What happens in Vegans Definitely didn't stay there

Chapter 15: The Last Goodbye

Sylvie makes a tough decision, listens to her best friend, says goodbye to someone and yet again runs into her roommate sleeping with a friend.

"Hey, sit down. There's pizza and beer over here, and I feel like we need a conversation." Sylvie turned her head, looking at where her roommate had just placed a thin crust sausage, pepper and spinach pizza on the coffee table. He'd cracked open two longnecks, and Sylvie felt a rush of affection for him.

"Fine, Kelly," she huffed, settling down on the couch. There was a Cubs game on the TV, and she pretended to watch until the tension got too much for them sitting there.

"What's going on, Brett? You haven't been yourself since the wedding and that was three weeks ago. What's happening?" Kelly had muted the tv and turned to look at her, and Sylvie wanted to burrow back into her shell. Instead of doing that, she looked back up at him.

"I think Antonio was going to propose at the wedding, and when I said I didn't want to get married yet he kind of shut down. And he says it's fine, but the more I think about it the more I realise I don't want to marry him. I don't want to be at home raising kids and making dinner and being Suzy Homemaker. I don't want to marry the guy who goes first in every raid, and is constantly putting himself in danger. I mean I know we do too, but the difference is we know how fire works and what's safe. You don't have that when you're chasing people with guns on the street." Kelly was sitting there quietly to let her get it all out. She finished speaking and he stayed silent for another minute, making Sylvie cock her head slightly.

"It's a two way street, Severide. Do you think I could end up wanting to marry him? Right now even meeting his daughter just feels like a bad idea."

Kelly took a deep breath before speaking. "It depends. There's a big age gap between the two of you, you're what, 27?" Sylvie nodded. "Antonio's in his mid forties, he's got kids who are closer in age to you than he is. When his daughter was born you were literally in middle school. I've nothing against age gaps, but you're at totally different points in your life. You should be out having fun and going dancing with your friends, flirting with guys. You shouldn't be worrying that your boyfriend will be shot on the job again. And I'm not saying this because of my personal feelings about him. I'm saying it as your friend. You deserve someone to put you first."

Sylvie snagged a fresh slice of pizza, chewing contemplatively for a few moments.

"I think I need to end it. He mentioned us moving in together, and I just didn't see it. I love him, but I can't see a future with him. Does that make me a bad person?"

"Not in the slightest, Brett. It makes you human. But I'm also a guy, so take my advice with the entire salt shaker, yeah?" He unmuted the tv, making it clear their moment was over, but Sylvie was glad to have him there to talk about it.

Her next shift felt like the longest and the shortest. Normally when there was anything in their relationships, Sylvie mentioned it to Gabby. How could she tell her that she was going to break her brother's heart? Gabby wasn't in a good mood either, so they were both quiet, speaking when they needed to. Even with both their moods, they worked well enough together to be able to anticipate each other's mood.

Sylvie couldn't sleep, so went out to the common room for more infomercials, coffee and the book she had on her Kindle. Gabby was sitting out there too, and they sat on the couch in silence.

"You ok?" Sylvie couldn't help asking, and Gabby turned her head.

"Yeah, I am." They were silent for a moment, and then Gabby spoke again. "No, I take that back. I'm really not ok. Matt and I met a fertility specialist yesterday, and she's told me I shouldn't get pregnant again, because there's too high a risk I'll have another abdominal pregnancy and my body won't make it through it again. And IVF wouldn't work, because the extra blood volume will cause issues with the repair."