Requests are CLOSED!

You stood in the same spot until the knocking stopped and then you hurried to the door and without second guessing yourself.

Brain had just been turning to go back down the hall when he heard the door open.

“Listen. Why don’t we pretend I never said anything? Hm?” You asked, just wanting to go back to how things were. “We can pretend I never said anything and go back to how we were and eventually I’ll get over this silly crush.”

“Is that what you really want?” Brian asked softly, hurt written all over his face.

You hesitated before nodding. “Yes. That’s what I really want. I want to pretend none of this ever happened.” It was a lie.

Brian nodded a bit, looking away from you. “Alright then, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” You nodded.

Brain nodded again. “Alright then, glad we got that settled.”

“Me too.” You stood there, waiting for him to say something or leave.

“Guess I should be going.” Brian said after a moment of hesitation, still not making eye contact with you and he turned and began walking back down the hall.

You slowly shut the door and let out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding and broke down in a silent sob, sliding to the floor.

Brian went back to Molly’s, looking dejected.

Cruz was the first to notice him. “Oh no.” He said out loud, getting everyone else to turn their attention to Brian.

“What happened?” Stella asked, surprised by the way he looked.

“She said she wants to forget about it and move on and that it’s just a silly crush.” Brian told her, taking a seat and putting his forehead onto the bar.

Everyone was silent for a minute.

“Did you…tell her how you feel?” Stella asked gently, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t even get the chance.” Brian told her in a muffled, heartbroken voice before he sat up. “She didn’t even give me the chance to say anything and when she called it a silly crush I figured it would be better to just leave it at that.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it.” Stella tried reasoning in a soft voice.

“She seemed pretty sure to me.” Brian told her.

“It’ll be okay, man.” Cruz assured him, patting his other shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

Stella felt a little guilty for sending him over to your place, she certainly hadn’t been expecting you to react like that.

The next two days went by incredibly slowly for you, filled with worry and a sense of guilt, and a lot of questions. Primarily, what would have happened if you hadn’t given Brian the cold shoulder when he showed up at your place.

When you walked into shift, you put on your best fake smile and acted like nothing happened last shift and ignored the weird looks you got from Herrmann and Mouch and the stink eye you got from Cruz.

You avoided Brian for the most part and went to the breakroom toward the end of shift to find Stella or Sylvie or Kelly, just someone that wouldn’t treat you differently.

You found Sylvie and took a seat next to her and you were immediately met with an awkward silence.

“Okay what’s going on?” You finally asked her after a couple minutes, turning to face her completely.

“What do you mean?” Sylvie asked, turning to you and tilting her head a bit, playing dumb and innocent.

“You know what I mean. Usually when I sit down you and I talk each other's ears off.” You frowned. “What happened? Why the silent treatment?”

“Well I was sworn not to say anything about you and Otis.” She told you, cringing a bit like she was afraid it would get a reaction out of you.

You composed yourself and nodded slowly. “Like what exactly?” You asked slowly, unsure if you wanted to know.

“Well after he got back to Molly’s from your place the other day, he seemed really heartbroken.” Sylvie told you quietly.

You blinked a few times. “Wait, really?” You asked, shocked. “Why?”

“Well I’m pretty sure he likes you too.” Sylvie told you.

“But he said he’d never date me.” You countered.

Sylvie shrugged. “Maybe he changed his mind, or maybe it was all a lie.”

The gears started turning in your head and you got up.

“Where are you going?” Sylvie asked, looking up at you.

“I’m going to talk to him.” You told her, but just as you turned the alarms sounded calling everyone out to a structure fire. “Great.” You groaned a bit and hurried to get suited up and on the rig.

When you got to the fire, you listened to Casey’s instructions. He instructed you, Brian, and Herrmann to follow him in to clear everyone out.

You were on the second floor, clearing out an apartment with Brian. “Fire department, call out!” You shouted and took a step further in only for the floor to give way and you began to fall through.

“Y/N!” Brian shouted before radioing into his talkie. “Firefighter down! Y/LN is down!”

As you fell, your heart dropped into your stomach, and then you collided with the floor beneath you, a burning pank falling on top of you. When you hit the floor, you hit your head hard enough to knock you out of it. The world was spinning and your vision was blurry, but you saw someone approaching you before slipping into darkness.

When you woke you were in the back of the ambo, Sylvie tending to you. “What happened?” You groaned out, trying to sit up only for her to push you down.

“Don’t try to sit up.” Sylvie said gently but sternly. “You fell through the floor and lost consciousness, and you have some burns on your arm and stomach.”

You didn’t even feel the pain until she mentioned something, and even then it was dull, your head still swimming as you laid back and slipped back into the darkness.

The next time you woke you were being wheeled into the doors of the emergency department, a doctor rushing over and, after listening to Sylvie explain that you hit your head, bark an order for a CAT scan and an MRI.

About an hour later and you were sitting up in a hospital bed in the emergency room, waiting. A nurse had bandaged your burns up, which didn’t hurt as bad now that you had burn cream on them, and then left you alone for a few minutes before returning. “A couple of your friends are here, they’re awfully worried, would you like to see one of them?” She asked gently.

You nodded a bit. “Please. I’d like to let them know I’m fine.”

She disappeared and you were left alone until Stella stepped in.

“Hey, you doing okay?” She asked gently, walking over to stand at your bedside.

You nodded. “Just some minor injuries.” You assured her. “I should be back in no time.” You smiled.

Stella nodded. “Good. We were all worried about you. Especially Otis.”

You disregarded that bit, tucking it away for later. “What happened? I don’t really remember any of it. I mean, I remember falling but not what happened after.”

“You fell through the floor, Otis freaked out, you lost consciousness, Casey and Herrmann pulled you out, and Brett and Foster brought you here.” Stella relayed to you.

You nodded slowly.

“Listen, I try to stay out of your personal business as much as a best friend can, but I really think you need to talk to Otis.” Stella said softly, touching your uninjured arm gently. “He said some stuff at Molly’s the other night and today he was really worried about you.”

“I doubt he’ll talk to me now. I flat out told him I wanted to just move past all this and forget about this silly crush.” You admitted defeatedly, sighing and looking down at your hands in your lap. “I think it’s too late.”

“Hey, you’re both still breathing, right?” Stella asked and you nodded. “So then it’s not too late.”

You nodded a bit and smiled a little. “I guess you’re right.” “I know I’m right.” Stella told you and grinned. “Want me to go get him?”

“What? No! Not when I look like this.” You exclaimed quietly, eyes wide. “I probably look like hell.”

“You don’t look that bad.” Stella told you, shaking her head.

“Stella. You’re my best friend, I think you’re obligated to say I look good even when I don’t.” You point out.

Stella shook her head again. “Nooo I’m your best friend which means I’m obligated to tell you the truth, and the truth is you don’t look that bad.”

“Why are you so eager to get me to talk to him?” You asked, narrowing your eyes.

“Because I want the both of you happy.” Stella told you. “And I don’t want to see you cry anymore, it bothers me.” She admitted softly. “It breaks my heart that you’re brokenhearted.”

You smiled softly. “Thanks, but I’ll talk to him when I get out of here.”

Stella nodded. “Good.”

As if on cue, the doctor walked in. “How are you feeling?” He asked you.

“I feel okay.” You told him, nodding.

“Good, the MRI and CAT scan both came back normal so we’re going to send you home, but if you start to feel any worse we want you to come back, okay?” The doctor asked and you nodded. “The nurse will be in with your discharge papers. Do you have someone to drive you home?”

You looked at Stella who nodded. “I’ll drive her home.”

It was another fifteen minutes before you were able to leave the hospital, heading to the waiting room to see that everyone was there, Boden included.

“She lives!” You heard Cruz shout from the back and everyone was quick to surround you, happy to see you were okay.

“I’m fine guys, seriously.” You assured them, but your heart swelled with the love you felt.

Stella ended up driving you home and sitting with you, hovering.

“I’m fine Stella, really, you can go home.” You assured her, wanting her to get out of there so you could relax without feeling like you needed to play hostess.

“You have a concussion Y/N, I don’t want to leave you here alone just in case.” Stella told you stubbornly.

You rolled your eyes. “I’m fine.” You repeated but you knew it would do no good. “My head doesn’t even hurt, and my arm and stomach barely hurt, I’m fine.”

Stella just watched you, blinking once, like none of what you said mattered or would sway her opinion.

You wrinkled up your nose. “You’re so stubborn.”

“You’re one to talk.” Stella snorted and turned her attention to the TV, flipping through channels.

“Can we at least do something?” You asked. “I’m bored.”

Stella looked at you again. “Wanna go down to Molly’s?”

You hesitated before nodding. “Yeah. I think that’s a great idea.” You got up. “Just let me change real quick.”

Stella nodded and waited. “I need to swing by and change too.”

You nodded. “Sounds good.”

After Stella stopped by her place and changed, the two of you headed to Molly’s.

You slowly got out of the car. “If things go badly, will you drive me home?” You asked her as you walked up to the bar.

“Go badly?” Stella asked, confused.

“I’m gonna talk to Brian.” You told her softly. “Or try to at least.”

Stella nodded. “If things go south, I’ll drive you home.” She assured you with a soft smile. “But it will be fine.”

You nodded and stepped inside, scanning the bar for Brian.

You looked up. “I don’t wanna talk, Otis.” You told him calmly. “I said what I said earlier, you know the truth, I know you don’t feel the same. If you need to talk about it, we can do it later when we’re both off. The firehouse is no place for drama.” You told him firmly yet politely as you stood up and headed elsewhere.

Brian sat there, dumbfounded, and a bit annoyed that you wouldn’t even let him get a word in edgewise. It hurt him to hear you call him Otis, you were the only person at the house who called him Brian and it always felt special to him, weird but special, and to hear you call him Otis instead almost felt like a slap in the face.

After shift you hurried as normally as you could to your car to go home, not wanting to give Brian a chance to catch you and force you to talk, as you drove away you saw him standing there looking hurt and you felt a little guilty but you were trying to avoid the awkwardness for as long as possible.

When you got home, you took a look at your phone and noticed you had several missed calls from Brian, so you tossed your phone onto your couch and headed to your bedroom to grab some clothes to take a shower.

“She’s ignoring me.” Brian grumbled as he sat on a barstool at Molly’s, a drink in front of him that was basically untouched.

“Can you blame her?” Kelly asked, taking a swig of his own drink. “You broke her heart.”

“I didn’t mean to. I only said that because I thought that’s what she wanted to hear!” Brian tried defending himself but it felt flat and he slouched a bit more in his seat, looking defeated.

“Don’t give up man.” Cruz told him, patting his shoulder. “I know you really like her and she really likes you too, so don’t give up.”

“She won’t even talk to me.” Brain huffed.

Kelly shook his head. “Cruz is right. If you really like her and want to be with her, then don’t give up. Eventually she’ll stop running away and you’ll be able to talk to her.”

Brian picked up his phone again and dialed your number, groaning when it went to voicemail. “Y/N please call me back. We need to talk. I didn’t mean what I said last year. Call me back.” He hung up and tossed his phone down onto the bar, shaking his head and burying his face in his hands.

Stella sighed softly and went over to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “I’ll go talk to her, try to get her to talk to you, okay?”

Brian looked up at her with hopeful eyes. “Really?”

Stella nodded. “I can’t promise it’ll work, but I’ll try to talk some sense into her.”

“Thank you.” Brian told her gratefully.

Stella nodded and headed out, kissing Kelly once. “I’ll be back.” She promised him before leaving Molly’s. She sent you a text when she got in her car, letting you know she was on her way over. She drove to your place and parked her car on the street before going up to your apartment and knocking on the door.

Stella groaned when you didn’t answer. “Come on Y/N, open up, I know you’re home, I saw your car outside.” She called through the door and knocked again.

In your defense, you had been in the shower and hadn’t heard her knocking on the door, you would’ve answered if you had.

Stella eventually gave up and headed back to Molly’s. “She didn’t answer, but I won’t stop trying to talk some sense into her, okay?” She told Brian. “The guys are right, you really can’t give up on her, Otis.”

“I’m not going to.” Brian told her. “I just don’t know how to get through to her.” He looked at the three of his friends. “I think I’m in love with her.”

“You think?” Stella asked.

Brian shook his head. “No.” He said, pausing a moment. “No, I am in love with her.”

“Tell her.” Kelly told him softly. “Just tell her.”

“I tried calling her but she won’t answer.” Brian started.

Kelly shook his head, cutting him off. “No. Go to her apartment and tell her. Don’t call her, you know she won’t answer. Go to her apartment.”

“Yeah, girls love big romantic gestures.” Cruz nodded then looked at Stella. “Right?”

Stella nodded. “Right.” She smiled and looked at Brian. “Kelly’s right. Go tell her how you feel.”

Brian nodded and got up. “I’m gonna do it.” He said, getting psyched up. “I’m gonna tell her how I feel.”

When you got out of the shower, you honestly felt a little better, you had temporarily forgotten the whole ordeal until you looked at your phone and saw you had another missed call and now a voicemail from Brian.

You groaned and tossed your phone to the other side of the couch as you slumped down. “You’re an absolute fool.” You told yourself, burying your face in your hands. You sat like that for a moment before you shook your head at yourself. “Pull yourself together, Y/N. This isn’t like you, crying over some guy.” But he wasn’t some guy. He was Brian. He was funny and cute and made you smile even on your bad days. You shook your head again at yourself and grabbed the TV remote, turning on your favorite movie. You reached over and grabbed your phone again, seeing a text from Stella saying that she was on her way over but it was from almost a half an hour ago, you furrowed your brow thinking about how she should’ve been to your place by then.

You sent Stella a text asking if she was on her way over and she replied by calling you.

You answered when her name popped up. “Hey I’m sorry, I just got your text, you good?”

“Yeah, I was over at your place but you didn’t answer.” Stella responded.

“I was taking a shower. Is everything okay? Did you need something?” You asked, worried.

“No no, I just.” Stella paused as she thought of how to explain that she was helping Brian. “I was down at Molly’s talking to Otis.”

“Say no more. Please.” You begged softly. “I don’t wanna talk to him, I was just starting to feel better.”

“You really need to talk to him, Y/N. Hear him out, listen to his side of the story. Please.” Stella said softly. “As your friend I am telling you that you need to do this, please trust me.”

You were quiet for a long moment. “Fine, I’ll talk to him next time I see him.” That would give you two days right? Until the next shift?

“Great cause he’s on his way over now.” Stella told you and you could hear the smile in her voice.

“Please tell me you’re joking.” You begged in a whine.

“Nope.” Stella responded. “He left about ten minutes ago so he should be getting there soon.” She knew you didn’t live too far from Molly’s so it wouldn’t be too long of a drive, even with traffic.

Brian paced on the sidewalk outside of your building for a few minutes after he got there, trying to build up the courage to walk in and go to your apartment. Finally he did, heading to the third floor and knocking on your door.

You sucked in a breath. “He’s here.” You whispered into the phone to your best friend.

“Go answer the door.” Stella urged you before hanging up on you.

You stood in your spot as you listened to the knocking, debating on whether or not you should actually open the door or not.

“Y/N?” Stella asked softly, hurrying over to you after she’d dried her hands. “What’s wrong?” She asked, ushering you a bit away from the door just in case someone else came in, but also so no one else would hear your sobs.

“I asked Brian if he’d ever date me and he said no.” You sobbed out, looking at her through your tears with a sad expression. “He friend-zoned me.” You broke down again.

Stella held you, rubbing your back, when the door opened and Sylvie walked in.

You heard the blonde gasp and hurried over, and felt her hand on your shoulder. “What’s wrong?” She asked as she looked between you and Stella.

“Otis turned her down.” Stella said softly, electing another sob from you.

The two of them helped you calm down and put yourself back together, waited with you while you touched up your makeup and assured you that you didn’t look like you had been crying, and you stepped out of the bathroom.

The rest of the night, you avoided Brian as much as possible and mostly spent the night with Stella and Kelly, who knew what happened because Stella told him.

And the next shift, Brian acted like nothing had happened, and you guessed for him nothing really had because you hadn’t openly told him you had a crush on him, you just asked if he’d ever date you.

And slowly you found yourself more and more heartbroken, you were sure it would be easier if he avoided you. So, to get over your heartbreak, you decided to find a new guy to crush on and found yourself on a dating app.

You practically skipped into the house about a month later, a smile on your face.

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Herrmann asked you, raising a brow.

Your smile broadened. “Oh I just had a date tomorrow night.” You told him with a happy tone, even though no one could compare to Brian in your mind. You were still head over heels for him and it absolutely sucked.

You noticed Brian perk up at the mention of you going on a date and you tried not to hope the look on his face was a bit of disappointment, you also noticed the way he shared a look with Cruz but you tried not to read too much into it.

“Oh?” Herrmann asked. “Anyone we know?”

“I’m not sure, he’s new to town, a doctor at Lakeshore.” You explained. “I met him on a dating app.”

Herrmann nodded approvingly, he was always supportive of your ideas, even if they seemed a bit crazy or scatterbrained. “Well I hope you have a good time, if you need anything you know who to call.”

“Um, Severide?” You joked, but you knew any of them would have your back.

“Yeah yeah, I know I don’t seem much like a fighter, but if someone hurts someone I care about? All bets are off.” Herrmann assured you as you took a seat at the table.

Brian walked over and sat across from you. “So, a date, huh?” He asked, curiously. “And he’s a doctor?”

“Mhm.” You hummed as you looked through the paper that was left on the table. “He seems nice.”

“But you met him on a dating app, what if he’s a fake?” Brian asked, a level of concern to his voice.

“Well I gave him my snap and he matches his pictures.” You said, looking up at him with an innocent yet confused look.

“Oh.” Brian nodded a bit. “Well I hope you have fun.”

The date went by smoothly, you really liked Jake. He was smart, funny, completely charming and don’t forget handsome. But he wasn’t Brian. You just couldn’t get over him for some reason. You dated Jake for almost an entire year, nine months and a week to be exact, it seemed like a whirlwind romance honestly, and he broke up with you because you didn’t ‘seem serious enough’. You weren’t even sad over it.

“So you have any plans with Jake on New Year's Eve?” Stella asked with a grin, as far as she knew, you were in love with the doctor.

You shook your head. “No, we actually broke up.”

Stella blinked a few times. “What?” She asked, shocked by the news. “When?”

“A couple weeks ago.” You shrugged. “He wanted to move too fast and I wasn’t ready for it so he broke up with me.”

“I’m so sorry.” Stella told you honestly, her face falling a bit.

You shook your head. “I wasn’t really in love with him.” You admitted with a grimace, it sounded bad to you that you were in a nine month relationship with someone you weren’t even in love with.

“If you weren’t in love with him, why’d you date him?” Mouch asked from over on the couch, overhearing everything. Actually, everyone overheard. It wasn’t like you were trying to hide it, you knew it would come out eventually that you broke up.

“You want the honest truth?” You asked him. “Because it makes me sound like a horrible person.”

“Nothing could make you sound like a horrible person.” Herrmann interjected, but you got everyone’s attention at that statement.

You swallowed hard and looked at your hands. “Only reason I went out with Jake is because the guy I like doesn’t like me back.” You admit, sighing. Everyone was quiet.

“I think we’ve all been there. Or at least most of us.” Casey piped up after the silence had begun to drag out too long.

You nodded a bit and were thankful when the alarm sounded and you all were called away to a fire.

When you got back to the house, you checked your phone and rubbed your forehead.

“What’s wrong?” Cruz asked you, taking a seat across from you at the table in the empty breakroom.

“Oh I…I’m back on the dating app and this guy wants to take me out tomorrow night.” You told him.

Cruz nodded a bit. “So what’s the problem?”

“I think I need to stop using guys on dating apps as bandaids.” You admitted with a wince at the sound of that. “Well…you know what I mean.”

Cruz nodded. “Can I ask you who you’re trying to get over?” He asked, leaning onto the table.

You shook your head. “No cause you’ll turn around and tell him.”

“You have my word that I won’t.” Cruz told you, and by the look in his eyes, you knew he was serious.

“Brian.” You let it slip out quietly and immediately regretted it when Cruz’s brows shot up.

“What?” Cruz asked a bit loudly.

“What’s going on?” Herrmann asked as he and Brian walked into the breakroom, previously discussing Molly’s but now both of them were very interested in your business.

“Nothing.” You answered quickly.

“Y/N just told me who she’s been crushing on.” Cruz told them.

“You gave me your word, don’t forget.” You pointed at Cruz and he immediately shut up like a clam.

Herrmann brushed it off and turned back to Brian to continue talking about the bar.

“Wait wait, I wanna know who Y/N’s crush is. Is it someone from the house?” Brian asked, walking over and pulling the chair out next to you, looking at you.

You shared a look with Cruz who nodded a bit, and in turn you nodded to Brian.

“Who?” Brian asked.

You glanced at Herrmann who connected the dots immediately and you swallowed hard, shaking your head, feeling all the emotions from the previous New Year’s Eve come rushing back. “Don’t.” You said quietly, almost pleadingly.

Brian frowned a bit, confused.

You stood up. “Just don’t.” Your voice was barely above a whisper.

“Oh come on, who is it?” Brian looked from Cruz to Herrmann and back to you as everyone else started to walk in and take in the scene.

“It doesn’t matter.” You said hollowly, eyes welling with tears and you tried to walk past him.

Brian looked at Herrmann again as you began to walk past him and it finally dawned on him. “Me?” He asked, grabbing your wrist to stop you.

You turned to face him. “Yes you.” You said a bit harshly, shaking your head. “But don’t worry, I didn’t forget what you said.” You assured him, swallowing hard in an attempt to swallow the lump in your throat.

“What do you mean?” Brian asked, looking a bit hurt and very confused.

“Last New Year's Eve. When we were talking about dating and stuff and I asked if you’d ever date me and you said no because we were too good of friends.” You reminded him, pulling your wrist from his grasp and hurrying out of the breakroom and to the bathroom.

Brian went to follow you but Stella stepped in front of him. “Don’t.” She told him in a gentle voice. “Give her some time before you run off.”

“But…I didn’t mean it.” He said brokenly.

To be continued...