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Casey smiled, glad to be arriving at the firehouse to have his first shift back on the job. No more boring shifts full of paperwork. He couldn't wait to get called out. Hearing a car door shut, he turned, and it was her.
Sylvie Brett. A friend he didn't deserve. Someone who continued to support him, despite his ongoing failures to show her how he feels. Gazing into her eyes after their hug was the last proof he needed, and spending the night with her at Molly's was just a bonus.
He loved her. The answer to her question from many months ago was obvious. He would choose her, no doubt in his mind. He only wished he'd realized it sooner, because now he was too late. She was with Grainger, and thought he was still hung up on Gabby. All he wanted was for her to be happy. If Grainger made her happy, he wasn't about to mess it up.
She interrupted his thoughts. "Hey," she called, walking over to him with a smile. "Ready to start fighting fires again?"
He smiled. "More than ready." Laughing, they walked into shift together, Casey imagining scenarios in his head in which they would always come to shift together.
He was welcomed into the common room with hugs and cheering, smiling at all his co-workers. Shift was crazy, as tended to be the norm. Further proving she deserved to be a lieutenant, Stella almost single-handedly saved a girl and her brother from a dangerous situation. However, it was Brett who found them first, calling the rest of them to the scene.
While the young girl and boy embraced Kidd, and then Brett, thanking them, Casey examined the door. The doorknob was on the floor. He turned to Violet. "Did you guys kick the door in?"
She nodded. "Brett did. The door didn't stand a chance."
Chuckling, he tried not to think about that too hard, but the image of Sylvie kicking a door in was hot. And watching her hug the young girl was making his heart flutter.
"Thank you so much," the girl cried, squeezing her tighter. "You didn't have to take action, but you did. You saved me."
Brett smiled. "That's what first responders do. We don't ignore our instincts or sit around, waiting for someone else to fix things. We do all we can to make things right."
For some reason, those words echoed in Casey's head for the rest of the day. He knows how he feels about her, and yet he's been sitting around doing nothing. 'We do all we can to make things right'. That's what she had told the girl, and that's what he needed to do, with her.
And so he begins slowly taking action, trying to slowly let her know how he feels. He wants to be there for her. He wants to spend time with her. He bakes her cookies to thank her for coming to all his doctor's appointments. He sets a goal to make her laugh every shift. He saves food for her and Violet, when they miss meals because of endless calls. He texts her every day, just to check in. He takes her to breakfast after she has a rough call, and makes sure he’s always there to support her. He repairs a wall in her kitchen, which Veronicat had viciously destroyed. Then they spend hours trying to reach out to the cat, and get nothing but claw marks in return. Despite this, it's one of the funnest things he's done in a long time. And he knows why. It's because of her.
It isn't until weeks later that Kidd, newly-qualified lieutenant, mentions that Brett and Grainger aren't together anymore. Apparently, they haven't been for a while. Shocked, Casey decides to move forward with his efforts. If she isn't seeing anyone, he has no reason to hold back.
He wonders what he can do that might possibly prove to her that he's not hung up on Gabby. Nothing seems good enough for Sylvie, even after he thinks about it all day. That night, after laying in bed, thinking about it for hours, his eyes land on his nightstand. A Rolex watch, initials J.M.D. carved on the back, lies there. An idea forms in his mind, and he jumps out of bed and bursts into the kitchen area of the loft.
Severide and Kidd look at him in surprise, taking their eyes off of the movie they'd been watching together. Severide paused the show. "Thought you were asleep hours ago," Stella said.
Shaking his head, he stepped forward. "I need your guy's help. Well, probably mostly Stella."
She raised her eyebrows. "With what?"
"Something before shift tomorrow. For Sylvie."
They both agreed, Stella smiling smugly and Severide giving him a knowing look.
Ignoring the blush he could feel creeping up his neck, he thanked them and headed back to his room, anxious for tomorrow.
The next morning, him, Kidd, and Severide rushed into the firehouse, running slightly late. "That was a tough ask," Stella panted, slightly out of breath. "I hope she likes it."
"Me too," he answered.
Luckily, they hadn't missed the morning briefing, and their slight tardiness went unnoticed. He spent the next few hours trying to get up the nerve to talk to Sylvie. At first, his excuse was that he was letting her do inventory and eat breakfast, which were both important at the start of a long shift. However, after she returned from a call and had finished lunch, he was out of excuses.
Walking into the bunk room, he swallowed nervously when he saw her. "Hey um, Brett? Sylvie?" She turned, looking at him expectantly. He tried not to get distracted by the blond hair on her shoulders or the way her blue eyes stared so casually up at him, completely comfortable with his presence. "Can you...will you come into my quarters for a second?" He clenched and unclenched his hands.
She nodded and got up, looking slightly confused but smiling at him nonetheless. However, her confusion grew as he shut the door behind them, and closed the blinds. He gestured towards his bed, and they both sat down. She looked at him expectantly.
He wiped his hands on his pants, and took a deep breath. "I have the true answer to your question."
Her face scrunched in confusion. "What question?"
"The one about Gabby."
She shifted. "Matt...."
He interrupted. "I need you to listen to me, and trust me. You got through to me with my head injury, and refused to let me push you away. And even though you were incredibly bossy, I needed that."
She laughed slightly. He continued. "Now I'm going to get through to you on this, and I'm not going to let you push me away. I need you to give me a chance. Do you trust me?"
She nodded. "Of course," she said quietly.
"The answer to your question is no, I wouldn't go with Gabby if she asked. While I won't ever forget her, I want to move forward with you. And I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that. You should never have gone through all that, and that's on me. I'm really sorry, and I'll do all I can to prove that you're my only choice from now on."
He pulled out the Rolex. "I wanted to show you this."
She seemed to be struggling to grasp everything he said, and it took her a minute to answer him. "A watch?" She finally managed.
He nodded. "It belonged to my uncle, who recently passed away. He left it to me and Christie."
She squeezed his arm. "I'm sorry to hear that."
He shrugged. "We weren't particularly close. I was surprised he left me this watch. It belonged to his wife, who died 50 years before him. He never remarried. 50 years, and he still had it. He was stuck on her for that long. It made me think of three different people that have been a part of my life.
"First, Hallie, my first love. I thought I'd never move on after she died. Second--" he hesitated, but then plowed on. "Gabby, who showed me I could move on, and who was a big part of me for a lot of years.”
He turned and looked at her. "But mostly, it reminded me of you. How you showed me that I could move on from Gabby. How you showed me that love could be deeper than I'd ever realized. You're the one I want to hold onto forever and never forget."
He took a breath. He didn't usually talk this much. "Anyways, it helped me realize that I'm not my uncle. I'm not going to sit around and stay absorbed in the past. I deserve to move on and be happy, and you've shown me that. Maybe some people would call that disloyal, but I don't care. You're too important to me."
He huffed, the look in her eyes causing him doubt. "It's okay if you don't feel the same, or aren't ready," he added hurriedly. "I'm happy to wait, or just continue being friends, or anything. I just need you in my life in some way--"
She had listened, just as he wanted, but now she stopped him, putting her hand on his arm. "Matt." She was smiling softly. "I do want to be with you, I haven't been able to move past you, as much as I've tried. But after your original answer, I thought it wasn't possible. That you'd always love Gabby. And it scares me to do anything that might hurt her, or you. So I just...need to know that you're sure."
He nods, smiling back at her. "I'm sure." Remembering suddenly, he grabs a box from his desk drawer, and sits down again. "I got you this."
She opens it, revealing a beautiful wristwatch. "Matt. I-I can't accept this. It probably cost a fortune."
He laughed. "I'm about to sell my uncle's watch, it's worth $80,000. Believe me, it isn't a big deal. I just....I've noticed how you're always twisting your watch band when you're nervous. It's fraying. So I bought you a new one, with a verrry thick strap."
She laughed. "Very thoughtful of you."
He smiled. "I hope that the next time you feel nervous, and touch your watch, you'll think of me. I'll always be there for you. And maybe that will make your nerves go away."
She gazed at him then, her eyes filled with gratitude and longing. She opened her mouth to respond, but then the bells went off, calling for Ambo only. She sighed. Pulling her frayed watch off, she put the new one on, admiring it for a second. Smiling at him, she said, "I'll be back." And then she was gone.
He knew telling her all of this on shift might lead to an interruption, but he just didn't want to wait. Luckily, he'd said what he wanted to say. Now he just needed her to tell him how she wanted to move forward. What she did have the chance to say gave him a lot of hope.
He sat in his quarters, shaking and eagerly anticipating her return. However, just when he thought they'd surely be back soon, the bells went off again, calling for Truck. Shaking his head, he ran out of his quarters. Being recently reinstated, he couldn't really complain about having to go out on a call. He loved firefighting.
It ended up being a police assist, and it was a quick job. Jay Halstead was on scene, and came to speak with him.
"Thanks for the assist."
"Sure, no problem," Casey answered, shaking his hand.
"Hey, is Brett okay? Heard her and Violet caught a crazy one."
Casey's head snapped up. "What do you mean?"
Jay looked taken aback that he hadn't heard. "I just talked to Will. He said Brett was brought in, a psycho held a knife to her throat. She just had a small laceration on her neck, but it was inches from her carotid. She's lucky."
His head was swimming, panic brimming under the surface. Swallowing thickly, he answered Jay. "I hadn't heard, she left before us and didn't return before we got called out. But we should head back and make sure she's good."
Jay nodded, letting him go. Casey rounded up his team and rushed them into the truck, urging Kidd to get them back to the firehouse quickly.
As soon as they pulled in, he jumped out, eyes scanning the app floor. "Where is she?" He said, to no one in particular.
"Who?" Gallo asked, looking confused. Casey ignored him, because he'd spotted her, standing by the ambulance. He walked towards her, pace increasing by the second. She turned when he was about halfway to her, and their eyes locked. Blue on blue. Her new watch glinted in the light. She had a bandage on her neck, but seemed to be okay.
He reached her. "I'm fin--" she began to say, but he interrupted her with his lips, kissing her, hard. A small noise of surprise left her, but then she relaxed, kissing him back.
He was brought back to the present when he heard whoops and claps. They were at work, and almost everyone on shift was watching right now. Oops. He pulled away, leaving her flushed and breathless.
"Sorry," he said, grimacing. "I wasn't supposed to do that. I was waiting to hear how you wanted to go forward, I shouldn't have ambushed you, but I heard about your call and I was worried. But now I probably embarrassed you, we're at work and everyone just saw--"
This time she stopped him, softly kissing him. She smiled wide. "I don't mind. That's exactly where I was hoping it would go in your quarters, though privacy would have been nice."
He laughed. "Sorry about that." He pulled her into his arms, squeezing her tight. "I'm so glad you're okay." He whispered.
She pressed her head harder into his shoulder. "I knew it would be okay as soon as I twisted my new watch." He held her tight, relishing the fact that she was okay. He was never going to let her go ever again. He knew they'd have to face the rest of 51 shortly, but for now, he was going to enjoy this moment with her. And hopefully he would continue spending time with her for the rest of his life.