good/right/real

Chapter 72: River of Love

Summary:Matt shares some news.

A couple of hours later, he awakes to find himself clutching Sylvie to his chest like a kid would cling to a teddy bear. He yawns and then glances down to see her chin propped on his chest. A tender smile is sleepily stretched across her face as she watches him while he blinks himself awake.

"Hey there," she says softly. "Sleep well?"

"Better than I expected," he admits. "I didn't even know I was tired."

"Then I guess you're glad I was here to use my feminine wiles on you, huh?"

She grins up at him, looking perfectly angelic and innocent, and he snorts through a chuckle.

"Feminine wiles? Is that what that was?" He asks.

"Duh," she replies, laughing softly -- her voice still raw from sleep. "And now I'm hungry so I'll use my feminine wiles to get you to make me some breakfast."

"Man, those feminine wiles are really working overtime today," he quips with a wry grin.

She nips at him through his shirt, without much force, but he still jumps.

"Watch it, buster. You don't want me taking a bite out of you instead of a pancake, do you?" She asks, with a playful smirk.

"Pancakes? Is that what I'm making?" He asks, huffing out groggy laugh.

"Blueberry and chocolate chip" she answers with a nod.

"It's cute that you think you're gonna find blueberries in Severide and Shay's fridge."

She lets out a bark of laughter that he finds entirely too charming and concedes his point. "Fine, just chocolate chip then. With whip cream. You have whip cream, right?"

"Sure, but I doubt it was bought with the intention of being used on pancakes."

Her nose scrunches up in disgust before her horror transitions into a fit of bright rolling giggles. "Oh my god, okay we won't touch the whip cream. Or the chocolate chips. Just plain basic pancakes."

"Sounds delicious and perfectly innocent," he agrees, grinning mischievously.

She pops a quick kiss to his cheek and then slips out of his reach and out of the bed. He knows he told her he wanted to make sure to talk to Shay and Severide today and make it out to the condo but after a cozy morning nap he's thinking of changing his mind. He'd be fine staying right here with her all day.

Her eyes narrow on him as she stands and she points a scolding finger at him. "No, you don't. You wanted to get stuff done today and that's exactly what we're doing," she says, as if she can read his mind. Hell, he thinks, she probably can. "Up-and-at-em! Let's go! You need to catch Shay and Severide before they do whatever it is they do on our days off."

He sighs, laboriously, and rolls out of bed. "Fine, I guess you're right."

"Of course I am," she quips as she tosses him his jeans with a wink.

"You want me to go out there and get your duffle so you can change before breakfast?" He asks, smirking as his eyes scan over her in his borrowed clothes.

"No," she says with a confused wrinkle between her brows. "Do you want me to change?"

Shit, somehow he tapped into an insecurity. He can see the hurt in her expression as if he were rubbing salt in an old wound. He finishes fastening the button fly on his jeans and then steps into her space, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him.

"Absolutely not," he assures her, reaching up and smoothing a thumb over the crease between her brows. "Just didn't want you to feel like you couldn't take the time to change if you needed it. That's all."