New Beginnings: A Stellaride Story

Rebuilding

"Stella," Kelly calls out as she walks away from the conversation, trying not to let her emotions get the better of him. Without missing a beat, Kelly follows her, trying to catch up. He couldn't care less that he may have just pissed off the Commissioner; all he cared about was Stella. Kelly finally catches up to Stella in the hallway. Even with her back facing him, he could tell that she was extremely upset.

"Stell, let me explain," Kelly says. Stella turns around to face him and says, "I'm not doing this here." "Stella, please just let me explain," Kelly says as he walks closer to her. Reaching her hand out, Stella looks at Kelly and says, "Keys." "What?" Kelly asks, confused by what's happening. "Keys," Stella repeats. Kelly reaches into his pocket and pulls out his keys. As he goes to hand them to Stella, he asks, "Where are you going?" Stella replies bluntly, "Home. I'm tired," and reaches for the keys. Kelly pulls his hand back and says, "I'm coming too." Still mad and just wanting time to process everything, Stella says, "No, you stay. Have the time of your life because, like your mom said, this is the last time you're ever going to be able to do this." Kelly knew she didn't mean it. She was mad, he screwed up big time, but it somehow still hurt a little. "No, I'm coming with you," he says as they both head for the door.

Neither of them spoke a word the whole ride home. As they walk into the house, Jennifer is standing in the kitchen. Not expecting them to be home yet, she turns to both of them and says, "You're home early." She gets no response. Stella heads straight for the stairs, just wanting to go to bed. As she starts to walk up the stairs, Kelly says, "Stella, can we please talk about this?"

"Talk about what?" Stella says. "The fact that you have started making big life-changing decisions without me? The fact that you are keeping things from me. Again?" She continues, "Stella, it's not like that," Kelly says, noticing the hurt in her tone.

"I'm too tired for this," Stella says as she continues walking up the stairs. Trying to work out what's going on, Jennifer walks over to Kelly and asks, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's good," Kelly replies. Knowing that it was not, Jennifer says, "Stella, you know you should probably hear Kelly out. It's never a good idea to go to bed angry." Still as mad as anything, Stella stops in her tracks and turns around with an expression on her face that not even Kelly had seen before. She could not comprehend what Jennifer had just said to her.

"Do not even go there," Stella says. "This is my marriage, not yours. You need to stay out of it. It is none of your business. In fact, I want you gone. Get out of my house." Stella continues, now full of rage. Before anyone could say anything else, Stella was gone. Kelly looks over at his mom, his eyes start to fill with tears as he says, "She doesn't mean it. She just... I really screwed up big time. Um, I have to fix this," before heading upstairs.

Stella had been lying in bed for an hour or so, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. The more she thought about things, the worse she started to feel. Yes, she was still mad at Kelly, but she was also becoming mad at herself. There was obviously something going on with Kelly that she somehow missed. How did she miss it? He had been so attentive to her lately, always asking how she was doing, making sure she was okay, and it was like she had completely forgotten that everything would be affecting Kelly too. The more she thought about it, the more upset she got. Even though she was still very mad at Kelly, he was the only person in the world right in that moment who could make her feel okay again.

After giving Stella some space, the emotions were finally taking a toll on Kelly, and he could no longer keep his eyes open. He headed into their bedroom, trying to be as quiet as possible so he didn't wake Stella, and slid into bed. Still not asleep, Stella feels Kelly get into bed and rolls over, wrapping her arms around him. She places her head on his chest, and the tears start to fall. In that moment, Kelly knew how badly he really had screwed up.

Neither of them had a great night's sleep, but somehow Stella was still peacefully asleep. Wide awake, Kelly just laid there, trying not to wake Stella. After a while, he just couldn't lay there anymore, so he slowly got out of bed without disturbing her and headed downstairs. When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he noticed a suitcase sitting by the front door, followed by his mom walking into the room.

"Morning," he says as he sees her walk into the room. "Good morning," Jennifer replies. "You going somewhere?" Kelly asks, looking at the bags. "Yes. Back to Saint Paul," Jennifer answers. "I thought you were staying until the end of the week?" Kelly questions. "I was, but I seem to keep overstepping, and after what Stella said last night, I just think it's best that I leave," says Jennifer. "Mom, she didn't mean it. There's just a lot going on," Kelly says. "I know, but I still think it's best," Jennifer says. "Oh, and by the way, I've been meaning to tell you, I'm moving back to Chicago next month," Jennifer continues. "You are? I thought you always said Chicago was too fast for you," Kelly says in a questioning tone. "It was, but things have changed. Now that your father's been gone a while, things feel different. A good different. And I feel like I've missed too many big moments in your life. You're my only child, and I feel like we keep becoming more distant from each other. I'm hoping being in Chicago will change all this and give me a chance to get to know Stella better and form a proper relationship with her. And I promise I am not moving in with you; I have my own place lined up," Jennifer explains. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy, Mom. It will be great to have you close by again," Kelly says before giving his mom a hug goodbye.

With Jennifer gone, Kelly heads back into the kitchen and makes coffee for himself and Stella before heading back upstairs. He walks into their bedroom and notices Stella is still asleep. He quietly places the cup of coffee on her nightstand when he hears her rustle. She rolls over, looks at Kelly, and says, "Good morning." Kelly smiles at her and says, "Good morning" back before jumping back into bed. Stella sits up and grabs her cup of coffee, taking a sip. Kelly looks over at her, his eyes filled with emotion, and asks, "Stell, are you okay?" "I am. I will be," Stella replies. "I think I'm more mad at myself than I am at you for not noticing something was going on with you. Why didn't you say anything to me? I thought we got over this a long time ago." "I was going to say something to you, but you've been going through a lot lately, and I didn't want to add to your stress and make you worry about me," Kelly explains. "Kelly, I worry about you every time you walk out that front door. Every day, I think, 'Is today the day I'm going to get that phone call and someone is going to tell me you're not coming home?' You not telling me things only intensifies this," Stella says.

What Stella said really hit Kelly. He had no idea that's how she felt. He always knew that she worries about him, but this worry seems to have gotten stronger. "I'm sorry, I should have said something to you straight after I spoke with Van Meter. It was just a conversation. I never said I was transferring. I just wanted to see what was possible," Kelly says.

"After what you said a few weeks ago, I got really in my head and started thinking about our family and that maybe if I continue doing the work I do, I might not be around to see our daughter grow up. Then my mom started comparing me to Benny, and it all got the best of me, and I felt like I had to make a change to ensure one of us was always there for our daughter. I really am sorry. I promise I won't keep you out of the loop again," he continues, his voice starting to shake.

Stella looks over at Kelly, both on the verge of their emotions taking over, and says, "I know a lot is changing and changing fast, but I can just take more time off until we work out something more solid." "Stella, you shouldn't have to put your career on hold just because you're a mother. Your career is just as important, if not more important than mine. I want to do whatever I can to make this easier on us, and if that's transferring to OFI, that's what I'll do," Kelly says, trying to convince both himself and Stella. "Kelly, I can't let you do that. I know how much Squad means to you. It's going to take some time, but we will make this work without either of us having to compromise," says Stella as she rests her head on his shoulder.

Kelly reaches over and places his hand on Stella's baby bump and says, "All that matters to me is that I get to come home to you and our daughter." It was in moments like these that Stella knew she had found her perfect man. Stella leans in, whispering, "I love you, Kelly Severide," before tenderly kissing her husband.