thanks for checking out my new story! this is my first for chicago fire, hope you like it! :)

Mystery Girl

Kelly got up that morning, quietly slipping out of bed to let her continue to sleep. As he dragged his feet over to his dresser to grab a change of clothes, he was completely envious that she got to sleep in; it was summer and she was starting as an art teacher at the elementary school in the fall. He watched her for a moment, her dark hair splayed out on the pillow, her gentle breathing. Spotting her pale yellow sundress on the floor, he picked it up and laid it out on the bed before starting to get ready himself. Returning from the bathroom, he noticed she was starting to sit up and stretch awake.

"Mornin' Lace," Kelly greeted her as she pulled her sundress over her head. "Did I wake you?"

"Nah," Lacey shook her head, sitting back on the edge of his bed to put on her wedges. Once she had her shoes on, she looked over at him, studying his expression. She had seen this look on his face before over the last two months since they had gotten together at the beginning of the summer.

"What's that look for?" she asked, though she knew.

"What look?" Kelly asked innocently and she gave him a face that said oh please; he shrugged. "What are we doing Lace?"

"You're going to go start your shift," Lacey answered like it was obvious. "And, I'm going to teach that pottery class at the rec center."

"You know what I mean," he said back. He knew that he had to be breaking some kind of guy code by doing this but it was hard not to. "How long are we going to keep this from him?"

"It's not as big of a deal as you think," she reasoned.

"Hey Kelly!" they heard Shay calling from out in the hall. Lacey dove under the blankets on Kelly's bed, curling up under them to hide. Shay knocked on the door once before letting herself in. "You ready to go? We're running late."

"Ah, yeah," Kelly nodded, seeming a bit nervous. "Just a sec, I'll meet you downstairs." Shay looked him over skeptically.

"Were you talking to someone?" she asked curiously.

"No," he shook his head. She spotted the purse sitting on the floor by the doorway. Looking up at him after the purse, Shay raised her eye brows.

"The mystery girl?" Shay asked, amusement in her voice; he didn't answer right away. Being roommates, she knew that someone had been sneaking in and out of the apartment. It was driving her crazy, not knowing who this girl was for this long. Whoever she was, it must be good for him to be keeping it a secret from her since they told each other everything.

"Ugh, forget it. I'll figure it out eventually," she grinned at him. "See ya downstairs."

"Yeah," Kelly nodded, shutting the door behind her. Once he closed the door, he could hear Lacey rustling under the blankets behind him as she got back out of the bed. "Not that big of a deal?"

"Just not the way for people to find out," Lacey brushed it off, though she knew how surprising this was going to be to everyone.

It had started out as just a fling, that was why they kept it a secret. Why bother telling people if it wasn't going to pan out? But now, after two months of seeing only each other, they knew it was starting to get serious. And the longer it went on, the harder it was to keep from the people they cared about.

"What if the three of us talked tomorrow after your shift?" Lacey finally offered.

"Just the three of us?" Kelly asked, a slight smile spreading across his face. "I'd rather there be more witnesses in case he tries to kill me."

"He won't kill you," Lacey smiled back, taking his hand. "He loves you."

"He loves you more," Kelly reasoned. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Don't throw that bro code crap at me," Lacey laughed, kissing him once. "I'll see you both tomorrow, all right? Have a safe shift." He nodded, kissing her again. "Bye Severide."

"Later Darden," Kelly said before leaving her alone in his room.

Lacey waited patiently to be sure Kelly and Leslie were gone before leaving the apartment herself. She had wanted to leave the night before when she knew that Leslie would be asleep, but Kelly gave her his usual I don't like you leaving late at night spiel. And truthfully, she did prefer to sleep over, to stay in his arms. Stepping outside into the warm morning light, she hailed a cab to take back to her apartment.

She had moved into the small loft at the beginning of the summer, moving back to Chicago after spending six years away. Four of those years she spent at school in Virginia, then the other two she had taken a job right away where she had done her student teaching in that area. Now, she was ready to come back to the city and people that she loved. And it was that love for her older brother Andy that made them keep the secret. How would he react to his little sister seeing his life long best friend?

To be honest, the entire thing had happened by accident. Lacey had never seen Kelly as much of anything, just her older brother's cute friend. Being five years older than her, he had never really seen her that way either. She was Andy Darden's younger sister, the girl they tossed in their family's pool more times than he could count, the youngest bridesmaid at Andy's wedding. They killed spiders for her, packed her boxes in the truck before she went to school. Sometime between then and now though, things changed.

Really, Lacey tried to reason to herself. It was Andy's fault. That afternoon back in June he was the one that was supposed to help her move her new couch into her apartment. He had to leave her though, having a prior obligation to his wife and two sons that day. Not wanting to leave her helpless, however, Andy called Kelly and had him go over to help her move. How was anyone supposed to know what would end up happening on that couch?

Lacey opened the door to her small but perfect apartment. Immediately to the left was her tiny kitchen, and straight ahead was the long, rectangular studio space. Her bed was over to the far right, tucked against the corner and covered in pillows. With it's back to the bed sat her couch, which faced the tv. Her closet sized bathroom shared the wall with her bed and there was an even smaller closet next to it. What made this apartment so perfect for her was the large window in the kitchen; she could open it up and get outside to her small square cement balcony that had an amazing view.

Showering first, Lacey then changed into a pair of cut off shorts and an old button down t-shirt that was splattered with paint. In addition to her teaching job that she was going to start next month at the elementary school she was teaching art classes a few days a week at the rec center; today was a pottery class. After piling her hair in a messy bun, she grabbed her bag and headed off to teach her class. Walking down the street, she pulled her phone from her bag to send her brother a text.

Breakfast tomorrow?

When he didn't answer right away, she figured he was busy with work, maybe even out on a call. She was proud of her brother, growing up to be a fireman like their father; she was proud of Kelly too. Little did she know how much life was going to change that afternoon.

After the hour long class, Lacey started the walk back to her apartment. It was only a few blocks away, so she didn't bother with driving. She had contemplated stopping by the station to say hi, but decided against in as she walked up to her building. Heading up the stairs to her apartment, she found the door to be unlocked. Thinking she may have forgotten to lock it, she let herself in cautiously. At first she jumped when she saw someone sitting on her couch, but laughed with she saw who it was.

"Holy hell," she laughed, shutting the door and dropping her bag by it, kicking off her flip flops. "You scared me." She looked at Kelly curiously as she came into the living room, sitting on the coffee table directly in front of him. "Why aren't you still on shift?" He was back in his jeans and t-shirt from that morning.

"Um," Kelly hesitated, swallowing hard; this was killing him. "Chief, uh, went to talk to Heather...I asked to talk to you."

"About what?" Lacey asked, though she was quickly piecing it together. No, it couldn't be. "About Andy? Is he ok?"

"There was an accident Lace," Kelly said, trying to be gentle. "A really...bad accident while we were out on a call."

"Well, is Boden taking Heather to the hospital?" Lacey asked, hopping to her feet and trying to head for the door. There was no way anything else could have happened. Kelly caught her wrist though, keeping her from leaving.

"Lace," Kelly said, tears springing to his eyes.

"Oh my God," Lacey gasped, her own eyes brimming with tears as well. "No, no, no, no..." She burst into tears as Kelly pulled her into his chest to hug her tight. Her body collapsed against his as she continued to sob.

"He can't be gone," she sniffed. "He can't."

Lacey didn't feel much of anything as she was at her brother's house after the funeral, receiving people with her sister-in-law, Heather. Her nephews sat on the couch in the next room in silence, politely hugging older relatives when they came over to tell the boys how sorry they were. Eventually, Andy's youngest son Sean, got up and fled for his bedroom with tears in his eyes. As he ran up the stairs, some of the others from the station had started to file in; Kelly was among them and Heather wasn't too thrilled to see him.

"Could you..." Heather said, nodding her head at them as she made her way towards the stairs after Sean; Lacey nodded as she left.

Lacey greeted the others first, hugging them and accepting their condolences. She instructed them to the main room of the house where the others were, leaving her in the front hall alone with Kelly. By now, after Kelly had asked to be the one to speak to Lacey as well as how often he was trying to call her over the past few days, they all figured it was something a little more than him checking on his best friend's sister, but no one called him out on it.

"How are you?" Kelly finally asked after an awkward silence; he immediately regretted his choice of words. "Sorry, that was a stupid question."

"It's all right," Lacey promised, crossing her arms over herself. She knew that Heather didn't want Kelly to be there, but Lacey didn't have it in her to kick him out.

"I tried stopping by your place," Kelly said.

"I've been here," Lacey explained. She had been staying in the guest room to help Heather with everything and she planned on staying for awhile longer.

"I could have come by," Kelly offered; Lacey hadn't been returning any of his messages. "To help out or...I don't know...hug you or something?" Lacey gave a half smile at how sweet he was being.

"I'm just not sure," Lacey said hesitantly. "With, um, Heather right now...and how she's dealing..." Kelly caught on to what Lacey was trying to gently hint at. By this point, everyone knew the details of the fire.

"Do you think it's my fault?" Kelly asked softly, almost afraid of her answer.

"I think it's called an accident for a reason," Lacey said back; they could hear Heather coming back downstairs.

"I guess I should go," Kelly said, not wanting to upset Heather. He kissed Lacey once. "I'll see you later?"

"Mhmm," Lacey nodded quietly, watching him go.

thanks for reading! hope that you liked it so far, please let me know what you thought! :)