After getting a clean bill of health from the doctors at Med, you were cleared to continue working. Soon, a few weeks had passed since your unpleasant altercation.
You were glad to say that you had gained some obvious respect from your new co-workers. After getting hit by someone twice your size and walking it off like the champ you are, you could say they were a little impressed. While you were exceptionally happy to feel yourself becoming a part of the family known as Firehouse 51, you were secretly only interested in one particular Firehouse 51 member's feelings towards you.
You and Kelly had become…friendly to say the least.
In a way that you hadn't realized, the Squad Lieutenant had slowly embedded himself into your life without even trying. After keeping his promise to see you all those weeks ago by showing up at the hospital still in his turnout gear, Kelly offered to take you home when the doctors at Med finished monitoring you. With your car still at the firehouse, you gratefully accepted.
But as Kelly walked you to your front door, you noticed him become more hesitant the closer you got to your home.
When you finally reached it, you had to ask.
"What's wrong?"
He still looked hesitant as he answered you a moment later.
"I'm…just not sure if I can leave in all good conscience."
Confused, you furrowed your brow and asked what he meant.
"Well, they said you might have a concussion, right?"
Your confusion deepened as you couldn't see how that possibly affected Kelly, but answered him anyway.
"I mean, they said there was a chance, but it wasn't a big one."
In a way that only looked good because he did it, Kelly's face transformed from hesitant into teasing within the blink of an eye as he got to his point.
"Well if there's a chance, then you shouldn't fall asleep,"
With a shrug of his shoulders, he casually finished his statement,
"I'll keep you awake."
You had to tell yourself to ignore him, his words, and the way he said them for a moment since imagining him saying those words to you in a very different context sent a very pleasant shiver up your spine.
But because you were ninety-percent sure he didn't mean it that way (and not a percent more), you crossed your arms over your chest to cover your minuscule tremble before you said,
"Excuse me?" With a touch of incredulity.
Almost as if he read your mind and found your thoughts amusing, Kelly let out a small laugh before his hand went up to scratch the back of his head. A sign you've come to learn that means he's nervous. You couldn't help but notice a small blush crawling up his neck before he went about trying to clarify his words.
"I just mean, I'd hate to leave you here knowing that if you fell asleep with a concussion, you could slip into a coma just because no one was here,"
A little sheepishly, he added,
"So, I can keep you company if you'd like." he finished with a boyish smile.
The first thing you wanted to do was melt at how adorable Kelly looked when he was unsure of himself. The man ran into burning buildings for a living, but talking to you is what seemed to make him nervous.
You wanted to let out such a girly giggle, it wasn't even funny.
But because your guard was still up, what happened was you narrowed your eyes for a moment before visibly eyeing Kelly up and down. He looked amused at the look of suspicion in your eyes when you finally made eye contact again.
"And if I said I plan to do nothing but sit on my couch and watch TV?"
There wasn't a moment's hesitation before he replied,
"I'd say that being in your presence is more than enough for me."
"Dammit." You remembered thinking, "He's good."
So you decided to give him a chance.
You figured your logical side would appreciate that you'd either be proven right that this might be a bad idea,...or wrong, that it was a great one. Either way, you'd have your answer before the evening was over, so you had nothing to lose.
In what's probably the first time in your life, you were happy to be proven wrong.
Not only did Kelly keep to his word by not making any advances, but you also found out you two were more compatible than you'd realized. Settling on different ends of your couch, it only took a couple episodes of your favorite show before you guys were practically semi-cuddled into one another. You had enthusiastically explained the plot so he would at least understand what he was watching, and Kelly had listened attentively as he had watched you.
Looking on as you lit up talking about a favorite of yours was something Kelly could do over and over again.
Though conversation was sparse, when you did talk, it was easy. With you mostly answering questions about the show and Kelly making up ridiculous theories based on his limited knowledge, time flew by. With a blanket laid across both of your laps, you couldn't remember the last time you were so comfortable in another person's presence.
What you really remembered most from that night however were the moments after you paused your TV marathon so Kelly could get you guys some refills from the kitchen.
As he made his way back over to you, you remember thinking that you missed the warmth his closeness brought. You also remember thinking that you would have to continue missing it since he would no doubt return to his original position on the other side of the couch.
That's why you can't adequately explain the feeling of hope that went through you as you watched him lift the blanket back up. You don't know how to put into words the sensation of pure thrill that flooded you as you realized he was doing that so he could press his side back into yours.
You tried to play it off like your heart wasn't racing as fast as it was in your chest. But as the blanket came back down and you both got comfortably readjusted underneath it before hitting "play" on the remote, what you really remember thinking is,
"I could get used to this."
A/N: Hi everyone! Writing this has become so much fun for me.! This was originally going to be much longer but I decided to split up the chapters. Now I'm not saying that the more follows/favs/comments this gets, the more likely I'll post the next chapter sooner rather than later, but...no, no yeah that's exactly what I'm saying 😝 Hope you enjoyed!
