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 3 - You Get Shot For Crossing the Boundary
Naomi usually loved the CFD galas – she loved any excuse to get out of the scrubs and into the heels – but after the last argument with Kelly and Firehouse 51's reaction to her engagement, she was nervous. Sure she and Kelly had sorted everything out and Connie had organised a congratulations bouquet, but this was different. She hadn't worn the ring to an event yet; something that Harrison's mother had something to say about. Harrison's mother had something to say about everything. Stupid interfering cow. She'd insisted that Naomi get her hair styled for the gala, and sent over a designer dress that was possibly the ugliest garment Naomi had ever seen. Naomi conceded on the hair, but the dress stayed in the wardrobe, hidden behind her senior prom dress. She'd maybe consider wearing it to one of Harrison's law firm parties, but not to the CFD gala. Harrison had raised an eyebrow when she came downstairs in a dress that didn't match his tie, but chose not to say anything. "You look lovely, darling."
Naomi had been dress shopping with Gabby and Leslie and had found a black strapless dress that was still CFD gala appropriate but flattering enough to piss off her soon to be mother-in-law. According to the girls, flattering meant revealing. Leslie was also wearing black, while Gabby was pushing the boat out and went for red. They had joked around in the boutique but there was no denying that the trio were going to drop some jaws.
The gala was like a fairy-tale: grand ballroom, sweeping staircase, low hung chandeliers. Naomi loved her annual Cinderella moment for this very reason that the venue for the gala was astounding. She wasn't known for being shy, but she felt all eyes on her as she descended the staircase and was incredibly nervous. She tried to convince herself that in was because she was hanging onto Harrison's arm and that the ring was linked to a giant flashing neon sign above them. Searching for the girls to give her a reassuring smile (she was convinced she was going to topple down the stairs), her eyes instead fell upon her brother, who was sporting an expression she had never seen before. That was a lie. She had seen that expression before. It was the same goofy, gormless, speechless expression that had covered his face when Heather had walked down the aisle.
"Close your mouth, Andrew, you are not a codfish." Naomi smiled, playfully hitting her brother on the arm. Her brother raised an eyebrow at the reference, but held her at an arm's length.
"You look incredible, Nimbob." Naomi put her hand to her warming cheek, as Matt nodded his agreement.
"Where is your wife?" Naomi asked when she had finally gotten a handle on her blush and the compliments had eventually died down.
"With Hallie and the girls… They're around here somewhere."
Sure enough, Heather and Hallie appeared, arms linked pushing through the crowd to reach them, Naomi hugged both women who were giving her approving looks as they took in her appearance.
"Well hey there Cinderella." Heather commented, balancing her clutch and two glasses of champagne while trying to hug her sister-in-law.
Naomi frowned, "I'm not sure if that counts as a compliment, Heather. Who has the boys tonight?"
"One of Hermann's babysitters," Heather looked worried, "She's got them all tonight."
Laughing, Naomi waved at Gabby and Leslie over Matt's shoulder, they had been cornered by someone important looking in their attempt to join the group, "Well, good luck to her."
Naomi jumped slightly as she felt two hands on her waist and a quiet voice whispering against her neck, "Wow". She smiled as Kelly appeared in her peripheral and planted the lightest kiss on her cheek. He lingered there slightly longer than she anticipated so their faces were inches apart as she turned to greet him.
"Hi," she breathed, slightly thrown by their intimacy, his hand was still lightly brushing her waist. Andy noticed this exchange and quickly engaged Harrison in a discussion, so that they could pull themselves together. He could see the glares that Naomi's fiancé was shooting into the back of Kelly's head. After a few more seconds of something that Andy had never seen between his little sister and his best friend, Naomi came to her senses and touched Kelly's hand. Like he'd been shocked, he pulled his hand from the small of her back waist and quickly moved away from their group.
Naomi let out a breath that she'd held while she had locked eyes with Kelly, "I need a drink."
xxx
Naomi was feeling claustrophobic; Harrison had had his arm around her waist all night. She felt like she was on a leash. After about three hours of small talk and showing off the engagement to everyone they encountered, she extracted herself from his clutches and went out onto the roof top garden that had the most spectacular view of Chicago. She leant against the railing next to a familiar body.
"What are you doing out here?"
"I needed a minute," Naomi sighed, and Kelly noticed the same sultry tone that he'd heard on the phone a few days prior. He'd been drinking heavily to deal with Harrison draping himself over Naomi after their moment when she arrived looking like a bombshell. He'd noticed her sneaking a few shots at the bar while downing flutes of champagne faster than he'd ever seen her.
"You seriously look beautiful."
"Kelly…" Naomi felt his hand sliding down her arm, pulling her closer. She leant away from him as she smelt the alcohol on his breath, "Kelly, you've been drinking."
"You can't turn up looking like this…" Naomi shrugged uncomfortably as Kelly's lips hovered above her neck. She tried pushing against his chest, forgetting how strong he was, "And expect me not to…"
"Whoa, Kelly, what are you doing?" Again she tried pushing against him, but his arm was tightly wound around her waist. He pulled her into his body, trying to turn her into him.
"Kelly!" Naomi placed both her hands on his chest, pushing back and staring up at him in horror, "Stop!"
Severide looked down at the beautiful blonde, through an alcohol haze, feeling the perfect figure in his arms, searching for something in the two chocolate brown eyes. Instead he found a face that he was not expecting: Naomi's.
"Oh my god," He moved her away from him, "Fuck, Naomi. I... I'm so… Shit."
"Kelly, what the hell was that? We agreed that you don't do that."
xxx
Kelly Severide had not made a move on Naomi Darden since the night after her 20th birthday, when they'd both had enough alcohol to sterilize an entire OR. Luckily, or so they'd agreed a few days later, they'd been interrupted by a phone call from Naomi's best friend. A few minutes later, Kelly was holding back her hair as she emptied her stomach. After that any relations between them, they decided, would be an awful idea. Naomi remembered that conversation very clearly.
Quite a few years ago…
Naomi had eventually slept off her hangover and turned up at Kelly's apartment with some apology brownies. When he didn't answer the door, she let herself in with the spare key, checking carefully for any signs of last night's bimbo of choice strewn across the floor. Instead, she found Kelly sleeping off his own hangover (he'd gone out three nights in a row after the Naomi encounter, trying to erase his stupidity from his memory – although he never admitted that). He woke up to the smell of coffee and to the sight of the petite blonde opening his curtains.
"What are you doing here?"
"Good morning to you too, Sleeping Beauty. I brought brownies to apologise."
"What are you apologising for?"
"Having to deal with me when I drank too much."
"How many times did you have to sneak us into your parent's house when we were in high school?"
"So I don't have to bring brownies when you're hungover?"
"Oh, no you always have to bring brownies."
"No plastic bimbos this morning?"
"Nah, you're the only girl for me Pixie."
"Funny." Naomi threw a pair of sweats at him before climbing onto the end of his bed, "We need to talk about that"
She waited for him to pull the sweats on, "Look Kelly, that can't happen again."
"Why?" He grinned, "Was kissing me that bad?"
"Oh, it definitely wasn't unpleasant…" Naomi tried to keep her face from turning cherry red, as she remembered Kelly's hands running through her hair, down her back, over the curve of her arse… The way that he kissed the spot on her neck that made her purr like a kitten. "But Kelly, we're us. We're Kelly and Naomi. You've been best friends with my brother since Kindergarten; you've literally known me since I was in diapers. You saw me in the braces phase of my life"
"To be fair, the braces weren't great..."
"But I have a lovely smile now." Naomi knew that there were many things she could tease Kelly about after knowing him for 20 years, but instead defended her metal mouth years.
"You've always had a lovely smile."
"That's sweet, but beside the point."
"So what is the point?"
"I love you Kelly… I really do… but I love you how I love Matt… And I love you both the way that I love Andy. We've always had something. We're always going to be Kelly and Naomi. You and I will always have a special bond, but you and me as a couple… You and I as anything other than what we are will end catastrophically."
"Wow, Naomi, it's too early in the morning for that level of rejection…"
"It's 3pm."
"I'm kidding… Come here…"
"Kelly…"
"For god's sake, Naomi. Come here."
Naomi eyed her friend for a few seconds before crawling across the bed. Kelly wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his body. She leant her head into his shoulder, where he planted a kiss on the top of her head.
"I love you Pixie. I don't think you understand how important you are to me and I never want to lose you. But you are a bombshell. There is literally no other way to say it. You are one of the most beautiful women I've ever met."
"Kelly…" Naomi noticed how he was absentmindedly playing with one of her baby curls at the nape of her neck.
"No, you really are. And I'm an ass because my brain is basically in my penis… especially when I drink. And when I drink, I only see how fucking gorgeous you are, and I forget everything else. So I'm going to promise you something right now… I'm never going to make a move on you again."
"Kelly… You don't need to…."
"No, I do. And if I break this promise, I give you full permission to set Andy on me."
"Andy is a poodle."
"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be if he found out how much I enjoyed…"
"Okay." Naomi elbowed him lightly; "I get it."
"And just so we're clear, you love me a little more than you love Matt right?"
xxx
From Naomi's face, Kelly could tell that she was remembering the same conversation that he was. Her face was painted with every bit of hurt that he knew he was causing her; he watched her eyes fill with tears. Taking a step towards her and reaching for her cheek, he noticed how she flinched and turned her head away.
"You promised…" Her breath hitched as she whispered
He knew he'd fucked it up for the last time.
A.N. New chapter! :D
I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, especially how Kelly comes across... But it brought a bit of the history of their relationship, and it'll be important for the next couple of chapters. Also, I know the legal drinking age in the US is 21, but Naomi has three older brother types wrapped tightly around her finger who can legally buy her booze... I also don't want her to come across Mary-Sue ish. I want her to have a bit of a wild streak. Also, do we like the flashback? I might put a few more in...
I promise that Harrison will definitely feature in the next chapter (wedding planning will be happening (!))
Please let me know what you think
~ C.I
xxx