Here it is! Chapter 2! I hope it's great. Reviews are appreciated.
Asking Permission
Chapter 2
It has been almost 3 months since Jay asked Hank for is permission to marry Erin and he has yet to ask Erin to marry him. It's not like he was not interested in marrying her anymore in fact he was itching to pop the question every time he saw her, but he just couldn't come up with a good enough idea. He wanted to make it special, after all this was going to be the one and only time he was going to ask a girl to marry him and Erin was definitely his girl.
Jay was once again lost in his own world thinking about proposal ideas. It was just him and Erin up in the bullpen, it had been a slow day but everyone was out checking on CI's and doing their own things. Erin was across from him at her desk doing paper work and messing around on her computer. She looked over to Jay who looked deep in thought. She had noticed he'd been pretty distant today, well for these last couple of months really. She was getting a little worried about him, but she was trying to give him his space. But then again she thought she had given him enough space.
"Jay." Erin called out. No response.
"Hey Jay!" She yelled a little louder. Still no response.
She crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at him "HALSTEAD!"
Jay jumped "What?! Oh, I'm sorry Erin."
"Where'd you go?" Erin asked going over to sit on Jay's desk.
"Oh nowhere, just thinking." Jay said.
"Okay." Erin said not convinced. "Is there something going on in that head of yours that I don't know about? You know I'm here for you right?"
"I'm fine, but I am getting a little hungry. You want to go get some lunch? My treat." Jay was trying to change the subject.
Erin decided she was going to drop it for now. "Sure. Pizza?"
"Sounds good."
They hopped into the car driving to the closest pizza place. They decided to eat there. They had a nice lunch and just made small talk. They finished up, Jay paid, as promised and they headed back to work.
By the time they made it back to the station everyone else was already there. As they made their way back to their desk, Voight called for Jay to come into his office. Jay and Erin shared a curious look. Jay cautiously walked into Voight's office.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Jay asked trying to think of what Hank could possibly want to talk to him about.
"Yes. Close the door and sit don Halstead."
"So what's the problem?" Jay asked.
"The problem is that it has been almost 3 months since you walked into my house and asked for my permission to marry Erin and I have yet to see a ring on her finger. So you better start explaining yourself Halstead." Voight said sternly.
"Oh." Jay said relieved it wasn't something too big, just something he didn't really want to talk about.
"Did you change your mind? Because if you did then why are you two still together. Don't be playing with her heart."
"No. No. Absolutely not. I'm still completely in love with her and always will be." Jay said defensively.
"Then what is it?" Voight asked wanted to get a real answer.
"I just don't know how to do it. I have all these ideas running around in my head but none of them seem right. I want to make it perfect, unforgettable." Jay confessed.
"That's it?" Jay nodded. "Well let me hear some of the ideas, maybe I can help."
Meanwhile Erin sits at her desk intently watching Voight's office waiting for one of them to exit. The blinds were shut so she couldn't see what was going on. There wasn't any yelling she could hear so she took that as a good sign. Unless they had silently managed to kill each other. They had been in there for close to an hour and Erin was getting pretty antsy. She would give them 10 minutes before she would go in there to figure out what the deal was. She watched the clock as 8 minutes passed when Jay and Voight finally decided to emerge. She looked both of them over, analyzing everything. No cuts or bruises, no anger, in fact Jay looked….relieved. Erin was utterly confused. Jay went back to his desk and glanced over at Erin and saw the confusion written all over her face and smiled to himself. Erin had to find out what was going on so she got up out of her desk and headed for the locker room gesturing Jay to follow. Jay got up from his desk, still smiling, and followed.
Jay walked into the locker room to a pacing Erin. He leaned up against the lockers and crossed his arms.
"So, what did Hank need to talk to you about?" Erin asked.
"Oh nothing." Jay said simply.
"Nothing? You spend almost an hour in Voight's office and you talked about nothing." Erin said a little frustrated.
"Yep. Can I go back now and finish some things up before we leave." Jay asked more stated as he walked out of the locker room.
Soon Erin went back to her desk, still eager to know what Hank and Jay were talking about.
A couple hours later Voight came out to dismiss everyone from work. Erin got up from her desk and grabbed her jacket and went over to Jay's desk.
"You ready?" Erin asked still a little bitter about earlier.
"You can go ahead and go to the car. I have something I have to do right quick." Jay said.
"What, going to have another secret conversation with Voight?" Erin asked bitterly.
Jay laughed quietly "Go wait in the car, I'll be out in a minute and start thinking about what you want for dinner so we can pick something up on the way home."
Erin left and Jay dug the ring out of his desk. He had kept it there for the last couple of months, in fear that Erin would find it at home. He went to Voight's office as he was leaving and waved the box in his hand indicating that tonight was the night he was proposing.
"Good luck. She looked pretty frustrated earlier." Voight said.
"She was just mad because I wouldn't tell her what we were talking about, but she'll know soon enough." Jay said.
Voight gave a gruff laugh, "Have a good night Halstead."
"Oh it will be." Jay said as he started to descend the stairs.
Voight just shook his head with a small smile on his face. He had to admit he was happy for the couple and prayed Erin would say yes.
Jay made it to the car where Erin was waiting.
"So you decide where you want to eat?"
"I want to know what you and Hank talked." Erin said avoiding his question.
"How about Chinese?" Jay said.
"C'mon Jay just tell me." Erin said.
"It was nothing Er, if it was something important I would tell you. So you want Chinese or not?"
"Fine. But I'll find out eventually. Chinese sounds good." Erin said giving up for now.
They went to pick up some food and headed back to their apartment. Once there, they quickly went and changed into some more comfortable clothes. Jay took the food to the living room and turned on the TV to a Black Hawks game that was on and Erin grabbed a couple of beers and met Jay on the couch. They began to eat in silence watching the game.
"So there's no way you're going to tell me what you and Hank talked about today is there?" Erin asked.
"Are you still on that?" Jay laughed.
"If you would just tell me I would let it go."
Jay got up taking their empty plates and bottles to the kitchen. "So, you really want to know?"
"Yes. I do." Erin replied.
"Are you sure?" Jay asked
"Yes Jay, just tell me."
"Alright let me just go get something out of my jacket." Jay said as he went to their room.
Erin was even more confused now. What did he need to explain what they were talking about?
Jay was in the room holding the box that contain the ring in his hands. This was it. He was really about to do this. He took a deep breath, put the box in the pocket of his sweats, and walked out of the room.
Jay went and stood in front of Erin and turned down the TV. "So today Hank wanted to talk to me about you. And me. Us really."
Erin was confused.
Jay took a deep breath and stuck his hands into his pocket. "Erin I love you so much and I always will. You're my best friend and I would be lucky if I got to spend the rest of my life with you."
Erin just looked at him. "Is he really about to do what I think he's about to do?" She thought.
Jay continued. "I've thought of a million different ways to do this, but none of them were special enough. But what is more special, more us than in our living room, wearing sweats and a t shirt after eating Chinese and having a couple of beers, and the Black Hawks in the background." Jay let out a small laugh.
Tears were threatening to spill out of Erin's eyes. "Oh boy this really was happening."
"So Erin," Jay said as he helped Erin stand up. "I love you and I will do everything in my power to make you happy for the rest of my life if you let me and if you say yes to my next question." Jay pulled the box out of his pocket and opened it up reveling the simple cut ring. "So will you, Erin Lindsay, make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?"
Erin was speechless. Her partner, her best friend, the man she loves just asked her to marry him. She usually wasn't in to this stuff. Marriage, long term, forever. But with Jay standing in front of her his heart on his sleeve, asking her to spend forever with him it made her heart swell and she felt happier than she has ever felt. As she stood there looking into Jay's eyes she realized she hadn't given him an answer.
"Yes." Erin whispered so low that Jay barely heard her.
"Was that a yes?" Jay asked
"Yes, yes of course it was." Erin said with a big smile and tears rolling down her face.
Jay laughed and picked her up in a hug kissing her with all the love he had.
He put her down and pulled the ring out of the box and slid it on her finger.
Erin, not really noticing the ring before, gasped at the beauty of it. It was simple yet elegant. "I love it Jay and I love you. Thank you for being you. Thank you for never giving up on me."
"Thank you for saying yes. There is no one on the face of this earth that I would rather spend forever with than you." Jay said giving her another meaningful kiss.
"Wait so you were talking to Hank about proposing to me? Hank Voight?"
"Yes, well you see I kind of asked his permission to marry you. I know that really doesn't mean anything to you but you see Voight as a father and I wouldn't feel right asking you before asking him."
"And I thought I couldn't love you more." Erin said as gave Jay another kiss. "Thank you for asking him, it means a lot even though I said it didn't."
"God I love you." Jay said.
They spent the rest of the night enjoying their newly found engagement and telling each other how much they love and appreciate each other. They couldn't wait to spend forever together.
AN: What did y'all think? I don't know if this story is done yet or if I want to continue it. Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks for reading!
