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Just like all hospital rooms, Kelly’s surroundings were white; the air was tinged with the smell of chemicals. Kelly didn’t remember the journey to the hospital, but he did remember the initial reason he needed to be there. He had been drugged. Something that had made him far to lose lipped. He opened his eyes; they were blurred and itchy. But he could make out the slightly fuzzy figure that was his best friend sitting next to him, fiddling with his phone. Shit. So, ignoring it wasn’t going to be an option. It's best to just get it over with. The sigh that escaped from his vocal cords was obviously loud enough to get Casey’s attention. He smiled at Kelly, but there was a slightly uncomfortable look on his face.
“Look, Matt…” his words trailed off. What do you say to your straight best friend whom you’ve had a crush on for over 10 years and, due to some super fun (note the sarcasm) drugs, recently informed of said crush?
“I’m not gay, Kelly. I’ve never even considered it.”
Kelly's face flushed, and a tinge of hurt shot through him. He had always known that Casey didn’t like him like that, that he had never liked any guy like that, but somehow, it still hurt to hear.
“I know. Seriously, Matt, nothing needs to change. You haven’t known for the entire time I’ve… you know, had the um crush” Kelly’s face flushed. “So obviously I wasn’t being like weird or creepy about it.”
“Kelly.” There was a surprisingly soft smile on Matt’s face. “Calm down, just breathe. I need you to hear me out. You’re my best friend.”
In a panic Severide interrupts, “I know, I really don’t want to…”
“I said hear me out.” A properly amused smile danced before Kelly’s eyes. Kelly nodded back, nibbling on his lip. “You’ve been my best friend for so long, Kelly, even when you had Shay.” He winced, “Okay, perhaps bringing up the dead is dumb and a bit crappy. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m trying to say that you have been the most, or very high up, top 5 at least, top 3 probably…” He trailed off. Finally, he muttered, “That sentence got away from me. You’re important to me that’s what I meant.”
“Yeah, I know Matt. I feel…”
“Go on a date with me, Sev.” Severide’s mouth dropped open. There was no way he hadn’t somehow misheard. But he had to have, the other man had literally just declared himself to not be gay.
“Don’t do that. Don’t fucking do that, Casey. I don’t want pity.” Severide jerked as far back on his bed as he could. Trying to put space between them, he was pretty upset that Casey would taunt him like this. He thought if his body didn’t ache from the drugs, he might have thrown a punch.
“Kelly, this isn’t pity. I swear.” He reached forward to grip the other man’s shoulder. There was pain in his eyes as Kelly leant further away from him.
“Sev, I am honestly asking you out. Right now.”
Severide couldn’t bear to look at him. He didn’t want to see his face and feel like it was fake. “Please Case…”
“Take a chance, Kelly. I am.” Matt placed a hand on the other man's cheek and turned it until finally, their eyes connected. Kelly thought he looked honest, but he was straight; he couldn’t move on from the fact that Casey had said so himself minutes ago.
“You’re not gay.”
“Nope.”
“Then why the heck are you asking me out.”
“Cause you are you.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
With an admittedly awkward look on his face, Casey sat forward and caught the injured party's well-drugged party’s hand in his. “I am not gay, but I am not considering dating you cause you’re a man. I was thinking of it cause you are you. I don’t know if I am going to be okay with it. I am not at all sure if I won’t freak out when we try something a bit more, well, naked. But I know that when I thought about it when I had to cause you had asked Kidd to let go of your hand because you would rather hold mine. When you clearly and openly stated you were and always had been in love with me. When all that happened, I had to start thinking about it. And once I did, it occurred to me that if you were a girl, there would be no issues.”
“But I am not.”
“Nope, you're not, but let's find out if it truly matters. Because I'm going to be honest: I've been thinking about kissing you for two hours now.”
“Matt.”
“Let's try, Kels. Let's try, and if it doesn’t work, then I know I can stay friends. Do you think you can?”
“Yes, well, yes, as long as you don’t lead me on for years.”
Casey leant forward, seemingly ready to kiss Severide. "We haven’t even had a date yet Case!" He injected.
Matt rolled his eyes. "Want a coffee date?"
"Um sure."
"Cool." With that, he bounced to his feet and left the room, a bewildered Kelly staring at his retreating back. By the time 10 minutes had passed, he began to think the Captain wasn’t coming back, but just as quickly as that thought entered, it fled as Casey entered the room carrying two mugs.
"Hi, I am Matt Casey. I am really glad we are doing this whole date thing. You seem like a good guy."
Kelly choked back laughter, "Whole date thing, really, that’s how you're gonna describe this?"
"I do indeed like fishing. We should go sometime."
"Just gonna blank me whenever I say anything that doesn’t make this seem like a date, aren’t you?"
"Yeah, last weekend’s game was great, glad you caught it too."
"You’re crazy."
"I prefer cats; they're much more laid-back." By this point, Severide had had enough of Casey winning this little game, but it was fine; he knew how to take over.
"You're pretty and handsome, and just everything I have wanted for a while; I think of doing some pretty dirty things to you all the time. One day I am going to fuck you in your bunk where anyone could walk in." Kelly's smile grew wider with every word as Casey's face turned redder. He had begun looking at the bed rather than Kelly's face and kept passing the mug between his hands. “Don’t worry, Matty I will ease you into it; that is a fair bit of time away unless you say otherwise”
“Asshole.” Muttered the embarrassed man.
“I will take that kiss now.”
“The first date is not over.”
“No need; I already picked you.” He tugged at Casey's hand until the other man finally looked him in the eye. As their eye connected, a corner of Matt's lip twitched up, a real shy smile forming. It made Kelly beam. Casey stood and leaned over and softly kissed Sev's lips, the heat of his red face warming Kelly's face.
Still only centimeters away from each other, Matt whispered, “Whether we work as a couple or not, know that I love you.”
Kelly placed a hand on Casey's neck and stole a far less chaste kiss. He hoped that his best friend could hear the words 'I love you too' in that kiss.