Thanks to everyone who left reviews on the last chapter! Hope you guys enjoy chapter 3!


Erin

"I really don't see why all of this fuss is necessary," I say for probably the tenth time as we sit in the master bathroom of our house, Kim behind me with a curling iron and the rest of the girls spread throughout the room, perched on different stools, a few of them even sitting on the floor, the rim of the bathtub, and Hailey with her legs hanging off the edge of the counter. "It's not even a date,"

"I saw the way he was looking at you," Hailey assures the rest of them, "He wants it to be a date,"

"But it's not a date," I quickly interject before any of them can open their mouths. I definetly made sure that he knew that.

"Yeah but he wants it to," Anna echos in a singsongy voice.

"Don't you have your own boyfriend to hang out with?" I shoot back at her.

"You know as well as I do that he's back in Chicago," She says, referring to her long time, however long distance boyfriend Kelly Severide. "So we're going to keep it all about you,"

"Yeah if you haven't realized, everyone in this room is either in a long distance relationship or hopelessly single," Gabby adds in.

"Hey," Leslie chimes in, "I would like to say that I am not hopelessly single,"

"You've been hooking up with a different girl every weekend, you're single,"

"Yes but I am having fun," She says with a wink and a smile.

"But still single," Stella says, Kim wrapping another piece of hair around the curling iron before letting it fall back to my shoulders.

"Are his Secret Service guys going to be there?" Hailey asks, changing the subject completely.

"I'd assume so," Kim says from behind me, "I mean, I don't see why he wouldn't. What did he say to you Er?"

"Nothing," I insist, "I didn't get his number. We just set up a time and place for tomorrow,"

"Jesus girl," She responds, "You have the most self restraint out of anyone I know,"

"I told you guys, it's just coffee," I reiterate, once again.

"Yes, yes, yes we know," Anna responds. "But still, it's coffee with the kid of the leader of the free world, it's still kind of a big freaking deal,"

"I am painfully aware of that," I assure them. That's pretty much the entire reason that I've been convincing myself for the past day that it's just coffee. I know that he wants it to be more than I want it to be more than that, but it can't be. He's a Halstead and I'm just me. I'm not made for that world. So, it's just coffee and then I'll never see him again. Everything will go back to normal and it'll just be a fun party story.

"Guys just let her be," Sylvie insists as Kim finishes up on my hair. "She says it's just coffee and we don't have any reason not to believe her,"

"And that's why you're my favorite," I say as I pop up from the stool I'd been assigned to. "I have to go now, but I'll tell you all how it goes,"

"We'll be waiting here patiently," Kim calls after me as I leave them all in the bathroom, slipping on a pair of dark red flats and pulling on the trusty brown leather jacket that Camille and Hank gifted to me for my 17th birthday. I really didn't know what to wear. Normally, I wouldn't put nearly as much effort into getting into something like this, but it's him. I wasn't sure what to do, I almost never care about things like this, so I let the girls take control, mostly Kim, who reveled in her opportunity to screw around with my hair and makeup.

I grab my keys and walk out the front doors, only my phone, keys, and wallet in tow and take a sigh of relief as I plop myself into the front seat of the 300. It's quiet, for the first time all day, it's quiet. I take a deep breath and set off towards the coffee shop.


I walk into Gracie's, the warm smell of roasting coffee beans filling my nose with a much needed sense of familiarity. I smile over at Caroline, the usual barista and the owners' Grace and Tom's daughter. I do a quick scan of the room, spotting Jay at a table in the corner and what I'm assuming is his security team sitting just at a table behind him. He waves over to me and I give a small smile and

"Double shot latte please," I tell her as I hand over exactly $2.84, ordering this enough to know exactly how much the total will be.

"Uh sorry Erin, but is that Jay Halstead waving over to you?" She asks as she distributes my money through the register, writing my name on a coffee cup.

"Yeah," I say with a solemn smile, her reaction exactly the same as all the girls in my house, "That's him,"

"Why is he doing in our little town in California?" She asks.

"That's something you and I would both like to know," I tell her as I glance over at him.

"Well if you figure it out, let me know," She says with a smile.

"You'll be the first to know," I tell her as I shove a tip in the tip jar.

"I'm holding you to that," She assures me.

"I'm counting on it," I say with a wave as I walk away.

"You look beautiful," He says, standing up to pull my chair out for me.

"Hey," I say as I slap his hand away, his Secret Service agents tensing up almost immediately, "that's a very date thing to do,"

"And this is not a date," He says, looking defeated once again as he collapses into his chair.

"It's not a date," I echo with a solemn smile. It's not that I don't want it to be. I actually have no idea what I want, but I know that it can't be.

"But thanks for coming to our coffee meeting," He says with a smile, those sea blue eyes sparkling.

"It was my pleasure," I say smiling at him.

"You have dimples," He comments.

"I do," I respond, "I've had them my whole life,"

"I love dimples,"

"You do?"

"I do, reminds me of my mom,"

"My dimples remind you of the President?" I say, nearly dumbfounded. I never thought I'd be compared to the President of the United States, especially for my dimples.

"My mother yes, she has dimples. My dad always said that that's what made him fall in love with her," He tells me, blush rushing to my cheeks.

"Well," I say, trying to draw the heat out of my face, "don't go falling in love with me Halstead,"

"Who said I was going to fall in love with you?" He says with a smirk.

"Well I think you did," I say, instantly regretting it but for some reason allowing myself to fall deeper into a hole of word vomit, "I mean you're the one who flew across the country to ask me out on this date,"

"So you admit, it's a date?"

"No," I say quickly backtracking, "This is coffee between two people,"

"Friends,"

"Sure," I say, "Friends,"

"You know my mom wasn't the politician in the family, originally anyway," He says, changing the subject completely.

"Really?" I ask, very much willing to segue the conversation away from us.

"Yeah, it was my dad. He was the oldest son of his generation of the Halstead dynasty and that's what they do. She was just Jules, the red head on his arm who produced cute babies. But my dad hated it and eventually he snapped, that's when they finally started seeing her,"

"And now she's the President of the United States," I say with a genuine smile, proud of the progress that our country has made in the last several years. "I voted for her,"

"You did?" He asks.

"Well there was no way in hell I was voting for that other guy," I say with a scoff. I wasn't usually one to follow politics, but the past Presidential election was the first time that I could vote and I wanted to make sure that I knew exactly who I was casting my ballot for.

"Well on behalf of the Halstead Administration, I thank you for your vote," He says with a smile.

"Tell me something about you," I say abruptly, "That I couldn't look up online,"

"Uh anything?"

"Anything," I respond, simply trying to make conversation. I know heads are turning towards us and I can almost feel Caroline's eyes burning holes in the back of my head, but I just have to ignore it. I have to ignore it or I'm going to freak out.

"Uh I broke my arm playing hockey when I was 7, both bones in my wrist, snapped like a toothpick. Alright your turn, tell me something about you, what are you majoring in?"

"Social work, minor in criminal justice,"

"Social work?"

"Uh huh," I say with a quiet smile."I just wanted to do some good, you know?"

"Yeah," He responds, his smile mirroring mine as Caroline brings my coffee over to the table. I know she justs wants to get a good look at Jay. I don't blame her. All seven of my roommates asked if they could come with, sit in the back and watch. I told them no of course, much to their dismay.

"Thanks Care," I say with a smile.

"Have good one Erin," She tells me back, her voice slightly more fluttery than usual.

"You too," I say with a smile, confusion on Jay's face as he watches the exchange.

"Is she always like that?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, taking a sip of the much needed caffeine.

"All nervous and whatever,"

"Uh no," I say with a chuckle, "That's just for you Jay,"

"Oh," He says, slightly deflated.

"You get that a lot?" I ask, bringing the cup back to my lips.

"Unfortuntaly," He says with a sigh.

"Well that seems like it might come with being part of the most famous family in the world," I tell him. "Do you want to go into politics?"

"Oh God no," He says quickly with a scoff.

"Well what do you do then?" I ask him.

"Nothing, right now anyway," He tells me. "I've got a degree from Harvard in International Relations, but I don't know exactly what I plan on doing with it yet. Luckily, I've got a bit of a net and I can drift around being my mom's lackey until I decide,"

"So that's what you're doing in LA?" I inquire.

"Bingo," He tells me.

"What about your family?'

"Well, you can find out most of that by Googling my last name, but sure. I'm the middle child, I have an older sister Abby who thinks she runs everything and Will who's fumbling his way through med school. Then there's me. Then Nora, she and Abby are both like younger versions of my mom, both in looks and personality, though they tend to be a little sharper," He says with a grin. "And then there's Maddie. She's," He stops with a sigh, "Well she's Maddie,"

"Family turmoil?" I ask.

"No," He says, "and their was, I wouldn't tell you,"

"You think I'm going to run to a reporter?" I ask, feeling slightly hurt as his thought. I shouldn't, I shouldn't even care, but I care what he thinks about me.

"No, God no. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the last thing you want is your name the front page of any newspaper,"

"I don't usually like people who assume, but yes," I assure him. "My dad always said to never get your picture in the paper,"

"He's a cop right?" He asks, "Intelligence?"

"Yeah," I respond, honestly a little creeped out that he knew that. But of course he knows, he knew where to find me, it wouldn't be hard for him to know what Hank does.

"The rules might be just a little bit different for you then, right?" He says with a light laugh.

"Yeah," I say with a smile, hiding the real reason I'd never get my picture in the paper. It's not such a big deal if it's tiny little newspaper in Santa Barabra, but anything having to do with him would be a national story. It would also be a very easy way for my past to track me down. I smile over at him, shoving down my fears and allowing us to slip into a comfortable conversation. He's kind of great. I didn't want him to be, I wanted him to be awful, someone that I wouldn't mind never seeing again. But he's not awful.

"So, I'd like to do this again," He says as we stand outside the little shop.

"I thought you said you were only here for a couple of days," I ask, almost feeling sad at the thought of him leaving.

"I could arrange to stay longer, if you'd agree to it," He says, flashing me that stupid, stupid grin again.

"I don't really have control over your travel plans though do I," I respond, teasing him back.

"You could," He tells me with that dumb smirk.

"I already told you," I say with a sigh, "Just friends, I can't handle anything else,"

"I know," He responds as he places his hand on my shoulder, "but it isn't going to stop me from trying,"

"You're fighting a losing battle Halstead," I say with a smile, slipping his hand off my shoulder.

"You're really going to make me work for this aren't you?" He asks.

"Work for what?" I say innocently, really, really enjoying screwing with this guy.

"Oh you know what I mean," He says with a smirk.

"Have a nice life Halstead," I say softly as I begin to walk away, his secuirty team loitering behind us.

"Wait!" He calls after me. "Let me give you my number at least,"

"I thought this was a one time thing," I say as I stop and turn around.

"Well I was hoping we'd be able to continue," He says, his brow furrowing.

"I think it could be arranged," I say with a smile, for the frst time, genuinly looking forward to seeing him again.

"I kind of had a feeling," He says as I hand over my phone, open to a brand new empty contact. I watch with my arms crossed as he types in his information.

"Seriously?" I say as I show him the screen, the words "The Best Person You Will Ever Meet" typed on the line where his name should be.

"Call me okay?" He says with a smile and a nod before stepping into the backseat of the blacked out SVU.

"Oh Lord," I say to myself, his words lingering in my mind, "I'm in trouble now,"


Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please drop me a review!

xoxo,

Addison