"Okay, I've got like 10 minutes for this absolutely important chat that you need to have that cannot wait." Will gave his brother a slightly irritated look. Jay had texted him half an hour ago, insisting that he needed to talk to Will this morning. Assuming it might be related to some sort of case, Will made the time, but the Emergency Department had been swamped all morning, and he truly didn't have more than just a few minutes.
Jay nodded, "All right, I'll be quick. I need you to get me the number of that Lily girl you had set me up with a few weeks back." He looked at Will with hopeful eyes.
Will's brow furrowed in confusion, "Ohhh-kay, I am going to ignore that you pulled me out of a busy morning of work to talk about your love life, to instead focus on the fact that you want the number of a girl that you blew off, rather rudely, might I add."
Jay had the forthright to actually look a little contrite, "Yeah, I know, but I want to take her out now."
Will narrowed his eyes, "Why?" He knew his brother, and Jay had showed zero interest in Lily that night. He'd been all mopey and depressed for the first half hour. Sending Will annoyed looks for even setting him up on the surprise date. Then after having a heated argument with Erin by the bathrooms, he had returned, seething with anger. He'd hung around for about thirty more minutes before storming out. He hadn't even given Lily a backwards glance.
Jay was clearly uncomfortable with Will questioning him, "I just felt bad about how I treated her. I want to take her out as an apology."
Still confused, and sensing something more was going on, Will continued to push Jay, "Why now? Why feel guilty three weeks later."
Actual guilt flashed across Jay's face. "I just really need to go out with her."
Glancing at the time on his phone, Will shrugged, "Little brother, you might be good at undercover on the job, but you suck at lying in real life. Tell me the truth. I've got like three minutes before I have to be back inside."
Jay pursed his lips in annoyance. Will could be so unpredictable at times. If he told him the truth, he might help him, or he might tell him to get over it. The silence continued with both brothers staring the other down.
Jay broke first, "Fine. I kind of told Erin that Lily was my new girlfriend that night. So she thinks we've been dating this whole time."
Will shrugged his shoulders, "So what? Your ex thinks you have a new girlfriend. Big deal."
"Well, we've been talking-"
Will interrupted, "Not this again." He had caught the tail end of Jay and Erin's first break up, which hadn't been too bad, but firsthand he had seen the distress that Erin put Jay through last summer when she'd quit her job and turned to drinking and drugs. He'd also witnessed the disintegration of their relationship after the murder of Gregory Yates. Jay had been constantly on edge filled with frustration. Will wasn't a relationship expert, but it didn't take one to realize that Jay and Erin just couldn't get things to work.
"We are just friends," Jay stated, although he hoped Will wouldn't see through that lie. As much as Jay wanted to claim that they were just friends, he knew that he might never be able to be just friends with Erin. At least not the way they were back before he had learned what it was like to love Erin. He could laugh with her, tease her, hang out with her, like a friend, but none of that meant a thing to his heart. He couldn't stop loving her. Especially lately. This last week, she had a lightness to her that he couldn't remember seeing in a long time. She smiled frequently, and seemed to be full of life. He'd heard that she'd gone out with a few different members of the team this last week. Dawson had even suckered his new partner into attending his son's school play. But she didn't seem to mind any of it. She smiled, said yes, and seemed to enjoy everything.
Running together had seemed to be therapeutic to both Erin and their relationship. While they didn't have much time to actually talk on their runs, they did chit chat a little before and after. Last week they had even got breakfast. If had been a little quiet, and most the conversation had revolved around the team, but it had still been nice. Erin looked good, too. Color seemed to have returned to her pale face, and a healthy sheen seemed stay on her face all day. He thought she kind of glowed lately. He knew he sounded like a lovelorn loser waxing on about her beauty, but he couldn't help it. She was beautiful to him.
But they had sworn to try and get their friendship back. To put aside their personal feelings for each other and just be friends. And Erin seemed accepting over the fact that Jay was seeing someone new. Except, that was a lie. Jay wasn't seeing someone new. Realizing that Erin was going to get suspicious if he never mentioned or was never seen with his new girlfriend, Jay realized he would have to try and at least take this Lily girl out on a date.
"Snap out of it, bro!" Will waved his hands in front of Jay's face.
"Sorry," Jay muttered, dropping his head with embarrassment at getting caught daydreaming. The knowing look on Will's face made it clear that he knew exactly who Jay had been thinking about. "Look, can I get the number or not?"
Will continued to be a bit ornery, "I don't know. I mean if you are just trying to hook up with Lily to make Erin jealous, that sounds pretty low. I mean, Lily's a nice girl. I don't think she deserves that."
"I'm not trying to make Erin jealous." He shook his head, "I'm just trying to get over her. I have to move on. She just thinks I already have. I think if she knew I still had feelings for her, she'd probably…" Jay actually didn't know how Erin would react. Things had been going so good between them the last week or two. He just didn't want to mess with it. If Erin was fine with him moving on and dating, then Jay was going to do what she wanted. Move on.
Will still looked a little doubtful, "You really think dating Lily is really going to help you get over Erin?"
Jay looked pointedly at Will, "I don't know. Is dating her friend helping you get over Natalie?"
Will narrowed his eyes in annoyance. The two brothers eyed each other, both waiting for the other to break. A dance they had done since they were kids. Earlier Jay had given in, but this time, Will backed down. "Fine. I'll find out if she's still interested. I'm not making any promises though. You were kind of ass that night." Suddenly Will's phone buzzed. "Crap! I've got to jam."
Jay acknowledged that with a nod. "Thanks, Will." He watched his brother take off at a brisk walk back towards the Emergency Department's sliding doors. He let out a deep breath. So, he might have a date this week. He tried to imagine what that might feel like. He had dated a few girls over the last few years in between times when he and Erin had dated. None of them had ever been too serious, since he had known he was pretty hung up on his partner. Now it was different. He didn't have a hope that he and Erin were going to end up together. He had to start looking for someone new. He didn't know if Lily was that girl. He doubted it, but you had to start somewhere.
….
Erin's eyes darted around the crowded restaurant for a moment, before she saw Kim waving her over from a table in the corner. Carefully she wove around the dining room filled with chairs, tables, and waitresses. She shrugged off her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair, before sitting down. She took an elastic band that she had wrapped around her wrist and pulled her hair, which was still damp from her shower, into a messy ponytail.
"Sorry, I'm late. We ran five miles today and it took longer than I had expected."
Kim raised her eyebrows knowingly, "We?" She questioned, although she knew perfectly well who the 'we' Erin had been running with.
Erin shook off the comment, "Knock it off! You know nothing is going on. We are just running."
"Uh hmmm." Kim acknowledged Erin's answer, but hid a smile behind her hand as she studied the menu.
Erin, not fooled, caught her. "Stop it. I've told you before. We are just friends. It is better this way. Trust me. Jay is good right now. He's happy. I want to keep it that way."
Kim threw down the menu and looked at Erin incredulously, "But don't you think the reason he looks happy lately is because he's been spending time with you?"
Erin shook her head no, but allowed the thought to creep into her head. That couldn't be true, could it? "No, all we do is run for a half hour a few days a week. We barely even talk. We just run."
Kim pursed her lips in annoyance. She split her time between Erin and Jay. She worked all day with Jay, working cases, following leads, and learning how to be a detective. He was a good guy, and fun to be around, but he sucked about hiding how he felt about Erin. True, he didn't talk about her, but he was always aware of her. Anytime they were in the squad room and Erin walked in, Kim would notice Jay's posture change slightly. His eyes would watch her movements discreetly.
Erin was no better. When they went to spin class, got a drink together, or just had coffee, Erin would ask subtle questions about Kim's day. Since Kim spent all day with Jay, she ended up talking a lot about Jay. She could tell that Erin ate up every little piece of information about him that she could. Neither of the two were doing a great job of showing indifference.
Erin dropped her head to scan the menu. She muttered quietly, "Kim, he's seeing someone new. I told you that."
Kim gave Erin a doubtful look, "He's never mentioned anything to me." It was true. They'd been partners for over a month now, and despite Erin claiming that Jay had told her he had a new girlfriend, he had never mentioned one. When they casually discuss their weekend plans, Jay never seemed to mention having gone anywhere that sounded date like. He talked about catching games with his brother, hanging with some of his buddies from the academy, or just chilling with Mouse, but a girlfriend never came up.
Erin threw up her hands, "Just stop, please! I'm okay with this. I want Jay to be happy and find someone who makes him happy. Just like I want to be happy."
Kim sighed, "Okay, okay." She gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry. I just think you guys would be happier together than apart."
Erin shrugged, "We tried. It didn't work."
They paused their conversation as the waitress came by and took their order. After ordering some oatmeal, Kim gave Erin a dirty look when she ordered a large stack of pancakes and a double order of bacon. "I can't believe you are going to eat all that."
Erin laughed, "I'm starving! I ran five miles this morning. I need the fuel."
"You are going to need to run 10 miles a day if you keep eating like that." Kim gave Erin a disgusted look.
"Actually I'm going to need to run 13 miles! Jay convinced me to train for a half marathon with him."
Kim raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow! That's intense. You guys are going to have to get serious about this running thing."
Erin nodded, "Yeah. I don't know. He's got a whole training program planned out. Rest days, run days, other stuff, too." She laughed, "He gets like this when he's into something new. He just goes full force into it."
They chit chatted for a few more minutes until their food arrived, and Erin dug in with gusto. Kim watched Erin enviously as she pushed her own oatmeal around in her bowl. "Maybe I should start running with you guys, so I can eat like you."
Kim saw Erin falter for just a sec mid-bite, before turning her attention to Kim. "Yeah, umm, yes. You should come run with us. That's be good." Kim chuckled lightly to herself. Yeah, Erin really wanted Kim tagging on her not-dating running dates.
"Nah, I'm not really a runner. I'm more of a Pilates and yoga kind of girl, with a little bit of spin class thrown in."
Erin gave Kim a quick smile, and dug back into her pancake stack. Kim knew that two of her best friends were destined to get back together. Maybe they needed this time apart to sort a few things out and get their heads on straight, but Kim had no doubt somehow they'd find their way back to each other. Neither was fooling anyone.
Author's Note: Thanks for all the positive reviews, readers. It's been so inspiring that I've written a whole bunch of new scenes. Just need to work on stringing them all together. I know some of you might not like some of what is coming up because you want them together ASAP, but I am just not quite ready for them to have their happily ever after just yet. They are going to torture each other awhile longer first.