The Fear of the Past

Cracking Her Walls

Stella's POV:

I woke up to the familiar sound of the alarm notifying us that we had a call. I looked at the time on my phone, "3:00 am," I moaned, "Man am I tired. I can't wait for the shift to be over." I thought to myself.

I watched as Kelly hopped into the squad truck besides me and he caught my eye, giving me a worried but reassuring glance, as his truck sped off before mine. "I want to tell you Kelly," I thought to myself, "But I'm afraid of how'll you'll react."

I shrank back into the wall of the truck, the cool metal against the back of my neck soothing me as we rode along in the night.

~ 4 Hours later ~

Nobody's POV:

It's 7:00am and their shift has just ended. Stella and Kelly walk out of the firehouse towards Kelly's car.

"Hey, do you want to get breakfast?" Kelly asked turning to Stella, "We can go to Sunny Side Up."

"Who am I to pass up free food?" Stella grinned.

"Who said I'm buying?" Kelly asked a smile forming at the edges of his mouth.

"Well usually a gentleman such as yourself," she gestured to Kelly, "when you offer something, you normally plan on buying." she said teasingly.

"Is that so?" Kelly said, glancing at Stella through the corner of his eye.

"Yeah." Stella said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'll have to keep that in mind then." Kelly said as he sat in the driver's seat of his Camero.

Later that night, Stella is cooking dinner, and Severide walks in.

Stella's POV:

I hear the patter of Kelly's footsteps as he enters the room. "You didn't have to make dinner," he said as he opened the refrigerator, "Or buy groceries."

"Its no trouble," I said, "Its just a little something to say thank you."

"Well it smells delicious." he said, peering over my shoulder.

"I try." I said, flashing him a coy smile. I shift my focus back to my task at hand. I began to hum some lines from Baby Blue by Zachary Kibbee, "You are my heart, you are my soul, and I feel empty inside when you are not home.." I trail off as I hear the song coming from the speakers above me. I turn around to see Kelly looking at me. He walked towards me, with that stupid smirk on his face.

"Don't stop singing Stella," he said looking at me, "I like it when you sing." Before I had time to react, he took my hand in his, and spun me around.

"You're such a goof ball." I said swatting at his hands.

"Oh, come on." he pleaded, "Just this one dance?"

"Fine." I muttered. He pulled me closer, and we just stayed there, swaying back and forth throughout the rest of the song. "I could get used to this." I thought to myself. When the song ended, I went back to finishing the meal I was preparing, and wondering what had gotten into Kelly.

Severide's POV:

As we sat down to eat, I watched Stella for a moment. I had two things I wanted to ask her that were burning in the back of my mind. "Hey Stella?" I asked.

"Yeah Kelly?" she said looking up at me, arching her eyebrow.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened last night?" I watched the expression on her face change.

"It's a long story-" she started.

"I get it." I said "Just know I'm always here for you, okay?"

"I know, Kelly." she said, looking up at me. We continued to eat dinner in silence. When we finished, Stella got up to clear the table.

"Oh, no. You made dinner so I'm cleaning up." I scolded.

"Okay, okay." she said, her hands up in surrender, a smile crossing her lips.

"That's an order!" I said, trying to give her a stern look without smiling.

"Yes, lieutenant." she joked, "understood." She saluted me, and begun marching out of the room with her posture stiff and a straight face. I shook my head chuckling as I shifted back to washing the dishes, but another thought popping into my mind.

"Oh, and Stella," I started, she stopped and turned, a more serious expression on her face, "Would you be my date to the academy dinner?" Stella stood there, a shocked look on her face. "Just as friends." I reassured her.

"I don't know-" she began,

"Just think about it, okay?" I said.

"Okay." she said

Stella's POV:

As I headed back to my room, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw I had gotten another text from Antonio. "Why don't you come by the station tomorrow? I need to talk to you about your sister and your father." I felt my stomach knot. I hadn't seen my sister in years, and I never wanted to see my father again. I tried to push my anxiety aside and tried to fall asleep. After tossing and turning for two hours, I sat up in my bed and put my head in my hands. Running my fingers through my hair, I got up out of bed and headed towards my door.

Severide's POV:

I sat in my bed looking at the wall. I was worried about Stella. I know she can take care of herself, but I hadn't ever seen her so worried and frightened before, not even when Grant attacked her with a knife. With a burst of determination to figure out what was wrong, I got up out of bed. As I neared the door, I heard a knock at my door and Stella say in a small cracking voice: "Hey Kelly can I talk to you?"