Hello! Thank you all for the feedback on the last chapter, I really appreciate it!

This is definitely the shortest amount of time in between updates for me, but what can I say? I was inspired. Hopefully you all like this chapter, can't wait to hear what you think!

Chapter Ten

"What are you doing here?"

Raising his eyebrows in amusement, Kelly scoffed. "Well hello to you, too." He spoke sarcastically, walking past Matt into the apartment.

"Sure, come in." Matt muttered under his breath, Kelly turning around to face him with a smug look covering his face.

"I thought this time off was to make you less of a dick." Kelly mused, before the air around them suddenly turned serious. "But really, how are you doing?"

Matt's eyes flickered towards the open bedroom door across the apartment, knowing that Gabby would be able to hear anything the two said.

"I'm doing better." Based on the look he was receiving, Matt knew Kelly didn't fully believe him. "Really Sev, I'm okay. This time off has given me some perspective."

"It's been like, 16 hours… What could you have possibly figured out in that time?"

Matt shrugged, not really knowing how else to respond.

"So what did you decide to do?" Matt raised his eyebrows, Kelly elaborating. "About going?"

"I'm not." He said simply, being met by a shocked expression from his friend.

"Really? Now that actually is a surprise." Matt remained neutral in his expression before responding.

"Yeah, well, I decided it was best."

Kelly watched Matt intently, trying to get a read of his behavior. He was acting strange, like he was in a rush. His friend clearly wasn't in the mood for small talk, Kelly just didn't know why.

"Have you heard anything else from Antonio?"

"Uh-" Matt's eyes flickered to the bedroom again, Kelly taking notice.

"That's like the third time you've looked back there, what's going on?" Severide asked impatiently, glancing back towards the bedroom door as he spoke.

Blowing out a deep breath, Matt's hands came up, running over his face.

"I need you to go, Kelly." His voice had dropped significantly, to barely above a whisper. But the tone of his words showed that he was completely serious.

Severide's eyes furrowed in confusion, "What's going on, Casey?" He asked again, earning no response. "Is it Gabby? Is she alright?"

"...She's here, Sev."

Kelly felt as if the wind got knocked out of him, the man taking another look back towards the bedroom, where he assumed her to be.

"What- how did she? When-" He was stumbling over his words, lowering his voice to match Casey's.

"She showed up here last night."

"How'd she get here?" Kelly's brain finally seemed to be able to form actual sentences, but the shock had yet to leave his system.

"It's a long story." Matt breathed out after a beat of silence. He didn't want to get into the whole thing right now, and he didn't want to say anything with talking to Gabby first. Understanding Kelly wouldn't be getting any answers to that question right now, he moved on to a question he knew Matt would answer.

"Is she okay?" Severide asked hesitantly.

"She's alright, she's...she's here. We're gonna get through it." Matt spoke confidently, Kelly nodding. It wasn't the most reassuring of answers, but it was better than the alternative.

"Okay man. I'm gonna go, but if either of you need anything..." He offered, walking back towards the door.

"I know, thanks Kelly."

The two friends said their goodbyes, Severide slipping out of the door quietly, Matt locking it back up before heading towards the bedroom. When he got to the doorway, he saw Gabby sitting in the same position she had been when he left her, but her attention was focused on something else. He followed her line of sight, seeing her staring blankly at the open luggage sitting on the bench at the end of the bed. He'd moved it there, last night before bringing her to bed, and he guessed she hadn't seen it until now. Bracing himself for the line of questions he was sure to receive, he made his presence known.

"Gabby…" He called softly, grimacing when she jumped slightly before turning to face him. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She waved him off, her gaze flickering back towards the suitcase before turning to face Matt. "So, uh, Kelly was here?" He heard the hesitation in her voice, as he moved to sit beside her again.

"Yeah he was." He eyed her for a moment, before continuing. "I told him you were here. He's been worried about you." Matt hoped those words would put her at ease, at least slightly, but they seemed to only have the opposite effect.

"He knows what happened?" She asked quietly, a nervousness filling her voice.

"I think all he knows is that we were trying to find you." He replied, Gabby giving a slight nod. "But no one else knows, aside from your brother's team." He assumed that would be her next question, so he offered the information before she had to ask.

"No one from 51 knows?" She was looking for confirmation, which Matt instantly gave her.

"They don't know." He offered, Gabby slowly nodding. He wasn't sure the reasoning, but he could tell she didn't want them knowing what had happened. Maybe one day, he'd press to find out why, but that wasn't at the top of his priorities at the moment.

"So what's the suitcase for?" Gabby asked, expertly changing the subject. Matt knew what she was doing, but he didn't push her on it. "Are you, uh, going somewhere?"

Releasing a sigh, he spoke "No, not anymore." She furrowed her eyebrows, confused by the soft smile resting on his lips.

"Is it because I'm here? ...You don't have to stop your life, Matt."

"Well, it is because you're here, that I'm not going anymore. But it's cause- I was about to go to Puerto Rico." He spoke sheepishly, seeing the shock fall over her features.

"...Why?"

He scoffed lightly at the question, "Why? Because we had no idea where you were, Gabby. I was freaking out, being here while Antonio was there. He wasn't getting anywhere, and all I've been able to focus on lately is where you are, and if you were safe." Guilt floods her body at his words, knowing she caused them all so much unnecessary worry.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, Matt shaking his head. He reached for her hand, holding it tightly within his grasp.

"I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad, I'm telling you this so you get it. I was going crazy being here and not being able to help you. So after Boden told me to leave shift yesterday-" He felt her tense beside her, her eyes moving down towards his bandaged arm. "Not because of that, because I've been so distracted with everything. But when I got home yesterday, I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't sit here any longer and not be helping. So I started packing my stuff." She nodded softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Why didn't you go with Antonio in the first place?" Her voice was timid, like she was afraid of the answer. And that was exactly what Matt was worried about. Reaching for her chin, he forced her to look at him before responding.

"I tried, Antonio wouldn't let me." He spoke, confusion written across her face. "He told me it would be better to stay here, that if I got there and started going off on my own, it wouldn't help." Matt explained to her. "He didn't want to have to worry about me breaking the law, when his focus should only be on finding you. Which I can't blame him for that, but I was pissed off. I didn't see how my being here was doing anything to help, and he wasn't able to find anything. So I decided I wasn't just gonna sit here anymore... Granted, I guess I do owe him an apology now."

"For what?"

He smiled softly, "because if I had been there with them, I wouldn't have been here when you came." Her smile matched his, heat rising to her cheeks as his eyes were on her.

"So, uh, how about something to eat?" Matt offered, dropping their eye contact.

"Sounds good, is it okay if I take a shower real quick?" He nodded, standing up and walking towards the dresser, both of them instantly missing the warmth of their conjoined hands when they separated.

He pulled out a pair of his sweatpants and an old t-shirt, looking at her with a reddened smile. "These okay?" She gave him a soft nod, Matt walking the clothes back over to her.

"I'm gonna go get started on breakfast." He told her, before slipping through the doorway, pulling the door shut behind him.

Matt and Gabby sat at the table, both of them picking at what was left of their takeout as they waited for Antonio's arrival. His plane was scheduled to arrive soon and they both knew he'd be here as soon as humanly possible, but Gabby couldn't help but feel anxious waiting for him. She was beyond excited to see her brother, but she was worried. She still felt awful for not reaching out to them, no matter how many times Matt had said it was fine, the guilt was still eating at her. All she could hope was that Antonio wouldn't be too mad.

Gabby's first day back had been relatively uneventful, both her and Matt tiptoeing around any real conversation. After their long talk this morning, he didn't want to wear her out. So once she emerged from the room in his clothes, they began eating their breakfast, even though it was nearly lunch time, the two keeping to surface-level topics of conversation.

Once they finished their meal, Gabby offered to clean up while he showered, and then he, stubbornly, agreed to letting her redress his burn, even though he swore he could do it himself. While it could've been a lot worse, the burn was still pretty nasty, and Gabby definitely knew there'd be a few scars left behind.

The afternoon wore on rather quickly, the two of them passing the time by watching a taped hockey game from last night. While Gabby wasn't exactly invested in it, she knew Matt loved watching them, and the action was comforting. It reminded her of how they used to be, sitting on the couch, either curled up together, or her with a book in her hand and her feet in his lap. But this time, there was no cuddling, just the two of them sitting a few inches apart, their eyes focused on the screen in front of them. Once the game was over was when Matt had ordered their food, and now here they sat, waiting for Antonio in an oddly comfortable silence.

The silence was disrupted by Matt's phone ringing on the table. It was either the fourth or fifth time it had rang today, and while Gabby had a feeling about who was constantly trying to reach him, the feeling was confirmed when she saw the name flashing over the screen.

Naomi.

Matt quickly ended the call, pulling his phone off the table and sliding it into his pocket. Glancing up to Gabby, her saw her eyes planted to the table, her gaze resting where his phone had just been. He knew she saw who'd been calling, and he knew that was one of the many conversations they needed to have, he just wasn't sure if now was the time to do it.

"If you need to go, I'm fine waiting here for Antonio." She offered quietly. No matter how sharp the stabbing pain in her chest felt, she didn't want to keep him from his life. She'd turned his life upside down enough, she didn't want to do anymore damage.

"I don't have anywhere to be."

"I don't think she knows that." Gabby muttered bitterly, the comment coming out before she could stop it. But even after it slipped, she didn't find herself regretting saying it.

Apparently now was going to be the time for this conversation. Blowing out a sigh, Matt pushed his chair back from the table, angling it so he was directly facing Gabby, who was looking at him with confusion written into her face, mixed with a slight glare.

"I owe you an explanation." He started, but Gabby immediately shook her head.

"You really don't, Matt." She pushed her chair back to get up, but he stopped her, grabbing her forearm, keeping her planted in her seat.

"Yes, I do." He spoke firmly. They both knew this was something that needed to be discussed, he needed to explain himself, no matter how much she didn't want to hear it. He wasn't gonna let her run away from this. Them ignoring their problems had caused so many issues in the past, he wasn't gonna continue that same pattern.

Realizing she wasn't gonna get out of this, she crossed her arms over her chest, a sign that he could continue.

"Naomi, the woman you spoke to on the phone, she's-"

"Your girlfriend, I know."

Matt sighed, giving her a pointed stare. He knew what she was doing. He'd hurt her, he knew he had, and instead of wanting to deal with it, she wanted to ignore it, deflect from it. But they'd get nowhere fast if she continued to act like this.

"Gabby, don't do that." He pleaded, seeing the pain settling in her eyes. "She's not my girlfriend, she never was. Just let me explain, please?"

Biting her lower lip, she nodded. She knew was being immature, and she had no right to act like this, but it hurt. Him moving on from her so easily hurt more than she'd ever admit.

"I met her during a case, she came to the firehouse for help. She's a reporter, and was looking into this company, something to do with knowingly producing faulty products. But that's not really important. We went to dinner a few times, and well, you know that she's been here." He watched as Gabby's eyes fell closed, and he could tell she was trying to keep her emotions in. He hated seeing her so upset, knowing he caused it, but they'd never be able to move past this if she didn't know the whole story.

"But our relationship was never serious, it would've never become anything close to serious. I never wanted anything like that with her. It was something uncomplicated, something easy." He told her, watching her closely. "And I was lonely." Her eyes snapped open again, finding him looking at her. "I'm not proud of it, but she paid attention to me, and I don't know...it made me feel better." His voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke, Gabby doing her best to keep her breathing steady.

"But it was never an actual relationship, I just wanted a distraction." He admitted, watching her for a second before continuing. "And I need you to know nothing happened between us before the divorce was final." He saw her shift uncomfortably in her seat, and he wasn't sure if it was him admitting to sleeping with someone else, or because he mentioned their divorce. If he were to guess, he'd assume it was a little of both.

He wasn't sure what else to say, and he couldn't read where her head was at. She had given him next to nothing, he wanted to know what she was thinking.

"I'm not sure why she keeps calling me, I haven't been contacting her."

"You don't owe me an explanation, Matt." She spoke, her voice lacking emotion, Gabby refusing to meet his eyes.

"Yes I do." He spoke with a sigh. "You're still my-" he cut himself off, knowing he couldn't say what he wanted to say. Because it wasn't true. He saw her tense at his words, so he changed the direction of his conversation. "I know I didn't technically cheat on you, but it feels like I did. I know I hurt you," A tear escaped down her cheek as she looked off to the side, eagerly wiping it away, "and I'm so sorry for that, Gabby."

"It's fine, Matt." Her voice was shaky, Matt drawing in a deep breath. She was deflecting, again.

"It's not fine Gabby. It's clearly not, and it shouldn't be. But you won't even look at me." Her eyes found his, a glare resting on her face.

"What do you want me to say?" Her anger broke through her desire to keep her emotions in. While he didn't want her pissed at him, at least it was progress from where they'd been five minutes ago. "That I'm totally fine with all this?" She didn't give him time to answer her rhetorical question. "That I don't care that you brought some other woman back here and fucked her in our bed?" He grimaced at the words she used, even though they were true. But hearing them come from her somehow made him feel worse than he already did. "Well there you go, Matt. I'm totally fine with it." She spoke sarcastically, Matt sighing.

"It was a mistake, Gabby. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I did and I can't take it back." He shot back. "And it's not exactly like you were here." He spoke bitterly, regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth.

"You're right, I wasn't here." She spat back, "that's why I can't be mad. I have no right to be mad at you for this." Her resolve was wearing thin as the words continued to spill from her lips. "You didn't do anything wrong, you had every right to do whatever you wanted to do."

"But I shouldn't have done that." He told her, Gabby biting her bottom lip roughly. "You can be mad at me, Gabby. I'm mad at myself. Maybe I did have every right to move on, but I never should have done it here."

Finding his gaze again, Gabby saw the regret hiding in his eyes. "You'll never know how sorry I am. But whatever Naomi and I were, it's over." He assured her, Gabby inhaling deeply before giving him a slow nod of acceptance.

"I'm not expecting you to forgive me right away, I just need you to know how much I regret it." He was surprised when she reached for his hand, but he gave it willingly, a goofy grin falling onto his face as she laced her fingers within his.

"I wasn't lying when I said I'm not mad at you. I'm hurt, yeah, but I'm not mad." She did her best to verbalize her feelings, knowing she'd been less than stellar at it in the past, especially in recent memory. "But I don't blame you, Matt."

Matt's phone dinging pulled them from their conversation, him pulling away from her grasp to see who it was.

"But you might want to tell her that it's over, because the next time she calls I'll pick it up and let her know myself." Gabby joked, Matt chuckling with a raised eyebrow as he opened the message.

"Now that I might like to see." He teased her, Gabby rolling her eyes with a smile. He knew she was probably only half-kidding, but he was glad to see her sense of humor hadn't changed. "But nothing to worry about, it's just Kelly."

"Just Kelly, huh? That might give me more to worry about." She teased back, Matt chuckling as smiles covered both of their faces.

Matt stood in front of the bed in the guest room, looking over all the boxes he'd just pulled from the closet. Antonio had gotten here over an hour ago, and shortly after he burst in and wrapped Gabby up in his arms, Matt made himself scarce. He knew Gabby needed time with her brother, and he didn't want to encroach on that. And while he would've stayed if she wanted him to, the thankful smile Gabby sent his way when he backed out of the room told him she was fine.

So he quickly found himself in the guest room, trying to figure out what to do with all her things. He wasn't sure the best course of action to take when dealing with this. While she had taken a lot of her clothes to Puerto Rico, she had left a fair good bit here, which had been housed in these boxes for months. No matter how much she had always liked wearing his clothes, he knew she'd feel better once she got into more of her things. The problem was he didn't know what to do with them.

Gabby had said she wanted to come home, and he believed her. But he didn't know if she meant their home specifically, or just Chicago. He didn't want to assume she'd want to stay here with him and put all her things back in their rightful place in their room, even though he hoped she'd want that. But they hadn't talked about it yet. And after everything they had talked about, he wasn't sure where she was at with staying here permanently. There were still so many things they needed to figure out, but this one seemed to be the most pressing.

He could never remember a time when things had been this hard. He didn't know how to act with her, which was something that had never been an issue in the past. But now he was weary around her. He didn't want to force her into anything, but he wanted nothing more than for her to come home, here with him.

Matt was also finding it hard to fight the urge to just put everything of hers back where it belonged. Put all her clothes back in their closet, put all the pictures of them back around the apartment. But his worry of where she was at kept him from doing those things. No matter what he wanted, it wasn't about him. They had to do things at her pace. After everything she'd gone through, he refused to pressure her into anything. She had taken the leap of faith by coming here, she showed him that she wanted to come back home. He had to hold onto that, and let her lead them through the rest.

He decided to at least get some of her things out, and leave them here on the bed. Whether she decided to stay here or not, he didn't want her living out of cardboard boxes.

He'd gotten through half a box, placing the folded clothes in piles when he heard Antonio's voice from out in the living room. He'd been able to hear them speaking, but he tuned it out, not wanting to eavesdrop on the siblings. And truthfully he really didn't want to hear Gabby explain again what she'd suffered through, it was bad enough the first time. But when he heard what sounded like goodbyes, he decided to leave the confines of the guest room.

Walking out into the living room, he saw Gabby and Antonio heading towards the back door. He stepped his way towards them, Gabby giving him a smile when she saw him, Matt stopping around the entrance to the bedroom.

"So I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"I'll be there, Tonio." She promised, Antonio turning to see Matt standing there.

"Hey Casey." Matt gave him a nod. "Gabby's gonna come by the district tomorrow, so I can write up a formal statement about what happened."

"I don't know if you're busy, or working-" Gabby started, only to quickly be cut off Matt.

"We'll be there."

"Good. Okay sis, I'm gonna head home." He gave her another hug, glancing back wearily towards Casey before turning his attention to Gabby again. "Call me if you need anything." She nodded to him knowingly, Matt picking up on something in Antonio's tone, but he wasn't sure what it meant.

After another long hug, Antonio left, Gabby locking the door before heading over towards Matt, who had been planted in the bedroom doorway.

"What were you doing in there?" Gabby asked, nodding off down towards the guest bedroom.

"Uh, I was starting to unpack your stuff, what was left here." He spoke nervously. "How was your visit with Antonio?" He desperately wanted to change the subject, figuring if they didn't bring it up, she'd at least be here for another night.

"It was good. I told him what happened, told him I wanted to come home." He nodded in response, not able to stop the small smile that came to his lips whenever she said those words. But the smile quickly fell when her next words came. "He, uh- he told me I could stay with him, if I wanted to."

He sucked in a short breath, feeling his stomach sink but doing his best to mask his true feelings as her words washed over him. He saw her eyes on him, knowing she was going to read into any reaction he gave, searching for what he wanted her to do. He saw a hopeful look shining in her eyes, and he hoped what he said next wouldn't take that away. But he couldn't make this decision for her, it had to be what she wanted.

"It's whatever you want, Gabby." His voice was soft, a slight frown forming on his face when he saw her falter slightly.

She recovered quickly, giving him a small nod. "Okay." Was all she gave in response, turning away from him, starting to walk towards the living room. He didn't know what that meant, was she staying here? Was she going to stay with her brother? He kept his eyes on her, watching as she looked around the room, stopping in her tracks, her shoulders rising as she took a deep breath.

"I don't want to go stay with Antonio." She murmured so softly that Matt barely heard her, but he did. And the words brought the widest smile to his face.

"I don't want you to, either." He said just as quietly, watching as she turned back to face him, her eyebrows raised, a weary look covering her face. "I want you here with me."

He waited for her to respond to him, for her to say anything in affirmation that she wasn't going anywhere. But that never came.

Instead, she quickly closed the gap between them, Matt watching her every movement as she came to stand in front of him, her hands grasping the sides of his face before slamming her lips into his. The action shocked him, but the feeling of her lips against his again quickly pulled him from that. He began kissing her back with the same force, his hands falling to her hips as he pulled her to him, their bodies flush against one another.

A moan escaped her mouth as he gripped her tighter, the two of them relaxing into the other as they relished in this feeling.

She was the first to pull back, their chests heaving as they both tried to suck in deep breaths, Matt leaning down to rest his forehead against hers.

"I missed that." She whispered, her breathing no closer to becoming steady. He let out a soft laugh, pulling her in for another, more tame, kiss.

"I missed you." He spoke once they pulled away, Gabby biting gently on her bottom lip, looking up to meet his eyes. She saw the same look of love she'd seen for the past five years shining proudly in his gaze, and that was all the assurance she needed that she made the right choice.

Placing one more gentle kiss against his lips, she placed her hands on his chest, gently pushing him back towards the bedroom, staying in step with him as he moved backwards. She saw a quick flash of nervousness in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. Her lips found his again, the two of them navigating their way blindly through the all-familiar path to their bed. He felt his legs hit the edge of the mattress, Gabby feeling it too as she moved her kisses from his mouth to across his jaw, moving down his neck.

She hungrily grasped at the hem of his shirt, making quick work of it as she pulled it from his body, her lips detaching momentarily but then reattaching just as quickly to the skin on his neck. She felt his body tighten from her actions as she tossed the article of clothing to the floor, pushing against his bare chest, making him fall down onto the bed, Gabby falling with him as his hands flew to her hips.

Their lips reconnected, the two of them moving together in a rhythm that felt so natural. It was as if they'd never stopped while simultaneously they were making up for lost time, their movements full of nothing but love and want.

His hands moved to grab the edge of her shirt, or technically his shirt, Gabby moving her lips off his so he'd be able to remove the piece of clothing. But he'd stopped his movements, his eyes glancing downwards, a clear look of hesitation on his face.

"What's wrong?" She whispered, their faces inches apart. He closed his eyes, trying to form a coherent thought before responding.

"I just need to know one thing." He stated, opening his eyes again, Gabby seeing them shining in the dim room.

"What?"

"I need to know you're not leaving me again." It felt like her heart snapped in half when the words hit her. She knew she hurt him, but hearing the vulnerability in his voice made her realize just how badly she'd ruined things. In all the years she'd known him, together or not, she'd never heard him sound so scared. And in that moment, she made a promise to herself that she'd never give him a reason to fear losing her again.

Placing a soft kiss to his lips, she sat up, straddling his hips. His hands found her thighs, resting on them softly as he watched her intently, confused as to why she hadn't given an answer. She reached for the bottom of her shirt, pulling it from her body in an instant, tossing it to the ground.

She fell back down against him, his warm hands moving to her bare sides, the feeling of their skin against each other again filling her with a sense of safety. Leaving one hand against his chest, she ran her other up to his face, grabbing his chin as she forced him to look her in the eye.

"I'm not going anywhere." She promised, the smile rising on his face making her fall in love with him all over again. His lips hungrily found hers again, flipping them over so she was under him, Matt intent on showing her exactly how much she was missed.

Looks like things between Dawsey are progressing quite well, I'd say. I know after the last chapter, a lot of you figured it was Naomi at the door, which I'm not gonna lie that was kind of intentional, but I wasn't gonna have her show up so soon, at least not yet anyway ;). Also, when Matt's explaining his and Naomi's relationship to Gabby, I kept it as vague as I possibly could, because truthfully I have no idea what all they did on the show, in terms of how they met, why they were working together, etc. Most of the details I did give was guess work. All I know is she's a reporter (and I'm only 90% sure on that I really don't know), they slept together, and that him working with her is why the apartment burned down (which isn't apart of this story anyway). So I tried to keep it as surface level as possible, because clearly I don't know enough about it to go into any more detail. I just didn't want anyone reading anything into it, that Matt was keeping part of it from Gabby or something. It's nothing like that, I just really don't know much about their storyline on the show. Sorry if some things were wrong, but I wasn't about to go watch to find out the details so… Anyway hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks for all for your words of encouragement on continuing this story past my original plan. I've decided to keep it going, because there's so much I want to be able to write for them. Essentially how their relationship would continue if Monica hadn't left. I'm excited for it, especially after reading your all's comments. Thank you to those who took the time to review and give me your thoughts, I appreciate it so much.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, can't wait to hear what you think! Thanks for all the continued support with this story, it's honestly been overwhelming, but it means the world to me.