Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination

The chapter is the direct continuation of the previous one. I decided to put it in two different chapters otherwise it would have been too long.

Abbey's POV

"That's perfect, see you later." And I stepped off the ring and went directly to the shower. Mills had hit the showers when we finished out fight so he was already ready. I quickly washed myself and met up with Mills at the front door.

"So chinese huh?"

"Yeah, I don't really feel like cooking plus I like eating from the boxes."

"I know but tonight we have company so you'll have to restrain yourself."

"Oh we'll see about that." We both went back home in our respective cars. As soon as I stepped into our house, I was like a tornado trying to tidy up the place. We hadn't had visit in forever and the kitchen slash living room was loitered with stuff. I had just finished cleaning that the doorbell rang.

"Wanna get that for me please?" I was wiping the last part of the counter.

"Come in Casey." We had a clear vision or the front door from the kitchen. Mills gave him the grand tour of our house. It was a town house with our bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom. On the main floor, there was another bathroom with the kitchen and the living room with an attached garage that we had access too from the living room.

"You guys have a nice house."

"Thanks, it used to be my parent's." I said.

"Where does your mom live then?"

"She moved in with mine and she gave her the house." Mill casually explained

"That's cool."

"Yup. Rent free and it has a garage, every girl's dream." I smiled. "A beer?"

"Sure." Both guys said together. I pulled out three from the twelve pack Matt brought over and put the rest in the fridge. I handed them the take-out menu for the food so they could decide when they wanted.

"What are you having?" Mills questioned me. We rarely ever ordered chinese so he had no idea what I ate there.

"You'll see." I dialed up the place. It was on speed dial in my phone. "Hey, it's Abbey on Chestnut street." I ordered what the boys wanted and requested the usual for myself.

"Your usual?" Mills asked as if it was the strangest thing.

"Dude, I always take the same thing from there when you have evening classes and I'm alone for supper. Don't act like this is the weirdest thing I do."

"You guys always bicker like that?" Matt chuckled.

"Pretty much." I laughed.

It only took about thirty minutes for the food to get here. The guys were in the living room watching the Bulls kill it against Washington. I took the two plastic bags in the living room and set them on the table. They weren't paying attention to the food while I went and grabbed three more beers from the fridge and returning with utensils if they wanted them.

"Ok foods here guys, put the volume down." Mills knew my tv rules while eating supper. It could be on but sound had to be at a minimum. Eating time was a family thing for me so it had to be spent interacting.

"Ok, so what is your usual?" Matt asked this time. "Enquiring minds want to know."

I opened the first box and moved around the noodles. "Spicy teriyaki noodles with veggies and a side of seafood. They have the best in all of Chicago." I smiled.

"Let me taste." Peter was practically begging which made Matt laugh.

"No chance in hell." I chuckled. "It's been two weeks since I had these. They're mine."

"Always that possessive of your food?" Matt had only seen a sliver of how we were together at the firehouse because we were on the job and the only time we would goof off a bit is during breaks from duty.

"Trust me, don't get in the way of Abbey and her food. She's a total ogre."

"That's so not true." I paused. "Well maybe a little." I laugh.

"So what do we drink to?"

"My final exams, they're all next week." My stomach was making flip-flops at the mere mention of them.

"To your final exams then." Matt toasted and we clinked our beer bottles together and took a sip. We did random chitchat during supper and laughing at funny stories. I opened three more beers a bit before we finished eating. My box was practically empty but I had kept a couple of seafood for mills and I dropped the noodles in and move them around a bit to mix them up properly.

"Here you go Pete." I pushed the box towards him getting up.

I picked up the boxes that could fit in my hands and headed towards the kitchen. I knew I would need another trip to the living room to get the rest. I put them down on the counter and then I saw Casey with the other ones asking where he could put them.

"Thanks." I smiled. "You can go watch the game with Mills, I got this."

"No that's fine. How come he doesn't help you?"

"It's a system we have. Since we both love to cook, one week I cook and the next I do the cleaning up. And since it's his week to cook, I get to do the cleaning." I shrugged.

"He didn't exactly cook." He chuckled.

"It's all the same. I'm ok with that."

"And what made you guys decide to live together?" he leaned against the counter.

"It was a no brainer. He's my best friend and I wouldn't want to move in with anyone else but him." I smiled putting the food in different containers for lunches or suppers when we were alone at home.

"That's nice." He got up and walked around the counter and went to stand in front of my picture wall. I had an old window shutter with pictures attached to it.

"That's an original idea. Yours?"

"Yup. I love antiques. Don't ask me why, there's just something about them that's so special. The only modern thing in this house is Peter's room." He laughed at that.

"Yeah, guys aren't usually into that kind of thing."

"You get to be an exception."

"I guess I do. Plus I find they're sturdier than things nowadays."

"That's true." I finished cleaning up the counter. "And I find it attracts the eye more so it was a nice picture frame type of idea."

"It is." He became quiet; I knew he was looking at the pictures. "Look at that, a mini Abbey and Mills." I came up next to him.

"Yup, that was our high school graduation. And you have a pre-ceremony with my parents."

"Is this Mill's graduation from the academy?" he pointed at one of him with me, and both our moms.

"Yes. I was so proud of him. He worked really hard to do it after his father passed away."

"But he's tough, and a good firefighter." We looked at a few other pictures. There was one of my mom and I cooking in this same kitchen when I was about thirteen and one with my father working on the car. But my favorite one was one of the six of us before our fathers past away.

"This one is my favorite." I pointed to that picture. "It's one of the last ones we ever took all together." Tears started making their way to my eyes and Matt put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed just as I blinked them away.

"There's missing one still. You'll be able to put it up in two weeks time when you graduate."

"I sure hope so. Then the montage will be complete."

"Don't worry you'll do great."

"You'll kick their asses next week." Mills said from the kitchen doorway.

"Fingers crossed." I smiled back at both of them. Matt pulled three more beers from the fridge before we headed back to the living room to watch the last quarter of the game. Chicago kicked Washington's ass 104-85 but it was now time to call it a night. It had been a very long day. We had a day off before the next 24h shift and in my case a whole week of exams. I was going to take that opportunity to look over my notes before my written exam that was on Monday and the next three days would be simulations and finally Friday I would be off, which was off for second watch at 51. Matt thanked us for supper and left. I went directly for bed. I had better be rested for the next week because I would need it. Sunday went by quickly. Mills made sure I ate properly because I was so absorbed in my notes that if it wasn't for him, I would have gone through the whole day without drinking or eating. He was in the living room doing some squad stuff as well but he was in no rush. I went to bed rather early because Sunday was fading quickly and I was trying to prevent my nerves from getting the better of me.

a/n: next up is Abbey's exam week combined with working shifts at 51. Hope you enjoy and leave some reviews so I can keep improving my writing and storyline.