Hey guys!

I must thank you all for your incredible support. After nearly 50 chapters you guys are still here with me and that's just amazing.

I'm sorry for the long wait. I've been in this awful funk and I haven't been feeling myself, but I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

You'll probably recognise the scene between Matt and Griffin, most of the lines are the same. But I do not own this.

As always, thank you.

Love Hannah,

oxoxox

Casey

I call for my guys to head to the locker-room which they do without question. None of my guys would've touched that necklace - they were too damn busy saving lives. I knew this, Chief knew this, heck even Griffin probably knew this, but anything to come here and give me grief.

I fall back as we passed through the bunks and glance at Griffin, who looked smug and pleased with himself, "You know none of my guys did this."

"Well Casey a $50,000 necklace has gone missing and the only people to enter the house were your guys."

"Yeah to save lives Griffin, don't you remember what firefighters actually do?"

Griffin stops abruptly and turns to face me, "I don't give a damn what you think Casey, I'm just here to do my job because a firefighter stole a $50,000 necklace."

I square up to him, but force myself to remain calm, "My men aren't thieves."

"This shouldn't bother you if you're not hiding something," Griffin smirks, clearly aware of how he was irking me.

"I'm just standing up for my men, we've done nothing wrong."

Griffin raises a brow, "Except assault a fellow classmate? Do you regret it now Casey?" He was challenging me; six years ago he knew how hot my temper had been and how it was to get a reaction out of me, but I'd calmed since then. I wasn't about to launch at his smirking slimy face, no matter how much I wanted to lay him out.

"Regret it?" I scoff, "I'm glad it did it; you weren't the first idiot to make a crack about my family but you're the last," I tell him, showing him just how little I thought of him by the way I looked at him.

Griffin swallowed thickly, "You sucker punched me."

I roll my eyes, "You saw it coming."

"The only ones who saw it were your buddies none of whom had the integrity to say what really happened," Griffin muttered but despite what he said, he knew exactly what happened that day.

He turns to head into the locker-room, where the guys and Chief stood awaiting Griffin to inspect their lockers. I took a deep breath, thinking that was the end of it, calming myself before Griffin could take another go at me.

But he took another go too soon and I saw red, "By the way Casey, how is your mom?" He asks as he turns to me.

I stride up to him and clench my fist, but my arm doesn't have chance to rise to Griffin's face before Chief steps in and holds me back, "Hey! Hey!" Chief gruffs.

Griffin couldn't look more pleased with himself if he tried, "Who, Casey blood sure runs hot, don't it?"

I yank myself free from Chief's grip and throw my locker keys at Griffin, "Do your job," before swiftly leaving knowing if I looked his face any damn longer I wouldn't be able to stop myself.

I head outback for some fresh air in hope that it'll work in clearing my head. Goddammit I admit I had a short temper back when Griffin and I were in the academy, but I didn't lose it with him for months. Nor did I lose it with his buddies; I dealt with a lot of their snide comments whilst I was at the academy and most of the time I let it go over my head and I'd walk away, but Griffin knew he was out of line on that day. It was probably why he never pressed charges.

"I thought I was the hot-headed one?" Her gentle teasing voice brought me from my raging thoughts.

I glanced around to find Gabby and spotted her leaning up against the wall, one arm crossed over her stomach holding onto her elbow. She smiled her comforting smile at me which eased my anger slightly, "Kelly told me what happened. You okay?"

I rush over and pull Gabby close, knowing that right now all I needed was her.

"I hate it. I hate being reminded of him – and seeing Griffin just brings it all back. And that bastard just can't help himself," I hiss into her shoulder, holding tightly onto her waist.

Gabby is quiet for a few moments as she rubs my back with her palm, "What happened when you were at the academy together?" She asks after a while, her voice quiet.

"I laid him out, he's bitter over it," I answer simply because I really didn't want to go into the details just yet.

"It's not like you to lose it. What happened?" Gabby presses without realising she was. She just wanted to know so she could get a better idea on why I've reacted the way I have and to have a better sense of what was going on in my head.

So I caved a little and explained half of the story, hoping that she wouldn't ask any more questions for now, "I was used to comments about my family; I mean it was common knowledge at the academy, so I put up with a lot. One day Griffin took it too far and I lost it. I was pretty short tempered back then."

Gabby pulls away slightly so she can look at my face, "Are you going to tell me what he said?" she asks and I was kicking myself because I should've known she was never going to leave it.

"…Not now," I sigh before adding, "when we get home we'll talk okay?"

She bites her lip almost frustratingly, "Okay baby," Gabby murmurs with her lips against mine, until she takes me for her own.

She makes everything disappear for those few precious moments, her lips dancing against mine clears my head and fills it with nothing but Gabby and her touch and her smell and her. She can feel the energy between us flicker, she can feel my grip become tighter, my need for her growing, she pulls away.

Smiling Gabby looks up at me with those eyes that make me both weak and strong at the same time, and I felt amazed how she had become my lifeline since the moment we met, "Come on you, let's go back inside. Mills has started on dinner."

I follow her inside and was outwardly thankful when Herrmann said that Griffin had left, after of course finding nothing in our lockers. I sat at the dinner table with Gabby beside me and felt her hand on my knee and tried my best to focus on her touch because the thoughts inside my head were too fucking… painful and hard to be dealing with right now.

I forced myself to focus on Gabby was she was the best thing to ever happen to me, and not even the memory my pathetic excuse for a 'father' Alan could mess this up for me.

"Beats me Casey, but it sure seems like you're gonna turn out just like your wife-beating no good father or your murderer mother, not great role-models hey?"

The rest of the shift dragged. I spent the entirety of the shift trying to remove Griffin from my thoughts and failing miserably. Chief didn't mention the investigation to me again but I knew that he'd want to update me soon. I didn't care – my men weren't thieves.

"Jesus Christ Nancy, the boy is useless and you spoon-feeding him will do him no good. I don't give a damn what you think! He'll never amount to anything because he's just as pathetic as you."

I listen to Gabby moving around in the kitchen as I sat on the sofa. She was getting us another beer. She was trying to give me time but I knew she was becoming impatient and worried about me since I was avoiding talking to her about Griffin.

"You know staring at the TV won't turn it on," Gabby's lightly teasing voice distracted me from my thoughts and my head snapped up to see her sitting down beside me, a grin on her face.

I take the beer she was offering into my hand and take a long sip, watching her with one eye, "Talk to me baby," Gabby murmurs as she puts one arm over my shoulders, her fingers trailing on the skin of my neck. She turns herself so that she's sat cross-legged up against me, facing me instead of sitting side by side.

"There's nothing to say right now," I mutter placing my hand on her knee.

Gabby frowns, "You've been stuck in your head all day. I'm sure there's plenty to say."

I watch her eyes fall with my next words, "There's nothing that I'd say that makes any sense at the moment."

"It doesn't have to make sense. I'm here to listen Matt, even if what you do say sounds like gibberish. I want to listen to whatever you've got going on in that big head of yours."

I knew she meant every word. I knew every word was true. In every circumstance except for this one I'd talk to Gabby, I'd tell her about whatever was going on even if I couldn't make sense of it, but I couldn't voice what was I was thinking right now. I couldn't talk about Griffin or Alan or my mom.

Gabby sighs when she realises that she's going to get nothing out of me. She leaves her beer on the table and heads into the kitchen, no doubt frustrated. I follow after her, finding her presses her palms into the edge of the worktop.

I press my chest against her back, curl my hands around her waist, tease the skin that was exposed after her shirt had riled up. I hear her sigh in delight at the feel of my fingers on her skin.

"Matt," she weakly complains when she realises exactly what I'm doing; distracting both her and me.

"Ssh," I sooth as I undo the button of her jeans and slowly release the zip, feeling Gabby roll her head back onto my shoulder. I kiss her skin, suck at the juncture of her shoulder and neck, relishing in the whimpers that escape from her lips.

My fingers tease the skin just above her panties, hearing her intake of breath as one hand cups her heat over the material. She presses herself into my hand and yelps lightly when I turn her around swiftly, lifting her onto the counter. I spread her legs and settle between them, Gabby whimpering as I press her heat into the growing bulge in my jeans.

She soon rids me of my shirt as her lips seek mine. Gabby explores me with her tongue, hers teasing mine as she elicits a groan from me when her hand cups me.

In the midst of pulling off her own shirt I lift Gabby into my arms and head for the bedroom, Gabby clutching at my back and kiss the skin just below my ear.

I lay her down and stand against the bed, gazing down at her flushed and breathy form. I take off my jeans and boxers and then pull Gabby's clothing down her legs, discarding them on the floor. She reaches up and clutches my hips and pulls me down onto the bed with her, our bodies moulding perfectly together.

I'm teasing her and she knows it. My hands dance along her stomach as my lips pay attention to her breasts. Gabby's hips rise as I near where she wanted me. A delicious moan fills the room when I slide my fingers into her, feeling how ready she was for me, and start with a tantalizingly slow pace just to tease her more.

"Matt please," she whimpers as she tightens around my fingers, her hands buried in my hair, pulling tightly. I increase the pace a little, captivated by her face and the sounds she making.

"Please, I need you now," Gabby cries out, trying to pull me on top of her. I position myself above her, clutch onto her hip and her hand and enter her.

It's like the first time every time.

I bury my face into her neck; kiss the skin as she scratches my back, moaning wonderfully as I reach her hilt over and over. Gabby rolls us over quickly, straddling my hips as she rocks against me. Watching her, feeling her, experiencing her, she was my everything.

She reaches ecstasy first, her moans and whimpered breaths echoing throughout the words as she tightened and shook around me, throwing me over the edge just seconds later. Gabby collapses against me; her body tight to my chest, our laboured gasps the only sound.

We settle into the covers as I pull them around us. I rest my head against Gabby's chest as she lays a hand on my back and the other brushes through my hair.

"I love you," I whisper as I press a kiss against her chest.

I can hear her smile in her answer, "I love you too Matt."

Dawson

Matt quickly falls asleep in my arms and I lay awake with a thousand thoughts racing through my head.

Something was definitely bothering him. Something was definitely going on.

God he was worrying me.