I could…
It was mid-April, and spring reigned in Chicago, not that there were many flowers everywhere, but the parks were beautiful. The air is usually pleasant, bringing with it several scents of the various flowers that adorned the trees and gardens. Of course, Sylvie loved that time. It was warm, not as hot as summer, but it was nice to be outdoors and everything was so colorful and vibrant. It was a wonderful day for a barbecue with the 51 people.
Of course, the house chosen was the Herrmann's because it was the one with the largest yard, perhaps the only one with one.
But not just because of that, there was something nice about being with them, Cindy had always been kind and the kids made the mood more cheerful.
This year, Severide and Casey took the barbecue, Donna and Cindy with the food and Stella and Herrmann with the drinks. Not that he was complaining about having Cindy as a cook, after all no one would be able to do that, but he had missed Sylvie.
Usually she was the most excited about the barbecues, she always offered to help, but that year she said she couldn't help much and to make matters worse, Severide had even heard her ask if she could bring someone.
Not that he expected her to be single forever, why the hell, it wasn't right, but it was exactly what he wanted. He was an idiot if he really thought she could have feelings for him, all these months she was always around, the conversations, all the help, everything was nothing more than Sylvie being Sylvie, the one who is always ready to help , even though it sounds like superhero movie jargon, it was exactly how Sylvie was.
"You're thinking about Brett's mysterious guest, aren't you?" - Severide said adding more charcoal to the grill.
"What? No…. Of course not .."
"Come on, Casey, do you want to try again?"
"I didn't know that she was seeing someone."
"I told you man, I told you to drop all the bullshit and ask her out."
"Easier said than done."
"Casey, what's so difficult? You guys spend more time together than me and Stella and look, we live together."
" Yes we are friends."
"No friend, friends are you and me, you and Brett are much more than that. Man, everyone sees how you look at her, worries, saves lunch .. You know I can keep talking, don't you?"
"Everyone, who everyone?"
"Ah Casey, or you are either too naive, or completely stupid, because only one didn’t realize how the other feels. And look, I think you better fix this, because I promised Stella I would give it a touch."
"Well, anyway, I think I already lost my chance, again .."
"Seeing now, I wouldn't dare compete with this guest, you would lose badly" - Severide said looking at the door.
When Casey turned to look at the guest, he was taken aback by a sight he liked very much. Sylvie was smiling, holding a baby in her arms and looked so happy in a way that he only saw it when she was close to Amelia. She was beautiful, wearing summer shorts and a flowery loose blouse, she even seemed to match the little flowery dress in her arms.
"You know you're staring, don't you?"
Casey coughed, and pretended to be helping his friend with the barbecue.
From a distance he heard the women welcoming Sylvie and the little one, and it took him a long time not to go there.
He was putting away the bag with coal when Severide said "She's coming, don't be an idiot." He ran a hand over his forehead, suddenly feeling nervous.
"Hi, you two!"
"Hi, and there Brett, I liked the guest, in thinking that Casey was freaking out." - He looked at his friend who was choking, shrugged and left.
"Casey, how are you?"
He nodded, unable to contain his cough. Sylvie was next to a bucket of ice and beers, took one and handed it to him. "Here, maybe some liquid will help."
He opened the bottle and took a long drink, already managing to control his cough, and said in a hoarse voice. "I .. I think I choked on .."
"Saliva isn't it?"
"Yes, oh, definitely disgusting."
"Well, I think I know how it is." - She had done exactly the same thing when she saw him after Olivia had put some inappropriate thoughts in her head about him.
"Anyway, I'm glad you came" - He tried to leave Severide's comment behind.
"Oh, I wouldn't miss it for anything, I love 51's barbecues. Except that I had promised to take care of Amelia this weekend, so I had to pick her up first. Say hi to Uncle Matt, dear." - She played swinging one of the baby's arms.
"Hi princess! How beautiful you look today." - He said with "baby voice" that silly kind of voice we do when we are near a baby, and Amelia seems to have liked it because I smile excitedly.
"I think she likes Uncle Matt." - He said feeling.
"Difficult not to like." - She said and then blushed. He was going to say something when he heard Cindy call, damn it, it seemed that whenever they came close to saying something, fate always managed to get in the way. "I better go see, by the way, you have something there." - She leaned a little towards him, holding the little one with only one arm, brought the other hand to his forehead, gently passing the fingertips. "Here" - She turned her fingers so he could see one with a black tint. "I think it was coal."
"Thank you, Sylvie," he said, still feeling electrified by her subtle touch.
" Not so." - She said and soon left, he followed her with his eyes, until he could not see her among the women talking.
" You're welcome!" - Severide said smiling, returning to his role as barbecue.
"You're welcome? I spent the greatest shame almost drowning in my own saliva."
"I promised to give a touch, not perform a miracle. If you didn't know how to enjoy my dear, then it's up to you."
"Haha, how funny he was."
The next few hours were spent with a lot of fun, food and a lot of laughter. A small stage had been set up in the yard and he cannot say when and who exactly started the game or dictated the rules, but they were playing something like truth or consequence.
It was simple, a bottle was rotated between them and when the mouth part pointed at someone, they had to go up on that improvised stage and answer three questions, two being lies and one truth, if they found out which one was true they had to pay a monkey.
The game was flowing, and many had already paid monkeys, such as singing with a girl's voice (Capp), dancing the chicken dance (Cruz), not even the boss was spared and had to sing a children's song in a thick voice. Which made everyone smile because it was actually kind of scary for kids.
Cindy had taken the children inside, because the afternoon was already falling and the temperature was too, Amelia was sleeping peacefully on the living room sofa, and when Donna came in laughing telling about her husband's singing, she said she would look at the baby a little so that Sylvie could participate , because according to her, it was too hilarious for anyone to lose.
Sylvie left just in time to see Casey on top of the small stage.
"Okay, 2 lies and 1 truth, Casey" - Stella ordered.
"Have you ever used drugs?" - Capp started.
"Already, every teenager who was a teenager has already experienced something." - Casey replied.
"Have you ever been so drunk that you can't remember your name?" - Stella
"No, my name is too easy to forget."
Lie, of course! Sylvie thought.
"One last question and I will do my best." - Severide said, placing his fingertip on his chin pretending to be thinking and then winking at Stella. "Could you be in love, I mean, someone new, not from the past?"
"Huuuuum" - It was more of a murmur released by everyone when Severide finished the question.
Sylvie swallowed hard, he could lie, but he could also be sincere, she did not believe in the answer he tried drugs as a teenager, he was always too straightforward for that, so he would have to be honest in this but teenagers are teenagers and he could be honest, in fact, she didn't know if he wanted to or not, could he be in love? What if he was and it wasn't her? Her heart was going to break, to think that Donna had said it was hilarious, but she wouldn't use that word to describe what she was feeling now.
"I…" - He considered .. "I may be .."
Clapping and hissing were the reactions, until Capp said "Ok Captain, you almost deceived us."
"Come on people, what was the real answer?" - Stella asked and everyone said the first question, except Sylvie.
"I hate to disappoint you, my friends, but I will not pay any monkeys today. Of course I never used drugs, the most I got was to try a cigarette. Thanks for that!" - He said smiling and came down from the improvised stage.
Wait, if that really was the right one, did it mean he wasn't in love? She was and now she knew that there was no correspondence who would say that a joke could hurt so much?
She was so distracted thinking that she didn't see it when the bottle pointed at her.
"Come on Sylvie, your turn" - Chloe called out to her.
"Ah, yes .. Am I going over there?"
"Yes, go on stage, answer the questions with two answers with a lie and a real one, if we get the truth right you pay for a monkey we choose."
"God, I already saw that I'm going to pay mico." - She said going towards the stage.
"This is going to be easy, Sylvie can't lie." - Herrmann said raising the beer bottle towards her.
"Come on girl, do your best!" - Stella joked. "I start, let me think .. I know… Did you ever get drunk and regret it later and have another drunk to forget?"
"Of course already, I lived with Foster, did you forget?"
Lie, Casey thought, yes, two in a row, probably not.
"This Stella's too easy." - Herrmann said. "My turn, have you ever managed to lie without giving yourself up?"
"No, I don't think so." - She said looking disconcerted.
She could be doing it now and she was mistaken for everyone, oh Sylvie had her secrets, Matt thought.
"You're taking it easy just because it's Sylvie. I'm sorry, sweetie, but it's not going to happen." - Severide said.
Sylvie felt nervous, Severide looked strange today.
"If you were in a fire and you could only save one of us, between me, Casey and Capp, who would you save?"
"What a horror, I can't choose."
"Come on Sylvie, the three of us are dying and you can only save one, fast the fire is rising."
"Kelly, it's mean."
" TIC Tac."
"I don't know, but after your question it certainly wouldn't be you." - She scowled at the lieutenant.
"Ui, Sylvie Brett, I didn't expect that from you." - He pretended to be hurt.
Everyone voted for the last question, after all it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't true and she didn't have to pay any money. However, the look she gave Casey when the question was asked did not go unnoticed by Severide. He knows that she would probably die trying to save the three, but he also knows that the idea of having Casey in such a situation can scare him, more than they imagined and he was somewhat relieved, he knew that his friend had feelings for her and I wanted to know if she returned them.
The Game ended up guaranteeing a few more monkeys, including Severide himself, who had to imitate a ballet scene, which had guaranteed many laughs and the destruction of their little stage improvisation.
Everyone was saying goodbye in the late afternoon, happy and refreshed. Spending a day with everyone together, without the pressure and adrenaline of danger, was incredible. Even the most serious ones like Boden, Casey and Severide guaranteed a good laugh and their faces were lighter.
"Hey, didn't you come driving?" - Casey asked when he saw Sylvie fiddling with the phone outside, holding Amelia.
"No, Amelia was very restless, so I came walking." - After Foster left, Sylvie found a smaller and well located apartment. It was just two blocks from Herrmann's house and he and Cindy had even joked that they could take care of her there.
" Want company?" - He offered
"You don't need Casey, your car is here, you would need to go back and get it."
"Go for me, after all I ate, a walk could do me good. Let me take you." - He took Amelia in his arms. The girl opened her incredibly blue eyes and when she saw him she put her head on his shoulders and went back to sleep. "See, she likes Uncle Matt."
"I told you, it's a little hard not to like it." Silvie pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and started walking.
They walked in silence for a while, until Casey started to speak. "You know, I lied at the game today."
"Lied? When?" - She tried to remember the questions and answers.
"I was 12 to 13 when I tried it. But it felt so wrong that I never had any contact again and I still lost my cousin's friendship because I told my aunt what he did."
Wait, if that answer was a lie, and that he probably had already drunk until he forgot his own name, there was only one answer left.
"But you said ..."
"I meant what I said, Sylvie."
They stopped in front of her apartment, and he stood beside her, waiting for her to open the door. She was nervous, had he said that to her? Or was she fantasizing about that too? It would probably be the second option, but having him by your side here, holding Amelia in her arms felt so right, they looked like a typical teen movie couple, and she would so much like them to be.
They entered and she asked him to put the baby in a mobile crib that was in her room, she took off the girl's shoes, turned on a lamp and left the room leaving the light off and the door ajar.
"Did you notice that whenever we are about to say something important, something always happens?" - He said leaning against a counter facing her.
"Were you going to say something important?"
Casey thought, it's now or never!
Slowly approaching her. "Severide asked me if I could be in love, with someone, I don't know, about the present and not the past." - When he finished speaking his face was inches from hers, he could feel his heart beating so hard he swore he was listening to the beating in his ear, and she was staring at him, breathing heavily. "I said" - He passed his hand over her face, taking that stubborn strand of hair behind her ear, keeping his thumb caressing the now pink apple of her face, making her lean over his caress and close his eyes. eyes. He waited until she looked at him again and when she did. "You said I could be." He used the hand that caressed her face to bring her closer and closed the distance between them, sealing his statement with a kiss.
The kiss started a little awkwardly, but it didn't take long for them to find a rhythm, Sylvie wrapped her arms around his neck, using one of her hands to caress his hair, he kept one hand with his fingers between her hair and another holding the end of her back firmly with an open palm in a hug making their bodies as close to each other as possible. The air was necessary between them and the kiss had to be interrupted, even if none of them wanted it, but it didn't mean that they needed to create any distance between them, honestly neither he nor she would think about that now.
"If I didn't notice, I was talking about you" - He gave her a peck and smiled, making her smile too.
"Since we're being honest, I also lied today." - She said caressing his face. She always wanted to do that, after Cruz's wedding when she wiped the corner of his mouth or even today, when she took a small black spot off his forehead, she wondered what it would be like to caress his face without needing an excuse.
"I knew, you already lied without being caught, didn't you?" - He said playfully.
"Actually, no, I was always terrible at lying, when I was a teenager I laughed and my mom or dad could know right away."
"So, where did you lie?"
"When Severide asked me about who to save, I would probably try to save all three, I love you all, but just thinking about such a situation, I would probably try to get you out or I would die trying" - She said with teary eyes.
He was touched by her words, in fact he expected no less from her, but hearing that if something happened to him could hurt her, and even if it was a question of a joke with just a thought he managed to put tears in her eyes it was too much for him. He still thinks he doesn't deserve it, but he will do everything he can to deserve it, even if he needs to spend every day of the rest of his life trying. So, he kissed her a second time today, hoping to be able to respond to the intensity of his feelings for her and he hopes to kiss her many times over, kissing Sylvie Brett can be addictive, a good addiction that he has no intention of diminishing.
And who knows, at a next barbecue he says that he might not have been completely honest with her, when he said he was falling in love, he seemed small, because in reality he was not, he was not falling in love, it was not something new, maybe the courage to say it was something new, but he had been for a while, completely, hopelessly in love with her