Here is a quick update. I hope you're enjoying this story because I'm having a great time writing it :) When this is over I'll work on finishing Trials and Tribulations and my one-shot collection. If you have any one-shots you'd like to see written or ideas, please let me know and I may do them.

Anyways, enjoy this chapter. Thank you for reading and let me know what you think.

I was in a bad mood. I'd been in a bad mood for a while actually, but today was especially horrible. Kelly's dad was coming for dinner and Shay had begged me to join them so she wouldn't be left in an awkward position. I had agreed, because when she'd asked I had been tired of sitting around at home, avoiding Matt and avoiding Jay.

It had been a little over a week since Matt and I had spoken, and for the most part we hadn't talked since. Greetings were exchanged at the house, but other than that I wasn't sure what to say. I hadn't felt like talking to Jay, because with the knowledge that Matt wanted to be with me I felt guilty, knowing that there was still a part of me that wanted him too.

So my bad mood had been ever so present, and practically everyone but Shay was avoiding me unless I was avoiding them. When I saw that the clock read 5:30 I dragged myself out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a black shirt. I looked at myself quickly in the mirror and realized I didn't have time to do anything with my hair, so it was left up in a bun as I grabbed my keys and a sweatshirt before sliding on some shoes. Opening the door and stepping out I crashed into someone as my eyes had been focused on the ground. Looking up, I realized I was face to face with Jay.

"Hey."

"Hey, Gabby."

"I'm actually headed out right now."

"Have you been avoiding me?"

I smiled slightly at the frighteningly similar situation before taking in a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I just haven't been feeling all that great."

Nodding he brought his hand up to my arm. "Look-"

"I think we should break up." His eyebrows raised and I felt shocked myself, not really knowing where that had come from. "I mean, I know we're not technically official, or anything. It's just that something happened, and it made me realize that being in a relationship of any sort isn't something I need right now." He nodded slowly and took a step back. "I'd still love to be your friend though. Ew that sounded so gross." I laughed slightly and he grinned, letting out a small huff.

"I'd like that too." I was relieved when he didn't seem angry or upset. I wasn't even sure where it had come from, but now that I'd done it I felt better. "Actually, I was wondering if you'd want to go out for drinks tonight with everyone. I figured coming to your house might be a better strategy since you weren't answering your phone." I was about to apologize but he put his hands up. "It's fine. You were dealing with things."

I nodded, thankful that he understood and this wasn't a big deal. "I'd love to, but Shay is forcing me to have family dinner with her and the Severide's.

"Have fun with that."

"Oh I will. But you know, later this week I'm sure all of us from 51 will be going out. I'll let you know when and if you guys can make it you should come."

"Sounds like a plan."

I locked up and we both started walking down to our cars. Just as we were about to split ways I grabbed his arm. "By the way, if Lindsay's not seeing anyone you should totally go for it."

He rolled his eyes and smiled, waving as he walked away. Although I still regretted committing to dinner, I was much more at ease than I'd been earlier and the drive to Shay's house wasn't actually that bad. The ride was quick and before I knew it I was opening the front door with the extra key they'd given me. I kicked off my shoes and walked into the dining room, shouting out on my way. "I really hope you didn't let Shay cook." I walked into a much different sight. Shay was on the ground picking up a broken wine glass, the red drink spilled all over the floor. Immediately grabbing some paper towels I got down next to her and started mopping up the mess. "What happened here?"

"Ugh, I don't even know. He was only here for a minute and next thing I know he's gone and Kelly's gone for a run."

"Damn." We worked in silence, picking up the broken glass and wiping up the wine. Figuring we still needed to eat I made a salad and Shay started to reheat the pasta and chicken she'd made. 10 minutes later Kelly walked in, heading straight up to his room. Shay sighed, and grabbed some plates to bring to the living room.

"You mind going to talk to him."

Shaking my head no I headed upstairs, knocking on Kelly's door, making sure he was decent. I headed into the room where he was pacing and went to sit at the foot of his bed, bringing my legs up and wrapping my arms around them. "You okay?"

"Hell no I'm not okay. That man-", he stopped pacing and turned to face me. "You know how many families that man has ruined? How many kids he's left behind?" I shook my head, hoping he'd continue talking and let everything out. "Maybe 4 or 5 so far, god he just doesn't care about anybody but himself." He let out a huff and his face broke out into an annoyed smile. "You know I have a half-sister? Also, the only reason he came back was because he wanted me to go tell his wife that he's ducking out."

Listening to Kelly talk about his relationship with his father quickly put me in check of how mild my problems were. "He's not a good man Kell. But that's not your fault. Your dad doesn't need a babysitter, and it's not fair of him to put his problems on you. He needs to fix his own mistakes."

"Yeah, and I try to tell him that. Never listens though." He came and sat down next to me. I looked over at him when he continued talking. "I know it's not on me, it just makes me angry."

"Yeah, I can understand why. But his problems shouldn't be your burden. I think you just need to remind yourself of that. You're one of the best men I know Kelly. He's not a reflection of you, or your future or any of that bullshit alright?"

He looked over at me and I smiled, bringing my legs down and wrapping my arms around him in an awkward side hug which he eventually returned. "Thanks Gabs." Pulling away he asked "did Shay reheat dinner?"

"Yup, and I made a pretty awesome salad, so we should go eat." We headed downstairs, and with everything that was bothering me off my mind, I enjoyed my night with two of my closest friends before we all dozed off on the couch together.

After my night with Shay and Kelly I felt incredibly relaxed, so when I was headed towards the locker rooms and saw Matt in his office I felt compelled to go in. I knocked on the door and the shocked look on his face when he saw it was me made me smile. Going in I sat down on his bed, and he turned in his chair to face me.

"Hey."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Gabby, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"I'm just sorry about the way I reacted. And I miss you."

"I miss you too." We smiled at each other but it quickly fell from his face. "Look, I know what I said-"

"I broke up with Jay." At the look on his face I quickly continued "not for you. I uh, I don't know if I want us to be together right now. But I do want to be your friend and maybe work towards it."

"That works for me."

"Good." I got up, grabbing my bag and heading out of his office to the lockers. I had a feeling it was going to be a good day.

It ended up being a shit day. We were on a call when some man hit me on the head from behind, and I ended up with a concussion and in the hospital, too dizzy to even walk, and with a horrible headache. Shay and Matt were at my side, but I knew they had to head back to the house soon.

"I called Antonio. He said he'll try to make it over here. If not I'll come pick you up after shift is over."

I waved my hand sloppily. "I'm fine. I'll probably just try to nap if my ears ever stop ringing." I saw them exchange smiles and feebly glared at them. Hearing a knock at the door, that was probably quiet but sounded like a car wreck to me, I looked up to see Jay. I smiled lazily, ignoring the looks on Matt and Shays faces. "No sweatpants."

"Sadly no." He walked over and stood by my bed opposite Matt and Shay. "Antonio called, wanted me to come over and stay with you."

"Returning the favor huh? You gonna buy me some Chinese food this time?"

"Of course." He pulled a chair up next to my bed. I took his hand in my and squeezed it.

"You guys don't have to stick around. I'll leave the duty of making sure I don't fall asleep with Jay."

Matt and Shay said goodbye and left, leaving me with Jay sitting by my bedside. Once they were gone and out of earshot Jay said, "Matt loves you, ya know?"

I rolled my eyes. "Are you sure you don't have a concussion."

"You definitely know too, don't deny it."

I sighed. "I know he's interested in me. I think love is a bit of an overstatement."

He shook his head slowly, but I could tell he wasn't being serious when he went "so he's the reason you dumped me."

I went to shove his shoulder but even the slight movement made me dizzy. Jay brought his arm up to usher me back to lying down. Not wanting him to think that I went "shut up. That's not at all true."

"I know."

We were quiet for a minute, me praying my headache would go away before I spoke up again. "So, did you ask Lindsay out yet?"

"You shut up." I smiled before I felt myself start to drift off.

I was so bored. I was off work for a week so far, the ringing in my ears and constant headaches not subsided. I got constant offers from Matt, Shay, Antonio and Jay, even Lindsay, to come and spend time with me. But I felt so dazed the thought of trying to keep up a conversation made my head hurt even more. It was a Friday though, and everyone was going out. So after taking some pain meds I put on some black pants and my favorite black top and headed out to the bar everyone was at.

With a bottle of her pain meds in her jacket pocket I headed into the bar, wincing slightly at the noise but smiling when I saw Shay. She gave me a wide grin and waved, and I started heading to the back where Shay was sitting with Mills, Cruz, Otis, Matt and Kelly. Cruz and Otis started cheering but quieted down when Shay reprimanded them.

"What the hell are you doing here Gabs?" Shay asked, passing me a drink. I shook my head declining before taking a seat next to Matt.

"I was getting bored. I can only rewatch the same show so many times you know."

"You shouldn't be out Gabs."

I looked over at Matt and smiled appreciatively; trying not to grimace at the headache the noise was giving me. At least it was somewhat dark there. "And you shouldn't be babying me. Now c'mon," I turned to the rest of the guys, "what's been going on with you all? It feels like it's been ages."

As they filled me in on everything that was going on at the house I smiled and tried to pay attention, but regretted coming out. My head hurt like crazy, and I was getting nauseous being there. After suffering through about 30 minutes of conversation I excused myself to the bathroom, but not without getting looks from Matt and Shay. Ducking into a stall I took some more meds and closed my eyes, hoping the giant headache would go away. A few minutes later I went back out, angry that this hadn't worked out but looking forward to going home.

"I'm headed out guys, I'll see you later." I got some goodbyes and turned around heading out.

"Hey, I'll come with." I turned to see Matt and gave him a weak smile, feeling comforted having him follow me out to my car. "Gimme your keys, I'll drive."

Not even bothering to argue I tossed him my keys and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Why'd you come tonight Gabby?"

"Ughhhh. I know it was a dumb idea, I was just so bored. Plus I missed hanging out with you guys."

"Not more important than your health though." I let out a quiet hum, hoping I wouldn't fall asleep before we got to my house. "We're okay, right?"

I opened my eyes and looked over at him. He was focused on the road but he looked nervous, and I wondered where this was coming from. "Yeah, why wouldn't we be."

"Just wondering."

The rest of the ride went by in silence, and when we got back to the house Matt walked me up to the door and handed me my keys. Realizing he'd taken my car I turned around to him. "How are you going to get home?"

"Figured I'd walk back to the bar."
I rolled my eyes at him before unlocking the door. "Nuh-uh, you can stay here. I'll drive you back tomorrow morning." Thankfully he simply shrugged and obliged, following me in. "I have some old sweatpants Antonio left here, they should fit you." He started to settle down on the couch and I stopped. "What are you doing?"

"Crashing on the couch. You can bring them out to me."

"No, c'mon. Your back will hurt like hell, my bed's big enough." His eyebrows raised and I smirked. "We're both mature adults, Matt. Seriously." I walked into my room and he followed, catching the sweatpants once I digged them out of my closet. I dragged myself into the bathroom to change into shorts and a t-shirt, too exhausted and aggravated by the incessant pounding in my head to really care about what was happening. Taking a few pills I headed back into my room, climbing under my covers next to where Matt was already settled in. Not even bothering to look at him, I mumbled "good night Matt." before settling in and closing my eyes. He was gone in the morning, but I clearly remembered that sometime before I fell asleep,I felt his hand come up to my back and start lightly drawing patterns. Needless to say I slept great.

"Shay could you not." I pulled out the sixth item Shay had thrown into my shopping cart. "I invited you because I missed hanging out with you."

"And now you don't miss hanging out with me?"

"Not when you're annoying me like this." She glared at me jokingly and when we came to a stop she came to stand beside me, wrapping my hand in hers. "Which bread is it you like?"

"Aw babe, I love that you consider me when you're grocery shopping."

"I just know you'll get annoyed the next time you come to my house and I don't have it." She pointed to it and I grabbed it, glad Shay was with me despite how she loved to annoy me. I let go of her hand to push the cart, and we made our way down the aisle. "How's Kelly doing? You know, with all this stuff going on with his dad."

"I don't even know, he's Kelly. He tries not to act fazed but I can tell it's still bugging him. He did go to meet his sister though."

"Huh, what's she like?"

"Nice enough. She cooks, came over and made us dinner last week. Speaking of dinner, when will you be back at work. Peter Mills is boycotting the kitchen and I swear we haven't had a decent meal in a week."

"You know the rest of you could learn how to cook."

"That doesn't answer the question"

I grinned, rolling the cart into the ice cream aisle, dreading how much I knew I would spend with Shay here with me. "I'll be back at work next shift. Sadly, I was about to start the current season of criminal minds."

She scoffed, grabbing three cartons of ice cream, simply brushing off the look I gave her. "That's such a lie, I know you miss me."

I pinched her cheek and beamed at her. "I can't even deny it."

I was busy in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone when I saw a hand pop in front of me with a coffee in it. Looking over I saw Matt and smiled, asking "for me?"

"Yup," I took it out of his hand and tasted it, closing my eyes to relish the taste. "With all that sugary stuff you love."

"Thank you." I smiled at him before shooing him to step back a few steps. It was still relatively quiet, not everyone in yet and the guys who were still somewhat tired. "How was that construction gig you had?"

"Decent. I missed you."

I glanced up at him from the eggs I was scrambling, hiding my mouth with my coffee. "You drove me home like 5 days ago." He shrugged and I went back to making breakfast, trying to ignore the look he was giving me.

"You want to go out for dinner?" He asked and my eyes widened. I glanced up at everyone else, making sure no one had heard. When I was content I turned to face him.

"I told you I didn't want to do that right now."

"I don't mean just start a relationship. I mean dinner. We could get Italian, or Thai. You can pick."

I snorted slightly. "Of course I'd pick. Not the point."

"What is the point exactly?"

"Uh, the point is I just broke things off with the guy I'm seeing. Also I was just concussed, I'm sure all I'll be doing when I get home from work is sleeping."

He shook his head. "You're too stubborn to agree to one date?"

"Are you surprised, Matthew? Exactly how long have we known each other?" I smiled, trying to avoid eye contact. "I let you sleep over once, and you expect me to agree with a date huh." Figuring he may think I was serious I looked up and smiled at him in an attempt to assure him I was joking. When I was satisfied he wasn't taking me too seriously I motioned him over. "C'mon, help me get this on plates to serve all of our lovely friends."

The rest of our shift went by without any awkward or suggestive moments, and although I'd gotten the green light from the doctor I was ready to go home and go to bed. Going through a shift was more exhausting than it had been on my first day when I wasn't prepared, and I was looking forward to changing into sweats.

As I was heading to my car I heard someone call out my name. Turning I saw Matt jogging to catch up with me. "I think I may have dropped something from my wallet at your house, you mind if I come get it?" I shook my head, telling him to just follow me.

The car ride there I looked in my mirrors every few minutes, and sure enough he stuck behind me. I wondered whether he'd actually forgotten something or if it was just a ploy to spend more time with me. Either way I didn't care. Matt's company had never bothered me, and I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't mind staying over again.

We made our way into the house in a similar manner from the night he'd driven me home but without speaking. When I'd changed and gotten into bed, he came from the living room and stood at my door. I gave him an annoyed look and closed my eyes, yawning. "Do you seriously even have to ask? C'mon."