Empty Spaces

Forehead kisses

After arriving home, they had unpacked groceries from the car, put away the things that needed refrigerating immediately and were now getting ready to show Bella around the apartment. It was pretty big, considering how much Captain and Lieutenants make they were able to get a more upscale place. It was a two-bedroom, two-bathroom lot with a spacious living, kitchen and dinning area, but although it's big its almost not enough for the four adults and the child. Sylvie wasn't going to say that though, she could work with this.

As they showed Bella around Sylvie couldn't help but wish to snuggle up under Matt's covers and fall asleep. Although she had had a not so bad sleep last night, she was really hitting a wall right now and needed something to distract her. She raised her wrist and looked at the clock, it was almost one. Prefect, she thought, lunch time.

"Okay you two, I'm going to make some lunch. How does chicken wraps sound, huh?" Sylvie smiled, as she stepped away from them, her hand running over Matt's back subconsciously as she stepped away to the kitchen. She could hear Bella chanting 'yum, yum, yum' from where they sat in the living room before she heard the tv switch on.

Sylvie prepared lunch in twenty minutes, cooking the chicken and then adding the salad and wrapping the wraps. She made some extras and put them in the fridge for Stella and Kelly, not knowing when they'd be back and if they had eaten.

After placing the plates on the table, consciously placing herself next to Matt with a smile. She headed back though to the lounge room, popping her through the door and smiled at the two who were sitting next to each other watching tv, Bella curled into Matt's side. "Hey, you two. Lunch is ready."

Both heads turned to look at Sylvie, Bella was up first bolting out and sitting down while Matt and Sylvie lingered, not having the chance to really talk yet.
"Hey, so about the parking lot...." Matt started but Sylvie cut him off, not wanting to make things awkward for him.

"Yeah, that was weird. It wont happened again." Sylvie laughed awkwardly, bringing her hand up to run through her hair. She hated rejection, even though she was great at masking it, first Antonio, then Kyle and now Matt.

"No-Sylvie, that's not what I was going to...." She cut him off again, raising her hand as she smiled.

"Matt, it's okay. You don't have to explain." She said, bringing her hands back down as she took a step back and headed to the kitchen. Her smile was fake, her heart cracked slightly.

"Sylvie! Did 'ya see the news? The storms coming back!" Bella yelled with a mouth full of food, as she watched Sylvie and Matt take their seats.

Sylvie's eyebrows furrowed as her attention turned to Matt, her worry about them ceasing as her mind switched focus. "The storm's coming back?" Her voice wasn't much more then a whisper, and it broke his heart. She had thought that it was over since it had mostly cleared yesterday, so this news was quite shocking.

"Not the tornado." Matt stated firstly, knowing it may calm her to know it was just rain and possible thunderstorms. He had gotten a call from Boden letting him know that the trucks were back on service and would be right when they returned after their 48-hour break. He was grateful for the break they got after their 24-hours of work, one of the best reasons of having 3 shift squads.

"So just the rain?" Sylvie asked hopefully, perking up a little as she picked at her wrap. It was only then that she realised they had both not touched their wraps. She watched Matt's hand reach over and grab her hand, holding it comfortably.

"No, thunderstorms too. But ill be here. The whole time." Matt smiled gently, seeing Sylvie smile back at the thought. They let their hands linger for a moment before pulling them away at the sound of the doors opening. He waved awkwardly before he dug into his wrap, eating it slowly, his eyes staying between Sylvie and Bella.

Stella and Kelly came through the door giggling about something said out of earshot, it seemed as though Kelly was telling Stella a story, which in turn had her in hysterics. When they finally made it over to the table they had calmed down, Stella went straight over to Bella and gave her a hug.

"Hey munchkin, how are you doin?" Stella asked softly, kissing the young girls cheek. Her eyes looked between Matt and Sylvie, noticing the shift in atmosphere but choosing not to say anything, yet.

"Stella!" Bella squealed excitedly, suddenly remembering everything she needed to tell her. "I got new clothes."

Stella mocked a shocked expression, her hands coming up and cupping her cheeks. She loved seeing Bella this way, she thought it was adorable. "No way! You have to show me when you finish your lunch!"

Sylvie swallowed her mouthful and cleared her throat, bringing the attention from the room to her. "Uh, I didn't know if you two have eaten so I made extra and put them in the fridge." Sylvie said, smiling at the look on Stella faces as the gorgeous dark-skinned girl kissed each of Sylvie's cheeks.

"Sylvie, you are a legend." Stella mumbled as she made her way over to the fridge. She could hear Kelly laughing from behind her, but she didn't care, she was starving. She picked hers up and handed the plate to Kelly before sitting down at the table.

They all ate together with little disruption. The conversation flowed easily as they spoke about work, the storm and what they were going to be doing for the mock weekend. Bella had finished and grabbed her new colouring book before returning back to the table. It wasn't until her phone buzzed that Sylvie realised, they had been sitting at the table for a little under two hours.

After clearing the table Stella and Kelly headed to their bedroom, vowing to catch up on some missed sleep before they headed out to Molly's bar for the night. Matt took his seat on the couch with a beer, watching a random hockey game that played out on tv. Bella continued to colour. Sylvie thought it was perfect time to slip out to her place and pack a bag, she let Matt and Bella know before heading out the door.

After arriving to her own place, she was finally able to take a breath. Everything with Matt felt like it was flying, and god did she want it to, but she didn't want to ruin things with him. She wished she had let him talk before lunch, but she was so nervous about being rejected again that she cut the conversation off completely.

"Stupid Sylvie." She muttered to herself as she grabbed her suitcase out and packed it accordingly. She packed two sundresses just in case as well as her warm clothes and pyjamas. Lastly, she grabbed her slippers and charger and headed to the door. After packing her case in the trunk of her car she headed back over to Matt's, praying for some strength to get through the next couple days with an ounce of self-control.

When she arrived back to his house, she knew any self-control she had had disappeared at the sight of him, especially this one. Matt laid on the couch with Bella's head on his chest, his arms around her as they slept peacefully. She grabbed her phone out and snapped a picture, admiring it for a second before she placed her things down and grabbed the throw blanket off the back of the couch and placed it over them.

"Sleep tight." Sylvie mumbled as she leaned down, placing a kiss to Bella's head and then one to Matt's, her lips remaining on his head for a second longer before grabbing her things and taking them to Matt's room out of the way.

With her back to him she couldn't see his eyes open slowly and a smile spread across his face as he watched her retreat to the bedroom. His last thought before he drifted off back to sleep was 'I could get use to this.'