She woke up hung over and alone. She wasn't surprised by either condition. There was a note from Matt, though, on the stationery her grandmother had given her. She read it quickly, it just said he'd left around 4 am, to avoid her roommates and hopefully any awkward insinuations from Severide and Kidd. He hoped she felt okay and if she was still interested in that 'when we date' idea from last night, she should let him know next shift. God, had she really tried to… yes, yes she had. Thank God he had the self-control she apparently did not last night. He was interested though, or at least, he'd felt interested. And his note said he was, right? He'd also felt nicely sized – not like a circus freak, thank God, but nicely hung. She felt a little guilty thinking about that even just in her own head, but…still, nice. His note said next shift though, so she didn't want to seem weird by texting him right now. She might've needed to be drunk to put the idea out there, but she wanted Matt Casey, and Gabby Dawson be damned – Dawson had abandoned both of them, and if she didn't want Matt, well, other women, smart women, they did. Plus, and she'd never, ever, tell Matt this, she had felt awful when he talked about his date last night – rejection always stung, and something in his words or face or bearing, she was too drunk last night to quite put a finger on it, had said he believed what he'd been told: no one would want him, not the him who wasn't just a hot guy in a bar random hook-up. But she couldn't date him out of pity. She wouldn't. It was just that knowing he was dating other women made her jealous. Seeing him date other women who didn't appreciate him made her sad and mad both. She really did like him. She'd always liked him, but now she was sure she liked him. She'd hoped it would go away, then just wanted to wait for something, she didn't even know what. But why wait? Dawson was gone, she was interested, and Matt was interested, why not? She didn't have many regrets actually, except that she'd come on so strong. God, she hoped he didn't think she was a slut or something. Not that Casey was likely to call anyone a slut, he really wasn't judgmental like that (he probably couldn't be, he'd been friends with Severide for like two decades).

She wandered out to the living room, unsurprised to find Otis was up before her, already doing some thing or other on the computer. He looked up and smiled at her.

"You got a ride last night, right?" He asked.

"Casey brought me home."
"Thought he had a date last night." Otis remarked lightly.

"He did. It didn't go well. Dropped by Molly's after, seemed to be looking for company. Foster got me drunk and left, so he brought me here, and we went to bed. Joe still at Chloe's?"
"I guess so. You know, I don't want to overstep or anything, but…is there something between you and Casey? I mean, something more than friends?"
"Because he brought me home when I was drunk?"
"That. And he talks more to you than he does to anyone else. Which is not often, because Casey is practically mute some days. But still, you guys spend a lot of time together. And he's gotten really protective."
"So have you and Joe." She pointed out.

"Well, we're your roommates. That's our job." Otis replied.

"And he's Casey – he's protective of everyone in the house. The girls especially." She sighed, thinking on Kidd's occasional and Foster's more regular frustration with Casey's tendency to hover over them on the more dangerous calls. He wasn't sexist, they all knew that, he was just…a worrier. He knew the physical capabilities of every person in the house, knew what he could physically ask them to do, and his knowledge of the differential in strength for the women seemed to make him just a little more nervous about them.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't look at Kidd and Foster like he looks at you."
"Maybe…maybe there's something." She admitted. "I was drunk last night and he brought me home-"
"He brought you back here, drunk, and you said 'we went to bed'-"
"Don't, Otis." She bit out, not liking the implication in his tone, like Matt would take advantage of her. Otis had known Casey for a decade, he had to know him better than that by now. "I was drunk, I made a move on him, and he said we'd talk about it when I was sober, and I basically passed out. He left. He was exactly the sort of gentleman that anyone who knows him would've expected."
"But you're interested in him?" Otis' nose wrinkled. "The two of you are going to be dating? Does he just have a thing for paramedics, or no, people in medicine, he was engaged to a doctor before."
"That's none of your business. Matt and I still have to talk about things, when we're both sober."
"Matt? You call him Matt now?"
"Sometimes. It's weird to call him 'Casey' and think of him as…you know, more than a friend."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but he is your boss. He's out of line dating a subordinate. Again. He's also not got a great track record with relationships."
"Not really my boss – he's mostly just yours, and Joe's. I mean, and the firefighters generally." She sighed, and asked the only question she could think to ask at this point. "Are you gonna be weird about this because you don't like Casey or because he's your boss, or are you gonna trust my judgment? And his?" She paused, stuck on something. "Wait, do you actually not like Casey?"
"As a boss, he's great." Otis shrugged. "I don't know about as a boyfriend. That whole mess with Dawson was all over the place, on and off so many times, and she was mad at him a lot – you must've heard about how often he tried to tell her what to do, didn't support her, we all did, at least in what she implied – and he was on and off with his fiancée before, too. I don't think on-and-off is what you deserve."
"I think…" She trailed off for a second, trying to put into words the suspicions that had been forming for her ever since Dawson left so suddenly, and Matt's admission that he couldn't have stopped her, "I think he said so little and she said so much that we all sort of assumed things about their relationship. And I think he is the one who got most hurt in that. So maybe he deserves a lot of benefits of the doubt."
"Just be careful. He's a good guy, just…I don't want you to get hurt by him. Okay?"
"Okay." She didn't have the heart to admit that she was more worried she was going to hurt Matt than the other way around. She didn't really have a great 'track record' with engagements herself so she couldn't exactly judge Matt. And Gabby left him, and none of them knew what the cause of the break-up was, just that she decided to go to Puerto Rico and she decided to stay permanently and Matt stayed in Chicago. So to her way of thinking, Matt got hurt more than Gabby did in that whole mess. At least Gabby had made the decisions, Matt just got left behind.

She didn't have that many, or any, regrets about kissing the face off Matt Casey until she actually walked into the house the following shift. Not that her feelings about Matt changed, but she had to face him now, and that could be awkward. She'd sort of spilled her guts, and then she'd also sort of groped him, and she hoped that she'd not just been really drunk, the kissing really had gone well, otherwise it could be weird now. Would he act differently now? He'd always acted differently with Dawson, no one could ever miss how he felt about her, even when he was annoyed or hurt or angry it was obvious. But he said hello with a warm smile, no different than usual, and went about working on some paperwork while eating breakfast, and seemed completely not awkward at all. It was a busy shift, for all the vehicles, so there wasn't much time to talk, and she hadn't yet figured out how she wanted to affirm for him that even sober, she had no regrets about that 'we're dating now' declaration she'd made (well, how she'd made it, yes, regrets, but not the idea of it). So she was happy to leave it at he was being normal. Otis kept giving them both odd looks, as if he expected some major announcement, catastrophe, or something to spontaneously occur. She didn't realize she was being quiet in the ambo until Foster called her out on it late in the afternoon.

"What's up with you? You're too quiet, something happen since last shift?"
"You happened. Sort of." Sylvie admitted, then realized she'd have to explain. "You got me drunk at Molly's because I can never keep up with you."
"You didn't drive there, so what's wrong with ending up drunk at a bar?" Foster paused, a smile spreading across her face. "Did you pick up a guy at Molly's? That's good. Girl you need to get out there more."
"Oh, I got out there. And now I have to figure out how to talk to him about it, which, hey, I've basically jumped his bones so you'd think talking wouldn't be that hard, but he's…he's Matt, and he's-"
"Wait, Matt as in Matthew Casey, Captain Casey?" Foster practically shouted. "You're stressing over the fact that you finally hooked up with Casey?"

"We didn't 'hook up'." Sylvie defended. "He took me home, and I was drunk, and I may have…I kissed him, but he kissed me back, but then he said I was too drunk to make any decisions and I should let him know after next shift, this shift, if I still wanted to date him."
"So, do you?"
"Of course I do." Sylvie nearly rolled her eyes. "You and Kidd have both been practically shoving me at him for months. Then there's Olivia at spin class. Plus, he's Casey. He's a great guy and it's not like he's not attractive."
"So, just tell him you're interested."
"I don't want to just…I have to figure out what I want to say. Should I just say I meant it and let him ask me out, or do I just ask him out directly? If I ask him out, where do we go?"
"Ask him out. It's 2019. Just take him out. Not to Molly's."
"God, no. Someplace that isn't full of every firefighter either of us knows, for sure."
"What's his favorite place? Or do something he'd like, like…maybe hockey or something."
"I know that this band he likes is playing at the Aragon next week."
"Concerts are good." Foster encouraged. "Fun, public, but shows that you like some of the same stuff – though you guys have worked together for like five years, you already know each other."
"Exactly." That was part of her problem with figuring out what to do. "I've already gotten to know him, and he knows me, so most of the point of dating is already out of the way. I even know what kind of underwear he wears."
"How do you know what kind of underwear the captain wears if you didn't hook up?"
"Well, he did end up without his pants in my bed-"
"That is the definition of hooking up!"
"Sleeping. But no, I know because like I said months ago, it's complicated because I was his ex-wife's best friend. So how do I date him now? And what if Gabby comes back, even for a visit?"
"You can't put your life on hold for a random what if." Foster wrinkled her nose. "And Dawson left – you, him, everything. She had to know he wasn't going to be a priest or whatever."
"Well, no, but not with me."
"It's ancient history, like Kidd said. You like him. He likes you. Jump his bones already."
"We can't just skip to sex."
"Why not?" Foster asked. "You skipped the getting-to-know-you parts of dating, now it's time to see if the sex is good. You're good friends, if you add in good sex, you're pretty much straight into a serious relationship – just sprinkle in the occasional romantic dinner date or something."

"What if it isn't good?"
"The sex?"
"Then, we've ruined a great friendship, and one we can't escape because we work together."
"I've known Casey a little over a year. He doesn't strike me as the type for the sex not being good."
"How can you know that?"
"He's totally the controlled, calm, stoic guy during the day, freak between the sheets – bet he goes like a freight train." Foster paused. "Not that I've spent a lot of time imagining, just saying he's hot and a guy that hot knows his way around sex."

"Exactly. He could have lots of women. What if I'm not…his type."
"I don't think he has a type, except a kick-ass determined woman, and you're definitely that. Plus, I don't think even if it's awkward or something, he's gonna let it ruin a friendship. He has to be used to awkward."
"What do you mean?"
"He lives with Lieutenant Severide. Who is dating, now living with, Kidd, who works for Casey. Think about it. Kidd and him have to have run into each other in the kitchen or something on a lot of mornings after. If that hasn't made things awkward, one date with you will be fine. Plus, everyone knows he likes you."

"Fine. I'll just…ask him out. To the concert. But if it goes horribly awkward, I'm blaming you. You got me drunk and left me to end up going home with him." Sylvie announced, just as they pulled up to the address they had for the person in distress.

"I bring only the best things into your life." Foster responded with a laugh.