Today I felt silly. Chicago Fire is on Tuesdays in America and for some reason I thought it was on today (Australian Tuesday) I was disappointed to find out that I got the days wrong! Anyway I wrong this Christmas One Shot during my lunch break. Hope you like it! If you have any requests send them in and I'll write them ASAP
Erin reached on her tip toes, trying her hardest not to tip over the entire Christmas tree. She'd forgotten all about borrowing a step ladder from someone this year, and now she was paying the price. As a kid she never had the chance to have a proper Christmas which was why as an adult she was always so determined to make it special. Although she wasn't the type to organise secret Santa or to mail off handmade Christmas cards, she did however allow the contents of her apartment be decorated from top to bottom with Christmas cheer. This year she was excited to have a brand new glass angel to top her tree. Jay had promised to stop by and exchange gifts but she wanted the tree to be perfect before he arrived. Since he had no family around she'd offered to share Christmas with him but he kindly declined saying he was spending it with Allie's family. She'd understood, although she couldn't help but feel the sting of rejection.
The knock on her front door had come too early. She cursed almost falling over. Luckily her angel was still intact. She placed it down on her couch wanting to make sure it didn't get stepped on or broken. She rushed to answer the door, shaking her hair in front of the mirror before answering.
"Voight." She smiled, trying not to show her disappointment.
"I thought I'd come and see how the tree's going." He told her, walking in and making himself comfortable. It had been a while since he'd stopped by unexpected. She bit down on her glossed lip and tried to think of what she could do to make him leave, but in her heart she just couldn't toss him out. This was Voight, he was family.
"It's up. I just can't reach the top." She complained walking over to her angel. She held it up to show him just to prove her dilemma.
He placed a bottle of wine down on her kitchen counter, and made it his mission to take the angel off her hands.
She stood back and watched as he gently placed the glass ornament right on the very top of her plastic tree. She smiled, it did look as good as the picture.
"Huh, money well spent." She commented, patting Voight on the back.
"You still want me to come over tomorrow?" He asked her. They'd made plans to spend Christmas at her place this year since Justin wasn't around. It was her very first time cooking which made her nervous but Voight was never one for overly spectacular meal displays. He didn't care about the food, only the company.
"Yeah, we're good for tomorrow." She confirmed looking anxiously toward the clock.
"You waiting for someone?" He asked catching her off guard.
"I uh, just Jay is stopping by." She was going to lie, but right as she started speaking the truth just blurted out. She couldn't help herself, it was Christmas after all and she had nothing to be ashamed of. Her and Jay were just friends, partners. That's all.
Voight's amusement clung to his face like a sloth hanging from a tree. She could see he was holding back a laugh, the way his lips twitched as he grinned. She hated that this was funny to him, because clearly the situation wasn't humorous at all. He needed to leave and quick. Jay was going to arrive any minute.
"You want me to leave don't you?" Voight asked with a slight tease in his tone.
She tilted her head to the side with a look that challenged "What do you think?"
He laughed softly and reached for his jacket. "Say hello to your boyfriend for me." He joked, she rolled her eyes and pushed him down the hallway. He was putting his feet down stalling her.
As soon as they made it to the door he turned to face her. "It may be the holiday season but if any funny business happens, it's to end before you come back to work next week." He warned.
"No funny business is going down. We're just friends." She emphasised on the word friends just to get him to leave her alone.
"Erin."
"Hank." She mimicked.
He shrugged and reached for the door handle, Jay was just about to knock when he came face to face with his boss.
"Halstead." Voight greeted him with a nod before bypassing him in the hallway on his way to the elevator.
"Sorry." Erin grimaced knowing how awkward that must had been for him.
He took in a nervous breath and shook his head. "Don't worry about it."
She invited him inside and offered him a drink. He eyeballs the wine and she catches his glance. "You don't want to drink that, your number one fan just dropped it off."
Jay nodded. "A beer if you've got one."
"Coming right up."
Jay looked around Erin's apartment. He had never pegged her to be the jolly type. Her kitchen was layered with tinsel and her walls hung with Christmas artwork. Her tree however was the main attraction, it stood tall with ornaments and lights hanging around it, there were presents wrapped and sitting underneath like the trees you often saw in the movies. He was impressed by all of this work she'd put into the holiday.
"Didn't think I was a Christmas person HUH?" She asked, handing him a fresh cold beer straight from her fridge.
He snapped out of it and turned to face her. "Never would have guessed. Are you going to dress up like an elf too?"
"That comes tomorrow, what a shame you'll miss it." She purred, walking over to her sofa and making herself comfortable. Jay followed after her and sat down beside her. Erin looked down at their knees that were now touching before returning her glance to the tree that literally lit up the room.
"So, what did you get me this year?" She asked him, hoping he'd give in and tell her. They'd only known each other for two Christmas' but they'd created a tradition. They'd get together on Christmas Eve to exchange gifts, only to open them when they weren't together. She'd made sure that she kept Christmas Eve free ever since they'd started that.
"You'll find out tomorrow." He reminded her squeezing her knee gently. She felt a shiver run throughout her body.
"I'm sure it's great whatever it is." She smiled, meeting his eye.
"You want to know what this apartment is missing?" He asked after a moment of awkward silence. Erin quickly looked away from their locked gaze and sipped from her beer.
"What's that?" She questioned, looking around the room for something she'd forgotten.
"Mistletoe." He chuckled, "I mean you're going to have the fireman over for Christmas aren't you?"
"We broke up, a while ago. I'm surprised you didn't remember that." She cocked her eyebrow, he'd always seemed to be well informed of her personal life.
"I remembered." He whispered, meeting her eyes again.
For a moment she thought he was going to do it, lean over and kiss her. She knew it would totally and completely complicate everything but for some reason she didn't care. She just wanted to try it, to see how it felt but Jay didn't make a move, all he did was look at her with those twinkling eyes and mark his lips to the top of his beer bottle, she watched him swallow his mouthful, her own throat mimicked his actions as she couldn't keep her eyes away.
"Do you want me to put it under the tree now?" He asked, leaning forward as if he was about to stand up.
"Yeah, go ahead." She nodded, pretending to be engrossed by her drink.
Jay stood up and walked over to the tree. He pulled out a small gift wrapped box and placed it under the tree. It wasn't the biggest present, it was probably the smallest under her tree but she already knew it came from a big heart.
"You totally checked my ass out when I bent over didn't you?" He asked with a cheeky smirk as he turned around.
She laughed along, shaking her head at him like she couldn't believe he would suggest such a thing. His eyes still had that twinkle and for some reason when he smiled it became brighter and brighter.
"You know what, maybe I do have some mistletoe around here." She stood up and moved away, pretending to go and find the plant. Jay's mouth opened like he wasn't believing what he had just heard. She looked through the several boxes filled with decorations she hadn't yet hung.
"Wait, seriously?" He asked after a minute had passed and she still hadn't surfaced from the box.
"Yeah, maybe once you finally kiss me you'll find out what all the fuss is about." She teased, walking back over to him.
"Well did you find it?"
She shook her head, "I might have some in one of my closets though." Jay couldn't get past the idea of Erin suggesting she was going to kiss him. He tried to catch her eye to see if she was bluffing but every glance they exchanged proved nothing of the sort.
She was about to leave the room in search of the missing mistletoe when Jay reached out and grabbed her by the arm. She turned, meeting his eye about to ask what he was doing when he took a step forward, she looked up into his eyes and her breath hitched in her throat. He leaned down without a word spoken between them, his breath hit her cheek before their lips met in the middle, she closed her eyes and soaked in what was happening. Her lips melted against his, it was like melted chocolate running down your throat, a sensation that was both hot and delicious. When their lips left each others. Erin looked up at him with wide eyes, she touched her fingers to her lips and looked away.
"What was that for?" She asked.
"We don't need mistletoe."
