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Dominic Perez. That fucking asshole. He’d been flirting with you since the second he walked through the doors of 51 and you wanted to kill him. He was sprouting cheeky pickup lines and sexist comments about female firefighters. It took you years of hard work, determination, and pain to get where you are. You got a half scholarship to go to Concordia University in Montreal and got a degree in programming. Being away from Chicago and your family had been difficult. It was even worse when you got the call after your last exam and was given the news that your dad, a firefighter, died in the line of duty. You had to fly back immediately and couldn’t even go to your own graduation, your degree had to be sent in the mail. The funeral had not only been the most tragic event you’d ever been to, but it changed your mind about your career completely. You wanted to be a firefighter, much to the horror of your mom. She’d begged you to use your programming degree instead, started a job search for you. But you felt like you had to do this. And you did still put your degree to use, you’d started creating apps and working as a freelance programmer. To try and keep your mom at ease you ate dinner with her and your brothers once every two weeks.
You had just finished double checking all the equipment on truck 81 before reloading it all. “You alright baby girl? That looks way too heavy for a sweet girl like you.” You didn’t even bother trying to stop yourself from physically recoiling at Dominic’s words. “I am more than capable of carrying this much weight and doing my job, Perez. And again, please stop hitting on me, I don’t like it and I don’t have any romantic or sexual feelings for you.”
“Aw c’mon, don’t be like that.”
“Perez, the garbage needs to be taken out and the bathroom needs to be cleaned. Get to it.” The order came from the lieutenant of squad 3, Kelly Severide. “Aw, c’mon lieutenant, I’m spending some quality time with Y/N, y’know, I have a feeling it’ll lead to something more.” His filthy words and gestures to me made me recoil. “NOW CANDIDATE.” Perez was clearly shocked and bolted toward the common room to start with his chores. “Thanks, lieutenant.”
“Y/N, I’ve told you before, call me Kelly. Even when we’re on shift. And there are no thanks required, what he’s doing isn’t okay. I wrote up a report and sent it yesterday.”
“Kelly-”
“He’s been harassing you since the moment he got here, he’s constantly disobeying orders, and he’s always pulling dangerous stunts when we’re out on call. The only reason he hasn’t been booted yet is because his dad is one of the higher-ups. His dad responded to the report this morning. He said that Perez is going to be under observation by someone from HR for the rest of this shift. If he’s found causing trouble, he’s going to be booted from the academy. Based on the nod I got from Mark, the guy from HR, when Perez bolted, he’ll be booted at the end of shift.”
“Okay, that’s good. I can breathe easy now.”
“Me too.” You frowned at his words, confused. “Why would Perez getting kicked out of the academy be a relief to Kelly?” You muttered to yourself as Kelly walked away because Capp signalled him over, leaving you with Casey.
“Oh, come on, you have to know how much Perez’s harassment has been pissing off Severide. Why do you think he’s been glowering for the past two months?”
“Okay, so he’s been upset with the way I’ve been treated. That makes sense. He’s a really good friend.” Mat gave you a stare that clearly said ‘you have got to be kidding me’. “Look, Severide isn’t worried about you the same way I’m worried about you. He’s not worried about his friend, he’s worried about the woman he’s been in love with for the past year.”
“What?! He’s what?!”
“Did you seriously not know? Come on Y/N. You have to have known, it’s been way too obvious for anyone to ignore it.”
“Honestly, I noticed but I didn’t want to believe it.”
“Well believe it. And ask him out. Seriously, please just put us all out of our misery.” All that you could do was nod and fiddle with your fingers. You bit your lip as Casey walked away and turned to look at Kelly, who was now talking with Otis and Cruz.
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The firehouse was at Molly’s relaxing after a shift. There was jazzy music playing over the speakers as you let the warmth of the alcohol spread through you. “Hello sexy.” Aaaand there went your happiness. “Leave me alone Perez.”
“Now, see, I don’t think I can do that. I just got booted from the academy for sexual harassment, of all things. I think that since your complaints got me kicked out, you can open your legs to make it up to me.”
“I don’t owe you anything, now fuck off.”
“Y/L/N, you will come home with me or else I-”
“You’ll what, Perez?” Kelly’s voice boomed from behind him. Perez whipped himself around in his barstool before paling once he realized how livid Kelly was. Perez started stuttering and making excuses. “You know what, Perez? Get out. I have had more than enough of your behaviour. Harassing women, my Y/N especially, is not okay. It never has been. So get your pathetic ass out of Molly’s and don’t come back. Got it?”
“Yes sir!” Perez bolted as soon as Kelly stopped boxing him in against the bar. You cleared your throat, making Kelly and everyone near you turn to you. “YOUR Y/N, Kelly?” His cheeks erupted in red. “Uh, well you see...” He let out a nervous chuckle and started scratching the back of the head. “Well Kelly, what did you mean by that?”
“I... uh, I love you, Y/N.” You smiled sheepishly and bit your lip. “Really?”
“Yeah, I mean, that can’t be a surprise, I’m not exactly subtle about it. I understand that you don’t feel the same way, but Perez, god. I hated him so much, the way he was disrespecting you, bothering you, harassing you, if Casey hadn’t pushed me to report it to HR I would have beat his skull in myself soon enough-”
“I love you too Kelly.” You watched his face split in half with the biggest smile you’d ever seen. He cradled your face in his hands and leaned down until your foreheads touched. “You are the most important person in my life, Y/N, I love you so much” You wrapped your arms around his neck and closed the distance with a giddy smile on your face.