Back to Chaos

C H A P T E R - T W E N T Y - O N E

Three days later, Alyssa Torres and Kelly Severide were walking out of Chicago Med, the man's arm in a sling and the woman's hand tightly holding his other one.

Julian Black had been sentenced to life in prison, showing up to his hearing with his face badly bruised. The incident report had said that he had attacked the detectives when they arrived at the crime scene and Dawson had acted out of self-defense.

The members of the Intelligence Unit had been by to see the couple during their stay at the hospital. Kelly had been kept to treat his arm and Alyssa kept for psychiatric reasons - which she didn't fight. Members of Firehouses 51 and 90 also stopped by the hospital to visit their Squad lieutenants before Maggie kicked them out for loud disruptions.

The two took a cab back to Kelly's apartment; sat in the back seat, side-by-side. The ride was silent, no music, no talking, just the hum of the vehicle engine and all of the Chicago city noises outside the car. It gave Kelly a quick flashback to the drive to the farmhouse. He quickly shook the thought from his mind as he glanced over at Alyssa.

He had to keep reminding himself that she was fine, he was fine, and Julian Black was gone. He was unsure of where their relationship would go from here, but he was hoping it could only get better.

When Alyssa and Kelly entered their apartment, there was a moment of silence.

The two stood side-by-side in the doorway, not a single thing different from when the two had returned previously to pack their belongings. There was this atmosphere in the apartment, like something was wrong. Not an unsettling feeling that made the hairs on the back of their neck prick up, but something to send goosebumps up Alyssa's arm.

She was the first to take a step forward, the sound of her shoes on the hardwood flooring echoing around the apartment. They had barely gotten the chance to live in their new apartment and now it feels weird to even be standing in the apartment.

Alyssa turns, her eyes locking onto Kelly's. Her chest rose as she inhaled deeply, her body shaking slightly.

Kelly took a step forward, standing directly in front of the woman. With his uninjured arm, he reached around and gripped the back of her neck lightly, his eyes scanning her face.

"I love you," he murmured, pressing his lips to her forehead. Alyssa let out another exhale as she relaxed in the man's grip. A small "I love you" escaped in her exhale as her eyes closed.

The atmosphere of the apartment didn't change as a whole but that little bubble around the couple shifted ever so slightly. The only thing that the couple was concerned about was the sound of the other's breathing, and the warmth of their arms around each other. Kelly could smell the warm honey and brown sugar smell that radiated from Alyssa. And Kelly somehow consistently smelled of whiskey and cigars despite not having either in the last few days.

The two stood in each other's embrace for a moment longer before Alyssa pulled away, leaving a small kiss on Kelly's lips before she took a step back. She spun on her heel to face the rest of the apartment, taking it in. By the couch sat all of their bags that they had taken to the farmhouse with them.

Alyssa walked over to the bags, picked them up, and then headed over to the laundry room that was slightly hidden under the staircase that led to the first floor. She almost felt the need to refamiliarize herself with the three-story apartment. It was huge -  a luxury apartment no doubt. But it was home - a good enough home to start their family in if that was where their lives were going.

Kelly appeared in the doorway behind her, watching her as she began to load the washer with all of their clothes, even the ones that had just been cleaned. She wanted to rid the clothes of any connection to the farmhouse.

As soon as the washer beeped on, he reached out and grabbed her waist, pulling her body into his.

"Hey, relax for a minute, sweetheart. We have time," he whispers, kissing her neck gently before resting his chin on the top of her head.

He felt as Alyssa relaxed into his grasp, her body basically going slack against him.

"Come on, sweetheart, let's go lay down." He pulled her gently up the stairs to their bedroom where he practically laid the woman on the bed before settling next to her, pulling her into him.

The two had decided to take the next shift off to readjust to being home and then they would decide if they would be returning to their separate firehouses. Alyssa was unsure if she really wanted to be without Kelly after everything that happened but she knew how much she loved the team at Firehouse 90.

Kelly was definitely not going to be giving up Firehouse 51 and he knew that Alyssa would never ask that of him. Despite him asking her to work at 51 with him previously, he knew that she understood it was for her protection - which is had been in the end.

"Kelly?" he heard her whisper, her head resting gently on his chest as his fingers traced little circles on her midriff.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" he mutters back, gently kissing the top of her head as he speaks.

"Where do we go from here?"

Kelly's chest rose as he took a deep breath. He wasn't entirely sure where their lives would go. But he didn't want to be unknowing when Alyssa needed someone to lead her.

"I don't really know, baby. But we take it one day at a time, just like before. We'll go back to work when we're ready, we'll move on with our lives. This isn't going to hold us back forever."

He felt the woman nod slowly as her hand settled next to her head on his chest. The warmth of the woman was comforting, more comforting than it had been before everything. He was glad that she was alive - glad that he was alive.

This was it for both of them. No one else. This is how they'd spend the rest of their lives - together.