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Mills's POV

The alarm clock next to me was buzzing but it was barely above an annoying sound in my ear. Gabby was snuggled close to me and my arm was resting around her waist. I pulled slightly closer to be and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

"It's time to wake up baby."

"Ten more minutes." She mumbles.

"I'll give you until I'm out of the shower." I chuckled, reluctantly pulling myself away from her and the warmth of the covers. Today was my first day back at the firehouse since my accident. My doctor's appointment was yesterday and I was cleared for full duty and cleared for Squad too. That was the best thing I had heard in my entire life. I let the warm water fall off my body and quickly wash so Gabby won't curse that I let her sleep too long. I got dressed and when I came back into the bedroom, she was already busying herself around the bedroom.

"If someone were looking in, they'd think you were that one that was off duty for the past weeks. You can calm down." I grabbed her by the waist to stop her.

"Sorry. It's just that I want everything to go ok today." She was referencing the fact that I would tell Abbey that I was moving out of our place so I could move in here with her permanently.

"Moving around this place is not going to make me telling her any easier." I pulled her to me.

"I know. It's just making me nervous. I know she's your best friend and considering the rocky start we had when she found out about us, I don't want her to be angry at us."

"She won't be angry. I'll take her to breakfast after shift and I'll tell her."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Her hands were on my chest, picking at invisible lint on it.

"I think I need to be alone with her, might make it easier for me. Thanks though."

"Anytime babe. Ok so I need to shower and we can grab some food on our way."

"Alright." I let go of her so she could get ready. I finished tidying the room and went downstairs to make some coffee at least. She came back down about ten minutes later and I handed her the coffee mug I made for her and we were on our way to 51. The car ride was mostly silent and when I put my car in park, she took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, I can't wait to be back." We got out and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and she wrapped hers around my waist. We walked on the apparatus floor and found the boys from Squad playing cards. We quickly untangled ourselves from each and she sent a wink my way before going inside to put her things away. "Reporting for duty lieutenant." I smiled at them.

"About time Mills." Severide laughed.

"All good?" Capp asked.

"Good as new and ready."

"Good to hear. Now go get ready before the bells go off." Severide said. I walked into the common room where things were the same as when I left. Mouch was sitting at his usual spot on the couch, watching the news. Herrmann, Dawson and Otis were having a divergent opinion about Molly's while Shay and Brett were gossiping in front of them, seemingly oblivious to the argument that was taking place at the other side of the table. Abbey was at the stove, cooking what smelled like eggs and bacon while toast and cereal were already displayed in front. I walked to her first since I hadn't seen her in a few days.

"Hey you're back." She smiled at me and gave me a one arm hug, taking her eyes off only briefly from what she was doing.

"Yeah, finally." I exhaled nervously. I didn't think that being around her so quickly would make it harder. This was going to be a long shift until I told her my news.

"So all clear?"

"Yeah. I did some running a lot in PT recently so I hope that getting back in there will be like riding a bike."

"I have no doubt that you'll be fine. You were meant to do this, don't doubt it." She bumped her hip against mine.

"Thanks Mitchell. Have you seen Casey?" I casually asker her, hoping she wouldn't get nosy and ask why I needed to talk to him.

"Last I saw him he was in his office with a stack of incident reports."

"Thanks." I left her and walked in the direction of the bunk area where I saw Casey's door open so I knocked on the doorframe to get his attention.

"Hey Mills. You're back." He exclaimed, smiling at me.

"This morning."

"Did you see Abbey? She was excited to see you this morning."

"Yeah, spoke to her in the common room." I wasn't sure how to bring this up to him.

"What can I do for you?" He wad finally the first one to break the silence.

"Actually, it's something that you can do for Abbey."

"Whatever you're about to tell me, don't. Because I don't want to have this secret and hide it from her while we're on shift."

"Fair enough. I just need for you to be there for her tomorrow, she's going to need someone."

"Ok." His expression was one of concern but I was trying to say as little as possible.

"Thanks." I gave him a nod and left.

Abbey's POV

I looked at Peter the whole time he walked in the direction of Matt's office, wondering what he needed to talk to him again. I didn't have that much time to think about it when I called everyone to chow and Boden appeared in the doorway.

"Can I have a word with you in my office Abbey?"

"Yeah, I'm right there chief." I turned off the stove as he turned around to head back to his office. I exchanged a look with Mills and Casey and I crossed them in the hall on my way to Boden's office.

"Have a seat." He gestured towards the chairs in front of his office as He leaned against his desk. I had a pretty good idea what was coming.

"How much trouble am I in chief?" I knew I had stepped out of line in my argument with Matt, leading to him getting injured and I was nervous but ready to face the consequences.

"So you know why we're here."

"Yes sir." My head was bowed down slightly, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"What did I tell you when the three of us talked in my office a few shifts back?"

"That if we couldn't keep our personal lives separate from our professional that we'd have a different conversation. I remember." This conversation wasn't quite what I was expecting though.

"I know that you've only known the Darden's for a short period of time but I know you and you've grown to love them just as much as we have."

"I do chief and I have."

"Now I know that Casey could of had this argument with anyone here, including Kelly Severide but I need to know that it won't happen again because I can't have my lieutenant go into a fire with his head anywhere but on the task at hand."

"And that's why I can assure you that it will never happen again."

"Good. Now get out of here and get some breakfast before the bells ring." I walked out of Boden's office, letting go of the breath that until now I didn't know I was holding.

Mills's POV

When I walked back out of Casey's office and exchanged glances with Abbey, she was walking in the direction we were coming from, following Boden closely. I sat down at the long table as Casey took the head of the table.

"What do you think he wants from her?"

"My guess." He turned to look in the direction of the bunks before looking back at me. "Talk about the Darden boys incident."

"Is she in trouble?"

"Probably as much in trouble as I was. Boden wasn't really mad. He just wanted to make sure it never happened again."

"Ok." As if on cue, Abbey walked into the common room. "Hey. Everything ok?"

"Yup. So how does it feel to be back?"

"Great but I won't know for sure until we get out first call." As if Chicago sensed my excitement to be back, the overhead pager went off calling us to a car collision scene.

"MILLS!" Everyone shouted and we sprang into action.

"Good luck." I told Abbey.

"Stay safe." She smiled at me and we went to our respective vehicles. We arrived on scene in about fifteen minutes with a pick-up flipped to the side and a semi, probably the reason the truck was the way it was.

"Mills. I need you to go on top of the truck and pry the door open." Severide called his orders while Abbey checked on the semi's driver and Brett waited for us to extract the pick-up driver. We all went to work and managed to get the man out of his truck. Abbey came back from the semi to help Brett.

"How's the driver?" I asked her.à

"Just a few scrapes. He's waiting for the cops what do we have here?"

"Driver of the pick-up. I think it's pretty much just shock." Brett said putting the oxygen mask on his and then we loaded him in the ambo, Abbey taking the driver's seat to take him to Lakeshore. We got back to the house before the girls did and I started preparing lunch. Abbey and Brett came back about thirty minutes later.

"How's the driver?" I asked Abbey as she leaned against the counter, stealing a carrot from what I was preparing.

"A few scratches, shock mostly." She shrugged.

"Do you know what happened?"

"The guy from the pick-up seems to say that the semi ran a red light, plowing right into him. We don't know yet what happened."

"Want to help me out?"

"Sure." We made lunch together and I tried to act normal around Abbey, knowing that I was going to drop a huge bomb on her after shift. The remainder of shift went rather well, not too heavy on calls and not too boring either. I was getting more comfortable with each call and by the end of the night, I felt like I was back to my old self. We slept a few hours between calls and I had one final structure fire before shift was done. I went looking for Abbey but fell on Gabby in the locker room.

"Have you seen Abbey?" I question her.

"Last I saw her she was in the bathroom changing."

"If you see her come out, tell her to come find me?" I kissed her.

"Sure. Are you ok?" She ran a hand over my arm.

"I'm starting to get nervous." I admit.

"It's all going to be ok." She smiles at me as Abbey comes out of the bathrooms.

"There you are." I exchange a look with Gabby and smile at her.

"What's up?"

"I wanted to know if you'd grab some breakfast with me. It's been way too long."

"Sure. The usual spot?"

"Absolutely. I'll meet you there." She left the locker room and I sighed.

"It's going to be ok babe, she'll understand."

"I know it's just that it's always been me and her for so long. It'll be hard to leave that place and my best friend."

"She's not going anywhere." She smiled. I knew she was right. Abbey would be my best friend until the day we died and nothing would change that but I was still nervous. I kissed her one last time before I went to my truck and drove to the diner that was a few blocks from our house. When I walked in, she was already sitting at our usual table, nursing what was probably a hot chocolate. This was the only place where she didn't drink coffee so I made my way to her and took the spot in front of her.

"What took you so long?" She asked, clearly not too crazy about having waited. We were usually quick to go to bed after breakfast when shift ended.

"Had to talk to Gabby before leaving, sorry."

"It's ok. I ordered the usual, hope it's ok."

"It's perfect." I smiled at her.

"So how are you feeling now that your first shift back is behind you?"

"Really good. The first call I was a bit nervous but it got better with each one." She was acting normal for all I knew but I was growing insanely nervous.

"Ok Pete. You're fidgety. What's up?"

"I'm not fidgety, I'm fine." I lied.

"You remember me right? The girl who's known you since FOREVER? Don't lie, you're not very good at it." Who was I kidding. There was no one I could one-up her that easily. I ran a hand on the back of my neck, trying to find the courage to tell her.

"Actually, there's a reason other than just that it's been forever that we've gone for breakfast for us coming here." It barely made sense to my ears and I hoped it wasn't too confusing for her.

"Come on Pete, you know you can tell me anything right?" She put a hand on my slightly shaking one.

"Look. I know that I said that I was moving in with Gabby because of PT and how easier it was to recover on a single floor apartment."

"Yeah I remember." I don't know if she was just trying to drag it out of me, knowing what I was coming to or if she was completely oblivious to what came next.

"Well Gabby and I talked and she asked me to move in with her and I said yes." The hurt look that crossed her features broke my heart.

"What are you saying Pete?" It's as if she was trying to get another answer by asking that question.

"I'm going to move in with Gabby." There it was. I told my best friend, the one who knew me inside out and that I had shared everything with up until now, that I was leaving. In that instant, I could see her heart shatter in tiny pieces. Just then, the waitress put our order on the table. Abbey looked at her plate and then up at me before looking at it again and pushing it away. She wiped the tears out of her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I got to go." She mumbled putting money on the table getting up quickly.

"Abbey." I tried grabbing onto her hand to stop her from leaving so we could talk but she was too fast. I decided that running after her wasn't going to help the situation so I let her leave, hoping that she would come to me at some point so we could talk. I had completely lost my appetite at that point so I put money on the table, much like Abbey had a few moments ago and left, thoughts of how deeply I had hurt my best friend running through my mind.

a/n So finally, Peter drops the bomb on Abbey. Even though she expected it, it was so hard for her to hear him say the words. She suddenly loses her best friend in a way on top of her roommate.

Next up: Abbey deals with the fact that Peter is moving out and Matt and Abbey go have dinner at the Darden's before they leave for Milwaukee.

Alright so after having such a hard time with this story and not really knowing where it was heading, chapter ideas started swirling in my head today and I finally made a decision. There's going to be ten more chapters (Epiloque included). After that, I will concentrate on my two other stories: Grief and Gain (that I'm trying to get rolling) and Coming home as well as its eventual sequel. I'm trying to focus on just a few stories so I'm able to keep track of them when my maternity leave finishes and I have to go back to work (and have less time to write). I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and you'll leave a review to tell me how you liked it.