i'd rather be with you

Stella tried her best to hide her laughter. Severide looked thoroughly amused by the exchange in front of him because there was one night in particular when he searched Casey from head to toe on the assumption that he was cheating while Stella did the same to Sylvie.

Violet pointed at their spots on the couch. “Stand up. If you’re not cheating, then there’s definitely nothing hidden between the couch cushions.”

Sylvie and Matt both amused the couple by standing up to let them conduct their search.

While Hawkins searched between the cushions, Violet searched underneath them; together, the couple practically took apart the couch and found only a quarter, a penny, a capped pen, a queen of hearts, and some food-related crumbs.

After their search turned up empty-handed, Evan and Violet looked at each other with disappointed looks. They actually believed the couple was cheating or at least doing some sort of signing to give each other the answers because there was no way in hell that Sylvie and Matt were that good at Charades, Pictionary, ‘How Well Do You Know Your Significant Other’, and Code Names.

It was as if they were silently communicating with each other because a second later, Violet pointed at the couple and said, “Okay, start stripping. Strip search!” And Evan gave an affirmed nod thereafter.

Stella spit out some of her wine in her glass at the suddenness and almost choked on what was left in her mouth. She burst into laughter and rolled into her husband to try to hide her barks of laughter. Severide held onto his wife, making sure she didn’t spill her glass of wine, and gave a cheesy grin of his own.

Hawkins looked over at the other couple. “You guys seriously believe they aren’t cheating?”

Severide let out a breathy laugh and replied, “Trust me. We’ve been in your shoes before. Those two are not cheating. I don’t think they even have a bone in their body that would think of doing such a thing.”

Sylvie merely beamed at their friends as she and Matt watched them converse between themselves. During that time, Matt felt the love he had for his girlfriend blossom in his chest; he knew their ability to read each other so very well was one of his favorites but to see its advantage during their game nights never failed to grow the endless love he had for her. He wrapped his arm around Sylvie and pressed a light kiss to her temple. She beamed at the feeling of his soft lips against her skin and turned to meet his gaze. What she saw was literally ‘heart eyes’; he was giving her such a soft and loving smile and his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. He always made her feel like she was the object of his affection and the person he reserved all his smiles and looks for, and if their friends weren’t in their living room, she would’ve kissed him senseless, tug at the buttons of his blue plaid long-sleeved shirt and then playfully pull him towards the bedroom.

Sylvie wrapped her arm around Matt’s waist and felt him tuck her against his side. Their closeness was something that was rarely seen at the firehouse since he was technically her superior, even though she was PIC. But, one of the things that she loves to see was how soft and loving he was when they were outside of work; all of the small touches in their apartment, his gentle kisses he’d trail along her exposed neck and shoulders, and the hugs he’d envelop her in when he couldn’t hold in his affection for her any longer.

“Okay, seriously, how else can you explain it?” Violet asked in exasperation.

Severide shrugged. “They just know each other that well.” It was obvious to him because he’d seen them in and out of the firehouse so many times. Violet and Hawkins had only seen the couple at Molly’s, which didn’t give a clear indication of how well they meshed together. Matt and Sylvie were practically two sides of the same coin, if not the same coin entirely.

Hawkins gave a sour look and then declared, “Then the only way to settle this is if we jumble up the teams.”

Violet gave a cheerful look at her boyfriend’s genius thinking. “Yes! It must be a rule moving forward that Sylvie and Casey cannot be on the same team.”

Sylvie gave an incredulous look. “So, ‘Couples Board Game Night’ has no meaning all of a sudden?”

Matt scratched the back of his head as the discussion between the three of them continued. Truthfully, he didn’t mind being on a different team than his girlfriend - he was just happy to be able to spend some time with her. Ever since he was promoted to Battalion Chief, he and Sylvie hadn’t been able to see each other as much as compared to when he was Captain. While he was primarily at Firehouse 51, he was also at headquarters and other Firehouses nearby. Even if he was at the firehouse, the Ambulance was almost always the one that spent more time outside rather than inside, and rarely did he bump into her in the common room or in the bunk room.