Hey everyone, I am sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Things have been really hectic and crazy lately and I have had Chicago Fire withdrawals since it wasn't on last week. In honor of tonight's new episode, here is the new chapter. Due to the COVID-19 going on in the world, I hope everyone stays safe and healthy. Feel free to leave reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

CHAPTER 8

After talking to her mom on the phone, Brett gathered herself and walked back down the same way she came. As she walked, she saw Casey's truck and then saw a man on top of the roof of a house. She quickly realized it was Casey and smiled. How did she not notice him before? She was preoccupied before with thoughts about Julie, Scott, and her parents. Brett quickly looked away, hoping that Casey hadn't noticed her looking at him but he did notice. He noticed that she stopped and looked at him but he didn't let her notice that he saw her. He needed to get something from his truck, so he climbed down the ladder and casually walked over to his truck where Brett was passing by.

"Hey, how did it go?" Casey asked.

"Oh, hey. Uh, it went ok I guess. Apparently they are moving to Chicago. Julie's husband's wants to be closer to his job, which is here in Chicago." Brett confided in Casey.

"How do you feel about that?" Casey asked.

"I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of questions that I need answered like what led her to end up being pregnant with me. Like, was it a random guy or a boyfriend or like did her parents support her when she was pregnant. You know, important things that I need to know. I wanna know if I'm Irish, Scottish, really just my heritage just in case I ever have kids of my own. I can tell them about my mom and dad's side of the family but I need to know for myself where Julie comes from." Brett tried to explain.

"I get it. I would want to know all of that too." Casey said.

"So if I said that I only want my questions that I have to be answered and afterwards cut ties with her, would that be horrible?" Brett asked.

Casey looked at Brett and chuckled.

"Brett, you are far from horrible. I think we both know the answer to that but I think you should distance yourself though and not get too attached to her. I'm not saying that you should completely cut Julie off, but I also don't want you to get attached to a woman who can abandon you all over again." Casey said.

Brett knew that Casey was concerned for her and the fact that he seemed a bit protective over her made her smile.

"I promise, I won't get attached." Brett promised.

Casey gave her a look.

"Just be careful." Casey replied.

"I will." Brett said.

They gave each other a hug and then Casey went back to work while Brett walked back home. After Brett got back to her apartment, she went into her bedroom and changed into some pajamas and went to bed. After taking a nap for several hours, Brett woke up and the image of Casey working on the roof of that house played through her mind. She replayed their conversation and decided it was best to distance herself from Julie but not too much, as she still needed answers and Julie was the only one who could give it to her. Brett looked in the fridge for something to cook but Cruz and Foster hadn't done the shopping, which irritated Brett. Every single week for the last month, Brett has done the shopping because Cruz is usually gone to Chloe's place and now that Foster had moved in with them, it was Foster's week to go grocery shopping but she hadn't. Brett decided to get dressed and go out to grab a bite to eat. After she got dressed, she grabbed her purse and keys and then headed out the door. Once she had gotten into her car, she headed to one of the restaurants that she frequently visits. After she arrived, she parked her car in the parking lot and headed inside the restaurant where the hostess sat her at a table.

"What can I get you to drink?" the waitress said as she came over to take Brett's order.

"Can I have a water?" Brett asked with a smile.

The waitress left to go get Brett her drink. As Brett looked at the menu, she felt someone sit across from her. She looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see the person sitting across from her.

"Mind if I join you?" Casey asked with a grin.

"Not at all." Brett grinned back.

"So, what's for dinner?" Casey joked.

"I don't know. I usually just get the honey bbq wings and ribs." Brett giggled.

The waitress came back with Brett's water and sat it on the table.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked.

"I'll have the honey BBQ wings and ribs with fries." Brett said.

The waitress took Brett's order and then turned to Casey.

"And what can I get you?" the waitress flirted.

"I'll have the same with a water as well." Casey said as he looked at Brett with a smile.

The waitress wrote down their orders and left to go place the orders in but not without giving Casey a flirtatious smile.

"Looks like you've caught the eye of someone." Brett noted.

Casey looked at her and grinned.

"I hope so." Casey winked at her.

He and Brett had been flirting with each other for weeks, even months, but neither of them knew how to tell the other one that they were interested given their history of relationships. They chatted about work and everything for a few minutes until the waitress brought out Casey's drink and placed it on the table with a smile. Casey didn't smile but nodded his head towards her, acknowledging her. She left to check on her other tables.

"Did Cruz tell you about the guest list for his wedding?" Brett asked.

"Uh, no. Why?" Casey asked.

"I accidentally overheard him talking to Chloe in the living room about it and they invited Antonio and Gabby." Brett said.

Casey was shocked. He wasn't expecting to hear that.

"You did? Did they say if Antonio and Gabby were coming?" Casey asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. They are supposed to be coming to the wedding and if they show up, I wanted you to know before you were ambushed by Gabby like last time." Brett said.

"Thanks for the warning." Casey chuckled.

"That leads me to my next question. Where does that leave us? I mean, we were supposed to go to the wedding together but if Gabby and Antonio are coming back,
where does that leave us?" Brett chuckled.

"We're still going together. I'm not about to let Gabby come back and try to work things out with me, especially given what she put me through. She chose to leave me and abandon our marriage and life together because she needed to do that for herself. I'm not about to go through that again. I'm keeping my word. I am going to be your date for Cruz's wedding." Casey smiled.

Brett smiled back and the waitress walked out with their honey BBQ wings.

"Here you go." the waitress said as she placed the plates of honey BBQ wings on the table.

Casey and Brett smiled at each other.

"Is there anything else that I can get you?" the waitress asked.

"Uh, not for me." Brett said.

"I'm good." Casey said.

The waitress gave another flirtatious smile to Casey before leaving the table.

"You know she's flirting with you." Brett implied.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Casey smirked.

Brett gave him a look.

"What?" Casey asked with a grin on his face.

"I didn't say anything." Brett giggled.

"Are you going to Molly's tonight?" Casey asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I feel so ragged and rundown. I just need a spa day where I can just get a dang massage." Brett chuckled.

Casey chuckled. Before he could reply, the waitress came by with their food and placed it on the table. She removed their empty plates that had the honey bbq wings on it and gave Casey another smile before leaving.

"I have an idea and I hope you don't take it the wrong way." Casey said.

"Ok." Brett said.

"Why don't I come over tonight and give you a massage. You don't have to get naked or anything like that, but why pay money to go get a massage when I can give you one for free?" Casey suggested.

Brett gave him a look.

"Fine with me but no funny business." Brett joked.

They chuckled and ate their meal while chatting. About halfway through their meal, they realized that they couldn't eat anymore and asked the waitress for a box. The waitress brought them each a box along with their receipt for their meal.

"It's on me." Casey smiled as he handed the waitress the money to pay for the meals.

The waitress left to get some change for Casey. After getting the change, she brought them each a bag for their boxes and gave Casey the remaining change. He gave her a ten dollar tip. As he and Brett were getting ready to head out the door, the waitress stopped Casey to ask him out, but he said that he was taken and would never cheat on his girlfriend. Brett was surprised but went along with Casey's story. The waitress smiled and headed back to one of her tables while he and Brett walked out the door.

"So, why don't I follow you to your place and we can hang out. We haven't really hung out lately." Casey said.

"You mean, outside of work?" Brett asked.

"Yeah." Casey chuckled.

They agreed and left separately in their cars to go to Brett's apartment. After they got to Brett's apartment and got inside, Brett noticed a note left on the fridge that Foster wrote.

"BRETT, GONE OUT FOR THE NIGHT. - FOSTER" Brett read the note out loud.

"Well, Cruz is at Chloe's and I guess Foster left you for the night." Casey joked.

"Yeah." Brett smiled.

"Well, I promised you a massaged." Casey joked nervously.

"I have a better idea. Why don't I give you one?" Brett said.

Casey was taken aback and a bit confused. Did he just hear her ask him if she could give him a massage instead of the other way around?

"You want to give me a massage?" Casey asked.

"I think you need it more than I do." Brett joked.

"You know, I can't even remember the last time I had one. Gabby never gave me one. She would rub my shoulders and neck but then start kissing me and well, I never actually got one." Casey chuckled.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that." Brett smiled.

They made their way to the couch and both were nervous. Casey and Brett sat on the couch and Casey turned his back to Brett so that she could have access to his back side. Brett started massaging Casey's neck, followed by his shoulders and then back. After about an hour, Brett stopped because her hands were cramping up.

"Wow. I have to say, that was the best massage that I have ever had." Casey said with a big grin on his face.

"What can I say? I've had practice." Brett joked.

Casey turned to look at her.

"Do I want to know?" Casey asked.

"Cruz. Did you forget that he and I dated for a few months?" Brett joked.

Casey chuckled.

"Oh yeah, that's right." Casey smirked.

Brett playfully smacked Casey and the next thing that they knew, they were both pillow fighting each other with the throw pillows on the couch. They were laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe.

"Can't...breathe..." Brett whispered.

They stopped and tried to stop laughing but the more they tried not to laugh, the more they laughed harder. After catching their breath and stopped laughing,
Casey pulled away and stood up to stretch. Brett stood up and walked to the kitchen.

"Do you want anything?" Brett asked as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.

"No, I'm good." Casey replied.

"So, I'm supposed to meet up with Julie tomorrow. She said she is going to try to answer my questions that I have." Brett said.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Casey questioned.

"It is, but I am so nervous. I mean, what if this doesn't work out? What if I ultimately get attached to Julie because she's my birth mother?" Brett asked.

"You and Julie will always have a bond. She's the one who gave birth to you. Nothing can take that away." Casey tried to reassure her.

"That's true." Brett sighed.

Casey walked over to Brett and pulled her into a hug. She loved his hugs. She loved being around him but her thoughts were on Gabby. What if Gabby comes back,
even for a short visit? Brett knew that she and Casey weren't together but they had been getting closer since Gabby left. Casey loved being around Brett. Gabby hurt him so bad but the thought of Gabby coming back just made him nervous. Will she try to get back with him? Will she have a new boyfriend? Casey didn't know but one thing is for certain, he didn't want to lose Brett and if he is being perfectly honest with himself, he can't lose Brett. Not after what she has been through, losing Otis and now dealing with her birth mom. If anything, Casey wanted to be more than friends with Brett but wasn't sure how to ask her out. At least they were going to the wedding together and decided to make it a date.