The Heroic Heralds of the Hermann Horde

What Is It With Janitors Making Meth In School Basements?

Annabelle has a date. With a boy. Granted, she was twelve, and so was the boy who asked her to go with him to the winter dance which would be taking place during school hours with chaperones, but that did not make Christopher feel better. What made it worse was that she hadn't even told him or Cindy, they had to find out when Kylie came over to see her instead of Lee. Hell, even Lee knew about this boy apparently, so Christopher and Cindy were sitting in their bedroom, completely bewildered, and a little sad that their daughter felt like she couldn't talk to them about dating and love and sex. Annabelle had gotten the sex talk from school and her mom, she still shuddered when she thought of either, but now her parents were wondering if they needed to go over things again now that she was going 'out' with a boy. Were twelve year olds even having sex? They were only in middle school.

Annabelle and Kylie were in the room she shared with Max, going through her clothes. "Do I need to go shopping? I don't think I have anything good enough. Oh god, what if I look like-"

"Okay, no. Deep breath, calm down. You are very pretty and have very pretty clothes. We'll find something. I know that the first anything in a relationship is a little nerve-wracking, so just control your breathing and take everything one step at a time. I know that this feels like the biggest deal in the world right now, but you're twelve, Belle. There is going to be so much time in life for relationships, good and bad, so you don't need to worry about pushing as much stereotypical perfection as you can into the year before summer ends, okay? Life will and does extend beyond this dance, it's okay to feel excited but your existence and reality as you know it don't hinge on this dance. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good, now, dress, skirt, or pants?"

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After settling on a flowy dress adorned with purple flowers and low wedges, Kylie managed to talk Annabelle out of makeup. "Just letting you ladies know that dinner will be ready in half an hour."

"Great, thanks, dad."

"So, uh, how are things going up here?"

"... Things have been going well, Kylie was just helping me get some things ready for tomorrow."

"Right, for the dance. That you're going to with a date."

"Yeah..."

"Mr. Hermann, would you mind if we got some privacy? Girl stuff, you know?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, sure, I guess. And you can call me Christopher, if you want, Kylie."

"Okay, I will." The awkwardness in the room was palpable, Christopher was changing his weight from foot to foot, clearly looking for a reason to stay. "Dad."

"Alright, alright, I'm going." He twisted around and exited the room, his heart fracturing a little. He knew that this would happen eventually, he just hadn't been prepared for it, and he thought that Cindy would be in the loop. Instead it was Kylie, Severide and Kidd's foster daughter, and Lee Henry's crush. "Dad,"

"Yeah, Lee Henry? What's up?"

"She'll be fine. I know that you worry, but she knows how to handle herself and I've met Alex, nothing bad is gonna happen."

"How come you knew about all of this before I did?"

"Easy, you don't understand emojis."

"Are you saying I'm old?!"

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Annabelle wasn't out of her room by the time Cindy had to drive Christopher to the station. Something that deeply disappointed them both. "Okay, Belle, they're gone."