one chicago

Fuck.

Paranoia in your line of work was generally a good thing, it kept you alert and tuned in to your surroundings. However, as you meet the eyes of judging civilians, who seem to move toward you in a silent threatening waltz, it does nothing but make your hairs stand on end.

You didn’t know why you felt so scared and so out of control, but you don’t know how to tame it anymore.

All the while your eyes haven’t left the back of Jay’s head for longer than a second, anger fizzing out of you as you watch your boyfriend and partner take a left and head for the elevator. You would surely lose him by the time you made up the distance between you.

You had no evidence for your next thought but as true as the sky is blue you know in your soul that to lose Jay to the elevator would mean disaster. Whether that disaster was for you or for him, you couldn’t be sure. 

“Jay! For god’s sake!” You holler with abandon, with no concern about the scene you’re making.

A gap opens up in the shifting bodies ahead of you and you break into a sprint, thwacking shoulder to shoulder with faceless silhouettes as you keep moving.

It’s too late, however, the elevator doors begin to close just as you round the corner and you watch the back of Jay disappear.

You stand there breathless, the hum of activity behind you makes you grab at the back of your neck, trying to find some feeling of safety and security. The elevator ascends into the heights of the arched building, bright lights and a glass ceiling loom overhead, making you feel small.

Why wasn’t the team here? Why did Jay never look back for you?

You scrub your hands at your face, trying to collect your thoughts. You lift your eyes to the panel above the elevator entrance, there should be numbers there to tell you where Jay was going but there was nothing. Yet another jab at your gut.

With little option but to climb the stairs and go looking for signs of trouble that’s exactly what you start doing. You’re taking the stairs with speed as you make it to the first floor, another floor that seems to be full of people whose dark eyes are drawn to you, you felt that you were most certainly an unwelcome intrusion. Though you were used to that when on duty.

This time the floor is littered with couches, red plush velvet upholstery with canoodling couples and threesomes dressed in opulent gowns and suits, indulging in platters of food and flowing taps of alcohol. The air is thick with a pleasant-smelling smoke, it almost has an orange haze to it. You knew this place was somewhere for the rich and the elite, unsurprisingly insidious and almost cult-like in nature.

It feels as though you’ve fallen into an alternate dimension as you whip your head around, looking for glimpses of Jay. You’re avoiding the gaze of the watchers as best you can, inching forward to the next stairwell whilst keeping a distance from the silent pandemonium around you.

Suddenly in front of you, a sour-faced individual appears, feminine in appearance they align themselves with you, stopping you from moving further ahead. There are eyes are vividly green, serpent-like, their lips blood red. Those same lips are pursed as they point sharply in the direction of a small glass balcony that hung over the edge of the floor you were on, looking down onto the ground floor concourse.

For some reason, there are no words exchanged, and you can’t even bring yourself to ask for clarification, it’s like you instantly know that Jay is in that direction. There is no other choice but to go over there and see what awaits.

You nod at the strange figure, watching as they turn on their heels and strut away - catching briefly the couch-dwellers staring at you again. You could feel the inky black of their eyes, only pinpoints of white in their pupils.

The sooner you could get Jay and get the fuck out of here, the better.

Mindful of the fact that you didn’t know what was on the other side of the thick, long, velvet curtains that concealed the balcony, you keep a hand close to your weapon but your heart feels increasingly close to your vest, pounding relentlessly.

You couldn’t afford to act in a rash panic to get to Jay.

Inching forward you try and keep an ear out for signs of movement or voices, the crowd behind you seems to fade out as a sharp ringing tone pierces your ears, and you wince at the sensation. It felt as though you’d been caught in an explosion, something you had experienced on multiple occasions.

Of course, this was different, you knew that. You were certain you were actually in the undercurrent of a panic attack. Heart pounding, a sickly feeling in your throat, you feel the cold of your anxiety ripple through your adrenaline.

Still, no sound or movement in front of you as you come to a standstill in front of the curtains, balancing your posture to not fidget or jostle your vest too much.

You’re still processing how to handle what comes next when you hear the unmistakable metal whistle of a blade being unsheathed. Your heart leaps into your mouth, a shaking hand grasping the fabric of the curtain as you pry them open just a fraction, trying to see what the hell was happening.

“Oh my god.” You breathe out, and the sight in front of you is incomprehensible. 

Jay is now stripped of his clothes, and his weapon and vest are discarded along with everything else. Tears and sweat stain his cheeks, mixing in with the blood that drips from his nose, drying into a rusty colour on his mouth. Angry red marks litter his skin, marks which look to be made with a blunt object. You suspected that blunt object was one of the many candelabras sitting at various heights on the ledge of the balcony.

Your boyfriend’s face is stoic, his nostrils flare in defiant anger, but you can see the fine tremor in his muscles as he tries to remain still, trying not to provoke more of what they'd already done to him.

They.

They were hooded figures, in black robes with gold trim, and black gloves to conceal anything that might show you who they were.

Your blood is rushing in your ears, the confined space of the balcony left you without a vantage point to attack from another angle or use the element of surprise.

“Time.” A deep voice utters, taking you by surprise. It doesn’t sound as though it came from any individual at all, but rather an omniscient presence from above, ethereal and intangible, surrounding you completely.

Between that last thought and your next breath, the sickening sound of metal slicing into flesh brings the world rushing back to burn you.

A stunned gasp escapes Jay's mouth, a grunt of unregistered agony as his brain fights to protect his pain reception.

The dagger in the gloved leather hand is pressed to its hilt in Jay’s abdomen, seated beneath his chest.

You watch in horror as Jay’s glassy eyes meet yours, weak hands trying to push away the stranger’s hands, you’re trying to move forward, your voice screaming hoarsely with no sound to speak of. The curtains move no further, unrelenting as they hold together with some unseen force.

Your boyfriend’s life fades in front of you, trapped in his glass prison as concealed robed heads turn to watch you, unrepentant as they make you watch your love slip away.

Your fists pound against the barrier, screaming Jay’s name in disbelief, willing him to keep his eyes open and look at you.

[Dream jump] 

“Detective, this came for you.” One of Platt’s officers hands you a reasonably large box as you thank them and let them leave.

It’s a black box with no label or card attached, suddenly you’re confused as to how the officer knew it was for you. Realistically you knew you shouldn’t open it, it could have very well been something dangerous, but your feel compelled as you move on instinct, undoing the large gold ribbon wrapped around it.

The more you undo the knot in the ribbon, the worse the trembling in your hands gets, it was as though you already knew what was inside without seeing.

Lifting the lid may as well have been lifting a solid block of stone, discarding the top onto the floor as you peel away black sheets of paper.

The sight makes you gag.

Without hesitation, you knew that the pristinely cleaned and catalogued skeletal remains were Jay’s, returned from that incomprehensible and soulless place where they had taken his life in front of your eyes.

In your terror, your anger and your despair there is nothing left to do except scream, or at least try to. Throat-shredding gasps and squeaks tear at your vocal cords as you try and release your grief, fists clenched until–

[End of dream sequence]

You wake up still screaming, scrambling upright in the bed, thrashing around as that chasm of darkness swipes its claws at your consciousness, trying to pull you back in.

A warm hand on your bare shoulder makes you flinch, pulling away from it until you're almost falling off the edge of the bed. You whip your head around to the hand's source.

Concerned green eyes meet your wide, panicked, ones.

“Hey, hey, Y/N, it’s me. It’s Jay. You’re awake, everything is okay, and you’re safe with me. Breathe for me, honey.” Jay keeps his grip on you, gentle to not alarm you further but secure enough to prevent you from hurting yourself.

The longer the heat of his palm and fingers seeps into your skin, the easier it gets to breathe, the familiarity of his touch, the cadence in his voice, the smell of his aftershave, the quiet of your bedroom - it all grounds you.

That bliss of recognition relaxes your muscles, your eyes blinking against the sting of sleep and fear, tears that brim fall down in silent tracks on your cheeks. You know you’re safe, but the sensation of powerlessness and loss makes you feel like you’re dropping from a height, your stomach still giving involuntary flips of anxiousness.

“Jay.” It’s a broken whisper that makes your boyfriend’s heart ache, opening his arms up as you scramble back towards him, practically settling yourself into his lap as you wrap yourself tightly around him.

You kiss his neck, inhaling him as you steady your breathing further, slow and deliberate as you follow his guiding rhythm. Squeezing your eyes shut to get away from the tortured images, only to open them again as you see your greatest fears in that darkness.

Hands moving on instinct to feel every bit of him, stroking through his bed head, pulling back so you can look at him. His eyes search yours, trying to understand what you need, but it’s clear as you begin to trace the features on his face. His expression softens, nuzzling into your hand as you caress his jaw, chasing your hand to kiss your palm.

You study him again, cupping his face to press a slow kiss to his lips, he feels you shivering in his arms, the adrenaline and the chill of the room rattling your very being. 

Wordlessly he lifts the duvet up and over your shoulders, cocooning you between him and the weighted, warm, material. 

It’s not hard to guess what the nightmare was about, the way you watch him like he would disappear at any moment makes it all too clear. He takes your face in his hands like you had with him, reassuring you with certainty. 

“I got you. You got me. I’m okay, I’m not leaving and nobody is taking me. Alright?” He murmurs, pressing a kiss to your forehead, to your cheeks, then back to your lips - he takes your focus away from the “What if”, letting you hear, feel and see him from second to second.

You simply nod, resting your head back on his shoulder as he holds you, gently rocking you as you sigh. Your heart races still, but not in the gallop that it had been. You feel fingertips tenderly massaging at your scalp, trailing over your neck to rub your back.

Focusing on the heat of Jay’s skin, the softness of his breaths, and listening to his gentle words as he occasionally encourages and soothes.

After a while you feel yourself truly come out of the alarmed stupor, croaking out a “Thank you.” with your dry throat.

“You don’t have to thank me, sweetheart. This is what I’m here for.” He gently encourages you to look at him, making sure you see his sincerity.

You smile, rubbing your thumb over the bridge of his nose.

“Want to talk about it?” He tests, running his hands up and down your arms. 

You think about the question, not sure if you were ready to relive the moments of losing him just yet. Perhaps it would be a morning thing, where the sun could shine on both of you over breakfast and keep those shadows away, only existing in the story you would tell.

You shake your head, smiling weakly. “In the morning?” You suggest, to which your boyfriend nods without hesitation. “Of course.”

You glance at the clock, it reads 2am and you hum in thought. Sometimes, you and Jay would go to the kitchen to make a hot chocolate, then settle on the couch to watch something mindless and relaxing on the tv - it was a ritual that usually worked if either one of you was struggling, but you didn’t want to keep Jay awake. Despite the day off both of you had ahead of you, it was late and the case you’d been on this past week had been an energy wipeout.

In the silent weighing of your thoughts, Jay’s voice brings you back, you notice he’s got that knowing smile on his face, hands settled on your waist. “Hot chocolate and whatever’s on tv?” He asks, but really he knows it’s a sure thing.

You let out a small laugh, kissing his cheek. “If that’s okay? I don’t want you to lose sleep over this.” You frown, still not sure if you should just lay back down and try to sleep.

Jay shakes his head, “Babe, when do we ever just cut this short and force ourselves back to sleep when we’re not ready? I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing you’re not feeling totally safe and totally relaxed. You wouldn’t want that for me either, would you?”

You of course shake your head too, there would be no way you’d let Jay just suck it up and not do everything you could to help him wind back down. You had countless nights of dealing with his nightmares and helping him calm down to show for it, and you wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

Jay kisses your forehead, “That’s settled then. Gimme a second.”

In a swift motion, he extricates himself from the warmth of you, rooting around in a drawer for one of your sleep shirts, some fluffy socks and the fluffy dressing gown that hung on the back of the door.

Then he returns to you and begins to put the shirt over your head, helping you get your arms in before pulling your legs carefully to the edge of the bed, making you laugh at the military-like execution of this routine.

“Cosy?” He asks, and you nod, shimmying off the bed to stand. “Cosy.” You confirm, immediately putting your arms through your gown as he holds it open for you, trying the belt securely as the soft material instantly eases the tension in your body.

You watch as Jay grabs his own shirt, some sweatpants and some socks, patiently waiting for him to get dressed too. Then you’re reaching for the hand he holds out to you as you both wander down the hall to the kitchen and lounge.

-

The sound of the simmering milk on the stove and the smell of the cocoa being stirred in has become one of your most cherished things with Jay, watching him put everything together and take such care of you only ever makes your heart grow fonder. 

It was times like this that unquestionably reaffirm that you wanted him to be your husband one day, hopefully, one not too far away.

The lights are dimmed low, the curtains are drawn and the air is warm, you feel safe in your world with Jay, and your nightmare is all but forgotten for now.

With a pour of some caramel and a sprinkle of marshmallows onto the swirl of cream, Jay brings two steaming mugs over and hands one to you, holding the hot bottom of the mug to make sure you can take the cool handle.

“Thank you, honey.” You smile, making sure he’s got room to settle next to you - using your free hand to hold the blanket up so he can climb under.

Settled against Jay’s side, you sip at your hot chocolate, the ever-present weight of his arm around your shoulder lulls you into serenity as you watch the opening scenes of Our Great National Parks.

You lift your head, looking up at Jay, “This is how it should be forever.”, you muse, following up with words that you want him to hear as many times as you can say it. “I love you.” 

Jay leans in, knocking his head gently against yours, “Y/N, this can be forever, you don’t have to doubt that. I love you too.”

-

Taking the last sips of your drink, you set the empty mug on the coffee table, pulling your legs back up to remain in the heat under the comforter, slipping your arms around Jay as you pillow yourself back against him, feeling the vibrations of his gentle laughter - he loved how assertive you could be about your cuddling.

“Good?” He asks, checking in with you one last time.

“Good.” You confirm as stretches of beach and forest are shown in rich colour and wondrous sound - letting your mind wander unafraid, secure in the knowledge that Jay is right where he’s meant to be.

-

Fin.

“You wanted to see me?”

You didn’t like the look on Jay’s face.

“You want to explain to me why Triumph Systems is pulling their business?” Jay asked quietly, looking up at you with his arms crossed.

Your eyes widened a little. You hadn’t seen that coming.

“They’re pulling their business?” You asked, even before you could stop yourself.

Jay didn’t answer you immediately, but the look in his eyes was piercing, almost as if he was looking right through you. “You met him.”

It wasn’t a question and you nodded, wanting to explain more but Jay didn’t seem to want to hear it.

“Why were you even meeting a client? I don’t believe that’s part of your job scope. Are you even trained for this?” Jay’s voice was rising with each question that came flying out towards you.

“I…”

Jay didn’t even let you get a word in. “Do you know how much this contract is worth? Are you going to take responsibility for the losses we potentially face because of this?”

You opened your mouth to argue, the rational part of your brain saying that you had to find some way to defend yourself. However, other than the fact that it was so difficult to just get a word in sideways, the reality and futility of the situation hit you like a ton of bricks.

What would be the point in trying to defend yourself? It wasn’t for lack of trying that you found yourself in this position once again. You could hear your old boss’ voice in your head. “There’s a reason why they’re reacting to you this way.”

Trying to defend yourself was just futile. Everything would once again be your fault.

So you chose not to say anything.

“This is your mess. So, you come up with a solution. But everything comes through me.” Jay snapped.

You were at least proud of the fact that you’d managed to hold your tears back until you made it to the washroom.

The tears of frustration mixed with the feelings of disgust swirling in you. You could almost feel that creep's hand on yours again. That just made you feel like throwing up or screaming, maybe both.

But by the time you made it back out to your desk, you’d regained your composure, almost perfectly. If no one knew, they’d think it was just another day in the office.

There were only two ways you could solve this - talk to a higher up in Triumph Systems to override that asshole, or pull another client that could give the same amount of money or more for an advertising contract.

You put your head in your hands. It was easy thinking of a solution that was so up in the air. But actually getting either of these plans to work was way out of your comfort zone.

You spent the next couple of hours clearing the outstanding work that you had, and by the time you were ready to clear your brain for this crisis, it was already the end of the day. You could already hear the bustle of people leaving.

Whatever, it wasn’t like you were going anywhere.

You reached out for your headphones, slipping them over your ears since it was officially the end of the day and you didn’t have to listen out for people calling for your attention.

The good thing was that you were pretty good at blocking everything out, your entire focus and energy being pulled into whatever was in front of you.

The next time you looked up, the sky was already dark, and so was the office, save for your desk light. You’d barely even blinked when someone had turned off all the lights in the office. That was typical. You pulled your earphones off your head, glancing up as you heard footsteps.

Jay paused on his way out of the office, your eyes meeting briefly before he looked away.

You rolled your eyes and glanced back at your laptop. It had been kind of productive. You didn’t let on to anyone else, but you did have some experience in sales and marketing. It just hadn’t been something you had wanted to delve into when you’d joined, so you’d kept this piece of information to yourself. At least there was something you could do with these skills.

And for tonight, you were done, ready to get started on your plan tomorrow.

You glanced up at the building, letting out a sigh that seemed to be filled with puffs of anxiety.

It had sounded like a brilliant plan in your head when you’d sent out an email to Life Construction to ask for a meeting. You’d turned it over in your head as you sourced around for companies that had a similar financial standing as Triumph. Life Construction was one of your top choices, but you’d also sent emails to other companies. Surprisingly, it was Life Construction that had replied to you first thing in the morning, so you’d dropped Jay an email to take the morning away from the office and made the trip across town to get here.

Swallowing down the waves of anxiety, you approached the counter, letting them know you had a meeting with Anthony Riley.

The guy at the reception counter nodded with a smile, picking up the phone before putting it down after all of two minutes to let you know that he’d be down in a bit.

You tapped your foot anxiously, glancing up and pausing as a familiar figure crossed your peripheral vision.

At the same time, he paused and turned, both of you looking at each other at almost the same time.

“Y/N?”

“Matt?” You couldn’t help the surprise in your voice.

You hadn’t seen Matthew Casey in ages and honestly this was the last place you’d expected to see him.

Matt let out a chuckle before changing his course and heading for you, pulling you into a hug.

“What are you doing here?” Both of you asked the question at the same time, making you smile. You noted that this was the first time in a long while you’d felt so at ease. After all, you were finally seeing a friendly face.

Matt echoed your smile. “I was supposed to meet a friend. He wanted my help with…” His voice trailed off as his eyes looked over your shoulder. “Andrew!” Matt called across the lobby.

“Matt, listen. I’m sorry.” You heard the voice before turning to look at guy decked out in a suit. “I have to meet someone from an ad company. Can you wait?”

Matt nodded before you blinked. “Mr. Riley?” You spoke.

Both Matt and Anthony turned to you at the same time, and you gave a sheepish smile. “I’m from Blossom Advertising.”

Anthony blinked back at you before turning his head to look at Matt. “You know each other?”

Matt smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be her character witness.” He joked.

Jay sighed as he locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. Maybe he’d been too harsh on you yesterday, which had prompted you to take the morning off.

Making a mental note to himself not to get overly on your case today, he headed to the first floor to grab a coffee.

The previous day's events still weighing heavily on his mind, Jay ordered a coffee before standing off to the side to wait for his order, turning it over in his head.

Do I handle the people first or the problem at hand? The rational part of his brain knew that he should handle the pending business issue, but he couldn’t get the look on your face out of his mind, which concerned yet also irritated him.

It was only as he was in the middle of these thoughts that he picked up on the conversation happening behind the coffee machine.

“…the 4th floor?”

“Yeah, Y/N.”

Without even meaning to, Jay’s attention spiked up at your name.

“…looked like a meeting with some guy. He was all handsy with her, and she bolted out of here. I couldn’t even be annoyed by the mess of spilled coffee left behind.”

“Handsy? Gross. What’s wrong with men seriously?”

The feeling that lay in Jay’s gut now was guilt. Putting aside the reason why you’d been having a meeting with a client, he’d torn into you for losing a client that was probably only pulling out of the project because you’d spurned his advances.

The barista was right. Gross.

“Black for Jay Halstead.” The barista called, and Jay stepped forward to take his coffee.

“Thanks.” Jay paused as he took the coffee from her, and she raised her eyebrows a little.

Against his better judgment, he addressed her directly. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear. He got handsy with her?”

The barista paused like she wasn’t sure about him.

“Sorry, rude of me huh? I’m Jay. Executive Director up at Blossom on 4th. If someone tried to take advantage of one of my people, I need to know. Promise I’m not a creep.” Jay’s lips tilted up in a polite smile.

She glanced at her friend before she nodded.

“Yeah, he took her hand a few times. If anything else happened, I don’t know.” She said quietly.

Jay ground his teeth quietly. “Thanks.”

He hadn’t been expecting that when he had stopped for morning coffee. He felt the guilt make its way around his chest and gut once again but more than that, his brain started working.

Things had gone way smoother than you’d expected.

You were pretty sure things had gone better after Andrew had found out that you and Matt were friends. As it turned out, Life Construction had met a wall when working with an advertising company and were in the midst of finding another company with such services when your cold email had hit them.

It made sense why they’d replied you so quickly then.

Thanks to your experience in the early years at Blossom, you could work out a general gist plan with Andrew, and he’d agreed to come down to your office the next day to work out more kinks with the team.

Shaking his hand, Andrew smiled. “Sounds good. If Matt trusts you, I’m sure we’ll work well together.”

“Thank you Mr. Riley.” You said, smiling.

He nodded. “Call me Andrew. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Matt put a gentle hand on your shoulder. “Let’s catch up soon.”

So it was with a much lighter heart that you’d stepped through the doors of your office building after lunch, ready to face your new boss.

But something felt kind of different, especially after you walked into Jay’s office.

You weren’t ecstatic to see Edward already there, a look on his face that looked almost triumphant like he was waiting to see Jay chew you a new one.

Taking an additional breath to steady yourself, you closed the door behind you, turning to look at Jay who had an unreadable look on his face.

Alright, bring it.

“I just wanted to get some facts in about what happened yesterday,” Jay spoke, his voice considerably calmer compared to yesterday.

You could see Edward glance at you from your peripheral but you chose to ignore him.

“Why was Y/N meeting a client?”

You felt the jolt of confusion before you realized he wasn’t talking to you, Jay’s eyes flicking towards Edward now.

You could feel the air freeze in the room.

This was new.

“I don’t…”

You didn’t say anything, merely looking down at the ground.

“Why don’t you just assume I already know. That would save us a lot of time.” Jay said, his voice firm, but he didn’t raise his voice this time.

Edward didn’t answer immediately. The awkwardness of the pause felt familiar yet different, especially since now it wasn’t you that needed to fill the silence for once.

“I had an urgent meeting to attend to with the rest of my team.”

Jay exhaled softly. “And you neglected to mention this information to me when I asked you yesterday, after you brought me the news that Triumph was pulling out.”

It wasn’t a question.

“This doesn’t happen again,” Jay said quietly. “You can go.”

You looked up but Jay shook his head. “Y/N, you stay.”

Now what?

You swallowed the anxiety you felt bubbling up inside you, reminding yourself that even if he tore you a new one, maybe the good news about Life Construction might relieve it some.

Jay didn’t speak immediately, but there was a knock on his door. When the door opened, in walked… that creep from yesterday.

Damn it.

Instinctively, you put another two steps between the both of you, an action that Jay didn’t miss.

“Mr. Halstead, I agreed to come down only because you asked, but I’m not changing my mind. This employee of yours is extremely rude and I will not…”

“I’m not trying to change your mind,” Jay said, his voice icier now. “We will not take any of Triumph’s projects as long as you are the project manager.”

Your eyes flicked towards Jay’s in surprise. This was a 180 change in attitude.

“Would you like to make this a legal issue?” Jay asked, raising his eyebrows.

Declan Fisher blinked back at Jay, surprised. “We haven’t signed the contract yet. There’s nothing stopping me from…”

“Yeah yeah. There’s nothing we can do about the contract. Sexual harassment on the other hand is a whole different ball game.” Jay snapped.

Your eyes widened as Fisher glanced at you furiously.

“Don’t look at her.” Jay growled.

You blinked.

“This is ridiculous,” Fisher said as he turned to leave.

“Fisher.” Jay stopped him in his tracks. “You come anywhere near this building or her again, we’ll have a problem.”

Declan Fisher narrowed his eyes before he stormed out of the office.

You didn’t know what to do. This was completely new to you. So you just kept quiet.

“Why didn’t you tell me what had happened?” Jay asked, his voice considerably calmer and softer as he pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

You shrugged. “I didn’t… Because you were right, I shouldn’t have been the one going to meet him.”

Jay sighed, looking you in the eye. “I’m sorry.”

You raised your eyebrows in surprise.

“I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about what happened, and I shouldn’t have lost my temper,” Jay said, his voice gentle.

You felt a weird sort of warmth that you’d never felt here before.

When you didn’t say anything, Jay continued. “I know something’s off here, but I could use some help. I’m not the enemy.”

You looked up quietly at him before you nodded.

“We good?” Jay asked with a small smile, sticking his hand out.

You nodded and smiled back at him, returning the handshake.

“If there’s nothing else…”

“Oh, wait.” You interrupted him, pushing the file you had towards him. “I went to see Life Construction today with this. I made it clear that this was just a proposal, but their director will be here tomorrow for a meeting. I told him you would join us.”

Jay glanced down. “You met with Life Construction?”

You gave him a sheepish look. “You told me to solve the problem.”

There was a hint of a smile on Jay’s face before he nodded. “Alright, I’ll take a look at this.”

“Do you need me to loop Edward in?” You asked, expecting a positive answer since Edward was supposed to take such meetings in the first place.

Jay shook his head. “Just you and me.”

You paused but nodded.

Jay nodded back, which was your cue to go.

“Y/N.”

You turned back towards him.

“If anything like this ever happens again, you come to me. With the full truth.” Jay said, his voice firm but gentle.

You nodded. “Thanks, boss.”

The last thing you saw before you closed his office door behind you was Jay’s warm smile directed at you.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

Regretting leaving your headphones at home, you tried to focus on your computer screen, but her voice was so piercing you could hear words drift back out at you. You figured it was more the words she used than her voice that had always struck a chord with you.

You knew it was useless as the words dripping with sarcasm made their way back to you again.

“Give it to her. She’s got the most time.”

Her.

You held back the temptation to retort that you had a name, glancing at the line of to-do flags in the corner of your screen, and letting out a quiet exhale.

You’d wondered more than once what the mistake that you’d made was. Was it applying for a job in a general department? Was it more to do with the fact that you’d joined the company when it was still really small? Or was it just your luck?

Maybe it was just you.

“Y/N.”

You glanced up at her voice. Victoria gave you a small smile, “Laura asked me to hand this to you.”

You held back a sigh and nodded, taking the document from Victoria and putting it down next to you.

You’d joined Blossom Advertising’s operations team when it was starting, and each team had only been made up of one to two people back then. So, it had made sense back then for you to juggle multiple roles and functions, helping out with procurement or other ad-hoc duties that technically didn’t belong to you.

But, as the business grew and the teams expanded, nothing much seemed to have changed. For you, at least.

What made it worse was the sarcasm, the screaming voices that echoed down the hallway when a mistake was made, and all the other things that seemed like nothing on their own, but all contributed to making this place as toxic as it was.

It hadn’t been that bad at first, especially when Laura had only been the head of Finance. You’d get screamed at or be the butt of her insults once in a while, but her attention was always needed elsewhere. Then, she’d gotten a promotion and hired Victoria as her assistant.

Things had gone steadily downhill as Laura had just gotten meaner and meaner. Rationally, you knew that it was just insecurity and that you shouldn’t take her seriously, but it was really tiring feeling like you were back in high school all over again. You were supposed to be done with that phase of life and maturity level.

Honestly, things were a mess, and the current CEO was no help, choosing to ignore and avoid conflict rather than face the obvious problems the company was facing.

You’d been playing with the idea of leaving this place when the news had hit the ground - he was handing everything over to a new CEO.

You didn’t really know how you felt about that.

Change just stirred your anxiety up the wrong way. However, at the same time, maybe new leadership was exactly what this place needed. So you’d decided to hang in there for a while more and wait to see if anything changed for the better.

It was just as things quietened down in the office that he arrived, the beep from the access pass making you look up.

Damn.

Maybe it was the fact that you were expecting a middle-aged man to walk through the door that caused the jolt of surprise to rip through your body when you laid eyes on him. His short brown hair was pulled back as he quietly took his sunglasses off his face while looking around the office. The dark blue suit he had on fit his shoulders very nicely, almost snugly, since they probably were tailor-made. Although his expression barely changed, you could feel a weird kind of aura, sternness mixed with something else.

“Jay, great timing.” Your current boss’ voice interrupted the silence as he stepped next to the new arrival, before turning to address everyone else. “Everyone, Jay will be taking over from me officially today.”

Jay looked around the office with a small smile before he nodded at everyone. “Jay Halstead. I look forward to working with all of you.”

Change had always been hard for you. Especially when it involved so many unknown variables.

You told yourself that you had to give it some time. New management always came with teething issues, and being in the corporate office meant you felt every change firsthand.

You glanced at the clock, noting that the meeting was about to begin. You never looked forward to these meetings since you’d always come out of them with twice the amount of work you had, and maybe a side order of some blame for something not moving along.

Even so, you pulled yourself out of your chair, taking your laptop and the other files you needed into your arms before heading for the meeting room, ignoring the turn of anxiety in your stomach.

As expected, the meeting had been a replay of literally every meeting that you’d had ever since the only other person in your department had quit a few months ago. No one cared about the potential burnout you were facing. All they wanted was to get things off their plate, and you had a feeling they wanted you out of the way as well.

Even as you tried explaining yourself in the meeting, you knew it was futile as you watched the frown deepen on your new boss’s face, his arms crossed in front of him as he watched what was happening in the meeting.

You should have known things wouldn’t change. The only things that changed were a new face, maybe some new rules, but at the end of the day, nothing substantial was going to change.

You kept your eyes down as you silently left the meeting room. You didn’t notice the eyes that were watching you, even though someone else was still talking to him.

Jay was listening as someone else filled him in on one of the projects they were working on, but that didn’t stop him from watching the minute body language cues that you probably had no idea you were letting out.

He hadn’t missed all the cues in the meeting. The sideways glances people gave each other, the way things had naturally slid over to this vague “operations” department. And above all, he’d picked up on the look on your face when you’d looked up at him as he had frowned in confusion.

He knew that look.

It wasn’t even stricken or worried, more… resigned.

Jay reminded himself that he didn’t know anything other than the official operations and business of this place. He didn’t know anyone or the dynamics, so he couldn’t jump to judgments. But he sure as hell was going to find out.

There was something brewing under the surface in this place, something that was bugging him, and if he didn’t get to the bottom of it, he wasn’t Jay Halstead.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

You heard Kelly let out a little chuckle. “Soon. I need a favor.”

“Shoot,” You answered, propping your phone between your ear and shoulder as you climbed into your car.

“Ellie left one of her school files at my place, and she needs it today. She’s freaking out about getting in trouble. Can you swing by and get it, then come meet us at our usual breakfast spot?"

Without any trace of hesitation, you immediately agreed. “Sure, I can be there in 15.”

“Thanks, babe. I think it should be on the kitchen counter. See you soon.”

You hung up and made the all too familiar drive to Kelly’s place.

You’d known Kelly had a 12-year-old daughter even before you’d started dating. Kelly shared custody with his ex-girlfriend, and Ellie was given pretty free reign to decide when she wanted to sleep over at Kelly’s, as long as he wasn’t on shift.

You had a pretty cordial relationship with Ellie even though things had been a little awkward at first. You could tell that Ellie had tried her best to accept your presence in her father’s life, so you’d also done your best to give Ellie the space she needed while also making sure she knew you were happy to spend time with her and Kelly.

You made the quick trip to Kelly’s place and sure enough, 15 minutes later, you’d pushed open the diner door, spotting Kelly with his daughter in her usual favorite booth seat.

“Here you go.” You said with a smile, handing her file to her across the table.

Ellie smiled back at you. “Thank you. Sorry for the trouble.”

You smiled back. “No trouble. So, what are we having today? Pancakes?”

Ellie stuffed a forkful of pancakes into her mouth. “Dad wanted to order that for you but I told him he should just order the sausage platter instead."

“El, you better eat if you want to make it to school on time.” Kelly said, a tinge of a smile playing on his lips.

Ellie had just made a face at her father when your breakfast arrived at the table, a plate with a generous serving of sausages, hash browns and eggs.

“You know me much better.” You said, as Ellie smiled.

Kelly smiled as the both of you joked at his expense, but he was just happy that Ellie seemed much more at ease recently. There was still a tinge of awkwardness once in a while, but you’d reminded him it was to be expected and that you were fine and didn’t mind.

Ellie sat across from her mother’s boyfriend, Jake, feeling her stomach flip over and over.

“So, Ellie, I know you’ve been living with your mother for many years. Maybe it’s time for you to go live with your father.”

Ellie glanced up, feeling the pit in her stomach grow larger.

“Don’t you think this is too much for me? I’m barely in middle school. Why are you talking to me?” Ellie asked.

Jake gave Ellie a small smile. “Because it should come from you. You should tell your mother that you want to live with your dad. That would put your mom at ease.”

When Ellie didn’t say anything, Jake continued. “Listen, Ellie. Your mom hasn’t gotten around to telling you this but she’s pregnant. We’re having a baby.”

The words seemed to thunder through Ellie’s brain almost like they were going to swallow her whole.

This was the part she’d always been afraid of - her mother moving on, her father moving on. She could feel her body start to tremble just slightly.

“So, you see? It’ll be hard for all of us to keep staying together, right? Your mom has taken care of you all these years so don’t you think the baby should get some of that love, too? Besides, it'll be too much of a squeeze, don't you think?”

Ellie tugged at the hem of the sweatshirt she was wearing before she spoke again, her voice trembling slightly. “Does Mom know about this?”

“Ellie, Jake talked to me about it.” Almost as if on cue, Ellie heard her mother’s voice but it didn’t make her feel better or safe. "Come on, don't make things more difficult than they need to be."

Her mother had known. In fact, she was on Jake’s side.

"Ellie, you understand, don't you?" Her mother pressed again.

Then, another voice pierced through the fog that seemed to be about to engulf Ellie.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Ellie’s head snapped up just as you reached the table. You stood close to Ellie but still angled in a protective stance right next to the table they were seated at.

You’d been seated two tables away and the voices had traveled toward you. You’d hesitated about getting involved. After all, you weren’t sure how Ellie fit into all of this and honestly, you were in no place to talk to Ellie’s mother about her own daughter.

However, it had hit a nerve and you couldn’t sit back any longer. Before you knew it, you were already standing in front of Ellie.

“She’s a kid.” You said. Then, you turned toward Ellie’s mother. “She’s your kid.”

“You stay out of this.” Her mother snapped. "I don't need Kelly's new piece telling me how to take care of my daughter."

“I can’t. Not if you’re going to make Ellie feel like she’s an inconvenience. I won’t stand by and let her feel like she’s being dismissed. You…”

You were interrupted as you felt Ellie’s hand close around a couple of your fingers.

You turned to glance at her in surprise, half wondering if Ellie wasn’t too happy about you getting involved.

“Y/N, I wanna go.” Ellie’s voice was soft but firm.

This was also the first time she’d directly told you what she needed.

You nodded. “Shall we go see your dad?”

Ellie glanced up again. “Could we?”

“Yeah, come on. I’ll take you to the firehouse. Get your stuff.” You told Ellie before you led her out of the restaurant without another word.

You’d driven all the way to the firehouse in mostly silence, only breaking the silence once to apologize to Ellie for getting involved.

Ellie had just shook her head without saying anything.

You’d always known that Ellie’s mom wasn’t the greatest at decision making. She cared about Ellie in her own way but ultimately, she put her interests first. It drove Kelly crazy but at the same time, Kelly wasn’t keen on making too many big changes for Ellie’s sake, so he left it alone as long as Ellie was safe and relatively happy.

But today, things had gotten a little out of hand.

“Come on.” You said, as you killed the engine and got out of the car, leading the way in.

Kelly’s usual chair was empty, so you figured he was in his office.

“Hey Joe. Kelly around?” You asked, as the firefighters who were outside greeted Ellie enthusiastically.

“Hey, you guys! Yeah, he’s in his office. You want me to get him?” Cruz answered, flicking a concerned look at Ellie who seemed quieter than usual.

You shook your head. “No, we’ll go in.”

Cruz nodded and you led Ellie through the firehouse, waving at the rest of the guys in the common room, heading straight for Kelly’s office.

He spotted you just as you were approaching the office and he frowned.

“Hey, what’s…”

Kelly caught the look on Ellie’s face. “El?”

Ellie didn’t say anything, just walked straight into her father’s arms, burying her face into him.

Kelly was caught off-guard but still put his arms right around her. “What’s wrong?”

Ellie didn’t say anything but glanced at you.

“Hey El, why don't you go right in. I'll talk to Y/N for a bit then I'll come in, alright?” Kelly said, patting his daughter gently on the back of her head.

Ellie nodded, closing Kelly’s office door behind her.

Kelly took another glance at his daughter before he turned toward you.

“You good? What’s going on?” Kelly asked.

Honestly, you should have asked Ellie how much she wanted you to tell her father. Instead, here you were, stuck wondering how much you should tell Kelly.

Ultimately, you knew Kelly had to know everything, so you condensed it as much as possible, telling him everything you heard and saw.

You saw the emotions flicker across Kelly’s face - worry, disappointment, anger, and then worry again.

“Look, Kelly. I’m sorry.” You said.

Kelly frowned now. “What are you sorry for?”

“I know I shouldn’t have gotten involved. I just…” You paused. “I couldn’t let her sit there thinking she was unwanted. I know what it’s like. Hell, I was Ellie. Except, I didn’t have a father I could count on.”

Kelly leaned in to press you into a hug. “Thank you, Y/N.” He whispered, after a short beat.

“Hmm?” You hummed, even as you welcomed the hug.

“For being there for her.” Kelly said in a low voice.

You pulled away just slightly to look at him. “Look, I gotta run to a meeting but listen… you should do what’s right for her, alright? We’ll adapt around her. Whatever you decide, I’m good. Promise. Talk tomorrow?”

An unreadable look crossed Kelly’s eyes but he nodded. “Yeah, we’ll talk. Go do your thing.”

Kelly reached over to press a kiss against your lips.

“Be safe.” You said, before you turned to leave with a final wave to Ellie.

Kelly watched you go before he turned back around to glance at his daughter who was sitting perched on his bed.

With a small sigh, Kelly headed toward her.

Ellie looked up when Kelly came back in. “Dad, I…”

Kelly sat himself next to her. “Y/N told me some of what happened.”

Ellie just nodded, looking down.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” Kelly pushed gently.

Ellie exhaled before she looked up at her father again. “Mom’s pregnant.” She paused. “So, he told me to go stay with you.”

Kelly already knew this, yet he couldn’t help the way his body stiffened.

“Mom didn’t even argue.” Ellie shrugged.

Kelly exhaled slowly. “El, listen…”

“But Y/N did.” Ellie said, getting the words out quickly as if she was afraid she wouldn’t say it again if she lost this opportunity.

Kelly fell silent again.

“Y/N… she… no one other than you has ever done that for me.” Ellie said quietly. “Not even Mom.”

Kelly leaned toward Ellie, pulling her gently into his arms.

“El, what do you want?” Kelly asked.

Ellie looked up at her father.

“El, I told you before. You can stay with me whenever you want. So, what do you want to do?"

Ellie hesitated. “Dad, can I come live with you? I promise I won't get in your way."

“I would love to have you with me.” Kelly said quietly, pressing a kiss to the top of Ellie’s head. "You don't have to earn your right to be with me. You were born with that right."

Ellie just quietly buried her face into Kelly’s embrace.

When you arrived at the loft the next day, it was empty.

You figured Kelly and Ellie would be here soon. Kelly had dropped you a text to let you know that Ellie was staying with him at the firehouse that night and they’d be home once his shift was over. You didn’t need Kelly to tell you anything else.

You knew.

Ellie had been an unplanned pregnancy. In fact, Kelly had only found out after they’d broken up but Kelly had always been involved in Ellie’s life. So, it was a given that Kelly would choose the best for his daughter, and if that meant living with him, you knew Kelly would do it.

So, you headed into Kelly’s bedroom, clearing out some of your stuff that you’d left there before heading to the second bedroom and cleaning it up a little.

You figured Ellie would be feeling a little raw and vulnerable, so you didn’t want her to feel like this wasn’t her home.

You’d just straightened up most of the room when you heard the main door open.

“Hey.” Kelly greeted, heading toward you and giving you a quick kiss.

“Hey, good morning Lieutenant.” You said, before turning toward Ellie.

“Hey Ellie.” You greeted.

Ellie smiled at you as Kelly put Ellie’s bag on the ground.

“So, listen. I spoke to Ellie’s mom. We decided that Ellie would stay here. I think a change of pace will be good for her anyway.” Kelly said.

You nodded and smiled. “That sounds like a good plan.”

There was a small silence and Kelly’s eyes flicked to the small bag by the couch.

“Y/N?” Kelly asked, an eyebrow raised.

You smiled at Kelly. “Listen… I figured you guys might need some space… So, I can come around less for a bit. At least until things settle.”

Kelly frowned. “What…”

“You don’t have to go.” Ellie interrupted.

Both you and Kelly glanced at her.

Ellie was already settled into the couch, looking at the both of you.

“I… I want you here.” Ellie said quietly.

“You sure about this, Ellie?” You said. “I’m not… I’m not really leaving. I’ll just come around here less. We can still have breakfast and…”

Ellie shook her head. “No, I want you to stay. Please?”

You paused, your eyes scanning Ellie’s face.

“Yeah, of course.” You paused. “Thank you, Ellie. And if you need anything, you know you can come to me. I love hanging out with you. At least I have someone on my side when your dad’s being difficult.”

Ellie cracked a smile and Kelly’s hand closed around yours.

“Thank you, Y/N.” Ellie said quietly.

You smiled. “I’ll always be on your side, Ellie. Even against your dad.”

Ellie smiled, but after a beat she spoke again. “And, it’s El.”

You paused. Ellie usually only let her dad call her that.

You echoed her smile as it sunk in. “El, it is.”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

You smiled and shook your head.

“Besides, your brothers probably only agreed because I said we’re studying,” Sarah said. You could hear the playful note in your friend’s voice, and you shook your head again.

“As you pointed out, I am studying.” You retorted, turning your eyes back to the book in front of you.

Sarah laughed. “Honestly, you’re in college. I don’t get why your brothers are so protective. I’m glad I don’t have older brothers.”

You didn’t say anything and just smiled to yourself.

It wasn’t the first time someone had said something like this to you. Sometimes, they were serious, and other times, they were half joking, like Sarah was right now.

It didn’t really matter though, because no one would be able to convince you that having two older brothers wasn’t the greatest thing in the world.

Sure, they were protective, and sometimes overprotective, in the case of your oldest brother, but you knew that no matter what happened, even if the whole world turned upside down, the two of them would always have your back.

Sarah’s room fell back into silence once more as she continued scrolling on her phone while you scribbled down notes on the papers you were poring over.

You’d just flipped a page when the faint sound of voices seemed to drift into Sarah’s rooms.

The both of you looked up at the same time, exchanging a look.

“Those aren’t happy voices,” You commented, sitting up.

Sarah frowned, like she was concentrating. The voices were clearer now, almost as if they were moving further into the house.

“It’s my sister,” Sarah said, sitting up slightly.

The voices continued carrying into the room.

“I think that’s her ex. This is not good.” Sarah said, moving toward the door.

You didn’t need Sarah to explain any further. You hadn’t seen this guy’s face yet, but this whole situation gave you a bad hit. It felt like there was a huge knot in your stomach, as if you knew something would pop off at any minute.

You had barely finished that thought when there was a loud crash, like something had been thrown across the room. You frowned as both you and Sarah quietly climbed up and peered out the door.

You shook your head. “I don’t like this.”

Sarah made a face at you. “What are we supposed to do?”

Sarah’s parents were out of town for the weekend, which was why Sarah had invited you over in the first place.

'It's not like we can call the police, right? If they're just arguing."

You were already dialing.

He picked up on the first ring. “Hey, you need me to come get you?"

"Jay.”

He picked up on your voice immediately.

"Y/N? What's wrong?"

You could already hear him getting up.

"Jay, some guy is here arguing with Sarah's sister. Sarah says her sister used to date this guy. It kinda feels like things are going to pop off at any moment.”

You could hear Jay's movements seem to quicken, and you could almost picture the way he was moving through the district.

"Does he have a weapon?" Jay asked, his voice obviously strained.

You shook your head even though Jay couldn't see you. "I don't know. They're downstairs, we can't see them from here.” You paused, peering out slightly. "But I don't have a good feeling about this. Can you come?"

"I'm on my way. Stay put. And Y/N?”

"Yeah?"

Jay took a deep breath.

"No matter what you hear, don't come out of the room. Both of you. Not until it's me. You hear me?"

"Yeah, okay," You agreed, knowing that when it came to this, there was no way your brother was taking no for an answer anyway.

You hung up the phone and gave Sarah an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. My brother’s on his way."

Sarah frowned like she was waiting for more context, but you didn't say anything more.

You weren't in the habit of oversharing about your brothers. It wasn't a huge secret or anything, but you didn't volunteer information. After all, usually once word got around that you had a brother who was a detective and a brother who was a doctor, it only led to more questions or people asking for favours.

You kept your books away, then glanced at Sarah.

Sarah sighed before she started telling you about Samantha's ex - how he'd been sweet, until he wasn't. It was all the classic signs of controlling behaviour bordering on emotional manipulation that your brothers had drilled into you early on.

You were about to say something when you paused. "You smell that?'

Sarah looked up, frowning, before she wrinkled her nose.

The both of you headed toward the door, but you had already noticed the bright orange light filtering in, even before you heard Sarah's sharp inhale of breath.

“Call 911.” You told her.

As Sarah fumbled with her phone, you peered out of the room, against your better judgment.

Smoke was thickening in the halls, and the fire had already danced its way up the staircase railings.

Even with the door now closed, it felt like the smoke was still somehow finding its way into your lungs. You headed straight for your bag, emptying out its contents almost in a frenzy, looking for your inhaler. You hadn't had an asthma attack in months, you'd been managing very well, but smoke from a fire was definitely not your friend. You could almost feel your lungs closing up.

“Sarah… low…" You choked out, pulling Sarah to the ground with you.

“Where’s your inhaler?” Sarah asked, but there wasn’t enough air in your lungs for you to answer her.

You could only barely make out the sirens that seemed to be making their way through the fog of smoke.

And then, like a light at the end of the tunnel, a familiar voice.

“Fire Department, call out!”

You barely had enough energy to nudge Sarah, who raised her voice to call for their attention.

The door burst open before you saw the familiar green eyes of the one other person you trusted as much as your brothers and heard the surprise in his voice, “Y/N?”

“Kelly… I can’t…”

Kelly just nodded. “I got you, kiddo. Hang on.”

As Kelly lifted you into his arms, you saw another firefighter reach out for Sarah before Kelly moved off, and within a minute, the fresh air hit you.

Kelly gently laid you down onto the stretcher that seemed to be ready and waiting. “Brett, she has asthma.”

Sylvie nodded, and before you knew it, oxygen was once again flowing into your lungs as an oxygen mask was fitted gently on you.

“All clear, Chief!” You heard Kelly’s radio crackle as he pulled off his mask and looked at you.

“You alright?” Kelly turned toward you now.

You nodded, unable to speak just yet, but Kelly smiled and squeezed your hand before he looked up and nodded.

The next moment, Jay was right next to you. “Hey, hey! You okay? Are you hurt?”

You blinked back up into Jay’s eyes and nodded, feeling stupid tears pool in your eyes for no apparent reason.

Jay smiled as you growled at yourself, as if trying to scare your own tears back.

“Thanks, Kelly,” Jay said.

Kelly nodded, patting Jay on the arm before he reached out to pat your head gently. “When I said I hadn’t seen you in a while, I meant drop by the firehouse. Not get stuck in a fire.”

You made a face at him, and Kelly chuckled.

“I’ll drop by to see you later, alright?”

You nodded and with a final ruffle of your hair, Kelly jogged back toward the rest of his team.

Jay glanced up and nodded at Sylvie. “Alright, we’re going to Med.”

You gave him a look, and Jay returned it. “We are not taking any chances.”

As expected, it was a big fuss when you were wheeled into Med.

Naturally, Will was told to stay outside while Connor worked on you, and then for the rest of the next day, Will couldn’t, or wouldn’t, leave you alone.

“I’m fine.” You stressed.

Will narrowed his eyes at you. “Do you know how dangerous smoke inhalation is for someone like you who has asthma?”

You grunted without saying anything because you knew he was right.

“Will, have you seen my friend? Sarah? And her sister? Are they okay?” You changed the topic since you knew you weren’t going anywhere today.

Before you could finish your sentence, the door opened and Sarah almost dashed into the room. You spotted Jay following up behind her before Sarah practically leaped into your arms.

“You’re crushing me, girl!” You sputtered as both your brothers wandered off to a corner of the room, talking to each other under their breath.

You were about to call out to them to ask them to spit it out when Sarah suddenly leaned in closer again and hissed, “You didn’t tell your brothers were so…”

“What?” You asked, frowning.

“Hot.”

You scrunched up your face. “Ew, Sarah.”

“A policeman and a doctor?” Sarah said, stealing a glance at them.

“Excuse me. Detective.” You said, unable to keep the tone of pride out of your voice.

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Shut up. You suck.”

You laughed, then felt a spike of annoyance that your brothers were still whispering in the corner.

“Did you catch him?”

Jay looked up as you raised your voice.

He glanced at Sarah and then shook his head. “Patrol’s doing a sweep of the entire neighborhood. Mouse is all up in his electronic business. We’ll get him.”

Jay paused again, then moved closer. “What more can you tell me?”

“You first.” You glared at him. “You promised.”

It was a promise from a long time ago, but you never forgot it. In fact, your brothers hadn’t either. It was like yesterday, your two older brothers towering above you, your small pinky wrapped around theirs, sealing the pact between the three of you - no secrets. Even back then, you’d impressed on them that the worst betrayal was both of them keeping a secret from their only sister.

Jay glanced at Will, who nodded.

“Kelly called. Looks like this guy brought kerosene to the house. We can’t determine exactly how the fire was set yet, but it’s enough for me to haul his ass in.” Jay said, unable to keep his tone calm. Even Sarah could tell he was pissed, and she looked at you nervously.

“Listen. Samantha… She… she didn’t know we were home. I didn’t tell her. And she has nothing to do with…”

Jay smiled kindly at her. “Don’t worry. She’s talking to someone from my team now. He was an uninvited guest who threatened her. She’s not in trouble. Only he is.”

Will nodded. “I checked your sister out myself. She wasn’t in the house long. She got out before you guys did, so she didn’t have much smoke inhalation. She’s fine.”

You shot Sarah a smile just as there was a knock on the door, and Samantha peeped in.

“Hey.” You could hear the familiar tone of slight guilt from Samantha.

You turned to your brothers. “Now, the two of you. Go get some coffee or something and stop hovering around me. I’m fine.”

Will didn’t look convinced, but Jay caught the look on your face.

“Alright, let’s get out of her hair for a second,” Jay said, pushing Will out the door even as Will called back to you to let you know to call a nurse if you needed anything.

You’d only met Sarah’s sister once, but Sarah talked about her at school so much you felt like you knew her well.

“I’m sorry I got you into this mess,” Samantha said quietly.

“Samantha, it’s not your fault.” You reassured her. “My brother said you talked to the police. Don’t worry, they’ll figure it out. Everything’s going to be fine.”

You were saved from more talking when the door slid open again.

“Hey, feeling better?”

You couldn’t help the grin that slid onto your face as you saw Kelly walk in.

You introduced Kelly to the sisters briefly, ignoring Sarah’s wiggling eyebrows with a roll of your eyes.

“Where are your brothers?” Kelly asked.

“Hey! Are you here to see me, or them?” You asked with a tone of mock hurt.

Kelly chuckled. “You, and since I’m here, I need to talk to Jay.”

You smiled. “I kicked them out for being annoying.”

Kelly was just about to say something else when the door slammed open again.

You heard the catch in Samantha’s breath as she pulled Sarah behind her.

The man standing in the doorway was unfamiliar to you, but you didn’t need to hear his voice to know who he was. You reached for Kelly and gently squeezed, hoping he understood what you were trying to tell him.

Kelly glanced at you and nodded reassuringly, angling his body in a protective stance.

“Who is this?” The man spoke, his voice only confirming your suspicions.

Samantha’s ex-boyfriend.

The new arrival looked from Kelly to Samantha before he raised his voice again. “Is it him? Is he the reason you refuse to work things out with me?” Then he twitched, and you saw it at the same time as Kelly - a gun.

“Hey, I’m gonna need you to calm down,” Kelly spoke now, taking half a step forward, before motioning toward you. “I’m her…”

“Brother.” You finished his sentence for Kelly, turning to look at the guy standing in the doorway in your room, your eyes flicking toward his gun. “My brother’s just worried, alright?”

The guy’s eyes flicked back toward Samantha.

“Damien, stop this,” Samantha said now, making the effort to steel her voice.

Damien raised his gun now, and you could see Kelly’s shoulders stiffen. At the same time, the machine next to you started beeping, and you felt your chest tighten.

Kelly swivelled his head to glance at you. “Y/N?”

Kelly turned back to Damien. “That’s the sign of an asthma attack, alright? This room is going to be flooded with nurses and doctors soon. Turn around and leave.”

Damien looked like he was weighing his options, his head swinging back and forth.

You caught just a glimpse of Jay over Damien’s shoulder, and in the second that Damien lowered his gun in hesitation, Kelly shot Jay a look. Jay moved forward, pressing his gun to the back of Damien’s head.

"You so much as twitch that finger, I'll blow your brains out,” Jay said, his voice dangerously quiet. “Put it down. Now."

Kelly moved forward to kick the gun away from Damien as Will hurried in toward you.

"Okay, breathe." Will's voice was soft, yet firm and very reassuring as he fiddled with the oxygen.

Between the smoke inhalation and having a gunman in your hospital room, it was no wonder your asthma had started up again.

You felt more oxygen fill your lungs again, and your breathing steadied.

"Better?"

You nodded.

Will studied you for a while more before he said, “We'll do one more round of medication, and if that stabilizes, we'll probably be able to wean you off.”

He paused, then added, "So, patience."

You raised an eyebrow. "I'm a Halstead too, you know. Patience doesn't run in our blood."

That earned you chuckles across the room.

Jay had returned from handing Damien off, just in time to catch your last statement.

You shot him a smile, just to put him a little more at ease.

You almost forgot Samantha and Sarah were still there, until Sarah spoke again.

"I thought you only had two brothers?"

Jay couldn't help himself, "Yeah, when did I have a second brother?'

You glanced at Kelly, who winked.

“Didn't you know? Kelly's an honorary Halstead. I can trust him with my life. "

Jay smiled, and Kelly winked at you.

"Don't you ever doubt it, Y/N.”

As you smiled at the three of them, Sarah leaned in and whispered," I take back what I said about older brothers."

You glanced at her in surprise, and she giggled. "A doctor, detective, and a firefighter? God, you're living the dream."

You rolled your eyes, but you didn't refute it.

After all, Sarah was right.

You wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

You’d just laughed as Sam rolled his eyes and climbed out of the Impala.

Dean and you sat in silence for a while before he glanced at you through the rearview mirror.

“You holding up okay?” Dean asked after a prolonged silence.

You raised your head to look at him before you shrugged. “I guess.”

Dean turned now, angling his body more towards you, studying you. “I’m not gonna fall to pieces, Dean.”

He didn’t respond immediately, his eyes seeming to bore right through you. “Even if you do, I…” He paused, clearing his throat. “Sam and I will be here.”

You felt the trickling warmth that spread through your veins. Dean wasn’t usually this forward when he was showing concern. You’d learned that pretty early on. So that in itself was something.

Smiling, you nodded. “Thank you, Dean.”

The three of you ended up in a diner again, no surprises there.

Sam handed over the book he’d gotten from the school, flipping it open and showing you the page. “What do you see?”

You frowned, your eyes traveling across the page before you made a face. “Please tell me they weren’t mean girls.”

Dean glanced at you, a hint of a smile playing on his lips as he lifted the cheeseburger.

Your eyes met his and you gave him a look. “Come on, enough already. We literally just…”

Dean nodded. “I know, but what do I always say? People are crazy.”

You made a face and took a sip of coffee before you turned your attention back to the book Sam was showing you.

It was obvious, you thought, as you looked back down, the photo of four girls in cheerleading outfits staring back at you.

But it didn’t matter because now…

You pointed, glancing up at Dean.

Dean gave you a small proud smile, before he nodded, stuffing what was left of his burger into his mouth, dusting his hands off the remaining crumbs and glancing at Sam.

You gave Sam a small smile, as Sam barely paid any attention to the both of you, before he nodded. “Got it.”

Sam turned his laptop around to show you the address and you smiled. “Expected nothing less.” You answered.

The three of you got moving as soon as you could that night. You could feel where the gun was tucked securely by your side, already preloaded with witch-killing bullets, along with a couple of vials of holy water, just in case.

“So what’s the plan? We just gonna barge in there and tell her we need to search her house for a hex bag because a witch might kill her?” You asked.

Dean shot you a look through the mirror as he drove. “How about you come up with the plan tonight?”

You made a face at him, before you turned your eyes towards the driveway. “Dean?”

Dean gave a grunt to tell you he was listening.

“I don’t think we need a plan anymore,” You told him, angling your head towards the house where someone was stumbling out right now.

Sam glanced up as Dean pulled the Impala to a stop.

“Come on," Sam said, pulling his gun out as he got out of the car. You were close behind him, as Dean brought up the rear.

Sam headed towards the man who was now coughing up blood on his own porch steps.

“I got this. Find the hex bag!” Sam yelled. You nodded, heading straight into the house, never mind that you were obviously trespassing.

“We’re here to help!” You called as you saw the woman on her knees now, next to a boy that was about the age Seth was when he…

You shook your head to clear out the thoughts. You couldn’t afford to hesitate or stop now. So, you pushed your way in, stuffing your gun back into the holster that was attached to your waist, literally turning the room upside down.

It didn’t help that you could hear the boy making agonized sounds as he was torn apart from the inside, probably melting like what Sam had described with the other victims. But you shut it out, as much as you could at least, both you and Dean pulling apart cushions and whatever furniture you could find.

“Got it!” Dean yelled and you spun around just in time to see Dean set it on fire.

Instantly, the yells of agony from the young boy stopped and things had quieted outside too.

“Sammy?” Dean raised his voice, waiting for a second before Sam’s voice traveled back.

“We’re good out here!”

At least this time, you didn’t have to explain about what goes bump in the dark to a woman who’d lost her whole family.

Once they’d calmed down considerably, the three of you had sat with the couple to talk and ask a few questions.

You pushed a copy of the photo from the yearbook and she looked up at you in surprise. “Where did you…”

You just gave her a small smile. “You know what happened to your friends, don’t you? Someone wants to hurt the four of you. So who would want to do that? Someone you guys went to school with?”

The woman, who’d introduced herself earlier as Alicia Dixon, shook her head. “I don’t know.”

You glanced at Sam, who sat forward a little more.

“The only thing that connects the four of you is high school. Come on, some girl the four of you didn’t like? Someone you guys fell out with?”

Alicia didn’t answer and you saw the look on Dean’s face switch to one of annoyance, slight as it was.

“Look, we’re trying to help.” You could hear the tone in Dean’s voice. The tone that told you he was teetering on annoyance, which was pretty common in cases like these where you guys were trying to help while people lied to your faces. Most of the time that ended in someone dying.

You reached out discreetly, before he could open his mouth again and your fingers brushed over his. Dean looked up.

Okay, maybe you hadn’t thought that through.

Sam took over the conversation almost immediately, which made you want to smile, like you’d reached a level of camaraderie with the brothers that no longer required words.

You focused on Sam’s voice, pulling your fingers away slightly.

“… and they’ll probably try again. We want to help.” Sam’s voice broke through your consciousness once again and you turned your attention back at Alicia, who glanced at you.

You nodded, confirming whatever Sam had said. “Someone who would have a grudge against you, maybe. What haven’t you told us?”

Alicia took a deep breath before she sighed. “There’s one person.”

She told you the three of you at length about that girl - the girl who wanted to join them but the four of them had pushed her out. That no matter what she said or did, they never let her join them.

“Her name’s Nancy. Nancy Hart.”

Nancy Hart looked like a normal girl-next-door.

That was the thought you had as you sat in their motel room, staring back at the laptop screen, Nancy Hart smiling back at you from her social media page.

“How sure are we?” You asked, turning to glance at Dean and then at Sam.

Dean shrugged. “It sounds about right. We should go check her out.”

“What are you going to do? Shoot first, ask questions later?” You asked, giving him a look.

Dean didn’t respond, merely continuing to put his gun together.

The silence didn’t last long, though. Your phone lit up, the ringtone bouncing off the walls of the motel.

“Hello?”

“I need your help! It’s happening, again. My husband. My son. They’re… we’re…”

You pushed your chair backwards, shooting out of your seat so fast that the chair toppled behind you. “What?”

Her voice crackled again, you could hear the crack in her voice, feel the fear echo within you. Dean and Sam were watching you closely, waiting.

“We’ll take care of it.”

You looked up at the Winchesters. “Let’s go shoot that bitch.”

The three of you had split up.

Dean had been hesitant at first, but you’d been adamant. You were going to head to Alicia’s house, while they went to deal with the witch. You’d reminded Dean that you’d be safe because the hex bag affected only the target of the witch’s spell, so you’d be the safest among the three of you.

“I need to do this. If… Alicia needs someone there. And you know, just in case…”

Dean paused before he nodded, warning you to be safe before he’d sped off with Sam and you headed in the opposite direction towards Alicia’s house, just hoping that between the three of you, there’d be enough time.

Within minutes, Dean was pulling up in front of Nancy Hart’s door, Sam jumping out even before the Impala had grinded to a halt. He kicked the door in, bursting into the Hart’s living room with his gun.

"Stop the spell."

Sam's voice was low, the way it got when he was really pissed, as Dean stood behind him, his own gun raised.

Nancy stood up in alarm, her eyes betraying a fear that confused the brothers. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb. These are witch-killing bullets. One shot, that's all it takes." Sam said, still hoping he could find a way to talk her into voluntarily stopping the spell. "This isn't the first time we're dealing with a witch."

Nancy's brows furrowed together now, looking more annoyed than afraid now.

"They tortured me. High school was like hell for me. I'm just paying the karma back." Nancy argued, although her eyes flicked uneasily towards Sam's gun.

Sam narrowed his eyes, just as the woman next to Nancy stood up.

Dean trained his gun on her. "Watch it, lady."

"Hardly." She said, her voice steady, almost cold. Nancy glanced at her friend in surprise like it was the first time she'd heard her speaking like this, just as her eyes flashed a charcoal black and Dean growled.

"Of course," Dean said sarcastically, glancing at Sam, one hand reaching for the demon blade he kept within reach.

Just as Dean made to move, she flicked her wrist, sending the Winchesters flying backwards, crashing into furniture behind them, Sam tumbling over the couch with a thud, as Dean crashed into a row of shelves with a groan.

The demon stepped towards them but was interrupted by Nancy's now panicked voice. "You… What are you? You're…"

The demon rolled back her black eyes, rolling the eyes of whichever girl it was possessing. "Seriously, did you think all this was dumb luck? Or did you think you were special? Shut up for a second, the Winchesters are definitely more interesting than you are."

Dean groaned as he tried to get up, his instinct to make sure Sam was okay pushing towards the forefront as he tried to stand.

Sam nodded discreetly at his brother, Dean barely catching a glimpse of Sam's hand closing around an iron poker that the demon had literally launched him towards.

"You sure you want to be wasting time with me?" The demon drawled, a sickening smile playing on her lips.

Dean's frown deepened. "What, do you really think this is a coincidence? One of Corson's new experiments."

Dean's eyes flicked up. "What the hell did you just say?"

The demon's smile widened. "I'd go get our pretty little Y/N if I were you."

A growl left Dean's lips, as Sam got to his feet as well, the iron poker still pretty much hidden from sight from where he stood behind the toppled couch.

"So what, he's getting you to do his dirty work for him, now?" Dean asked, hoping to distract the demon while they figured out a way out of this situation. He felt the desperation to sprint out of there to get to you claw at him and he swallowed.

The demon took another step closer.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that the two of you will die here." The demon said.

Dean let his lips curl up into a smile as he pulled the vial he'd carried with him, spraying the holy water out in front of him. She hissed, stepping backwards as the holy water burned against her skin, and Sam headed forward with the iron poker now.

"Go Dean, I got this!" Sam yelled.

Dean hesitated. It was an impossible situation, leaving Sam here with a demon or leaving you with the possibility of another demon, or worse, Corson himself.

"Dean!" Sam yelled again as he pushed the demon back, diving towards where he'd dropped his blade earlier. "I got this! Go get Y/N!"

Dean nodded, turning tail and speeding back out of the room. This was the best decision he could make at this time. Sam was definitely better off on his own than you were.

Dean made it across the town in record time, muttering to himself about their luck when it came to splitting up.

Alicia's house seemed quiet as Dean killed Baby's engine, but it only served to make him more nervous.

Before heading in, Dean had swapped his gun for more demon-appropriate weapons. So now, as he held the blade close to him, Dean used his foot to push open the door.

"Y/N?"

There was no response, and Dean felt a strain in his gut. A strain he recognized as fear. The fear of losing someone else he loved.

Dean gritted his teeth, pushing down the emotion as he stepped further in.

"Y/N?" Dean tried again, entering the sitting room the three of you had just been in the day before, taking a sharp inhale.

Three bodies littered the floor, pools of blood staining the white marble floor and you sat in the middle, near Alicia, motionless with your back to Dean.

"Y/N?" Dean approached again, a little worried.

You glanced up now, as if you were just hearing him.

"Dean." Your voice was barely above a whisper.

Your hands were blood-stained, probably from where you'd been trying to help.

Dean just nodded. "Are you hurt?"

It took you a little longer to process the question before you shook your head.

Dean tucked the knife back into where he usually carried it, although he still looked around cautiously. Then he leaned forward, slipping your hand into his, despite the fact that your hands were still stained with blood.

"Come on."

You looked up at him. "Dean… I… There was nothing I could do."

"I know." Dean paused and looked at you. "Y/N, we need to get out of here alright? You know the drill."

You nodded, even though you felt tears well up in your eyes and Dean knew they were only half about Alicia.

Dean bent down further to pull you to your feet, not letting your hand go as he led you back out towards the main door.

The both of you had barely set foot into the yard when he appeared as if from nowhere. Maybe he’d been there the whole time, maybe he’d just appeared out of thin air, but he was standing in front of the both of you now.

Instinctively, Dean tugged you behind him, way before he saw the flash of charcoal black eyes, or before the demon opened his mouth. “Leaving so soon?”

The voice sent chills down your spine. Chills from that day he’d used your baby brother’s body and voice to taunt you while Leah lay dying at his feet.

“Corson.”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

You could only imagine being Matt and coming home to this sight.

You were seated in the middle of the living room in the apartment you shared with Matt, surrounded by yarn, bits of fluff stuck in your hair, sheets of sketched designs strewn across the floor.

You could feel the panic rise even more as you took in the look on Matt’s face. Especially since you couldn’t read his emotions as the anxiety clouded your brain.

“Matt, I…” 

You couldn’t continue as you felt your chest tighten just a little, the anxiety and panic clawing its way to the surface and rearing its ugly head at you. 

This had all started with Amy.

Amy.

She was a friend you’d known for almost your entire life. You’d laughed together, cried together, dreamed about the future together and talked about those dreams. Along the way, you both had stumbled, you saw less of each other, and Amy reached out less, sometimes forgetting to respond to your messages. Despite what everyone told you, you convinced yourself that it was just how life was and you made excuses for Amy’s growing absence in your life.

Then, she’d reached out to tell you she was getting married.

You felt the excitement first, remembering it like it was yesterday, how you had both talked excitedly about how you would be each other’s bridesmaids. It wasn’t a conscious memory, but it was like your brain had pulled it up, triggered by the words Amy was saying.

You didn’t even feel any apprehension when she asked if you would make the flowers for the bridesmaids. You weren’t too confident because crocheted flowers weren’t really your thing. In fact, you’d only tried it out once. So you’d told Amy you’d give it a shot, make a prototype and see how it went.

You could tell Matt hadn’t been thrilled with the idea but he didn’t say much, only offering opinions when you asked for them and keeping most of his comments focused on the task rather than Amy. Yet, you knew he was holding back. You knew Matt didn’t feel great about Amy, mainly because of the things he’d witnessed, in particular, the way she blew back into your life when it was convenient for her.

But things had been going downhill ever since you’d made the first prototype. She kept changing what she wanted, and even you were getting a little frustrated, mixed with a desire not to disappoint her.

So, having Matt stand there with a surprised look on his face in the middle of an extremely messed up living room only added to your current panic.

You felt your breath quicken and very soon, Matt’s figure was clouded by the tears you didn’t realize had pooled behind your eyes.

Without saying anything, Matt dropped whatever was in his arms, heading straight for you and folding you nice and tight into his arms. 

“Y/N, it’s okay. It’s okay.” Matt whispered quietly, and you felt the rumble of his chest before your breathing slowly evened out once again.

Matt didn’t move immediately, but his fingers brushed off the residual tears that were rolling down your cheeks.

“Sorry, I don’t…” 

Matt just tightened his arms a little and pressed a kiss firmly to the top of your head.

“Sorry,” You mumbled, scrubbing off the remnants of tears on your cheeks before glancing up at him.

Matt shook his head and leaned down for another kiss and you leaned into his embrace, temporarily forgetting about the mess in the living room.

By the time you woke up the next morning, there was barely a trace of the mess last night. The yarn was back in the boxes you had in the corner of the room and the half done flowers were laid out neatly on the kitchen counter.

No one else would have guessed what had happened the night before. 

Matt was almost on his way out, draining the last sip of his coffee and smiling as you walked into the kitchen.

He didn’t ask but just studied your face for a little longer than usual.

You smiled back at him and nodded. “Go on, I’m fine.” You assured him, even though you stepped toward him and nuzzled your face into his shoulder.

Matt pressed you lightly against him and pressed a kiss to your temple.

“You know where to find me if you need me.” Matt whispered gently into your ear.

You smiled into his shoulder with a small nod before both of you pulled away and you let Matt go before he was late for shift.

Even as the door closed behind Matt, you felt it rear to the surface. This time, the feeling was different. It wasn’t even residual anxiety from the night before. You couldn’t put your finger on it but it was bugging you.

Deciding that it might be good to have a change of pace, you grabbed the materials you needed, slung the tote bag over your shoulders and left the house, figuring you’d find a nice cafe to work out of.

So you did and you had been right. A change of environment had done wonders for you and you finally had a final prototype for the new flower idea Amy had had.

You snapped a photo and sent it to Amy, quoting as reasonable a price you could for the materials and stitches. You even gave her what she called a ‘friend discount’. 

But for someone who sometimes took days to respond to you, her response was quick now.

It’s a little out of my budget.

Thereafter, she proceeded to give you a price she was willing to pay that was such a lowball, you almost dropped your phone.

It took you a moment and another few breaths to register that feeling bubbling up in your chest now. You recognised it as a more intense version of what you had been feeling that morning. Now, you could indeed put your finger on it - Disappointment.

It was disappointment that raged within you. Especially when you’d always treated Amy like a sister.

You felt it swell as you thought about the effort you’d put in all these years, even just the effort in designing flowers she would want for her wedding, and then you remembered the many times she’d blown you off, and when she’d been dating that toxic ex of hers and had cut you out of her life for more than a year until the break up.

Resisting the urge to send her a scathing reply, you stuffed the rest of your belongings into your bag and headed out the cafe, only realizing where your legs had taken you when you looked up at the firehouse in front of you.

The trucks were all parked which meant everyone was around. 

Now that you were here, you had second thoughts and you were about to retreat, thinking you’d talk to Matt during breakfast the next day when you heard an all too familiar voice call out to you.

“Y/N?”

Of course today would be the day Kelly came to get something out of his car.

“Hey, Kelly.” You greeted back, your voice sounding weird even to you.

Kelly either didn’t notice or chose not to mention it. He just smiled and nodded. “Come on, Casey’s in his office.”

You didn’t protest, letting Kelly lead you in as if it was your first time visiting the firehouse.

Everyone called out toward you with smiles and you waved back at them as you made your way through the common room and toward Matt’s office.

“Look who I found,” Kelly called with a casual rap at Matt’s door.

Matt sat up, glancing at you before smiling. “Thanks, Sev.”

Kelly winked, more at you than him, before leaving the both of you alone.

Matt got up to close his door and glanced at you. “Everything okay?”

After all, you rarely came to the firehouse without a call beforehand. Usually, you were worried about being in the way so you only came to bring them some food, especially when you’d heard it was a difficult shift.

You nodded. “Nothing big, I just…”

You held back a heavy sigh and just handed him your phone.

Matt’s eyes moved across your phone screen as he read the message and you could see the slight darkening of his expression, even though he was trying to keep it under control.

Matt looked back up at you and handed your phone back to you. “So what are you thinking?” Matt asked.

You shouldn’t have been shocked by Matthew Casey’s complete focus on your feelings, but you couldn’t help the little jolt of warmth that still filled you even though you and Matt had been dating for a long while.

You shrugged and Matt gave you a look, which just made you smile.

“Fine, I’m annoyed. It’s like every single moment with her has been flashing in my head since I got that message and the annoyance has been piling. That’s why I haven’t responded.”

“Go for it, babe.” Matt said, matter of factly.

You glanced at him with half a smile.

“You deserve to be treated with respect and I think it’s high time someone told her. And if you don’t want to do it, I’d be happy to.” Matt said, his voice laced with a subtle protectiveness.

You pulled him toward you, just so you can lay your head against him and smiled. “Thank you.”

The conversation had gone about as you’d expected. 

You tried your best to keep your side as light as possible while remaining firm, and ultimately, the decision had been for you to try to do little flower wristlets for Amy’s flower girls, instead of a large order of flowers.

You weren’t too thrilled to do it anymore, but a part of you felt obliged to, so you’d agreed.

It was only two days later that you had run into Amy when Matt had taken you out for dinner.

“Hey, I…” You greeted her even from a distance, trying to keep things as normal as possible.

But you didn’t miss the look on her face as she turned away, as if she was pretending not to see you.

Instinctively, you glanced up at Matt, your expression one of disbelief.

Matt just squeezed your hand but you could see the strain lines on his face which were a clear telltale sign he was using all his effort to hold back.

Matt was trying to reassure you, but the only thing you felt now was anger.

There was no more second-guessing on your part about whether you had been too harsh or too mean. You knew the answer. 

You were about to open a small side business for your crochet. All your friends, including Amy, knew that.

In fact, anyone who tried to ask you to make something for them had always offered you more than what you quoted, reminding you that friends didn’t take each other for a ride.

Amy was the exact opposite and what really grinded at you was the fact that she thought she was well within her rights to be angry at you.

You were a little confused but the anger had swallowed it all up.

“You want to go elsewhere?” Matt offered.

You glanced up at him.

If this had been anyone else, it might have made you avoid the situation altogether. But right now, the indignant feeling had turned into anger.

“Why should we? You put in so much effort into trying to get a reservation here. Let’s just have a good dinner.” You answered.

 This felt like a huge breakthrough moment for you, even Matt felt it - you could do anything you had set your mind to. 

You sat down with Matt in a corner of the restaurant, pretty sure that Matt had used one of his superpowers to get the both of you a great table and you turned your back on Amy, focusing all your energy and attention on the one person who was worth it.

Once the appetisers were served, you’d thrown Amy to the back of your mind, sinking into Matt’s company and enjoying the date night that both of you deserved. 

It was just as the both of you had stepped out after paying the bill when someone grabbed your arm. 

“Food’s great here, isn’t it?”

You blinked back in disbelief at Amy, who was smiling as if nothing had happened.  

It would have been much better if you hadn’t met her in front of the restaurant earlier. Now, you were just wondering what the hell she was doing.

Matt didn’t say anything, just stood by your side and waited.

“What are you doing?” You asked, unable to hold it back any longer. There was a slight tremor in your voice that no one but Matt picked up on. 

The saddest part was Amy used to be able to. Now, she just didn’t care.

That realization hit you hard but also allowed you to look her straight in the eye.

Frustratingly, Amy was staring at you as if she was confused by your question.

When you didn’t offer her any explanation, she swallowed and spoke, “Come on, Y/N. I told you I was on a budget. You’re my friend, I didn’t expect you to try and profit off my wedding.”

You glanced up at Matt just a little and he merely nodded in encouragement.

“Profit? Amy, you agreed to pay! You are literally the only person that has lowballed me for anything crochet related. I’m not even asking you to pay me for the prototypes or the materials used for it. Have you looked up the prices online? I’m profiting nothing.” You paused and looked her directly in the eye. “Look, I think this isn’t a good idea. “

“What are you saying? You don’t want to talk about it?” Amy asked, and you could hear the tone in her voice change slightly.

You sighed. “I’m saying I don’t think I can make anything for your wedding, or be your bridesmaid. I’ve said everything that needs to be said.”

“Y/N, you… What am I supposed to tell my family?”

You couldn’t hold back the chuckle that escaped your lips. You shouldn’t have expected anything else but the fact that she was more worried about having to explain what had happened to her family members who had always treated you as one of their own, spoke volumes.

“You can tell them what happened, Amy. Just remember that if anyone calls me, I’m telling the truth.”

Matt smiled and slung an arm around you, turning to lead you away before he paused.

He glanced back at Amy before he spoke, “She cared. She really cared and you threw it back in her face. She deserves someone who treats her as a friend.”

You tugged at Matt’s arm and Matt sighed before taking you away with him.

The journey home had been pretty silent and Matt only broke it as he closed the door behind the both of you and hung both your jackets by the door.

“You okay?”

You glanced up at him and nodded before you pulled back again and shrugged. “Kind of, you know? I’m upset but like it also feels lighter? If that makes sense.”

“It just has to make sense to you. The only thing important to me is how you are feeling right now.”

You stepped into Matt’s embrace and smiled against him. 

“With you? Matthew Casey, I’m on top of the freaking world.”

Matt smiled, leaning back enough to take a look at you before pressing his lips gently to yours in a deep kiss.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

If you want to support me, buy me a coffee!

You’d grown up with the Halsteads and the brothers had taken you under their wing. You’d been almost inseparable since that first day, other than the time both Will and Jay had left Chicago for other pursuits. But that hadn’t changed much of anything. Your bond with the Halsteads was a constant.

They were the older brothers you never had, the family you yearned for. Until the day you realized you’d fallen for Will. You’d fallen so hard that there wasn’t even a way out of it.

And only that idiot Will had absolutely no idea. Even Jay had picked up on it, but Will was clueless.

You needed to rip the band aid out, so you’d decided that it was better to get it over with.

You’d headed straight down from the wards once you’d looked in on your patient, hoping to catch Will.

You stepped out of the doors, noticing Will and Natalie almost immediately. You were already heading for them when they stepped toward each other and you knew what was coming. But it was like being unable to tear your eyes away from a car wreck you knew was going to happen.

So you stood there, like a complete idiot, as you watched Natalie step up to Will, her head angled in what you knew was a kiss.

Next thing you knew, before it happened, someone had spun you around.

Jay stared back at you with concern only an older brother would have filling his eyes.

His eyes snapped back upwards for just a second before he gave a small smile. “Come on, let’s go.”

You didn’t say anything, just let Jay lead you to your car. You sat in the passenger’s seat for a while and Jay glanced at you. “You okay?”

You turned to give him a smile. “Yeah, of course. It’s not like Will and I…” You let your voice trail off and you turned away.

Jay just started the car and drove off, leaving his older brother behind.

2

You knew this day would come. The day Will would sit you and Jay down and tell you he was engaged.

You always knew it.

But you hadn’t expected to feel like you’d been stabbed in the middle of your chest.

Jay was no help because he hadn’t even warned you, even though you knew for a fact that the ring sitting on Natalie’s finger now had been at Jay’s apartment a week ago.

Then, of all things, you had to overhear Natalie and Will talking about the wedding.

“A church wedding, a reception… I’ve done all that before.”

You’d been staying out of their business but those words seemed to find you like a heat-seeking missile.

It was hard enough dealing with your overwhelming feelings for Will as he was planning a wedding with a girl he was head over heels in love with. But hearing such a comment really got under your skin.

You couldn’t really believe your ears. Even if this was Natalie’s second marriage, you wondered why she hadn’t considered that it was Will’s first. His excitement was almost contagious. At least it would have been if you weren’t so overwhelmingly and stupidly in love with him.

You wanted to tell Natalie that she was being immensely selfish, that she had no idea how good she had it and a few other choice words but you swallowed them all down and turned away.

You smiled a little when you heard Will stand up for himself, just glad he wasn’t going to give in, but you didn’t turn around, merely walking away to join some of the other doctors in your department.

After all, there was nothing you could say.

3

You felt you’d handled everything great overall, especially after everything that had happened.

Every time you felt you could do this, Will would pull something crazy on you that made you need to take a step back. Be it his engagement, his wedding, his disappearance, or witness protection.

Even when he’d returned, you’d found out from Jay first because he’d naturally gone to Natalie.

You couldn’t even be pissed because you were so relieved he was okay.

Then, he showed up at your door.

“Will?”

You glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s the middle of the night. You okay?”

Will nodded. “Look, Jay’s on assignment. Can I crash here tonight?”

You frowned but stepped backward to let him in. “Yeah, of course.”

You’d gotten the couch ready for Will as best as you could before getting him a beer. “What’s up?”

“Natalie kicked me out.” Will said quietly.

You froze. “What?”

You thought you’d heard him wrongly. Because if you were Natalie, you’d put him in your arms immediately, you’d take in every moment you had with Will and you’d just be glad he was home, back in Chicago, safe and sound.

You swallowed, pushing the thoughts back down because you couldn’t allow yourself to go there. Not now, because no matter what this was, it didn’t change the fact he was still engaged to Natalie.

You’d never particularly liked Natalie. You hadn’t disliked her, you just didn’t have much of an opinion. Until this moment.

You hadn’t even been resentful when she’d shown up with Will on the night you’d set aside for the Halsteads although Jay was a little irritated but you knew he was just being protective. You hadn’t even felt much when she handed you the wedding invitation at work but tonight?

You felt it now, the annoyance that coursed through your veins as you looked back at Will sitting on your couch. You were glad to have him back of course, but he wasn’t the Will that had left. Jay had reminded you it was to be expected, and you knew that but seeing the unfamiliar lines of anxiety across his face felt unsettling and you hated it.

But to throw your fiancé out on the first night he was home?

You couldn’t understand any of this.

The urge to tell Will everything you felt was pulsating through you, so you swallowed and patted his arm.

“Get some sleep.”

“Thanks Y/N.”

You could only force a smile.

4

“Will?”

You felt it, the fear clawing at you when you saw him running in carrying Natalie, blood running down his face.

“Oh God, Will…”

“I’m fine!” Will snapped.

You’d never shied away from a fight with Will, feelings or no feelings but this wasn’t the first time he’d snapped at you since Natalie had broken things off and returned his mother’s ring to him.

You knew things had been hard for him. You weren’t sure if it was worse being Will who had been dumped, or if it was worse to be you, forced to watch Will pine after Natalie even after it was clear she’d moved on as easily as if they hadn’t almost gotten married.

It was probably worse to be you, considering the only thing you could do was divert his attention and anyone who knew Will knew that it was like fighting a losing battle.

You wanted to tell him he deserved better. You wanted to tell him how you’d never make him feel the way he felt now. You were even down for a drinking and bitching session.

But Will wasn’t ready for it.

So, you could only hang there quietly in the background, making sure Will knew you were there when he needed you.

But the fact he’d snapped at you right now, when he could barely stand straight, his face still stained with blood, unable to tear his eyes away from the room Natalie was in, just felt like it was adding insult to injury.

You felt the worry switch to hurt, then annoyance and borderline anger before you turned away. You motioned at one of the nurses, who nodded at you.

You didn’t tell Will you were leaving but you left word at the nurses’ station for them to leave Connor a message. At least he’d have a harder time fighting Connor.

You left the hospital, making the turn toward a bar near your place. You didn’t feel like going home to an empty apartment, but you didn’t feel like going to Molly’s where everyone knew you either.

You hadn’t gone too far when Jay had called, asking if you heard about Will and if you could pick him up.

Holding back a sigh, you agreed and turned right back around to drive back to the hospital.

You found Will upstairs, standing over Natalie, right before Philip walked right up to Will. You couldn’t hear exactly what you were saying but the argument was clear.

“Get out of my face.” Will growled, just as you slid yourself between them.

“Back off.” The two words slipped through your gritted teeth as you glared at Philip. This guy had always given you the creeps.

You turned back to look at Will. “Both of you.”

Then, you gently pushed Will out of the room.

“Y/N…”

You didn’t look directly at him. “I’m only here because Jay called. Come on, I’ll take you back.”

Ignoring the way his gaze lingered on Natalie, you stepped towards the lifts first, jamming your hands back into your pockets.

The only other thing you said to him that night was, “It’s not your fault.”

You didn’t let Will answer before you closed Jay’s apartment door on him, turning to return back to yours.

5

You had come down to the ED since Will had asked you to wait for him so you could go for drinks, the awkwardness from the night of the accident long lifted. But he’d started without you, because you’d spotted them already drinking. However, before you could step into the lounge, Will burst out, running right past you.

“Will!” You yelled, but he didn’t even hear you.

And you knew that wasn’t a good sign.

You stopped just long enough to ask Crockett what had happened before you were tearing out after Will as well.

On a good day, Will couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.

It used to be a running joke with you and Halstead brothers that one day Jay would hold him down and you would sew his mouth shut. That way he’d stop getting himself into trouble.

And today was definitely not a good day.

Especially not that Will’s gut feeling had been proven right - Philip was lying to Natalie.

You made it out just in time to hear Will and Natalie talking, so you hesitated. This didn’t seem like a conversation you should be involved in.

You were about to turn around and leave when the next words out of Natalie’s mouth made you freeze in your tracks.

“I can take care of myself! Just get out of my life!”

You spun around, pretty sure your mouth was agape.

You could see the hurt in Will’s eyes even from this distance and you felt the anger bubble up in your gut.

But you also knew you needed to prioritize.

You stepped right up to Will, not even aware if Natalie had already walked off and closed your hand around his wrist. “Come on, let’s go.”

Will didn’t move for a second, like he was still processing.

You felt that urge bubble up to the surface once again, the one where you wanted to run to Natalie and shake some sense into her. Better yet, you wanted to tell her exactly what you thought of her and how she treated the people around her.

But there was a strange look in Will’s eyes that you’d never seen before. So, you didn’t move, just waited, your hand still clasped tightly around his wrist.

And once again, you didn’t say anything.

1

Things had been strangely quiet since that confrontation Will had had with Natalie.

They avoided eye contact in the ED, even though there were a few times you caught Will looking in her direction, like he was considering talking to her.

That had only lasted a few days, however.

It could have had something to do with the conversation you and Will had had about finally moving on, or the fact that Natalie still looked at him coldly as if Will was the one who had lied to her or hurt her.

But no matter what, Will did seem to be moving - in a direction opposite from Natalie.

It felt like you’d finally gotten your friend back.

You’d been spending a lot of time together, that Jay had teased you about making it way too obvious that you only wanted to hang out with Will.

But there was something different.

You couldn’t really pinpoint it - maybe it was the way he stood a little too close, or maybe it was the way he laughed, but something felt different, especially as he seemed to finally put her down.

Then, it came. One night, the both of you were standing on the roof, watching a video that one of Will’s patients had sent to him when you heard her call out to him.

“Will, can we talk?”

You felt your heart sink. Of course, the familiar taste of rejection that you’d almost learned to live with, but also the dread that this was happening once again.

You pulled back from Will a little, only just realizing how close the both of you were standing with each other.

You gave Will a small smile that didn’t reach your eyes and said quietly, “I’ll see you downstairs.”

To your surprise, Will reached out, his hand closing gently around your wrist.

You didn’t miss Natalie’s eyes flicking toward his hand, but you were just as surprised so you glanced back at him.

Will didn’t seem to know what to say then he gave you a small smile. “It won’t take long.”

You nodded, turning to leave.

Natalie didn’t even wait for you to be out of earshot before she began.

“I remember, Will. I remember the night of the accident. I was coming to tell you that I was wrong, that I was really unfair to you… and that I love you.”

It was an instinctive reaction as you froze, one foot in front of the other.

But you didn’t stick around to hear Will’s answer, pushing yourself out the door by sheer willpower.

You decided you didn’t really want to wait for Will. There was no point in sticking around just to have your heart broken anyway. But the universe seemed to have a problem with your decision and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion around you, even the lift was exceedingly slow today.

Fucking Murphy.

You’d finally stepped toward the carpark, heading straight for your car when a hand closed over your wrist, pulling you back.

You looked back into Will’s eyes as you turned around, your heart sinking. You really didn’t need this now.

Your eyes must have betrayed you because Will’s expression changed. “I need to tell you something.”

You pulled your arm gently out of his grasp and shook your head. “Not now, Will. I don’t need to hear it now.”

“Yes, you do.” Will said, his voice pressing a little firmly.

Swallowing down the urge to snap at him, you turned to face him. “Look, it’s not any of my business who you see. You don’t have to tell me anything.”

A small frown crossed Will’s face and he took half a step back. Then, as if he’d made some sort of decision all on his own, he glanced back at you again.

“It is your business if you’re that person.” Will’s voice was low but you swore it felt like the entire temperature outside had shifted. You doubted your own ears as you blinked back at him.

Will continued, “When Natalie told me to get out of her life, I did. And it was… not what I expected. That was the best decision I ever made, Y/N. I finally… I finally realized what I was missing.”

You blinked back stupidly at him.

“I promise this isn’t some spur of the moment thing. I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you but I just… it sounded stupid or insincere everytime I tried so I kept waiting for the perfect opportunity..” Will’s voice faded a little, his eyes searching your face for some sort of indication.

When there was nothing, Will spoke again.

“Y/N, say something.”

You didn’t really know what to say because nothing seemed real.

You glanced up at Will again but you knew Will. He wouldn’t fuck around with something like this. He was oblivious, that was clear. But ever since that mess with Nina, you also knew he’d never jump into something unless he’d sorted his own feelings out.

“Will, it’s always been… well, you.” You paused, taking a deep breath.

“You have no idea how many times I had to hold back. All the things I wanted to tell you. How was I supposed to tell you how I felt when you weren’t looking at me? How was I supposed to help you see that you deserved someone who loved and cared about you at least half as much as how you care about people around you? That you deserve to be protected too? But I couldn’t. I told myself that even if I had to be your best friend or younger sister for the rest of your life, you deserved to have someone who would be there for you, no matter how much it hurt…”

Will didn’t let you keep rambling on. Instead, he stepped forward, pulling you gently to fit your body against his, in the middle of the open carpark, and pressed his lips against yours.

It was hesitant at first, but when you responded, you felt Will fall into it as well, the kiss going deeper.

“I’m sorry I was an idiot. A blind idiot.” Will said, his voice low as he gently pulled away again.

You just smiled. “Better late than never right?”

Your teasing voice just made him smile and he circled his arms around you, pulling you tightly against him without saying anything else.

And you knew. You knew that you didn’t need to hold back any longer.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

If you want to support me, buy me a coffee!

It sounded like an innocent enough date when Jay had asked if you wanted to go watch the game. You hadn't been dating for long, and every day felt a little unreal in a ‘I can’t believe Jay Halstead wants to go out with me’ kind of way, and you appreciated every opportunity you got to spend with Jay especially since you never knew if he would have to go undercover or spend nights at the district trying to clear a case.

But now that the game was approaching, you were in a bit of a panic.

You enjoyed watching a game, but you didn’t always know what you were watching or doing, and you weren’t sure you were ready to let Jay see that side of you.

“Y/N, everything okay?” Kelly’s voice interrupted your internalized panic and you glanced up.

“Ah, I should have thought of you!” You proclaimed, earning yourself an eyebrow raise from the squad lieutenant. “I need your help.”

Kelly raised an eyebrow but chuckled before nodding toward his office.

You thanked all the stars that it was a quieter shift. After all, an entirely quiet shift didn’t exist at Firehouse 51. But at least that’s the way you liked it.

Kelly gave you a crash course, but not without reminding you that you owed him one. You spent the rest of the downtime studying it so that at least you’d have something smart to say, even though there were a few times you wondered what the hell you were doing.

Hard work indeed paid off.

You walked out of the game, feeling a little embarrassed as Jay’s friends gushed over you.

“Jay, you got a good one. My girlfriend doesn’t even want to come to games with me.” One of his buddies quipped.

Jay laughed, putting an arm around you and grinning. “Hey, should I be worried? What if you guys just call her for the games instead?”

The laughter rumbled through the group as they all nodded, teasing Jay that they’d rather call you instead of him in the future.

You really did owe Kelly one.

As his friends dispersed, calling that Jay had better bring you out for the next game, Jay’s phone rang.

You nodded at him, telling him he’d better take it, assuring him that you and Will wouldn’t leave him behind.

Jay took the call from Voight, glancing toward where you and Will were talking as he nodded. “Yeah, I got it. I’ll be right in.”

Jay could feel the dread in his gut, that felt just a little too much like guilt that he had to blow off again tonight even though he’d promised a nice after-game dinner and maybe some drinks and cuddling.

“This is why you don’t promise anything, Jay.” He mumbled to himself, before he walked back toward the both of you.

“Hey, Y/N, I…”

You glanced at the look on Jay’s face and just smiled. “Gotcha.”

“Sorry.” Jay couldn’t even say anything more because everything else in his head sounded like an excuse.

“I’m not saying I’m not disappointed, because I kinda am. But I get it. And if these were bells going off for the ambulance, I’d do the same thing you’re doing now. So, go.” You paused. “But you owe me a mind-blowing date.”

Jay laughed and nodded. “That, I definitely do.”

You shot him a huge smile and headed off toward Jay’s truck to wait because you knew he’d at least take you home before heading back down to wherever he was supposed to go.

Will watched the exchange with a mix of amusement and awe before he glanced at his younger brother.

“Jay?” Will called, before Jay and him headed off in different directions.

Jay glanced up at Will and Will smiled. “You better marry that girl.”

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

The Second Time

The second time you see Matt Casey is on the local news saving a kid from a high-rise building in a very daring rope rescue. Of course in his brief interview with the news crew, he is reluctant to take the applause or gratitude, drawing attention to his fellow firefighters and the joint effort all of their work requires.

You kick yourself for not getting Matt’s number after he had sorted out the lock, it wasn’t as though you didn’t have the chance when he was sitting at a table with you, drinking coffee and indulging in the raspberry and vanilla creme danish you’d given him.

You consider swinging by his Firehouse, but you’re not really sure what you’d say or do. You thought there had been some kind of rapport there when you’d first met, but your self-confidence had since dwindled, enough that you felt you couldn't justify the visit without feeling like a stalker.

You sigh as you taste the pasta sauce in your pan, checking for the right amount of flavour and seasoning. If the universe gave you another opportunity to see Matt Casey in the flesh, you’d get his number.

-

The Third Time

The third time you see him it’s in a way that had not even remotely been on your wheel of fortune. You were trapped in a derailed subway car, with no major injuries but pretty banged up. There's a sizeable lump on your forehead and a gash on your arm that wouldn’t quit leaking blood. It was a less-than-ideal end to your shift.

“Fire Department! Call out, and let us know where you are if you can!” At first, his voice is just a voice, you’re not totally focused on him in the haze of darkness and smoke, haphazardly thrown between two sets of seats, besides the smashed glass of a window. 

The sound of people’s distress and the emergency alarms in the tunnel are a distraction. The lights on the firefighter helmets feel like alien beams coming down the subway car to take you back to the mothership.

“Fire Department, call out!” There that voice is again, why did it make your stomach flip? Why did it make you feel safe?

Oh. Oh. Yeah. He’s a firefighter, that’s Matt! 

“Matt?” You try calling out, realising you hadn’t spoken since before the accident. Your voice crackles in the hubbub, making you inaudible. You try again.

“Casey, I’m here! Matt?!” You cough in the smoke, wincing with a small groan as you knock your arm against one of the support poles, aggravating the swollen and stinging flesh.

There’s a beat of silence, only the sounds of machinery and boots stomping, and then, “Y/N? Is that you? Y/N, call out!” 

“Here!” You try again, your voice is loud but strained. 

The boot steps are moving faster now, until a frantically moving beam of light lands on your face, moving quickly out of your eye line when Matt realises he's burning your retinas.

His worried eyes look you over, noticing the grease and grime as well as the blood, the bruising on your face and forehead is apparent. He crouches in front of you, gentle gloved hands outstretched to assess quickly. “Y/N, where else are you injured? Can you stand?”

Your voice shakes, the adrenaline of everything that had transpired firing your thoughts a mile a minute, the reality of the situation sinks in now that a familiar and caring face was in front of you. “Uh, j-just my head and my arm, I think, they’re the worst. I think I could stand.”

Matt nods, gently squeezing your shoulder. “Listen, Y/N, I have to keep looking for people, but my buddy Otis is gonna help you get out of here and to safety, okay?” He nods over at another firefighter, the one you assume is Otis.

You wished Matt was coming with you, but you weren’t so totally wrapped up in your desire to be close to him to protest or show your need. Whoever Matt trusted, you trusted.

Brian, or ‘Otis’ as he was apparently nicknamed, was fun to talk to, he had kept you distracted from looking at any of the horrors in the other subway cars or on the track. All in all, a very sweet guy who made sure you felt safe and supported the entire journey through the tunnel, eventually handing you off to the paramedics with minimal stress or jostling.

-

When you’re in your treatment room at Chicago Med you spot Matt talking to some of the nurses and doctors in the ED. You smile to yourself, your nerves somewhat ebbing away at the sight of him, he made you feel calm and protected without even trying.

As if he could sense your eyes on him, he happens to look up and right at you sitting on the bed with your arm now patched up. You were waiting for the results of your CT scan to come back. Dr Halstead had assured you it was probably nothing to worry about but he needed to be sure.

Before you know it Casey had made his way across the ED and was now standing in your treatment room, again checking you over with eyes full of worry.

“You okay?” He asks, stepping in closer to you, almost on the verge of reaching to hold your hand.

His face is also smudged with smoke, he had stayed another hour after your rescue looking for victims and helping with debris, before being told to take a break and check in at Med.

You nod. Not really sure what to say, your lip wobbles. You were okay by all accounts, your arm had been stitched, and you were getting treatment for your head, but at the same time, it had been a pretty freaky experience.

The next thing you know you’re tucked in the embrace of Matt, your tears soaking into his jacket as your body trembles. The shock of everything escaping in one fell swoop. He’s warm, a steady palm rubbing in soothing circles on your back, soft hushes “You’re okay, it’s alright.” as you sniff.

“I’m…sorry…I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” You half laugh and half cry some more, looking up at him as he remains holding you, feeling silly for crying in front of him.

His face is serious, making sure you understand, “Hey, you don’t need to be sorry, it happens in situations like this, okay? You don’t need to feel embarrassed, Y/N, trust me.” Offering you a reassuring smile as he squeezes your shoulders.

“I do.” You murmur, looking up at him.

“Do?” He asks, confused.

“Trust you.” You state with a weary smile, your heart lurching in your chest, not sure why you just let that out of your mouth. You could at least hopefully put it down to your scrambled brain.

His face breaks into his own smile now, eyes lighting up at the comment, he’s about to say something else to you when a man with a salt and pepper head of hair pops around the curtain, another firefighter. “Case, we gotta head back out, let’s roll.” The head disappears again and Matt turns back to you, apologising with a dismayed expression.

“I’m sorry, I-”

You smile through your still watery eyes, sniffing. “It’s okay, you go, I’ll be totally fine, thank you for everything, Matt. Seriously.” You reassure, giving him a gentle nudge in the direction of the exit.

“Be safe,” You instruct, giving him a stern look. He nods, amusement on his face at your bossy well-wishing as he leans in to give you a small kiss on your cheek. 

He utters a soft, “See you around, Y/N.” before leaving you sitting awestruck with goosebumps rushing across your skin.

It’s when you get home in the early hours of the morning that you realise you still don't have Matt’s number.

-

The Fourth Time

The fourth time you and Matt cross paths is back at the coffee shop, it had been a few weeks since your subway incident. This time he’s in his construction gear, much like the station gear and the turnout gear he looked handsome and ready to help anyone in need. 

This time, however, you’re not locked out, nor are you stuck underground. With all of your tasks up to date and a little in the way of custom, you arrive at the conclusion you’re bored out of your mind.

The sight of Matt in his slightly worn jeans, heavy tan boots, and a navy blue plaid shirt is already causing an uptick in your rating of today. His lighter tufts of blonde hair peeking out from his beanie, and the dark brown jacket with the borg collar altogether make him look like the cosiest lumberjack in the middle of Chicago. Something you would neither confirm nor deny finding extremely attractive.

He enters with purpose, already looking around for something or someone, and it’s beyond your control to not feel the butterflies scatter in your stomach when his eyes land on you. Not missing the way he smiles excitedly as he moves in your direction.

He eyes the few customers dotted around the space, noting they were already sipping from their respective mugs and cups. “Hey! You’re here, I was hoping to catch you. How’s the arm and the head?”

You lean forward on the counter, helpless to not return the excited energy. You had been wondering when you’d see him again, if ever. You always expected the next time to maybe be the last time, just a fleeting stranger who made your heart race. You kicked yourself for not getting his number the first time and then again forgetting on the third time, this time was going to be the moment, the universe was clearly trying for you.

“Hey! I am indeed here, and I’m glad you caught me. The head and arm are good, nothing to complain about. How’re you?” Your bruises are fainter now, your head only slightly discoloured from the swelling and bruising, but otherwise okay. Your arm was beginning to scab over.

Something about Matt Casey made you so inherently giddy, and you didn’t mind in the least when he moves in closer to keep the conversation just between you.

“I’m just glad to see you're okay, and I'm good, I’m just doing some work on a house around the corner. Thought I’d visit my favourite person…” Matt realises instantly how it comes out, trying to recover, “My favourite person who makes coffee.” He laughs awkwardly, feeling the squeeze in his chest as he becomes a little self-conscious.

“Oh, just your favourite coffee maker, huh? And here I thought, after what we’ve been through, that we were ready to become good friends.” You know he didn’t mean to let it come out so strangely, but there’s still a slight pang of disappointment when he recovers. Yet, you still choose to tease him, deciding that was a more entertaining option.

“Sorry, Y/N. Sometimes my mouth doesn’t work. Of course, I was happy to see you, and to get coffee from you, two separate positives to my day.” He exhales, eyes rolling at himself in a comical manner. You let out a small snort, giggling.

“Matt, seriously, it’s okay. You don’t have to explain yourself every time we talk. You’re doing better than 90% of the people that interact with me on a daily basis. What can I get you?”

Matt grins, eyes twinkling, “I’ll have a latte please, one pump vanilla if that’s okay… and only 90%?” He quips.

You pretend to think about the question, “Hm… okay, I can be pushed to 93%.” You grin as Matt chuckles, riding the confident wave you were on, slotting the handle beneath the grinder as you talk, “Might even be persuaded to 98% if you finally give me your number.”

Matt’s eyes widen, his smile permanently affixed to his face. Your smile drops, however, realising he may not want to give out that information, so now it’s you who hurriedly corrects yourself, “Only if you want to of course.” You flatten down the grounds with the press, smoothing them off before putting the handle into the coffee machine itself, letting the shot pour into Matt’s cup. You move to steam the milk ready for the coffee.

This prompts Matt to snap out of his excited trance, “No, no! Sorry, Y/N, of course, I want to give you my number, I was just surprised that you’d want it, is all.” 

“Why is that so surprising?” You ask, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, adding the vanilla to the coffee before pouring the milk.

“Well…” He hesitates, scratching at his neck subconsciously. 

You let out a slight noise of amusement, Matt had never been so shy around you. “You can say whatever it is.” You slide the cup towards him, ignoring his attempt to pay with a push of your hand against his, shaking your head. “Go on, say what you were gonna say.” You encourage, resuming giving him your attention as you lean forward with your arms resting on the counter.

“Well, most people we meet will come to find us if we’ve made an impact on them. Whether we rescued them, a family member or otherwise, they, uh… they usually stop by the Firehouse. So I figured maybe I was picking up the wrong signals, I didn’t want to presume that because I did you a favour that you’d want to see me again. Otherwise, you’d have had my number since the first time we met.” 

Your eyebrows go up in surprise. You thought you'd felt something there, but you never realised just how on your level Matt was.

“The first time, huh?” You repeat.

“Yep, the first time.” He answers, sincere with a glint of something mischievous in his eyes.

You’re about to ask the question when the door opens and a group of 6 pile in towards the counter. You struggle to not sigh loudly and exasperatedly.

Really? Now? Come on.

Matt reaches out to press something in your hand, picking up his coffee cup with the other as he begins to depart from your company. 

“See you around, Y/N, let me know if you’re free later?” He shifts out of the way to let the group approach you, smiling apologetically as you give him a small wave. You quickly look down at the small business card Matt had pressed into your hand, it had his construction information on it.

More importantly, it had his number on the back.

-

The Fifth Time

The fifth time you meet Matt is outside his firehouse on an off-duty day, there were various cars and trucks parked along the street with a hubbub of chatter just to the side of the entrance.

Among the small crowd, you could see foam fingers in the shape of blue and orange bear faces, blue and orange balloons and a variety of jerseys and t-shirts sporting the Chicago Bears logo. This was the meeting point before travelling together to Soldier Field.

Matt had invited you to a game with his friends, all of them from first responder backgrounds. There were plans for a pre-game meetup, a barbeque and then the game itself, complete with post-match drinks. A spare ticket had become available and you were his first point of call. Or rather, text. 

You had been texting for the last week or so, discussing your days, your interests, things you had both been wanting to try or places you wanted to visit. It was going well, and it made you all the more optimistic when you got the game invite.

-

As you approach the party on the sidewalk, you hear his voice bright and excited. “Hey, Y/N! You made it.” Matt jogs over to greet you as you wave, wearing an old Bears jersey you’d found at a thrift store, complete with a navy cap and sunglasses on a wonderfully sunny day in the city. He brings you in for a hug and you get a waft of his aftershave and sun-soaked skin, his embrace is secure and comfortable, and you smile into his shoulder as you give him a small squeeze.

You pull back with a grin, “Hey, Matt. It’s good to see you.” 

He winks, making your heart skitter, “It’s good to see you too. I’m so glad you’re here. I want you to meet some people.” You’re still reeling at how happy he seems to have you around, putting a gentle hand on your back as he guides you to the small crowd of laughing and joking people.

-

You rode with Matt in the front of his truck, he had all of the BBQ equipment and some chairs loaded onto the truck bed. Both of you discussed the day ahead, what your game predictions were, what you wanted to do after the game, and what you thought of Matt’s friends.

There were only positive things to say about the group, each of them had been so kind and welcoming already. Stella and Kelly had been especially sweet, but you really liked meeting Matt’s friends from the CPD. Hailey and Kim were practically making moves to adopt you as their companion for the day, instead of allowing Matt to keep your company.

-

Now you were hanging out with the others, nestled into their part of the parking lot. 

You thanked Hailey as she passed you a sweetcorn tamale from Mama Garcia’s van, holding it in your mouth as you caught Jay’s throw of the football, passing the ball to Matt as you take a second to eat the tamale properly, laughing at Kelly’s disgruntlement as he watches everyone suddenly eating before his BBQ was ready.

Just as you receive another throw from Jay you hear a commotion coming from behind Matt, brows furrowed in confusion and worry as you start to hear screaming. Watching as everyone from your group downs tools go to investigate, following their instincts as responders. You can only watch with concern as you keep an eye on everyone’s things, trying to figure out what was happening without getting in the way.

It takes a while for anything else to happen, feeling anxious at the crowd that had followed Matt towards the incident.

You started to hear a few people talk about “some guy” looking dead, and that he looked really sick before he fell to the floor. Watching with a gnawing feeling in your gut that something could be deeply wrong, especially as you started to see police, fire and ambulance services trying to move in on the crowd and disperse the congregation.

Eventually, you see Kevin heading back in your direction, jogging towards you.

“Hey, uh, Y/N. We’re really sorry but we got something serious going on. Casey said to make sure you could get a ride home, and he said he’d call you as soon as he could.”

“What’s happening, Kevin?” You ask, your fear carrying in your voice.

Kevin scrubs a hand at his beard, his eyes filled with an emotion that seemed to be his own trepidation that he was trying to keep under wraps. “We don’t know yet, Y/N, it’s not looking too good but I can’t say much more than that. Are you good to get back home?” 

You nod, swallowing, “Yeah, yeah, of course. I can find my way back, it’s not a problem. Just be safe out there, okay?” You reach out, squeezing your new friend’s arm. 

He rests a hand on your shoulder, “Stay safe, don’t go near anybody that you think looks sick, just call 911 and let someone come. If there’s anything you need, call Casey or me, alright?”

There was something on Kevin’s face that told you it had become all too real too fast, even for him and the others who were used to it. You could only confirm with an “Okay, Kevin, I will.” before he gets called back to the crowd of responders, disappearing from your view.

Matt is nowhere in sight and your stomach squeezes in anxiousness, you knew he would throw himself into danger if it meant helping others. You were worried for everyone caught up in whatever was going on, but you were particularly fearful for Matt’s safety. You hadn’t realised just how much he already mattered to you until now. 

-

It’s almost a day and a half before you hear from Matt properly again. You had seen on the news about the serious bacteria affecting so many people in the city, about the labs that had suffered damage. You knew Matt, Fifty-One and everyone else would be on the front lines of dealing with whatever was rife in Chicago.

There had been little option other than to hunker down in your apartment and hope for the best. You had received a text from Matt the night before, reassuring you that he was alright. It had gone some way to alleviate your relentless pacing and sighing.

Now your phone buzzes again, and you feel another exhale of relief escape you.

{Matt}: Hey, I think we’re coming out the other side of this thing. The people responsible have been apprehended. I’m sorry our date got ruined, let’s make plans soon if you want? Hope you’re okay, Y/N.

{You}: Hey! Thank you for letting me know you’re alright, I’ve been driving myself crazy. I’m okay, just relieved this might finally be over. I want you to be safe, and I want your friends to be safe too. Of course, I’d love to make plans. Maybe we can call later, to talk about ideas? No rush, whenever’s good for you.

P.S. Didn’t realise the game was a date. But I’m so ready for a new date that has no infections involved, ha!

{Matt}: Well, it was meant to be a pre-date date, ha, didn’t go to plan though. Glad to hear I haven’t totally put you off with the chaos. Would love to call you later. Thank you for being so understanding, my friends all love you. Glad they can see what I see.

{You}: Put me off? After our already hectic start, our underground adventure and now the last few days? I think we’re good, cowboy. I know you’re out there being a brave and generous person, not much to hate about that. I’m so relieved your friends like me, and I really like them. I can see why you all get on so well. Talk to you later, Lieutenant.

You’re not surprised when Matt doesn’t reply to your text, you knew he was still tying up loose ends. You simply potter around your apartment, occasionally re-reading the messages as you start to see the foundations between you and Matt cement themselves. It makes you crave it all the more, so keen to know all of him and keen to share yourself with him in return.

-

A Date

The sixth time you meet Matt Casey is at a restaurant by the river, it’s an official first date with him. 

He’s in a grey button-down and dark jeans, a black jacket and boots, ones that aren’t steel-toed or covered in paint. His hair is neatly styled as always, and there’s a glint in his eyes to match the warm, bright, smile he sends your way as you approach him outside the restaurant.

This time you move confidently in for the hug, squeezing him tight as you relish his warmth and presence, thankful he seemed to be healthy and in good spirits. As you stay in the embrace you feel yourself melt a little, almost happy to stay in it for the rest of the night.

“Hi.” Matt greets, chuckling softly when you reach to kiss his cheek, finding himself reciprocating almost instantly. 

“Hi.” You breathe, your own amusement clear on your face. The giddiness was palpable.

“Let’s try this again shall we?” Matt inquires, offering his arm to link with yours.

“Let’s.” You nod, tucking yourself against Matt as you walk the steps to the front door of the restaurant. 

-

Matt drinks beer, and you choose from an array of cocktails. Both of you find a merry buzz as you catch up on each other’s lives from the past few days.

You shared your love of baking with him, regaling him of how you’d started stress-making brownies, cookies and cupcakes when you’d seen the news, now having entirely too much cake for one person. It led to a promise to bring some of your goods to the firehouse for the others.

Matt shares his interest in cooking, you can tell from the way he talks that food had become a way of inspiring camaraderie at the firehouse and at home. His enthusiasm told you of the love language that it was for him, something you made a mental note of.

You also get to hear about his adventures fishing with his Chief and Kelly, making you laugh at the times they’d either caught something totally bizarre or tipped one another overboard.

He tells you of his upcoming construction projects, one of them being a community project that he had started up to help a victim that they’d rescued on a call last month. You wasted no time in offering your services to help, whether that was going on coffee runs, fetching, carrying or painting, you were happy to be there.

The night flies by in a blur of free-flowing conversation, sincerity and intimacy, finding yourselves to be one of the last pairs in the restaurant before closing time.

As you walk hand in hand along the river, you’re drawn to sidle close to your date, enjoying how he wraps his arm around your shoulder and pulls you in. Bringing you to sit on a bench facing the river that reflects the twinkling lights of the city.

“It goes without saying that I really enjoyed tonight, Y/N. Thank you for being here.”

You wrap yourself around Matt’s waist, it felt natural to be in his personal space and have him in yours. Resting your head on his shoulder, “You don’t need to thank me, Matt, this was the loveliest first date I’ve ever been on.”

Matt glances at you, a smug smile on his face. “Oh yeah?” 

You shrug, already half laughing as you speak, “Absolutely. Would recommend totally recommend on TripAdvisor.” 

It gets Matt chuckling, “I’m not sure my date services are for the public.” 

You lift your head, looking at him with something akin to being smitten, “Well, that’s their loss, my gain.” 

Matt nods, confirming, “Oh, it’s all yours, Y/N. If you want it to be, you’ve got exclusive access.”

“I think I’ll take it.” You sigh happily, putting your head back on his shoulder.

Your stomach flutters when you feel his lips press to the top of your head, “Sold.”

Between the back and forth of playful talk, there’s that telltale moment for anyone about to kiss. The cold of the air shows the warmth of your breaths, both of you inching together on the bench as your thighs press to each other.

Matt glances at your mouth, and you at his. Dipping your heads to meet each other’s lips in a slow, wanting, kiss. Finally allowing this time to be your time together, with no interruptions, no dramas, and no chaos.

As you break away, cupping Matt’s cold cheek with your warm hand, you think about your work key and the first time you’d met the man in front of you. Thanking the loose clasp on your keychain in the past, you move in for another kiss in the present, relishing the times you’d got to meet Matt Casey and hopeful of all the other times ahead.

-

Fin.

Three simple words that somehow warmed your heart even though you were miles away in another city.

You rarely had to travel for work even though you’d worked as a translator at this company for some time. You mostly dealt with inbound foreign clients who came to Chicago but this time, they’d needed a translator for a conference outside Chicago and you were the only available one. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far so you didn’t even have to take a flight and the company had arranged for a car for you to get there.

Which was all too well, since Jay had also had his hands full and had to go undercover for a few days.

So it was even more heartwarming to see the message from Jay when you hadn’t really been expecting a reply.

Even though you had only seen the message after the conference, it still felt comforting to feel the last dredges of work nerves and anxiety leave your system.

“Y/N, come on.” One of your colleagues from another team called out to you and you stuffed your phone back into your pocket, before following her toward the private room of the restaurant where you were all supposed to be having dinner with a huge client.

You didn’t even like having social dinners with people you weren’t close with, not to mention dinners like this.

Dinner had barely started when you were proven right.

“Thanks to your team, the conference went very well.” The client smiled, looking around. “Of course, we have to thank Y/N for ensuring all communication went smoothly.”

You’d just smiled when you felt his hand slide onto yours from under the table and the smile froze on your face.

Instinctively, you pulled your hand away, bringing your hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and grabbing your jacket from behind you and draping it around you, smiling.

“Just doing my job, Mr. Saunders.”

You saw the look on his face and knew he’d taken offense, ridiculous as it was.

You chose to ignore it, pretending like nothing had happened. After all, he’d probably have gotten the hint.

He hadn’t.

The client made a few more passes at you - a hand on your knee, trying to take your hand again, and the most outrageous one was holding up food to feed you in front of everyone.

The action wasn’t lost on everyone who was there but no one spoke up.

You swallowed. “I’ll help myself.”

It was like something snapped in him and he glanced at you coldly and said, “Guess if you’re not hungry, you should go out and wait for everyone to finish.”

You glanced helplessly at your team manager who gave you a look to ask you not to make things worse than they already were.

You gritted your teeth but bit back any sort of response, getting up and leaving the room, a mix of anxiety, humiliation, self-doubt, and every other negative emotion swirling in the pit of your stomach.

Jay sighed, stretching as he sat up from the couch.

The apartment was uncharacteristically quiet since you were away for work.

Jay looked up at the clock. It was slightly past 10 which was weird because he hadn’t heard back from you.

Getting up to get himself a glass of water, Jay glanced at his messages before he decided he’d try and call. Even if you were still with your colleagues, you could probably still answer the phone since the conference was over.

There were two rings before you answered.

“Hey, still having fun with your colleagues?”

There was a slight pause before you answered.

“Jay.”

Jay frowned, immediately picking up on the fact that something was wrong.

“Y/N? What’s going on? You okay?”

Jay’s voice was gentle and so comforting, you felt the prick of tears again.

You cleared your throat. Honestly, crying on the street in the middle of the night was the last thing you wanted to do. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Have you eaten?” Jay’s worried voice sounded through the phone.

You smiled to yourself even as a tear escaped and slid down your cheek.

“Yeah, told you there was good food waiting for me after the conference.”

“Y/N, what’s wrong?” Jay pressed.

You shook your head even though he couldn’t see you. “I’m fine. I just… miss you.” You managed to keep your voice steady.

“I’ll come and get you,” Jay answered.

“Jay, it’s late and you probably haven’t had enough sleep for the past few days. I’ll take the earliest bus out to Chicago tomorrow.”

You heard the reluctance in his voice even though he agreed and after reassuring him not to worry, you hung up.

The wind felt even colder now as you sat by the side of the road, your carrier bag sitting next to you.

Technically you had another night at the hotel but you hadn’t felt like staying there for even a second longer. Other than the fact that the client knew exactly which room you were in, your team manager had left a message for you berating you for how you’d handled the situation which made you even more disgusted than you already were.

You didn’t know how long you sat there but as you felt it turn colder you thought you should get up and maybe find somewhere else to sit for the night. You didn’t care if you had to sit up all night at a 24-hour cafe but you weren’t going back to the hotel.

You’d barely gotten to your feet, reaching for your carrier when a familiar truck pulled up right before you.

You froze, as Jay appeared right before you like magic.

“Jay… you…”

Jay’s green eyes appeared even brighter than usual as he looked at you with a mix of exasperation and worry. “I came to take you home.”

You’d clearly been sitting out here for longer than you thought, but it didn't matter because when Jay finished speaking you felt the tears well up in your eyes as the security that Jay always made you feel flooded through your entire body and finally gave you enough courage to cry.

Jay stepped forward, wordlessly enveloping you into his arms.

You dissolved into sobs as you felt his arms around you and he pressed you gently into his embrace, his hand over the back of your head protectively. Jay didn’t say anything, just standing there quietly with you in his arms until your sobs gently died down.

"I…”

Jay pressed his lips against your temple and whispered, “Let’s go home.”

Jay didn’t ask you anything on the way home, and you must have fallen asleep because the next thing you knew Jay was pulling into the parking lot in front of your building and your stomach gave a tiny rumble as Jay killed the engine.

You glanced at him and Jay just let out a chuckle.

“Come on, I’ll order us a pizza and you can get comfortable.”

By the time you got out of the shower, the pizza was here and you got comfortable on the sofa as Jay handed you a slice and curled in next to you.

You didn’t say anything and Jay didn’t push you as you finished your first slice before you glanced up at him.

“I’m sorry.” You said in a low voice.

Jay raised an eyebrow.

“You must be exhausted.” You added.

There was a silence which made you look up and you felt the rare surge of insecurity from not being able to read the look on Jay’s face.

“Did you think I’d be able to go to sleep when I could hear how upset you were?” Jay said quietly. “Y/N, listen. You don’t have to worry about asking me to go out of my way for you. In fact, if it was possible, I hope you’d always do it. I’d go to the moon and back for you if you needed me to.”

You felt the tears well up in your eyes again, this time from an overwhelming feeling of being loved by someone.

Jay just quietly pressed his lips against your temple.

You leaned into him, the rest of the pizza slices forgotten on the table.

“Will you tell me what happened?”

You bit your lip, sitting up a little before you recounted what had happened that night as vaguely as possible, with bare details.

Even so, you could literally hear Jay grinding his teeth beside you.

You glanced at him. “Jay.”

“I’ll kill him. I will literally break his hands.”

You snuggled back into his side. “No, you won’t.” You mumbled. “But I needed to hear that.”

Jay sighed and pulled you tighter against him. “You did the right thing, you know that right? No matter what anyone says.”

You nodded without looking up and Jay patted the back of your head gently, ruffling your hair gently in the process.

You leaned deeper into Jay’s embrace before turning your head up gently to glance at him.

Jay smiled and leaned down to press his lips gently against yours. The negative feelings of the entire night were long gone because you were right where you belonged - home with Jay.

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