Chapter Text
All Matt had wanted to do was go home, take a shower, and sleep for the next forty-eight hours.
They were on the tail end of a hectic, demanding shift and nobody felt like doing anything besides going home and sleeping off the burns and the stitches. But Kelly found Matt just before he left, and said, "Let's go drive out to North Av beach today. C'mon, it'll be like the good old days."
"Today?" Came Matt's weary reply, his face twisting into a wince as he ran a finger through his messy hair.
"Yeah." Kelly nodded with a smile, "You look like you could do with some sun."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Matt chuckled bemusedly, "I haven't had enough heat yet today?"
Kelly's gaze darkened a little as he eyed Matt's gauze-covered forearm. He had to force himself avert his eyes before he pulled Matt into his arms and never let him go. "You should relax and take it easy." Kelly spoke a bit more quietly, but tried to keep his demeanour light and easy.
"And how exactly am I going to do that on a crowded beach with the sun pounding down on me?" Matt raised an eyebrow.
"Listen, yesterday was, so far, the hottest day of the summer. Heat's expected to be the same, if not warmer today." Kelly explained determinedly. "If we go there right away, the beaches won't be too packed yet and the sun won't be too unbearable, and if it is, we can cool off in the water. What do you say?"
"Fine." Matt sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Good," Kelly smiled brightly.
Matt smiled as he slung his bag over his shoulder, giving Kelly one last look before he left the locker room, "If I get a sunburn it's all your fault." He called over his shoulder.
"I'll pick you up in an hour." Kelly replied with a laugh.
True to his word, Kelly was waiting in his car in front of Matt's apartment an hour later.
Kelly had to keep from looking too obviously at the tight t-shirt and well-fitting swim trunks Matt was wearing, as well as the sunglasses that perfectly framed his face and still messy hair.
"How's the burn?" Kelly asked as Matt slipped into the passenger seat of the car, pulling the seatbelt over himself.
"I'm fine." Matt gave his well trained response instinctively. "It'll heal."
"You sleep much last night?" Kelly asked after a few minutes on the road, when he noticed Matt's heavy lidded eyes out of the corner of his vision.
"No." He said softly.
Kelly nodded, "Try to sleep some, I'll wake you when we're at the beach."
He had fully expected Matt to immediately decline, but Matt gave a weary nod and readjusted himself so he could rest his head against the side window.
If Kelly made it to their destination without an accident, he'd be impressed because there wasn't anything more perfect in the entire world than Matt sleeping, and it was very difficult to resist peeking over at him.
Parking was hell and the spot he'd eventually found was a long ways away from the actual beach, but he figured it could be worse.
"Case?" Kelly murmured softly, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "We're here."
"Hmm?" Matt mumbled as he shot up. "What?"
"We're at the beach. Well—not at the beach, but close to it. We'll have to walk a bit."
Matt nodded, trying to get his bearings back.
He seemed to fully come back once they started walking. It was only midmorning but the sun was already bearing down on the citizens of Chicago. The fifteen minute walk to the beach was completely with ease, but Kelly could tell Matt was already exhausted. Hell, he'd been exhausted before he'd even left the firehouse. But Kelly was hoping that today, Matt might be able to let himself relax in a way that he hadn't in a long time.
The beach was already busy, but it wasn't completely packed so they still managed to snag a nice little spot right by the water that was almost a bit secluded from the rest of the crowds.
The set out the towels on the sand and Kelly immediately pulled out the sunscreen, lathering it over his chest and arms and Matt couldn't help but watch. He was engrossed in the way he spread all the white lotion over his body, his skin shining and muscles highlighted better than ever.
"Can you do my back?" Kelly asked a second later, handing Matt the bottle.
"Uh—" Matt nodded, clearing his throat a little, "Yeah. Of course."
Matt took the bottle and squirted some of the lotion into the palm of his hand. He watched as Kelly moved to sit right in front of him, the muscles in his back rippling in a way that very nearly took Matt's breath away. He was almost afraid to touch Kelly, afraid to give into the temptation he'd been fighting for so long. But then again, Kelly had asked him to.
He could feel Kelly shiver slightly under his fingertips when he'd first laid his sunscreen covered hands on the man's upper back. Matt subconsciously wondered if the shiver was because the sunscreen felt cold, or if it could possible be for another reason. That train of thought, as interesting as it was, was completely overridden by the feeling of Kelly's hot skin beneath his hands. He applied the sunscreen almost mathematically, letting his hands move in distinct patterns as he covered every inch of skin with the lotion.
Matt quietly handed the bottle back to Kelly when he was finished, hoping Kelly wouldn't point out the fact that the application had taken probably twice as long as it should have.
"Thanks." Kelly smiled warmly. "Want me to do yours?"
As nervous and worked up (and slightly excited, he'd admit) as the sunscreen made Matt, he could easily fall back into the normalcy of their friendship. "Thought you said I needed some sun."
Kelly laughed. A sweet, happy sound.
"Yeah, well, I don't want you to get a sunburn either." Kelly grinned humorously, opening the bottle and putting some sun lotion on his hand. "You said it'd be all my fault if you got one and I can't have something like that weighing on my conscience."
"Alright." Matt chuckled softly. "Fine." He switched places with Kelly and sat between his legs. If he sat much closer than necessary, neither one said anything about it.
Matt let out a small sigh when Kelly's hands made their initial contact. Kelly's hands were strong. They always had been. They made sure passes across skin that hadn't been touched by another person in quite a while, causing little shivers to shoot up Matt's spine.
It came as a pleasant surprise when Matt felt Kelly press his thumbs into the tight muscles running parallel to his spine. It felt good, well—it hurt, but in a good way and Matt knew, he knew as good as it felt, he couldn't let it continue because it might push him to grab more of a commitment to this crush than was healthy. Might give him hope, false hope. And he didn't need any more of that in his life.
So with a somewhat strangled voice, Matt murmured, "What are you doing?"
"You're tense." Kelly replied softly, an octave lower than Matt would have ever expected. "You're supposed to be relaxing," He added half a minute later as he rubbed a straining knot near Matt's shoulder blade. "But you seem tenser than ever."
Matt couldn't decide if he was currently in heaven or hell. He was faced with everything he could want, but everything still seemed so far away from him. He wished more than anything that he could relax into Kelly's arms, just settle in and enjoy the sand and the sun and the perfect company. But every single fibre of Matt told him that this was all some kind of twisted dream, something he'd wake up from in an instant. He wanted to run, but he also never wanted to move another inch for the rest of eternity. Matt was stuck in this paradox for minutes, long slow minutes, as Kelly carefully worked the musculature of Matt's tense form.
They didn't exchange any other words during that time. They didn't really need to. They wouldn't even know which ones to use if it really came down to it.
Kelly's hands eventually slowed down and Matt was ready for the dream to fall apart, he was prepared. But by some miracle, Kelly's fingertips stayed resting on Matt's waist, creeping around front to encircle his warm body. He linked his hands together against Matt's abdomen with a possessiveness he didn't even know he'd had. It caused his heart to flare and he couldn't help himself as he shuffled forward a little, so his chest was almost touching Matt's back. There was space between them, but not enough that they didn't feel small waves of heat radiating off each other.
Matt let out a soft sigh, allowing the last bit of tension to leave as he relaxed into the hold. Mentally, something clicked, and any other parts of him that were stubbornly holding back let go completely. Fuck it. He said to himself. Even if he'd get punched in the face for it (which, by the way things were going, felt more and more unlikely), it'd be worth the split seconds of pure perfectness. He took a deep breath in, almost dizzily, and finally let himself lean back into Kelly's strong body.
He waited for a shove, an exclamation of disgust, any one of the hundreds of scenarios he'd already pictured, but nothing happened. He didn't know how long he'd been holding his breath, but when Kelly wrapped his arms around him more securely, he felt his heart beat normally again for the first time in eons.
"What is this?" Matt asked, his eyes fluttering closed for a split second, before refocussing on the water lapping up on the shore just a small distance away.
"I don't know." Kelly replied after a moment, "But I kind of like it."
"Kind of?" Matt raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk crossing his lips.
"I really like it." Kelly corrected, his heart pounding loud enough he could hear it in his ears.
"I really like it too." Matt said after a moment, making Kelly's heart go even more berserk.
"Maybe we can do this more often then." Kelly spoke tentatively, almost nervously.
Kelly, nervous, might be Matt's new favourite thing. "I'd like that," Matt nodded against Kelly's shoulder, causing the man's hold to tighten just slightly.
Kelly, with Matt in his arms, was maybe the most content he'd ever been in his life. They stay seated like that for a long while, then Kelly finally decided to go for a swim to cool off a little bit. Matt decided to stay on land, mostly because he didn't want to get his burn dressings wet, (thinking about that, he dreaded to see the awful tan lines he'd be getting from those).
He was also in a substantial amount of pain. The heat did nothing to soothe the second degree burns on his arm, nor the more minor burns he'd managed to get on his shoulder. Even with the thick gauze covering them, the sun bore down on him with vigour, and his singed flesh was screaming in agony.
He hid the discomfort well though. As he sat on his towel, watching Kelly enjoy the cool relief of the water, he tried his best to internalize all the hurt. He made every effort to distract himself with whatever he could. Whether it was people-watching, looking at the beautiful view, enjoying the sound of the water. But it became more and more difficult to ignore, and hide, the searing heat and sting of his burns.
When Kelly returned, all dripping and wet, he didn't detect any sign of Matt's situation. He did however, take great pleasure in watching Matt look him over with interest.
Matt blushed a little when Kelly caught him staring, he wasn't usually so reckless with his admiration of nature's beauty.
"How was the water?" Matt asked softly as he tilted his head down a little, moving a little to give Kelly room to sit.
"Nice and cool." Kelly replied as he sat down next to the blonde. "You must be burning up over here, you sure you don't want to go for a dip?"
Matt shook his head, "With my luck I'd pick up some bacteria that'd get in through my burns and I'd die of an untreatable infection."
"Little morbid there, don't you think?" Kelly said with a chuckle, gently bumping Matt with his shoulder.
"Kelly, we've pulled dead bodies out of this very water and do you know how much—"
"Okay, okay," Kelly interrupted with a grin, "You have a point, but let's not get into the specifics, alright? I was just swimming in there." He gave his head a shake of disgust.
Matt couldn't help the laugh that tumbled out from deep with his lungs. "Sorry."
Kelly wrapped his arm around Matt's lower back, his eyes alight with happiness, "I suppose I'll forgive you. But I mean, I did take you to this bacteria filled cesspool in the first place, so I think maybe I should be the one apologizing." Kelly tilted his head as he looked from Matt, to the water, and back, "Can I take you out for lunch to make it up to you?"
Matt seemed to think about it for a moment, "I suppose I could allow that."
"They have some places to eat close to here, you want to check it out?"
Matt nodded, internally relieved at the thought of being out of the heat. "Sounds good to me."
They packed up easily and made the trek over to a food establishment that was almost right on the beach. Matt by that point was a little dizzy, his exhaustion was catching up to him, so Kelly made him sit down in the shade while he ordered something for them to eat. When Kelly brought back two burgers to go, he started to get a little concerned. But Matt wasn't saying anything and seemed pleased by the food, so he told himself to keep an eye on him and let it go for now.
They sat in the shade of a cabana and gradually a little colour began returning to Matt's face and Kelly's worry faded. They joked and they laughed and time became nothing more than a number.
"Want to come over to my place and have a drink?" Kelly asked as they were getting up to leave a long while later.
"I dunno, I mean it'd be nice," Matt said reluctantly, "But I don't think I'd be much fun."
"And why's that?" Kelly smiled with amusement.
"I'm just tired. Last night was uh—well, last night. I'm probably just burning out."
"Just come hang out with me then, sleep on the couch if you need to, just relax, we'll put a movie in. We all know that if you go back home you'll just be trying to finish that reno in your kitchen."
Matt laughed lightly. "Will not."
"You definitely will." Kelly raised an eyebrow. "At least my place is in immaculate shape and you won't be tempted to fix anything but yourself."
"I need to be fixed now?" Matt asked with a tone of curiosity in his voice.
"You're burning out, like you said." Kelly tilted his head as he studied Matt's form.
"Yeah." Matt shrugged, as if it was nothing.
"So let me take care of you today." Kelly replied with a hopeful determination. "When's the last time you let someone take care of you?"
Matt appeared to think about it for a moment and nearly surprised himself when he couldn't even remember anyone ever caring about him.
"Alright, that settles it, you're coming home with me." Kelly's smile was a little surprised and sad. He wrapped an arm around Matt, and together they walked back to the car. Matt didn't put up any fight when they drove past Matt's place, nor was he terrible against Kelly opening the passenger door and guiding his sleepy body gently out of the car.