Chapter 2

The fight Kelly and Stella had earlier today was still fresh in his mind. "Why is she acting like this? Why is she so insecure." He thought.

He had been working with Renee for a few weeks, acting as a fire expert in the lawsuit she was handling. Initially, he hadn't even wanted to do it, but Stella encouraged him and in the end, if he had a chance to help fellow firefighters, we would every time. The case was time consuming and as an expert, he had to review all the evidence Renee had to look for any holes or inconsistencies regarding what happened during that oil refinery fire. This last week, he had helped in a recreation of the fire. He was working with Renee every spare moment he had as they got closer to the trial date. He thought Stella understood. He was wrong.

Kelly was the first to admit, he wasn't putting much effort into his relationship with Stella these days. There were cancelled dinners, forgotten plans and a lot of missed calls and texts. He could understand why she was angry but she had practically pushed him into doing this and it was important. He hadn't expected to spend evenings and weekends with Renee...and her son...in her apartment, but that couldn't be helped.

When he got home that night, or rather 1:30 in the morning, Stella was sitting on his couch. The look on her face was not one of happiness and as the argument started, he knew it was going to be an even longer night.

"What I didn't realize was that it would be cutting so much into "our" time, Kelly. The only time I've seen you these past few weeks is on shift. And what I didn't realize is that so much of that time spent with her and not me would be at her apartment, at night." she said, frustrated.

Kelly tried to make her understand. "Stella, she's working in the case during the day so evenings are the only time we can work on the stuff she's gathered. We work at her house because she doesn't have a babysitter."

"Right. Because in the entire city of Chicago, there isn't one 15 year old girl who could watch her kid for a few hours a night." Stella fired back.

"Stella, you're overreacting."

"Maybe. But I don't think so. You were involved with her and she was so hung up on you that she tried to convince you that she was pregnant with your kid and now she's using that kid to get her hooks into you." As soon as he said the last sentence, Stella realized how insecure she sounded. Maybe it was just work related and nothing was going on. Maybe it wasn't insecurity but jealousy that Renee got to spend all this time with Kelly him while Stella had been relegated to the back burner.

"That's not fair, Stella. Renee messed up but she's not using her son to keep me around. Yes he's there and yes I spend some time with him but most of the time, Renee and I are elbow deep in investigation reports and witness statements. Nothing is going on." Kelly was getting frustrated with this conversation and he was exhausted. He just wanted to go to bed.

"Ok, Kelly. Whatever you say." She grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "By the way, you clearly forgot that you had invited me over for dinner and then ignored my texts all night. The dinner I picked up is in the fridge. Enjoy." She opened the door. "Maybe you can take it to Renee's tomorrow and have a nice family dinner." She walked out the door.

This was the last thing he needed. But she was right. He fucked up. He had invited her over for dinner and the Blackhawks game but then Renee had called and said she had found some new evidence that he needed to review right away. With that, he was out the door, and the invitation he had extended completely forgotten.