AnnaBeth sipped her coffee while she waited for Gabby to get up. They had missed each other over the last few days. AnnaBeth was the first up for shift. She had made muffins.

"Spill it" Gabby said walking through taking a bite of the blueberry muffin AnnaBeth had left in the kitchen.

"Spill what?" She asked furrowing her brow.

"Don't play all innocent with me AB" Gabby told her with a grin "I know what you're really like, all this alone time playing nurse with Severide"

"I have not been playing nurse" She said rolling her eyes "I've been keeping an eye on things so he can stay out of hospital, Jonah trusts me to check in on him properly"

"But you wouldn't mind playing nurse" Gabby said biting back a smile.

"Maybe, have you seen that body" She smiled "But it's all strictly platonic"

AnnaBeth had been checking in every day like she had promised Jonah. But she was working today, and she knew Kelly was supposed to go back into hospital to see if he could be cleared for duty. AnnaBeth had told him outright he must be dreaming if he thought they would let him back into work so soon after the injury he had. But she could tell sitting home drove him insane.

Gabby drove them into work. AnnaBeth practically skipped over to Peter who was sat at the squad table.

"Are the rumours true?" She asked him "You're ditching me for squad today?"

"I'm afraid so" He nodded "I'm not sure how you're going to cope"

"Ha" She scoffed "I get to drive"

"AB our job is to attend accident sites, not cause them" He teased her.

"Get your team under control acting Lieutenant" She told Scott as she swatted Peter's arm playfully "I'm happy for you Peter Mills"

"Our team?" Scott smirked "You and Dawson for a shift are the real trouble"

AnnaBeth just shrugged. It was probably true. She hadn't heard that she would be working for Gabby for the day but compared to some of the people she'd been paired with she couldn't have been happier about it.

She made her way through into the kitchen. She furrowed her brow as she watched Cruz and Otis whispering between each other. They looked like they were in a deep discussion.

"Do I want to know?" She asked Gabby sitting down next to her.

"They found out Casey is working at a strip club and they're figuring out how to get in on the job" Gabby replied without looking up from the paper.

"Do you two know anything about construction?" She asked in disbelief.

"Of course, we do" Otis told her.

"Ok if you say so" She said holding her hands in the air.

She felt sure Matt would have more luck with the residents of sesame street than those two helping him out, but it wasn't really any of her business.

As far as shifts went it was a fairly quiet day. She looked down at her phone and decided to send Kelly a message. She was surprised at how quickly he responded.

'Back next shift, told you – S'

AnnaBeth rolled her eyes and made a mental note to check in with Jonah. There was no doubt in her mind that Kelly had pushed and insisted until he got his own way about coming back to work. She hadn't known him that long, but she knew him well enough to know that much. She decided to reply.

'So basically, you're not listening to your doctor – AB x'

'Would I do that? – S x'

She set her phone back down and got on with taking inventory. Not much really happened for the rest of her shift. Peter had made a good save at a car accident scene. His sister had come by to see him and he was being really quiet about the whole thing.

She didn't pay it much mind. Family business was family business. She was just as nosey as the next person but some boundaries she didn't cross.

"Are you coming by Molly's tonight?" Gabby asked "It's my night off and we get to watch Herrmann lose it with all the peewee league dads"

"Tempting" She mused linking arms with Gabby as they walked towards the car "But I think I may skip that one, besides Lemon is supposed to be visiting in a few days, I need to meditate and find my centre before then"

"Is she staying with us?" Gabby asked.

"Heck no" She replied "I love Lemon, but I told Jonah If he doesn't take her then Lemon making him eat that carpet would seem like a fond memory"

"Oh, I like it when you get all tough" Gabby teased "Heck, you must mean business"

"Go to H E double hockey sticks" She joked.

It wasn't often AnnaBeth got the apartment to herself so when she did, she really liked to make the most of it. She ran a bath, lit candles, took out her new book. She had her fluffy robe and face mask at the ready.

She groaned as there was a knock at the door. She walked over and opened the door slowly peeking out.

"Kelly" She said opening the door fully "Is everything ok?"

"I'm fine" He told her "I guess I should have called"

"Not at all" She said moving out of the way "Come on in"

Kelly walked through holding a bottle of wine. He spotted her book and robe laying on the couch and could see the lit candles in the bathroom.

"I feel like I'm interrupting something" He told her "I just wanted to thank you, for you know, checking in on me"

AnnaBeth smiled as he handed her a bottle of wine. It was the same one she always bought so it was either a good guess or he'd asked Gabby.

"Not at all" She said "And you didn't really have to thank me, honestly you probably did me a favour, I would have been so stressed out"

"You worry about me?" He asked cocking his head to the side.

"The man who throws himself at grenades?" She teased "What's there to worry about"

Kelly followed her through into the kitchen while she put away the bottle of wine.

"Can I get you anything?" She asked looking up from the refrigerator "Gabby's got some new beer from the suppliers at Molly's"

AnnaBeth handed Kelly a beer and poured herself a glass of wine. She curled up on the end of the couch and turned the tv on leaving the volume down low while some movie played in the background.

"How was your shift?" He asked.

"Well" She replied thoughtfully "We had an amazing stand in squad lieutenant and a new member, so they were amazing"

"Ouch" He said putting a hand to his chest "You'd really do that to an injured man?"

"Oh, you're healed remember" She pointed out "Ready to return to work next shift, it was ok, a little weird not having Peter with me but at least I got Gabby for a shift"

"Because you two don't see enough of each other?" He asked with a smile

"She's my best friend here" She told him "I don't know if I would have made it here without her and Peter"

"Just them?" He asked in a low voice.

"Or you" She added softly.

AnnaBeth hadn't even realised that they had gotten closer on the couch until she noticed his fingers gently running up and down the back of her arm. She bit her lip as she looked up at him. He went to lean in, and she panicked.

"I left the candles on" She said jumping up "Can't leave a flame unattended"

AnnaBeth rolled her eyes to the heavens as she walked towards the bathroom. She had no idea what was wrong with her. She sighed blowing out the candles and took a deep breath.

When she walked back through Kelly was stood over at the bookcase. He picked up a picture of her with Lemon and Crickett.

He looked over his shoulder at her as she peeked at which picture, he was looking at.

"I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable" He told her "I can go"

"You didn't" She replied shaking her head "Make me feel uncomfortable, but we probably shouldn't do that again"

"Have a drink together?" He asked taking a step closer to her.

"No" She replied shaking her head.

"Do you mean this?" He asked.

Kelly lifted her chin as he leant down to kiss her. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her closer. It started as a sweet first kiss, but it quickly became something deeper. AnnaBeth pulled at his t-shirt as he back her towards her bedroom.

"Are you sure?" He asked between kisses.

"So sure" She nodded wrapping her legs around his waist as he picked her up carrying her through to the bedroom and kicking the door closed behind them.