During the next shift, Stella and Kelly announced their engagement, which earned them a round of applause and congratulations from the entire firehouse. Everybody wanted to know when the date was, which honestly hadn't even been taken into consideration yet. Following their announcement there was some chatter among the other smoke eaters how it shouldn't be too long before Casey was the next one to marry, which the Truck captain pretended not to hear, but when he had his back to them, he felt his mouth smirking against his own volition and felt a slight heat building in his cheeks at the idea.

But as the day wore on and Matt had more time to think about it, he started to feel a little melancholic about the whole thing. He'd been living with Severide for almost two years after his apartment burnt down, and honestly in that time he hadn't so much as looked for another place to live. And it hadn't been all that much of an adjustment when Stella actually moved in versus all the times she just stayed the night, which were most of the nights in a week. But now...now they were going to be married. And for some reason, Casey felt like he'd be intruding on them by staying with them when it happened. He'd loved getting to stay with his best friend, it hadn't been all good, but most of it had been, and he hated to give it up now, but he knew they wouldn't really want him around once they were married, and he also knew neither of them would actually have the heart, or the balls, to throw him out. But he didn't want to be a burden to them.

Casey stopped and took a breath and reminded himself that it wasn't going to happen today, or tomorrow, or for a while. He really didn't think Kelly would run them off to elope, Kidd might not be overly feminine but he could see her wanting a semi-traditional wedding and making some kind of a big deal about it, meaning there would be time to plan it out, arrange everything, and when that started happening, then Casey would know it was time to find another place to live. Until that day actually came, he intended to stay right where he was. Especially right now he didn't relish the thought of living alone, being alone.

A thought came to him and when he saw Brett passing by he followed after her and stopped her in the common room. "Hey Brett, can I ask you a question?"

Sylvie turned around, "Sure, Casey, what is it?"

"I just thought of something, when Cuz marries Chloe, is she moving in with you guys, or is he moving in with her?" For the life of him he couldn't remember hearing anybody discuss the living arrangements following the wedding.

Sylvie blinked as if she had to remember, and shook her head, "No, he's going to be moving in with her...so...in a way, I'm actually losing both the guys who were my friends and roommates...and I can't keep up the rent on a three bedroom apartment that's only going to have one person in it, between the two of us we're barely making the rent now...so I really need to figure out something different."

Casey nodded in understanding, and asked her, "Can I talk to you...in private?"

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Sure."

"What's going on, Casey?" Sylvie asked as he closed the door to his office and pulled the blinds.

"I don't need this becoming the latest piece of firehouse gossip," Matt explained, "I wanted to run an idea by you and see what you think."

"Okay," she said, with absolutely no idea what was coming.

"What if..." he paused, starting to regret even bringing this up, but pushed on, "What if when Cruz gets married...what if we get an apartment together?"

If she was supposed to read anything into this suggestion, it was clear that she didn't. "Okay?" she said nonchalantly.

"You're hardly home as it is, too many memories of Otis, and Severide and Kidd are gonna get married, and they're not going to need me around bugging them."

Sylvie pursed her lips together and cooed sympathetically, "Ohhh, I'm sure they won't mind you staying with them."

"But I will," Casey said, "I don't want to be in their way. I don't want to be in anybody's way...and..." he was momentarily at a loss for words, and tried to explain himself the best he could, "We could get a place together, we each have our own lives, we wouldn't be in each other's way..."

The gears in Sylvie's head finally started to turn as she said, without missing a beat, "And if anybody came to visit either of us, they'd all just have to make one stop, it'd be a lot of more convenient."

"Right," Casey said, not wanting to sound hopeful, well aware that she might not be on board with the idea, just wanting to lay it all out and see what she thought.

Brett moved her eyes back and forth and they stopped at the corner and looked over towards the wall as she stopped to consider it. "It...could, work," she said as she looked to the front again, "but we'd still definitely need a three bedroom apartment, because you know somebody would be staying over."

"No doubt," Casey replied.

"Oh and we'd definitely need one of those pull-out couches," Sylvie said, "...or, one of those with the recliners in them, something that would hold three or four people incase we'd all get stuck there one night."

Casey nodded. "Are you...do you think it could work?"

Sylvie got a nervous look on her face and absently bit the tip of her little finger, "I hate to ask, could we do that? I mean...does a captain make that much more?"

Casey smiled assuredly, "I've been paying half what I used to on rent and utilities staying with Kelly, trust me, it can be done...that is, if you're interested."

Sylvie got a strange look on her face and Matt was worried he'd said the wrong thing, then it dawned on him that she was smiling.

"That's the nicest thing anybody's said to me in a long time," she said as she hugged him, "Nobody has offered to let me move in with them, I didn't know what I'd do once I was on my own."

"Do me a favor, okay?" Casey asked as she pulled back, "Don't tell anybody about this yet, I don't want anyone thinking we're trying to upstage Severide and Kidd. And I don't want anyone else knowing about it until we're sure about it."

"Oh, absolutely," Sylvie nodded, "I get it, it's Stella's big day, she has to be going out of her mind right now." Suddenly the paramedic got all giddy like a schoolgirl and said, "I'm so excited for her!"

Capp sat in one of the chairs across from Boden in his office, and waited to see how the battalion chief would respond to the news he'd just delivered. Wallace sat in his chair and just stared at the Squad member with a look on his face simultaneously blank and confused.

"Uh..." he finally said as he seemed to snap out of it, "It's not April Fool's Day, is it, Capp?"

Not getting the connection whatsoever, the bald man shook his head and answered genuinely, "No, Chief."

"Ah..." Boden slowly nodded and added, "I just want to make sure I heard this right...I did hear it right, didn't I?"

Capp nodded, "Yes, Chief."

Boden sighed, feeling like he'd gone through the looking glass. "Why didn't you tell anyone about this?"

Capp shrugged, "Just didn't seem to be any reason to, until I knew for sure either way. And now, I'm hoping that it can stay between the two of us for the time being."

Boden was vexed by this comment. "Why don't you want anyone to know? After everything that we've been through, this House could use some good news."

"I know," Capp answered, "but the timing's just not right, I don't want anyone to think I'm stepping on their toes, and I have no interest in transferring to another House."

Boden nodded, "I can understand that. But I'm still not sure I get it."

"Look, Chief, a while back it just hit me, if anything ever happens and we lose Severide as Squad lieutenant, it would make more sense for somebody here to take over the position than for someone else to transfer here who might be a real dick and we get stuck with him."

Wallace raised his eyebrows slightly and pursed his upper lip under his nose and said, "Makes sense. Alright, they won't hear about it from me for the time being, but I would advise you not to wait too long."

Capp nodded and got up from his chair, "Thank you, Chief."

Boden stood up and called over to the man who was about to the door. "Harold."

Capp stopped and turned back to face the chief. Boden walked over to him and held out his hand, "Congratulations, lieutenant."

The firefighter was beaming from ear to ear as he shook Wallace's hand, "Thanks, Chief."