A/N: Yet another prompt that has turned into a one shot. Here was the prompt I was sent: "Dialogue #3 Maybe somebody shows up at somebody's door." and dialogue number three was: "It's three in the morning." and that inspired THIS which involved into over 3k words lol.

Happy reading!

angellwings

Home Is You're With Me

By angellwings

"Everywhere we go is home baby home, home is you're with me,

Everything we touch is love, baby love, love is all we need,

Is all we need, is all we need.

I don't need a roof over my head while I've got your hands,

To shade the sun away from my face,

I don't need a space to call my own, to scatter records on my floor,

You're my secret place."

-"Homeless" by Dia Frampton

It all started when Cruz moved out. It was a foregone conclusion that he would move out after the wedding, but something about seeing Cruz and Chloe happily married triggered something in Foster. It was like she all of a sudden realized commitment didn't have to hold her back in life. (Something Sylvie had been trying to tell her for quite some time, by the way.) And suddenly she went from casual flings only to searching out The One.

"Cruz has Chloe. Stella has Severide. You have Casey. You're all so happy and I guess...I want a little bit of that too, you know?" She'd admitted during their first night without Cruz.

She and Casey were a brand new thing at the time and Sylvie spent most of her time waiting for the other shoe to drop. Surely, this would somehow ruin all the good things about her friendship with Casey. Her biggest fear was losing him completely or realizing they weren't as compatible as she imagined they would be. So those first couple of months saw her holding her breath constantly. She didn't really understand why Foster was rating her fledgling romantic relationship up there with the clearly meant to be couples they knew, but she didn't question it. If it helped Foster move forward with her life then that was all that mattered.

Only, she didn't expect her to move forward so fast!

They're barely six months past that conversation when Foster comes to her full of giddy excitement. She's been dating a wonderful woman named Lorna. Emily fell for her almost immediately. Sylvie couldn't be happier for her. Emily deserved to be blissfully happy.

"She asked me to move in with her!" Emily exclaims. "Her roommate just got married and she can't really afford the rent so…we talked about it and it just feels like the right time. You know?"

Oh. "Foster! That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you!"

"I knew you would be, Partner. I figure the lease is up in the next two months so I'll wait till then that way if you decide to find a new place altogether you can," Emily suggests. "Perfect, right?"

She ignores the impending stress of apartment hunting and forces a bright smile. "Yeah. Totally perfect!"

No way she can afford this place by herself and the idea of trying to find not just one but two new roommates feels equally as stressful as apartment hunting. That's exactly what she tells Casey when he picks her up for their shift the next morning.

"Wow," he says with raised eyebrows and a stunned grin. "How long have they been dating?"

"Three months, give or take a week," Sylvie answers with a sigh. "I mean I'm happy for her. I really am, but it's going to be almost impossible to find something I can afford on my own."

"Three months is fast," he says, with an adorably concerned expression.

She takes his hand that isn't on the steering wheel and relaxes into his passenger seat with a shrug. "I guess...when you know, you know. Right?"

His eyes linger on her for a prolonged moment before he finally nods and pulls out onto the road. "Yeah. I guess so."

"You okay?" She asks.

There's a worry niggling at the back of her mind that she's somehow given him a reason to rethink the two of them. Eight months in and she still occasionally feels like that girl who held her breath for a solid two months, waiting for him to break up with her.

He smiles warmly at her and lifts the back of her hand to his lips for a quick kiss. "I'm good. Promise."

"I wonder if Herrmann's studio apartment is still available?" She asks. "Did he say he rented it to anyone after Stella moved out?"

"I don't think so," Casey replies hesitantly. "He hasn't mentioned it anyway."

"I'll ask him," she says with a determined nod. "I'll look at other options first but it's a solid back up plan if I can't make anything else work. Plus, it might mean I can talk Cindy into making me a batch of her brownies."

Casey laughs and shakes his head. "That's an important amenity, huh? Living within walking distance of Cindy's brownies?"

"Duh, I mean you've had them, right? They're miraculous."

"Say that to Herrmann and Cindy and they'll let you have the place. No questions asked. Probably tomorrow," Casey replies with a smirk.

She giggles and nods. "Good idea. Flattery will get me everywhere."

Turns out, her Firehouse 51 family is full of suggestions. Ritter and Gallo give her a few sites she can visit to safely look for roommates. (She doesn't plan to use it but it's still a sweet gesture.) Herrmann immediately offers up his studio, throwing in Cindy's brownies without her even having to ask. And Cruz gives her Chloe's old roommate's number because apparently she still hasn't found anyone either. She ends her shift with the realization that this predicament won't be anywhere near as stressful as she initially assumed. Her friends have her back. She should have known they would from the very beginning.

"So, I heard you've got a few solid leads," Casey states as they leave 51 hand-in-hand.

She nods and holds up the card Cruz gave her. "This one looks like the best one. I'm going to call Chloe's old roommate tonight and see if we can meet up. He says Chloe's old apartment's actually closer to the Firehouse than mine so maybe this will work out for the best."

"Yeah, maybe," Casey agrees. Though his agreement sounds completely insincere to her ears and she has no idea why.

"But that's for me to worry about later," she tells him as she gives him her brightest smile. "What's the plan for today? How busy are you?"

"Actually, I've got the entire morning free," he says as he releases her hand to put an arm around her waist. "Do you mind taking a ride with me? I want to show you something."

Her eyes widen with eager interest. "Ooh, intrigue. Where are we going?"

"Just a job I'm about to finish up in a week or two," he states. "I might need your HGTV expertise to help me pick paint colors."

She leans up and kisses his cheek excitedly. "Oh! I love it when you ask for my help! What are you renovating this time? An office space? A basement?"

"You'll see," he answers mysteriously.

It turns out it's a townhouse not far from the firehouse. The owners wanted the kitchen and the bathrooms updated before they put it on the market. The only thing Casey has left to do is paint, choose a backsplash for the kitchen, and install the appliances. He has samples of backsplashes and swatches of different paints on each wall, as if he's been agonizing over the decision for a while now.

"What do you think?" He asks as he shows her around the space.

"It's beautiful," she tells him honestly. "I love the open floor plan and the amount of windows. Lot's of natural light. It's very bright. Homey." She wanders over to the wall in the kitchen where he's painted small squares of different colors. Various shades of white, blue, and grey. She glances around at the white cabinets and the white floors and grimaces at every shade of while on the wall. Too bland. But grey doesn't feel right. Too dark. She points to a pale shade of blue - just a shade softer than Robin's Egg - and looks back at him with a confident smile. "That one. Otherwise, this room will feel too cold. At least, I think so."

"Fair enough," he concurs with a nod. "And the backsplash?"

She looks at the options he's laid out on the small kitchen island and knows immediately which one she'd prefer. "The white subway tile. It looks very fresh and clean."

He continues to nod, slowly, as he backs up to the open archway that leads from the kitchen to the living room. He puts his hands on his hips and glances around, envisioning her suggestions, and then gives her his beautiful teeth baring smile that consistently takes her breath away. "Perfect. I like it."

"Why are they selling it?" She asks as she wanders out into the living and dining room to explore the space.

"They needed more space. They're about to have baby number two," he tells her.

"Oh," she says putting a hand over her heart as she imagines a sweet little family buying a bigger house with a backyard and room to play. "That's the absolute best reason to have to move. How adorable!"

Casey's eyes are full of amusement and affection when they find hers again. He crosses the space between them and wraps his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. "If anyone is adorable here, it's you. I bet you're imagining a picture perfect life for them right now. Am I right or am I right?"

She was, in fact, imagining the living embodiment of a Norman Rockwell painting. Yes. "You're right. But it's what they deserve. It's what everyone deserves."

"And that is why I love you," he says through a chuckle. "You are constantly looking for the good things in life."

Those three words aren't new. They've exchanged them several times before, but they never get old. Each time he reminds her he loves her, her warmth and fondness for him only grows. "I love you too. Specifically, because you are constantly looking for ways to make life truly good. For your friends, your family, your community. It's pretty irresistible if you ask me."

His eyes search her face for a long moment. She can see nerves in his expression and it gives her the feeling he's building up to something huge. He takes a breath, opens his mouth to speak-and then his phone rings. He immediately deflates and rolls his eyes.

"Sorry, I-this is probably about an inspection for another place that I-" He stops and sighs hopelessly. "I should take this."

She nods. "Okay, sure. Not a problem. I'll just...snoop a little bit."

He flashes her a mirthful grin as he releases her and then gestures to the staircase. "The bedrooms are upstairs. Knowing you like I do, I highly recommend checking out the closet in the master bedroom."

"Is it a walk in? How much bigger is it than my current closet? I'm going to want to live in it, aren't I?"

He merely laughs in response before stepping outside to take his phone call. The minute he's gone she races up the stairs. He's right the closet is impressive. She's glad he's on the phone. No need for him to see her falling head over heels for storage space. Honestly, if she could marry a closet, this would be The One.

Once he's done on the phone, he gives her a ride home. He has to move around his day for a building inspection or else he'll be delayed another week and then after that he has a few prospective client meetings.

"I'll probably be a while. I'll call you later, though, okay?" He tells her, kissing her before dropping her off.

She doesn't hear from him for the rest of the day, which is highly expected when he's in the middle of several jobs at once. He texts her around dinnertime to let her know that he got an emergency call from Boden and he'll update her when he can. She wonders if they're following up on that house fire from yesterday. Casey told her Boden suspected Arson and that something about the victims made things person for their Chief.

Either way, he's tied up until who knows when. She may never find out what he was trying to ask her. Maybe it was nothing important but...it seemed important to him. She could see the hesitance and doubt in his eyes.

It distracts her all night long and it must be obvious because Foster does her best to distract her.

"Did you call Chloe's old roommate?" She asks.

"Oh no!" Sylvie exclaims as she checks the time. "I forgot and it's probably too late now."

To be truthful, she'd been too busy thinking about Casey and that townhouse to think of anything else.

"That's okay. You can call her tomorrow. If all else fails, you can always stay at Herrmann's right?" Foster says with a casual shrug. "No big deal."

She bites her bottom lip and thinks back to that unfinished kitchen and the huge walk in closet. Her heart and her mind keep circling back to it. Something about it just felt right. "I don't know. Maybe I won't rent this time. I have some money in savings. I bet I could find something I can afford. Maybe a...townhouse or something."

"Wow! When did you become a real adult?" Foster asks teasingly. "Oh god, I can't imagine being a homeowner. That's too much commitment."

Sylvie snorts out a laugh and picks up her glass of wine off the coffee table. "You would say that."

"Hey, commiting to a relationship is one thing, but a mortgage loan? That's far too serious for even the new and improved me," Emily replies with a smirk. "Where did you and Casey go after shift this morning?"

"He showed me one of his jobs," she answers vaguely. "He knows I like that kind of stuff."

"With the amount of HGTV you watch?" Foster teases. "Everyone and their dog knows how much you like that kind of stuff."

She glances down at her phone, realizing how late it's gotten, and admits defeat. She probably won't hear from Matt again until the morning. "I should get some sleep. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Roomie," Foster bids as she walks away.

She washes her face and brushes her teeth and then slips on a pair of soft sweats. She should be tired. She should fall asleep the minute her head hits the pillow, but instead she tosses and turns and checks her phone every hour or so. This is ridiculous. What could he have been about to ask her? Why is it bothering her so much? He could have just wanted to know if she wanted to go out for breakfast or did she want to meet him for dinner when he was done with work. Just because she thought he looked nervous, doesn't mean he actually was. Oh, she hates herself sometimes. Why won't her brain just let it be?

A buzz sounds from the intercom by the door. It's loud and long, like someone is leaning on the button. She sits up in alarm, throws a hoodie on and her slippers. She steps out into the living room, relieved that the noise didn't awake Emily, and then pushes to talk.

"Hello?"

"Sylvie?"

"Matt?" She asks in surprise. She looks down at her phone and blanches. "It's three in the morning."

"I know. I'm sorry. Can I come up? Can we talk?"

"Of course, you can come up. Is everything okay?" she replies as she hits the button to let him in.

He doesn't respond and that worries her. She makes them both a cup of coffee and by the time she's done he's knocking on her door. When she opens it, he doesn't come in.

"What's up? Why are you here so late?" She asks.

"We were interrupted before," he reminds her. "And then I was going to try and pick you up for dinner but Boden called and we just finished up with that shitshow. I have been trying since this morning to find a moment to ask you something and there's no point in going home because there's no chance in hell I'm going to be able to sleep. So, here I am, waking you up at 3 am like a jackass."

She bites back a grin and shakes her head. "You didn't wake me up. I couldn't sleep."

"Well, there's that at least," he says sardonically. But then immediately looks concerned. "Why can't you sleep?"

She blinks at him in surprised amusement. He's here with a seemingly urgent question and yet he stops to worry about her. "Matt, maybe you should ask me your question first and then we can talk about me later."

"Right, you're right," he says as he awkwardly clears his throat.

"Do you want to come in?" She asks when he goes silent again.

"No, here's good. Look, I've been thinking about asking you this for a while, but I didn't know what the situation was with Foster or how you felt about moving out of this place considering how long you've lived here and who you lived here with so I didn't. But, God, Sylvie, I want to see you first thing every morning and last thing every night. I want to find a closet big enough for us to share. I...I want you to decorate a place until it represents both of us. If you're going to move then-I want us to move in someplace together. I don't care where, whether it's a house or an apartment, just so long as it's ours."

Her eyes water and a smile spreads across her face until it extends so wide that her cheeks start to hurt. She jumps across the threshold, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a frenzied kiss to his lips. When she pulls back, she cups the side of his face and nods eagerly.

"Ours," she repeats. "I love that word so much more today than I did yesterday." She kisses him one more time, slow and sweet, before giving him a real answer. "Yes, Matt. I would love to move in with you. As soon as possible, please."

"Thank God," Matt exclaims before closing the distance between them with an intrusive kiss. He backs her into the apartment and kicks the door closed behind him. He leans back from the kiss with a smirk. "Since neither of us can sleep, I vote we do something much more enjoyable with the rest of the night."

"That, sir, sounds like a unanimous decision."

There are still a lot of details to hammer out, but for tonight she wants to enjoy the moment. This is a huge step forward for them. The start of building their own home and their own life and maybe eventually their own family. Her future is finally falling into place and she's so grateful that her future is happening with Matt.

She can't imagine ever ending up with anyone else.