"Hey, Chief!" Kelly shouted to his boss as he found himself running to catch up to him.
Chief Boden stopped, hearing his lieutent's call, causing Kelly to almost crash right into him.
"How can I help you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the unusual behavior.
"Well, uh, I realized that we'll be on shift this weekend and that its Thanksgiving and I was wondering if you'd mind if Abigail came?" Kelly asked.
The Chief seemed surprised by his request, but nodded slowly.
"Of course," He answered, drawing a sigh of relief from Kelly. "How's she doing?"
"Good. Really good considering everything," Kelly smiled. "But it's the first holiday without her dad so I don't want her to be alone."
"She's a strong woman," The Chief observed before returning Kelly's smile. "And you're a good man."
Kelly shrugged and insisted he was just doing what was right before the two parted ways.
That weekend Abigail found herself walking nervously towards Firehouse 51. She was definitely relieved that Kelly had invited her, the upcoming holiday without her father had been something she was dreading, but she was a little apprehensive about seeing everyone else. Sure, they had been nice to her at the party for Dawson, but it was hard to tell whether that was thanks to the alcohol or if they genuinely didn't hold anything against her for what she had done to their co-worker and friend. However, just as she walked inside, a call for the truck and ambulance came in and Abigail let out a sigh of relief. At least now she wouldn't have to face them all at once.
Capp and Hadley, two of Kelly's fellow squad members, were the first people Abigail saw when she got inside. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, she called over to them.
"Hey guys," She smiled. "Is Kelly around?"
The two men looked up, both obviously surprised to see her. However to Abigail's continued relief, they didn't seem annoyed or upset.
"Yeah, he just headed into the kitchen." Hadley informed her.
"Thanks," She smiled again before walking through the doors next to the two men.
When she walked into the kitchen, Abigail was surprised to see Kelly helping a woman she didn't recognize unloading groceries, no doubt for the Thanksgiving dinner. As far as she could remember one of the men had made dinner so it seemed strange that this year they had brought in someone else. Deciding not to question it, Abigail approached them.
"I hope I'm not too early," She said, alerting them to her presence. "But you didn't mention a time and I figured I could find some way to be useful."
"No, you're not early," Kelly assured her, a smile on his face as he hurried around the counter to greet her, but when he was standing in front of her things got a little awkward. Seeing as they had yet to discuss exactly what was going on between them, neither really knew what an appropriate greeting would be. After a moment of uncomfortable shifting, Abigail decided to play it safe and moved in for a hug. Unfortunately, that only succeeded in her head colliding with Kelly's teeth as he misread her action and leaned in for a kiss. Abigail pulled back, her cheeks pink as she rubbed the spot where they had collided.
"Sorry," Kelly mumbled, still smiling. "Why don't we try again?"
Abigail giggled and nodded as Kelly gently lifted her chin to avoid any confusion before placing a short, but sweet kiss on her lips.
"Thanks for inviting me," She said quietly after he had pulled away.
"Thanks for coming," He replied. "Sorry this isn't a very romantic second date."
"I'm sure it'll be just fine," Abigail assured him. "Better than the alternative."
"Yeah, I didn't think you'd want to be alone."
Abigail nodded.
"Or go back to California and see my mother."
Kelly raised an eyebrow and was about to question her when Capp and Hadley came in.
"We're hungry," Hadley announced.
"So what food are we allowed to eat?" Capp added.
"Nothing over here," The woman in the kitchen informed them, looking up from the onions she was chopping. "Everything is for dinner tonight."
"And I brought pies," Abigail informed them, holding up the bag that contained the gift she was hoping would quash any ill feeling towards her. "But they're for later as well."
"You girls are cruel," Capp complained. "What are we supposed to eat?"
"I'm sure you can find something in the fridge," Kelly told his men.
"Or you could just save room for dinner," The other woman suggested.
Hadley opened his mouth to criticize, but stopped when a strange man walked in.
"Can I help you?" Kelly asked.
"Yeah, just point the way to Chief Boden or whatnot," The man requested sounding rather disinterested.
"I'm Boden," The Chief said as he walked in.
"Dan Jenkins, Insurtech. I understand you have a situation here,"
The Chief confirmed what the man had said and Abigail immediately noticed a shift in Kelly's body language. The relaxed, happy man that was standing beside her a moment before had been replaced with a tense, almost nervous one and Abigail's suspicions only grew as he firmly gripped her hand and began to pull her towards the door.
"What about the pies?" She asked when he had almost gotten them through the door.
"Uh...just put them in the fridge and meet me in my quarters," He instructed her before pressing a brief kiss on her cheek and disappearing down the hall.
After doing as Kelly had told her, Abigail knocked on the door to his quarters before walking in. She found him sitting at his desk, still looking distressed, with this phone in his hand.
"Hey," He greeted her, forcing a smile.
"Hey," She said as she closed the door before sitting on the little bed. "That was kinda weird..."
"What was?"
"You scurrying away all shifty like that," She clarified, keeping the smile on her face to avoid rubbing him the wrong way.
"I just wanted you all to myself," He told her, showing her a much more genuine smile.
However, even after being apart for a year, Abigail could tell he was hiding something. She decided not to push him too far though and let it slide as she scooched back against the wall, getting herself comfortable.
"Well I'm not gonna complain about that," She assured him, but didn't miss how he seemed to relax as she let the subject drop.
Kelly spun his chair around to face her and kicked off his shoes before putting his feet on the bed next to her.
"So why didn't you want to go home to see your mom?" He asked, shifting the pressure to her.
However, his words were met with a slight giggle as Abigail raised an eyebrow.
"You wanted me all to yourself just to talk about my mother?" She teased. "You've changed, Kelly."
Kelly laughed.
"I'm trying to be a gentleman," He told her, nudging her leg gently with his foot. "But seriously, what did she do?"
Abigail sighed, regretting the comment she made earlier.
"Well, as you know, she never approved of my decision to move here to help my dad because in her crazy mind furthering my education was more important than my dying father," Kelly nodded, remembering all the times Abigail had come to him in tears over an argument with her mother. "And she was even more upset when she found out that I left you because she blamed my dad for the whole thing. So I don't know why I expected anything different, but I didn't have anyone else here in Chicago when my dad passed away so I asked her to come to the funeral , not for him, but just so I had some support."
"And she said no?" Kelly guessed. Abigail nodded and looked down at her hands.
"I really needed her and she couldn't put aside her anger towards him for one day,"
Abigail's voice had lost the lighthearted tone it had when she had first walked in and Kelly felt bad for bringing up something that he should've known would upset her. His guilt only got worse as she let her hair fall from behind her ear, hiding her face from him, a sign he remembered from when they were together. She was crying and didn't want him to see.
"Hey, hey, hey," He said as he quickly moved from his chair to sit beside her on the bed. "It's okay. She's always been a bitch to you, Abbie, and even though this is a new low for her, you got through it. Like you always do." He pulled her into his arms and felt her bury her head in his neck. "You're stronger than you know."
"People keep telling me that," Abigail sniffled. "But I don't feel strong. Not when I fall apart over something like this or when a commercial for his favourite TV show comes on and I have some kind of breakdown."
Kelly smiled and rubbed her back.
"That's normal, this is normal." He assured her. "You're still grieving, it's okay to cry and it's okay to miss him."
"I do," Abigail mumbled as she sighed against his neck. "I miss him so much."
"I know," Kelly told her before kissing the top of her head and giving her one last squeeze before she pulled away.
"Ugh, I'm sorry," She apologized as she wiped her eyes. "You invite me here for a nice dinner and I go all emo on you the second we're alone."
Kelly chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't mind," He said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I like being here for you. I've missed it."
"You always did know just what to say," She smiled as she found herself leaning in towards him. However, just before she got a chance to truly thank him for his comforting words, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Kelly cleared his throat as Abigail moved back, putting some distance between them.
"Come in," He called.
The door opened to reveal the man that had arrived shortly before they snuck away.
"You Severide?" He asked. Kelly nodded. "Fill 'er up."
Kelly nodded again as he caught the cup that was thrown towards him and the man left, but Abigail noticed that the tension had immediately crept back into Kelly's body.
Abigail sat waiting in Kelly's quarters as he went to fill up the urine sample cup, but fifteen minutes later, when the call for dinner came and he still wasn't back, she assumed he'd been distracted and figured they'd meet up in the dining room. She soon found out she was right when, after taking a moment to pluck up the courage to face all the firefighters, she saw him talking to the drug tester.
"I put it down and I don't know what I did with it," She heard him telling the man as she approached them.
Something about this whole thing was really starting to bother Abigail. Kelly had never been a great liar, but after all the time they had spent together she could always tell when he wasn't being honest and this was the second time today she heard him not telling the truth. Considering both times had been in some way tied to this drug test and the way he seemed to tense up whenever the man was around, it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. She knew her leaving had been hard on Kelly, but there's no way he'd turn to that kind of cure for his heartache, was there?
Abigail quickly hid her worries for the time being though as Kelly spotted her in the crowd and put the cup on the counter before throwing an arm around her shoulder.
"Hungry?" He asked, smiling down at her.
"Definitely. That turkey looks amazing." Abigail replied, forcing a smile of her own.
"Yeah, Peter's a great chef." Kelly informed her as he pulled out her chair. "It's really the only reason we keep him around."
The candidate shot his superior a look as Abigail giggled and the chief took his spot at the head of the table beside her.
"This is the best looking bird we've had in years!" He announced. "What are we going to name it?"
"Name it?" The woman Abigail saw cooking earlier, who she had learned to be Peter's sisters, asked as everyone else rolled their eyes at the tradition.
The chief explained and they settled on a name before getting to the last order of business.
"Okay, now we'll go around the table and say what we're thankful for," Chief Boden informed them. "I am thankful for a strong, healthy, hardworking team and all the effort you men, and women, put in each day." He said, starting them off. "Abigail, you can go next."
Abigail suddenly became painfully aware of all the eyes that were staring at her in that moment. She still felt like an outsider as she wasn't as much a part of the team as she had once been and she still wasn't sure how they all felt towards her, but after a moment of thought, she held her head high and answered.
"I'm thankful for second chances," She stated, shooting a glance towards Kelly. He smiled happily and placed his hand on her thigh before giving it a comforting squeeze. He was just about to continue the giving of thanks when Herrmann spoke up.
"On that subject, can we just take a moment to clear something up?" He asked, but didn't wait for a reply. "Is the happy couple back together?"
"Oh, uh, no!" Abigail stammered, suddenly feeling like her answer had been presumptuous and possibly put Kelly in an awkward position. However, as she awkwardly floundered Kelly had responded as well.
"Yeah, we are,"
The couple turned to look at each other, surprised by the other's answer and everyone else in the room could feel the awkwardness between them.
"We are?" Abigail asked quietly, her cheeks red with embarrassment as Kelly smirked.
"I think so," He said with a shrug.
"Are you sure?"
Kelly sighed as her question revealed that she still doubted whether she was deserving of his forgiveness. Hoping to reassure her, he leaned forward.
"Of course," He promised before pressing his lips against hers.
Abigail was shocked at first, not expecting such a display in front of his boss and coworkers, but quickly leaned into the kiss. However, they were soon forced apart by the cheers and applause of their audience.
"And everything's right in the world again," Otis teased as Abigail tried to calm the flush in her cheeks. "But can we hurry up with the being thankful, I'm hungry."
Kelly opened his mouth for the second time to share what he was thankful for, but was once again interrupted, this time by an announcement.
"Squad 3, Truck 81, Engine 51, Ambulance 61, small residence fire,"
The sound of groans from the disappointed firemen filled the room and Kelly kissed the side of Abigail's head.
"We'll be back soon," He assured her before following the rest of the men outside, leaving his new girlfriend with the few non-firefighters that were present and a smile on her face.
Authour's note: For the millionth time, I'm sorry for the wait! I got super sick and didn't have the energy to do much but sleep.
Thank you so much for all the nice reviews! I really love hearing what you guys think :)