Brettsey Prompt: “I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”
A/N: Not gonna lie I picked that dialogue list hoping someone would choose this prompt! lmao
31. “I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”
you can find more info on the prompt game here.
A slow day at Firehouse 51 was rare and when it happened you didn’t talk about it. The minute you state any observation about said slowness, the peace is over. So they set about finding things to do. There was cleaning, washing the trucks and ambo, and laundry. Matt even noticed Sylvie alphabetizing the magazines in the common area. But eventually they ran out of busy work.
Some people decided to use the time to catch up on sleep. Herrmann and Severide used the time for paperwork, but Casey wasn’t behind on his paperwork so that wouldn’t work for him.
He heads toward the common room to try and find something to keep him busy. Under no circumstances could he say he’s bored or appear to be bored because that is exactly when this spell of calm would end. Chicago does not need another city wide gas emergency or flesh eating bacteria scare or whatever the hell else insane thing they could come up against.
He finds Brett pouring over a laptop with a furrowed brow. He fixes himself a cup of coffee before joining her at the round table.
“Hey,” Matt greets as he angles himself toward her.
“Hey,” she replies distractedly.
“You okay?” He asks in concern.
She rolls her eyes but nods. “Foster created an online dating profile for me without asking so now I’m trying to eradicate its existence before I end up with random guys messaging me dick pics.”
He winces and shakes his head at her. “Do guys on those services actually do that?”
“Yes,” she replies with a huff. She doesn’t elaborate and he’s glad for that.
“Foster really wants you to get back out there, huh?” Matt asks as concern stirs in the back corner of his mind.
“She thinks it’s been too long,” Brett answers with a shrug. “She might be right. I mean you’ve been out there a lot lately. No reason I shouldn’t be too.”
He tenses and tries to keep his eyes from widening. She noticed that? He hadn’t spent much time talking about it but he supposes with Stella living with them now it’s not a stretch to think Kidd told her. The truth is, he’s not exactly proud of it. He’s spinning out and he knows it. Not that he can say any of that to Brett. She’s the reason he’s spinning out in the first place. Trying to avoid having feelings for someone is hard work. It had been a while since he’d had serious feelings for anyone and he isn’t sure if risking his friendship with Brett is the right move. But he’s not sure it’s the wrong move either. And then he wondered if he maybe he was just lonely and his brain was making him feel things that weren’t really there.
He thought if he could redirect what he feels for Brett and focus it on someone else then he could prove to himself that it was loneliness and not real feelings. So far, that hadn’t worked. He’d been on a handful of dates at this point and all of them ended the same way.
No sparks. No tension. No lingering looks that make him question everything he thinks he knows. Just bland and boring perfectly fine dinners with women who weren’t Sylvie Brett.
“You’ve been out there,” he supplies weakly. “I mean, there was that Ryan guy.”
The Ryan guy that annoyed him despite seeming perfectly nice.
“That was one date…over lunch. And honestly I wasn’t even sure it was a date until he tried to kiss me so I really don’t think that’s worth claiming,” she admits with a scoff. “I don’t know I just…I don’t wait to date a guy just because he’s nice and polite. I want…I want more than that. I want something real. Something I don’t have to force or chase or contort myself to reach. Is that too much to ask?”
“No,” he agrees. “You deserve that, Brett. You deserve to have all the things you want.”
She lets out a hopeless sigh and then looks away from her laptop to meet his eyes. They share a look that carries on for several moments and he knows it has meaning. He recognizes the emotions behind Sylvie’s stare. At that moment he knows, without a doubt, that she’s been struggling with the same issue as him. She’s feeling something for him and she doesn’t know what to do with it.
If she’s feeling it too then why are either of them fighting it? It’s a big risk, sure, but he was only unwilling to take it before because he was afraid it was one-sided. Now he knows that it isn’t, a big wave of bravery crashes over him. Sylvie wants something that feels natural and easy. That’s the two of them. The amount of times they’ve talked or made sure to show up for each other assure him of that. Now, to make sure she sees it too.
“You and I can’t keep doing this,” he insists.
“Doing what?” She asks warily.
“Dating the wrong people. Questioning everything we feel. Talking ourselves out of the very things we know we want.”
Sylvie closes the laptop, fiddles with her watchband (a habit he knows she does when she’s nervous) and then gives him a tiny hopeful smile that nearly stops his heart.
“We,” he confirms with a thick swallow. “Sylvie, you have the wrong idea about these dates I’ve been going on.”
Her eyes narrow but she doesn’t ask for elaboration. He explains himself anyway.
“When I said you and I can’t keep doing this, what I really meant was…” Now or never, Casey. There’s no way you’re chickening out when you face roaring fires and gas explosions on a bi-weekly basis. “I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”
A soft gasp brings his eyes to hers and he finds delighted disbelief reflected back at him.
“I—I don’t understand. So the dates that you went on…”
“I kept trying to distract myself from you,” he replies when her question fades expectantly. “It didn’t work.”
“Well,” she says quietly while glancing around the common room for prying ears. “I have a very simple solution for you.” She reaches out a hand and wraps it around his before tugging him closer, beaming at him the entire time. “Stop pretending to kiss me and just do it already.”
“Here? Now?” He asks with pleasant surprise.
“There’s no one else around. Besides, didn’t you just say that we should stop talking ourselves out of the things we want?” She challenges with a triumphant grin.
That grin lures him closer until his lips are a breath away from hers. He spent all this time trying to convince himself Brett wouldn’t want him or that losing their friendship wasn’t worth the risk, but he was wrong on both counts. Based on the enticing smile and impatient look in her eyes she does want him and finding out where that might lead then is absolutely worth the risk.
He closes the distance and finally covers her lips with his. Her lips feel perfect against his. Soft and giving like Sylvie herself. Until she sucks his bottom lip in between hers and then some of that assertiveness he’s always admired shows itself. The kiss gets away from them and deepens as lips part and tongues explore.
Holy shit, she’s good at this. He needs more. More of her insistent mouth. More of her soft skin than what he feels under his palm that cups her jaw. More of her. His free hand finds her waist and starts to work it’s way under her shirt — only for the bells to sound and announce a call for Ambo 61. He lets out a frustrated curse which causes Sylvie to laugh softly as she pulls away from him.
“Don’t worry,” she says reassuringly, carding a soothing touch through his hair. “We’re definitely finishing this discussion when I get back.”
He smirks at her back as she leaves. He should have done that a long time ago. No more pretending to kiss Sylvie Brett. No more kissing anyone other than her, for that matter. He should have known the reality would be far better than the fantasy. Sylvie Brett has always impressed him before. There’s no reason for that to change now.
