Your reminiscing was cut short by the call of your name.

Done with another shift at Firehouse 51, you were in the middle of walking off the apparatus floor and making your way towards the street when you heard Kelly's voice.

Turning, you saw him jogging to catch up to you. Smiling at his effort, you curiously said, "What's up?", when he reached you.

Putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket, he casually shrugged before randomly asking,

"You hungry?

Surprised, you had to pause a moment as you decided on an answer to his unsaid offer. Not minding the idea of spending a little more time with Kelly, you replied with a casual shrug of your own.

"I could eat."

Smiling, he said, "Great! I know just the spot."

Reaching his hand out to you, he continued.

"Here, give me your bag. We'll take my car."

Loving the chivalry, you handed him your overnight bag and he led you both to where he had parked. The chivalry continued when he opened the door for you and you climbed in.

The ride to what turned out to be a diner was a short one, and before you knew it, you were sitting in a booth. After ordering your food, you both handed the waitress your menus before turning towards one another.

Kelly stared at you for a moment before looking down and chuckling to himself.

Immediately feeling self-conscious, you couldn't help incredulously asking, "What?" while you wondered what was tickling him.

Still smiling, he simply said, "I can't believe all I had to do was offer to feed you for you to go on a date with me."

Feeling playful, you instantly got defensive.

"Uhhh, I don't remember being asked out on a date. I remember being asked if I was hungry."

Kelly couldn't help giving a slight laugh at your statement as you continued.

"Just cause you offered to feed me, doesn't mean this is a date."

You finished as you took a sip of your water.

With a nod of his head, he easily conceded to your point. But after thinking on it for a moment, he decided to be a little truthful.

"Well, I wouldn't have minded if this was a date."

You froze at such a declaration as he locked his eyes with yours.

You remained immobile for another moment before quite seriously saying,

"Listen, Severide…"

You started, already trying to distance yourself from him.

"I meant it when I said you couldn't handle me."

Not one to dismiss your feelings, he put his arms on the table as he leaned in and genuinely asked,

"And why do you say that?"

But before you could answer, the waitress returned with your food and put plates down in front of you and Kelly.

"Y'all need anything else?"

You both said no while thanking her before turning back to one another.

Her interruption had given you a chance to think about what you were going to say. So when she left, you faced the Squad Lieutenant and cautiously replied to his question.

"Look, whether people know it or not, I wear my heart on my sleeve. I love deeply and I love hard. I can't change that and I refuse to apologize for it."

Looking off to the side, unwilling to meet his gaze, you admitted,

"I don't do casual. I don't do flings. I don't even know how to. So when I say 'You can't handle me', I'm just trying to save us both a lot of time and trouble."

You glanced back up to Kelly after your little spiel and saw that his face was unreadable.

Now regretting your honesty, you began to stand up as you said,

"Maybe this was a bad idea. I'm just gonna call a car and we can pretend this never happened."

But before you could fully exit the booth, Kelly quickly reached over to grab your hand and stopped you.

Looking back at him as he held your hand with that still unreadable expression on his face, you wondered what more possibly needed to be discussed.

Suffice to say, you were caught off guard when he quietly, but confidently said to you,

"None of that is a dealbreaker for me."

In a state of disbelief, you slowly sat back down.

You both sort of stared at one another as you figured out what to say next.

You were only trying to fill the silence when you asked,

"So what now?"

Therefore, you weren't really expecting any real kind of answer. However, the man sitting across from you was nothing if not full of surprises.

"Well, for starters, you could go back to calling me 'Kelly'," he said with a teasing smile.

And with your accompanying laugh at his attempt at humor, the atmosphere instantly went from serious to lighthearted again.

Your mood was so lifted that you couldn't help teasing back.

"I don't know," you said shrugging, "'Serveride' has a nice ring to it."

Kelly only rolled his eyes playfully before you both unanimously agreed to start eating.

As you took your first bite, you couldn't help looking back up at him as he began to dig in.

A small smile made its way onto your lips as you allowed your guard to come down just enough to think with hope,

"Maybe, he will be different."

And without further hesitation, continued to eat your food.