Empty Spaces

Walmart

It wasn't until they exited the parking lot of the hospital that Sylvie truly realised the damage the storm had caused. There were men working on trees down on the side of the road, the gutters were filled with debris and overflowing with water and there was damage around every corner. She had been so focused on Bella and so secluded within the fire house to really notice the outside, even on the drive here she had focused on Matt.

As they stopped at a red light, she turned to Matt slightly, enough so that she could look at him but also peer over at Bella in the backseat. "I was thinking maybe we could head to Walmart and pick up some things? Clothes at least so she's not just repping the CFD." Sylvie said sending a wink over to Bella who giggled.

Matt nodded in agreement, changing his direction to now head to Walmart. It wasn't far and would only take them maybe 10 minutes to get there. "Sure, that sounds great. We need to do some grocery shopping too."

Sylvie nodded her head; she didn't know what else to say so they sat in a comfortable silence for the rest of the way. They could hear Bella in the back singing along to the radio and it made them both smile, knowing they were doing something right.

When they pulled into the parking lot Sylvie was the first to unbuckle her seatbelt, she grabbed her purse from the ground of his truck before turning to him. "First off, I'm gonna take Bella straight to the kids sections and grab a outfit in her size. The last thing we need is people staring."

Matt nodded, understanding her reasoning and agreeing to it. He didn't want any unwanted attention being put on Bella and he knew the last thing she needed was strangers staring at her. "Great idea, I'll grab a trolley and look through the aisles."

They both nodded and got out of the car. Matt helped Bella out and held her hand, leading her safely across the road with Sylvie on the other side of Bella. He let go of her hand once they were safely inside of Walmart and went over to grab a trolley, watching Sylvie instruct Bella to follow her.

Bella and Sylvie made there was into the kid section of Walmart, they headed straight over to the winter sections and Sylvie picked out a pair of grey trackpants, a long sleeve shirt paw patrol shirt and a hoodie. They headed over to the shows and Sylvie grabbed some socks and a pair of boots. "Look good enough?" Sylvie asked Bella holding up the set, Bella nodded and held up both thumbs, excited to be getting new clothes.

"I've never had new clothes before.." Bella said casually behind Sylvie as they headed to the check out, Sylvie frowned as she handed the clothes to the checkout lady before she bent down and smiled, one that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Well, now you will teeny." Sylvie let out a slight humph as Bella jumped into her, wrapping her arms around her neck and hugging her harder than before. It made Sylvie smile for real this time. She hugged Bella back until she heard the checkout lady clear her throat.

Sylvie stood back up and smiled awkwardly, grabbing out some cash and handing it to her. She took the clothes and Bella's hand, taking her to the bathroom and helping her change her clothes. She stood back slowly and smiled, happy that all the clothes fit Bella.

"Wow Isabela! You look fantastic!" Sylvie exclaimed, moving forward and picking her up so she could see herself in the mirror. Sylvie locked eyes with her in the mirror and smiled, the look on Bella's face enough to brighten her mood from the earlier conversation.

She placed her back down on the ground and grabbed the CFD merch off the ground before leading Bella out of the bathroom and back to the front of Walmart. Sylvie grabbed out her phone and texted Matt, asking where he was.

"Matt!" Bella squealed running back into the store and over to Matt whose trolley was no longer empty. It was now filled with multiple different foods, some prepacked and some fresh fruits and vegetables. He had texted Stella and Kelly to see what they needed but most of it was for them.

As Sylvie walked over to them, she grinned at him, shocked by how much he had grabbed in the 10 minutes they had been apart. "You feeding a village, huh?" She teased, having a small look through the trolley.

"Well thought I better stock up. I've seen how much you eat at work." He shot back; a cheeky grin plastered on his face. It made Bella happy to see two adults together and not fighting, like her parents use to. She reached up for Matt who picked her up and placed her in the child seat in the trolley.

"Ha-ha, very funny Matt." Sylvie said sarcastically, her smile never faltering. She loved having the casual banter between them, it had only started happening over the past couple months, but it made them closer, like they could easily joke with each other.

"Come on, we still got to pick some more clothes. I've got enough food for all use us for a few days, I grabbed the powered donuts you like." Matt said simply before pushing the trolley back towards the kids section.

Once they had loaded the trolley with multiple different clothes Bella had picked as well as Matt and Sylvie picking ones they liked they headed to the counter, Sylvie was going to pay but before she could say it Matt had pulled out his card and paid. She was in slight shock that she didn't say anything until they got back to the car and began unloading the groceries.

"You didn't have to pay for everything Matt, you're doing us a huge favour by letting us stay with you. Ill pay you back." Sylvie stated as she helped unload the groceries, not wanting to leave him to do it himself. She loved how Matt was, he was a picture-perfect guy in every way and sometimes people took advantage of that and she wanted him to know she wasn't one of them.

Matt placed the last of the bags in the car before turning to her, he smiled and shook his head gently before stepping closer and placing his hands on her upper arms. "Brett, you're staying with me because I want you too plus you've helped us all out more times then we can count without even asking." He said softly, showing a softer side he did with only his family and close friends. She smiled back and him and blushed, her head dropping slightly as he spoke. "Let me do this for you, both of you. I want to help anyway I can, you mean a lot to me Sylvie."

Before she could stop it, a tear slid down her face, it made her laugh. She looked up at him and smiled, nodding her head slowly.

"Thank you, Matt. You have no idea how much this means to me. You're pretty great too." She winked, hugging him before she could really think about it. Everything had been going so well with Bella and they were starting to get closer, she just felt like it was the right moment.

When he wrapped his arms back around her, she smiled, breathing in his scent off his shirt. He rested his head on top of hers and kissed her temple. She was kind of glad they had put Bella in the car first because it gave them the little bit of privacy she wanted, she looked up at him and smiled shyly. There faces were only centimetres apart, their lips the closest. She let out a shaky breath as she leaned closer, their lips almost touching until... *BEEP* ARE YOU LEAVING? *BEEP*

Sylvie jumped back, hitting the trolley beside the car as she looked to the car before them. Although there were probably 50 other parks this lady of course wanted this one. Matt waved to her nicely before grabbing the trolley and taking it to the rack, his eyes avoiding Sylvie's awkwardly.

Sylvie made her move and got in the passenger side of the car, letting out a breath as a blush began creeping over her face. She couldn't believe she had almost kissed Matt Casey! Although she had wanted to, badly, she didn't know how this would affect things now.

But Matt had leant down to kiss her back, right? Or was she imagining it? She left out a frustrated groan as her head hit the head rest behind her.

"Sylvie? Are you okay?" She heard Bella's voice behind her, quiet and concerned. With what had just happened she had forgotten about the child in the back. She felt like a horrible person, she had sworn to look after and protect Bella and yet she was letting a boy make her forget all about her.

Sylvie turned in her seat and put on her biggest smile, looking right into Bella's eyes as she made her a promise. "Yeah sweet girl, everything's fine. I got your back okay?" She watched as Bella smiled and nodded, it made Sylvie feel a little bit better. She returned to the correct position in her seat just as Matt opened the door and got in. He looked over at Bella then at Sylvie with a comfortable smile before starting the car and putting his seat belt on.

"Ready to go?" He asked casually, like nothing had happened or affected him. She gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded before turning her head and paying her attention out the window.

This was going to be a difficult weekend....