A/N : Dear readers, hello! Thank you for the interest you always give to this story despite the lack of regular updates, it always makes me happy to receive some comments where you would like to see the rest of this story! So, once again, I apologize for my lack of regularity, but you know, life comes and goes, sometimes we don't have time for anything. And then, you also have to find inspiration! I admit I launched into this story on a whim, without thinking too much, but then you have to feed it! So, here I am again, trying to produce a quality chapter for you, hoping you like it!
I wish you a good reading,
G.
She didn't know when she started feeling good enough to cuddle up with him, but she wasn't embarrassed to be around him anymore. A few minutes later, he put his arm over her shoulders and hugged her against him before placing a kiss on the crook of her shoulder. A kiss probably without a second thought, but which get her all worked up. Without a word, without a glance, they remained entwined in each other's arms, watching the landscape pass in front of their eyes. The comfort that the situation brought them was such that they stayed like that for many minutes, reminding them of the well-being that they brought to each other. They didn't need anything more than each other. Each in their thoughts, they realized this, and said to themselves that it was time to remedy this situation.
Gabby snuggled deeper into Matt's arms, finding some comfort there. She wanted to speak, she wanted to express what she felt but the emotion was too strong. Her eyes grew cloudy, her lips began to tremble. She tried hard to hide her emotions, but Matt knew her so well that he could sense the change in her demeanor.
« Is everything alright? » he asked her, stroking her back as a sign of comfort. Her only response was to shake her head against his shoulder, afraid of looking at him and being vulnerable in front of the man she loved, and that was the problem. He wanted her to open up to him, she wanted to protect him. This was the crux of it. « Gabs, you have to give me more credit than that, whether you like it or not, after all these years I know you inside out… » he gave a slight smile before ending their embrace. He wanted her to look him in the eyes, but she closed her eyes as if to protect herself from the outside world, to create this barrier between her inner peace and the words that needed to be said. She opened her eyes with difficulty, but quickly looked away, her eyes filling with tears. She took the few steps that separated her from the chair she was sitting in before Matt joined her outside and sank into it with all her might.
Matt watched the scene, shocked. The woman he loved, his wife, seemed broken, and it hurt him. He felt bad to know the cause of her discomfort, bad to know his share of responsibility in all of this. He approached and knelt in front of her, placing his hands gently on her thighs. And gently, a hand passed behind her back, and he comforted the woman sitting opposite him who held her head in her hands, while stroking her back. His hand moved from her back, to her waist, to rest gently on her chin. « Look at me, Gabby, » he tried to meet her gaze, to no avail. Then, she took a deep breath, letting a sob escape and a few tears flow from her large, still closed eyes before gracefully lifting her chin and the brown of her eyes meeting the blue of his. Matt encircled her face with both hands, holding his gaze on hers. « No matter what you believe, Gabby, I'm on your side, I always have been, and I always will be… ».
« I'm not the ideal woman though, » she sobbed, referring to the words they had exchanged a few months earlier in their kitchen. He knew what she was talking about. The reproaches he had made to her about her lack of communication, about the fact that she didn't include him in her decisions, about the fact that she was too independent, that this used to be the thing he loved about her.
« But, you are my ideal wife! » he had to reassure her, he had to prove to her at all costs that he loved her for who she was in her entirety. « You are my best friend, you complete me, you support me, you have always been there for me… » he kept his hands on her cheeks and wiped away a few salty tears with his thumbs.
« The opposite is true too… » she smiled shyly at him.
« We really are meant for each other then! » he looked at her with smiling eyes.
« That's what I always told myself! » she laughs through tears. They brought their faces together, and Matt rested his forehead against Gabby's, his eyes staring into hers.
From inside the dispensary, Severide was standing in front of the bay window, a drink in his hand. From a distance, he observed the scene with nostalgia. He had seen them meet, get closer, become friends, love each other without daring to admit it for a long time before letting their feelings be expressed. These two were made for each other, neither more nor less, like two magnets always attracted to each other, no matter the trials, no matter the disappointments, their love was so strong that it could resist anything, they just needed to remember that. Severide was a thousand miles away from the conversations taking place around him and the ambient hubbub. Daniela, Adam and Juan approached the door, they wanted to go out and enjoy the ambient air at the end of the day. When Severide felt the commotion around him, he regained his senses, and ran to the door. « Nobody moves! » He shouted. All eyes turned to him, surprised. Sensing embarrassment, Kelly pulled himself together and, taking a sip of his drink, gestured to the small group to look out the window. Daniela seemed touched, as for Adam and Juan, a smile appeared on their lips. « I'm warning you, no one is coming out! No one bothers them, no one makes the slightest noise! » Severide said in a calm but determined voice, and everyone nodded in agreement, no one daring to open their mouth for fear of ending this moment. Severide raised his arm against the wall around the window, rested his head on his forearm and brought his glass to his mouth. He continued to observe his two best friends. Daniela moved away from her friends for a few moments to get closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. « I don't know what happened to them, » Kelly whispered.
« Who knows, life… » she simply answered him delicately. He frowned, never looking away. « But, you know, when two people are meant for each other, anything is still possible. Who must be found will be found, » Daniela continued.
« I feel like I hear your father! » Kelly laughed.
« Ah, the wise old Puerto Rican has left his mark on his legacy! » she toasted him before returning to her activities.
Gabby and Matt stayed outside for a long time before pulling themselves together and meeting the others inside the building. It was only a matter of a day before the opening, the teams were exhausted but proud of their work. They all packed up together so as not to leave any trace of their evening, and all left in different directions.
« Your hotel is on Condado Beach, right? » Gabby asked Matt and Kelly as they walked out of the building.
« Yes, ma'am! » Kelly replied, smiling.
« Shall we walk together then? » she suggested, and the two men nodded, all smiles. « Alright, I'll go get my things then and close the place up, I'll just meet y'all out front! » she smiled in turn.
« Keep going, this girl is coming back! » Kelly gently patted Matt on the shoulder.
The trio took an Uber to the seaside, and decided to finish the walk on foot. The three of them walked along the oceanfront, as they were so often accustomed to doing in Chicago.
« It brings back memories! » Kelly took both friends by the shoulders.
« But the setting and the weather are still nicer, right? » Gabby smiled at him, brushing back a lock of hair that the wind puts in front of her lips. She smiled, she felt good, she felt liberated. She put her arm behind Kelly's back to tighten his embrace, and her hand found Matt's there, who had obviously had the same idea. Her fingers brushed against Matt's on Kelly's lower back, which did not go unnoticed by their friend who pressed them tighter on each side against him. « We're approaching my building, I'll let you continue on your way, » Gabby announced to them, the boys' hotel being at the end of the promenade. « I guess this is where we part ways… » she whispered, not really knowing how to behave in this specific situation. Should she invite them to come upstairs? Or should they leave there?
Sensing the embarrassment, Kelly broke the ice: « Damn this building! The view must be splendid!»
« It's beautiful… » Gabby smiled but felt trapped. « You, uh… Do you want to come up? » she suggested shyly. Matt and Kelly looked at each other and shrugged, everyone was visibly uncomfortable. Matt because he wanted to but didn't want to push her. Kelly because he felt too much.
« No, it's okay, Gabby, you must be exhausted and you have to work tomorrow… » Kelly took the lead.
« I'm tired, yes, but I'm not working tomorrow… » she looked down.
« Go get some rest, Gabs, » Matt squeezed her hand. « If you don't work tomorrow, can we meet up? » he asked her.
« Ew. That's my cue! » Kelly felt they needed to be given some privacy. He placed his hands on Gabby's arms, placed a kiss on her cheek and walked a few meters away to wait for Matt.
« You were saying… » she looked up at Matt.
« I was saying… » he placed his hands on her hips and brought his face closer to hers. « You, me, by a swimming pool or at the beach… Just chatting, without resentment, without reproaches, without annoyances… Just us, just us… »
« I'm in… » she simply replied, her voice filled with emotion.
« You're in… » he smiled, happy that she's letting him into her life again, into her world, into her heart. « Are we meeting at the hotel for lunch then? » he asked her.
« That suits me, you know how I like to spend sunny days, » she brought her lips to his, unsure of what she should do.
Matt met her halfway and whispered delicately, lips to lips, « Yes, I know, and I promise you a day just the way you like it. » He ended up placing his lips on hers and they kissed with a shy kiss, far from the passion that had animated them during their first kiss, but with all the love and the emotion which defined them at the moment. « See you tomorrow, » he clasped her hands in his, gave her one last smile and disappeared into the night.
Gabby went up to her house, to this apartment that she loved so much, which gave her a feeling of well-being, a feeling of freedom, a feeling of fullness. She put her bag down in the hall, walked into the living room, taking off her shoes. She threw her overskirt on the chair, then went to get a bottle of cold water from the fridge. She was still wearing her construction outfit, her shorts and her tank top that blended with the color of her skin. As she wanted to open the large windows overlooking the ocean, she stopped in front of the large mirror, the same one in front of which a few days earlier she had dreamed that Matt was the one untying her swimsuit. Tonight she stopped, looked at herself and ran her fingers over her lips. For a long time, she continued to run her fingers over that spot because she could still feel his lips there.
A/N : Okay, it's a short chapter, but I figure it makes a nice transition to the next one which is already being written, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the following! Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of this chapter, and I'll see you soon!
G.