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Red Handed

Nearly a month passed, with Kelly having stretched the bottle of pills as far as he could. He had to go back to the pharmacy to pick up the other refill, having another bottle to help him last for awhile. He wondered what he was going to do when the percocet were out, since Shay wasn't helping him anymore either and there weren't any more refills. As he headed into the station on Thanksgiving, Lacey with him, he shook the thought from him mind.

"Whoa, Severide," Hermann started to scold as they came into the common room, Lacey carrying two trays of food. "Making the lady carry everything?"

"I actually fought him for it," Lacey laughed, setting the trays on the counter, then holding up her arm. "Because guess who finally got their cast off!"

"Very nice," Casey laughed.

"What did you make?" Dawson asked.

"Probably the best dessert ever," Kelly explained, putting an arm around his girl.

"You're biased," Lacey laughed before turning to Dawson. "They're chocolate with peanut butter frosting."

"Oh God," Shay complained as she came through to take a seat with Dawson. "Please keep those away from me, I had like three of them last night."

"Are you going to come for dinner Lacey?" Dawson asked.

"I wish she would," Kelly said, squeezing her shoulders and getting a look from her.

"I have dinner at Heather's," Lacey explained.

"Ah."

"Yeah," Lacey agreed, just as the alarm started to go off over head. "Sounds like you guys have a busy day anyway," as Kelly let her go, giving her a quick kiss. "Be safe."

"Will do," he promised.

Why was the only question that came to mind as Kelly and the others headed back to the station. Why did they have to stumble upon a meth lab today? Why did they have to get a drug test today? Why had he taken those percocet this morning? The last two questions he already knew the answer to, but that didn't make it any easier. He was going to get caught, he knew it. They were going to see the drugs he was taking, prescription medication that wasn't even his for an injury he was trying to hide.

"Hey, Shay," Kelly said, stopping her and leading her to the side.

"Hm?" she asked, turning around.

"I think I need your help with something," Kelly answered, explaining the current situation of how he had taken some of the pain meds that morning to help get through their shift.

"Oh my God, Severide," Shay complained, her voice low. "Are you serious?"

"Is there anyway I could put this off?" Kelly asked hopefully and Shay gave him an oh please look. "What if I said that Lacey just gave me a couple..."

"For what?" Shay jumped in. "Those are some serious pain meds, it's not just going to be for a headache or a pinched nerve. Plus, they've been building up in your system over the last month and that's going to show." Kelly sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Plus, they'd call Lacey to confirm that."

"Ok, ok," Kelly stopped her. "I get it, it was a bad idea."

"What?" Shay asked, looking him over. "Saying Lacey gave you them, or using them in the first place?" Kelly didn't answer, he only walked off.

"So, where's Kelly again?" Heather asked curiously as Lacey was helping in the kitchen, the boys playing football in the yard with some neighbor kids, her parents not arriving yet. Lacey stood at the counter, slicing potatoes.

"Um, on shift," Lacey answered in confusion. Since when did Heather care about where Kelly was? Lacey still had to hide him when they came to pick up the boys for stuff, and the boys certainly weren't allowed to visit Lacey and Kelly at their place.

"Oh right," Heather nodded along. "I think you mentioned that."

"Yeah..."

"Lacey," Heather sighed, stopping on the other side of the counter from her. "I know..." She wasn't sure how to start. "I know you think that I'm a bitch for this whole Kelly thing." Lacey opened her mouth to protest, but then stopped. Well, Heather wasn't wrong. "I'm not...just mad at Kelly because of what happened to Andy."

"What are you talking about?" Lacey asked in confusion. What else could Kelly have done?

"I started seeing your brother when we were nineteen," Heather said with a soft smile as she remembered. "You were only fourteen, a freshman in high school." Heather laughed a little. "I got to watch you grow up, through high school and college. Now, you're an adult and..." She shook her head. "I never had any sisters of my own. And I love you Lacey, I really do-"

"I love you too Heather," Lacey promised. She hoped Heather didn't think she brought Kelly around to spite her or something. "But what does this have to do with Kelly?" Heather sighed again.

"I know you think you know," Heather tried to explain. "What it's like, because of your dad and brother." Heather looked down. "But...it's completely different when you promise to spend forever with someone, when you have kids with them. The worry, the hurt...they're all different." She looked up at Lacey again. "I just don't want Kelly to hurt you."

"He's not going to," Lacey said back.

"Maybe not on purpose," Heather assured her. "But..." She swallowed hard. "I never expected to be a widow before my 30th birthday." Lacey went to respond, but the boys came running inside and Heather wiped a few stray tears from her eyes.

"Hey guys!" she greeted them as they came running in, peeling off their jackets and hats. "Go wash up, Grandma and Grandpa will be here soon."

Kelly avoided the drug test for as long as he could. Finally, being the last one who hadn't taken it yet, he went back to the bathroom with the white plastic cup, staring at it on the counter. Everything was about to come out, the pills, the secrets. What would it do to his career? And, worse, what was this going to do to his relationship? If Lacey knew he had been taking her pills for the last month...

"Kelly," a quiet voice came from behind him. Kelly looked to see Shay had come into the bathroom, offering him another white plastic cup.

"Shay..."

"Don't," she shook her head before walking off, clearly fed up with him at this point.

Kelly knew that he was pushing it, that this secret was more dangerous than he realized. But, what was he supposed to do? Get the surgery, be out of work for a year, or maybe even forever? Giving up being a firefighter was not an option, but neither was losing Lacey. Maybe he would talk to another doctor, get a second opinion. The thoughts raced through his mind and into the next morning as he left the station for home. When he got there, he was surprised to see Lacey was home since she spent the night at Heather's the night before.

"Hey," she grinned at him, having just finished breakfast herself. "There's still some pancakes on the stove, if you want some. Chocolate chip."

"Best roommate ever," he smiled at her, coming over to give her a quick kiss. While he and Shay could cook, everything Lacey made just seemed to be ten times better.

"How was your shift?" Lacey asked.

"Eh," Kelly shrugged, careful not to rub or roll his currently aching shoulder in front of her. "The usual. Dinner was nice though. How was Heather's?"

"Um, weird," Lacey laughed a little, getting up from the counter now.

"Weird how?" Kelly asked.

"Just Heather stuff," Lacey brushed it off, kissing him again. "I'm gonna head to the laundromat, do you need anything washed?"

"Nah, I don't think so," he shook his head as he watched her head for the stairs. "But, thanks."

"Yep," Lacey nodded, going upstairs. Kelly could hear her shuffling around up in their room as he dug into his breakfast. When he heard her coming back down the stairs, no laundry basket but with her bag over her shoulder, he laughed a little.

"Abandoning laundry already?" he asked, knowing how much she hated the chore. She went over to the counter without a word, setting the bottle of percocet in front of him. "Lace-"

"My pain killers?" she asked him with raised eye brows; Kelly tried to explain but she immediately cut him off. "Not just my pain killers, but the refill of my pain killers." She ran a hand through her hair. "Have you been taking these, since my accident?"

"Lace-"

"God, don't answer that," Lacey stopped him, turning to leave the apartment.

"Lacey, stop," Kelly said, going after her and grabbing her arm.

"Don't touch me," Lacey snapped as she turned around, pushing him off of her. There were tears in her eyes. "You've been lying to me Kelly, for weeks." She shook her head. "Did you think I was stupid, that I wouldn't figure it out?"

"No!" Kelly protested. "That's not it at all." He shook his head now. "It's just managing the pain in my shoulder, I-"

"God, don't throw that at me!" Lacey argued. "Pain management, Kelly, is taking an ibuprofen every so often. Not running through a bottle of percocet like it's candy!"

"Lacey, I can't..." Kelly tried to tell her. "I can't not be a firefighter."

"Well, think about what you lost instead," Lacey said, turning to go. She slammed the door before he could even go after her.

Matt had gone out for a drive, needing to clear his head. He had just gotten into an argument with Hallie and part of him hoped she wasn't around when he came back. It was a lot to take, knowing the person you wanted to spend your life with didn't want the same things as you. Maybe they just weren't meant to work out. Turning on the street by Heather's place, he stopped when he saw the brunette crying on the front stoop.

"Lacey?" Matt said in confusion, getting out of his truck and going over to her. "What are you doing?" He looked her over. "Is everything ok?"

"I think, um," Lacey sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "I think I just broke up with Kelly? I don't know...I just..."

"What happened?" Matt asked in shock. He had always though that Kelly and Lacey were doing ok, but from his own experience, things could always look ok on the outside. "What did he do?" For Lacey to be this upset, he knew she wasn't the one at fault.

"I can't get into this right now," Lacey shook her head, getting up from the stoop now. "I just..." She teared up again. "I tried my parents', but they're visiting my aunt in Madison. And I forgot Heather was taking the boys to her parents' for the weekend." She shook her head. "And I left my keys for both places at the apartment, so typical..."

"Do you need a place to crash?" Matt offered.

"Oh no," Lacey shook her head quickly. "I couldn't ask you to-"

"Seriously, it's ok," Matt promised. "Just till Heather or your parents' get back, all right?" He studied her reaction. "Or, if you make up with Kelly first."

"Doubtful," Lacey sighed, wiping the last of the tears off her face. "Thanks Matt."

"Sure thing," he nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. "And, listen, if he really did hurt you I'll kick his ass." He knew that Andy probably would have killed Kelly by now, not even having to know what happened, his baby sister's tears being enough. Lacey bit her lip as she laughed.

"Thanks," she told him before she followed him home.

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