WILDFIRE

Chapter One

"This is fucking strange." Matthew Casey stood in the middle of the apartment, his eyes casing the room. It wasn't a small place by any means, but it wasn't a large one, either. It had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The front door opened into the living room. To the right of the living room was a decent-sized dining room, and behind that, a lovely, large open kitchen, which had been the only thing he insisted on when getting a place. He needed a lot of room when he cooked and a great deal of counter space. The apartment had come with both and even a garage space down below. It was only the second one he'd seen, and after one quick look, he'd known it was the one. The last thing Matt wanted was to be picky about where he moved. Now was the time for low-key, easy and convenient.

It was Matt's new motto. Or at least he wanted it to be. Still, it was fucking strange to be standing in the first and only place that he'd gotten for himself and by himself. He'd never even lived alone until the divorce, and then Hallie had moved out, leaving him in the house they'd picked together. Scratch that, the place Hallie had decided after months of searching. He'd been done with looking after about a week and had just gone with what she wanted. Matt groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. He really fucking needed to stop thinking about his ex-wife in context to everything he did. It was an adjustment to only think of himself and what he wanted. His whole adult life had been about the two of them. He and Hallie had started dating when they were seventeen years old. It didn't take him long to realize he was in love with her. It didn't matter that they were young; Matt had known what he felt, and he wasn't the kind of man to run from that. When you loved someone, you did what it took to make it work, and they had. Except things took a nosedive over the years. He had worked extra jobs to get her through medical school- firefighting, doing construction jobs on the side, and the odd shifts in a restaurant kitchen- all the help to get them by to focus on her studies. Hell, he had even given up firefighting at her behest because she thought it was too dangerous. But that wasn't enough- and one day, she came home with divorce papers. She had had an affair.

Why was he even thinking about his ex-wife?

And now he was here staring at a space that was solely his.

Matt walked into the kitchen, going through the cabinets and mentally figuring things out as though they'd changed since he signed the lease a few days ago. Hell, he probably wouldn't be spending too much time here anyway. Not with the hours he kept at his construction job, the food truck and the restaurant. Deciding his kitchen hadn't magically rearranged itself since he last saw it, Matt went to the sliding glass door, unlocked and opened it. The only downfall in the new place was the fact that he shared a communal balcony with whoever loved next door. Yeah, technically, they could divide it into halves, but really, they shared it. It was nice regardless, they had a good view out, and then he got carried away will all the things he could do to improve the outdoor space.

Knock, knock, knock. Matt turned just as the front door opened. "Matt? It's Momma Jean."

"Fuck," he groaned. He should have known she'd stop by. If she had it her way, he would have moved in with her and Rod after the divorce. Jean and Rod had come into Matt's fucked up life through serendipity. It was actually just after he graduated from the academy, and it was one of his first house fires- which happened to be Jean and Rods- and him being young and baby faced immediately attracted the motherly instincts in Jean. He hit it off with the couple, and they virtually adopted him by sheer will. They became the parents he never had, and at times (though he felt guilty), he wished that they were the parents he had growing up with his Dad dead and mother in jail for manslaughter. Who wouldn't? And he became the son they never had. It took him a while to feel completely comfortable, but he and his 'sisters' never miss a beat after ten years.

"Back here, Mom." She was a small woman with curly brown hair and dark green eyes. When she crossed the threshold out to the balcony, he asked. "What do you think?"

"It's a nice place. I like it." She smiled at him, but he could tell she wasn't fond of his new home. He was the only son. It was Matt and three sisters, and as ridiculous as it was, she very much believed nothing or no one is good enough for him. It was something even now that he struggled to deal with. Everything felt surreal somehow- the protectiveness of a parent to their child- it was foreign. She'd never liked Hallie. "I still don't know why you insisted on rushing to get a place. I'm in that house all by myself. I would love to have you back home. Plus, it would have given you time to build a bigger nest egg." A small stab of guilt hit him. It was almost a reflex to tell her he'd stay there, but then, he'd promised himself to make this time about him, and he needed to do that; besides, he didn't want to be a thirty-year-old man who still lived at home. He knew part of it was the fact that she didn't want to be alone. When his sisters moved out, she had Matt temporarily and Rod. Now, she had no one. "You know you don't have to keep the House, Mom. It's a lot of space for you alone. Carrie already told you she and Eric would love to have you at their place." Carrie was the oldest.

She waved him off and shook her head. "I raised my kids in that house. I'm not leaving it until I die, and when I do, my kids will get it. Considering I'm fit as a fiddle, it'll be a while before anyone drags me out of my home."

He chuckled. She was a strong woman; he had to give her that. And the thought of losing the home made Matt's gut ache as well. "Sorry, bad suggestion."

"Thank you. And I still think you should come home. Who's going to take care of you?" Matt tried not to roll his eyes. The family was old fashioned, and Jean the worst of them all. "I'm a grown man. I can take care of myself."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it. You work a lot. You'll have the house to take care of. I can help out. The girls don't need me much. I can help you decorate, too. The shape of the living room is awkward. You'll have to put your couch there on the far wall for the layout to be smooth." She pointed toward a wall, and Matt had to bite his tongue. She meant well, there wasn't a doubt in his mind about that, but that didn't mean she was easy to handle.

"I'll be fine, Mom. I can figure it all out. It's good for me. I went straight from living at home to getting a place with Hallie. It'll be good to live by myself." He could tell she bit her tongue; only it didn't work to keep her quiet. "And look what she did to you! It wasn't as though she was very good at being a wife, anyway." That had been a big topic of conflict for them. She always had something to say about Hallie because Hallie didn't do for Matt the things she'd done for his Dad. That wasn't what he wanted, though. He liked that Hallie was strong; he just wished she hadn't also thought it was okay to fuck other people.

"Let's not do this, okay? Want to check out the rest of the place with me?" Matt nodded toward the hallway, slipped his arm around his mom and led her through the rest of his new home. Things were going to be different now. His whole life had changed, but maybe this fresh start would be good for him. And this time, he vowed to have a whole hell of a lot more fun than he'd had the past few years.

"Dude, you share a balcony with your neighbour?"

Kelly Severide shook his head at his half brother- who he recently discovered six months ago- from his Dad's second wife. His Dad, Benny, was currently up to his fourth wife.

"Your skills of deduction are simply astounding," Kelly stated drily.

"But come on, you can't seriously be happy sharing a balcony with some random person?" Jack sounded scandalized at the notion of having to share with a neighbour.

"No shit Sherlock. I realized that."

"But-"

"For fuck sake, shut up! Yes, I share the damn balcony, but I don't think I'll be using it that much. Look, Shay wanted more space with her girlfriend, so I offered to move. The price was good, there are only three other apartments in the building, and I get a small garage underneath. Really it was like hitting the lottery. Plus, you do realize aside from the balcony, there is a wall that divides us." Jack just rolled his eyes, and then a sly grin pulled at his lips.

"Don't put your bed against the wall." And Jack proceeded to waggle his eyebrows. Kelly just snorted out a laugh.

"How your wife puts up with your ridiculous arse, I will never know."

"That's cause I make her moan my name every night", Jack winked at him.

"I'm going to tell Maree that, and she's going to kick your arse, and you won't get laid for a month." Jack just groaned at the thought of lack of sex for a month. Jack was married, and well, Kelly was happy fucking his way through life. In his free time- when he had some- he worked on motorcycles- it was a newfound love. Something he could just tinker with whenever he felt the need without going anywhere. While he loved working on boats, it just wasn't something that happened with enough regularity. His mom, whom he had a tentative relationship with, would love nothing more than for him the settle down and have grandbabies- like that was going to happen. He enjoyed his lifestyle too much to want to settle down. He was able to get his dick sucked when he wanted, but he also had his freedom. That wasn't such a bad gig to him.

He did have a girlfriend- Renee- and honestly, they were both fucked in the head to think that they ever belonged together. She had had an affair rather than just tell him things weren't working, since then, Kelly has just been having fun, working his way through the Chicago female population. He also hadn't worked up the balls to tell them that he and Renee had ended things. Which meant more lectures about settling down and taking life a little more seriously. Which was just fucked, really. He was a firefighter. He took things plenty seriously! He was only thirty-two; he wasn't over the hill yet.

Then there was Leslie Shay, best friend- too bad she was a lesbian. He loved her with all his heart, and if there were a way for them to be together, he would jump in with both feet. But that wouldn't be happening.

Especially since things had been tense since his accident- which he hadn't informed Chief Boden about, firefighting was his last thread. The only thing in his life that made sense. Where he felt calm and in control.

"Are you finally going to let your mom know that you aren't together with Renee anymore?"

"Ahh, do I have to?" he knew he sounded petulant, but he didn't care.

"You are going to have to do it sometime. It's only going to be worse because your lame ass kept putting it off for months." He just growled in frustration.

"I'm gonna hit the town tonight. If I'm ever going to meet the right one, I need to get out there and play the field."

Jack gave him a look that he roughly interpreted as you are such a moron. How do I know you? "You, my dear brother, as much as you have kudos for being a first responder, you are going to meet someone who will knock you on your arse. You'll fall in love without knowing it, and then it will be too late."

Yeah…..somehow, he didn't see that happening. He had too much baggage as it was that no one in their right mind would want to deal with and, he lived a dangerous job- he could die at any moment. All he wanted to do was grab life by the balls and live while he could, as there may not be a tomorrow.