Yes, here's another chapter. I honestly don't know what's gotten into me, but I've been feeling very inspired here lately with this story. Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve

Matt groaned as he felt a shiver course through his body, the chill pulling him from his slumber, the cold telling him that sometime during the night Gabby had shifted from his grasp. Reaching out to pull Gabby back into his embrace, he was expecting his hands to find her waist, but instead he was met with nothing but a cold bed sheet. Opening his eyes, it took him a moment to adjust to the darkness, finding Gabby's side of the bed empty, and it seemingly had been for awhile. Sitting up, he saw a dim flashing light coming from the living room, telling him the tv was on, and he could hear something playing at a low volume.

He swung his legs off the side of the bed, picking up his phone from the nightstand to check the time, the light blinding him momentarily before his eyes adjusted.

3:08AM

He wasn't sure why Gabby was awake, or how long she'd been awake for, but he was determined to find out.

While checking the time, Matt noticed he had a message from Severide.

'Hey man, wanted to know if I can let everyone know Gabby's back? They've been worried about her, and you. Just let me know what you want me to do.'

Blowing out a sigh, Matt knew he now had a few questions to ask her. Getting out of bed, he aimlessly felt around the room until he found his boxers that had been thrown from the bed earlier in the night, sliding them on before heading for the living room. He decided against trying to find his shirt, figuring it would take too long in the dark.

Walking out into the living room, he found his shirt rather quickly as he saw Gabby sitting on the couch, his shirt covering her body, and the blanket from the back of the couch wrapped around her lower half. She was curled up into herself, her eyes plastered on whatever was playing on the tv screen in front of her.

"There you are."

She jumped slightly, her eyes locking with his, not expecting him to be awake.

"You scared me." She spoke lightly, putting her hand over her chest for effect as he walked closer to the couch. "Did I wake you up?" Matt turned on the lamp near the couch before sitting down, Gabby lowering the volume on the tv.

"No you didn't." He spoke with a soft smile, patting his hand over her knee. "Everything alright?" He asked her, Gabby pulling at the blanket and throwing some of it over his legs, effectively getting him to move closer to her.

"Yeah, just couldn't sleep." She spoke with a shrug, Matt eyeing her for a moment before nodding. "Why are you up?"

"I was cold." He said sheepishly, his eyebrow raised, watching a grin fall to her face.

"So, uh, I got a text from Kelly last night, after we fell asleep." Matt spoke, Gabby's eyes finding his as she waited for him to continue. "He wanted to know if he could tell the house you're back." He saw her begin to shift uncomfortably beside him, her eyes falling down. He ran his thumb softly over her blanket covered knee, waiting for her response.

"Uh, he can tell them I'm back, if he wants." She blew out a breath, "but I don't want them knowing what happened." She looked back up at him as she spoke, Matt trying to gauge where her head was at.

"Okay, I'll let him know." He replied, Gabby's hand coming to rest on top of his. "But you do know no one will judge you for what happened, or treat you differently, if that's what you're worried about."

"It's not that, I just- The people who need to know, they know. You and Antonio, as far as I'm concerned, are the only people who need to know what happened." He felt her squeeze the top of his hand as she spoke. "I know Kelly knows some of it, but I really don't think it's necessary anyone else knows."

"Okay, if that's what you want, we don't need to tell anyone else." While he didn't completely agree with it, he'd do whatever she wanted to do here. Everything was up to her, so he wouldn't fight her on it, or go against what she wanted.

"That's what I want." She told him with a soft smile. "At least for right now."

"Then that's what we'll do." He confirmed, smiling as she leaned her body into his, adjusting the blanket as she fell into his embrace. Her head rested against his bare chest, her hand coming to rest there as well, feeling the steady beat of his heart under her fingertips.

They sat there in a comfortable silence for awhile, Gabby feeling Matt's breathing even out, figuring he fell asleep. She hadn't planned on staying out here for the rest of the night, but laying on the couch with Matt like this wasn't the worst way to sleep.

She had almost let her exhaustion take over, the continuous rising and falling of his chest lulling her to sleep, until she felt him take a deep, shaky breath. She'd heard that sound from him before, an action that almost always meant he was trying to keep himself together.

With furrowed eyebrows and concern shining in her eyes, she pulled back from him, finding herself fully awake as soon as she saw the tears hiding in his blue eyes.

"Matt- what's wrong?" She adjusted her body to be able to face him, her arm moving to rest behind him, placing her hand on the back of his neck. She ran her fingertips along his hairline lightly, knowing how that usually relaxed him.

"I'm so sorry, Gabby." He whispered out, her eyes narrowing slightly as confusion covered her face.

"What? What are you sorry for?" She had no idea what had gotten him so worked up, but whatever it was must have been weighing heavily on his mind for awhile.

"I should've been there."

"Matt…"

"No. don't say it's okay. Or that it's not my fault, because it is." He spoke firmly. Gabby knew he'd been holding onto guilt over what had happened to her, but she had no idea it ran this deep. "I should've been there with you, you never should've been alone." A single tear fell down his cheek, Gabby feeling tears well within her own eyes. "If I was there, they might've never broken into your apartment."

"There's no way to know that-" She tried to interject, but he just shook his head.

"But even if they had still tried, I would've been there to protect you. I could've-" His coughing stopped his sentence, Matt desperately trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Matt, look at me." She spoke quietly, his eyes refusing to meet hers as he kept his head down. "Matt." She tried again, watching as he reluctantly lifted his head. "This is not your fault."

"Gabby-"

"Listen to me." She spoke quickly, effectively cutting him off. "This isn't your fault. Nothing that happened to me in Puerto Rico happened because of you. I know you feel guilty, I know you think you could've changed things. And maybe that's true. But, even if you had been there, there's the very real possibility that you would've been hurt too. And there's no telling how badly. That would've killed me, you getting hurt because of me." She admitted, Matt taking a slow breath. "If you won't stop blaming yourself for you, do it for me. Please." She pleaded. "Because seeing you beat yourself up over this is not helping either of us."

There was a silence in the air surrounding them for a few seconds, Gabby hoping Matt was starting to believe her.

He cleared his throat, Gabby wiping away a tear falling down his cheek. "I'll try." A soft smile fell onto her face at his words. "For you, I'll try."

Gabby leaned forward, placing a soft kiss to his lips, feeling him lean into her touch almost desperately. When they pulled back, she could still see the guilt in his gaze. While she knew there was no way for him to immediately stop feeling responsible, she prayed that he'd realize he wasn't at fault sooner rather than later.

"Thank you." She replied, using her hand around his neck to pull him back to her, their lips meeting again.

"I still should've been there." He whispered against her lips, Gabby releasing a sigh as she opened her eyes. Clearly they hadn't made much progress. "That's not what I mean." He continued, their faces separating completely, confusion written across her face. "You asked me to go with you, I should've. I wanted to." He admitted, Gabby removing her hand from his neck as it fell into her lap.

"I thought about it over and over," he continued when she hadn't said anything. "From the moment you left, to at least a month after, so many times I thought about packing my bags, hopping on a plane, and going to be with you."

Gabby was now the one to avert her eyes, focusing on her fingers which were pulling at the blanket.

"Why didn't you?" Her voice was barely audible, Matt hardly hearing her.

"I was scared." He confessed, her head snapping up. "I knew we had a lot of problems, most of which had gotten swept under the rug. We figured we'd deal with them when you came back, and then-" he cut himself off, Gabby's eyelids shutting tightly. "I was scared that we wouldn't be able to work it out, that since we'd made no progress since our fight, everything would be exactly the same as it had been. That we'd fall into the old routine of fighting and then not dealing with it." He paused momentarily, wanting to give her a second to really hear what he was saying.

"But I knew everything would only be much worse, because we'd be in a different place. One of us wouldn't have been able to go out to Molly's when we needed some space, or I wouldn't have had Kelly to go to... Who knows, maybe the change of scenery would've forced us to deal with our problems, but it scared me Gabby."

She hadn't said anything, and he didn't know what kind of reaction to expect from her.

"I know letting you go meant I'd lost you, but… I don't know how to explain it, I thought that was better than me going with you and ending up losing you anyway. I figured that would be easier than me moving with you, and us not being able to make it work." He waiting to see if she'd respond, but she hadn't. "I'm sorry I was too scared to fight for us. Because truthfully, looking back at it now, I do think we would've been okay. But at the time, it terrified me." He spoke honestly.

Matt decided he'd done enough explaining, wanting to hear where Gabby's head was at, what she was thinking.

"I'm really sorry, Matt." She eventually whispered, forcing herself to look at him.

"Gabby, that's not why-"

"I need you to know how sorry I am, for all of it." There was no hiding the vulnerability in her voice, nor hiding the tears escaping down her cheeks. "For our fight, for going in the first place, for leaving you… I'm so sorry."

"We don't need to get into all this right now." He deflected, rubbing his hand over her arm. "I just wanted you to know why I didn't go with you."

"I didn't exactly make it easy on you. And we do need to talk about it."

"Yeah, but this conversation doesn't need to be done in the middle of the night." He tried, being met by a stern glance from her.

"We have to talk about it, Matt. We can't avoid it, act like it never happened." She could see him tensing beside her. "That won't fix anything." Reluctantly, he nodded.

"Okay."

Matt waited for Gabby to gather herself, watching her closely as she thoughtfully chose the right words to say.

"You will never know how much I regret what I did to you. I know we had our issues, but instead of dealing with them, I ran away… When I first decided to go, I thought that's what would be best for us, to give each other some time. At least for me, I think I needed space to wrap my mind around everything, to try and figure out how to move on from everything that had happened. I probably should've told you that, and let you know where I was at. But I never meant for it to be the thing that ruined us. I didn't leave with the intention of not coming back, I just needed time." She spoke honestly. "But I did leave, and you never did anything to deserve that. No matter what happened between us, you never deserved me leaving you." She saw the flicker of hurt that flashed in his eyes as she spoke.

"I know we both said things before I left, things we shouldn't have, but I know you were just trying to protect me. I couldn't see it at the time, or I refused to, but I know you were scared. I know you were trying to do what you thought was best for all of us, and instead of us talking about it, I left. You deserved better than that."

"It's not just on you Gabby." He interjected, "I said horrible things to you, and honestly, a little space probably would've done us some good. I mean, I do wish you would've told me that before, that you needed time, but I get it. We'd been through so much, even before the pregnancy stuff, maybe space would've helped us. I just… never dreamed you wouldn't come back." He knew he needed to be as honest as possible, but that didn't make it easy to say this to her.

Taking a deep breath, Gabby nodded. "I never planned on not coming back, it was always supposed to be temporary." Her mind fixated on something else he'd brought up, knowing they needed to talk about it. They needed to air out everything, before it ruined them again. "And I know a lot of the problems we were having before, they were because of me. I know I kept things from you- everything with Bria, and then Cordova. I never meant to leave you out of things, I just… I don't even know why I was doing it. But I saw what it was doing to you, and I'm sorry."

"While all that stuff was happening it just felt like... it felt like you couldn't trust me. That I'd done something to make you not want to come to me for help, and it hurt. Because I didn't know what I'd done… And I guess that played into me not going to Puerto Rico, because part of me still felt like that."

"That was never my intention, Matt. I never want you to think I don't trust you. I trust you more than anyone else. Even after all of this, that hasn't changed. With Cordova, that had nothing to do with you. That whole situation turned into a mess so quickly, I never meant to keep it from you. But I did and I'm sorry."

"And then with Bria, I think with that, I knew I was keeping you at arms length. I guess… I know you've been weary of me getting involved with things in the past, that you think I jump into things without thinking, which, to be fair, is true. And I guess I would've rather dealt with the fallout of keeping you at a distance and be able to help this girl, than let you talk me out of it."

He furrowed his eyebrows at the last part, her words causing a bad feeling in his stomach. "I wouldn't have tried to talk you out of it, I just wanted you to be safe." He explained, letting their conversation sink in before he said anymore. "But I guess I understand why you thought I might… I've been unfair to you in the past, in situations like that. I've been quick to judge when you try to help people, and that's not okay." The realization had just dawned on him, her reasoning making more and more sense to him. But something was still bothering him. "I hope you know it was never me trying to tell you what to do, or keep you from helping people. I was just trying to protect you." He spoke, Gabby nodding. "I know how you get, when you put your all into helping other people. You have the biggest heart, Gabby, but you tend to forget about yourself, so I guess I always felt the need to look out for you when you weren't."

"I know. I know your intentions were always good, Matt. And, like I said, I haven't made it easy on you, even before Puerto Rico. I don't know if you know this, but I'm kind of stubborn." She joked, feeling her heart swell when he gave her a small smile.

"Really? Who knew." He teased back, squeezing her arm gently.

"I know the past year has been hard on us," Gabby started again, "but me leaving you was the worst thing I could've done. It was wrong, and I know how much that hurt you. I wouldn't blame you if you hated me forever, because no matter what we'd been through, you didn't deserve me doing that to you."

"I'm not gonna lie to you, it hurts Gabby. And, I don't know, maybe a part of me will always hurt because of it. But I could never hate you, even though there were times I wanted to." He admitted, his eyes falling down to his lap. "I just… it killed me, knowing I wasn't enough for you anymore."

"Matt-" She immediately tried to interject, but he shook his head.

"It's okay, Gabby. We both know it's the truth, I think a part of me has always known it. You were happier there than you had been with me in years, maybe more than you'd ever been with me." Pain was evident in his voice, a sad smile falling onto his face. "That last time we facetimed before you came back, when you were at work, I hadn't seen you look that happy and relaxed in a long time. I don't even think I'm able to make you that happy." He sounded defeated, and it broke her heart. She didn't know how to explain to him that it wasn't true, she was sure he wouldn't believe her. But she had to try.

"I won't lie to you, Matt. My job there, it did make me happy. It honestly did. But how I felt there, is nothing compared to how I feel with you." She spoke honestly, hoping her words resonated with him. "I was happy, for awhile. But when I made the decision to stay there, after I came back to get my stuff, my work there slowly stopped giving me that feeling. It felt more like a chore, than something I loved. I realized that why I was so happy, was because while I knew I was there helping people, I knew it was temporary. That happiness you saw, I was able to feel that because I knew, eventually, I'd be coming home. I just hate it took me leaving to realize that. I wish I'd known before I agreed to stay." She hoped she was explaining herself well, that he was understanding what she meant. Still, he looked apprehensive.

Grabbing his chin, she locked eyes with him. "I need you to believe me, there is no doubt in my mind that you make me the happiest, Matt. But you have to know, you're more than enough for me. I know now that I can't be truly happy if I'm not with you. And I wish I could take it back, I wish I didn't take you for granted. That I knew what I had before I threw it away. I'll never be able to express how sorry I am, for all of this." He nodded within her grip, Gabby dropping her hand from his face.

"Can I ask you something?" Matt asked cautiously, seeing her nod. "...Did you think about what it meant for us, for me, you staying there?"

"Of course I did." She responded quickly, almost hurt by the question. But she understood it. "I knew it would end us, even though that's not what I wanted-"

"Then why did you do it?" He cut in, not able to stop himself.

"Because I was scared." She responded quickly. "I guess it was the same fear you had about going with me, I had about coming back." She admitted, Matt remaining silent.

"I messed up, I know I did. But it felt like everything here just blew up. Everything was falling apart and I got scared. So instead of coming back to deal with it, I hid from it. Being there was easier, so I stayed." She was sure that wasn't the answer he was looking for, but she couldn't lie to him.

"I'm not proud of it. For throwing away everything we had. But believe me when I tell you, staying in Puerto Rico never crossed my mind until the job was offered. I never planned on it, but I couldn't stop thinking about everything here. I was terrified to come back, and maybe see that what had happened to us wasn't fixable. That we'd both done irreparable damage to us. I was afraid, so I did what was easiest, and decided to stay."

He slowly nodded, not sure what to do with that. He understood her fear, because he'd had the same fear all those months ago, part of him still did. But it didn't make it any less painful that she chose to give up on them. Though he imagined she felt that same pain, hearing he gave them up too by not going after her. He knew the situations weren't exactly the same, his fear coming from the fact she had already given up on them, but he knew he had to accept it. He couldn't hold onto any resentment towards her when they'd both done the same thing. Holding a grudge against her would do nothing except make them go backwards, and that was the last thing he wanted. They couldn't change what happened, they could only grow from it and move on.

"Okay." He whispered, Gabby watching him closely.

"I know I haven't given you a lot of reason to trust me lately, to trust us. But I swear to you, I realize now that I don't want us to be apart ever again. I should've known it before, I should've trusted our relationship and what we had, but I didn't. There's no excuse for it, all I can do is make sure you know how much I regret it. And that I'm not going anywhere." She told him, her voice strong. "I'll remind you as much as you need me to, I'll show you as much as I can. But I promise you, I want this. I want us to be okay, to be able to move on from this. I want you. If that's what you want."

She'd laid it all out there, and now all she could do was wait. There were no more secrets between them, no more wondering why she'd done what she did. It was all out in the open, now it was up to him with how they moved forward.

"It's what I want." He said after a few moments, Gabby releasing a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. "I've always wanted you, I guess I just didn't do a great job of showing it at times. But I want us to work. You're my life, Gabby."

The smile she gave him made a warmth spread through his body, her hand moving to rest on his shoulder.

"I don't know how long it'll take for the sting of all this to wear off. I don't want to lie to you and tell you I'm completely fine with it, but I know I hurt you too. I'm not innocent in all this, we both made mistakes that led us here, I know that." He admitted. "But I also know, in time, it'll be okay. I just may need some reminders every once in awhile that you're not going anywhere." The amount of vulnerability and honesty in his voice shocked her, but it also showed her how far they'd come. If they'd tried to have this conversation months ago, it would've had a very different outcome. His words gave her hope, that they really were learning from their past mistakes. That they would be able to overcome this, and anything else life threw at them.

"I'll remind you as much as you need me to. I'm not going anywhere." She spoke again, letting him lead them into another kiss, their lips moving together in a slow rhythm, both of them needing the intimate contact.

"And Herrmann is still acting Lieutenant, he will be until further notice." Boden spoke, Kelly's eyes dancing around the conference room as he looked at his coworkers. He was perched in his usual spot up against the wall, the space on the wall beside him empty.

During their roll call, Kelly tried to get a read on Boden, and if he knew anything. After waking up to Matt's text this morning, telling him what he could and couldn't say, he figured Boden didn't know what happened to Gabby in Puerto Rico. But he was wondering if Boden had any clue was she back.

"That's all for this morning, let's have a good shift, get everyone home safely." He dismissed them, Kelly pushing himself off the wall.

"Actually, Chief-" Kelly started, effectively stopping everyone from leaving. "I have something to say."

"Go on, Severide."

"I just wanted to let you guys know, that uh… Dawson's back." He figured it best to just rip off the bandaid. As he suspected, there was evident shock in the faces of everyone in the room. When no one said a word, he kept talking. "She's been back a few days, she's with Casey." Kelly chose his words carefully. He knew everyone was aware something had been wrong with her, with Antonio's insistence on needing to know if they'd heard from her a few weeks back, and Matt's strange behavior lately, they knew something had been going on. They just didn't know what, and Matt had been very clear they weren't supposed to know.

"Is she okay?" Brett spoke first, Kelly finding Boden's eyes, the look in them showing Severide that his Chief had no idea she was back in Chicago.

"She is." Kelly decided to give nothing more than that, not wanting to draw more questions than the ones he already knew were coming.

"Do you know what happened?" Cruz asked next, everyone watching Kelly closely.

"I don't." Kelly sighed, deciding to give them as much as he could. He didn't like lying to them, and it felt like that's what he was doing. "I went to visit Matt the morning after last shift, to check in on him, and she was there. I didn't see her, but Matt said she'd be okay."

A few of the group nodded slowly, others remaining neutral in their reactions.

"So she's not actually okay, at least right now?" Herrmann asked, picking up on Kelly's wording. Releasing a deep breath, Kelly responded.

"I don't know, guys. Like I said, I didn't see her, and Casey didn't tell me anything. All he told me is what I just told you, I really don't know any more than that." He told them, seeing a few nods around the room.

"So you don't know if she's back for good?" Brett asked the question everyone had been thinking. And while Kelly had an idea, he wasn't going to tell them definitively based on a hunch from something Casey had said.

"I don't know."

There was a silence that fell over the room, Boden nodding to Kelly, signaling he wanted to have a private conversation. Chief exited the room rather quickly, Kelly beginning to head out after him when Herrmann's voice stopped him.

"Should we reach out to her?" It was an innocent question, something they probably felt like they should do. She had been apart of this family for so long. But if Matt's text was any indication, that would probably be the last thing Gabby wanted right now.

"I wouldn't." Kelly replied instantly, turning back around to face the group. They eyed him curiously, Kelly knowing he'd have to give more of a explanation. "Probably best to not overwhelm her right now." He covered. "She's with Casey, and she has Antonio. I'd let her come to you, let her get her bearings."

Herrmann kept an eye on Kelly, almost as if he knew Severide wasn't saying something. But he didn't question it, as Kelly took the opportunity to leave the room. He followed the usual path to Boden's office, seeing the man in question leaning against the front of his desk. Kelly entered the office, shutting the door behind him.

"Chief."

"What you said in there, is that really all you know?" Boden asked, figuring Severide might have been told more than he let on. "Do you know what happened in Puerto Rico?"

"I don't Chief. The only thing I know is Antonio thought she was missing, and then the night you sent Casey home, she showed up at their place." He knew there was no use in lying to Boden, and seeing as how he didn't actually know what happened to Gabby, he didn't feel like he was betraying her. At least he hoped he wasn't. "And when I was there, Casey couldn't get me out of there fast enough. He asked me to leave." Boden nodded at the information he was given.

"So you didn't see her?"

"No, I didn't. I don't know what all happened, but if the way Casey's acting says anything, it's not good. Although I'm not sure if we'll ever know what actually happened to her." Kelly spoke, Boden raising his eyebrows in confusion. "I texted Matt and asked him what he wanted me to do, if he wanted me to let people know she was back. He told me Gabby said that was fine, but she made it very clear she didn't want anyone here knowing what happened."

"Did he say why?"

"No, he didn't, you'd have to ask him." Kelly spoke, a soft sigh falling from his lips. He had some ideas as to why Gabby had her reservations around everyone here, but he wasn't about to voice them.

He saw the worry covering Boden's face, clearly concerned for his former paramedic.

"She'll be okay, Chief. Matt will make sure of it."

Matt was pulled from his peaceful slumber as he heard his phone ringing loudly, the object buzzing on the coffee table. Blinking rapidly, Matt began to gather himself, surprised by his surroundings as he realized he was still in the living room.

"Are you gonna answer that?" Gabby groaned, snuggling herself deeper into Matt's chest as they laid together on the couch. He hadn't remembered falling asleep out here, but they clearly had. Last he remembered, Gabby was curled into his chest, him sitting up while they sat together, both of them feeling a sense of peace after their talk. At some point, they had to have fallen into a more comfortable position, as now Matt was lying flat on the couch, Gabby's body flush on top of his, their legs tangled together as the blanket kept them warm.

He chuckled at her as the ringing stopped, Gabby feeling the vibrations against her body as his shook lightly. Matt ran his hand up and down her side, placing a soft kiss to the side of her head as they enjoyed their current position.

"How'd we end up sleeping out here, anyway?" He asked, mindlessly playing with her hair between his fingertips.

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I fell asleep before you. You could've at least carried me to bed." She teased him, tightening her grip around his bare waist.

"I could've, but I'm pretty comfortable here right now."

"Me too."

Matt's phone dinged, signaling that whoever had called left him a voicemail. Seeing as how she was in a better position to do so, Gabby leaned over, grabbing the phone from the table, turning the screen on. He saw her face falter slightly, before she looked to him.

"It's Boden."

Matt nodded, taking the phone from her. Truthfully, after getting Kelly's text last night, he was fully expecting to hear from Boden at some point today. Glancing at the time, he saw shift would've only started about twenty minutes ago, so Matt figured everyone already knew what was going on. Putting the phone to his ear, he listened to the voicemail.

'Casey, Kelly just told us about Dawson. Call me when you can. I hope she's doing okay.'

From her close proximity, Gabby could hear Boden's short message as well.

"I should probably go call him back." Matt said, Gabby nodding.

"Yeah, you should." She pulled herself from his arms, the two of them adjusting to a sitting position on the couch. Gabby wrapped the blanket tightly around herself, Matt leaning over and kissing her temple. He stood up, intent on walking to the bedroom but Gabby's hand on his arm stopped him.

"What is that?" She asked, Matt looking back at her with confusion.

"What?" He asked, seeing her eyes glued to his back. He felt her fingertips come up and trace along his lower back, stopping at the waistband on his boxers.

"You have a huge bruise on your back." She spoke, concern laced in her words. She wasn't sure how she hadn't seen it until now, but the severity of it worried her. It covered his spine, taking up the entirety of his lower back, before disappearing under his boxers.

"It must've happened in the explosion." He spoke wearily, knowing he hadn't told her the extent of what happened to him during the call. Her eyes trailed up his back, finding his eyes as his head was still turned. "I'm okay." He promised, turning himself to face her. "I didn't even know it was there, it doesn't hurt." He assured her, seeing her hesitantly nod.

He leaned down, kissing her softly before pulling back. "I'm gonna go call Boden, then you think you could change my dressing for me?" He asked her, trying to shift her attention from the bruise on his back.

"Yeah, of course." He smiled, giving her one more kiss before retreating to the bedroom. When he got in there, before making the call he quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, needing to warm himself up. Sitting down onto the bed, he dialed Boden's number, placing the phone by his ear.

"Casey?" Boden had answered after the first two rings.

"Hey Chief."

"How's Dawson doing?"

"She's okay, taking it day by day."

"Kelly said he didn't know much about what happened, just that Antonio thought she was missing…" He trailed off, Matt knowing he was wanting answers.

"Chief, I… I'm sorry, but Gabby doesn't really want everyone knowing."

"Yeah, I figured that would be the answer." He sighed, but Matt could tell he wasn't upset, just worried. "But just make sure she knows we've been worried about her."

"Of course, I will Chief."

"Okay. If either of you need anything, don't be afraid to call. And don't worry about shift, just do what you need to do Casey."

"I will, thank you. I appreciate it, and I know Gabby does too."

"I know I don't need to tell you this but… make sure she gets through this. Whatever it is."

"I will, Chief. I got her. Always."

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I really don't know what's gotten into me, with like 3 chapters in less than a week, but I figure you all don't mind.

I really liked writing out Matt and Gabby's talk, but boy did scare me. That part might be the hardest thing I've written so far, just because it's so important. I hope none of you were disappointed by it, I tried to make it as 'them' and realistic as I possibly could, or at least how I think they'd handle it.

If you have a minute, I'd love to hear some feedback. Thank you all for your continued support!