The Heart of this House
Follow the story of Andy Darden's younger sister and her relationship with Firehouse 51 and a certain Lieutenant. Naomi Darden is a surgical intern at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center (Chicago Med) but her heart is at Chicago's infamous Firehouse 51 where her family risks their lives every day. This is set across the entire Chicago franchise (so may turn into a PD/Med crossover)
Chapter 2 – One More Shot at Forgiveness
"You know, the bastard didn't even ask my dad's permission." Andy downed his beer, looking over at Kelly who was nursing a whiskey. They'd had a rough shift and Severide was still miserable after his fight with Naomi.
"Seriously?" Casey finished his own drink and waved over the bartender for refills, "How did your parents take that?"
Darden shrugged, "They know better than to bring it up. Naomi is happy and that's all that matters to them." His mother had been devastated and his father furious; but the arguments at family dinners regarding Naomi's relationship with the arrogant idiot were so frequent that the topic was usually glossed over very quickly.
"So despite the fact that the guy is a complete ass…" Kelly started, his voice expressionless.
Andy interrupted his friend, "Severide, will you just call her and apologise? You're no fun when you're like this."
Kelly and Naomi were always fighting about something, so conversations like this occurred at least once a week. Usually it took a number of pleading messages from her brother before she answered the phone to a highly intoxicated and apologetic Severide. For as long as they had been friends, Andy and Matt had never understood Kelly's relationship with the younger Darden. They fought like siblings - more so than Andy and Naomi had when they were teenagers – and Kelly was more protective of Naomi than Andy ever dared to be. Yet, she was always the first person he called after a crap day (and vice versa), the only person who had seen him cry and although he didn't like to admit it often, she was the only person who really mattered to him. It was the same for Naomi. The girls of Ambulance 61 chalked it up to sexual tension and so did Matt. Andy didn't want to hear that about his baby sister and best friend. Besides both parties denied it fervently.
"She won't take my calls. You know what she's like when she's mad at me." Casey and Andy rolled their eyes and shared a look.
"To be fair bro, you did say stuff about her fiancé…" Matt said tentatively, knowing that his friend would either get defensive or storm out.
Kelly pulled out his wallet and slapped a note on the bar, "Oh come on Severide…"
He tipped back the whiskey, slammed it on the bar very deliberately and walked out of the bar, side stepping the three separate girls who tried to hit on him in the short walk between his bar stool and the door.
xxx
Naomi was curled up on her bed with a bridal magazine and a very large glass of red wine. She was flicking through the glossy pages, not really looking at anything. It had been a rough day; she'd lost a kid on the table and the cases that Gabby and Leslie had been ferrying in from the crash site were getting worse with every trip. She hadn't stopped all day, even when Maggie tried to force her to take a break. Keeping busy had been a good call, especially since her fight with Kelly had put her in a crap mood. She wanted nothing more than to punch his stupid face, but her boxing session with Gabby's brother wasn't for another two days. She was just pouring herself another glass of wine when her phone rang.
She almost didn't pick up when she saw the caller ID, but her mood meant that she couldn't be bothered to screen his calls for the rest of the evening.
"What?" She answered shortly.
She heard him take a deep breath on the other side of the phone, "I'm sorry Pixie."
"Hmm…" She wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily, but her current level of intoxication meant that she was in a forgiving mood. It didn't help that his old nickname always melted her into putty, "Are you now?"
Kelly could tell that Naomi had had about the same amount to drink as he had; her voice became very sultry when she had been drinking, "Look Naomi, you know how it is with Andy, Matt and I… No guy you are with is ever going to be good enough for you and…"
"Yeah, Kelly but Andy and Matt weren't compete asses about my fiancé…" Naomi countered, drawing her knees up to her chest.
He sighed, "I just want what is best for you."
"And you don't think Harrison is best for me…"
"Naomi, I don't want to get into this again… Will you please let me apologise?" Kelly leant against his car.
Naomi realised how tightly she was gripping her wine glass and decided to set it down before she shattered it, "Sure, go for it."
"I am really sorry that I upset you Pixie. I know that you love this guy, so if marrying him makes you happy then I guess that makes me happy."
She reached for her wine glass again after a long pause, mostly just to wind Kelly up, "Okay, you're forgiven. Just… promise me that you'll come to the wedding."
"Wild horses couldn't keep me away. You are aware that we're walking you down the aisle right?" Kelly felt a weight lift off his shoulders as his favourite girl forgave him. Every time he screwed up with Naomi, he was worried that she wouldn't forgive him - that this would be the last straw.
"You'll have to fight off my dad," Naomi laughed, imagining how that conversation would end. She paused, "How was your shift?"
"Hell. Yours?"
"Worse."
Kelly grimaced; he'd pulled the casualties out of the wreckage and sent them off to Naomi, "You want to talk about it?"
"Not really. I just… I wish I could get out there you know. There was this little girl..."
They had this conversation at least once a month, almost as often as he had to phone her to apologise for fucking up, "You're a great doctor though, Pixie, and an incredible surgeon. How many lives did you save today? "
"But just think of how many more I could save if I was out in the field…"
"You know that your brother would kill you if you even considered giving up your residency."
"I know." And Harrison would have a lot to say as well, she added silently.
Kelly smiled, "Go to bed, Pixie. You've had a long day."
"Alright," A wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over her, "And Kelly. Get a damn cab."
A.N. This chapter and the next were initially supposed to be one chapter but there was just too much going on so I decided to split them into two. I'm also supposed to be studying for finals, which is why the chapters aren't going up as quickly as I'd like. (3 weeks though, and then I can write as much as I want!)
I'm loving all the reviews of this story; I really appreciate them! I'm also loving the suggestions, and might ask for opinions in later chapters. There's lots of exciting stuff that I have planned, but I'm not sure where to slot them into the CF timeline (basically, before or after Andy dies - sadly that's something that isn't going to change in this story). I know we haven't met Harrison's character yet, so I should probably write him into the next chapter.
So, what do we think? Should Naomi marry Harrison? Or should she call off the wedding? And should this all transpire before or after the tragic events of the pilot episode. This is turning into a very slow burn fic and is becoming a bit Severide-centric. Please let me know if you like this, or if I should make this story slightly more episodic (i.e. EXCITING THINGS WILL HAPPEN). There are a few CF and CPD (and med) story lines that I want to insert Naomi into as well as story arcs of my own making. If you have any fav episodes that you want me to include, I'll add them to my list.
I've also have set up a Polyvore account for this story, mostly because I love creating background and backstory and creating outfits for my characters. Search 'heartofthishouse' if you'd like to see Naomi's wardrobe from chapter 1
Please review and keep leaving all your lovely suggestions. Now, it's 1am and I should really go to bed. (I'll try post the next chapter tomorrow, but I'm currently not very happy with it)
~ C.I
(Also, I might need to change the rating on this, as I'm getting a little mouthy)
xxx