Authors' Note: Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, voted, and reviewed our story. And, just a quick, little FYI - this is a Brett and Casey story, there will be no Casey and Gabby. Lol. Thanks again! We love you all! Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

Leaving Matt with Gabby wasn't something Brett wanted to do. She wanted to sit there with Matt and go back to the happy place they were in just moments before the tornado named Gabby Dawson walked in, but they couldn't do that. Not now. Now Gabby was back.

'Why is she back? Why now? We were so happy. Why did she have to come back now? What if she wants to stay? He'll pick her over me any day. What about my babies?' Thought Brett as she started to walk down the dark, cold streets of Chicago.

Brett was walking for about twenty minutes before she finally decided to pull out her phone and call the one person she knew would be here within ten minutes, Chloe.

"Hello," Answered Chloe almost immediately after Brett dialed her number.

Causing Brett's face to happily be graced with relief, "Ummm, hey, Chloe. Are you...with Joe right now?"

"No, I just left work. Why?"

"Umm...could you come pick me up, please? I'm outside of Dale's Boutique on Main Street."

"Yeah, Sylvie, of course. I'm leaving the office right now, so I should be there within ten minutes."

Brett sadly smiled into the phone, "Thank you so much."

"Of course! I'll be right there."

Brett sat on a bench for exactly ten minutes before she saw Chloe's car pull up and honk at her.

"Hey, thanks so much for coming and getting me." Said Brett as she quickly got into the passenger seat of Chloe's car and began pulling on her seat belt.

"No problem. My office is only a few minutes away, so it was really no big… Sylvie, what's wrong? Have you been crying?" Asked Chloe as she was finally able to get a good look at Brett's face.

"Ummm...yeah. Matt and I were out at dinner when his ex-wife showed up."

Chloe looked at Brett as if she had three heads, "What? I thought she left and was out of the country."

"Yeah, me too...You didn't call Joe or anyone did you?" Nervously asked Brett.

"No. I came right here after I left the office, why?"

"Good, I just didn't want to involve anyone from the house because then it becomes this big house issue. You know?"

Chloe quietly nodded her head, "So that's why you didn't call Stella or Emily."

"Yeah." Answered Brett with tears in her eyes.

"Okay, how about...you come and stay with me tonight?"

"Chloe, that would be amazing. Thank you!"

Chloe was happy to finally see a genuine smile grace her friend's face, "Of course. Do we need to stop at Matt's though so you can get some clothes?"

Brett's smile immediately dropped from her face, "Yeah, I'm only gonna go in if I don't see his truck, though.

Approximately fifteen minutes later Chloe pulled her car in front of Matt's apartment. Both girls sighed in relief at not seeing Matt's truck parked where it usually is.

"Okay, I'll be quick. I promise." Called out Brett as she rushed out of the car and into the apartment.

Brett quickly unlocked the door and ran in. She started grabbing clothing for tonight and tomorrow and shoving it in her on-shift bag. Casey had already washed their uniforms, so she gladly stopped by the dryer and picked hers up. As Brett was walking through the apartment collecting some of her things she remembered that her phone died right after she called Chloe, so she decided to leave Casey a note on the kitchen table.

Matt,

Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'm gonna stay with a friend till shift on Monday. Please don't try to find me, I need time.

Love,

Sylvie

"Did you get everything you need?" Asked Chloe as Brett put her bag in the back of the car and got into the front with Chloe.

"Yeah, I think so. I grabbed enough stuff for tonight and tomorrow if that's okay?"

"Of course, Brett, you are always welcome. But, hey, what do you say to stopping and grabbing something to eat?"

Brett giggled as small tears started to pool in her eyes, "That would be great I'm starving."

Chloe happily nodded, "Good! What do you feel like eating?"

Brett thought about it for a minute before responding, "I could actually go for a burger, fries, and the biggest coke on the planet right now."

"Mcdonald's it is!" Said Chloe as she quickly maneuvered the car through the busy Chicago traffic.

Both girls got Mcdonald's then quickly made their way to Chloe's beautiful three-bedroom apartment.

It was pretty late by the time the girls got in and ate, so they decided to go straight to bed. Brett was currently laying in Chloe's guest bedroom with all the blankets and pillows wrapped around her and her protruding baby bump.

Her phone had been going off none stop since she got it charged up. Everyone from the house now knew what had happened between her and Casey. There had been numerous texts from him, Foster, Kidd, Cruz, and so many more. It was sweet that everyone cared for her but she just needed a little time to decompress and think about everything.

She was currently going through all the missed calls and reading through all the texts everyone had sent.

'Brett, please let me know you're okay.' xCasey

'I'm worried about you. Please call me.' xCasey

'Brett, please. We need to talk.' xCasey

'Nothing happened between me and Gabby.' xCasey

'I love you.' xCasey

'Hey, Sylvie! Casey came looking for you and said that's he's worried. If you need anything, please let me know.' xCruz

'Hey, girl. Casey's going crazy. Please let us know you're okay, or Foster and I are going to hunt you down and beat your pregnant butt.' xKidd

'Brett, what's going on? Casey has been blowing up my phone asking me if I know where you are.' xFoster

Brett sat there for a moment staring at all the texts and calls she had received. It brought a smile to her face thinking about all the people that cared for her and her unborn babies. Brett felt her tired, puffy eyes start to get heavy, so she quickly individually messaged everyone back, except for Casey, telling them that she is safe and not to worry.

Sunday flew by, so before Brett knew it, it was Monday and she was walking into the firehouse to get ready for her shift.

"Brett!" Immediately called Casey as he started running up to her from his truck. "Brett, I was so worried. I didn't know what to do. I saw your note, then Cruz called and said you were staying with Chloe, so I…"

"Stop, Casey," Interrupted Brett.

"Brett, I..."

"No. I don't want to hear it. Okay? We are only going to talk about work while we are on shift, okay? That's it. Nothing else."

"Brett, you know..."

"No." Called Brett before she walked into the house and left Casey standing there with the saddest look he had ever possessed on his face.

Shift seemed to be ticking by very slowly. They were halfway through the day and barely anyone had been called out.

Casey was standing by the coffee pot staring at Brett as she and Foster were eating, talking about Foster's latest spin class. She hadn't spoken to him all day, which was torture for him. He just wanted to go and wrap her in his arms, but he couldn't.

"It'll get better, man." Said Severide as he came to get a cup of coffee and stand beside Casey.

"Yeah, I hope so." Whispered Casey as everyone was interrupted with the alarm bell.

ALL RESPOND APARTMENT COMPLEX FIRE - THIRD BROWN STREET - ALL RESPOND

Everyone leaped up from their spot and ran to their vehicles. Casey paused for a second by the fire truck because he and Brett usually stopped to tell each other to be careful, but not today. Today she jumped right into the ambulance with Foster and sped off.

"Let's go," Sadly called Casey as he and the rest of his crew jumped in the truck and took off.

By the time the whole house had arrived, the whole complex was up in flames. People were on the sidewalk crying and struggling for breath.

Everyone except Brett, Foster, and Boden were in the building. Brett got chills as it reminded her of the mattress fire.

"Everyone, evacuate! Evacuate!" Yelled Boden right before the building collapsed.

Brett held her breath as she watched most of the building fall to the ground.

"Casey!" Yelled Brett before darkness overtook her and she fell to the ground.

Whewww! Please let us know what you all thought, we are dying to know. Thanks for reading! -PurpleNewYorkCity/MSlugAntZ and one-chicago-obsessed