Broken Hearts

Kelly Severide had been at home when he got the message from Matt Casey. It was 9 o' clock on Valentine's Day night, and Casey had been out on a date, a strange time to be sending your roommate a message, until Kelly saw what it was, then he found himself in his car heading out to pick Casey up.

Matt's truck had been in the shop the last couple days, so he'd gotten a cab to meet his date at a bar and grill. Kelly knew little about the woman except she was somebody Casey had met a couple shifts back on a call. He didn't know the exact details but the two had decided to go out and see what happened.

He pulled up to the place Casey had sent him the directions for, and did a double take. It was 10 degrees out, not even counting the wind chill, and in the glare from the street lights he could see Matt seated on a bench near the curb outside the club. Kelly got out of his car and walked over to the Truck lieutenant, who just sat there and seemed intent on staring at his knees.

"Hey," he said, breaking the silence.

Casey looked up at him slowly. "Hey."

"You okay?" Kelly asked.

Casey thought about it before shaking his head, "No."

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Casey said as he stood up.

"That's okay," Kelly nodded, "Come on, let's get in the car and you can warm up."

Casey slipped in the passenger side of the Mustang and Severide got them out of there and headed back for home.

"So I guess things didn't go over well?" he asked.

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Casey told him.

"Well was there a fight or something? Did she have an ex that showed up?" Kelly asked.

Casey shook his head as he looked out the window, "Nothing like that."

Kelly glanced over at him. "But you're not hurt, right?"

"Not exactly," Matt responded.

Kelly turned his attention back to the road in front of them.

"Thanks for coming to get me," Casey said.

"No problem, buddy."

Silence again. After a couple minutes, even though Casey still stared out the passenger side window, he asked Severide, "What's wrong with me, Kelly?"

Kelly glanced over and couldn't resist teasing him, "You mean now or just in general?"

"Every date I go on ends up being a disaster," Casey turned and looked at him, "And that's the times I do go out with someone, which is rare...what am I doing wrong? Why can't I find a woman who actually likes me?"

"There're a million women in Chicago," Kelly said.

"And you've slept with most of them."

Kelly reached over and elbowed him. "You'll find the right one, it's just going to take a while."

"I get so tired of it, Kelly."

The despair was clear in his voice as he continued, "I miss Hallie so much, and I know I have to move on...I just get so tired of trying to find someone new, and every time I still end up alone...I should've known a first date on Valentine's Day was sure to fail."

"Why would you think that?" Kelly asked.

"Because it's for people who are already together, Kelly," Casey said with emphasis as if he was explaining a simple concept to a moron. "I am so tired of being alone, and I'm tired of trying, there's just no answer."

Kelly didn't say anything for a minute, he hadn't really given much thought to the subject and he certainly didn't know Casey was this tormented by his attempts to find someone new.

The night was still young. He turned his head and glanced over at Casey, "You want to go to Molly's and have a drink?"

Casey shook his head.

Kelly tried again, "You want to take in a late movie?"

"No."

Kelly nodded solemnly, "You just want to go home and forget tonight happened?"

Casey closed his eyes and nodded.

"Okay," Severide remarked.

Casey opened his eyes again and did a double take looking out the window, "This isn't the way home."

"I have a stop to make first, it'll be quick," Kelly told him.

Casey just nodded in response. He watched as they got on the highway and drove for about a mile, then raised an eyebrow curiously when Severide pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of the Dairy Queen.

"What're we doing here?" he asked.

"I'll be back in a minute," Kelly reached for the door handle, "you want anything?"

"No thanks."

Casey stayed in the car and waited, and as he waited, his frustration at the events of the night gave way to fatigue and he felt himself starting to fall asleep.

He heard the door open and the arctic blast of February Chicago air blew in as Kelly got back in his seat.

"Here, hold this for me till we get home," he said as he dropped a large bag of something cold on Casey's lap.

"Gah! What're-what's this?" Casey pulled the bag down and saw it was a heart shaped ice cream cake for two people. "What the hell?"

"Hey, we're not doing anything else tonight," Kelly said with a shrug, "I think a little pick-me-up's in order."

Casey looked at the cake and commented, "You're a strange man, Kelly Severide, you know that, don't you?"

Casey groaned as he dropped his fork. Both plates and the cardboard base the cake had been sitting on when they opened it, were all empty, only a trail of melted chocolate ice cream remained on them as proof of the ice cream cake the two firemen had eaten that night.

"Is this what women do when they can't get a date?" Casey asked. "Just binge on ice cream until they puke?"

"I wouldn't know," Kelly replied as he collected the dishes and rinsed them in the sink. "I was never a woman who couldn't get a date."

Casey moaned again. Eating half a cake hadn't been part of his plans but that's what happened anyway. It wasn't that he thought the sugar would keep him up but he was definitely going to feel miserable until he slept it off. But for the time being, it had taken his mind off the disaster his date was earlier that night.

"Hey," he said as he stood up from the table, "Thanks, Kelly."

Severide smirked at him, then pulled Casey into a brief hug and leaned over to lightly kiss him on the forehead, "Happy Valentine's Day, Casey."