A/N: Happy Chicago Wednesday! Read and Review please! Love seeing your thoughts!

Sylvie shrieked when she heard the voice from the darkness of the living room.

"Holy hell, Casey. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

He stood from his spot in the chair in the corner, a frown on his face as he approached her.

"You're avoiding me." It was a statement, not a question.

She blushed, turning away from him. "Look could we not do this right now?" She asked, walking towards her bedroom. "I'm really tired from today."

He followed her. "When do you want to do this, Sylvie? You've been avoiding me all day, to the extent that you didn't even bother to tell me you weren't coming home."

She sighed, turning towards him. "Look, Matt. I just... I can't do this right now. I have so much more to worry about..."

"Then let me worry about it with you," he pleaded. "Sylvie, I want to be a part of your life, please let me."

Frowning, she closed her eyes briefly, exhaustion weighing heavy on her. "I'm just so tired of trying to have everything figured out," she began. "Matt, when you married Gabby, did you ever think it'd turn out like it did?"

"What? Of course not."

"Exactly. I thought the same thing when I was engaged... TWICE. You never expect a good relationship to go sour, but it happens all the time. I don't want that to happen with us."

"But this is different, we're having a baby-"

"Which makes it more important that we stay on good terms. And I think the best way for that to happen right now is to stay friends."

He stared at her, astonished. "How can you not even want to try?"

"I need all the support I can get through this pregnancy," she sniffed, tears filling her eyes, "I can't be worrying about our relationship, or whether or not you're going to be there when I need you."

He rubbed his hand across his forehead, "What do I have to do to make you see I'll always be there for you? I'll do anything," he begged.

"Just be my friend right now," she told him, turning to go to her room. He watched her walk away, confused and hurt. What was she so afraid of? Didn't she know him well enough to know he'd never hurt her? Or their baby? For the first time in many weeks, he slept in his bed alone, feeling like he'd lost a major part of himself.

The next morning she woke up, dressing in her work out gear, she headed out to the kitchen where Matt sat at the counter as usual.

"Morning," he said softly.

"Hey," she said politely, "I'm going to a new prenatal yoga class, don't want to be late. I'll get breakfast on the way," she said, hurrying out the door with a quick, "see ya."

He stared at the closed door. Was this what it was going to be like? Just catching glimpses of each other?

Staring sadly into his coffee mug, he wondered what he could do to prove himself to Sylvie. To prove his commitment to this relationship. If she wasn't pregnant, where would they be? Probably still a happy couple. But now her mind was full of doubt and uncertainty, and her solution to try and not get hurt was to push him away.

Standing up from the counter, he collected his papers, heading out to a job. Let his brain be consumed with measuring and cutting and framing for the day. Anything else but Sylvie. And yet, that's what stuck with him all day.

Sylvie avoided him like the plague in their apartment the next few days, always going out or going to her room when she was home. If she wanted to be friends, he certainly treated friends better than this. Their next day on shift, he caught her before she scurried out the door.

"Sylvie, I know you said you want me to be your friend, but you're not treating me like it."

Her shoulders sank, she turned to face him with a pained expression. "I just don't want to make this worse for you..."

He gently touched her shoulder and she stiffened, so he dropped his hand. Not that long ago she'd had an entirely different reaction to his touch. "I still want to be a part of your life. And I can respect friendship boundaries for as long as you see necessary," he said, adding the last part to get the point across that he did not want to be just friends long term.

She nodded slowly, turning for the door. He followed her saying, "I can still give you a ride, right?"

"I guess so."

She climbed in his truck, staring silently out the window for most of the trip. Finally he broke the silence.

"Did you hear Stella tore out a whole wall in their apartment yesterday?"

Sylvie turned, intrigued. "What? Why?"

"Kelly called me, freaking out. Apparently while he was gone for the day she took a sledge hammer to a wall to let more natural light in and make their room bigger. Guess she didn't think to clear it with him... or their landlord. Anyway, he wants me to fix it."

Sylvie chuckled, "oh boy, to be a fly on the wall of that conversation."

He smiled his handsome, charming smile at her and she sucked in a quick breath. Oh boy. How was she going to stay level headed? Casey continued talking about different projects he'd done to fix do it yourself mistakes, making her laugh the rest of the way to the firehouse. Maybe it wouldn't be that hard.

They went to their lockers to change, then headed for the briefing room. Everyone was talking, but when Sylvie walked in, they stopped, turning to stare at her.

Casey's brow furrowed, something was up. Looking around, he saw Stella moving towards them.

"Cat's our of the bag, Brett," she said, a look of sympathy on her face

"Yeah... my bad," Hermann said loudly, looking guilty.

"What?" What was happening, Sylvie was confused.

Severide piped in, "Hermann told Cindy who told Trudy who told Mouch and well now everyone knows."

"Knows about what?" Casey said slowly. How much in the know were they talking about?

"About Sylvie's bun in the oven," Foster said kindly, wrapping an arm around Brett. "We were all just discussing how Firehouse 51 will be here for anything you need." All around there were nods and murmurs in agreement.

"Thanks guys," she squeaked quietly as Chief Boden entered.

"Well, now that we all are up to speed on everybody else's business, let's try and keep this to our group for a bit to respect Sylvie's privacy, that means tell no one, and I mean no one," he looked pointedly at Hermann, who sunk lower in his seat.

After their meeting, Sylvie headed to check the Ambo with Foster. Casey was in the break room helping cook breakfast when he overheard Cruz talking to Hermann and Mouch.

"... I'm just saying, whoever this guy is, he's garbage. How could you leave a girl like Sylvie? She's literally the nicest person I've ever met. If I ever find this guy..."

"Maybe you don't know the whole story," Casey chimed in. His blood was boiling.

"Oh, c'mon, Casey. A girl like Sylvie? No way this guy is a good guy. Or he doesn't know about it. Either way, he obviously doesn't care about her."

Casey walked out of the room, not wanting them to see how angry he was. He did care. More than she wanted him too. This situation was spiraling out of control. He went into his office, sitting with his head between his hands. He heard a light knock on the door, and looked up to see Severide.

"Hey man. You okay?"

Casey sighed, "this isn't fair."

"I'm with you. But you gotta be patient. You guys belong together, she'll see it eventually."

"I hope so," Casey said.

But what if she didn't?

The weeks went by, Casey often found himself squinting at Sylvie's abdomen, trying to see if he could tell the difference. She still didn't look any more pregnant to him than she had when he found out about it. But Sylvie was noticing her pants were getting harder and harder to button, and her stomach was starting to grow. Not to the point that it was noticeable to anyone else, but enough to her. Plus, she knew it was on everyone's mind, especially Casey. She felt his gaze on her often, but she couldn't bear to look back because of the sadness she knew she'd see in his eyes. At home they spoke briefly, he asked questions about the baby or her day. But never about their relationship. He was trying to give her the space she wanted, but still let her know he wasn't going anywhere.

One evening in early fall, Firehouse 51 was called to a vehicle accident. An suv had run a red light, slamming into a tractor trailer that veered into the other lane, causing damage to multiple cars and injuring pedestrians. The suv was upside down in the intersection, leaking a fair amount of fluid. Flames flickered gently from the engine.

"Hermann, get that fire out and make sure the fluid doesn't light," Casey ordered, headed towards a parked car with two young women trapped inside. He directed Severide and Cruz to free the trapped women, while he assessed the tractor trailer.

Sylvie waited by the ambulance, parked closest to the suv. Curiously, she approached the vehicle, looking into the passenger compartment.

"Where's the driver?" She called out to Hermann by the engine.

"Must've ran!" He shouted, as he worked at putting something on the fluid to help soak it up.

Looking closer into the cab, she saw a white powder around the passenger seat. Leaning in closer, she was jolted by Casey's firm hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

"Don't touch it!" He said angrily. "Your suppose to stay with the ambulance."

She frowned at him, shrugging off his touch. "What is that? Cocaine?"

He sighed, "looks like it. You didn't touch it, did you?!"

"No, Casey! I'm not an idiot!" She huffed, walking away from him. He called it in to the police, who sent out a unit.

As they were wrapping up the scene clean up, Casey saw an suv with blue lights pull up, and Officer Adam Ruzek and Detective Hailey Upton got out. Thank goodness it wasn't Voight.

Casey met them and took them through what happened, along with the mysterious substance in the suv.

Hailey nodded, "Thanks, Casey, we'll take it from here." She headed to the car to collect the evidence.

"We're tracking a ring that's bringing drugs into Chicago across the state line," Adam explained. "This might be a good lead. Hailey was pulling at the dash of the flipped suv, which revealed more packs of drugs.

As Adam turned to walk away, Casey stopped him. "Hey, Adam, I'm really sorry about your baby." He said quietly. Ruzek's friend and coworker, Kim, has been pregnant with his baby, but had miscarried during a brutal attack a few months earlier.

Adam nodded. "Thanks, man."

"How's Kim?"

Adam shrugged. "Still putting on a brave face. But I see how red her eyes are all the time," he said honestly. He straightened up, a half smile on his face, "but I heard 51's got baby news. Joe and Sylvie both."

Casey nodded. "Yeah."

"Man, that's rough for Brett. Raising a kid alone. Good thing she's got you guys to back her," Adam stated.

Casey paused for a moment before admitting, "it's mine."

Adam stopped writing in his notebook, looking up. "What? What's yours?"

"Brett's baby... our baby."

Adam hid his shock well. "Oh. The rumor mill left out that detail."

"Well, no one knows. She doesn't want them to know." Casey looked up at Adam. Here was one person who might understand. "How do I support what she wants if it's not what I want?"

"Oh, man. I wish I had that figured out," Adam scoffed. "I'm still trying to figure out what Kim wants from me. I just want her to be happy. And right now she's not happy."

Casey glanced over to where Sylvie and Emily had returned to take the last few minor patients to Med. Her brow was creased in concern, her hands aiding to the injured.

Matt sighed. "I'd appreciate if you kept this information to yourself. I guess I have to do what she wants."

Adam clapped him on the back, "Copy. Hang in there, man."

Casey watched him walk away. If Adam still hasn't found closure, would he?