AN: The chapters are getting longer. Forgive me if it takes longer to post each one. I go through them at least three times for edits and grammar etc before posting. It's beginning to look like this story might be something like 25 to 30 chapters and holy cow are some of these characters mad at each other.

To say that silence stretched taut between Severide and Shay after her outburst was to downplay its magnitude by a factor of ten. The others noticed gradually, but said nothing. Shay still watched her best friend like a mother hen, eyes sharp for pain or hunger or weakness. But the banter was gone. Severide looked almost tentative to Boden's mind. Wary of his roommate and sidestepping her moods while he chafed and complained to everyone else about being bedridden. He was not in rare form and Boden frowned at this. Severide was smiling gamely, demanding news from his colleagues while he treated the nurses with friendly distance. Did not flirt more than his charming smile and a plea for something stronger with the jello in his cup. Did not argue when Shay snapped at an orderly about the dosage on his pain medication being too high. You could have mistaken his lieutenant for an almost mellow man. Content and relieved to be alive and surrounded by the people who pampered him and sung his praises. It stunk like a slaughterhouse in July.

Boden did not get to be Chief without a certain bit of intuition but he was honestly flummoxed by the shift between these two. Shay had been hysterical when he was brought in, well aware of the implications of Severide's fall. She had chained herself to his bedside for the last week and a half but Boden needed her back at the station. It seemed, at least to him, that these two needed a break from each other. Maybe in his own way, he could help them with whatever was going on before Severide left the hospital and was totally at Shay's mercy. Suddenly that did not seem like a wise solution.

"May I have the room? I need to speak to Lieutenant Severide and Miss Shay for a minute." It was a measure of the power of his authority that three firefighters and a nurse walked single file and silent out the door which closed with an audible click before he turned back to his employees with a hmmmm hands propped on the utility belt at his hips. Both of them blinked their big blue eyes at him and he was irritated. More than he should be, really, but it couldn't be helped. It was good that Severide was alive and well and whatever was wrong between these friends could not possibly be worth it to his way of thinking.

"I don't care what's going on between you. And I really don't care if you fix it anytime soon. Shay. Firehouse 51 is down too many people for you to sulk by my lieutenant's bed. Your next shift begins tomorrow at 6am. Go home. Now. And not one word out of you." Boden saw her begin to protest and cut her off. He wasn't above scaring his subordinates into shaping up. He had no time or patience for the sort of stunted maturity he saw amongst his people at the house. And it was clear to him at least, that hurt and vulnerable as he was, Severide didn't need anyone making him feel worse. Doubt was the worst thing in a firefighter. An inability to trust yourself could kill you as quick as any danger in a firefight. He knew. He'd watched a fellow fireman die and was still reaping the burdens of that situation. To watch Severide become less than, to watch him grow smaller was unacceptable. He glared at Shay while she packed her things. There would definitely be a discussion in the morning.

"How are you Kelly?" He used his first name so Severide would know this conversation was not about work. Not about being a subordinate to his boss in whatever was said next in the privacy of his hospital room. Boden took a seat next to the cot and saw the painful half shrug and the quick smile as Kelly's weak effort at being his usual jocular self. Boden was by turns proud and exasperated by the man before him. The youngest candidate to ever make Rescue Squad in CFD history. Kelly had been quick and fierce, filled with a raw intelligence he rarely seemed to use in his chosen profession. He ran on instinct, went his own way half the time, was stubborn as a bull and fixed his own problems. Probably because he created those same problems in the first place. He did not ask for help. That he had reached out more often in the last year than the last five years combined told Boden something about where his lieutenant might be going in his own head. Darden's death made his mortality real. The neck injury should have taken his vocation from him but didn't. This latest hospital stint. He was not getting any younger and fires have always been faster.

"Your squad will be waiting for you when you come back." he couldn't mince words with Kelly. His damn pride wouldn't let him ask the question but Boden had no doubt that his lieutenant would be running into danger again in six months. Tops. The doctors were frustrated by his persistent questions but 6 weeks in a walking boot and that tibia would be solid. Some physical therapy, some common sense and he'd strap on that gear just as strong as he ever was before.

"Thank you sir. It means a lot" and Boden could tell that it did. That the firehouse was his life and he would feel incomplete without it. "They're waiting for my ribs to heal up enough so I can walk on crutches without re-injuring myself before I get to leave. I guess they don't trust me much"

"Nor should they, I think" Boden said the rebuke with the sort of smile that said he understood and Kelly seemed to relax just the slightest bit. Pain was going to be a constant companion during this recovery. They both knew that and Boden's job much like any parent with a recalcitrant child was to let Kelly know that this was fine and it would pass. He didn't think he needed to insult him with a speech. Not until he was up and about and going too far too fast. But he couldn't leave the man in limbo while he tried to get better. Kelly was the kind of man who needed something to fight for. Hopelessness was a bad look on any man but given the caliber of his father's parenting skills, Kelly's drive to outperform was a reaction to never living up to his dad's expectations. Expectations that were unrealistic and unfair and while Boden believed Severide the younger was smart enough to recognize this, it's hard to change lifelong patterns.

"You wanna tell me what's going on with Shay?"

"No I do not sir"

"Hmm. Is it going to affect the firehouse? You and Casey-" Boden paused when he saw Kelly flinch. So he's worried too.

"I won't be around for a couple months at least. The firehouse shouldn't really been an issue"

"No, it'll be an issue at home, where you're isolated, incapacitated and at the mercy of Shay's moods" Boden was frank on purpose. He wanted to see how Kelly felt about needing help from someone who he was not on good terms with.

Severide swallowed. He'd been thinking about this a lot and he had no easy answer for the chief. Shay was upset and he didn't know what she knew about the whole situation. Dawson had only come in once since that first day, sandwiched between Otis and Hermann and talking about how they bought a bar and he had to get out of the damn hospital for a drink with them. Dawson seemed genuinely excited. Her face was lit up and whatever was the matter between them took a backburner to squabbling with Otis. She was beautiful and he'd put his head back on his flat hospital pillow and just looked at her. He guessed he'd semi-figured out why he kept climbing back into her bed, to hell with all the consequences. She just… fit. He was constantly surprised at how tiny she really was given her forceful presence. Severide glanced at his boss, embarrassed to have been caught stewing in his own head without responding.

"I can handle Shay. It's not like I haven't given her reasons to be mad before and she stuck around." Even pissed off at him and silent at his bedside she took care of him. He was still worried and grasping at straws as to just how this could be the thing that broke them. They needed to talk, really talk because he wasn't taking advantage of Dawson and god how he hoped they both knew that. He wasn't trying to wreck anything. Like Dawson had said, Shay was family, the common link they shared and he would do anything for her.

Half way across town, Shay was eating a brownie and speed dialing Dawson. The apartment was immaculate. Her inner clean freak wanted to inspect everything but she settled in at the kitchen counter and let the chocolate soothe her. This was not the gesture of a woman letting go of her roommate. Nope. This was bad. Dawson had cooked and baked and moved furniture. She'd made up the couch and put pajamas out and Shay didn't even say hello when Dawson finally picked up.

"Bitch, what'd you do to my living room?!"

"Shay, he can't handle that absurd staircase and he's not staying in your bedroom." Shay heard the trepidation in Dawson's voice. What she had done was presumptuous but Shay knew her intentions had been good. Probably fueled a great deal by guilt and this whole situation made her want to scream. She hated being in the middle of this. Hated that Dawson was so spun out on Kelly's fall, she'd run. That she'd let her because Dawson with Kelly was a headache she didn't want to contemplate if Casey ever found out. She hated that Kelly was so ripped up about it. That she was still so pissed because neither one of her friends trusted her enough to say anything until it was convenient. That hurt and she still didn't have the full story. She'd watched Kelly tuck Dawson under his left arm and give her a look before he said no more Cuervo for you and the answering smile on her partner's face had been a slap in hers.

"You also baked multiple times and don't think I didn't see the laundry too"

"I was helping you. You're the one who's stuck doing everything for his belligerent ass when he finally gets home." Shay heard how Dawson's voice cut out. How emotion was riding her before she stuffed it back in. "Look Shay, he's your best friend. I'm not going to get between you. He's Severide. You're you. I just wanted to help."

Technically, this could be true but Shay didn't think that was the reason she now had thirty six decadent brownie pieces, plus two trays of enchiladas and arroz con pollo in her fridge. She remembered too well, the look on Dawson's face when she returned to the hospital that first night. She'd been standing over Kelly when Shay walked in. For the first time, she witnessed the affection her friend had hidden from her as Dawson kissed Kelly's forehead, his eyes and nose and finally his mouth so very softly before turning to Shay with shining eyes and saying I can't do this. All Shay could glean from the sobbing babble that Dawson spewed next was her utter belief that she and Kelly couldn't work. That because of her terrible decisions with Casey and Mills, it would all fall apart and she would truly break this time. If it couldn't work with sweet kind guys like them, how on earth was she going to handle it when Kelly watched her screw up and then walked away.

Shay could have said what was obvious to her. Kelly was sweet, and kind and an absolute sweetheart under his leather jacket. But she didn't. Dawson wasn't condemning him. She was hating herself for not making it work with Mills and Casey and convinced the fallout would be worse somehow with Kelly. Shay sighed. Decisions made in the heat of emotional upheaval were rarely the smartest course but she'd convinced Dawson she was right to let go. All the while pissed because Kelly had turned her partner into a pale shaky mess in less than two months. Just plain pissed at men and every single one in Dawson's life specifically for getting her to this point. Pissed that she was in the middle and in the position of consoling from both ends. She wouldn't do it. She couldn't.

"Thank you Dawson. I'm sure he'll appreciate your food at least."

"How is he?"

"It'll be another couple days at least before he can be released because of the ribs"

"Ah, okay." A long silence stretched between them. Shay nibbled on her brownie, aware that the easy camaraderie of their friendship was strained and too tired to fix it.

"I'll see you on shift tomorrow", she offered weakly.

"Great. I'll see you then".

Shay walked slowly through her apartment, checking over everything that Dawson had done. Dawson, whose own apartment was a haphazard mess at times, with books and clothes and hair accessories everywhere. She had cleaned up everything and then some. The trash was taken out, all the spoiled food was thrown out. Never mind the food, Dawson loved cooking. It was the couch, its pullout bed all hospital corners and Kelly's favourite lounge shorts and shirt lain out that got to Shay. There were slippers. Kelly didn't own slippers. Dawson may have said she let go but her actions said she cared way more than Shay thought was possible for either of the people involved. She was not looking forward to whatever came next.

Thoughts? Thanks for reading!