Happy Endings (Chicago Fire FanFic)

Chapter Eight

She'd taken her time getting to the firehouse after work. Her surgery had run late and she'd sent Kelly a text promising that she would get there eventually but hadn't heard back from him so assumed they were out on a call. The deserted firehouse she arrived to confirmed her theory. It felt odd with the place being so empty. The couple of times she'd visited the place had been teeming with life and now it was almost eerie.

She wandered through into the kitchen area and realised they must have got the call halfway through cooking dinner. There were chopped onions on the side and mince in the frying pan on the oven. She wandered over and started cooking what she presumed was supposed to be chilli given the rice and kidney beans lying around on the counter also waiting to be cooked. She might as well do something useful while she was waiting and at least it would take her mind off the dread she was feeling at the thought of having to explain what had happened that morning to Kelly.

Not long after she'd finished cooking she heard the sound of the trucks arriving back at the house, the sound of chatter and slamming doors filling they air.

"Hey Otis did you forget to turn the chilli off because something definitely smells like it's cooking?" Herman called.

"I turned it off!" Otis yelled back.

"Look who it is!" Herman grinned as he walked in and caught sight of Amber stood behind the oven. "I knew that smelled better than something Otis could've cooked!"

"I heard that!" Otis shouted as he walked past.

"I hope you don't mind." She mumbled feeling awkward as the firefighters all started to file in and fill the room. "Thought I might as well make myself useful."

"Oh, we don't mind at all. You can come and make us dinner any time you like." Herman laughed. "Hey, Severide, this one's a keeper!"

Kelly rolled his eyes as he walked past Herman and wrapped an arm around Amber's waist. He planted a soft kiss on her hairline. "You made it!" He smiled.

"Did you think I was going to stand you up or something?" She teased.

"Have you been here long?" He asked, changing the subject. He'd definitely been expecting her to stand him up after this mornings incident.

"Just long enough to finish cooking." She shrugged, leaning against him as she breathed in his familiar scent mixed with smoke. "Busy day?"

He nodded. "Big building fire a couple of blocks over." He explained, eyeing up the chilli in the saucepan. "I'm starving."

"Well it's a good job I finished cooking for you all then isn't it." She smiled.

"Come on, let's grab a couple of plates and you can come to my office. The others can help themselves when they're done in the shower." He suggested.

"Okay." She nodded, quickly dishing up a plate each for them and then following him out to his office.

"I just need to write up my report from that call, it won't take long I promise." He explained, sitting down at the desk in his office and taking the plate of food she held out to him.

"It's fine." She smiled, sitting cross-legged on his bed to eat her own food and watching him as he worked. A comfortable silence fell over the room, but it also gave her time to stew on what she was going to say to him and build it up in her head.

Fifteen minutes later he spun around on his chair and looked at her. "Okay, I'm all yours." He grinned.

She smiled at him nervously.

"How was your day?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

"It was okay, boring stuff really." She shrugged. "Clipped a couple of aneurysms and removed a tumour. Did lots of paperwork."