Thank you for the nice response to the last chapter. I truly appreciate the support. Enjoy !

Severide jumped off Squad 3's truck before it had even properly pulled up in front of Erin's building. He had requested to the chief that they take the truck to make way for the ambulance to be there sooner.

He climbed the stairs two by two and rushed down the hall until he was in front of Erin's apartment entrance. She was laying by the end of the hall, two police officers crouched down near her. They moved away when they saw him approach and he knelt beside her.

"Erin," he murmured, his eyes finding her opened one. "Where does it hurt?"

It took her a few seconds to realize he was there. Her vision was still fuzzy and she was trembling because of her fever.

"My side an-and my face," she heard another set of rushing footsteps and soon Shay was in front of her. "Don't leave," she told Severide, who only moved to the side to let Shay and Rafferty do their work. He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Rafferty pulled out a light and quickly checked her eyes. "Pupils reactive, possible head trauma."

They strapped a neckbrace to her neck and placed her on the board and onto the gurney. Severide bent down and kissed her forehead. "I need to talk to the officers, I'll see you at the hospital, 'k?"

Erin nodded as best as she could. "Okay."

Once they had cleared the room, Severide turned to the said police officers. "Her neighbor heard a fight, she called us. The attacker was gone before we got here. We'll follow you to the hospital and ask her some questions."

Severide stopped them, "No need. The intelligence unit will take care of it. She's Hank Voight's daughter."

"Where's she?!" Voight exclaimed as he marched into the Emergency Room. He was followed by Antonio, Jay and Alvin. Severide and the other crew members' heads shot up and Kelly stood up before he caused a scene.

"The doctors are doing a check up. But she is conscious and responsive," he told Voight, who let out a sigh in relief.

"Who did this?" he asked. He seemed completely at loss, not understanding why something like this would happen to Erin. It was the first time Severide had seen him so helpless.

Kelly shook her head. "She didn't say anything." He shared a look with Jay, which did not go unnoticed by Voight.

"Charlie has been in contact with her for the past few weeks."

Voight sneered, "Find him. Go back to intelligence and find everything you can," no one budged as they wanted to stay to see Erin, and Voight turned around sharply, glaring at them. "GO!"

Everyone shuffled out of the room just as a nurse walked in. Severide walked to her, followed by Voight.

"Ms. Lindsay is fine. She has a head concussion, three broken ribs and a mean black eye but other than that she is completely aware and responsive. But her fever has gone up so we put her under antibiotics, she'll have to stay for a few hours on observation."

Severide nodded and breathed out in relief. "Thank you. Can I see her?"

"She asked for Kelly Severide, is that you?" Kelly nodded. "Alright follow me. Only one visitor at the time."

Hank flashed his badge. "I'm from Intelligence, I need to ask her a few questions."

They both walked to the room and Kelly quickened his pace to get to the bed. She immediately sighed when she saw him, and Hank decided to linger by the door not to interrupt their moment.

Kelly pressed his lips to her temple as soon as he could reach her, left hand cupping her neck. She grabbed onto his elbow to keep him there for a moment. He rested his forehead against the side of her head, closing his eyes. Voight decided it was best if he took a walk and came back later.

"God, you scared me," he whispered, pulling away to meet her gaze. He took her hand and ran his thumb over her palm. "Are you in pain?"

She shook her head lightly. "I'm okay. The medicine helped." She closed her eyes and a few tears fell down her cheeks.

"What is it?"

"I-I trusted him. I trusted him and he attacked me. He used to be my best friend. I wasn't even able to defend myself. He punched me and I fell, and I wasn't capable of fighting him, of doing to him what I do on the job, I was weak."

"Hey," he cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. "You were sick and exhausted, there's nothing you could do."

"I didn't think he would ever... he's never been violent."

Severide clenched his teeth, taking a deep breath. She frowned, immediately wincing from the pain the movement had caused her. "Don't do anything stupid, Kelly."

He pursed his lips and shook his head. "I can't promise you that, Erin."

"He is not worth it. Let Hank handle it."

Kelly pulled away and ran a hand through his hair. "He beat you, Erin! He could have killed you. He could have taken you away from me. And I can't even imagine my life without you being in it. The thought of you getting hurt makes me sick. This guy, deserves what he deserves for hurting you. I can't take the risk of losing you," his voice wavered, "I can't."

She bit down on her bottom lip and waved him over, "Come here," she said. Cupping his face with both hands, she brought his gaze up to meet hers. "I am not going anywhere. I am here, and I am okay." She took his hand and kissed it. "He wouldn't have killed me, Kelly. He wasn't himself but he wouldn't have done that. He is not a murderer."

He shut his eyes, trying to control his nerves as he breathed out. "The fact that he wouldn't have killed you doesn't make me any less furious at him."

"I know," she murmured. "But promise you won't do anything, please?"

He sighed and nodded. "Fine." His radio announced another call, "Dammit, I gotta go. You should stay at my place for a while, until he is arrested. I don't want you to go back to your apartment."

She smiled, "Alright."

He bent down and pressed his lips to her. "I love you. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. I love you too."

Kelly was glad when his shift was over the next day. He couldn't wait to go home and see how Erin was doing, and enjoying the day with her. She had texted him earlier, asking him if he could stop by her place to pick up some clothes and books. When he rounded the corner, he stopped short when he saw a man sat near her door.

He clenched his teeth and felt every sense in his body being replaced by anger. He marched over there just in time for Charlie to raise his head. His eyes widened and he quickly stood up and put his hands in the air.

"I don't have a problem with you man, okay?" he seemed panicked, and looking for an exit.

Kelly slammed him against the wall and grabbed his collar. "I have a problem with you!"

"It was a mistake," Charlie shakily said.

Severide saw red. "You beat women by mistake, huh?"

"I wanted to apologize to Erin. I screwed up, I-I was on drugs and drunk and- I lost my temper."

Severide slapped him, "Well, let's see you lose your temper with me!" He punched him square across the face, his fist connecting with his cheekbone. Charlie swung back into the wall and Severide pulled him upright. "Better start swinging back."

"Look, I'm gonna go to the cops right now and turn myself in."

Severide hit him again, then grabbed him by his shirt and slammed him into the opposite wall of the hall. He was about to hit him again when Charlie shook his head.

"I was wrong, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Erin's voice rang through his ears. Promise me you won't do anything stupid.

As he was about to swing again, he saw the team from Intelligence round the corner, Voight ahead. They stopped short when they saw Kelly and a bloody faced Charlie. Kelly sighed and glared at him.

"I'll let you handle it," he told Voight, who nodded and slammed Charlie onto the floor, putting his arms behind him and handcuffing him.

Kelly quietly walked into his bedroom and found Erin asleep in his bed, the covers tucked around her. He changed into a pair of sweatpants and climbed into bed, leaning over to drape an arm around her waist and kiss her cheek. She opened her eyes and turned around, which ended up being difficult with her broken ribs.

"Hey," she whispered, bringing her hand up to caress his cheek. He took that hand in his and kissed her palm. Her gaze moved to his bruised knuckles. "Kelly..."

He shook his head, interrupting her, "I just gave him a piece of my mind. He was in front of your apartment to 'apologize'. Voight's handling it."

Erin closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, her whole body relaxing.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, concern etched onto his face.

She gave him a reassuring smile, "I've been better but the pain isn't so bad."

"Do you need anything?" he asked.

"No, just go to sleep," she said, knowing he had probably pulled an all nighter during shift. He brought her to his chest and kissed her hair, allowing his eyes to close and find some sleep. When he woke up she was gone, and he looked up, finding her by the window. She was sitting on the ledge, nursing a cup of coffee.

He rolled on his stomach and watched her. "Morning,"

She snapped out of her daze and turned her head slightly, smiling at him. "More like afternoon."

He looked at the clock and realized it was already 2 pm. "Right. Wanna go grab some lunch?"

She flinched and looked out the window once more, "I would rather stay here."

He gently stood and placed himself behind her, setting his hands on her shoulders, gently massaging them. "It's a beautiful day out. We could go for a walk in the park and eat at a terrace or something."

She shook her head and looked down into her cup of coffee. "I don't want to go outside."

Kelly sighed and sat in front of her. He took her hand, "They are not going to stare at you, you know. You have nothing to be afraid of."

She gritted her teeth, "I'm not afraid, Kelly. I'm ashamed. I let him do this to me without budging. I'm a cop, I'm supposed to be able to handle this type of situation. And I couldn't even move. I feel ashamed, and dirty and-"

He stopped her by placing a finger over his lips. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. You are one of the strongest person I know. After everything you've been through, you're still standing, and I admire that. He's the scumbag here. You trusted him, and he went behind your back. Don't blame yourself, please." He cupped her face and kissed her forehead, "You're strong," then placed a kiss on her nose, "Beautiful," then he finished by her lips. "And incredibly sexy."

She smiled against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. It was slow, loving but nothing short of passionate. They pulled away after a minute. They seemed to remain in their bubble for some time, until a knock on the door pulled them out of their reverie.

Severide stood and pulled on a shirt before walking down the stairs. Erin remained sat on the window ledge, resuming to her gazing at the city, until she heard Hank's voice downstairs. She frowned and slowly climbed down the stairs.

"Hey," he said, smiling when he saw her. "You look better than yesterday."

She nodded and approached him. "I feel better, too."

He closed the gap between them and pulled her into his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Those kinds of moment with Voight didn't happen often. Kelly found something else to do to occupy himself, not wanting to watch their moment from just two feet away.

"Don't scare me like that again, Erin. Not good for your old man's heart."

She chuckled and pulled away. "I'm sorry. I won't. What did you do to Charlie?"

Hank squeezed her shoulder, "Gave him a lesson, then put him on a plane to LA. Someone will take care of him there to get him to jail. Everything is arranged. He's gone and he's not coming back."

Erin nodded and let out a breath. "Thank you for not... killing him. He wasn't his normal self."

Hank clenched his jaw. "Doesn't excuse anything he did. But now he's out of your life for good. Not coming back anytime soon, otherwise I will kill him. We have a deal."

"Alright."

He looked at her and then at Kelly. "Well, I'll let you two lovebirds be. Take your time before coming back to work. At least a week."

"Hank..."

"I mean it."

Severide piped in. "I'll make sure of that, sir."

Hank smiled, "Good." he then spoke to Erin. "He's a keeper."

Erin rolled her eyes and shoved his chest. "Get out of here."

Once Voight had left, the two of them got dressed and went out for a late lunch, once Severide had managed to convince her that it was okay to go out. Even though it was still rather cold for the time of the year, they sat at the terrace, enjoying the warm light of the sun. They ordered their meal and a bottle of wine, both glad to be able to spend one quiet day to themselves.

"So I guess I can move back in my apartment, now that Charlie's gone," Erin stated after taking a sip from her glass.

Kelly pursed his lips. He did not expect that. He had this idea that they would be living together for a few weeks at least; he wanted that, waking up next to her each morning and having breakfast together.

"Yeah, I guess."

It's as if she had a radar whenever she felt he was not telling the truth about his feelings. "What is it?"

He looked sheepish as he spoke, "What if you didn't go back to your place," he started. "And stayed at mine."

She frowned and finished chewing before speaking. "You mean, permanently?"

"Yeah. I would like us to move in together. I know we haven't been together that long, but when you know that being with that person in particular feels right, who cares?"

She laughed because he looked adorable being all unsure about her reaction. "You want me to move into a boy's apartment?"

He shrugged. "Not necessarily. We could... have our own place."

She smiled and bit down on her bottom lip, a thing she got used to doing because she knew he found it cute. "Okay."

He almost choked on his food. "Okay?"

"Yeah. I'd like the fact to wake up next to you every morning and come home every night to a sexy firefighter like you."

"Well technically, I wouldn't be at home every night but I'd like that too."

"Perfect, so I can have some time on my own too. Throw some pajamas parties with my girlfriends."

He raised an eyebrow. "And have pillow fights in underwear?"

"Sorry to crush your dream, but we don't do that."

He playfully put a hand over his chest, "Ugh, you just wiped out years of fantasy."

She rolled her eyes and put her hand over his across the table. "So are we really doing this?"

He intertwined their fingers, "We are," he said. "We don't have to rush or anything, but I'd really like for us to have our home."

"Me too. It's going to be great."

Indeed.

Thoughts? :)