The heroes of One Chicago spend endless hours fighting off fires, injuries, and crime in their city, and all of that hard work leads to some pretty unbreakable bonds. It’s no secret that Firehouse 51 on Chicago Fire is a family, that the officers of the IU on Chicago P.D. are tight, or that the Chicago Med doctors have each other’s backs, but what about bonds that are a little more than familial?
Each show has spawned a handful of beloved couples, and fans have rooted for the relationships like “Dawsey” and “Linstead,” which typically came to life through intimate work friendships.
Revisit all of Chicago’s favorite pairings with us.
Dawson and Casey (Chicago Fire)
Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund) and Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) had a complicated relationship throughout the first six seasons of Chicago Fire. Fans were rooting for the two — called “Dawsey” — since their first almost-romance in Season 1. They finally kissed for the first time in Season 2 Episode 8 (“Rhymes With Shout”) and began their relationship, which still had many ups and downs.
Ultimately, the question of having a family weighed heavily on this couple. They found out Dawson was pregnant in Season 4 Episode 1 (“Let It Burn”), but then went through a tragic miscarriage. Later, they tried to adopt a foster son, Louie, whose biological family ended up being granted full custody. After both of these heartbreaks, Dawson wanted to try having a child, but Casey was concerned for her health after her earlier pregnancy.
Dawson ended up moving to Puerto Rico to help with on-the-ground medical aid in the country, and visited Firehouse 51 again in Season 8, Episode 9 (“Best Friend Magic”) to have one last romantic interaction with her ex-husband before returning to Puerto Rico for good.
Burgess and Ruzek (Chicago P.D.)
Kim Burgess (Marina Squerciati) and Adam Ruzek (Patrick John Flueger) began their romance, termed “Burzek” by fans, in Season 1 of P.D. The couple had clear chemistry even though Ruzek was engaged to someone else. By the time the engagement was broken off in Season 1 Episode 15 (“A Beautiful Friendship”), the two were ready for a relationship.
Burzek got engaged to in Season 2, but Ruzek kepy delaying the wedding date, so Burgess called it off entirely. They began dating other people and remained friendly and cordial while at work — until Season 7, when they finally rekindled their romance.
In Season 7, Episode 8 (“No Regrets”), Burgess discovered she was pregnant with Ruzek’s child, but unfortunately miscarried after a particularly violent and hard case. She later adopted a girl she’d helped on the job, Makayla, and appointed Ruzek as a co-parent despite their lack of a committed romantic relationship.
Burzek fans finally got what they had hoped for in Season 10, when the couple attended therapy together and addressed their feelings for each other.
However, in the Season 10 finale (Episode 22, “A Better Place”), Ruzek was undercover investigating white supremacists when he was shot by a radicalized child. He called Burgess, who ran to his side and accompanied him to the hospital. After promising to help the child who shot Ruzek, Burgess let the hospital to continue pursuing the case and fans were left without answers on Ruzek’s condition.
Halstead and Manning (Chicago Med)
Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) and Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) had a strong romance throughout the first few seasons of the show. The two began connecting in Seasons 1 and 2, and finally committed to each other in the Season 3 premiere (“Speak Your Truth”). They were both helping a married couple who were victims of a car crash, and Halstead told Manning that the wife was desperate for her husband to live so she could “tell him how she really feels.” This sparked their own confrontation, where they addressed their feelings for each other and began dating.
Halstead and Manning wound up engaged during Season 4, but a complicated case made everything go awry on their wedding day and Manning was left alone at the venue. The aftermath of that and the PTSD Halstead faced made it hard for them to reconnect, so they decided to be friends.
At the end of Season 6, Dr. Manning left Chicago to move to Seattle, leaving their pairing in limbo. Halstead dated other people throughout the following seasons, but fans still held out hope for him and Manning. It was therefore celebrated when the Season 8 finale showed Halstead saying goodbye to Chicago and arriving in Seattle. His last moments showed him with Dr. Manning, implying a “happily ever after” ending for the fan-favorite pair.
Kidd and Severide (Chicago Fire)
Coined “Stellaride” by their fans, Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo) and Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney) been through a lot together. They began dating in Season 4 after it was revealed that Severide had flirted with Kidd when they were trainees together, years prior. They kissed for the first time at Molly’s in Season 4 Episode 21 (“Kind of a Crazy Idea”) and quickly became one of Chicago’s most beloved power couples.
The two broke up for a while in Season 6 after Kidd’s ex-husband, Grant, was released from a psychiatric hospital and stalked her, threatening her safety. The stress of this caused a lot of distance between Stellaride, and they didn’t get back together until the end of Season 6, after Kidd moved in with Severide as “roommates.”
The two got married in the Season 10 finale episode (“The Magnificent City of Chicago”) but their problems didn’t end there. They were stalked to their honeymoon location and had to run from suspects pursuing Severide. During Season 11, Severide left Chicago to attend a fire investigation course in Alabama.
But he didn’t immediately return when the program ended — a fact Joe Cruz (Joe Minoso) only learned second-hand in Season 11 Episode 21 (“Change of Plans”) — and instead was supposedly working with the ATF on a larger investigation. When Cruz told Kidd, it became clear she didn’t know, either.
In the finale (Season 11, Episode 22, “Red Waterfall”) an unsatisfying, vague phone call between the two promoted Kidd to take a short leave for the firehouse to go track Severide down.
Halstead and Upton (Chicago P.D.)
Detective Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos) and Detective Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) have been solid partners both in and out of the precinct. But “Upstead” began showing clear feelings for each other in Season 7. In Episode 10 (“Mercy”), Vanessa Rojas (Lisseth Chavez) was comforting Upton after Halstead had been injured on the job. “It’s hard because you love him,” she told Upton.
The two dated throughout Season 8 and 9, and officially tied the knot in a courthouse wedding in Season 9 Episode 22 (“You and Me”). Unfortunately for Upstead fans, Soffer left the show during its tenth season and Halstead resigned from the force after growing sick of Voight’s unethical policing.
Dr. Choi and April Sexton (Chicago Med)
Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) and April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) first kissed in Season 2 of Med, but April was worried about being a nurse dating a doctor. Her fears came to fruition pretty quickly: When a fellow nurse found out about her romance with Dr. Choi in Season 3, Episode 1 (“Speak Your Truth”), she claimed that Dr. Choi was inappropriately giving Sexton the better jobs. “I do not want to be that cliche,” Sexton told Choi in the episode.
Later, the couple explored IVF together in an attempt to start a family, which led to the downfall of their relationship. The failure of the treatment and their inability to get pregnant brought distance between them, and they ended up breaking up for a few seasons, only to reunite (and marry!) in Season 8.
Brett and Casey (Chicago Fire)
The “Brettsey” relationship has been a recent source of excitement for Chicago Fire fans. After Dawson’s departure, Casey began relying a lot on Sylvie Brett (Kara Killmer), who held his hand through a major medical scare that almost put him on disability leave. At the end of Season 7, it was clear that Casey wanted to ask Brett to dinner, but her ex swooped in at the most inopportune time and delayed any brewing romance.
The two finally began exploring their chemistry in Season 9 Episode 2 (“That Kind of Heat”), when a victim’s brother was threatening Brett. Casey stayed over at her house and later came back to kiss her, kindling a relationship that would thrive all season.
Casey left Chicago in order to take care of his old friend and late firefighter Andy Darden’s (Corey Sorenson) two sons in Oregon. The couple shared a heartfelt goodbye in Season 10 Episode 5, “Two Hundred” and stayed in a long-distance relationship that ended with Casey returning to propose to Brett in the finale of Season 11 — but she didn’t give an answer before it ended.
