Hello there everyone! I'm here with the next update for you all. In this one, we're gonna see some of how the house buying process is moving along for Dawsey, and how it might not be going quite as they planned, as well as check in a bit with some of the other characters. So I hope you all enjoy it!

Also, I do want to apologize for this being a shorter chapter. This is what I would call one of those stepping stone chapters, where we're about to get into some more storylines and we needed something to get us there, and that's what a lot of this update is. I'm just sorry it isn't longer, but I hope you like it regardless!

That's pretty much all I've got, I hope you all have a great rest of your day and I'll see you next time.

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FOUR

"And if you look out here, there's a rather spacious backyard. The deck was just redone last summer, and there's an awning attached to the side of the house that can come down, to help shield some of the sun." The realtor spoke as she, Matt, and Gabby stood in the kitchen of the home they were looking at. "There's a lot of room out there, plenty of space for children to play.. And there's a single car garage behind the property as well, if you'd like to keep a vehicle off the street."

"That'd be nice." Matt commented, earning a small smile from his wife before the woman trying to sell this property continued.

"Yes, it's a great feature, isn't it? And, as an added bonus, with all these windows on the back of the house, you can easily see out into the backyard from here in the kitchen, or over in the dining area." She added on, Casey nodding back at her as Gabby continued to look around the room. "So you'll be able to keep an eye on any little ones playing back there." She spoke pointedly, while looking between Gabby and Matt. "Do you all have any children?"

"Uh, not yet." Casey told her after clearing his throat, the realtor- Margaret, offering them both an understanding look while Gabby's bottom lip fell between her teeth. "One day, but not right now… We're trying to find a house first."

"Ah, well that's very smart. Have you all been looking long?" She questioned, leaning her weight back into the counter as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"For a few weeks. Since last month… Haven't found the right place yet, but we've seen some great properties." Casey made conversation with her. "It's been a little challenging trying to find a home with everything we're looking for, in the neighborhoods we want. But we're narrowing things down."

"That's good. It's best not to take the first place you look at, anyway." She told them, Matt offering her a soft grin before he nodded. "But, from what you've told me about what you're looking for, I think this home would be great for you." Magaret spoke, the tone in her voice shifting as it was clear she was going back into realtor mode. "It has the right amount of bedrooms, and the space you all want. Which, at the listing price is a steal… Then the neighborhood is great, a lot of families live around here. And you mentioned it's not too far from when you both work." She went through the list, Matt and Gabby listening to her before the former continued to nod.

"Yeah, you're right about that.. It is a really nice home." Casey replied, before glancing towards his wife, the gesture meant to prompt her into giving some sort of response as Gabby swallowed a bit before she started to nod in agreement with her husband. Because he was right, this was a nice house.

She just wasn't sure if it was the house for them.

Dawson had been unsure about it since before they even came to see the place, but because their efforts over the last few weeks weren't going as well as they'd hoped, she was willing to give nearly any home a chance, Gabby figuring that maybe she'd feel differently about it once seeing it in person. But she hadn't. If anything, doing a walk through of this home only cemented what she already knew, that this wasn't the place for them.

There wasn't any one thing wrong with it, truthfully there wasn't much wrong in general. Aside from the rooms being a bit cramped, and more cut off than she wanted, the place had potential. And could make someone a very nice house someday. It just wouldn't be for her and Matt, as Gabby still hadn't gotten that feeling she'd been waiting for; the one that would tell them that this was the place they were meant to be.

She had felt it before. When they found her apartment where she and Matt live now, she knew from the moment she stepped foot into that place that that's where she was going to live. Something in her gut told her that was the home for her, and her intuition had been right. But at this moment, she wasn't getting that feeling.

And honestly, she hadn't experienced it with any of the homes her and Matt had looked at during the past weeks.

As Matt had said, they'd gone to see a bunch of different houses since they decided to start their search. At least a dozen. In fact, this now was the third house they'd come to see just today, as they were trying to make the most out of their days off. But regardless, they'd seen a lot of homes recently, and unfortunately it was the same thing every time; they liked the house, but they didn't love it.

The homes were either too small, or a few were just too big. They'd been too far from work, or not in the neighborhoods they wanted. Then there was the problem of Matt liking properties that Gabby didn't, and vice versa. Overall, there had just been too many issues with each place they'd seen, which caused them to have to keep on searching.

They knew this was all just part of this process. That it wouldn't be easy to find their forever home, especially in as big of a city as this. But that didn't mean it wasn't also starting to wear Gabby down, the mental aspect as challenging as anything else as there were some days it felt like they'd never find the right home for them. And that was certainly a demoralizing feeling, one that made itself more known with each house they looked at.

"So, would you two like to see anything else around here?" Margaret offered, Gabby snapping out of her thoughts as she realized she'd missed a bit of the conversation between her husband and this realtor. "We could gp back and see the master bedroom again, try to envision yourselves living here." She prompted, Casey laughing politely before he glanced towards his wife, it not at all lost on him how quiet she'd been this entire time.

"Actually I think Gabby and I wanna talk for a bit… Can we have a minute?" He asked her, Margaret soon nodding before she stepped away from the counter.

"Of course, take all the time you need. I'm gonna go check on something upstairs." She replied, getting a small smile from Dawson as she left the kitchen, the couple waiting a few moments to make sure she was out of earshot before Matt turned to face Gabby.

His eyes traced over her face at first, the soft grin on his face relaxing her as he reached down to grab ahold of her hand, before eventually speaking up. "So, what do you think?" He asked her, figuring that was the safest place to start as his wife had been a bit closed off since they started looking at this home. Not so much from him, just in general.

She offered him a small smile, her eyes moving around the room once more before she shrugged. "It's nice." She settled on, though Matt could tell she was holding back. "What about you? What do you think?"

"I think it's great." He responded easily, Gabby taking in a slow breath while she nodded, those words not exactly surprising to hear. "It would need some work, but it's one of my favorite places we've seen so far. It has almost everything we've been wanting."

Upon hearing that, Gabby forced the smile on her face a little wider, hoping to hide the unsure feeling in her gut as she knew she wasn't as sold on this place as her husband was.

"Yeah, it's uh.. It's really nice. And the backyard is great." She replied, Matt tilting his head to the side slightly while his eyes traced over her features, the man seeing right through the smile she was giving him as he squeezed her hand gently.

"...You don't like it, do you?"

His words were holding no irritation or malice, nothing to suggest he was upset with her for not loving this place as much as he did. Just clear curiosity as he stroked his thumb along the back of her hand, Gabby letting out a soft sigh while she gathered her thoughts, before finally answering him.

"I don't… dislike it, I guess." She replied as she met his gaze. "I…"

Her voice trailed off, causing a slight frown to pull on Matt's lips as he waited for her to get out whatever was going on in her head. But she never did.

"What's going on in there?" He prompted, wanting to understand as Gabby released another heavy breath, Matt then taking a step closer to her.

"It's not anything, and there's nothing really wrong with this place, either. This house is beautiful, and would be a nice place to live. I just… I don't feel at home here." She admitted, his face continuing to fall while she averted her eyes down between them. "I can't really explain it. And I know that sounds stupid-"

"It doesn't." He was quick to interject, as the last thing he wanted was for her to second guess her own feelings. Even if she didn't necessarily understand them herself, she couldn't help how she felt. "You don't sound stupid, how you feel isn't stupid." Matt assured her, seeing her face soften slightly before she looked back up at him. "It's okay for you to not like this house."

"I know. And I know every house won't be the house, but it… I dunno, I don't like that I keep feeling this way." She breathed out, his eyes beginning to fill with sadness while he took in what she was saying.

"What way?"

"Like we're never going to find our home." She blurted before she could stop herself, Matt's eyes widening ever so slightly before he took the last step towards her, Gabby wincing as she hadn't meant for that to come out. But it had, and there was no taking it back now. "...I know it doesn't make sense, and that at some point we'll find the house for us. But right now, with every new place we go and see, it feels harder and harder to envision us finding our home. And… I don't know, I think I'm just overwhelmed."

Casey's heart tightened in his chest while he listened to her rambling, as he could tell how frustrated she was getting because of this. He'd seen a little bit of it here and there over the past few days, but now he knew for sure that this was getting to her. That she was stressed out because of this process, and he absolutely hated it. He hated that she was feeling this way, that something that was supposed to be good for them was turning into this.

But what he maybe hated more was how he felt a little bit responsible.

They'd hit the ground running the second they decided to look for a house, barely slowing down after they'd gone to see their first home, but now he was understanding how he might've gotten a little too ahead of himself. With all the houses they'd gone to look at, how they'd been focused so much on this next step for them, he was realizing that it may be doing more harm than good. At least as far as his wife was concerned.

He just wished he would've seen that sooner, as the last thing he ever wanted was for her to feel this way.

"And I might be making too big of a deal about this… We knew it wouldn't be simple. That we wouldn't find a house immediately, I just… I don't know, I had hoped some of this would go differently. And it's not." She finished, sucking in a deep breath as she'd finally gotten everything off her chest. Things she didn't even realize she'd been holding onto, but now that they were out in the open she was beginning to feel at least a little better. Though that was something that might shift depending on what her husband had to say.

He'd been quiet since she spoke, his thoughts clearly racing while he watched her, like he was trying to figure out exactly what to say. And thankfully, it didn't take too long before he did, Matt reaching out to grab ahold of her other hand while looking her in the eye.

"...How about we take a step back from all of this." He suggested, those words some of the last she was expecting to hear as her brows furrowed.

"You don't want to keep looking for a house?" She questioned, a hint of uncertainty present in her voice while Matt gave her a small, yet supportive smile.

"I do, but I also think we might need to slow down for a second." He clarified, sensing that she was still a bit confused by what he was saying. "We've been stretching ourselves going to all these properties, trying to find something for us and I think it would be better if we took a break from that. At least from going to every house we find, focusing on nothing but this…" Matt told her, hoping that at least some of this was getting through to her. "This is an exciting thing for us, one of the biggest things we've ever done, but right now it's making us stressed more than anything. And I don't want that, I don't want you to feel like that." He spoke, letting Gabby take in what he was saying before he continued. "So I think the best thing we can do right now is take some time, as long as that's alright with you. Cause we don't need to rush this." He suggested, seeing her bite down on her lip before giving him a somewhat hesitant nod.

"It is, and I think you're right. … But I- I want to find a house for us." She breathed out, his face softening while he tightened his hand around hers.

"I know, and we will. When the time is right." He replied, his tone firm yet gentle. "There's nothing I want more than us one day finding our perfect house, meant just for us. That we both absolutely love. Where we'll grow old together with all our kids and grandkids." Matt told her with a strong conviction, those words alone helping to ease the worries she was feeling. "And it's going to happen for us, I know it will. But to get there, we have to do it at our own pace."

Gabby drew in a steadying breath, his calming voice washing over her as with each passing second, she was beginning to feel better about this, her moment of uncertainty beginning to clear as Matt, once again, proved how he always knew what to say to her.

"I think we were both just so excited to find a place, that we jumped into this a little too quickly. But now, it's best to take a step back from it. Regroup a little bit." He continued on, seeing Gabby slowly nod in agreement. "If we see a house we like, of course we can go and check it out. But for now, we'll just take things one day at a time." He finished, the genuine smile on his face flooding her chest with warmth before she gradually started to match his grin.

"Okay." She murmured, Matt nodding almost instantly as he brought one hand up to cradle her neck. "Thank you."

"Always, baby." He said, leaning forward to place a sweet kiss to her forehead before he pulled her into a hug, feeling her nearly melt into him while her arms came to rest around his waist, Gabby holding onto him tightly as she was already beginning to feel better about everything. Even if this next step in their lives wasn't going exactly how they planned.

Casey stretched out his back while he sat at the desk in his office, his eyes focused down on the endless pile of paperwork in front of him as he knew he needed to get some of this done, and soon. But he wasn't exactly motivated, a slight yawn escaping his lips before he leaned back into his chair, letting his body relax while he took yet another break from his work.

Though his moment of quiet didn't last as long as he would've liked, as just seconds after beginning his break he heard a knock on his glass door, Matt turning back to see Severide standing there with his brows raised.

"Come in." Casey spoke, waving his hand in the air before Kelly pulled the door open and stepped inside.

"Hey man." Severide said, Matt nodding back at him while spinning his chair around to face him, Kelly taking that as an invitation to sit down on Casey's bed. "Just thought I'd come by, see what you're up to.. You've been locked away in here most of shift."

"Yeah, yeah.. I've got a lot of paperwork to get through." Matt supplemented.

"And how is that going?" Kelly asked back knowingly, Casey letting out a deep scoff before shaking his head.

"Terribly."

"Figured." Severide replied with a laugh of his own. "You've been drowned in paperwork for a few shifts now, I'm not sure how you pissed Boden off, but…" He teased, Matt rolling his eyes before leaning his chair further back.

"He asked for my help, so of course I was gonna say yes." Matt reminded him, before a deep grimace appeared over his features. "I just didn't realize when Boden asked me to take on some more workload, that it meant all this paperwork."

"Well, that's what happens when you're too good at your job, man." Kelly egged on, prompting Casey to narrow his eyes in response before lifting his leg up to rest over his knee.

"Yeah, you wouldn't know much about that, would you?" He shot back, Severide's mouth opening in a bit of shock mixed with amusement, before the two friends shared another laugh.

"Such a dick." Severide muttered under his breath, though that only caused Casey to laugh harder before Kelly flipped him off. "Anyway, I was also gonna ask you how you've been, since we haven't seen much of each other lately. But with you being an asshole, I'm not sure if I care anymore." He joked.

"Ha ha." Matt replied dryly, resting his hands over his stomach before continuing on. "To answer your question, I've been good. Pretty busy, between the house stuff and picking up some construction jobs, but good." He told him, Severide nodding in response.

"Still going to see every available house on the market, I take it?" Kelly asked lightly, Matt shooting him another glare while he spoke.

"No, actually we're not.. Not anymore, anyway." Casey said, seeing the way Severide's eyes widened a bit.

"Wait- did you and Dawson find a place?"

Matt soon began to shake his head, causing Severide's excitement for his friends to lessen as the truck Lieutenant cleared his throat. "No, no we didn't. It's kind of the opposite actually, Gabby and I are gonna take a pause with the whole house thing." He told him, Severide's brows furrowing deeply while he looked over his friend.

"Why's that?" He questioned. "I mean, you and Dawson have been grossly excited about this for weeks, don't tell me there's trouble in paradise." He continued on with his jokes, causing Casey to narrow his eyes once more.

"Definitely not." Matt responded firmly. "There's nothing wrong, and we still are excited. We just decided it was best for us to slow things down… The whole process is more overwhelming than we anticipated." He explained, Kelly soon giving him a slow nod. The squad Lieutenant figured there was more to the story than what Casey was letting on, but he wasn't going to push it as he knew if Matt wanted to talk about it, he would've.

"Alright, I can understand that.. But I'm sure everything will work out the way it's supposed to." he assured him, Matt giving him a weak smile as he nodded.

"Yeah, it will." Casey agreed, taking a moment to clear his throat before shifting the subject. "What about you, though? How have you been?" He asked him, the slight smirk appearing over Kelly's face surprising him as he watched his friend duck his head down towards the ground. "..What?"

"Nothing, that's just kind of why I came to see you, actually… I wanted to ask your opinion on something." He admitted, Matt chuckling deeply while adjusting his positioning in his seat.

"Should've known you didn't really come here to see how I was doing." He deadpanned, Severide matching his laugh instantly. "So what is it?" Matt pushed, Severide drawing in a deep breath before speaking up.

"Well, I've uh… I've been seeing this girl." He started, Casey's eyebrows raising as Kelly nodded back at him. "We've been, you know… For a couple months."

"Months?" Casey asked in pure shock, getting nothing but another nod back from his friend. "How did I not know about this?"

Severide shrugged. "We're not actually dating or anything, just seeing each other. But we've been trying to keep it under wraps." He began to explain, Matt hanging on his every word. "I met her at the academy, when I would go and teach some of those classes." He added on, Casey's confusion morphing into a shameless grin before he let out a laugh.

"She's a firefighter, isn't she." He stated, already knowing the answer as Severide copied his smile.

"Yeah, she is… She was one of the firefighters in my class- Don't give me that." Kelly stopped himself when he saw the look on Casey's face. "This was all above board, nothing happened till she'd finished her training with me. We just got to know one another, and.. well, things happened." He finished, Matt doing his best to hold back his amused smirk while he began to nod.

"Alright, so what do you need from me?" Casey asked him, forcing Kelly to take in another heavy breath.

"I figure it's not so much advice, as it is a question… But seeing you and Dawson handle the job, and being together. I guess I'm just wondering how difficult that is." He told him, Matt sighing softly as he sat up a little straighter in his chair. "I mean, obviously you and Gabby have gone through some crazy shit. But just in terms of the job itself, how do you all handle it?"

Casey thought over the question for a moment, knowing he needed to choose his words carefully before he finally spoke up. "Well, I'm not sure if there's one easy answer for you, Sev." He began, his brows knitting together while a few different things went through his mind. "I can't say it isn't hard sometimes, being with someone in the same profession as you. Because you know exactly what type of danger they put themselves in every day. And knowing there's a chance something could happen to Gabby, it's really difficult. I won't lie." Matt told him, trying to be as honest as he could. "It's easy to put yourself in danger. Knowing the risks you signed up for, but it's another thing entirely to watch someone you care about do that. It's almost killed me a few times… But if the person is worth it, it's something you come to terms with pretty quickly." He said, Kelly thinking over his words before he nodded.

"Though, with that being said, being with someone who understands what you're going through day in and day out, it makes a lot of things easier. And better, from my experience. Because they get it. They know the job and the demands of it, and understand what that's like." Matt continued, only pausing to take a breath. "So I guess that's my answer, is there are some hard parts to it, like there would be in any relationship. But it's also amazing… This job has given me the greatest love of my life, so I'd say it hasn't been too bad." He finished lightheartedly, Severide chuckling a bit in response.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He replied to him, Severide pausing for a moment before he said the words running through his mind. "Though you and Dawson are different."

"What do you mean?" Casey asked back, prompting Severide to shrug.

"Just because you two love each other so much, more than I've ever seen in any other relationship. You're pretty much the definition of soulmates, even if I do think all that stuff is kind of crap." He continued on while Matt let out a small laugh, though he could feel how genuine Kelly's words were. "But knowing you guys, with any of the problems or anything that ever came up here, we all just kind of knew you'd get through them. That you'd be able to handle them, because you love each other so much. So I'm not sure if it would be the same for me trying to date someone on the job."

"It could be." Casey said without a thought, regaining Severide's gaze. "Really, it could. I'm not gonna sit here and disagree with you, and say what Gabby and I have isn't special because I think it is. But I also think that's something you could have, with the right person." Matt spoke truthfully, supporting his words with a strong nod. "...You really like this girl?"

"I do." Severide replied instantly. "And I don't want to fuck it up."

"Well, then I think you should go for it." Matt told him, seeing his friend slowly start to smile. "Wherever it goes, you won't know until you try. I understand being hesitant because of the job, but I wouldn't trade my relationship with Gabby for anything… So if you really are serious about this, you should give it a shot."

Severide took a moment to himself before he began to nod, the two men sharing small smiles before Kelly began to get up from Casey's bunk.

"Thanks Case." He responded softly, Matt nodding as Severide walked towards him and placed a grateful hand on his shoulder.

"You're welcome… Although I still can't believe you never told me." He teased one last time, Kelly releasing a laugh before shoving his shoulder gently.

"Sorry, man."

"Uh huh." Matt replied, the two men shaking their heads in amusement while Severide started for the door, his steps only slowing when he heard Casey's voice once more. "But since I know now, who is this woman, anyway?"

Kelly stepped back out into the bunkroom, his body then turning with a slight smile already pulling on his lips, Casey smirking back at him as he could see just how happy his friend was. And it was a nice sight to see, Severide chuckling softly underneath his breath before he responded.

"...Her name is Stella Kidd."

"Okay, Truck 81 let's get to work cleaning this up!" Casey called across the road after hitting his palm against the back of ambulance 61, prompting Shay to pull away from the scene with their last victim inside.

51 had been called out to a pretty brutal three-car wreck about an hour ago, one that took some extra time and precision to get everyone out of without further injuries, but thankfully, under Casey's command, they'd managed to get all the victims freed from their vehicles and off to the hospital. And now all that was left to clean up the mess left behind.

"Let's get this metal out of the road, and Otis.. Make sure traffic keeps moving."

"Got it, Lieutenant." The man called back, Casey giving him a nod before he went to help his firefighters. Matt, Jenkins, and Mouch were the ones primarily out in the road, trying to work quickly to clean up any debris and get out of here, before causing further traffic problems. But they also couldn't go too fast, for risk of not doing their job correctly.

"Hey Casey?"

Matt looked up when Severide came towards him, the firefighter clutching the radio on his chest as he came to stop beside him.

"Cruz got one of the cars moved and a tow truck is already here to take it, do you want us to get the other two? Or just let the tow handle it." Kelly questioned, Matt pursing his lips together in thought before he responded.

"Just let the towers get it." Casey told him, earning a nod from his friend. "You got the worst one out for them, the other two shouldn't be too hard.. And that way we can get out of their way sooner rather than later."

"Got it, Casey." Severide spoke, before holding up his radio. "Squad, leave the other two there… And come help 81 so we can get out of here."

"On it, Severide." Cruz came back through before Severide dropped his radio and began to help the process.

"Casey." Boden's voice hit Matt's ears while he worked, the Lieutenant turning back to see their Chief just a few feet from him. "Everything handled here?"

"Yes sir." Matt responded without a thought. "We're all good. We'll probably be done in ten minutes or so. Twenty tops."

"Alright, then I'm probably going to head back to the station." He spoke, Casey immediately nodding while he stood up straight.

"Sounds good, Chief. We've got it covered here." He assured his boss, Boden nodding before he started to take a step backwards towards his buggy. But his progress was stopped when Severide suddenly spoke up.

"Oh, what's he doing here?"

The firefighters all turned at his words, just in time to watch District Chief Hayes step out of his vehicle behind Boden's, his eyes already scouring the scene as Matt forced in a deep breath.

This wasn't the first time Chief Hayes had showed up at their scenes over the past few weeks. Or, the scenes Matt was at rather. In fact it had been multiple times where he'd come to a call Truck 81 had been sent to, to the point where it clearly wasn't a coincidence, and Casey didn't know what to make of it. All he did know was that he didn't like it, as his experience within this department told him that having the attention of the higher ups was rarely a good thing. And certainly not something Casey wanted now.

"Do you know why he's here, Chief?" Casey asked, his voice considerably lower this time as Boden drew in a strong breath, before shaking his head.

"I think he has a crush on you, Case." Severide interjected, Matt giving him a deep glare before returning his attention to Boden.

"I'm not sure why, Casey." Their Chief replied, pausing for a moment before continuing. "But what I do know is that he's been asking around about you."

That gained both Severide and Casey's attention, Matt's eyebrows furrowing while Kelly looked towards him. "About me?" Casey asked before he could stop himself.

"Yeah… And Dawson's come up a few times, too." He replied, causing Matt to swallow thickly.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure… He asked me about you two after that apartment fire last month. About you being married and working in the same house." Boden explained, Casey's jaw tightening as he didn't like the sound of that. And neither did the rest of them. "And I've heard rumblings that he's been asking about you within the department."

"Jesus Casey, what did you do to get on this guy's radar?" Severide asked, while Matt shook his head.

"I have no idea, but I'd like off of it." He replied, just as he made eye contact with Chief Hayes from across the street.

He wasn't sure what this man's deal was, but Matt could only hope it wasn't for anything as bad as it sounded, as the last thing Casey could afford right now was to have another Chief trying to blackball him in the department. It had nearly ruined his life the first time, and he wasn't sure his career could survive that again. Especially when, as far as Matt knew, there was no reason for the Chief to be hounding him.

"Lieutenant Casey." Chief Hayes greeted, Matt giving him a curt nod.

"Chief Hayes. Good to see you." He replied politely, the older man matching his nod before his eyes moved towards Boden.

"Chief, a word." He requested, though they all knew he wasn't asking as the District Chief turned to head back towards his buggy, Boden drawing in a deep breath before walking that way, leaving the rest of the firefighters there to continue cleaning.

"...You really don't know what this is about, man?" Severide asked, Casey keeping his face blank while shaking his head.

"No, I don't. But it doesn't matter." Matt responded quickly, Kelly getting the message as Casey turned back to the rest of his first responders. "81, let's get this finished up. Now." He ordered, earning nods from them before they all continued on with the cleanup, the firefighters of 51 more than ready to get out of here and back to the house.

But the entire time they were picking up, Casey could feel a pair of eyes on him. That he was being watched, by no one other than the District Chief, who was in the midst of a deep conversation with Boden. And while Matt had no idea what was going on, he hadn't been lying to Severide when he said he didn't want to know, as there was a small voice in the back of his mind telling him that whatever this was with Chief Hayes, it couldn't have been anything good.

And he was in no hurry to find out if that was true or not.