Jake saw Grace leave Casey's office and head toward the kitchen. He was trying to avoid Severide the best he could, he knew a lecture was coming his way, but he decided to get to Casey before he came looking for him. Casey was pacing in his office when Jake approached and leaned on the door frame.

"Dad," he said. "Can we talk?"

Casey stopped pacing and nodded. "Yeah, bud." He said, closing the door behind Jake and sitting down in the chair. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and looked at Jake who was sitting on the bed. "You seemed to leave a few things out of your plans tonight when you told me what you were doing."

"I know," Jake mumbled. "But, it was only because we knew you'd probably ask a bunch of questions and then say no."

Casey raised his eyebrows. "That's not a good reason, Jake."

"It really wasn't that big of a deal, Dad," he tried to explain. "We really were just hanging out with friends, but this new guy on the team, his parents work nights, and you don't know them. We just hung out, watched movies and ate pizza."

"And drank?" He questioned. "I know when you've been drinking, Jake."

"It was only beer," he said, trying to shrug it off.

"I'm hearing a lot of only, and just, and because," he said. "What I really want to hear is, 'I'm sorry, Dad, and it won't happen again, Dad' and for you to admit that you lied to me."

"Yeah, I know," Jake nodded. "Sorry, Dad. I shouldn't have lied to get what I want, or drank, and it won't happen again."

"Good," he said. "Now, I need to ask you about your sister. Is she seeing someone?"

"Uh," Jake hesitated. "I don't know for sure, but there's something you should probably know."

Casey frowned. "Jimmy?"

"While you were away for that conference, and the night that Kelly was on shift," he said. "I think Jimmy stayed over. I woke up and saw him leaving in the morning. I asked Grace about it, but she just brushed me off."

"Yeah," Casey nodded. "She just did the same to me."

"Isn't that, like, illegal?" He asked.

"No," Casey shook his head with a heavy frown. "But, it's not something I'm happy about if it is going on."

"Why aren't you freaking out?" He asked. "I almost did, but I was too shocked to do anything until he left the house."

"Jimmy's not a bad guy, she could do worse, and if she was older it probably wouldn't bother me," he explained. "That's why I'm not freaking out."

"But, she's not older and she hid it from you and Jimmy's brother just died." Jake said. "What if he's using her? Can't you just tell her she can't be with him?"

"If I do that, she will run right to him and never let go." Casey said. "Let me handle it, Jake."

Next shift Casey was sitting around the table in the kitchen at the firehouse with the guys when his phone rang. He spoke for a few minutes and Severide watched him intently. The other guys were too consumed in their conversation, talking about something that happened at Molly's the other night, but Severide was pulled from the conversation by Casey's phone conversation.

He frowned as he hung up the phone. "What's up?" Severide asked.

"That was the school. Grace isn't there, so they wanted to know if I forgot to call in about her being sick or being at an appointment." He said. "I watched her get into the car with Jake this morning, and he's there."

"So, whatever she's doing, Jake doesn't know about it or he's covering for her." Severide said, studying his friend's face. "What are you thinking?"

"Jimmy missed his shift." He said. "He called in sick."

"You think something is going on between them?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know," he shook his head. "I thought I saw something going on when we got her from that elevator and when I asked her about it, she was pretty defensive and aloof."

"Let's go check on Jimmy, I was planning on stopping by anyway," he said. "If she's there, we'll deal with it, if not, we'll ask her about it when she shows up later."

Casey nodded at Herrmann. "Fill in for me as acting Lieutenant until I get back."

OOOOO

Grace and Jimmy were lying in bed, tangled in a mess of sheets. She was tucked under his arm, their hands linked as they listened to music in happy silence. She should have been in school, he should have been at work, but neither of them was thinking about that right now. They both wanted a break from their lives, even if only for a few hours.

"Can I ask you something?" Jimmy said.

"Sure," she mumbled.

"Is your Mom alive?" He asked.

She frowned. "Yeah, why?"

"You never talk about her, no one does, not Casey or anyone at the house," he says. "At first I was just curious, but it was none of my business, but then after Danny died, I thought maybe if you lost her, you'd understand what it feels like to lose someone that close."

"We're not close," she said quietly. "I haven't seen or talked to her in over a year."

"What happened?" He asked.

"It's a long story," she said.

He pulled her in close for a moment, kissing her head. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

Grace was quiet for a few minutes and when she spoke again, there was a heavy frown painted on her face. "She's a drug addict and an alcoholic, and so is my Dad," she said. "Matt is my uncle, but he adopted us two years ago, after my Mom drove drunk and high with us in the car and crashed."

"Whoa," he said and turned to look at her. "That's heavy."

She nodded slowly. "It's just easier to say he's my Dad, because he is, and to not talk about before."

"Okay, but I'm glad you told me." He smiled. "No judgement, Grace."

"Yeah, I know," she said. "I just don't like talking about it much. It was a hard time."

"Of course, yeah, I get it." He said as there was a knock at the door. "Pizza must be here, I'll get it."

Grace stayed in the bed, smiling to herself, but quickly bolted into the bathroom when she heard the voices. It wasn't the pizza guy, it was Casey and Severide, and she was doomed if they saw her. She still had the sheet wrapped around her as she hid on the other side of the door and tried to listen to the conversation.

"I'm good guys," Jimmy said nervously. "I just need some time, you know?"

"Yeah, we know," Severide said as Casey looked around casually. "We're here for you, and everyone at 51, we take care of our own."

"I know and I appreciate it," he nodded. "I'll call if I need anything."

"Hey Jimmy," Casey said as he stood in front of the bed with his arms crossed. "Is Grace here?"

"What?" He said quickly, too quickly. "No, no, why would she be?"

"I don't know," he said as he grabbed her jacket off the floor. "Do you know another Grace on the dance team at her high school?"

Jimmy froze as Casey eyed him. He didn't know what to say and he was very intimidated by Casey and Severide staring him down in that moment. He was nervous, wide-eyed as his heart pounded in his chest. He honestly didn't know what to do or say, and when Grace emerged from the bathroom he was half relieved and half terrified.

Grace stood in the doorway, with nothing but a sheet on and wished more than anything she would have grabbed her clothes in that moment. Casey raised his eyebrows at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"Daddy," she said, trying to defuse the situation. "It's not a big deal."

"Not another word, Grace." He said, holding his hand up. "Just get dressed."

"Okay," Grace nodded and grabbed her clothes off the floor by the bed.

"Casey," Jimmy said when Grace went back into the bathroom.

"I wouldn't," Severide said.

"I don't even want to hear from you right now," he said. "Stay away from my daughter."

Casey grabbed Grace's upper arm firmly when she left the bathroom and began pulling her out of the apartment. Severide put his hand on Jimmy's chest to keep him out of the way before turning to him once they left the apartment. "We need to talk." Severide said.

Casey led Grace down the stairs and toward the car, still holding her arm. He wasn't hurting her, but he wasn't being gentle either. She was already worked up and it worried her at how angry he was with her right now.

"Daddy, just let me explain," she said through the tears. "We've been hanging out since his brother died, he just needed a friend. We didn't plan for any of this to happen, I like him and he likes me, but we couldn't tell you, we couldn't tell anyone. Dad, please just stop for a minute."

"You stop," he said, spinning her around when they got to the car to look at her. "I know you, Grace. I knew you were hiding something, I saw you and Jimmy when he talked you down and pulled you from that elevator shaft, and I knew you were lying when I asked you about it. So, don't lie to me again, not about this, not about anything ever."

"I'm not lying," she started to cry harder. "How was I supposed to tell you about this?"

"Get in the car, Grace." He was scaring her, and even through his rage, he knew and he tried to calm himself down. He opened the door. "Now."

OOOOO

Jake slipped into Grace's room after school. She was sitting on her bed with her head in her hands. Her hair was thrown up in a messy bun and she was wearing leggings and one of his hoodies that drowned her. She was hiding, in every way possible. He sat on the end of her bed and waited for her to start talking.

"How mad is he?" She finally asked.

"Oh, he's pissed," Jake said. "I think he's going to wear a hole in the living room floor from all his pacing."

Grace shook her head. "I don't even know what happened,"

"He was already suspicious and then you skipped class and tipped him off." Jake said. "And, Jimmy called in sick, so, that wasn't very smart if you were trying to hide it."

"I meant, I don't know what happened between Jimmy and me," she explained. "One minute we were just friends, and then we weren't."

"Do you like him?" Jake said. "Or, what is this?"

"I like him, and he likes me, but it's never that simple is it?" She shook her head. "What do I do?"

Jake smiled. "Usually, I'm asking you that."

"I'm desperate," she smirked briefly.

"Look, he told me a few days that it's the age difference that bothers him," he said. "He likes Jimmy, he just doesn't like you and Jimmy together."

"I can't go talk to him," she said. "You didn't see his face. He was so mad, Jake. I don't think he'd talk to me even if I tried."

"I'll talk to you," Casey said from the doorway. Jake hadn't closed the door all the way and Casey had been listening in on their conversation. "Jake," he nodded toward the hall and Casey closed the door behind him before sitting on the bed where Jake just was.

"Are you mad?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I'm angry that you lied to me, I'm angry you kept it from me and I'm really angry you skipped school today."

"Okay, that last one I admit was stupid," she mumbled. "But, I didn't really lie. When you asked me, I told you the truth, we're just friends. This, whatever it is between us, it's super complicated. And, I kept it from you because I didn't want to bring it up if it wasn't something I was sure of."

"You should have told me, Grace." He said.

"Daddy, you can't expect me to tell you everything about every guy that comes into my life." She said. "We aren't dating. I don't know what we are and until I can define it, I don't tell anyone."

"No, Grace, I mean you should have told me because it was Jimmy." He said. "You kept it from me because you knew I wouldn't approve."

"Yeah, so what if I did?" She said. "You dragged me out of his apartment like it was on fire. Why would I tell you about him, when I'm not sure there is anything to tell?"

"So I can protect you," he sighed. "Grace, he's too old for you."

"I'll be eighteen in six months," she said.

"You could be eighteen right now and I still wouldn't like the age difference," he said. "Not to mention that he's going through something and I don't want to see you get hurt."

Grace stopped suddenly. It never dawned on her that he was worried she was being used. "Oh," she said slowly with a frown. "Daddy, I like him and he likes me."

"Grace," he said softly as he moved closer to her and put his hands over hers. "I know you like him, and that's what scares me, because I don't trust him right now. Grief is terrible and it's easy to cling onto what's there."

Grace frowned. "After Tyler, my guard was way up, and then Ben came along and I let it down and he let me down. So, I learned that I can either never trust anyone and be alone, or I can take some risks and hope it works out."

"Baby, that is a very mature way of thinking," he said. "But, it's still going to hurt if it doesn't."

"Yeah," she nodded. "And that's how I'll know it was worth it and that it was real, and I think I'll be okay with that."

"I won't be okay if you get hurt," Casey smiled as he stood up and kissed her head. "I have to think about this one, Grace, and I want to talk to Jimmy."

"Okay," she sighed as she moved to hug him. "I don't like when you're mad at me."

Casey held her tightly. "Just be honest with me, Grace."

Severide knocked briefly on Grace's door before opening it. "I talked to Jimmy," he said. "We should all talk."