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"Can't stay away, can you?"
"What?" Erin knew that this was the end of their daily, playful banter. His relentless teasing and their constant back-and-forth was coming to a close and she wasn't sure how often she would see him now. "I forgot something." She held up the old, beat up flask that Alvin gave her, almost as proof that she did indeed forget it. She looked over at her partner- ex partner, her eyes meeting his.
"You did run outta here pretty quick when I told everyone I was taking the new gig."
"You wanted a goodbye hug?" There was nothing more than that that she did want. But she was almost glad that he left as quickly as did, because she wasn't quite sure that she could say goodbye to him in front of the whole team. It would seem too final. Erin tipped her head down, letting her hair cover her face from him so he couldn't see her smile drop. "Hey." Before she knew it, he was standing in front of her, one hand on her chin lifting it up so her hazel eyes could meet his crystal blue ones. Only then did she realize that his smile had fallen just as quickly as hers did.
"So this is it, huh?"
"I didn't think you'd get sick of me this quickly." He chuckled, trying to making this not so somber.
"Never." A sad smile returned to her lips, one of her hands finding his waist, her touch burning his skin through his shirt. His hand rested on her cheek while his other one was on her upper arm. He leaned in and she nearly lost her breath, and her eyes shut when his lips rested against her forehead. Both of her arms wrapped around his waist pulling him in closer to her. His arm stretched across her back while his other hand landed in her hair.
"I'm gonna miss you, Erin." He felt her hot breath as she sighed against his chest, he felt her arms tighten around him. The pair separated at the sound of footsteps coming up to the bullpen. Seconds later Antonio appeared.
"Me and Atwater were gonna go see Burgess and Ruzek, maybe head out for a beer after. You guys in?" He looked between the former partners.
"Actually I can't. My new boss sent over the file for the case their on and I still haven't gotten a chance to look it over." Erin walked back to her desk and grabbed the old flask. She glanced up at Jay, who was intently watching her with a glisten of curiosity in his eye. She bowed her head down again and shut her computer down for the last time. She slipped from behind her desk and said goodbye one more time as she brushed against Jay on her way out. She heard Jay make some poor excuse to get out of going out and Antonio arguing with him. She stood in the garage one last time before walking out.
"Come on Halstead, you can't go home and sulk just because your partner's moving on to bigger and better things."
"Geez Tonio, great way to make me feel good about myself."
"I'm just saying, bro."
"Yeah, I know I know. But after everything that happened today, I really just need to go home and relax."
"Relax with Lindsay?" Dawson smirked at the younger man who he had taken under his wing. "You think that I don't know I interrupted a moment up here? I could feel the tension as soon as I walked up the steps."
"Now you don't have to worry about me screwing up and trying to be with her." Jay made it to the top of the stairs when he turned back to his friend. "She's gone now, so there's nothing that Voight can hold over my head and threaten to kick me out for."
"Jay. Bro, you know that it wasn't personal. He was just looking out-for both of you."
"Really? He was looking out for me?" A dry laugh escaped his lips. "You know, I want to believe you. But if Voight really was looking out for her, he wouldn't care if we were together because he knows that I would give up my life in a heartbeat if it meant saving hers. Everything that happened today was horrible, and I'm so grateful that Burgess is going to be alright. But all I kept thinking today was, 'thank God this wasn't Erin'. Because I swear to God Toni, if something ever happened to that woman, I would straight up lose my mind."
"Then what's stopping you now?" Jay stared at the man like he had ten heads. "I'm serious. I've seen the way that you look at her, and I hear how you talk about her like she's your wife already. And this clearly isn't one sided, because I catch her staring at you or you two doing your eye-communication thing."
"She just left. She's probably going to have a full plate with the task force an-"
"No no no. Stop, give me a real reason."
"What if she doesn't actually want this with me. We were all talk back when we knew that we couldn't be together because of Voight, but now there's nothing in our way and that's all that this could be. Just talking it up."
"Honestly, I think you're crazy if you can't see how smitten that girl is with you. But you won't know until you try to find out." With that Antonio left to find Atwater, leaving Jay standing all alone in the bullpen.
Erin Lindsay sat on her couch dressed in pajama shorts and a baggy t shirt, beer on the coffee table, case notes spread on the couch in front of her. A ping from her cell phone drew her attention away from the notes she was reading.
Halstead: I'm standing in your hall..Can I come in?
A smile crept up her face as she got off the couch towards the door. She opened it enough to stand against the doorway in front of her ex-partner.
"So, do you always loiter outside of women's apartments, or am I just special?" She said with a cheeky grin.
"You have no idea how special you are, Lindsay. Now are you going to let me in or are we going to hangout in the hall all night." As she swung the door open enough for him to get by, he took one step and turned so he was directly in front of her. Resting his forearm on the door jam slightly above Erin's head, his breath tickling her skin and her hand barely brushing the side of his stomach.
"I thought you wanted to come in." She wasn't even sure if she whispered loud enough for him to hear. Her eyes drifted from his eyes to his lips, watching his tongue swipe across the bottom trying to relieve the sudden dryness.
"Right. Yeah." His voice drew her eyes back up to his, she kept watching him, the quick blinks that would shrink and enlarge his pupils. Neither moved from their spot.
"Jay," her eyes shifted to the ground for a second before travelling up his body, returning to his eyes. "There's something here, right? I haven't been imagining this for the past year and a half thinking we had something when we didn't?"
He couldn't string together a sentence when he heard her almost perfectly saying that she wanted to be with him. No words came to his mind and before he knew what he was doing, his hand was cupping her cheek and his lips were on hers. Her hands gripped his waist before sliding up his sides to his chest, holding onto his jacket to keep him close. Their lips moved perfectly in sync, as if they had been doing this forever. Moments later, Jay was pulling away, leaving Erin to catch her breath.
"So I'll take that as a yes then?"
"Yes," Jay laughed at her nervousness. "Honestly Erin, I had faith that we would eventually get here. No matter how long it would take us."
"So now do you want to come in?" Jay reluctantly back away from her and into her apartment. He noticed the open case file on her couch.
"Wait, you really are catching up on a case? I thought you were just using that as an excuse to get out." He turned to watch her walk down the hall towards him.
"I wish it was an excuse. I was supposed to start three days ago, but then everything with Kim happened and I knew that I couldn't just leave in the middle of that." She came back and moved her papers to put them away. "But I've done enough for tonight, they can catch me up in the morning anyways." Her hand found his as she leaned up on her tip toes to press a kiss on the underside on his jaw. Leaving a trail of kisses from his chin up his jaw, she finished by his ear. "Come to bed with me." He pulled away at her words and looked at her.
"Er, I'm glad that we're doing this finally. But I want to do it right. I'm not here so I can get in your pants." His hand began rubbing up and down her arm. "I'm here because I don't know what I would do without you in my life."
"Then come sleep next to me. Because I don't want you to go."
Jay woke up at 6:15, smiling down at the woman in his arms.
"Erin. Come on Linds, you have your first day today." She started waking up, rolling her head so she could see him. "There she is. Good morning sunshine."
"Good morning." Erin couldn't help the smile on her face. "What time is it?"
"Quarter after six. When do you have to be in?"
"8:30. It's only a ten minute drive but I want to be there early so I'm not rushed when we do the briefing."
"You'll do great, I promise." He pressed a kiss into her hair. "But I don't have to be in until nine so I will be taking my sweet time this morning." He watched her make a face before rolling over to kiss him.
"I'm going to take a shower, feel free to leave, or go back to sleep or whatever it is that you do." Jay laid there in her bed, watching her as she walked around humming some song that she always kept on the radio, and that's when it hit him. Jay Halstead knew in that moment that he would marry Erin Lindsay. One Day