AN: So, I suck. I'm sorry. Work has been crazy the last few years, but I hope to start updating more frequently. This story will not follow any particular Chicago Fire storylines but WILL mention some background from my Chicago PD fic (Bigger Than Us). Also, the closing time listed for Molly's is the actual Sunday-Friday closing time for Lotties.
Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago Fire or One Chicago.
Love You Out Loud - Chapter 7
Matt quickly made his way out of Dawson's. Taking refuge in his truck, he took a deep breath, rattled from the encounter.
After centering himself with another deep breath, Matt grabbed his phone from the cupholder he had put it in and dialed Kelly. With both the Cubs & the Sox playing at home, Molly's was going to be packed, so he hoped it was early enough that the rush hadn't hit yet, and Kelly would be able to answer.
"Hey baby," Kelly says, answering on the 3rd ring. "What's up? You done at Dawson's?"
"Yeah," he responds, taking another calming breath, "yeah, I just finished."
"Are you okay?" Kelly asked, concerned.
"Yeah, just a little rattled. I'll tell you later."
"You sure?" Kelly didn't want to push, but even after all these years, Matt would still hold his feelings back every now and then.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Matt replied, smiling at Kelly's concern. "Hey, is it busy yet?"
"Not too bad, but it could start any minute."
"Okay," Matt nods to himself, "well, I'll swing by Portillo's and grab something for you, me, & Hermann."
"Sounds good. I'll see you in a bit. Love you."
"Love you." Matt says back, hanging up with a smile.
Having touched base with Kelly, Matt starts his truck and heads towards Portillo's. It had become a tradition on nights when they knew the bar would be busy. Off shift, all three bar owners tried to eat healthy…but they always made an excuse for Portillo's. Having all been raised on it, it was as much a part of their blood as being firefighters.
Swinging through the drive-thru at Portillo's, Matt orders their usuals, plus a little extra for him. He hadn't had time to grab anything before going to Dawson's and was starting to feel it. He knew he would need the fuel to get through a long, crazy night tending the bar.
The three men never deviated from their usuals. For Matt, it was a Double Bacon Cheeseburger with Fries, Cheese Sauce, and a Chocolate Cake Shake; however, given his hunger, he added a Hot Dog to his order. For Kelly, it was a Big Beef Sandwich, Chicken Tenders, Onion Rings, and Cheese Sauce (and the sips he would take from Matt's shake). And finally for Hermann, an Italian Beef Sandwich with Fries and Onion Rings.
Arriving at Molly's, Matt could see that the rush had officially started.
He dropped the food in the office, scarfing down his hot dog and some fries before heading out to the floor.
"Hey guys! Food is in the office." He says, walking behind the bar and taking stock before starting to help.
"Hey, Casey!" Hermann yelled back from the other end of the bar. "Severide, you want to eat first?"
"Hey, Baby," Kelly says, walking behind Matt, copping a subtle feel of his ass and giving him a peck. "Nah Hermann, I'm good. You go ahead."
The three men rotated out eating and manning the bar, making sure they were all back behind the bar as things started getting competitive in both games.
As the Cubs got a double play to end their inning and the Sox got a base hit to start theirs, Antonio and a few others from the 21st came in, Antonio making his way up to the bar to get drinks.
"Hey, what's up Casey?" Antonio says, squeezing in to place their order.
"Hey Antonio, how're you doing?" Casey asks, wiping down the last glass from the dish load he had just run.
"Good. Finishing up a case, so we came for a drink."
"You catch the bad guy?" Matt teases, pouring a round of shots for the group at the end of the bar.
"Don't we always," Antonio shoots back with a chuckle and a smirk.
"Fair point," Matt responds, returning the chuckle. "So who's all here?" He asks, heading to the beer case, preparing to grab the team's preferred brands.
"Uh, it's me, Halstead, Burgess, & Olinsky."
Matt nods along, grabbing three beers, and moving back to the bar to grab the hidden bottle of Olinsky's red wine.
"Lindsey?" Matt asked, having not heard the name, but knowing she usually comes out with the team after a case.
"Um, no. I think she and Halstead got in a little spat today. She headed out right after we closed the case."
"Uh oh," Matt says, as he popped the tops on the 3 beers. "Trouble in paradise?" The partners had always seemed close and flirty to those at 51.
"I don't think there is a paradise," Antonio responded, shaking his head and taking a sip of his beer. "Halstead seems to be getting frustrated with her lately…and is getting pretty close with Burgess."
"Really?" Casey responds with surprise and intrigue. Mentally, he was making a note to have Kim over for drinks to get to the bottom of the story. While both Lindsey & Kim had helped Kelly decorate their house, it was Kim they were closer to.
"You didn't hear it from me," Antonio answers with a whisper and a wink.
"My lips are sealed," Casey assured back, pouring Al's wine.
"Hey," Antonio said, changing the subject, "my sister texted me that you went over to fix her window earlier."
"Um, yeah," he said with a pause. "I was there right before I came here. All set."
Casey started busying himself with another task, trying to avoid the conversation. He wanted to talk about it with Kelly first, and honestly, did not want to talk to Antonio about it at all.
"Uh oh. What happened?" Antonio had hoped his sister would heed his warning and stay away from Casey…guess not.
"Nothing. Nothing." Casey waved him off and started filling another order, hoping to end the conversation there.
"Yeah," Antonio scoffed. "Sure. I believe that."
"Really," Casey said, still trying to get him to stop prying. "She just…I don't know. Was a little too…" He trailed off, trying to find the best way to describe her behavior while being respectful to her brother.
"Flirty? Overattentive? Desperate?" Antonio listed.
"Well, yeah. Kind of." Casey confirmed.
"Ugh, alright. I'll talk to her," Antonio said, hoping he would be able to get through to her this time.
"Antonio, no! I can handle it. Kel & I are just still trying to feel her out."
"Yeah, but you shouldn't have to handle it," Antonio said with sympathy and conviction. "I told her I thought you were seeing someone, but I guess she just saw that as a challenge. I'll talk to her," he finished. Knowing Matt would try to stop him, he quickly grabbed Al's wine and the beers, walking back to the table.
Following his conversation with Antonio, Casey focused the rest of the night on slinging beers, shaking cocktails, and pouring shots.
It was a rowdy night. Cubs fans celebrating a win, Sox fans mourning a loss, and everyone else just having a good time.
Herding the last customer out the door, Hermann locked up and turned to Kelly & Matt.
"Hey, why don't you two head out? I can lock up tonight," he said, knowing they needed to talk about what happened at Dawson's.
"No way Hermann," Kelly told the older man, shaking his head and starting to wipe down tables. "Clean-up always takes forever after nights like this. It'll be faster if we stay."
"He's right Hermann," Casey said, coming in from taking out the trash, walking to the POS.
"Had to give it a shot," he said, shrugging his shoulders. Giving up, Hermann walked to the back to fill the mop bucket while Kelly started putting up chairs & stools. The floors were always disgusting after nights like this, so it was the first thing they attacked.
While Kelly & Hermann were cleaning the floor, Matt pulled both tills, ran the reports off the POS, and started to reconcile receipts.
Taking a minute, Kelly walked behind the bar & pulled out three beers, popping the tops. He left one on the bar for Hermann, handed the second to Matt, and took a pull from the third, walking up behind Matt and resting his chin on the blonde's shoulder.
"So," he said, dropping a kiss on Matt's neck, "you want to talk about what happened now? Or later?"
Casey sighed, "May as well do it now," he said. He set down the receipts and took a pull from the beer, leaning back into Kelly for a moment.
"Then spill," Kelly said, pulling away and emptying the dishwasher before putting in another dirty rack.
"Spill what?" Hermann asked, pausing at the bar to take a pull from his beer. After their first big night, they had a beer to celebrate while they cleaned and it quickly became a tradition.
"Something happened when he was at Dawson's fixing her window," Kelly answered.
"Gotcha," Hermann nodded. "You need me to busy myself in the back?"
Hermann knew there were conversations the two men didn't mind having in front of people, especially him. But this was new territory for the couple. They had never dealt with someone so close to their world trying to get with one of them, so he did not want to intrude.
"No, you're fine Hermann," Casey assured him, preparing to start the story.
"Start from the beginning," Kelly insisted, wiping down glasses and continuing to clean.
"Well, she was dressed up when I got there."
"Dressed up how?" Kelly interrupted.
"Hair done, full make-up, 'hot' outfit," he paused, making air quotes around 'hot'. "And this will go faster if you don't interrupt."
"Sorry," Kelly said, raising his hands.
"Anyway," Matt sighs, "she was just always trying to get in my space or find a way to touch me. And she had this flirty tone the whole time. I kept trying to brush it off, keep things brief, but she wasn't having it." He finished, shaking his head, picking at the label of his beer, and replaying the interaction in his head.
"Hey," Kelly called, pulling him out of his head. "Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"Stop overthinking it," Kelly answered, walking up to Matt. He took his partner's chin and tilted his head up. "You did nothing to lead her on."
"He's right kid," Hermann chimed in, slipping into father mode. "I know you. I can tell you exactly how it played out."
"Oh yeah," Matt scoffed. "How?"
"You were kind & friendly. You didn't ignore her but focused on the task at hand. You answered questions but didn't elaborate. You hurried away when you felt uncomfortable, and you wrapped up as quickly as you could," Hermann said, leaning on the bar across from the couple.
"That is literally spot on. I would put money on that being what happened," Kelly confirmed, trying to bring some laughter to the conversation.
"Yeah, pretty much," Matt chuckled. "I guess I can't help it sometimes"
Matt had the habit of blaming himself and shouldering blame he did not deserve. It was a carryover from his childhood. Kelly (and Matt's therapist) had been trying to help Matt with the behavior for years and had made progress. But every once and a while, it sneaks back in.
"That's why we're here kid," Hermann said, knocking his knuckles on the bar and turning back to the mop.
"He's right," Kelly whispered in his ear, pecking Matt on the forehead, nose, & lips before going back to cleaning.
The men finished cleaning the bar and headed out around 3:30 A.M. All in all, the clean-up wasn't bad. Last Call was at 1:00 A.M. on Fridays (which this was) and close was at 2:00, so an hour and a half to clean up was pretty good.
Once they were home, Kelly & Matt went straight up to their bedroom, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed.
"Oh," Casey said, preparing to wash his face, "you'll never guess what Antonio told me tonight."
"What?" Kelly replied, pausing getting his toothbrush. (He was secretly a huge gossip.)
"Apparently Jay has been spending a lot of time with Kim lately," Matt told him, rubbing his face wash in, and glancing at Kelly in the mirror.
"Jay…Halstead?" Kelly questioned, putting toothpaste on his toothbrush.
"Yep."
"And Kim…Burgess?" He asked again, bringing the toothbrush to his mouth.
"Mmmhmm," Matt answered, splashing water on his face and drying it with a towel.
"Reeaaaally?" Kelly said, dragging out the word, which was muffled by his toothbrush.
"Yeah," Matt said, reaching for his moisturizer. He started his skincare routine as a candidate, wanting to keep his skin clear and clean with everything it was exposed to. "So I was thinking we could have them over for dinner next week. When our off days line up? See if we can get anything out of them."
"Or," Kelly said wiping his mouth, "We could just leave them alone and let them figure it out." He proposes. Just because he was a gossip, did not mean he wanted to get involved.
"I'm sorry, have we met," Matt asked, rolling his eyes at his partner.
"Mmmm, fair point," Kelly reasoned, wrapping his arms around Matt and pulling him in for a kiss.
"Wait," Kelly said, pulling back from the kiss, "I thought Jay was with Lindsey."
"Guess not," Matt shrugged, kissing down Kelly's neck and moving his hands down to Kelly's hips. He was tired when they got home, but after the situation with Dawson earlier, he wants Kelly to reassure him that they are good.
"Hmm," Kelly said, tilting his neck to give Matt more access. He figured that no matter how tired they were, the night would end like this. Matt was inside his head, and he needed confirmation that they were solid.
"Well," he starts, shuffling Matt backward towards their bedroom, "Kim would be easier to get information out of, but it seems like Jay's side might be more complicated."
"So Jay?" Matt pauses his actions, looking Kelly in the eye.
"Jay," Kelly confirms, pushing Matt onto the bed, crawling over him, and drawing him into a deep kiss.
Matt moaned into Kelly's mouth as Kelly ground his hips into Matt's. Their erections meeting, Matt broke the kiss and let out another moan, Kelly moving his lips down Matt's neck as he played with the waistband of his briefs.
The men had shed all but their underwear before getting ready for bed, so they had little separating them.
"Kel," Matt breathed out, grinding his erection up into Kelly's, desperate for friction. "Please."
"Okay, baby," Kelly said, starting to pull Matt's briefs down, "No need to beg."
Kelly finished pulling Matt's briefs off, tossing them to the floor. He looked Matt up and down, taking in the panting blonde. Finishing his leering, he leaned down and swiped his tongue along the tip of Matt's erection, moaning at the taste of pre-come hitting his taste buds.
Matt's breath hitched as Kelly took his length in his mouth, moving his head down and swallowing.
"Please. Kel, too much," Matt says, a death grip on Kelly's hair.
Kelly released Matt from his mouth with a pop and drew Matt into another kiss. Matt moaned at the taste of himself while Kelly reached to the nightstand for their lube. Pulling away, Kelly coated his fingers and made quick work of preparing Matt.
Matt let out a long moan as Kelly's first finger entered him, a white-knuckled grip on the sheets. Kelly added another finger, bringing his other hand to slowly jerk Matt off.
Adding a third finger, Kelly brushed Matt's prostate, getting a high-pitched moan out of Matt as he arched off the bed.
"I'm ready. Kel, honey, please." Matt pushed, needing Kelly inside him.
Kelly, who had not uttered a word since he took off Matt's briefs, shed his own briefs and squirted more lube into his hand.
As he lubed his own length, Matt looked at him through hooded eyes.
"I need you," Matt whispered into the air.
Kelly wasted no time, realizing he needed reassurance as much as Matt. He placed his length at Matt's opening, gripping the man's hips & slowly pushing in. Once his hips were flush with Matt's backside, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Pausing for a moment, he relished in the feeling of being squeezed by Matt's walls and leaned down for a kiss.
After the kiss and a nod from Matt-Kelly began moving with long, slow strokes. A very physical couple, their lovemaking was usually fast & dirty, but that was not what they needed tonight. Tonight, they needed each other. Slowly, passionately. To reaffirm to each other even with this new person in their lives trying to create trouble, they were stronger together.
"Touch me, Kel. Please." Matt breathed out, running his nails down the other man's back.
Kelly, never changing his pace, moved a hand to grip Matt's length. Breathing into his neck, Kelly jacked Matt off in time with his own thrusts, bringing them both closer and closer to the edge.
"Kelly," Matt whispered, bringing a hand to the back of his head. He brought Kelly's head up, their eyes meeting. "Make me cum. Make me yours."
Kelly responded by increasing his speed, continuing to jack Matt off in time with his thrusts. When he could sense they were approaching their peak, he broke his silence.
"Cum for me, baby," he whispered, never breaking eye contact with Matt.
Those words were all Matt needed. He let out a loud moan, spilling cum between them and coating Kelly's hand.
His orgasm had triggered Kelly's. The other man stilling as he spilled into his lover, coating his insides and collapsing over him as he finished.
They lay there for a couple of minutes, catching their breath and relishing in the emotion. Catching each other's eyes once more, they whispered soft 'I love you's and exchanged a quick peck.
Carefully, Kelly pulled out of Matt, drawing a moan of sorrow from the blonde. Kelly smirked and walked to the bathroom, wetting a washcloth and coming back to clean up Matt.
After cleaning him of his release, Kelly kissed Matt once more and settled into the middle of the bed. Matt threw a leg over both of Kelly's, snuggling into 'his spot' and started to let sleep in.
"So we'll call Jay tomorrow?" Matt asked, wanting to finish the conversation they were having before they got sidetracked.
"Sounds good baby," Kelly said with a chuckle. Kissing the top of Matt's head softly, Kelly let sleep in himself, a smile on his face and his man in his arms.