I've had this idea for a while and while I told myself I would wait to post this until it was more complete, I couldn't take it anymore! Definitely an AU, and y'all, I am really excited about this one.

Please, please let me know your thoughts! Reviews will be dependent on if I continue this! It's felt like the fandom is declining and I want an idea if people are interested in reading!

For those of you that are also reading my other fic, Ride, I am still working on it! I've just been itching to get this one out there!

Much love and enjoy!

"Yo Halstead! You ready for tonight?"

Jay turned to look at his best friend come running across the lawn. Adam Ruzek was a dork, but a loveable dork. How Jay survived without him before they met, he hoped to never know.

"Yeah man," he replied as Adam slung his arm over his shoulders. "Should be an easy ass kicking."

Adam just laughed. "That's my man! Oh, and Kev said after party is at his house. Roommates are gone for the weekend."

"Sounds like a plan, dude," Jay responded.

"Ok, I've got to go, late for class," Adam said.

"Are you ever on time?"

"Some days," he replied. "Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"And by that you mean, in someone else's bed?"

"Exactly," Adam replied, a shit eating grin spreading across his face.

"I'm leaving," Jay said before turning and walking towards the library.

"See ya tonight!" Ruzek called and Jay just laughed.

He easily found a table when he walked in, which was a rare occurrence. It was days like this he was glad he attended a school that was more academically focused, as most students didn't turn and stare at him when he walked in. He settled in, pulling his laptop and headphones from his bag, needing to drown out the real world.

Jay had never been a studious person, but lately he found himself more regimented with his classes than he had before. He may not have been the smartest kid in the bunch, but his soccer skills were stellar, and his dad may be one of the school's brightest alum.

But school had become a distraction, a distraction he was allowing every time he had a free second.

Checking his phone again, he saw that he had about two more hours until he had to report to the club house to get ready for the game. That meant he had maybe one more hour of studying.

But his plan was soon interrupted.

"Hey, Jay," said Allie as she sat down next to him. She was absolutely the last person he wanted to see right now. But there was nothing he could do about it.

"Hey," he said, not looking up from his textbook. He had three more problems to do in this chapter and he was going to finish.

"So, I heard Kevin is throwing a party tonight? After the game?"

"Yep," he replied shortly.

"Well," Allie said, her manicured fingers walking towards his hand. His eyes moved over to glance at her hand before looking back at his work.

"I was thinking we could go together?"

"I don't think I am going," he lied. He told Adam he was going, but she didn't need to know that.

"Aww, why, baby?" The tenor of her voice was getting on his nerves.

"I have an exam tomorrow and I need to study." This was true, but he had studied all week and he wanted to finish that review.

"I am sure there are things that could be done, so you don't have to stress," she whispered, leaning in close. Her hand dropped to his thigh, dangerously close to his dick, but she was fully prepared to grope him right here.

"Sorry, but I can't," Jay snapped, shutting his book and probably wrinkling his paper, but he didn't care. He needed to get out of here.

"Baby," she said again, and Jay did snap then.

"I said no. And while I'm telling you no, I don't think we should continue whatever we have going on," he shot back, not caring that the whole library just heard him.

Grabbing his book, he shoved it into his backpack before slinging it over his shoulder. He was in such a hurry to get out of there, he didn't see the other girl behind him when he turned around.

"Sorry," he apologized when her books crashed to the ground.

"I gotta get out of here," he whispered to himself before hightailing it to the exit, not bothering to help the girl up.

"Wait what?" Kim nearly screamed.

"Keep your voice down," Erin whispered. She knew explaining this was a bad idea.

"No, you gotta tell me everything."

Erin sighed, looking at her friend.

"Help me here?" she asked, turning to Hailey.

"Oh, I am just as intrigued," she replied, leaning back into her chair. "I will kick his ass Monday in class."

"Ugh," Erin grumbled, laying her head down on top of her book.

"Fine," she said, her words muffled by the book before looking up at her friends, both of whom had grins on their faces.

She then started her story, telling them everything she managed to overhear and ending with her landing on her ass when he knocked her down.

"Hold on," Hailey interrupted. "He didn't even bother to help you up?"

Erin shook her head.

"Oh, he is going to get it," Hailey muttered.

"Hales, don't, he doesn't even know me and let's leave it at that."

"Doesn't matter, Erin."

"He apologized to me, but he said he had to go and then booked it out of the library. Almost like he needed to justify his reasons."

"He shouldn't have to justify them," said Kim. "But hey, who am I to judge?"

Erin laughed a little before turning back to her work. It didn't take long before conversation resumed.

"So, we're going to the game tonight right?" Hailey asked.

"No," Erin replied almost immediately.

"Someone is defensive," Kim said, trying to egg her friend on.

"I'm not being defensive, I'm just busy."

"You're not," both girls replied.

"You are going to sit here on your butt with your nose in a book until they kick you out," Hailey said.

Hailey wasn't wrong though. She spent most of her time here to avoid going home. Some days she made it back, others she crashed on Kim or Hailey's couch. Erin couldn't wait until next year when they were all planning to get a place together, so hopefully she wouldn't ever have to worry again.

But until then, she would stay here.

"Come to the game with us, and we can crash at my place after. My roommate is out of town and what she doesn't know won't kill her," Kim suggested.

"Your roommate is your older sister," Erin pointed out, but laughed while trying to do so. "But fine, I suppose I should be a supportive student."

"Yes!" Hailey said, not keeping her voice down and earning looks from other students.

"But both of you be quiet," Erin said, causing the to nod in reply. But she couldn't ignore the feeling in her stomach that maybe she shouldn't have said yes.

But then again, sometimes she had to throw caution to the wind.

"Man, you ready?" Adam asked. Jay was trying to get pumped up for this game, but after the library incident and the phone call he hadn't received from his brother, his mind wasn't where it should be.

"Yeah," Jay replied as he finished tying his cleats.

"You good?" Kevin asked, and Jay just nodded.

"We heard what happened in the library," Adam said, his voice dropping an octave.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Fine, have it your way. You still coming tonight?"

Jay hesitated before he replied but he eventually shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I've got that exam tomorrow and after Allie interrupted my studying, nothing got done."

He looked at his best friends, who seemed to buy his response. It wasn't a total lie, but he couldn't tell them the real reason.

"Maybe you'll change your mind after we win this game," Kevin replied, slinging his arms around Jay's shoulders. Kevin didn't look like a soccer player. Most people assumed he played football. But he was the best damn goalie in the conference and quite possibly the country. He could have gone anywhere but chose NU to stay close to his younger siblings.

"We will see," he replied before jogging out the locker room to take the field.

"Why did I agree to this?" Erin muttered as they sat on the cold metal bleachers.

"Because you love us," Kim sang while Hailey laughed alone.

"That's a load of BS," she replied, causing her best friends to cackle besides her.

"I seriously hate you both."

"No, you don't," Hailey said, throwing her arm around her friend's shoulders. "You just happen to tolerate Kim's bullshit."

"Hey!"

"Oh, you know it's true."

The two continued to go back and forth, getting a smile from Erin. It had been a while since they hung out. They had just entered their third year and were starting to buckle down with school work. The only time they ever hung out it seemed was at the library or their once a week coffee dates when they all had a break between classes on campus. Other than that, Erin rarely saw her best friends anymore.

"Hey, the team is coming out," she interrupted, causing them both to look towards the end of the field.

After today, Erin's attention immediately went to Jay Halstead. She wouldn't deny that he wasn't an attractive guy. It also didn't go unnoticed that he was one of the most desirable guys on campus. Normally, Erin would stay away from guys like that, but he was hard to ignore, and especially after Hailey became friends with him because they shared classes. But Hailey had had a boyfriend at the time, so they had become close friends.

As the team neared the sidelines, she caught Jay looking into the stands, presumably looking for someone. Her first thought had been that girl he was talking to in the library, but after overhearing their conversation, she suspected he wasn't looking for her. There seemed to be a look of disappointment on his face but when his eyes landed on her, she was pretty sure her heart stopped.

He almost seemed to study her, and it surprisingly didn't unsettle her. There was something about him, something…different. Despite what people said about him, she could sense there was pain behind his eyes. He looked as though he had aged five years in a span of hours from when she saw him earlier.

She suddenly dropped her gaze as she felt her brain begin to psychoanalyze him. Her mind blamed it on being knee deep in studying for midterms. But she couldn't shake the nagging feeling where part of her wanted to run down and ask him what was wrong.

The pregame fanfare went by in a blur and 10 minutes into the game, Erin felt herself engrossed. No one could pull her away from this game.

The team went into the locker room at halftime with no score and the girls went in search of food.

"So, what do you think so far?" Kim asked as they settled back into their seats.

"You guys were right," she admitted, smiling at their obvious enjoyment of her confession.

"Now if only we could win," Hailey mumbled, but straightened up when the team came back onto the field.

There seemed to be a change in the team as the resumed playing. They seemed to be more aggressive. Erin could understand that, especially after Kim and Hailey explained that this was a big game for them.

Both teams scored, and Kim explained that play would keep going until someone scored or they reached the time for penalty kicks. Erin was confused but didn't have time to ask questions.

Northwestern had scored, bringing the score to 2-1 with 10 minutes left. But suddenly, the stadiums were filled with boos and yelling.

"What's going on?" Erin asked, not getting replies from Kim, who was now shaking her head, and Hailey, who was one of the many people standing and yelling.

"What just happened?" Erin asked again, looking between her friends and the field. She probably shouldn't have done the last part, as she saw a guy she assumed was the coach yelling at one of the referees and two players holding Jay back.

"Halstead got a red card," Hailey said as she sat back down.

"A what?"

"It means he fucked up."

"Okay," Erin replied, assuming that wasn't what that meant.

"I can't wait to hear what he did this time."

Erin didn't question anymore, and went back to the game, this time with less focus. She saw Jay being escorted off the field and into the locker room, so she assumed, along with Hailey's comment that it was something bad.

The rest of the game went by in a blur and they won, 2-1. The walk back to their car was full of chatter between Hailey and Kim, both discussing the game.

"Erin?" Kim asked, and Erin snapped back to reality. Ever since whatever Halstead had done had happened, her mind kept wondering over and over what happened.

"Yeah, what?"

"Chinese or pizza?"

"Pizza, for sure."

"I'll call it in," Hailey offered.

This was one of the time that Erin wished she didn't drive so she could look up what happened. She was sure Hailey would give them information, but she was trapped with just her thoughts for now.

"Fuck!" Jay screamed when he was back in the locker room.

Of course, this had to happen, today of all days. There was a part of his mind that told him he shouldn't have started shouting at the ref or start fighting with the defender. But he was simply not in the mood to deal with other people.

"What the hell was that?" yelled Antonio. Jay was not in the mood to hear it from him right now, but he fully knew that his trainer will not be forgiving in workouts tomorrow.

"I don't want to talk about it," mumbled Jay.

"Well as your coach and trainer, we are going to talk about it!"

Jay was silent for a moment before kicking the locker. He braced his hand on top and leaned forward, trying to catch his breath and stop his heart from beating so fast.

"I just," he started, his voice quieter and calmer. "I don't want to talk about it right it now. I can't."

He paused, taking a deep breath before collapsing onto the bench. His head fell into his hands, trying to stop the oncoming headache.

"I've had a lot going on lately, and that guy, he just set me off. It wasn't going to take a lot."

Antonio sighed, leaning back against the lockers.

"We all have our days," he said. "But, Halstead, you can't afford to keep this all bottled in. You're going to have to talk to someone."

"Not now."

Antonio sighed, getting the hint that Jay didn't want to talk about this. Not yet, anyways.

The mood changed when the rest of the team came into the locker room, all loud and obnoxious.

"We won!"

The smile on Jay's face was fake, not only because he wanted to be out there, winning with his team, but also because he couldn't allow his teammates to know there was something wrong.

His best friends came over, high-fiving and carrying on about the "world's best ass-kicking" according to Adam.

"You still coming over Halstead?" Kevin asked.

Jay could feel Antonio's eyes on him, but he didn't really care. He deserved a night to get drunk and not think about the real world for a few hours.

"Hell yeah."

"I swear to god, she tried to quote Legally Blonde in her debate!"

Hailey was telling some story about one of her old classmates and she and Kim were crying, they were laughing so hard. As for Erin, she just tried to keep a smile on her face.

In reality, she couldn't help but feel somewhat detached. She loved the two girls, had since they day they met on their dorm floor. They were some of the few Chicago locals at NU and quickly developed a friendship. But Kim and Hailey had come from "nicer" neighborhoods and didn't need to bust their ass for a scholarship to get in. But at the end of the day, she wouldn't trade them for the world.

"Earth to Erin!" Kim said, waving her hand on front of her face. It startled Erin for sure, but she had been zoning out it seemed a lot more now.

"Yeah?" she answered, clearly confused.

"Do you want another glass?"

Erin shook her head. Again, growing up with Bunny didn't exactly turn her into a wine person. She tried to steer clear of alcohol in general, to avoid turning out like her mom, but she would indulge with the girls occasionally.

"Suit yourself," Kim replied, getting up to grab another bottle of the cabernet they were drinking.

"Hey, Er," Hailey started. Erin figured this was going somewhere she didn't want it to go when Hailey used her nickname.

"Yeah?" she replied, taking a sip of what was left in her glass.

"Who did you say Jay was talking to earlier?"

"I don't know her name, but she had strawberry blonde hair and wearing a resting bitch face."

Hailey let out a bitter laugh before looking at Erin seriously.

"Allie. I should have known."

The name was familiar to Erin, but she couldn't place it at all.

"She's always hung around Jay. I think they had an on and off again thing for a few months, but he was never serious about her. Or that's what he told me."

"Are we gossiping?" Kim asked as she returned to the room. Hailey nodded her head and held up her glass, motioning for it to be filled.

"Allie Corson," she said.

"I hate her," Kim spat, sitting down in the arm chair. "Went to high school with her and she was not nice back then. She started a rumor that the cheer captain had crabs and got pregnant, so they would kick her off the team."

That got a laugh from Erin, but only for the sheer audacity of the story.

"She only hooked up with Jay because he was the big man on campus. She's always been that way. Only a matter of time until she moves on to someone else."

"Jay always seemed bored," Hailey explained. "Before she came into the picture, he seemed happy. I didn't know him enough to get an idea, but after her, it was a different story."

The other two got back into gossiping, once again allowing Erin's mind to wander. She couldn't help but wonder how someone that looked like Allie Corson could suck life out of someone. She had also looked up the game notes and the reason for Halstead's red card. She couldn't blame the dude, she had seen her share of anger in her life.

"Why did you never hook up with him?" Kim asked, causing Hailey to scoff at the idea.

"Please, he's like my brother by now."

"Plus, you've got that thing going with that pre-med student," Erin quipped.

"You what?" Kim yelled, causing her to spill her wine on the floor.

Hailey shot daggers at Erin who just grinned, happy to be a part of the conversation.

"I wasn't telling people that," Hailey replied through gritted teeth. "But for your information, it's not serious. We're just having fun."

"Who is it?" asked Kim, wanting to know every detail now. She was on a "boy detox" she claimed after her last three boyfriends either cheated, lied or got caught plagiarizing. She also swore off stoners getting through on their dad's dime.

"I'm not saying anything," Hailey said, hoping this conversation would get dropped. "And neither will you! Besides, I think it's time for a movie."

Erin didn't argue and was relatively interested when Kim picked an action flick. She was always down for a good movie.

It wasn't even an hour in until Kim passed out on the couch, leaving her and Hailey awake. Erin wasn't sure what time it was before Hailey's phone started ringing.

"Wonder if it's your booty call," Erin asked, knowing it would rile her friend up.

"Oh hush," she said before answering it.

Erin laughed and focused her attention on the movie, but the tone of Hailey's voice had her focusing on her friend.

"Whoa, slow down, where are you?"

Those words were never good. And Erin could guess that whoever was calling was calling from a less than respectable place.

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving now," she said, before motioning to Erin and covering the mic.

"Erin, grab your keys, we gotta go."

She didn't question her friend, just did as she was told. Hailey was telling whoever she was talking to calm down and that she was on her way.

"Hailey, an explanation would be great," Erin said as the headed downstairs. Hailey just waved her off, clearly concerned with who was on the other line.

When they made it to her car, the only words directed at her were directions. Ten minutes later, they pulled outside of an apartment complex, and without any words, Hailey made her way inside. She wasn't running, which made Erin think the situation wasn't highly pressing, but her tone was worrisome.

Erin entertained herself on her phone, keeping an eye on her surroundings. The place wasn't the worst she had ever been in, but it wasn't Northbrook by any means. Eventually, she saw Hailey reappear, this time with two other guys, one of which was helping her practically carry the other to her car.

She wasted no time getting out of the car and opening the back door. Hailey had a pissed off look on her face and the other conscious guy had a somewhat concerned look. The guy in the middle had a drunk smile and Erin had an idea what this was about.

"Thank you," Hailey whispered to Erin. As they got closer, she recognized the drunk dude now laying in the back of her car.

"What happened?" she asked. If she was responsible for this guy, she deserved to know why they were called so late at night to pick him up.

"He had a little too much, and he can get aggressive. After tonight, it was only a matter of time," the other guy explained.

"Thanks Adam," Hailey said, closing the door.

"Anytime," Adam replied. His name was recognizable, but it was dark, and Erin couldn't place him.

Hailey got back into the car and Erin followed. Hailey slammed her head on the seat, taking a deep breath before turning to Erin.

"My place."

Erin nodded and shifted the car in drive, hoping there would be answers as to why Jay Halstead was passed out drunk in the back of her car.

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