A Slow Burn // Brian 'Otis' Zvonecek // Chicago Fire ✔️

01 || FRESH START

A coffee after shift was a must for any firefighter, Otis and Cruz especially. The streets were busy with the early morning hustle and bustle, the two of them weaving their way through those on their way to work.

It had been a relatively quiet shift, for once, so the guys weren't feeling as worn out and tired as they usually were, which meant an argument over which Lord of the Rings movie was best had broken out.

"Dude, come on. We all know The Two Towers is the best in the trilogy." Cruz had had this conversation one to many times, with plenty of people and each time his answer stayed the same.

"Cruz, it's clearly The Return of the King." Otis replied, parting from Cruz to allow a mother and her stroller to pass them. "It has the freakin' army of the dead. What could be better than that?"

"How about the entire Battle of Helm's Deep?" Cruz said with a scoff as he opened the door to the coffee shop and stepped aside, allowing Otis to enter first.

The smell of coffee and freshly baked, sweet treats greeted them before they'd even fully stepped inside. The shop was full of customers, most of whom were grabbing their before work coffee, the complete opposite of the guys who'd just finished work and were preparing for a day of relaxation and movies.

Not Lord of the Rings though, that would only escalate things.

"Okay, fair enough." Otis tilted his head a little to the side, Cruz did make a fair point. "But Return of the King is still better."

Otis was too busy looking back at Cruz, trying to make his argument, that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. And when he finally turned to face forwards, he immediately collided with someone, almost knocking the coffee out of their hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry." A woman's voice reached his ears as she managed to balance her coffee cup, only a small drop spilling from the mouth piece and landing on her tattooed hand.

"No it's my..." Otis' eyes slowly moved up from the floor and landed on the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. "Fault. It was my fault. S-Sorry." His Adam's apple moved as he swallowed, his mouth suddenly drier than a desert as he stared at her.

Her vibrant orange hair framed her face in loose curls, falling just past her shoulders. The greens of her eyes twinkling in the light, and the smile on her face despite almost getting scalded by hot coffee, was enough to send a wave of butterflies through Otis' stomach. A very, very pretty smile.

"It's okay." She said, shaking her head a little as checked the time on her phone. "I'm really sorry but I'm gonna be late."

"Oh, of course." Cruz replied, frowning a little at Otis, who couldn't take his eyes off her long enough to move out of her way. "We'll get out of your way." He grabbed his friend by the scuff of his jacket and pulled him, roughly, aside, making his bag hit against his hip.

"Thanks." She smiled, once again making Otis want to melt at just how pretty of a smile she had. "Have a nice day!" She called, cheerily, back to them as she rushed out of the shop.

"Yeah... Y-You too." Otis whispered as he watched her walk away, a slight wave of disappointment filling him as he knew he'd probably never see her again.

"Dude." Cruz looked at him, his eyebrow raised at Otis' not so subtle staring problem.

"Sorry. What?" Cruz's voice snapped him from his thoughts and he turned back at him, flushing a little with embarrassment.

"You're practically drooling." Cruz chuckled, shaking his head as he turned towards the counter to decide what he wanted.

"Can you blame me? I think she was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Otis scratched the back of his head as he turned around, unable to think about anything other than the woman he'd almost knocked off her feet.