Jay and Erin settled into their seats as they prepared for another Greek architecture lecture. Jay wasn't looking forward to another three hours of the professor's droning about pottery but the upside was that it was three hours next to Erin.

Three boring hours.

He didn't bother opening his textbook and instead slumped back in his seat and doodled on his notepad.

Erin nudged him a couple of times but didn't say anything. Eventually she slid a note towards him.

You're not taking notes?

Her handwriting was really neat. Jay liked the loop in the 'g' in particular. He scrawled back:

Can't I just borrow urs?

Erin shot him a mock annoyed look when she read it.

Yeah. But this stuff will be on the midterm nxt week

Jay's eyes widened. Erin must have sensed his panic because she her eyebrows knitted together. She flipped a few pages of her notepad and pulled out a folded piece of paper. On the top Jay read the words: COURSE OUTLINE.

He looked down at where Erin's finger was pointing to next week's date and the word 'MIDTERM' was highlighted in orange.

Jay didn't know what to say. He had known midterms were coming but he didn't think he would actually have to take it.

Maybe he still didn't have to. He wasn't really a student. His grades didn't really matter.

Either way, he made more of an effort to pay attention to the rest of the class. If he did have to take them, he'd at least have to know something.

At the end of the class, Jay leant back in his seat and sighed. Erin let out a small laugh. "You really didn't know? What about your other classes? You don't have midterms for those?"

Jay shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He'd never been in college; this was all new territory for him.

"Never mind," Erin said finally as she packed her notepad away. "I'll help you study. Actually, I could do with a study partner." She grinned. "But I'm not going to do any studying tonight. Hey, you want to see a movie instead?"

Jay nodded. "Uh, sure, that sounds good."

"Great!" Erin flipped her hair. "Alright, I've gotta run to the study center. I'll text you later. Look up some movies, okay? I'll see you tonight." She said as she started making her way up the steps.

"Wait!" Jay called after her. "I'll walk you there." He said as he grabbed his backpack off his desk. Erin smiled and waited for him to catch up with her.

"She's at the study center," Jay walked away from the library after safely delivering Erin to the library. He pressed the phone closer to his ear as he passed a guy strumming a guitar.

"Okay, we've got a set of eyes in the library. They'll follow her to the gym too. Voight wants you back here for a briefing." Ruzek's voice cracked through the phone. "I'm parked by the Starbucks across the street."

Jay spotted Ruzek's car and made his way over the road; entering the vehicle as quickly as he could.

"How was class, son?" Ruzek said in a deep voice before breaking out into a grin. "Belt up." He motioned to Jay's seatbelt

"Did you know midterms are next week?" Jay said as he clicked his seatbelt into place. Ruzek started the engine and the two drove off towards the police station.

"So what? You gotta study?" Ruzek shrugged.

"I don't know! You think I have to take them?" Jay scratched his head.

"Probably? It's not like you can't take it without blowing your cover. What did Erin say?" Ruzek asked.

"She said she'd help me study but I've been to two classes. I'm supposed to have been in this class all semester. God, I don't even know half the stuff they're referring to. What the hell is a frieze?!"

"Okay, dude, don't worry. We'll work something out." Ruzek assured. "You can't do anything now though. We've got police work to do. You know… your actual job?"

"Yeah, yeah." Jay muttered. "Most students are taking naps at this time, just so you know."

Be there in 2 secs :)

Jay's phone buzzed as he stood outside the theatre waiting for Erin. Since his discussion with Olinsky, Jay realized he needed to immerse himself into Erin's life without worrying about what Voight might think about it.

This was the assignment.

Besides, Jay figured he could have gotten a worse assignment. He'd heard some stories from Kevin and Antonio about undercovers they had been on, and at least Jay was spending his pretty safely and in the company of a beautiful girl.

No, he couldn't think she was beautiful. That was definitely on the list of things he wasn't allowed to do.

But going to the movies seemed like a pretty good idea.

Friends go to movies.

Even if it's two of them.

Alone.

At an eight o'clock evening showing on a Friday night.

Watching some Nicholas Sparks movie.

Jay looked at the poster of two stupidly attractive people staring at each other and made a face just as Erin walked up.

"I hope that's not for me," she teased as she saw his expression. Jay's scowl faded and he replaced it with a small grin.

"No, I was just reading the poster. This sounds like a great movie!" he lied. She scoffed.

"It sounds terrible. But it's either this or that reboot of that robot movie from twenty years ago." She shrugged. "Which one do you want to watch?"

"We could flip a coin." Jay dug out a quarter from his pocket. "Okay, robot movie is heads and the chick flick is tails. You call."

"Heads!" she cried as Jay launched it into the air. Jay looked down at his hands.

"Tails." He said. "Nicholas Sparks it is."

The two of them walked into the theatre and looked at the line. It was pretty busy.

"Let's split up. I'll get the popcorn and you get the tickets?" Erin suggested. "I'll meet you by the bar." Jay nodded and took his place in the line. He watched as Erin got in line at the concession stand before taking out his phone and dialing Ruzek's number.

"Yo."

"We're at the theatre on 6th. The movie will probably be done around 10."

"Alright, I'll let patrol know to be parked up before then. Everything good there?" Ruzek asked.

"Yeah, it's busy here. Lots of people around." Jay gave another glance around the theatre. Erin's line at the concession stand was moving slightly faster than his.

"Alright, man. Make sure you keep your guard up though." Ruzek advised. "And don't make out!"

"Ha ha" Jay replied dryly. "I'll check in with you when we're about to leave."

Jay finally made it to the front of the line. He had seen Erin with the popcorn and drinks waiting by the bar. He paid for the tickets and went to find Erin.

He didn't spot her immediately but then caught sight of her caught between the wall and a burly guy dressed in dark clothes. She didn't look like she was very happy. The guy grabbed Erin's arm and Jay ran.

"Hey!" He grabbed the guy by the shoulder and pulled him away from Erin. He stood between the two of them and shoved the guy backwards. "What do you think you're doing?"

The guy looked in his mid-thirties and had a bird tattoo peeking out of his collar. He was a good eight inches taller than Jay, but Jay kept his eyes set on him. The guy grunted and left the theatre quickly. Jay started after him but Erin placed a hand on his arm and urged him back.

"Jason, don't." She said urgently. Jay looked back at her. Some popcorn had spilled on the floor and Jay's shoe crunched under it.

"Are you okay?" Jay looked her over, searching for any sign of injury. "I'm going to go after him." He started to move again but Erin pulled him back.

"Forget about it." She pleaded. "I'm okay."

"Erin, he was harassing you." Jay told her. "Who is he? Do you know who he is?"

"I have no idea. He just came up to me and grabbed my arm." She shrugged and Jay bristled inside.

"He might still be outside." Jay was desperate to get outside and follow him or – at the very least – get patrol in pursuit. If this was someone connected to the case, he could prove a valuable lead.

"Look, it was nobody. Just some idiot who thought I bumped into him." Erin said. Jay eyed her suspiciously.

"I thought you said-"

"I'm fine." She said firmly. "No harm done. He probably just had a couple too many drinks. It's no big deal."

"Erin…" Jay sighed. Erin looked back at him; clearly this was something she wanted him to leave alone.

He didn't think the same way, but to push the issue may mean pushing Erin away so he simply nodded and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Okay. Let's just go take our seats." He said. Erin seemed to be relieved that Jay had dropped the matter.

They walked into the screen and took their seats. Jay made an extra careful survey of the people around them and waited an agonizing two minutes before telling Erin he had to run to the bathroom.

When he made it out of the lobby, he dialed Ruzek's number.

"You're telling us now?" Ruzek's voice came through the phone after receiving Jay's description.

"She didn't want me to go after him and this was the first chance I had to get away. I had to keep my cover intact." Jay looked around the street. There was no sign of the guy at all. It had been too long.

"Fine. I'll put out a description for the patrols and I'll look through known associates." Ruzek sighed on the other end. "You gonna be good? I can get Atwater or Roman or someone to join you guys in the theatre for back up. Voight might prefer it."

"You can't tell Voight." Jay told him.

"I can't tell Voight?" Jay could practically see Ruzek rolling his eyes. "Sorry, bro, I gotta tell him. Someone making good on that threat on Erin is something we should be worrying about."

"Look, I don't even know if it's someone even involved. Erin said it was someone she didn't know and told me she bumped into him and he got aggressive." Jay didn't know why he was trying so hard to prevent Voight from knowing. He knew (rationally) that Voight should know, but he was worried that if Voight knew they were at the movies together, he might get the wrong impression about their relationship.

"Halstead, I have no idea what you're trying to pull." There was a pause. "Look, I'll keep it from Voight as long as I can. But if he is one of the guys rolling in this gang or someone on patrol pulls him in, then I'm telling him. And if Voight asks, I'm gonna be honest." Ruzek told him.

"Okay, fine." Jay glanced at his watch. It had been over five minutes already. "I better get back inside. Text me when you know something, okay?"

"Sure. I'm sending over a patrol car to park outside the theatre and follow you guys home. There'll be an undercover patrol already at Erin's place tonight." Ruzek confirmed.

Jay took his seat next to Erin and noticed she'd been crying.

"Erin, hey," Jay whispered. "You okay?"

Erin looked back at him, embarrassed and wiping frantically at her tears. "I'm sorry. I'm just…" she sighed. "There was this totally cute bank commercial with a kid and his dog." Erin sniffed. "Urgh, I'm such a sucker for this stuff."

Jay was relieved and he chuckled. "Nah, it's cute."

"That movie totally sucked." Erin said as they walked out of the theatre. Jay blinked as a gust of cold air hit his face. Erin looked at him and pouted. "Aw, did you cry?" She asked.

"What? No, no." Jay touched his face. "It's just cold."

Erin wasn't convinced. "Oh yeah, it's the 'cold'," she made air quotes with her fingers. "I'm definitely sure you didn't cry over that totally cheesy ending."

Jay smiled. "You got me. I'm a sucker for a Taylor Swift song." He held his chest, earning a laugh from Erin.

They walked down the block to where Jay was parked and he spotted the undercover car starting to follow behind them. Erin didn't seem to notice.

"It is cold though." Erin said. Despite it being February, she had only brought a light jacket and goosebumps were forming on her exposed neck. Jay took his scarf out of his bag and offered it to her. She wrapped it around her neck and took hold of Jay's hand. "I'll let you in on a little secret. That movie wasn't too awful."

"Hey, whose the crier now?" Jay teased. He tried to keep his voice steady but was all too aware of her warm hand in his.

"I didn't cry! The ending was just pretty good. The rest of the movie was so cheesy. I mean, who even has choreographed dance scenes anymore?" She said with a roll of her eyes. "But the speech he gave at the end was just so sweet. That's all I'm saying."

"Uh huh," Jay said unconvinced as they reached his car. He opened the passenger door for her and helped her in. As he walked around to the driver's side, he quickly glanced at his phone. He had three missed calls and four messages.

Jay drove to Erin's place and parked up outside her apartment block. The car following them had driven past and carried on to the end of the street, but Jay saw the overnight patrol car parked on the other side of the road. He sighed in relief knowing that at least they could keep an eye on Erin during the night.

"So," Erin said turning towards Jay. "This was fun."

"Yeah, it was." Jay agreed.

"Thanks for the ride." She told him. One hand was on the door handle. The other hovered slightly over his knee, as if she was unsure if she wanted to take that step. Her hand finally found its way safely on her seat. "I'll see you tomorrow?" She said.

"See you tomorrow." Jay smiled back, keeping his expression as pleasant as possible.

He had seen how close her hand had been and he was equal parts relieved and disappointed. He didn't want to show that he'd noticed. It had clearly been a difficult decision for her. He knew Olinsky was pushing him to keep an open mind about furthering their relationship if it was what Erin seemed to want, but Jay was afraid of Voight and he genuinely liked Erin. He couldn't stand thinking about how hard it would be to explain to her that he was an undercover agent assigned to follow her. The last thing he wanted was to see her hurt.

Erin smiled back at him and exited the car. He watched as she began to walk towards the apartment block before he realized that he probably should walk her up to her apartment and make sure everything was safe. He quickly undid his seatbelt and jumped out of the car. The sound of the door opening and closing made Erin stop and look back.

"I should probably make sure you're okay," he told her as he caught up to her. He hoped that she wouldn't fight him on that.

"Okay," she told him as they walked the short distance up to the apartment block.

The lobby was empty, fortunately, but Jay decided to take the lift and walk her to her door just in case. Erin didn't say anything about it, but slipped her hand in his anyway.

"I'm glad we did this," Erin said sweetly. "I thought maybe I ruined things after Alison's party." She admitted.

"No, I'm glad we did this. It was fun." Jay assured her by giving her hand a slight squeeze. They got to Erin's front door and she gently pulled her hand away.

"Look, I know you said you wanted to be friends," Erin started. "But I really like you and we have fun so… I don't know. We don't have to make anything official, but I'm up to have… more fun… if you, y'know, if you want to?" She said tentatively.

Jay felt bad. He liked her and, under other circumstances, he would have been the one to ask her out. But he couldn't turn her down again. He knew what Olinsky had advised but he also knew what Voight had warned him about.

Jay realistically knew that if he turned Erin down again – especially after they had technically gone on a date tonight – then it would be game over for this assignment. Besides, Erin had been harassed by some guy and that made the threat on her life real and something he couldn't ignore. Voight would want even more to keep Erin safe now.

He was doing this for the assignment.

Right?

"Sure, I'd like that." He told her sincerely. A grin broke out over her face and she sighed.

"Okay, great. Because I was kinda scared you'd turn me down again," she bumped her shoulder playfully against his. "Um, you wanna come in?" She motioned to her door.

Jay's phone started ringing before he could answer. He looked at the name and saw Atwater was calling him.

"Uh, it's my mom," he apologized. "I really should take this."

Erin's smile dropped for a moment before she brightened again and nodded. She reached up and snaked a hand around his neck, pulling him down for a brief kiss on the lips. It was too quick to be anything significant but Jay gulped anyway. Her lips tasted sweetly salty, like popcorn.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She told him sincerely. Erin opened her front door and gave him a small wave before disappearing inside.

"Hi mom," he said into the phone as he accepted the call and started walking away from Erin's place.

"Hey, honey." He heard Kevin's deep voice respond. "I take it you're still with Erin? I can call back."

"It's okay, I'm leaving now. She's back in her apartment." Jay replied. "I couldn't check my phone until now. What happened with the guy? You find him?"

"Yeah, one of the patrol cars saw him in a gas station by the theatre. He's in our custody now but we need an ID. We sent you the mug shot. You think you can identify him?" Atwater said.

"Ok, hold on. I'll check my phone and call you back." Jay said. He paused briefly on the stairway and opened a few of the messages he had received while out with Erin.

Jay studied the image in the mugshot and squinted. He looked at it for a few more moments before sighing and calling Kevin back.

"Kev, it's me. That's not the guy." Jay rubbed his eye. "Dammit."

"Don't worry, man. Look, there's no-one else here and I'm getting ready to leave. You want to grab a beer at Molly's?" He asked. Jay wasn't really in the mood to go out for drinks knowing they hadn't caught the guy who had harassed Erin.

But he'd had a great night otherwise and he was now sort of dating Erin so he was also too buzzed to go straight home (though he would never be able to tell Kevin that). He licked his lips and the taste of salt lingered on his tongue.

"I'll be there in a few." Jay told him.

Kevin was sitting with Olinsky when he got to Molly's.

"Sorry about not catching your guy, Jay," Kevin said. "I'll buy you a beer to make up for it." Atwater disappeared towards the bar, leaving Jay and Olinsky alone.

"You okay?" Alvin asked as he drained the remainder of his beer. Jay nodded.

"Long day." Jay replied, helping himself to a handful of the peanuts that were on the table. He hoped they hadn't been there long.

"How are things with the mark?" Olinsky asked. Jay glanced behind him to check if Kevin was still at the bar. Kevin was busy making the bartender laugh.

"Don't call her that," Jay said. "Things are fine. I'll be better once we find out what that guy wanted though."

"You and me both." Olinsky replied. "Look, uh, Erin called me today."

Jay looked up at Olinsky in surprise. "She did? When?"

"Earlier today. Before the movies, I think. A few hours ago at least." Alvin shuffled forward a little, leaning in towards Jay. "She wanted me to run a background check on you."

"What? Why?" Jay's heart started racing. Had he been made?

"It was fine," Olinsky assured. "I told her everything that we discussed in your cover story. There was nothing there you wouldn't have already known."

"Why would she call you?" Jay asked.

"Erin may want to distance herself from her father's protection but she's learned a thing or two from him. She's asked me before to run a check on guys she's been dating – just to be sure. It's better she does it ahead of Voight because he'll do one eventually. It helps her make better decisions." Alvin said. "Besides, I'd do it anyway. I've known her forever; I want to make sure she's not getting into anything she can't get out of."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jay frowned. Alvin shrugged.

"Nothing. All I'm saying is that she only does it when she likes someone and wants to spend more time with them. It's a perk of having police contacts. I wouldn't be surprised if she asked you out again."

Jay scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, actually, she did."

Alvin raised his eyebrows. "And?"

"And I took your advice. I said 'yes'." Jay cleared his throat and glanced back at Atwater again, who was still at the bar.

"Good." Alvin replied.

"Is it?" Jay shrugged. "I'm not entirely comfortable with it. Erin's a nice girl and everything but I-"

"You like her." Alvin finished off. Jay's mouth fell open and he tried to backtrack. "It's written all over your face."

"She's a great person. I don't want to hurt her." Jay bit back. He was only doing what Olinsky suggested in the first place.

"You won't." Alvin said. "You're a good guy. We'll make sure it doesn't go too far. We'll work hard to bring these guys down. Once this threat goes away, then there's no problem."

"What about Voight? If he finds out-"

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it." Alvin assured again. "Trust me."

"I'm trying-" Jay was cut off by Kevin's return. He thanked his friend for the drink and took a long, welcome chug.

"So…" Atwater said, settling into his seat. "What did I miss?"