Severide rubbed his eyes as he walked into his quarters after a long night of non stop calls. As the sun began to rise to a new day, he finally was able to lie down and close his eyes for a bit. He grabbed his cellphone before doing so, and saw that he had one missed called from Erin and a new message. He played it and put the phone to his ear.
"Hey it's Erin. Listen, I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier. You didn't deserve any of it, it wasn't fair. I was just so worried about Hank... he woke up, by the way. Everything looks good so that's great news. I'll stay with him at the hospital though. I-I think we should talk, work things out, you know? Call me back, bye."
Severide could not prevent a small smile from appearing on his face as he heard her voice and what she had to say. Once he had finished listening to the message, he looked at his screen and figured 6 am was a bit early to call her back. He quickly typed her a text and hit send.
I agree we should talk. I'll call you later.
He took a deep breath and set his phone aside, allowing sleep to take him over.
Tuuum-Tuuuuuum- Engine 51, truck 81, squad 3, ambulance 51. Building fire, 6th Main Road.
He groaned and sprang back to his feet.
After his shift, he swung by the hospital and found Lindsay in the same room as the day before. The only thing different was that Hank was awake and seemed alert. He was the first one to notice Severide in the doorway.
"Well, well, isn't it Lieutenant Severide?"
"Hey," he waved awkwardly. Lindsay turned around and smiled soflty. "Good to see you awake, sir."
"Good to be back. Thanks for pulling me out."
He shrugged and buried his hands into his pockets. "Doing my job, sir."
Erin stood up and squeezed Hank's hand. "I'll be back."
She mentioned for Severide to go outside and he followed her. "Can I at least buy you coffee?" he asked.
"Sure," she said. They went down to the cafeteria and ordered a coffe.
"I'm sorry," They both said at the same time, chuckling softly.
"What are you sorry for?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm the one who messed up here, I got jealous over nothing. I don't usually get jealous, but then it made me realize that I care about you more than I thought I did, and the thought of you hanging out with that womanizer Halstead makes me wanna hit something. I don't know what it is so, but I can't bear the fact that he might steal you away from me. Is that selfish?"
She shook her head. "It's not selfish. A little bit paranoid, but not selfish," she teased. "There's nothing going on between Halstead and I. He is just my partner, and we sometimes have a beer after work to cool off, but that's it. Now if you're gonna be the jealous boyfriend who can't stand the fact that I hang out with my male colleagues from time to time, then we've got a problem. I've already been through that, and I'm not signing a second time."
He took her hand in his and was glad when she didn't try to pull away. "I trust you. It's him I don't trust."
She smiled and rubbed his thumb with hers. "Then you've got nothing to worry about. It's you that I like, and it's you I want to wake up to in the morning, not Halstead or anyone else. I like you. And I would be stupid to let go one hot firefighter like you, Lieutenant." She then added teasingly, "Although, Halstead has some great abs."
He winced, and she chuckled, "Too soon?"
He nodded. "Too soon."
She stood on her tiptoes to press her lips to his softly. When they broke apart, she leaned her forehead against his. "Are we okay?"
He tucked a stray of her hair behind her ear. "We're okay."
She smiled. "Good, 'cause you're still the best sex I've ever had."
He smirked and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer, "Is that so?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don't get too cocky, Severide," She kissed him once more. "But more seriously, I don't want us to shut each other out in the future okay? When one of us feels the need to talk, we should talk, deal?"
"Deal," he said. He let her go and they got back to Voight's room, coffees long forgotten and never touched. "So will I have to get the stamp of approval from Voight for dating you?"
She shook her head, "Nah, he likes you."
They got back into the room and Severide sat down next to Lindsay. "So do you have any idea who did this?"
Hank pursed his lips. "Probably an anti-government bastard. Sheldon is going through every website and trend that might lead us to somebody. I just can't wait to get outta here and find those cowards." he spat out.
Erin rubbed his hand, "Take it easy, you're not going back to work just yet. The FBI is working on the case."
Voight scoffed, "They do as much in a week as what we can do in two hours. Call Alvin, tell him to work with Jin and Halstead. Antonio is gonna be outta work for some time and-"
"So are you," Erin assured him. She and Voight got into a glare contest which made Severide laugh.
"I'm gonna go, got some errands to run,"
"I'll walk you out," Lindsay said.
Severide got up and shook Voight's hand. "Rest well, sir." The older man nodded and the couple left the room.
"I need to get back to work and help Alvin and Jin on the case."
"Right," he said. He rubbed her upper arms with his hands. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Of course. Will I see you tonight?"
He grinned. "Sure," He bent and kissed her lips. "See ya, detective."
"Later, lieutenant."
When Erin got out of the station that evening, with Halstead beside her, she was surprised to find Severide waiting for her, leaning against his car. He looked up from his phone and smiled at her, giving Halstead a glance.
"Hey man," he said, extending his hand once both Lindsay and Halstead had come down the steps. Halstead seemed taken aback but shook his hand nonetheless. "How's the case going?"
"Got a suspect. Making a move tomorrow."
Severide nodded. "Good, catch those animals, yeah?"
It was Jay's turn to nod, "Sure thing," he turned to Erin and squeezed her shoulder. "See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, later," she said with a smile. Once he was out of ear shot, she turned to Severide and crossed her arms over her chest, "Is that your way of marking your territory? Coming here to pick me up in your vintage car and your boyish smirk?" she teased.
Kelly chuckled. "Nah, just wanted to make peace."
"Right," she drawled out. "Look who's become mature all of the sudden."
"Ha ha," he said sarcastically. He brought her to him and kissed her forehead. "Ready for a ride?"
He opened the door for her and she looked at him doubtfully, "Depends, where are we going?"
He had this childish look on his face, and she didn't know whether to find him cute or be afraid of what was going to come next.
"Not telling."
She huffed but got in the car anyway, rolling his eyes as he snickered while getting behind the wheel. The ride wasn't too long, five minutes or so. Severide parked the car in front of a baseball field, causing Erin to gasp dramatically.
She brought a hand to her chest, "A baseball field? Oh man, my dream come true!"
Kelly rolled his eyes and got out of the car. She followed suit. "The last couple of weeks have been tough on us with the explosions and everything. When I'm stressed or sad or if I just need to get it out, I usually come here and hit a few balls."
"Huh-huh," she said, still not convinced. He opened a beer that he had taken from the back of his car and handed one to her.
He took a swing from his beer and shrugged his shoulders. "You'll see." There were a few people playing already and she looked on sceptically. The ball would come out of a machine and people stood in each line, hitting it with a bat. Seemed stupid.
"I don't know how to play baseball."
"I'll show you," he took the beer from her and set it next to his on the table, then took her hand, leading her to one of the available space. He placed a helmet onto her head, handed her a bat and whistled. "Damn, you look sexy."
She hit his arm, sticking her tongue out at him. "Alright, you ready?" he asked. Her eyes widened, and she saw him with his hand on the start button.
"Hold on, what do I do?"
He laughed, shaking his head. "Just get ready to hit it, it's gonna come from there," he pointed to the machine. He hit the button and indeed, a ball came flying straight at her. She swung the bat but it only hit the air, the ball flying above it. Severide tried to keep from laughing but she looked too cute, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout.
She glared at him as soon as she heard him laugh, "Don't you dare make fun of me. This is my first time, Severide."
"Right," he came up behind her and placed both hands onto her hips. "The key to making a good hit is all in your hips. You gotta rotate them as you make the shot. Like this," he showed her how to move her hips and she felt a chill run up her spine. "Then, you keep your bat past your shoulder, behind your head, like this, to be able to swing full force. Got it?"
She had become short of breath all of the sudden. "Think so."
He moved from her and took the remote. "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be," she said. The ball came right in front of her and she hit it, and it felt so. damn. good. So surprised by her strength she let go to the bat and jumped up and down, squealing like a child. Kelly laughed, and couldn't help but smile at her adoringly. She stood before him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're right, this does feel good."
After that, they did a contest until they were both worn out from their little session of sport. Erin let go of the bat and put her hands on his chest, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
"Take me home," she whispered huskily.
He tipped back her helmet and kissed once more, but more properly. "I'd be glad to do so."