Ugh, I want to apologize again for how long this took for me to write. It seemed every time I had a spare minute to focus on this story, I got called into work :( However, this chapter ended up being kinda long so hopefully that makes up for it a bit!

Also, a big thanks to GHJaSam4Ever for reviewing! I really appreciate it and reviews always help with inspiration and motivation! ;)