Grab the tissues and revisit some of “Brettsey’s” cutest moments as a couple on Chicago Fire.
There’s nothing One Chicago fans love more than seeing two Chicago heroes fall in love. And when it comes to Firehouse 51, there’s one fan-favorite pairing whose slow burn romance left audiences with a lot of hope.
Chicago Fire‘s Matthew Casey (Jesse Spencer) and Sylvie Brett (Kara Kilmer) — lovingly called “Brettsey” by fans — have had a complicated platonic and romantic history.
The duo were friendly from the beginning of Season 3, when Brett first arrived on the Chicago team. They were connected through Gabby Dawson (Monica Raymund), who ultimately married and later divorced Casey. Because of her friendship with Dawson and Dawson’s relationship with Casey, Brett intentionally did not pursue anything more than a casual friendship with the Truck 81 leader.
However, after the end of his marriage and in the wake of Dawson’s departure in Season 7, Casey was dealing with his broken heart and he and Brett became much closer, leading to the genesis of “Brettsey.” That culminated in the two becoming a couple in Season 9, a long-distance romance, and a surprising question mark at the end of Season 11.
So what happened at the start of Season 12?
Sylvie Brett and Matthew Casey got engaged
In the Season 12 premiere of Chicago Fire — following a cliffhanger marriage proposal in the Season 11 finale — viewers finally got their happy ended: Brett said yes to Casey’s marriage proposal despite their break up in the Season 11 premiere.
Brett and Casey are going to be tying the knot, and everyone at Firehouse 51 couldn’t be happier. A hopeless romantic, Brett is already a glowing bride-to-be, buzzing with wedding plans. She revealed to her coworkers that their wedding will be in Chicago and “family-only” — which includes their 51 loved ones, of course.
While wedding bells are a joyful development for Chi-Hards, Brett had one piece of sad news for her 51 family: After the wedding, the happy couple are leaving Chicago to move to Portland.
Below are some of the other most beloved highlights from Casey and Brett’s complicated, close-knit relationship, which really picked up in Season 7.
Syvlie Brett and Matthew Casey bonded over Gabby Dawson’s departure
After Dawson moved to Puerto Rico at the start of Season 7, Brett approached Casey and asked, “How could you just let her go?” Casey told her that he’s even more upset than she knows. When Brett bemoaned that she “didn’t even get to say goodbye,” Casey gave her an old picture of her and Dawson that Dawson left for her.
“Love you, partner. Always will,” Dawson had inscribed on the back.
Matthew Casey tried to ask Sylvie Brett on a date
In the dramatic Season 7 finale, we saw a few potential Brettsey teases.
Casey saved a young boy and his pregnant mother from a car wreck and, after watching Casey interact with the kid, Brett stared at him longingly. “Jump him already,” Brett’s partner, Emily Foster (Annie Ilonzeh) said after catching sight of the glance.
Later in the episode, Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) invited Casey to a double date dinner: “Sounds like I need to find a date,” Casey said.
He immediately walked over to the garage, where he watched Brett and Foster pull in and high-five. “Brett, so…” Casey started to say as he walked over to her, but was interrupted by Christopher Hermann (David Eigenberg) and Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri).
“What did you want to ask me?” Brett asked when Hermann and Ritter’s conversation subsided. “Let me get back to you later,” Casey said.
But later, he saw Brett hug her ex, Chaplain Kyle Sheffield (Teddy Sears), and assumed they were back together, so he did not ultimately ask her to the dinner.
Sylvie Brett left Chicago, then returned
Brett ultimately did end up pursuing a new relationship with Sheffield at the end of Season 7 and the beginning of Season 8 — even temporarily leaving Chicago to live with him in Indiana. The couple broke up, though, and Brett returned to Firehouse 51, much to the team’s excitement.
Upon seeing her, Casey gave Brett a hug and said “51 just hasn’t been the same without you.” The two exchanged a short, loaded glance, a nod at their near-miss moment from the Season 7 finale (Episode 22 “I’m Not Leaving You.”)
Gabby Dawson and Matthew Casey shared a dance, annoying Sylvie Brett
In Season 8, Episode 9 (“Best Friend Magic”) Dawson made an unannounced appearance and caused a rift in the escalating closeness between Brett and Casey.
Brett ran into Casey in the firehouse shortly after his reunion dance with Dawson, and asked how it went. Casey said it went well, to which Brett responded, “That’s so, so good to hear.” Always hyper-aware of her partner’s micro-expressions, Foster mocked Brett, “So, SO good to hear“, to which Brett replied, “He seems happy. That makes me happy.”
Matthew Casey supported Sylvie Brett when her mother died
Brett had an eventful end to Season 8 when she reunited with birth mother, Julie — who shortly thereafter announced that she was pregnant with Brett’s half-sibling. Julie believed that Casey and Brett were a couple, and doubted Brett when she told her that they were just friends.
Unfortunately, Julie passed away giving birth to Brett’s half-sister in Episode 18 (“I’ll Cover You”), but Casey was there to hold Brett through the aftermath.
Sylvie Brett dated Matthew Casey’s nemesis, Greg Grainger
In Season 9, Brett ended up pursuing Greg Grainger (Jon-Michael Ecker), who was at odds with Casey for multiple reasons. After telling Grainger to not worry so much about Casey’s opinion, Brett was forced to define their relationship.
“You two had something, didn’t you?” Grainger asked. “I don’t know. It’s a long story,” she replied, flustered. “It was somewhere between something and nothing, but…”
Grainger interrupted: “I could tell there was more going on.”
Sylvie Brett stood by Matthew Casey after an on-the-job injury
In the middle of Season 9, Casey feared the worst after suffering from headaches and vision difficulties as a result of a work injury. In a triumphant, heart wrenching moment, he was cleared for work and told that he was simply suffering from post-concussion symptoms. Brett was by his side the entire time, bringing the two even closer together.
Matthew Casey stayed over at Sylvie Brett’s after she was held at gunpoint
In the first episode of Season 9 (“Rattle Second City”), Brett and Casey’s close relationship became even closer when Casey helped protect her. Brett was held at gunpoint during a rescue at the beginning of the episode and forced to treat one of two criminal brothers. The brother later died, and Brett feared that the man who held the gun to her head would come back for revenge.
She asked Casey to spend the night with her, and the two ended up playing games and laughing the night away.
Brett tried to give Casey an out, saying “It’s getting really late,” but Casey interrupted her: “I’m staying, Sylvie,” he said while smiling.
Sylvie Brett kissed Matthew Casey
In Season 9 Episode 2 (“That Kind of Heat”), Brett’s ambulance was run off of a bridge by the brother she feared would hurt her. Casey and Truck 81 ran to the rescue (with Casey jumping out of the vehicle to get to Brett faster), opening up another chance for Casey to take care of Brett. In the aftermath, Brett told Casey, “It’s always been you.”
Later in the episode, as tensions between the two escalated, Casey showed up at Brett’s house to ask why she was avoiding him. “So I wouldn’t end up doing this,” Brett said, kissing him.
Matthew Casey moved to Oregon
Fans of Chicago Fire know that Brett and Casey’s romance likely couldn’t survive when Casey decided to move to Oregon to be a stand-in parent for his late teammate Andy Darden’s (Corey Sorenson) two sons. Long-distance relationships are rough, but Chi-Hards kept their fingers crossed for Brettsey to make it work.
In their heartfelt goodbye in the show’s 200th episode (Season 10 Episode 5, “Two Hundred”), Casey told Brett, “But you and me, I want to keep being you and me.”
Matthew Casey and Sylvie Brett reunited at Kelly Severide and Stella Kidd’s wedding
In a heartfelt reunion between the couple at the wedding of Casey’s partner, Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), Casey and Brett acknowledged the plight of being in a long-distance relationship. They danced together during the reception and talked about whether or not it was still worth staying together.
“How much longer can we keep this up?” Brett asked. Casey replied, “I don’t know, but we’re together tonight.”
Matthew Casey and Sylvie Brett broke up
After the distance began taking a toll on Brettsey, they decided to split up to allow the other to grow. After several long-distance visits, love letters, and phone calls, Brett broke up with Casey over the phone in the show’s Season 11 premiere (“Hold On Tight”).
“Our stars just didn’t align,” she told him.
Matthew Casey proposed to Sylvie Brett
Brett’s personal life was a focal point in the Season 11 finale of Chicago Fire. After she decided to adopt a baby, her then-boyfriend, Dylan (Christopher Allen), broke up with her, saying they’re in two different places. Meanwhile, Casey — who was in Chicago helping out on a case — caught wind of this.
Realizing he wasn’t over Brett, he showed up to her house at the end of the episode and proposed, saying he wanted to combine their families. “Sylvie Brett, we were meant to be,” Casey said. “Will you make me and the three kids the luckiest family in the world? Marry me.”
Sadly for Chi-Hards, viewers were forced to wait until the nail-biting Season 12 premiere of Chicago Fire to learn Brett’s answer (which is at the top of this post).
Find out what happens next between Brett and Casey by watching Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC.
