18A/N: Hi all! I'm so sorry there's been such a gap in uploading. Everything that's been going on in life really had me down and I was doing bare minimum. Anyway, this story is not part of my Plans and Promises Universe and, as it said in the summary, is some combination of AU and Canon Divergence. Really, I'm just borrowing a couple canon events in whatever order they suit my agenda to set up this story. I'm three chapters ahead currently, so hopefully my muse doesn't leave me high and dry again and I can post a new chapter for you every week.
Now, without further ado, here's chapter one! I hope you enjoy and, as always, feel free to let me know what you think. =)
Chapter 1: Gotta Go My Own Way
Sylvie Brett was sick and tired of Harrison's shit.
Six months ago, he'd proposed to her at their high school graduation. Of course, she said yes! They'd been dating for three years and, while he had his irritating moments, he was so sweet afterward. He told her how much he loved her often - almost too often in retrospect - and he had been the one to start talking about their future together. Their life together, the kids they would have. (He wanted three - two boys and a girl - AJ, Bentley, and Sophie. In that order.) He was mostly patient, waiting two years for Sylvie to kiss him. He said he loved how much of a good girl she was, but he kept asking her if she was ready yet, and he definitely hadn't been very understanding when she said she wanted to wait until marriage to have sex. Looking back, that was probably why he had proposed.
After being engaged, Harrison found a house and a job in Goshen where she wanted to go college. They moved in together then everything began to go downhill. He started pressuring her even more. They would be getting married soon, he'd said. What's the difference of a few months? She'd dodged the question and didn't give in. Instead, she made an excuse to push the wedding back until after she'd graduated college. To his credit, he'd grudgingly agreed.
At home, Harrison expected her to take care of all of the chores and cooking. Then, he began to get possessive of her, getting upset on the few occasions she would hang out with friends or have a study or practice session. At first, she justified it. He was, after all, paying for everything. He worked long days and probably just wanted to spend time with her when he came home. If she was gone, he couldn't do that. As she prepared for her first midterms, however, the household tasks became overwhelming. One day, she'd been studying for her theory final and lost track of the time. When Harrison came home and she didn't have supper ready, he was furious. At the time, Sylvie forgave him. He'd probably just had a bad day at work. After that, though, she began to notice that he was constantly being condescending. He never wanted to help her out around the house and didn't seem to be interested about her day. She hated how he made her feel so belittled and she was fucking sick of it.
One day, she decided she was going to leave him, leave Goshen. Shit, maybe she'd leave the state all together. Without his knowledge - he didn't care about what she wanted anyway - she made her exit plan.
When Harrison and Sylvie came to visit for Christmas, Anthony Brett knew something was different about his daughter. She said she was fine, but the look on her face told him differently. He didn't know for sure, but he expected that it had something to do with Harrison. He still remembered when she'd first met him nearly five years ago.
…
She'd come home with her best friend, Hope, fawning over the cute boy they'd met while they were on their weekly trip to the next town over getting milkshakes. They'd suddenly gone quiet when they realized Anthony and his wife, Maria, were sitting on the front porch and could hear every word.
"Oh, uh, hi Mom, Dad," Sylvie said. "I thought you were going to visit Nana and Papa."
Anthony shook his head. "They have card club tonight. We thought the four of us could go tomorrow."
"Sounds fun," Sylvie replied. She enjoyed trips to her grandparents' house with her brother and parents. Her 12-year-old brother, Quentin, was starting to help their grandfather with small construction projects, and their grandmother had started teaching her some of the family recipes last year. The two loved cooking together, and there was always a card game after the dishes had been washed and put away.
"Speaking of fun," Maria said, "what did you two do today?"
A blush spread across Sylvie's face and she shuffled her feet in the gravel driveway.
"Oh, you know, just the usual milkshakes at the diner," Hope said, trying to cover for her friend. "Come on, Sylvie, didn't you say there was something you wanted to show me?"
Confusion flashed over Sylvie's face before she realized Hope was trying to give her an out. "Oh, uh, yeah. Let's go."
Hope grabbed Sylvie's hand and the two hurried inside.
Maria turned and smiled knowingly at her husband. "I think our girl has a first boyfriend on the horizon.
He'd returned his wife's smile. His only hope was that this boy, whoever he was, wouldn't hurt his girl.
…..
Now, Anthony supposed, his wishes for his baby girl hadn't come as true as he'd hoped.
Later that day, Maria stepped into the living room to ask him to run to town for a few last-minute groceries. The request was no more out of his wife's mouth before Sylvie abruptly quit strumming on her guitar and piped up, "I'll go with you, Dad."
Harrison also rose from his chair. "I'm coming, too."
"We really don't need three people," Sylvie protested. "Dad and I can handle it."
"Then maybe just me and you go," Harrison countered.
"I haven't seen my dad in six whole months, Harrison. Can I not have some time alone with him?"
"I was gone just as long. I'm coming with."
Sylvie huffed, planting her hands on her hips. "I'd rather not be squished in the middle seat of Dad's truck, Harrison. Stay. Here." With that, she spun on her heel and was headed for the door before Harrison had a chance to argue more.
When they got on the road, she only made small talk, avoiding any topic about Harrison or the wedding, and her answers about college were vague. She was, however, grateful her dad didn't press her.
Finally, on the way home, she decided to let him in on her plan. "I need your help with something," she said.
"What's that?"
"I'm moving to Chicago, but Harrison can't know."
"Chicago?! What? Sweetheart, is he hurting you?" Anthony asked, a protective edge to his voice.
"Physically, no," Sylvie responded, "but he's manipulative and condescending. I feel like he doesn't trust me. Did you see how much he tried to come along with us? I'm pretty sure he only stayed because you were glaring at him. - Yes, Dad, I saw the look on your face." She added before he could try to deny it.
"Okay," he responded carefully, "so why Chicago?"
She shrugged. "I can transfer to a bigger university and just get lost there. Plus, if Harrison somehow finds out where I went, it'll be harder to find me."
"Sylvie, it's such a big city. It's dangerous."
"I can handle myself, Dad. Now can you help me or not?"
Anthony took a deep breath. There was no changing his little girl's mind once she'd made it up. "Okay, what's your plan? Where will you live?"
Sylvie launched into her in-depth plan and explained exactly how she was going to keep Harrison from knowing where she was going. When she'd finished, Anthony stayed quiet for a moment, unpacking everything his daughter had just said. Finally, he replied, "You've put a lot of thought into this."
"Will you help me?"
"You're sure about this?"
Sylvie nodded.
"Then yes, I'll help you," Anthony replied as they pulled in the driveway.
"Thank you," Sylvie replied with a sigh of relief.
After administering the firefighter test, Severide knelt down beside his friend. "Come on, Dawson, let's get you to Med."
Gabby winced as the squad lieutenant and Rebecca Jones, a fellow academy student who'd just made her way over, helped her to her feet. They each wrapped an arm around her and helped her to Severide's car, promising to come back for hers later. Dawson used her friends as crutches all the way there, grateful they were there for her to lean on.
Ninety minutes, a cast and a set of crutches later, Severide and Dawson pulled back up to Firehouse 51. They saw all the rigs parked inside.
"What's taking them so long?" they heard Shay whine as they approached the door to the common room
"Sorry, guys," Dawson said, entering from the app floor, Severide right behind her. "Had a bit of a mishap."
"Oh no," Herrmann said, voicing what was going through everyone's heads when they saw Gabby on crutches. "Does this mean -" he trailed off, not wanting to put words to his fears.
"Come on, Herrmann," Gabby teased, "you couldn't pass the agility course on a broken ankle?"
Casey shot a look at Severide, trying to read his face - hoping for his girlfriend's happiness that she'd passed, but also selfishly hoping she'd failed so she didn't have to quit working at 51.
"So did you pass?" Shay asked impatiently.
"I kicked that test's ass!" Gabby exclaimed.
Cheers and applause erupted from all. Matt applauded with the rest of them, a small smile on his face as he crossed to Gabby. "I'm proud of you," he said, gently wrapping his arms around her. "You're gonna make a great firefighter."
