Hey everyone, I am so sorry it's been a while since I've updated. I've had a lot going on and I was also dealing with writer's block. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please feel free to leave a review :) This chapter does have some things from the most recent episodes but with my own spin on it and I give NBC full credit for the storylines that I might use but with my own spin.

CHAPTER 25

Brett was at the apartment getting ready for her "date" with Greg Grainger, the hot lieutenant from Firehouse 40. She didn't consider it to be a date but she still wanted to look nice. She decided on a white halter top with a black sweater type jacket, a pair of skinny blue jeans, and a black pair of boots. She had on very little makeup, but just enough to make her eyes was surprised that Casey wasn't home but then again, she didn't know much about what he was doing these days. She grabbed her purse and coat, locked the door behind her, and then headed out to Molly's. It didn't take her long to get to Molly's. Stella was working the bar outside. She headed outside and looked around for Grainger but he wasn't there yet. Instead, she spotted Casey with Sydney. She just ignored the sight she saw and sat at the bar waiting for Grainger.

"Hey Stella, can I get a chardonnay?" Brett asked.

"Sure." Stella replied as she got Brett's drink order filled.

Stella came back with Brett's drink and started talking to her.

"I guess you saw Casey with that Sydney girl." Stella said.

"You know, it is what it is." Brett sulked.

"Hey Brett, your date's here." Stella said.

Brett looked up and gave Grainger a slight smile.

"Sorry I'm late. We had a call about ten minutes before shift change." Grainger said.

"Oh, no need to apologize." Brett said.

"Do you wanna grab a table or stay here?" Grainger said.

"Uh, stay here. I don't feel like getting up." Brett joked.

"Fair enough. Plus, neither of us have to get up to get a refill." Grainger joked.

They laughed and began talking about things they might have in common. Meanwhile at their table, Casey couldn't help but notice that Brett was on a date with Grainger and wanted nothing more than to leave but decided to try to enjoy his night with Sydney.

"What do you say we get out of here and go back to my place?" Sydney asked.

"Sounds like a good idea." Casey replied.

Casey and Sydney left Molly's and headed to Sydney's apartment. On the way there, they talked about who could out drink the other person. As they arrived at her apartment, Sydney tried her hardest to get Casey to come inside but realized that his mind was on Brett.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Casey said.

"It's because of Sylvie, isn't it?" Sydney asked.

"I'm sorry. I just...I have a lot to sort out. She and I have a complicated history that I can't explain." Casey said.

Sydney gave a slight chuckle and then smiled.

"Matt, it's ok. I understand. If she is the one who makes you happy, don't let her get away. Do me a favor. Keep my number just in case things don't work out. Alright?" Sydney smiled.

Casey smiled and then headed towards the apartment he shared with Brett. He pained him to see Brett moving on, especially after she told him that she needed some time, but as long as Brett was happy, then he was happy. He also understood that the reason they weren't together had to do with Gabby, but he was still oblivious as to the main reason Brett pushed him away. Back at Molly's, Grainger and Brett were having a decent conversation but Grainger could tell that something was off but couldn't make out what it was. He decided not to let it get to him. He and Brett were having a great night and things were going great.

"So, then what happened?" Grainger asked.

"Well, the poor guy felt so embarrassed that the girl didn't wanna go to the dance with him, so I volunteered to be his date. Next thing I know, all the girls who turned him down, wanted to dance with him. He was a sweet kid. I felt bad for him but I think it helped him feel a little bit more confident in himself." Brett said.

Grainger flashed his signature smile.

"You always go out of your way to help others, don't you?" Grainger said.

"What can I say? It's a habit." Brett admitted.

The conversation then turned a bit awkward when Grainger brought up Casey.

"I don't mean to overstep but what's the deal with Casey?" Grainger asked.

"What do you mean?" Brett asked.

"He seems a little overprotective of everyone at 51, including you." Grainger said.

Brett took a sigh and Stella overheard that part of the conversation.

"There's a reason for that." Stella interupted.

Grainger gave her a look and then noticed the little exchange of looks between Stella and Brett.

"Which is?" Grainger asked.

"Last year, we lost a member of 51. He was more than a member or friend. He was family to all of us. He was also my roommate and Casey took it hard when Otis died. He blamed himself for Otis dying and for me getting a broken arm. Casey blamed himself for what happened that day at the factory fire. I think that's why he's so overprotective of all of us. He had also just gotten divorced and had lost everything in a fire that was meant to kill both him and a reporter he was seeing and working with." Brett explained.

"And I'm not trying to eavesdrop or anything and I don't mean to interrupt, but Casey has been through a lot and just recently, Brett and Mackey were in an ambo accident that couldn't have killed them both. So yeah, Casey is our Captain and he's got a huge heart and wears his heart on his sleeves. Don't take it personally." Stella said.

Grainger took in what Brett and Stella said.

"So that's why he's giving that Gallo kid such a hard time?" Grainger said.

Stella and Brett gave him a look.

"We arrived on scene to help out and he was going off on Gallo." Grainger explained.

"Oh...yeah, well, he just doesn't want the same thing that happened to Otis to happen to Gallo." Brett said.

Grainger quickly regretted asking about Casey but couldn't help but notice the way Brett's face lit up when talking about Casey.
Grainger was hoping that both he and Brett could have something but he felt like there was something that was in the way but he couldn't put his finger on it. Still, he and Brett enjoyed the rest of their night at Molly's.

"Last call!" Stella yelled.

"Well, I guess that's our cue to leave." Grainger joked.

"Yeah but maybe we could do this again." Brett smiled.

Grainger smiled. That was something he hadn't expected Brett to say but it was something he was happy to hear. They left Molly's Patio and headed out the main door of Molly's.

"So, how about tomorrow night?" Grainger asked.

"Uh, let me check my schedule. I help Stella with Girls On Fire and I do a few other things, but um, sure. If not tomorrow, then definitely after shift the day after tomorrow." Brett said.

Grainger seemed a little disappointed that he might not be able to see Brett the next day but he didn't let it show. He gave her a smile and then he kissed her. She returned the kiss and then pulled away.

"I better get home. I'll talk to you later." Brett smiled as she rushed towards her car.

She got in and immediately took off. Grainger chuckled a bit, seeing that Brett was a little flustered. He brushed off her actions as just being nervous. After all, she did tell him that she just had her heart broken and needed to take things slowly. Grainger smiled and then headed home. Brett arrived home and notice Casey was there but Sydney's car wasn't. She was relieved but then knew she had to see Casey at some point. She headed inside the apartment and noticed that Casey's bedroom door was opened. She smiled to herself and then went into her bedroom. She grabbed her pajamas and then headed to the bathroom. She placed her clothes on the shelf that was right beside the bathtub and then grabbed a towel and washcloth from the cabinet. She turned the water on and then stepped in. Casey could hear the shower running and knew that Brett was home. He looked outside to see if Grainger came with her but didn't see Grainger's vehicle. He smiled and then casually strolled into the living room and sat on the couch. He waited patiently for her to come out of the bathroom. After a few minutes, he heard the water turn off and he immediately jumped up and headed into the kitchen. She came out of the bathroom, dressed in her pajamas, and carried her dirty clothes into her bedroom and placed them in the clothes basket to be washed. She came back into the living room and kitchen area and saw Casey standing in the kitchen, shirtless. Lucky for her, his back was to her so he couldn't see the slight smile that crossed her face. When he turned around, she hid the smile so that he wouldn't know that she was looking at him.

"Oh hey, I didn't see you there." Casey said as he saw Brett standing there.

Brett didn't say anything. Casey studied her face for a minute before she spoke.

"About yesterday, I just want to apologize. I wasn't mad at you. I was mad about something else and then hearing you and Sydney didn't help much, so I'm sorry." Brett apologized.

Casey walked over to her, standing as close to her as possible.

"I understand and I forgive you even though you don't need to apologize." Casey said.

They moved in closer to each other.

"I...I...I've missed you." Brett whispered.

"I've missed you too." Casey whispered back.

They still had this chemistry between the two of them that they couldn't shake no matter what.

"I, uh, I better get to bed. It's been a long day." Brett said nervously.

"Uh, yeah. Me too." Casey replied.

They smiled at each other and then headed into their bedrooms. As Brett closed the door to her bedroom, her heart felt so full but she wasn't sure if she was ready to talk about things with Casey. She thought about the kiss she shared with Grainger and then the kiss she had with Casey a while back, and while the kiss with Grainger was good, the one with Casey was amazing. She decided to let go of the stress and anger she had over Casey not giving her the answer to her question from the night they kissed. She knew that she couldn't be with Casey until Casey confessed his feelings for her. Casey was in his room, smiling to himself. That was the first time in weeks, that Brett has actually spoken to him. He was happy. His heart wanted Brett. His heart belonged to Brett. He had given it to her unknowingly after Gabby left, back when he and Brett started hanging out more. She was the best friend that he needed and didn't even realize. The next morning, Casey got up, only to find that Brett was already gone. He didn't realize that Brett was helping Stella with Girls On Fire. He texted Brett just to see if she would answer him.

"WOKE UP AND YOU WERE GONE." Casey texted.

"HELPING STELLA WITH GIRLS ON FIRE." Brett replied with a text.

Brett couldn't help but smile. Casey hadn't texted her in a while, but she was happy.

"BUSY TONIGHT?" Grainger asked in a text.

Brett was surprised to see that Grainger had texted her. She wasn't expecting it.

"NOT SURE YET." Brett replied.

"LET ME KNOW. WAS HOPING TO GET A DRINK AT MOLLY'S WITH YOU." Grainger texted.

"I'LL LET YOU KNOW." Brett texted.

"DINNER AT HOME TONIGHT?" Casey texted.

"I'VE MISSED THAT. ABSOLUTELY." Brett replied.

It's not that she didn't want to go out with Grainger, it's that her heart belonged to Casey. She missed spending time with Casey. He was her best friend, the one that she confided in when something was wrong, the one that she leaned on, and these last few weeks have been miserable for her. She did like Grainger but she needed this time with Casey. Even if neither of them talked,
she needed this time to be with him.

"Brett, what's Kylie's best time so far?" Stella asked.

"Uh, 2 minutes and 40 seconds." Brett said.

"Alright, guys. For me personally, I like to try to beat my previous time. So, Kylie had the best time last time we did this. I want you guys to try to beat your personal time. Even if it's by one second, it's still an improvement. Alright." Stella said.

"Yeah and you guys need to know that all of us had to train and practice so that we got better. It's not easy and even as a paramedic, I still find myself running, jogging, going to the gym to work out, doing whatever I can to stay in shape and to keep doing what I love. You're not always going to be perfect and that's alright. This is about you proving to yourself that you can do something that a man can do. As women, we are told that we can't do a man's job. Guess what? We can. When someone tells you that you can't do something, you do it." Brett said.

"Exactly. So I want two groups of four. Brett will take Group 2 and I'll take Group 1. There are two obstacle courses set up here. The team that has the best time altogether, won't have to help clean up. Losing team stays to help. Also, the team that you are on is the team that you stay with. Brett and I will rotate the teams out so that you get a sense of how the other person might do things. Alright?" Stella said.

All the girls shook their heads in agreement and then the teams were made. Kylie and three others were on a team that went with Brett, while the other four girls went with Stella. The girls were setting up to do drills out in the parking lot away from the firehouse so that they aren't in the way.

"Let's go!" Brett said as she blew her whistle.

Kylie went first and then each girl went until they had completed the course. As Brett timed each girl, Stella was on the other side doing the same with her group. The girls finished up and after everything, Stella and Brett looked at the overall times and declared that Group 1, which had Kylie and three other girls, were the winners. Stella's group helped Brett and Stella put everything up before they left. As they were leaving, Brett saw Engine 40 pull up. Grainger was on shift but Brett was off work.
Sometimes their schedules overlapped due to the fact that Grainger would sometimes pick up an extra shift.

"Sylvie!" Grainger yelled as he got out of the Engine 40 truck.

"Greg, what brings you by?" Brett asked with a half smile.

"Oh, uh, I picked up an extra shift and one of our hoses is messed up. I called around and was told that 51 had a spare one. So,
here I am." Grainger explained.

"Ah." Brett said.

"So, you busy tonight or do you wanna get drinks at Molly's?" Grainger asked.

"I'm waiting on an important phone call from a family member but how about tomorrow after shift?" Brett asked.

"Sounds great. I'm not trying to be nosey but what's so important about this phone call?" Grainger asked.

"It's a long story, maybe one that I'll tell you tomorrow but um, I'll see you later." Brett nervously said, walking away.

Grainger chuckled as Brett left and then he went inside and met with the Chief of 51 who was on duty that day while Boden was off work. Brett got inside her car and called Scott to check on him and Amelia and to see how they were doing. It had been a little while since they had spoken to each other. She just needed to hear a familiar voice.

"Hey Sylvie! How is everything?" Scott asked over the phone.

"Hey Scott. I'm doing good. I'm sorry I haven't called in a while. It's been crazy here ever since the pandemic started." Brett stated.

"I know that feeling. Things here have been busy as well. I have a ton of pictures of Amelia that I would love to send you, if that's alright." Scott asked.

"Yeah, of course it's alright! I love looking at pictures of her." Brett smiled to herself.

"I know we are in the middle of a pandemic, but do you think that you and Matt could come visit?" Scott asked.

That threw Brett for a loop.

"I would love that. I know one of the guys I work with is going on vacation soon and we just hired a new paramedic who just came from the academy, but I'll see what I can do. I would love to come see you guys for Easter, even if it's for a weekend." Brett smiled.

"That sounds great. Just let me know when you can take the time off and I'll schedule time off work for that week or weekend." Scott cheerfully said.

"Sounds great." Brett said.

Amelia started crying in the background.

"I have to go Sylvie, but don't be a stranger. It's always nice to hear from you." Scott said.

"I'll try to keep in touch more. I promise." Brett said.

They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Brett headed back to her apartment with a smile. She missed Scott and Amelia and couldn't wait until it was safe enough to go visit them. A few weeks had passed since Brett had talked to Scott. She was at Molly's with Grainger discussing a ski trip that he asked her to go on when she noticed that Casey seemed a bit down. Grainger seemed completely clueless about Brett's body language.

"So, my buddy said that we could stay at his cabin on the way up to the ski resort." Grainger said.

Brett was uncomfortable about staying the night with Grainger but did her best to hide it.

"How does that sound?" Grainger asked.

"Uh, yeah. Sounds great." Brett lied with a small smile.

Grainger's phone rang and he step out to take it. Casey then made the move to walk over to Brett. He had been having bad headaches ever since he took a bad fall a few weeks ago during a call. He had been putting off going to the doctor and Brett had been onto him about getting his head checked out ever since she overheard Casey and Gallo talking about his headaches.

"Hey, got a minute?" Casey asked.

"Uh, yeah. What's up?" Brett asked.

"So, I uh, I took your advice. I made a doctor's appointment to see if I did any more damage to my head. The only problem is it's on Friday morning after shift." Casey explained.

"I'm so glad to hear that." Brett smiled.

"I couldn't have done this without you pushing me and given the circumstances, I was wondering if you would like to go with me to my appointment...unless you have plans and then you don't have to go with me." Casey said.

"I did have plans but I can cancel them. This is more important. I wanna be there for you when you talk to the doctor." Brett eagerly said without giving a second thought to her plans with Grainger.

"Thanks, Sylvie. I'm gonna get out of here but I really appreciate you being there for me." Casey said with a small smile.

"Of course." Brett smiled.

Casey gave her another smile and then headed out the door after paying his tab. Grainger returned to the table where Brett was waiting and apologized for taking the phone call.

"I'm so sorry about that. That was my buddy that owns the cabin he said we could stay in. He was letting me know that he and his wife were going to the cabin tomorrow to get everything ready for us." Grainger said.

Brett didn't want to break Grainger's heart but she had to tell him.

"Listen, about this weekend..." Brett said before Grainger interrupted her.

"I know skiing isn't your thing but I think this will be fun for us." Grainger excitedly explained.

"That's not it." Brett said with a look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Grainger asked.

"My friend has been having terrible headaches lately and they want me to go with them Friday to the doctor. I know you had this whole trip planned for us but my friend could use some support right now." Brett explained.

"Oh, that's ok. I'll just let my buddy know that it's just gonna be me that will be going on this ski trip with the guys." Grainger said.

"Are you sure?" Brett asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Your friend needs you to be there for them. Just let me know how it goes if you can." Grainger said.

"I'll try. You know the whole HIPPA thing but I'll do my best." Brett replied.

"I understand." Grainger said.

Things were even more weird between them but Grainger couldn't tell. Brett just wanted to leave and focus on Casey. He had been staying at Severide's again even though he and Brett lived together. Casey always paid his share of the rent and bills but the pain he was feeling from seeing Brett date Grainger was almost unbearable. He pushed her away because he was scared. He didn't know how to answer her when she asked him about Gabby and then she had asked him for space and he happily gave it to her, but he missed her. He missed talking to her and sharing everything with her. She had been his rock for so long that he blew it the one time she asked him a simple question. Although he hadn't thought it was an easy answer at the time, he has since realized that the only answer to her question is "NO."

"If Gabby came back and asked you to leave with her, would you go?" Brett's question echoed in his mind.

He should have told her "NO" as soon as she asked the question. He realized that the answer to that question has always been "NO" but he was scared. He was scared that if he said "NO" at the time, Brett would think he was just saying that because that what she wanted to hear and if he had said "YES," she would think he still had feelings for Gabby. It was a situation that he would lose regardless. By giving Brett space, it gave him a chance to figure things out but the time he had figured out what he really wanted, Brett had moved on with Lieutenant Greg Grainger from Firehouse 40. It was a long night and Casey just wanted to get some sleep. He was so happy that Brett agreed to go with him to the doctor but he could also tell that something seemed off with her and he was curious to know what it was but wasn't going to push her to say anything. He laid in bed trying to sleep but his mind drifted to so many things. Back at Molly's, Brett was still feeling a bit uneasy around Grainger but did her best to not show him.

"Well, I better get home. I have a double shift I'm picking up before I leave for the ski trip." Grainger said as he stood up from his seat and gave her a quick kiss.

Grainger left and Stella could tell that Brett looked relieved. Stella walked over to see how Brett was doing. It was gonna be a long night and long weekend ahead of her.