The Morning After
Kelly Severide had lost count of how many showers he'd taken since shift started the day before. It didn't seem to matter, he could still smell the smoke from all yesterday and all last night. He was tempted to take another shower since he was home, but he was too tired, he dropped his bag by the door, zombie-walked to his bedroom, crawled under the top sheet and closed his eyes.
The morning after the 4th of July was a lot like the morning after Halloween or New Year's Eve. In any case, you woke up and went outside and the whole city looked like it had a hangover, remnants of the night before were strewn all over the street, the silence of the morning sharply contrasting with the noise of all the night before. They'd been out all night responding to one yard fire to another to a house fire to burn victims, and all he wanted to do was see the inside of his eyelids for a few hours before facing what was left of the day.
The next thing Kelly knew, he opened his eyes and realized he had a guest.
"Get out of my bed," he weakly told Matt Casey, who had suddenly crawled in on the other side.
"Make me," Casey replied just as weakly, clutching the sheet against him like he was holding his ground. The room was still brightly lit but the sun had changed positions, meaning Kelly had to have been asleep for at least a couple hours, but it still wasn't enough.
Kelly turned on his side and sighed, "You have a nightmare?"
Casey absently inched over closer to Kelly, until he was actually able to rest his head on the other man's shoulder.
"I like the 4th of July," Matt told him.
"So do I," Kelly replied.
"I like the fireworks."
"No argument there."
"I'd like them even more if they were actually legal," Casey added.
"Uh huh," Kelly nodded.
"But for the life of me," Casey told him, "I can't figure out why no matter what happens from one year to the next, people can't figure out that alcohol and explosives do not mix."
"That'd just make our job too simple," Kelly said sarcastically.
He quickly grew quiet when he felt Casey's fingernails digging into the skin between his ribs. He wouldn't look at Casey, he just turned his eyes up towards the ceiling. "Still thinking about that kid last night?"
Casey was quiet for a minute before he said only, "Kids are the worst."
Kelly inhaled, then sighed, "No argument."
"I don't envy anybody working in the ER at this time of the year," Casey said.
Kelly shook his head, "Nope."
There was silence between them for a moment, Casey didn't loosen his grip any. Finally he asked Kelly, "Can I stay?"
Kelly sighed and nodded, "Okay, sure."
"Thanks."
Casey inched his way back over to the other side of the bed. Kelly grabbed the top sheet and straightened it out over the both of them.
"Goodnight."
He felt Casey hit him on the shoulder, he opened his eyes and saw Casey gesturing with his other hand, "Goodnight?"
"You know what I mean," Kelly said.
Matt nodded. "Goodnight, Kelly."