"DAD!"
Matt sighed and glanced at the clock quickly before he slowly dragged himself out of bed, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt. Andy was definitely an earlier riser, and it seemed to be that way especially on days that Matt could sleep in. Dragging a hand over his face, he left his bedroom and padded out into the hallway, smiling at his son when he got to the kitchen and saw him picking cereal up off the floor.
"What exactly happened here?" He asked, taking a seat at the dining room table that had two bowls of cereal and milk set out.
"Oh shoot. I thought I'd get it clean. I made breakfast." He grinned up at his dad, throwing away the cereal he had in his hands and coming to the table, immediately digging into his own bowl. Matt himself took a bite of his froot loops. Though he was tired, the fact that his son had thought to 'make' breakfast for him wouldn't let him stay in a bad mood for too long. "What are we doing today?"
Matt sighed, taking a break from the colorful bowl and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "You are going to your moms."
Andy groaned, looking up at his dad. His opened mouth look of disappointment may have been amusing (he was missing a few teeth that made him look a bit funny when he smiled), if Matt didn't share his son's sentiments.
"Do I have to go?"
"Yeah, buddy, you do."
Andy slumped back in his chair, continuing to eat but seeming less enthusiastic than before. "Why?"
"Because, she's your mother and wants to see you. I told you this just a few days ago."
"Yeah but her house is boring. I want to stay with you. And go to the diner!"
Matt took a few bites of the sugary cereal, remembering that Peter Mills was having all the guys over at his family's diner. He thought about the woman he'd met at the grocery store, Grace, wondering if he'd maybe catch her there.
"Dad!"
"What, Andy?"
"I said I want to go to the diner with you!"
Matt sighed, looking at his exasperated son. "Listen, buddy. I'll take you to the diner soon, but what's happening tonight is an adult only thing. Besides, you're going to have a lot of fun at your moms, okay? You guys can go see a movie or something."
Andy grumbled, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed. Matt was exhausted, and wished his son wasn't being so argumentative. He understood why he didn't want to go stay with Hallie, but he wished that he could be happy, or at least try to enjoy himself.
"Okay, how about this. Before you go to your moms, you can pick a movie for us to watch. Does that sound fun?"
Andy sighed, but relented. "Okay. Fine. Can I stay in my pajamas?"
"Whatever you want buddy."
Gabby didn't even realize she had nodded off until a gunshot coming from the show playing on her TV woke her up. Disoriented and slightly panicked she rubbed her eyes, looking around the room. Seeing it was as empty as before, her eyes fell to the clock and she was instantly off the couch.
"Shit, shit, shit." She ran to her room, quickly pulling off her wrinkled tank top and grabbing the t-shirt with the diner's logo on it, late for work. Pulling on some sneakers she grabbed her backpack and keys, running to the front door and hastily locking it before sprinting down the street. She wove past the mothers with their kids, trying not to crash into anyone of get hit by any cars, and finally made it to the diner.
Panting, she opened the door and walked inside. Quickly waving hello to Elise, she made her way to the employee room in the back. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she checked her phone to see that she was somehow 3 minutes early. Shaking it off, Gabby tied her apron on and shoved her notepad and pens into her pockets, making her way out. Pulling her blonde hair back she clocked in at the register, going to stand around until she got her first table.
Gabby had noticed that her night shifts always started out slow, few people coming in to eat at 4 in the afternoon. Leaning against the counter she looked around the restaurant. There were two high schoolers on a date. An old man who came in regularly to drink coffee. A mom and her two daughters were drinking milkshakes in a booth. No one suspicious.
Letting out a sigh she allowed herself to relax. Working at the diner had given a nice stability to her new life that she hadn't expected. The last time she'd worked as a server was when she was 16, in the small Mexican restaurant run by her neighbors. Everyone in her neighborhood was practically family, their Spanish speaking block had families from different countries, but was still a tight knit community that looked out for each other. Though the atmosphere of the diner was very different than the small restaurant in Queens, it reminded her of those days. And even if it didn't it was a good job, people tipped well, and she got on with Peter's family.
Elise sidled up next to Gabby, nudging her arm and interrupting her thoughts. Jumping slightly, Gabby looked over to see it was her, and gave her a grin. "Hey."
"Hey Grace. You ran in here looking like hell today."
Gabby laughed. Elise's voice was calming, and her almost constant positive attitude made it impossible to not smile around her. "Uh, yeah. I woke up late and I think my clock was somehow set a few minutes ahead so I basically sprinted here before realizing I could've taken the bus."
"Oh god, that would happen to me so often if I didn't live literally next door." Gabby smiled at her before looking around the restaurant again. No one new yet. "By the way, we'll be closing up shop a few minutes early today."
"Oh, really? Why?"
"Peter's bringing some of the guys from his firehouse over. It's a Sunday, anyway, so I figured we'd close around 9? What do you think?"
Surprised Elise would even ask for her opinion Gabby shrugged. "That sounds good. I mean, we usually get slow around 8 anyway."
Nodding in agreement Elise turned to face Gabby. "And don't worry about cleaning or anything. I'm sure the guys will make a mess. Peter can deal with it tomorrow morning, I'm not about to make that my problem."
The door swung open, the bell above it ringing, and two men walked in, sitting at a table in Gabby's section. Smiling at Elise before heading over, Gabby thanked god that she'd be able to get home and get to sleep early. Plastering on a fake smile she went to greet the men who had just walked in and prepare to count the hours until she got to go home and sleep.
Their last customer left at 8:45 and Elise quickly went to close the door. Grinning at her running across the restaurant to flip the sign before anyone new could come in, Gabby finished clearing the last table she'd had, carrying the dishes to the back. Putting them down she looked around for the dishwasher. Hearing some music playing she walked around the corner to find the lanky teenager sitting on some empty crates, playing a game. Laughing quietly to herself, she went over and tapped him on the shoulder. Jumping, he stood up quickly.
Before he had the chance to say anything she reassured him. "It's okay, we've been slow tonight. Our last table just cleared out though and we're done for the night, so you may wanna head back to your station."
Looking relieved, he smiled at her. "Thanks Grace," he said shoving his phone into his pocket. Heading her way back to the front, she made herself comfortable at the counter, pulling out her cash and credit card stubs. At the register, Elise stood, preparing to take the cash box to the back.
"Don't forget to run your check out before you leave." Humming in acknowledgement Gabby quickly did before continuing to count her money. "You know, if you want to you can stay. Hang out with all the guys from the firehouse. My mom and I will both be here." Letting out another quiet acknowledgement, Gabby finished and gathered all of her stubs and shoved the cash she got to keep in her pocket, before handing the rest to Elise. "I'm sure Peter would like it if you stayed." Finally turning to face Gabby, she grabbed the paper and raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Elise, I'm not going to date your brother."
"I was NOT suggesting that."
"Oh please. I know you were. And I hate to break it to you but I'm not." Pulling off her apron Gabby straightened out her shirt, picking at a stain. "I really appreciate the invite, but I'm really tired."
"You're always really tired!" Giving her a bashful shrug Gabby quickly ran into the employee room, gathering her things and slipping into her sneakers, taking off the dreadful no slip shoes and stuffing them into her backpack. Pulling her bag onto her back she swung the door open.
"I can't help it, I'm- ", looking up she realized it was no longer just Elise, but Peter and the man from the grocery store were both there. "Oh. Uh- "
"Hey, Grace." Peter set down a large grocery bag full of food onto the counter.
"Hey Peter." Glancing awkwardly between Elise and Peter she waited for someone to say something.
"Oh uh, this is Matt Casey, my lieutenant. Lieutenant this is Grace. She just started working here a few weeks ago."
Gabby looked up from her shoes to find Matt looking at her intently. Giving him a tight lipped smile she stepped forward and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you again."
"You too." His eyes fell to her bare arms, and all of the scars on them. Embarrassed, Gabby let out a quiet laugh, pulling her hand back and wringing them together. Stepping towards the counter she shoved her apron into her backpack, glancing up quickly at Elise behind the counter. Ignoring the worried look she was giving her Gabby spoke up.
"Hey, Peter, Elise. I'm really sorry I can't stay. But I'll see you later, alright." Not bothering to look up or acknowledge their goodbyes, Gabby left the diner in a rush, almost tripping over her own feet.
Allowing herself to get a block away before reacting, Gabby cursed under her breath. How could she possibly manage to run into him a second time? And react so terribly. Gabby wasn't even really sure why she was so flustered by a man she'd seen twice before. But the way he'd looked down at her arms. She shook it off, and started walking to her bus stop, thinking over their interaction.
Pulling her phone out of her backpack, she dialed Hannah's number. "C'mon, c'mon, please answer."
She was about to give up and hang up when the ringing stopped and she heard a small sigh on the other side. "Grace?"
Hannah's voice was quiet and Gabby let out a sigh of relief, not even allowing herself to be mad that she called her Grace. She heard a door close on the other side of the call. "Um, how are you?"
Letting out a snort, Hannah answered "fine, how are you? I know somethings wrong, is why you're calling. Either that or you're getting unhealthily attached to me."
"I just uh- I don't even know why I called you."
"Well, I don't know why you called me either.
Rolling her eyes at Hannah's snark Gabby thought for a moment. "I guess I just don't know what to do."
"Hun, you're going to have to be a bit more specific."
Leaning against the brick of the building she stood next to, Gabby bit her lip. She tried to sort through all of her thoughts and pin point why everything was so hard. Pinpoint why she got anxious at the thought of having drinks with a few people, even though she used to love to go out with her friends and grab a beer with them. Not sure she could ever express exactly how she felt, she tried to put it into words. "I don't know how to be normal. I got invited to this thing, tonight, and I just left before anyone could even get there. And I uh- I even met this one guy. But the first thing he noticed about me were the scars and I just don't know how to be normal with people when they can't know anything about me."
She was received with silence from the other end, so she decided to just continue. "I guess I just keep getting reminded of all these memories of my neighborhood, and my family. It just really makes me want to go home. Where I actually know people."
"Gabby, you know you can't do that."
"Yeah." Stepping out of the way as two women passed her she tried to continue. "I just-"
"Look, it'll take some time before you're entirely comfortable here. Most people won't ever have to start over entirely, and it's even harder when you don't have a choice. But you can do this, it'll take some time."
Gabby nodded to herself, taking a deep breath. "It would be easier if I didn't have these scars. It's like every time someone sees me it's all they can focus on, and I don't exactly want that to be my conversation starter. I hate the thought that they're pitying me."
"Just wait until winter, that'll be your time. Long sleeves and turtle necks" Rolling her eyes at Hannah's antics, she took a moment to look at her surroundings. Seeing the bus pull up she grabbed her card out of her pocket, swiping it as she got on and finding a seat. "How was work?"
"Fine. I fell asleep though, and woke up thinking I was gonna be late. Basically sprinted there, and ended up being early."
"Oops. That may have been me."
Knitting her eyebrows Gabby sat up slightly in her seat. "Wait what?"
"Well I set all of the clocks in your house ahead 10 minutes to prevent you from being late."
"I… don't even know what to say to that."
"Sorry hon, just want you to live a productive life."
Gabby couldn't help but smile to herself as she shook her head. "You're ridiculous. I'm going to go now, goodnight."
"Goodnight." Ending the call Gabby sat up, willing herself to stay awake for the short ride back to her place.
"So Lieutenant Casey, the one I introduced you to…" Peter trailed off as they sat in the back office counting the cash for the evening. Gabby glanced up at him and then back down at the money in front of her. She let out a deep sigh, and looked up at Peter. "What?"
"You made me lose count." She gave him a small smile and he looked slightly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry. Never mind."
"No, it's fine." Gabby waved her hand, turning a bit to face him. "What were you gonna say?"
"It's just that when I introduced you guys, you said it was nice to meet him again. And he asked about you. I was just wondering how you guys knew each other?"
"Oh, I met him at the grocery store." Peter's look was inquisitive, and he opened his mouth to ask another question. Before he could ask she interjected. "His son ran away from him and was talking to me. We didn't talk or anything. Wait, you said he asked about me?" Gabby couldn't help but perk up a bit, curious as to what he could have asked.
"Yeah, nothing much." Looking down Peter turned back to the cash box and continued to count the money. Feeling somewhat guilty Gabby did the same. She had a feeling that Peter had a bit of a crush on her, just small things he said here and there. Her interest in Matt probably wasn't reassuring to Peter, but then again, she couldn't force herself to develop feelings for Peter. And she hadn't even developed feelings for Matt, really, he'd just piqued her interest.
While Gabby hadn't really developed romantic feelings for Peter, she was grateful at the fact that he and his family had been so kind to her. They made her feel comfortable, albeit not all the time, but most of it. Thinking about her conversation with Hannah, she decided to try and take a step towards a more productive life.
Packing her bag, getting ready to leave, Gabby took the jump.
"Hey Peter?" He looked up from the desk where he would likely be stuck for the next hour doing paperwork since his mom was sick and not up to the job. His hopeful look made Gabby smile. "I was just wondering- well, I haven't really had much of a chance to see Chicago at all yet. And I definitely don't really have many friends to show me anything. Maybe we could hang out one day? You can show me some of your favorite things to do around here."
Peter's face lit up and Gabby couldn't help but grin back at him. "Yeah, Grace, that sounds awesome."
"Awesome! We can figure out the details another time?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Awesome. Have a good night Peter."
"Yeah you too."
Gabby and Peter got together two days later. She always had Sunday's off and Peter didn't have to be at the firehouse until 4, so they met at the diner at 11. Peter grinned and stood up straight when he saw her coming, holding out an iced coffee. Gabby smiled back, giving him and impressed nod.
"One iced coffee for you." Accepting it they started walking. "So I figure we could walk around and I'll show you some of my favorite stores? Then we can get lunch at this taco truck I go to a lot."
"Sounds good to me." They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Gabby spoke up again. "So, how's working at the firehouse?"
"It's awesome." Peter glanced over at her, a cheeky grin on his face. "I mean, I'm still a candidate. So a lot of the work they have me doing is grunt work. You know, I clean and cook a lot. But it's cool, because they still trust me and let me do things on calls. Which is great cause I don't want to be babied."
Gabby nodded slowly. "So you're a part of…?"
"I'm on truck. But eventually I hope to be on rescue squad. That's like, my dream." Gabby nodded slowly as they turned a corner. "But what about you? Is serving just what you like to do, or are you trying to raise money to go school."
Gabby let out a quiet laugh. "Um, no, serving isn't my dream job." Thinking it over she wondered what she should tell him. That she used to be a nurse in a busy hospital? She couldn't say exactly from where but it wouldn't be a complete lie. Wondering what Hannah would advise her to do she decided to go with a sort of lie. "I've mostly done just random jobs. Temping, serving, I've worked in a few offices."
"Huh."
"I um…" she was going to say she had a nursing license, then rethought the decision, not wanting to prompt further questions. "I guess I don't mind. I liked interacting with people." Not much anymore, but it felt wrong to say. "And I figure if I have a calling one day I'll find it." Gabby had found it. She loved being a nurse and helping people, but it was off the table for now. She hated that she couldn't talk about her job the way Peter talked about being a firefighter.
"Yeah. I mean I've known forever that I wanted to be a firefighter. My dad was one, so growing up I looked up to him a lot. But, my mom on the other hand… it took her a while to figure out what she liked doing. You'll get there." Glancing over at him Gabby couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks Peter."
The afternoon went by quickly, and Gabby had a much better time than she'd expected. Her favorite stop was at an old record store, where she'd made the sporadic decision to buy a record player. Lugging it around wasn't enjoyable but with a few of her favorite albums hanging around her wrist she knew it'd be worth it. They finally made their way to Peter's firehouse, stopping outside, allowing her a moment to put down the box.
"Are you really gonna carry that thing home?" Peter asked. People were leaving around them while others walked in, giving Peter nods that he responded to, and giving her looks.
"Yeah well I have to now don't I. I'll take the bus, it'll be fine."
"Are you sure, cause- Hey, Lieutenant Casey!" Gabby looked in the direction Peter was waving to see Matt, dressed in jeans and a blue t shirt. She straightened up a bit as he walked towards them, and took a small step back as he came to stand with them. "This is Grace, you met her for a minute at our restaurant, and I guess before then too."
"Nice to see you again," he smiled at her and her stomach leaped a bit before she gave him a small nod.
"Why were you leaving, you're not working today?" Peter asked.
"Nah, Herrmann's in charge this shift. I had to switch a few shifts around because Jake has an appointment that Hallie can't take him to, so…" he glanced over at the record player at Gabby's feet. "Whatcha got there?"
"Peter was showing me around. We stopped in a record store, so…"
He nodded. "How far do you live, do you want a ride home?"
"Oh, um- I couldn't ask you to- "
"Really, it's fine."
Gabby glanced at Peter, and he gave her a shrug. "It will be a pretty far walk."
Turning back to Matt she gave him a smile. "I guess so." Matt took a step towards her and she quickly stepped back, taken off guard, but he simply went to grab the box from her feet. "Thank you."
"No problem. Mills, I'll see you next shift."
"Bye Lieutenant, bye Grace. See you Tuesday."
Peter walked off, picking up into a jog to catch up to a blonde woman who was staring in their direction intently. Turning away from her gaze, Gabby turned to see Matt waiting for her. He gave her a slight nod into the direction of his car, and started walking. Trailing behind him Gabby got into his truck as he put the box into the back seat. Uncomfortably adjusting her position she waited until he'd gotten into the car to put her seatbelt on.
He'd started up the engine, and pulled out before saying anything to her. "So, where are we going."
"Uh, Poplar and Buck. It's just a few blocks north of the diner."
"Sounds good."
They sat in uncomfortable silence, Gabby staring at the road while Matt occasionally glanced at her. It wasn't for a few minutes that he spoke up. "So, you're new to Chicago?"
"Yeah, yeah. It's nice here."
"Yeah, I love it. Never been anywhere that truly felt so much like home. It gets real cold in the winter though."
"Oh I'm sure I can handle it."
Matt grinned at her. "I'm sure you can." Giving him a small smile Gabby went back to staring at the road. "If you want a tour guide at all, I'd be happy to show you around. I can give you a list of good restaurants to check out, I don't know if you're into museums but there's definitely a few here worth checking out."
Gabby started to consider things that she might want to get into. She definitely wasn't into bars, and museums had never really been her thing. But she needed some hobbies, as Hannah had been pestering her about. "Actually, do you know about any parks or trails that would be good for running?"
"Uh yeah, lemme think… the 606 is nice, so is the Riverwalk if you want a view of the water. If you want some trees you could check out grant park or the north shore trail."
Nodding slowly Gabby made a mental note of the places he mentioned. "Thanks, I'll check them out."
"Are you into running?"
"No, mostly just in need of a hobby. Why not one that keeps me in shape?"
"Makes sense. You already look great though, in shape, I mean, you know-" Matt stopped when Gabby glanced at him, his cheeks were flushed red in embarrassment. Gabby couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks. I mean, I don't feel like I'm particularly out of shape, just could afford to be a bit healthier."
"Yeah of course. I could definitely afford to start working out too."
"You mean outside of the firefighting and saving people's lives?"
Matt grinned at her. "Yeah, well that's definitely a lot of work. But I don't go running often. And with Jake, my son, I feel like I'm always getting talked into ordering pizza, or making burgers."
"And the sugary cereal, of course." Gabby looked over at him to find me smiling at her intently.
"Of course the sugary cereal. He's not even that picky, he'll eat fruit and vegetables if I force him to."
"You're just a pushover, I get it." They pulled up to Gabby's street. "That one's me." Pulling up to her doorstep, Gabby turned to face Matt slightly. "Thank you for the ride, I really appreciate it."
"Yeah, it's no big deal." Gabby got out, opening the back seat to grab her record player, and walking over to her door. "Hey, Grace." She turned around once she set the record player down to grab her keys. Matt was looking at her nervously. "Would it be okay, if I joined you? When you go running, I mean."
Not able to help her surprise, Gabby nodded. "Uh yeah, I don't see why not." Not knowing her number by heart, she suggested "you can get my number from Peter, just text me, I can let you know when I'm going." She couldn't help but smile back at the huge grin he gave her. Giving her a wave he drove off, and she watched his car turn left before turning to open her door. Setting the record player on the counter, she dropped the rest of her bags on the ground and sighed. "What am I getting myself into?"
