I have been blown away by the response I have gotten for this fic. And because of that, you're going to get more!
I will say I already have most of this planned out, so updates should come regularly. Probably not twice a week, but I'm spoiling you while I am on vacation.
It means a lot to hear your feedback, and reviews and feedback are much appreciated. (It definitely kicked my butt into writing this chapter!)
Enjoy!
"Ok, Hailey, what is going on?"
It was close to 2 a.m. and they just managed to get Jay upstairs and into Hailey's studio apartment. He hadn't been happy that he was woken up when they made it back, but he immediately passed out when they sat him on the bed.
Hailey, running her hands through her hair, stopped to look at her friend. Her hands went to her hips as she took a deep breath.
"Jay called me, obviously drunk," she began, her words almost a whisper to not disturb Jay. "He kept going on about how he fucked up and needed to get out of there. Next thing I hear is him throwing up and Adam getting on the line, telling me to come get Jay before something worse happened."
"Ok, that doesn't seem so bad."
"But it's worse. He's been struggling with a lot lately. I don't know what, and clearly after the run-in with Allie and the game, he's a ticking time bomb. And I know him, it's only a matter of time."
Erin sighed now. She could relate to that. Her mom caused her enough stress in her life, still does.
"Thanks Erin," she said after a while. "I'm going to get to sleep. You're welcome to stay, though."
"It's fine, I figured I'll head back to Kim's and deal with her hungover self in the morning."
Hailey laughed before following her to the door.
"Text me when you're back."
"Will do. Night Hales."
As Erin walked back to her car, she couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning.
Jay groaned as he woke up, the pounding in his head confirming he did in fact have a hangover.
The first thing he noticed was that he was still dressed, followed by the stripped bed spread he was face down on. It wasn't his.
"Morning drunkie," came a cheerful voice.
He groaned again, slamming his head into the bed. He turned enough to peek one eye open, finding Hailey standing in her workout clothes with two coffee cups.
"Morning," he replied, moving to sit up. Taking a sip, he felt better once the first sip went through him. And he guessed he was doing something right when he realized Hailey got his order right.
"I'm going to go shower and then we're going to have a talk."
Jay didn't have time to answer as Hailey disappeared into the bathroom without another word.
Considering he was fully clothed, nothing must have happened last night. He also knew Hailey was not stupid at all. His mind was still trying to piece together the previous night and the coffee was slowly helping.
"You're a dick," said Hailey, walking back into the room. Her hair was damp, and she had changed clothes.
"Excuse me?"
"You are a dick," she repeated, enunciating each word.
"Yeah I got that. But an explanation would be nice."
She grabbed her boots and a pair of socks before sitting on her couch and looking him dead in the eye.
"I did not appreciate getting a call at midnight from you, clearly drunk and then having Adam ask me to come get you. I don't like having to haul your drunk ass up my stairs, and I certainly don't like hearing you were an ass to one of my friends."
Jay just sighed, knowing she wasn't done.
"I screwed up."
"Damn right you did."
"I just, I've got a lot going on."
He couldn't look at Hailey, but he heard her sigh and get up, presumably walking towards him. The bed dipped, and he felt her hand on his back.
"And that's okay. You know you can always talk to me, but I'm not going to pressure you into talking. But seriously, Jay, this isn't like you."
He just nodded, accepting her words. But his mind registered something from earlier.
"Wait, what do you mean I was an ass to one of your friends?" he asked.
The following "ow" came from him as Hailey punched him in the shoulder.
"I get to the library yesterday to hear you knocked Erin to the ground and didn't bother to help her up?"
He tried to remember what she was talking about, and it hit him. He did knock a girl to the ground, but he didn't know she was Hailey's friend.
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh. Explain."
"I wasn't avoiding it, I just…I don't know."
"Jay, seriously, what is going on?"
The concern in her voice was evident and he felt that she was the only one he had in his corner.
"I was trying to get away from Allie and ran into her. I honestly didn't even think about it, just that I needed to get as far away from there as possible."
"This isn't like you."
"I know!" he said, suddenly standing up. "I just, I needed to not think about it!"
Hailey sat silently before following suit, heading over to Jay.
"That's fine. But it's all going to come out sooner or later."
"I just need it to be later," he said, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you though."
He kissed the top of her head as she squeezed him tighter.
"You're the little sister I never wanted."
That earned him a shove and a laugh, and he was glad he could have lightened the mood.
"Come on, Halstead, we have class and you need to not reek of alcohol. I'll drive."
"Have I told you you're the best?"
"Have I told you to kiss my ass?" she retorted.
The laughter that followed was just what he needed, and he felt today would be good.
It wasn't even 9 a.m. and Erin was already on her second coffee. Quite frankly, she deserved it.
She was woken up at 6 to the sound of running water. Kim had emerged from the bathroom shortly after with a look that meant she didn't want to hear it. She finally spoke once they had coffee before Erin realized she needed to go home before her 11:30.
Knowing what waited for her at home, she took some to go, promising Kim she would return the travel mug. It was early enough she might avoid any drama, but with her mom, she never knew.
She was grateful she had her own car, allowing her to escape when she needed too. It had been a gift of sorts, when she graduated high school. One of the older lady's in her building couldn't drive anymore and Erin had helped her out over the years. It started with helping her unloading her groceries and soon after, Erin was running errands and helping clean. Erin had always refused to let her pay. The woman had become a motherly figure for Erin and she didn't know what she would have done without her. When they took away her license, she had gifted her call to Erin.
By the time she reached her building, she could see the curtains were still closed in the apartment, which likely meant her mom wasn't home, which meant her mom's boyfriend wasn't home. Hopefully, she could get in and out and avoid anyone and make it back to campus on time.
The building wasn't bad by any means, but it wasn't a five-star hotel. Her mom's newest man, who had been around the longest, was the one paying the rent. She had been required to live on campus her first year, and even while she worked, she didn't have enough saved to move in with Hailey and Kim. But it worked out when Kim's sister decided to stay and get her master's. So, the moving in together was put on hold.
For now, she was stuck here, but she reached a point where she was only here to shower and sleep and that was fine with her.
Her first sigh of relief came when the front door was locked. The second came when the lights were out. So far, so good.
She made it to her room without incident, opting to shower later tonight when she knew her mom would be gone. After changing clothes and grabbing the books she needed for today, she made her way back downstairs.
It was all going just fine.
"Erin? Honey, what you are doing?"
Internally, she cursed whoever was giving her bad karma. After last night, she should have enough to last the week.
Turning around, she was met with her mom, clearly hungover too.
"Hey mom, I was just heading to class."
"Where were you last night? We got home and didn't see you?"
"I slept at a friend's," she replied. There was no use explaining it was at Kim's cause her mom never remembered.
"Honey, did you use protection?"
"Mom!"
"I know you worked so hard to get your scholarship, I don't want to see something happen to you."
"I was at Kim's, mom. I fell asleep watching a movie." Her mom didn't need to know everything that had happened, but she wasn't invested enough to go poking around.
"Ok, honey. Will I see you for dinner?"
No, mom, because I have a night class tonight to avoid you, Erin thought.
"No, sorry. I have class."
"Oh, okay. Well Johnny and I would love to have dinner sometime soon. I feel like I don't see you anymore."
There's a reason for that, Erin thought.
"Ok, well I'm late. I'll see you later, mom."
She was out the door before her mom could say another word.
Jay was close to falling asleep when something sharp poked his arm. He jumped at the contact before turning to see Hailey holding her pencil, wearing a smirk on her face.
"I hate you," he whispered, to which she just shrugged and turned back to their professor lecturing.
He made her sit further up in the lecture hall, so the evidence of his hangover could be hidden from their professor. One of the downsides of being a student athlete was that the professors knew who you were. He couldn't have his professor be telling his coach he was hungover.
"Next time don't get black out drunk on a school night."
He shot daggers at her and she just smiled back. It was impossible not to stay mad at her, but he would until he got more food and water in him.
Until then, he would continue to zone out and accept these were the last few quiet moments he would get for the day. There was no telling if he would get studying done today, and after zoning out in class, he doubted he would focus. Practice later didn't sound great either, because he knew Dawson would give him harder workouts because of the red card he got last night.
"Let's go," Hailey interrupted what seemed like seconds. He snapped out of his daze to find everyone leaving.
"So, notes?" he asked, giving her that smile that usually worked.
"When you don't get drunk and pass out on my bed, sure."
She clearly wasn't letting him off the hook.
"But I will buy you coffee on the way. You look like hell."
The sarcastic laugh that followed had her laughing as he followed her out of class.
"That class will be the death of me," he said as they walked.
"You're telling me. But it's required so we're out of luck."
"As least you get to suffer with me," he quipped, throwing his arm over her shoulder.
He could tell she was rolling her eyes before shoving his arm off her.
"You love me."
"Most days," she replied as they reached the coffee shop.
They quickly ordered before he heading to the library. Hailey had another class, one of the few they didn't share so he was on his own.
"I'll email you the notes when I get to class. We're supposed to read the next two chapters."
The grin that spread across her face had her rolling her eyes again.
"You're the best," he replied.
"Whatever Halstead," she shot back, turning to walk to her class.
Jay turned to walk into the library. He tried to keep his head low, but that was hard when he was trying to find a table. But what most people didn't know, was about the basement of the library. It was much quieter and almost always had open tables.
He could hear the hustle and bustle disappear as he walked downstairs, and sure enough, there were plenty of open tables. He quickly scanned them, looking for the best one, when the one in the back corner caught his eye. But not because it was empty.
Something told him to walk over there. He felt pulled, compelled even, to head over. You usually don't see that table first thing when you walk in, as it was hidden behind some bookcases and was quite secluded.
As he walked over, he couldn't see who it was. The dirty blonde hair looked familiar, but it framed the girl's face. It seemed something could read his mind, as the girl tucked her hair behind her ear and it hit him. It was Erin.
The only class she had today was her one later tonight. But she wasn't about to tell her mom that. For all she cared, Bunny could think she had classes every single second of every single day.
The library was her sacred place. It was the one place she could be alone, and no one would bother her or judge her. Everyone else had their own shit they were handling and ever since discovering the library's basement, it had become her second home.
But about halfway through writing out her notecards, she felt the air around her change. It felt like someone was watching her. This is why she came to the library, because she didn't have to worry about people all up in her business. A moment after, she could see someone out of the corner of her eye. She tried not to make it noticeable that she noticed, but she did.
She shouldn't have looked up. She should have avoided him and maybe he would disappear. But after what felt like hours, he was still there.
"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice quiet but sharp. She all but slammed her pen onto the table to emphasize her dislike for being interrupted. But her irritation left her when she was met with a pair of sharp blue-green eyes.
Jay Halstead was staring down at her, surprise written on his face. It could have been from the harshness of her voice or the recognition that it was her he knocked down yesterday.
His eyes looked the same as last night when she caught them at the game. Even if he tried to hide the pain she saw, he looked distressed. Despite the obvious hangover, she sensed the weight of the world was on his shoulders and she wanted nothing more than to take that burden from him.
Where did that come from?
She had been lost in her thoughts when he spoke, but his words caught her attention now.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
Jay had every intention of joining Erin, Hailey's friend. But he didn't realize this was the same girl he noticed at the game last night.
He supposed if he noticed, Hailey was probably standing next to her. But when he caught her gaze, he was assaulted by her. It was a feeling he had never felt, but it felt different and right.
Meeting her eyes last night had eased the tension he was feeling before the game. Maybe had the same thing happened after halftime, he wouldn't have gotten that red card and he wouldn't have gotten drunk last night. But there was a small part of his mind that told him it wouldn't have mattered, because he would have met her regardless.
One look at her made every worry in his mind melt away.
"Umm, sure," she answered, snapping him back to reality.
She began to clear off some of the table that was littered with her laptop and books. He took the seat across from her, trying not to make this more awkward than it already felt.
He didn't miss the slight blush to her neck as he sat down. She was clearly nervous at his presence, but she had said yes, so didn't that have to mean something? His brain was still trying to process that the girl he saw in the stands was the same one that he ran into yesterday that was also Hailey's friend.
"I'm sorry," he said, causing her to stop and look up at him.
"For yesterday, knocking you down and leaving before helping you. I didn't realize you were Hailey's friend Erin."
Erin nodded before shrugging her shoulders.
"No worries," she replied, and he noticed her voice had a rasp that did things to him.
"I guess I forgave you last night by picking you up."
It was his turn to act surprised. He wouldn't consider it an act, because he was surprised.
"I thought that was Hailey?"
"It was, I just had the car."
"Well I guess I owe you a thank you as well."
Erin laughed and shook her head. But Jay thought he caught the tail end of something she mumbled to herself. Something about this nothing being the first time.
Jay Halstead was sitting in front of her. She wasn't fawning over him by any means. If anything, she was more amused at how nervous he looked. She doubted he realized that.
She never got nervous around a guy, but here she was. He did something to her. Her heart felt light and her body felt warm. She crossed her legs subconsciously to control what she was feeling.
No more words were spoken between them as he began reading his textbook. If she had felt something just by looking at him and hearing his voice, then it didn't compare to watching him now. The way his shoulders hunched as he became immersed in whatever he was reading. The way his forearms rested on the table and flexed when he took a break to type on his computer. Even his damn cologne was intoxicating, despite the fact she guessed he went slightly overboard to mask the smell of liquor.
Every once in a while, she stole a glance at him, and she could feel him looking at her. She couldn't imagine how they looked to others. Did they see two friends, studying together? Or was it something else.
What surprised her the most was the fact he was actually studying and seemed interested in whatever he was reading about. Erin would be lying if she said she assumed he was a typical student athlete coasting through classes just to make it through college. It was then that she didn't see Jay Halstead as Northwestern's star soccer player.
She saw him as someone she wanted to know more about.