good/right/real

Chapter 40: In Repair

Summary:Kidd, Shay, and Brett have their girls' night.

The rest of shift was fairly quiet except for a call for Squad and Ambo. Even that was a simple rescue with a slight head injury. While they're gone Boden stops by his quarters to tell him he got a call for a recommendation from Jack Nesbitt. The teasing that started with Sylvie continues with Boden, but he tells him he gave him a glowing recommendation. So, that's something he can claim as his good news for the day.

Squad was a little later getting back than Ambo, Matt noticed. When they do get back Kelly looks dejected and frustrated, but he doesn't want to talk about it. Both Matt and Shay know when to push and when to let him deal with things on his own and this isn't a time where Severide needs a push.

Shay leaves with Sylvie and Stella -- no doubt to do that shopping they talked about -- and Matt gets distracted again imagining Sylvie in a little black dress.

Nope.

Not going there.

He finishes up his bid for Nesbitt and stops by a small renovation job to check on the work his electrician completed yesterday and then goes home to rest.

Shay comes home a few hours after him, arms loaded with shopping bags.

"Where's Kelly?" She asks.

"Hanging out with Rice I think," Matt answers as he turns on Sports Center.

"The fact that he had friends before us is weird," Shay says with a chuckle. "He's such a lone wolf sad sack most of the time."

Casey laughs and opens his beer. "So are you. Seems to me that's why the two of you get along so well."

"I was not always a sad sack," Leslie counters. "Or a lone wolf."

"And I bet neither was he."

"Touché."

"How's the girls night planning going?" He asks with a smirk.

"Aside from Otis and his horrendous club suggestions, great. Gonna set my straight friends up with some guys while we're out and hopefully find a hot chick for myself."

"Why is it that you can call women hot chicks and men can't?" Matt asks her with a crooked smile.

Leslie dumps her shopping bags by the breakfast bar and then grabs a beer from the fridge for herself, addressing his question as she walks. "Because I do it with loving respect and men do it with condescension." He can't exactly refute that argument. It's true. "Didn't Sev take you on a bar crawl to find women the other night? How'd that go?"

He shorts derisively. "Good for him. Not so great for me. Out of all the women we met, I only found one even remotely interesting."

"Did you call her?" Shay asks as she sits down next to him.

"No, I got this meeting for a job and started working on that. I nearly ran my construction business into the ground after...Gabby." He sighs and takes another slow sip before continuing. "This job could save it. If I can get into commercial renovations instead of residential -- well, that's good money. I can always use good money."

Leslie's hums in response and he gets the impression she doesn't believe him.

"Or," she says. "You're avoiding moving on and using work to do it just like you have been for months. You've just picked your other business to focus on this time."

"That's not what this is," he disagrees. "I do want to move forward. I'm just not entirely sure what I want or what going after that looks like."

She nods and glances at him out of the corner of her eye. "Could it be that you want someone you think you shouldn't want? Is that maybe what's holding you up?"