Chapter Nine

He finally caught up to her in the middle of the night. He'd shaken himself out of sleep with a gasp and struggled to get to his feet. Looking out the window in his door he saw most of the second shift fast asleep in the beds just outside his office.

Counting them, he knew there would be one missing.

Pushing his door open he scrubbed his hand over his face and let out a breath before he started down the hall.

Taking an easy jog down the steps he pushed open the door to the first floor and listened for a moment before moving on.

The television was on.

He moved down the hall and couldn't help his smile when he saw the bright light of the tv frosting the high planes of her face.

Moving closer he knew she wasn't paying any attention to the show that was on the screen. Instead, Stella as asleep, her head tilted down until her chin was nearly touching her chest.

Taking a seat beside her, Kelly didn't try to wake her. He sat there and watched the flickering light of the tv gild her skin with pale silvery light.

It only made him realize how close he was to losing her.

He should have answered her question the day she asked for it. Words.

Capp had said as much.

Gabby and Matt had given their opinions and really, he was stupid for not jumping on their suggestion when they'd given it to him.

Words.

Like the stupid ones he'd avoided saying to Zach. The words that he'd said had only driven a wedge between himself and Stella. And it was… all his fault.

He started to reach for her, to wake her up and explain, but he saw the dark circles under her eyes, saw the drawn line of her lips. She was exhausted and it was his fault.

He started to reach for her again, just wanting to touch her, make sure she was really there beside him, but he stilled as her lips parted.

A soft indrawn breath made him ache for her. A lone tear slipped free of her eye and traced a long curve down her cheek.

He knew he'd been an ass, but the one who was truly suffering for his lack of action, was Stella.

He slid his arm around her back and drew her closer, against his chest. Her head gently fell against his shoulder and with as little movement as possible, Kelly tucked her in between his body and the back of the couch.

He smoothed a hand up her back, over her shoulder and to her cheek, turning her head so she rested her cheek against his chest so she could use him like a pillow.

She shifted, ever so slightly against him, and he tensed, hoping he hadn't woken her up and ruined her rest.

But moments later he knew that wasn't the case.

Her hand that had been tucked between their bodies, lifted and settled on his chest, moving in a slow arc until she covered his heart with her open hand.

And her leg, instead of leaving her foot tucked between his, she lifted her leg until her knee rested at the top of his thigh, just inches from slipping over him and the side of the couch.

He ached for her… and his muscles ached on their own. Having Stella tucked close, resting so comfortably beside him, over him, nearly around him… was heaven and torture at the same time.

But the warmth of her against him, her breath fanning over his skin, put him to sleep in a few minutes.

#

Stella woke slowly, rubbing her cheek against the hard muscles of Kelly's chest and-

Wait. Kelly?

She tried to sit up and found herself kind of wedged between Kelly's larger body and the back of the couch.

Stella blinked a few times to clear her head.

She was sleeping with Kelly, in the common room at the station.

Oh God-

A soft click behind her turned her head.

Dawson and Casey were standing by the fridge with hesitant smiles on their faces. "Hey," Dawson whispered, "you okay?"

Okay, that wasn't quite how she'd describe it.

She shrugged and mouthed back. "Confused?"

Matt's smile was little more than a wince and pressed a kiss to Dawson's temple before he ducked out of the room, leaving Dawson to shake her head at him with an indulgent smile on her face.

Leaving the gallon of milk on the counter, Dawson scooted around the counter and walked over to the couch. Leaning against the back, she peered down over the edge of the couch. Dawson's eyes widened and the question in her eyes didn't have to be voiced.

"I just woke up with him here." Stella whispered. "Last thing I remember was watching TV."

"Not many women can say they spent the night with Severide and don't remember it, but," Dawson looked up at the clock on the wall, "if you want to talk to him before the rest of the crew get up… now would be the time."

"Time?"

Stella closed her eyes and sighed. Kelly was awake and struggling to sit up. Letting out a breath, she started to move to give him room, but he shifted again and pulled her into his lap as he managed to get his feet on the ground.

"You're not getting away so fast."

Dawson gave her a wink. "That would be my cue to go find Matt and get my bowl of cereal away from him."

Kelly didn't even wait for Dawson to leave the room. "Hey, you."

"Hey," she gave him a smile. She couldn't have stopped it if she tried. "When did you come down here last night?"

He smiled and scrubbed his hand over his face and stifled a yawn. "When I finished my last few reports I went to look for you, but your bed was empty. So I took a chance that you were down here."

Stella heard some footsteps heading toward the room but when she tried to move over to the side of the couch he wouldn't let go. "Hey, people are coming."

"I don't care. I want to talk to you." He leaned closer, his eyes focused on her lips.

"Kelly, come on."

"Stella, everyone already knows."

Mouch and Herrmann stepped inside and gave them both a questioning look.

Stella turned away and gave Kelly's chest a shove. Still, he wouldn't let go.

"Hey, guys," she could hear more people walking in, but she had a feeling they were all waiting behind Mouch and Herrmann, "I'm trying to kiss Stella, but she's worried that you guys will think something's up."

"Like what?" She heard Cruz's question loud and clear. "'Cause I've been waiting for you two to realize that we've all known about this."

Herrmann's sardonic tone was next. "After that fire, when Severide ran in after you, hell, we were all half expecting him to drop to one knee and- Ow!"

"Shut it." There was Otis.

"So, uh… you gonna kiss her or what, Lieutenant, cause I'm hungry and I don't think we're gonna get any breakfast until you make her smile."

She felt Kelly's finger crooked under her chin and when she looked up at him, she was indeed smiling. "Why-"

"Just kiss me." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her up against him, his hand cupping the side of her face. "Come on, Stella. I know I messed things up, but if you have any idea of how much I need you… how much I care about you, kiss me and I'll do whatever it takes to fix this."

A soft indrawn breath helped to spur her on and Stella reached up both of her hands and cradled his face. She closed the distance and slanted her lips over his. She felt the wall of his chest vibrate with the beating of his heart as he tilted her head slightly, so he could capture her lower lip between his.

She felt a wave of heat course through her body from their lips down to the tips of her toes in her boots.

And that was a millisecond before she heard a soft patter of sound.

If they had been outside she would have thought it was rain, but safely in the common room she cracked open an eye to look toward the kitchen.

The rest of Truck and Rescue were gathered and applauding their little PDA.

Kelly waved them off before he set his hand on the back of Stella's neck and drew her even tighter to him.

"Well," Capp said with a good amount of humor in his voice, "who's in charge of making breakfast?"

"Go ahead, Capp, thanks for volunteering." Matt laughed and started to herd the rest of shift away from the couch. "Let's all pitch in and give them a minute."

"But they're on my couch," Mouch sighed and walked away. "I might as well cook if they're going to take up all the room."

Kelly kissed a line along her jaw and placed a kiss just below her ear. "Babe, as soon as shift is over, let's go home and talk. Let me say all the things I should have said. Okay?"

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close so she could whisper back. "Yeah. That's more than okay."