Into Folklore | W. Halstead

Getaway

The next few months were decently calm for Chicago. Olivia was pulled into cases left and right of course but she made sure to make the time to see Connor outside of it. Even though he was also struggling to make the same time.

Winter meant snow storms and snow meant accidents. And lots of them. Not to mention Connor was still coping over Dr. Downey's death and he knew he grew colder towards the girl but he was trying. He really was.

Olivia practically had a 'no hospital' rule in place, both to let Connor have his space when he was away and to avoid running into, bumping into, and talking to one particular doctor that would not be named. His existence was off limits and his name wasn't to be muttered in her general area.

By Kevin and Kim of course. Aka the only two people in all of Chicago that knew about the roof incident months back. It's not like she could tell Jay not to talk about his brother after all. Though the topic never came up, Olivia had made it very well known that she was not going to do anything about it.

All she really could do was pretend Will Halstead didn't exist while letting herself get swept away by her loving boyfriend. Before Downey passed, Olivia frequently stopped by Med to have lunch with Connor, offering her support while he was treating the older doctor. He never really accepted it.

Instead he would brush her off with an "I'm fine." Before returning to his job. After his passing was no different. He disappeared for a few days, Olivia learning in post that he flew to Hawaii to spread his ashes for him.

Part of her was upset he wouldn't lean on her. That she couldn't be there for him. But the other part of her knew that she couldn't just be there for some people the way she wanted to. Olivia wanted him to show all his emotions, cry, sob, cling to her.

Not that he wasn't crying half the time he was alone but he wanted just that, to be alone. Coming back to the city helped him, he didn't talk about Downey but he stopped brushing Olivia off, their date nights becoming more frequent.

As frequent as they could anyway. Work was still work. But Olivia had decided that enough was enough. She went directly to Goodwin, had a conversation about Connor missing work for a week, telling her it was indefinite, he'd have to agree to going first but if he did, he wouldn't have to worry about this same conversation. Of course she agreed, knowing Connor could use the time away.

And then she dug into her furlough, the weeks she had saved up giving her plenty of time to just take a week off. Lastly she just had to find somewhere to go in their time off. Should they fly somewhere? Drive? Somewhere far far away?

She decided that they just, needed to get out of the city. Disconnect from the stressful everyday life the two of them lived. Thankfully one specific firefighter had been around while Olivia was talking about her options.

Good ol' Kelly Severide offering up his dad's old cabin felt like exactly what was needed. It was far enough away that they could relax, but not too far away that they couldn't get back into town if something major happened.

Olivia had given him the tightest hug, promising to buy him a beer at a later date since he was about to head out before getting herself ready to talk Connor into the trip. He was different after Downey died and Olivia understood that.

Knew he might not want the time away. But in actuality he jumped at it. Agreed almost before the sentence was out of her mouth. So they agreed on the days off and counted down until it was time.

Connor was going to drive but Olivia insisted she do it, her hand resting in his the entire time. It had already snowed but thankfully it was only a few inches, the driveway still walkable as they pulled up. "Wow, Kelly wasn't kidding. This place is nice." Olivia muttered, leaning forward to look at it before parking.