"Damn it!" Kelly cried as Bruno barked at the smoke that was coming from the oven.  What was I thinking?  I know I can't cook, he thought to himself.  He ignored the puppy's barking as he opened a window.  What had he been thinking?  He was a terrible cook and everyone knew it.  It was why he lived on takeout and frozen meals.  But he had wanted to do something special for Erin to cheer her up after everything that had happened, so he had tried to make her favorite meal.  Obviously, that was a dud.

He then glanced at Bruno who continued barking, his whole body primed as if he was ready to take on the oven. 
"Get back, Bruno," he said gruffly and went to open the oven.  Great, he thought.  Erin was going to skin him alive.  They had been living together barely a week and he had managed to screw things up.  At this rate, she was going to go running back to Hank.  Well, at least she wouldn't starve that way...

Erin opened the front door and came home. Bruno was still barking at the stove. "Bruno. Hush!" She commanded as she dropped her keys in the bowl. The rush of smoke and she made a face. Most people would smell smoke and insta-worry. Erin lived with a firefighter and she knew he was home. "Kelly!" She called out as she moved into the kitchen. When she saw him in the kitchen trying to cook she came up behind him and gave him a hug. Erin was glad the whole fire department didn't have to respond to his cooking adventure.

Her face was in all sort of contorted positions. "One question, is it charcoal or mush?" Erin was trying to lighten the mood, she had a feeling he was going to be upset about making a kitchen catastrophe, but he'd tried. Admittedly, she was trying not to laugh, mentally she was rolling around laughing that the dog had been barking at it. It had to be pretty bad for a dog to bark at a stove.

Tag: Lt. Kelly Severide

As Kelly tried to wave the smoke out the window, he heard the door open and Erin telling Bruno to hush. Damn it. This isn't what she needs to come home to, he thought to himself. When she she called his name, he sighed.
"Here," he called, sighing a bit. I really screwed up, he thought. Why did everything always blow up in his face? Why couldn't he catch a break for once? It wasn't fair. He was just trying to do something nice for her and once again, it had blown up in his face. Quite literally this time. I don't get it. I followed the recipe to the letter, he thought to himself. So how had he screwed up? Aw, hell, what did it matter how it had happened? The point was that it had happened.

He then leaned into her as she came up behind him and pulled him close, asking if it was charcoal or mush.
"Charcoal," he responded, his shoulders slumping. "Babe, I'm sorry. I was just...I don't know what I was thinking. We both know I can't cook worth a damn and I nearly cost you a second home," he apologized. When am I going to start getting it right? he wondered. He hated the fact that he couldn't even manage to do this one simple thing for her. She probably hated him now.

Erin shook her head. “Don’t apologize to me.” She warned lightly. It wasn’t his fault, he had tried. It wasn’t like she felt in danger because he tried to cook. He was a firefighter, he was hardly going to let the place burn. “I have a firefighter for a chef, this has to be the safest place to start a fire.” She pointed at the kitchen. Maybe he couldn’t cook but she knew he was hardly going to endanger her.

“I’ll teach you to cook.” Erin responded quietly. Turning the oven off, she turned back around towards him and started cleaning up the small mess that had been made. “Stop worrying about it.”

Tag: Lt. Kelly Severide

Kelly smiled as Erin told him not to apologize, adding that she had a firefighter for a chef, which meant that it was the safest place to start a fire.
"More like the worst place. If anything happened to you, Hank would kill me," he corrected. And with good reason, he thought to himself. Who would want the guy who nearly killed his daughter around? Yeah, he had to be careful here. The last thing he wanted was to get on Hank's bad side.

He nodded as she began cleaning up his mess, assuring him that she'd teach him how to cook.
"Okay," he responded. "Speaking of though, what are you in the mood for?" he queried as he went to get his list of takeout. The last thing he wanted was to screw up again by choosing something she didn't want to eat.

Erin let out a hard sigh. Why was her high school friend being so overprotective. No, give him a break Erin. He’s still coming to grips with almost losing you. Moving towards him she pulled him close to her. “Stop being the pessimist.” Erin whispered in her ear. She had her arms tightly wrapped around his waist. Erin didn’t want to let him go. “My dad isn’t that bad.” She reminded him.

“I haven’t really thought about what I’m hungry for babe. Pick a place, I will find something on the menu that I like.” Erin wasn’t picky when it came to eating. Kissing his neck she looked over his shoulder to see what he was digging through. If something caught her eye she was likely to grab it but so far nothing seemed like she just had to have it.

Tag: Lt. Kelly Severide

Kelly was silent as Erin told him to stop being so pessimistic, reminding him that Hank wasn't so bad.
"I know. It's just...." his voice trailed off as he gave her a shrug. Hate the fact that this got ruined, he thought to himself. All he had wanted to do was pamper her a little and yet he couldn't even do that without it blowing up in his face. This time, quite literally. I suck at this sort of thing, he thought to himself. Hopefully, she'd understand where the gesture had been coming from. And besides, she was right about Hank, he knew this. This week had just been damn stressful. Not that he was going to say this out loud. No, he had no right to do so. Erin was the one who had been through hell, not him.

He then nodded as she told him that she hadn't really thought about eating and that she'd just pick something from the menu of whatever he picked, kissing his neck as she said this.
"How about Chinese? Our usual?" he queried. They hadn't had it in a while so it was probably time to rotate to it again. But maybe she wasn't in the mood for it. No, he couldn't think like that. She had told him to pick and she was usually okay with his choices. He just had to wait for her to say yes or no.

Hank wanted to kill the person responsible, Kelly was blaming himself, and Erin was stuck inside of the memories she’d have to live with forever. Erin had been drinking heavily and she’s talked with her dad. “We are going to get the person who did this Kelly.” She couldn’t tell him about the Navy SEAL’s wife who had been subjected to a similar incident. Lucky for the woman she’d come out okay. There had been no fire. They’d thought it was a copy cat at first; but she knew better now. She still hadn’t faced Matt since the day in the hospital. She didn’t have the heart to tell the SEAL that she’d failed the first time in catching this guy. No, she couldn’t think about that.

“Yeah, but the place I love doesn’t deliver here anymore.” She paused a moment. “Give me a bit to change, we can go out.” Erin had been doing okay at getting out of the house more and more recently, she couldn’t let this take her down with it. Running her hand down the side of Kelly’s face she smiled. “Everything will work out.” Did she want to call him out on blaming himself yet? No, but she was eventually going to, when the time was right.

Tag: Lt. Kelly Severide

Kelly nodded and listened as Erin assured him that they were going to find the person who had burned her house down.
"Okay," he said. Yeah, he trusted her. He just hated feeling so helpless. Hopefully, she wouldn't get mad at him for being so overprotective.

He nodded again as she asked him to give her enough time to change as the place she liked didn't deliver anymore.
"Yeah, of course. take all the time you need," he responded. Don't rush her, he thought to himself. He wanted her to be able to get back to normal.

He then leaned into her touch as she assured him that everything was going to be okay.
"I know," he responded. And he did. It was just...hard to remember sometimes. But he was going to do his best to remember. He just had to hold on to the reminder that they were both out of that damn inferno and safe here.

As she was getting dressed, he moved Bruno's food, water, bed, and some his toys into the bedroom, bringing one of his jackets.
"Lay down," he stated and the puppy plopped himself on the bed. When Kelly headed towards the door, the puppy stood up. "No. Stay," he said firmly and continued on his way, closing the door behind him. When she was ready, they'd go.