Hey everyone, here is the next chapter. I hope you all are enjoying this story and I hope you will all continue to leave reviews and feedback for me :) It may be a while before I post the next chapter as I have a lot of things going on, but I will post as soon as I can. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter :)

CHAPTER 14

After getting a shower and changing clothes at Severide's place, Casey went for a short drive. The scent of Brett's perfume filled his mind. It was only 10:30 a.m. and he still had a little bit of free time before going to Mr. Larson's house. Back at Brett's apartment, she had already taken a shower and gotten ready for the day. Foster was still gone and so she decided to leave and go get breakfast at one of the local restaurants. As she pulled into the restaurant's parking lot, she noticed Casey's truck in the parking lot. She found a parking spot a few ways down, parked the car, and then headed inside the restaurant. She sat down at one of the tables, not realizing that Casey was at the other end of the restaurant. As Casey's waitress brought him his food, he half smiled at her and then as he took a bite of food, he saw Brett across the restaurant looking at a menu. He decided to text her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? - CASEY." the text said.

Brett read the text and giggled. She sent one back.

"WHERE ARE YOU? - BRETT." the text said.

Casey read the text and chuckled.

"LOOK OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE. - CASEY." the text said.

She read the text message and looked over to the other side of the restaurant where she saw Casey sitting. She already knew he was over there but didn't wanna say anything. She got up from her table and walked over to where Casey was sitting.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with a sly grin.

"I was planning on grabbing a bite to eat before going to Mr. Larson's house." she joked.

He chuckled.

"Guess we both had the same idea." he said.

She smiled. She placed her order with the waitress and then talked with Casey for a bit. About twenty minutes later, the waitress brought Brett's pancakes out to her. She poured the syrup on her pancakes and started to eat. Casey was already halfway finished eating his breakfast. A few minutes later, both Brett and Casey paid for their food and then headed to Mr. Larson's house in their cars. Mr. Larson was eagerly awaiting their arrival and greeted them with a warm smile when they arrived.

"Sylvie! Matt! Thank you both for coming." Mr. Larson said with a warm greeting and smile.

"Anytime, Mr. Larson." Casey said.

They all stepped inside the house where Dusty immediately took to Brett.

"That cat has a bond with you." Mr. Larson noticed.

"I know." Brett softly said.

"Mr. Larson, I'm going to try and get the rest of the roof fixed today." Casey said.

"Thank you, Matt." Mr. Larson said.

"So, what can I do to help?" Brett asked.

"I've got some dishes that need to be washed, I'm washing laundry right now, and I need to sweep and mop the kitchen." Mr. Larson said.

"Don't you worry about that. I'll take care of it." Brett said with a smile.

Mr. Larson sat down on the couch in the living room and watched TV while Brett cleaned and Casey finished fixing the roof and other things upstairs. A few hours went by and Casey had finally finished the roof. He started repairing the walls and other things in the upstairs hallway while Brett had just finished the dishes and sweeping the floors. She checked on the laundry in the laundry room and then mopped the kitchen floor. While waiting for the floor to dry, she sat the mop up by the entrance of the kitchen and then sat down on the couch beside of Mr. Larson.

"Thank you, Sylvie." Mr. Larson smiled.

"No problem. Have you had anything to eat today?" Brett asked.

"Not yet. I was going to order some pizza." Mr. Larson said.

"What about dinner for tomorrow?" Brett asked.

"I guess I'll just order something." Mr. Larson answered.

"Do you have any groceries?" Brett asked.

"Uh, no. I haven't gotten around to doing that yet." Mr. Larson said.

"I'll tell you what. I'm gonna go get you some groceries. I'll let Matt know so that he can stay here with you until I get back." Brett said.

"Hey Matt!" Brett yelled.

Casey heard her and immediately stopped what he was doing to see what she wanted.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get some groceries for Mr. Larson. Can you stay here until I get back?" Brett asked.

"Yeah, no problem. I'm actually gonna take a break." Casey said as he walked down the stairs.

Mr. Larson gave Brett some money for groceries and she left. Casey sat down on the couch beside of Mr. Larson.

"So, the roof is finished. I'm working on the doors upstairs." Casey said.

"Thank you, Matt." Mr. Larson said.

"It's no trouble at all." Casey said.

Mr. Larson pulled out his wallet and gave Casey a $100 bill.

"I want you to have this and take that beautiful woman, Sylvie, out on a date." Mr. Larson insisted.

"I can't take your money." Casey said.

"Please, take it. Treat yourself and Sylvie to a nice dinner tonight on me." Mr. Larson insisted again.

Casey wasn't going to argue with Mr. Larson. Casey smiled and took the money and chuckled a bit. Mr. Larson started telling Casey stories about Gail, his wife that had passed away due to the fire in this house and Casey could see how much Mr. Larson really loved his wife. Casey had thought he felt that way with Gabby but when Gabby decided to leave with or without him, he knew that they just were headed on two different paths. There was also the fact that he knew that Gabby's mind was made up and no amount of begging and pleading would ever change her mind. Casey told Mr. Larson about Gabby, leaving out the fact that he and Gabby were once married and now divorced.

"So, she left you to go to Puerto Rico?" Mr. Larson questioned.

"Yeah. We had some major problems and although we tried to work through it, I don't think her heart was there. I wanted it to work out, but she needed time away and we chose to end it for good. Sylvie's gotten me through the hardest part of my ex leaving." Casey explained.

"You know, sometimes you find your soulmate after you go through your darkest time." Mr. Larson told Casey.

Casey took what Mr. Larson said to heart. Maybe Mr. Larson was right and that his soulmate was still out there somewhere. Could it be that it was Brett and he didn't know it? Could it be that it was Gabby but she needed time to figure out what she wanted? One thing was certain, Brett had always been there for him whenever he and Gabby would fight and she was the one who was there for him when Gabby abandoned him. Mr. Larson and Casey talked for a while until Brett came back with a car full of groceries. Casey helped her bring in the groceries and then then headed back upstairs to try and get as much as he could finished for the day.

"Here's your change." Brett smiled as she handed Mr. Larson the rest of the money.

Brett started to put the groceries away and after she was finished, she ordered pizza for Mr. Larson. Casey decided to stop for the evening as it was getting late and he and Brett had to work the next day. Thirty minutes later, the pizza arrived and Brett paid for it.

"Your pizza is here, Mr. Larson. Matt and I have to go because we have an early shift tomorrow." Brett kindly said.

"Oh, alright." Mr. Larson said as they stepped out the door.

"Don't be a stranger, Sylvie. Come back anytime. Matt, thank you so much for all of your help." Mr. Larson said.

"It's no trouble. I'll be back over sometime this week or next week to finish up what I can." Casey said.

"It's not a problem at all. I love to help." Brett said.

"You both be careful going home." Mr. Larson said.

They all said their goodbyes and Mr. Larson closed his door. Brett and Casey walked to their vehicles and Casey stopped Brett for a minute.

"Hey, you hungry?" Casey asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Brett asked.

"Why don't you go home and I'll follow you. We can ride together to save gas." he smiled.

"Alright. I'll meet you there." she smiled back.

They both got into their vehicles and drove to Brett's apartment. Several minutes later, both pulled into the parking lot of Brett's apartment. She parked her car, turned it off, grabbed her purse, and got into Casey's truck.

"So, before I pull out of this parking lot, what are you in the mood for?" Casey asked.

"I don't know." Brett said.

"Well, we could always order in." he chuckled.

"Works for me. Foster said she was gonna be out again." she said.

They got out of the truck and headed up to Brett's apartment.

"We can order pizza, Chinese..." Casey said as he closed the door behind him.

"Or...I can make us something." Brett said.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Let's see...I can make some tacos, hamburgers, hot dogs, or I can get two plates out and warm some chicken wings up in the microwave." she giggled.

"Whatever you want to do, works for me." he said.

She grabbed two plates and put some chicken wings on them. One at a time, she placed the plates in the microwave to warm up the food. After the first plate of food was finished, she placed it on the kitchen island in front of Casey and then placed the second plate of food in the microwave. When it was finished, she placed the plate on the kitchen island, grabbed two Sprites from the fridge, grabbed two forks, and then sat down beside of Casey. They talked about Mr. Larson, work, and other things. Brett and Casey were leaning on each other more and more but she had a feeling that things were only going to worse before they get better, considering the most recent events from Gabby's impromptu visit all the way to her birth mother's death.