Hi guys! This is another one of my collabs with Lara (lindsayshalstead)! It's a follow-up oneshot for 'A Very Linstead Christmas', we hope you guys like it!


It was close to midnight now, and Erin still hadn't spotted Jay. In about fifteen minutes 2014 would be over and 2015 would begin and she didn't want to experience that alone.

She shouldn't have to, her boyfriend was supposed to be here.

Molly's was pretty crowded tonight; Otis and Herrmann had decided to throw a New Year's Eve party, and they'd invited most of the crew from house 51 and a bunch of cops from district 21. Of course it was great to spend the evening with her friends and colleagues, but her evening would improve by one hundred percent if Jay showed up.

She managed to get her phone out of her pocket, to check if she had any messages. He had to be delayed somehow, he was supposed to be here half an hour ago. Of course she'd tried to call him, and she'd texted him as well, but she didn't want to come across as the crazy stalker type of girlfriend. Truth was, she wasn't like that at all. If Jay wasn't here by midnight, she would be pissed, but it would be his loss.

Erin sighed and put her phone back in her pocket. All she could do now was wait for him to show up, and hope that he was going to be here on time.

The rest of the squad was already here, except for Voight. He was celebrating New Year's Eve with his son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law, who was pregnant with his first grandchild. He'd invited her too, but she'd decided to spend it here instead.

Christmas dinner had gone pretty well, to her surprise. Voight had actually been nice to Jay the whole evening. She knew it was pretty hard on him, accepting that two members of his team were actually dating. Especially when one of those members was practically raised by him.

But he did his best and that was all she could ask of him.

"Hey, Dawson?" she called for the female firefighter who was tending the bar at the moment.

"Erin, hi. What can I get ya?"

"Ehm... A beer is fine."

Dawson filled her a glass with beer and put it on the bar in front of her.

"This one's on the house. You look like you can use one."

Erin raised an eyebrow. Was it that obvious?

"You're dating Jay, right?"

"Yeah... how do you know? We're not exactly shouting it from the rooftops."

"Antonio told me. Jay's a great guy. You two fit together perfectly from what I've heard."

So Antonio was talking about her and Jay to his sister? She rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide the smile that crept up on her face. It was kind of flattering, to hear that one of her colleagues and close friends thought she and Jay were a good fit. Of course she valued his opinion. Not that it would change anything about the way she felt for Jay.

"I'm just glad we can actually be together," Erin admitted, still smiling. "Voight wasn't exactly a big fan of the idea..."

"Yeah, I know what it's like, trust me. Hey, nice chatting with you, but I have to go."

Dawson left again, leaving Erin all by herself in a bar full of people. She tapped on the bar with her fingers and took a swing of her beer, before she looked at her watch. Almost midnight, and Jay still wasn't here. Was he seriously going to leave her standing here all alone on New Year's Eve?

Behind her, the commotion for the countdown started and she could hear people shouting at each other, wanting to spend this moment with their loved ones. Because even though it happened every year: the moment the clock struck twelve was special every time.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Erin bit her lip and closed her eyes, absolutely sure she wouldn't see Jay anymore before the new year started off.

"Six, five, four..."

Until all of a sudden someone grabbed her wrist, forcing her to turn around. And so she did, ready to pull her arm back... But she didn't. She didn't have to and she didn't want to.

Jay gave her a big grin, one that made his big blue eyes sparkle a bit. She'd been so sure that he wouldn't be here on time that seeing him right now came absolutely as a surprise. She wanted to say something, she wanted to greet him. But words got stuck in her throat and there wasn't any time left.

"Three, two, one..."

Before she knew it, Jay's warm lips were on hers and he was kissing her with a fiery passion she hadn't tasted before. Automatically, her arms slipped around his neck and she pressed her body closer to his, kissing him as long as she could.

The new year would be a great year for them.

Once they broke apart, Jay's heart was pounding; from the kiss, from being here with Erin, from everything. Tonight was perfect.

"Happy New year! Don't tell me you thought I would miss New Year's Eve?" Jay asked

Erin lightly smacked his shoulder, "I thought you wouldn't make it."

Jay grabbed her hand, "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Kevin walked towards them holding a beer, "There he is, happy new year!"

"Thanks man, you too."

Hand in hand, Erin and Jay followed Kevin to the table where the whole squad was. Everyone embraced one and another, sending best wishes. At that moment Jay realized he may not have a family from blood, but this, them, they were his family and always would be.

Jay sat next to Erin and whispered, "You look beautiful by the way."

Erin wore a tight short black dress with red heels.

She smiled and before she could reply Adam teased, "Get a room."

"Shut up Ruzek. I could say the same to you and Kim, because that leg you just kicked under the table was mine, not hers." Erin smirked.

The table irrupted with laughter as Adam put his arms up in surrender, "Okay okay, you win haha!"

In less than hour both Adam and Jay were drunk as hell and it was the highlight of Erin's night, because they started saying the most absurd things about each other and at some point even danced on tables and Adam was close to taking his shirt off.

Jay rushed to Erin and pulled her to the dance floor.

"Oh hello there Mr. Sober." Erin joked sarcastically.

Jay's face fell, he looked genuinely upset, "Mr… who? You're leaving me for an-another f-for someone called Mr. what?"

Erin laughed so hard, tears fell from her eyes. She'd seen Jay drunk before, just not this drunk.

"Never." Erin wrapped her arms around Jay and lightly kissed him. He tasted like alcohol, but also she could feel the love pouring out of his soul every time they kissed.

The music suddenly slowed down and the lights got dimmer. Jay pulled Erin closer to him and even though his thoughts weren't sober, his heart was. He knew what he wanted.

He put one arm around her waist and the other he held it, and they danced as if it was just the two of them. He planted kisses from her collarbone to her neck.

Jay's heart exploded like the fireworks outside every time they touched.

They spent the night dancing, laughing, and singing. Erin was on cloud nine and couldn't have asked for a better way to start the new year than with the people who she would do anything for. Whenever Erin would feel worried or anxious about the future, knowing that Jay would be in it with her made her heart feel warm and safe.

"To 2015!" the whole squad clinked there glasses as a new story was about to be written.