Total Linstead AU, I do not own anything. All characters belong NBC and Dick Wolf.
He never expected to fall in love with her as deeply as he did, yet here he was. When he was seventeen years old, he never expected being able to picture his future; who he would marry, how many kids they would have. But here he was now with a ring in his hand and about to ask the most important question of his life to the woman who stood by him through everything. As he waited for his girlfriend in their home, he began to think back to how it all started and how they got to where they were today.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXX
In high school Jay Halstead was the typical jock, captain of the basketball team and star player of the baseball team. He was also one of the most sought after guys in the school due to his status. He lived in the quiet little neighborhood where police officer Hank Voight lived. In fact, he lived right next door to the Voights and spent much of his childhood with the Voight family. His mother and Camille Voight were very close friends so he knew most everything that went on in that house. Everything would change his senior year. That was the year Hank Voight brought Erin Lindsay into the family. He didn't know much about her other than she had run into trouble as a kid and was trying to find her way out.
The Halstead's and the Voight's tried to have dinner once a month, and that was the first time he really got to know Erin. He had seen her around school but she didn't really hang with anyone crowd. But at dinner that night he saw another side to her. She was caring and funny. Not to mention the fact that she was gorgeous even in the oversized sweatshirt she had been wearing.
He decided in that moment he would make an effort to really get to know this girl. He knew it would be a gradual process but he was more than willing to try. Despite his womanizing tendencies, this wasn't about the sex to him. This was the first time he was genuinely attracted to a girl not based on her looks but based on her personality and he would be damned if he let this girl get away.
He didn't want her to get the wrong message, that he was just trying to get into her pants. He wanted to do this the right way, by being her friend first. He initially started by offering to give her and her brother a ride to school so they didn't have to wait for the bus. The first couple of times he drove them to the school it was kind of awkward, nobody knew what to say. Eventually, they got to the point where they could actually hold a conversation the entire drive to school. He then started finding her at lunch and sitting with her and her friends. That was awkward at first as well because nobody know what to say to Mr. Popular. This too became more comfortable and Jay began to wonder why he never got to know these kids before he met Erin.
The closer the two of them got, the happier Jay became. When he finally got the courage up to ask her out, it was the most nerve wracking thing he had done in his life (up to that point). He was so worried he was going to ruin their friendship but that was all erased when she happily said yes. After their successful first date at the bowling alley followed by a trip to the ice cream shoppe, he was sure this was going to be a great senior year. They continued to go out every friday night for a month and a half, and so far everything was going well. Hank Voight had accepted him into their home as long as he kept their daughter safe and happy. He was sure he would never break his promise, and he kept it until the first week of December.
That was the week when his mom told everyone that she was sick and had been for a while. She didn't want anyone to worry so the only person who knew about it was his father. He was so lost and angry at the time that he didn't even realize the girl beside him was there the entire time; Erin was there from the very beginning to the day that his mom died a couple of months later. She went with him to the funeral, she held him as he broke down, and she did it without complaining either.
Soon after his mom died was when he broke his promise it was then that the fighting began. He decided that he wanted to enlist when they graduated, and she was pissed. They started yelling at each other over every little thing and one day they both snapped. Things were said that shouldn't have been said and it got ugly fast. The worst moment of his life since his mom died was when she walked out the front door telling him that they were over.
He tried seeing her, but Hank Voight said she needed some time and to give her some space. So he did. For a week he didn't drive her to school or sit with her at lunch, and it made him miserable. That weekend, he got a call from her asking him to pick her up at a party. She had decided to go out with some friends but didn't realize that they were going to a party and she was so afraid of relapsing that she couldn't even go into the house. When Jay got to the house he noticed how scared she looked, she had worked so hard to beat her addiction but was terrified that she wouldn't be able to control herself. She thanked him when she got in the car and told him she was sorry for the things she had said. That she would support him in whatever he decided to do.
He decided that he would enlist, and she kept her word about supporting him. After his first tour they decided to move in together. They bought a tiny little house outside the city but close enough so that she could commute. She decided that she wanted to be a cop so that she could help people just like Hank Voight had helped her. Erin had recently graduated from the academy, and was currently on the fast track to intelligence. Jay had just finished his second tour, having just walked into their home thirty minutes before.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When Erin Lindsay, pulled into the driveway of their house, the last person she was expecting to see was Jay. She hadn't heard from him in a couple of weeks but was just glad that his tour would be over soon and he would be come back to her. It had been a busy day at work and she had forgotten about dinner but figured some popcorn and a beer would suffice.
After throwing her bag on the floor, and turning on the lights she was shocked to see her boyfriend kneeling on the ground with a ring in his hand. She started to tear up as Jay declared his love for her and told her that she was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He barely had time to finish the proposal before she was in his arms placing sweet kisses on his lips as she told him she would. She might not have been able to imagine getting to this spot when she was little but Erin Lindsay could sure picture spending the rest of her life with this man, the one who chose her over every other girl. She knew, as he was picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom, that they were going to make it.