Malia Ryland has just arrived in Chicago and is starting her first shift as a nurse at the Chicago Medical Center while waiting for a vacancy in one of Chicago's firehouses as a paramedic.
Warning : some chapters contain scenes with sexual content.
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We both freeze there for a few seconds before I jump into his arms. We hug each other for a few minutes and don't say anything, just write it down in our memories. Then I step back and my reaction doesn't take long, "Oh my God, oh my God. You were in front of me for several hours and I didn't even recognize you, what an idiot I am".
Kel takes my face in his hands "if you only knew how much I missed you Lia", he says before kissing me on the forehead. We both look at each other with a blissful smile.
"Do you know each other?" says Brett as we come out of our bubble. Kelly takes my hand and makes us turn around to all the people in the bar who are staring at us, "Guys, this is Malia, my best friend from childhood that I haven't seen in 20 years". Everyone in the bar looks very happy for Kel.
Kel then turns to me, "so what have you been up to all these years?". "Not much. I went to nursing school. I was a nurse for a few years in the army. I needed to get back to my roots, so I've been back in Chicago for a month," I say, yawning. I look at the time and see that it's already one o'clock in the morning. Kel begins to tell me what he's become. I learn that he's Lieutenant of Rescue 3 and that he's been at the Fire Station 51 since the beginning.
Noticing that I keep yawning, I tell him "I'm sorry Kel but I think I'm going to go home. I'm exhausted from my shift and haven't slept in over 24 hours".
He offers me a ride home but I tell him I drove, so he doesn't have to. He walks me back to the car after I say a quick goodbye to Hermann and Gabby. Once in front of the car, he takes me in his arms and puts his head over mine, "When's your next shift?". "I start at four in the morning tomorrow" I say. "That early?" he says. "Yes, I only do 24-hour shifts, so I have 30 hours off between shifts. So I don't always have the most convenient hours" I reply, laughing in his arms.
Kel releases himself from me and takes my face in his hands "I have a shift tomorrow but if you want you can come by the station around noon and we can eat together". I give him a big smile "with pleasure Kel! If I wasn't so tired, I would have stayed longer but the temptation of my bed is too great". "No problem, Lia" says Kelly laughing.
I hand him my phone "Here, you just have to put your number. I'll let you know if I can come over". Kelly takes my phone, saves his number and sends himself a message. "See you later, Lia" Kelly says. He opens my door and gives me a kiss on the forehead before closing the door.
Then I go back to my apartment. As soon as I arrive, I change and go straight to bed where I fall asleep right away.
I wake up and see that it's 11:30. I go to the shower and change into jeans and a simple white T-shirt. I make myself a cup of tea which I then put in an isothermal mug. Then I put on my converses and my leather jacket. I grab my phone and I see that Kel has sent me a message with the address of the fire station. I take my mug and my car keys, lock the door of the apartment and go down to my car.
On the road, I put on some music and drink my tea. Once in front of the barracks, I park my car and head to the entrance. I don't see anyone outside so I go inside the building. I open the double doors and head towards what I think is the common room. I notice that some firemen are sitting at the big table, Mouch is in front of the TV but I don't see Kel.
Sylvie who is coming from another room notices me "Hey Malia! Severide isn't here, he's in intervention but you can join us we're going to have lunch". All the others greet me and I walk towards Gabby who is cutting pizzas.
"Need help?" I ask. "That's sweet, but I'll be fine. We didn't really have time to make anything, so it'll just be pizza that we ordered for lunch", Gabby says to me with a smile. After she finishes cutting up the pizza slices, we put them on the table. Everyone goes to set up and help themselves when the chief and firefighters from Rescue 3 arrive. I walk over to Kel and give him a hug. Then we go to the table and I find myself sitting between Cruz and Kel.
As everyone begins to eat their slices of pizza, Cruz asks, "So how do you and Severide know each other?". Kel smiles at me and takes my right hand in his under the table while passing his thumb over my palm.
Everyone is waiting for an answer, so I say, "We were neighbors when we were kids and even though I'm three years younger than him, we always hung out together and he quickly became my best friend".
"I have a quick question, since you've known Severide for so long, has he always had so many girlfriends?" asks Hermann with a smirk on his face.
I look at him in surprise at his question, "We were only neighbors until I was 10 years old, but I can assure you that he never had any girlfriends during the time I was in Chicago. I was even one of the only girls he talked to". All the firefighters look at me shocked except Kel who is only amused by their reactions.
So I turn to him, "How many girls have you dated to get them to react like that?". The chief, who seems to be recovering from his shock, tells me "let's just say your fingers wouldn't be enough to count them". It's my turn to sink into my chair "Kel I think we really have years to catch up!". All the firefighters are laughing but a call for truck 81, ambulance 61 and engine 51 prevents anyone from making a comment. They all head outside to their trucks while I clear everyone's plates.
Kel helps me and then we go to his office so we can talk and he fills out his response reports at the same time. We spend the afternoon talking. He reassures me that he hasn't had that many girlfriends and most of them were just flirts. He's only had a few serious stories. We're making up for lost time. I explain to him that after I was hospitalized after my house burned down, I moved to New York to live with my aunt and uncle since my parents died there. I tell him that I was told that he was the one who called the fire department and managed to get me out of the house. Unfortunately we never had time to say goodbye.
After a few hours Kel was called into intervention "you can stay here to rest if you want Lia so we can eat together tonight". "It would be a pleasure! Take care Lieutenant" I tell him with a wink before he leaves in his truck.
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