This is a super long update. I normally don't do chapters quite this long, but I just couldn't find a place I wanted to break it. Consider this a supersized chapter. Enjoy!

"…..…new longer lasting …. had to discontinue…..the drug trial fell apart."

Jay adjusted slightly in his seat, and he tried to stretch his sore neck, without actually making it too obvious that he was stretching. He blinked rapidly a few times and tried to refocus on what Lily was talking about, but had to stifle a yawn.

Lily stopped talking and raised her eyebrow questioningly. "You….don't care about pharmaceuticals at all do you?"

Realizing he hadn't hid his disinterest as well as he had hoped, he tried to flash her a grin, "If you mean drugs, then yes I do. I just deal more with the suppliers of the illegal variety instead of the legal kind."

She smiled lightly, "Well, I guess it is a fine line between my job and yours. In a different world, I guess you'd be chasing me down and locking me up."

Jay acknowledged her comment with a shrug. He knew she had tried to make the comment sound flirty, but it didn't quite hit its mark. Conversation paused for a moment as the waiter appeared to gather their dishes. After he left, Lily leaned forward with a curious look on her face. "So, you used to have a female partner. What was that like?"

Jay was startled by the question, "Ummm… it was fine, I guess. Why are you asking?"

She gave him an apologetic look, "I just was surprised. I didn't think there were that many female detectives. Did she have problems being taken seriously on the job?"

Jay thought for a second, "Sometimes, but we deal with a lot of scum, and they don't really respect anyone."

Lily shook her head, "No, I mean by other people on the job. I imagine not all guys would want a female partner. Like, maybe they'd think she couldn't do the job as well. Not smart enough, strong enough, you know."

Jay felt some irritation flare up, and he had to defend his partner, "Erin is 100% competent. She's the best partner I ever had. There is no one else I'd ever want to cover my back." They hadn't discussed it, but he assumed Lily recalled the conversation from the night they met about his ex-partner being his ex-girlfriend. He wasn't sure what the point of this line of questioning was.

Her eyes widened in surprise at his strong defense of Erin, "No, that's not what I meant. I was just wondering if she had to deal with a lot of sexist behavior in the police department."

Jay looked at her cautiously, "Well, yeah, I imagine she has. We didn't really talk about it much. She's proven herself in our department, but I imagine that some people probably dismiss her because she's a woman, but they shouldn't. She's great at her job." Truth was colleagues gave him a hard time about having a female partner all the time. Not really any of the guys on their squad, but other officers from other units. As much progress as there had been in recent years for woman on the force, a lot of guys thought they had no business being there. He'd had to talk with more than one guy about shit talking about Erin in the past. She was a good cop, better than a lot of men. He gave her a narrowed eyed look, "Why all the questions about my ex-partner?"

Lily sat back in her chair a thoughtful look on her face, "I'm just curious about women in other male dominated fields. I deal with so many arrogant and chauvinistic doctors in my job, that it can be frustrating." She motioned her to herself, "I don't present as a strong physical presence, so many of these alpha male doctors just dismiss me on sight. It can be tough." She crossed her arms defensively around her waist. "They often times just see me as someone to flirt with and assume because of the blond hair and blue eyes, that I am not that intelligent."

Jay frowned. He had only spent an hour or so with Lily, but it was clear she was smart. Smarter than him when it came to all the science and book stuff. He could tell, just the way she talked about her job, she clearly knew her shit when it came to pharmaceuticals. He had been around enough doctors at Chicago Med, including his own brother, to know that she was right though. Most of the doctors acted like they were God sometimes. It could be annoying and frustrating when you were trying to talk to some suspect. He imagined that it wouldn't be any easier for someone like Lily, trying to do her job.

"I'm sorry," Jay apologized. He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, maybe for his entire sex?

"Thanks, but I can already tell you aren't a sexist asshole." Lily replied.

Jay laughed, "You can tell that? You barely know me. Maybe I am just hiding it well."

She smiled back at him, "Well, I know she is your ex-girlfriend, but you still talk about your old partner in a very respectful way. I'm guessing that you are pretty much a good guy."

Jay's smile faltered a bit. Now he really did feel like an asshole. After all, he wasn't exactly here tonight because he was truly interested in Lily. It was more as a distraction or to prove a point to himself that he could move on.

He gave Lily an apologetic glance, "I am pretty sure I am committing a major dating faux pas by even talking about my ex-girlfriend on a first date."

Lily acknowledged his comment, but shook her head. "Well, I'm the one who brought her up though." She leaned back a bit in her chair and studied Jay thoughtfully. "You seem like a nice guy. Can I be honest with you?"

A little taken aback by the question, Jay nodded, "Yeah, I generally prefer honesty over lies."

Lily raised her eyebrows a bit and gave him a bit of a doubtful look, "Okay, well. If I am being honest with you, I want to tell you that I am seeing someone right now. Well, kind of."

Jack sucked in a breath. It wasn't that he was into Lily or anything, but he was a little surprised that she was out with him if she was involved with someone else. He stared at her not saying anything. He could tell from the expression on her face, that she wanted to explain a bit more.

"I've been seeing this doctor for about six months. He's a nice guy, not like one of those sexist ones like I mentioned earlier. He listened to me, talked with me, and treated me really respectfully." She lifted her lips into a brief smile as Jay could tell that she was recalling some fond memory. "But I wanted to move forward in our relationship, and he didn't think that was something he could commit to."

Jay felt empathy for Lily. He could see a sad look had drifted across her face. He imagined it was the same look that came across his face whenever he thought about how his and Erin's relationship had fell apart. "Why not?" He asked lightly.

Lily rolled her eyes, "He's a little older, and he says that he is married to his work. Always has been, says he always will be." She shrugged a bit. "He told me I am too young to be tied down to someone that might not ever be ready for marriage or a family. So I walked away, about a week before we met at that bar."

She met Jay's eyes, "He started calling me again this week, and it's just confusing to me. I really thought I was in love with him. Then I thought it was over. Now I don't know what I want. So far I've held out, but I miss him. That's why I said yes to coming out with you tonight. I think to prove to myself that I'm not just sitting around the house waiting for him to come to his senses." She gave a doleful laugh. "Truth is, that is pretty much what I have been doing though." She eyed Jay. "You see like a really nice guy, and I wouldn't want to lead you on, when I am not really looking for something right now."

Jay couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Both of them were lovesick losers dumped by their significant others. If it wasn't so pathetic it would truly be funny. Lily narrowed her eyes at his laughter, "Wasn't really expecting laughter at my sad love life."

Jay shook his head, but kept the smile on his face. "No, I am not laughing at you. Well, not just at you. At both of us." He leaned forward, "Since you have been so honest with me, I am going to return the favor. I may have told my ex that you were my girlfriend about twenty minutes after I met you."

Lily widened her eyes in surprise and let out a little laugh, "Oh."

"Yeah. We were fighting about something stupid that night, and she was just yelling at me and I was frustrated, and just let it fly out. I'm sorry."

Lily shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. I don't know her, so I guess it's no big deal."

Jay nodded, "Yeah, except, now Erin and I have kind of rekindled our friendship, and she still thinks you are and I are dating."

Lily smiled, as she started to realize his problem, "…and you realized that you needed to actually start dating me so that you could continue to say you were dating me."

Jay scrunched up his face as if he was in pain, "Yes. I know. I am an asshole, aren't I?"

"I don't know," Lily replied. "Why do you want her to think we are together?"

Jay eyed her. Lily had been pretty open with her own love life drama, but Jay usually wasn't that revealing about his private life. Even with his friends. Although, maybe it might be easier to talk about it with someone who was completely removed from the situation. "Erin's always had a hard time committing to me. I think she puts the job first, too." His gaze grew thoughtful. "She had a hard year. A good friend of ours was murdered last year, and the killer actually escaped from prison. Erin ended up being the one who killed him. She's had a hard time coming back from all that. Didn't seem to want me to be around while she dealt with it."

Lily's mouth widened in shock as she processed the situation, "Oooh-kay. That makes my issues seem so shallow and stupid."

He leaned forward across the table, changing the tone of his voice. "Here's the thing though. I actually think she has made some progress in dealing with it all since we broke up. She seems different lately. More like the woman I fell in love with two years ago." He threw up his hands in frustration, "It's probably too late for us."

Lily gave him a sympathetic smile, "I am sorry I brought all this up."

Jay shook his head. "Nah, it's cool. I mean. Relationships suck sometimes." He gave her a sad grin, "Actually for us, they seem to suck all the time."

They both sat back quietly, each lost a bit in their own thoughts.

"Wanna go grab a beer?" Lily suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Jay was startled by the question. They had just finished their meal at a pretty nice restaurant. Plus, it was pretty clear that neither were there for the right reasons. Why would she want to go get a drink? He kind of assumed they would just part ways and never talk again.

"Well, clearly, nothing romantic is going to happen between you and I, Jay. You seem like a nice guy, but…we both wish we were here with other people. So, instead of continuing this night as a date, let's go get a beer as friends." She gave him an inviting smile.

Throwing up a hand casually, he answered, "Sure." He actually felt a huge sense of relief wash over him. He wasn't ready to date other women. As much as he knew that he and Erin were over, he really wasn't ready to move on. He needed to time to figure out what exactly had gone wrong before he could move forward with some else. Lily actually seemed like a really nice girl. There wasn't any spark or attraction, but it was kind of nice to talk about it all with someone who didn't feel the need to stay impartial or take sides.

Lily's eyes suddenly lit up, "We could go back to that bar. What was the name? Molly's?" Jay grimaced a bit, and Lily caught the look. "Oh, wait. Will your ex be there?"

Jay thought for a second, then shook his head. "Actually, no. That should be fine. I know she was going to a spin class with my partner Kim."

Lily gave him a strange look. "Your ex-girlfriend who is your ex-partner is out tonight with your current partner?" Jay nodded, and her eyes danced with laughter. "It sounds incestuous."

Jay laughed as he reached for the bill that the waiter had slipped onto the table, "No, but it can be problematic. Let me tell you what happened that night at Molly's when we first met…"

…..

"I can't believe that the instructor was sick." Kim whined as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Well, we could have stayed and done the treadmill or something." Erin countered.

"No, I need someone yelling at me to get my ass going, or I will put no real effort in."

Erin gave Kim a look, "You should have told me that! I would have had no problem yelling at you to get your ass in gear."

Kim grinned at her. "It's not the same."

Erin just laughed as they approached the doors to Molly's. They had met for the eight o'clock spin class as planned, but had been disappointed when they had been told the instructor had called out sick. They'd hung around in the parking lot for almost a half hour talking before agreeing to head over to Molly's to kick back and enjoy a drink. Nights off were so rare in their unit, that they hated to waste it by just going home. Erin pushed open the door to Molly's, and she had barely taken one step forward, before she reversed immediately back out, basically knocking Kim, who had been only a step behind her, down the couple steps that led to the door.

"What the hell, Erin?" Kim yelled, gaining her balance, barely saving herself from taking a tumble onto the sidewalk.

Erin looked at her with panicked eyes, "Jay's in there. With her!"

Kim didn't need any more elaboration to understand the situation. "Do you want to leave?"

Erin's eyes darted around the street corner, as if she was searching for an escape route. "Yes. I want to leave."

Kim nodded, and she put her hand on Erin's back, guiding her towards where they had parked down the street. Erin took two or three more steps before she suddenly came to halt. Kim practically walked into her back.

"Seriously, Erin. You need brake lights."

Erin turned to face Kim, "No. We should go in. I need to be able to do this."

Kim noted the steely set of Erin's jaw and narrowed eyes. "We don't have to do this, Er. He didn't see you, did he?"

Erin shook her head no. "I actually do need to do this. I've said that I am okay with him moving on. Now it's time for me to show it." She gave Kim a wry smile. "If Jay and I are going to be friends, I can't just ignore this part of his life."

Kim looked at her incredulously, "You want to go meet her?"

"Hell, no!" Erin shot back. "But I can go have drink in the same bar as her." Erin took off towards the door, with Kim once again trailing behind her. She forcefully pushed open the door, but averted her eyes instantly as she entered. She flipped a quick turn as soon as she was through the door and was thankful that the first table right inside the entryway was empty. She dropped into the nearest chair with her back to the bar. Despite her quick movements, she had caught another glimpse of the girl whose image had been burned into her head for almost a month. She wasn't sure of her name, but she'd recognize her anywhere. Long curled blonde hair, big eyes, pretty face, and a slight frame. She'd only caught the back of Jay's head, but of course, she'd known it was him. She's followed him through enough doors, that she could distinguish his features in any crowd. Even from behind in a darkened bar.

At a slightly slower pace, Kim slid into the seat across from her. She surveyed the expression on Erin's face. "Are you sure about this?" She cautiously questioned. Erin nodded quickly, but Kim could see the uncertainty in her eyes. "You stay here. I'll go get us some beers."

Kim slowly made her way to the bar. Since the girl didn't know who Kim was, she was able to study her without any recognition. She was surprised that this was the kind of girl Jay would go for. She seemed so…dainty. She looked like the kind of girl who would be at a lady's tea brunch, not at a cop and fire bar. Having only known Jay with Erin, Kim always assumed he was into girls with a little more substance to them. Erin was so tough and kick ass, whereas this girl looked like a strong wind would blow her over.

While Erin could get away with avoiding Jay, Kim knew as his partner, she had no excuse to not at least say hello to him. She slid up to the bar next to the couple, behind his date. She motioned for Herman, who was at the other end of the bar, then swung her gaze over the head of his date and locked eyes with Jay. "Hey, partner," she casually greeted him.

Kim almost laughed at the immediate look of panic that overtook his face. He instantly craned his neck to search the bar for who he knew would be accompanying Kim. His body froze the second he spotted Erin by the door. He slid his eyes back towards Kim with an accusing look, "You were supposed to be going to work out tonight."

Kim raised her eyebrows, "Plans change." She wiggled her eyebrows a bit and jutted her head towards Lily in a silently request at an introduction.

Jay stared hard at Kim for a few moments, before mumbling a greeting, "Kim this is Lily. Lily, this is my partner, Kim."

Lily turned in her seat so she was facing Kim, "Oh, I've heard so much about you. Jay says you are so much fun to work with." She extended her hand in greeting, and Kim shook it reluctantly. She was surprised by the firm handshake, and offered Lily a small smile.

"Nice to meet you." She smiled back, feeling like she was betraying Erin by even being polite to the girl.

Lily glanced between Jay and Kim quickly, "So, Kim, what's it like working with Jay? He says he's like your trainer."

Kim snorted a bit, and Jay gave her annoyed look, "You know what I mean."

Kim rolled her eyes, "Yeah, he's fun to work with. I've got tons of stories to embarrass him about when you have the time."

"You do not!" Jay interjected. Kim just laughed and turned to give her order to Herman who had finally made his way towards their end of the bar. When she turned back towards Jay, he was staring at her intensely. He shook his head a little, and she saw him dart a quick glance over his shoulder to where Erin sat alone at the corner table. He looked back at Kim, she could see the stress in his expression. Kim noticed Lily watching the scene unfolding in front of her with interest, and while Kim didn't mind making Jay feel a little uncomfortable, he was still her partner.

She threw a fake smile at the couple. "Did you two drive over here together?"

Lily's brow furrowed in concern, "Nooo, why?"

"Cause Jay is a horrible driver!" Kim laughed at the outraged look on Jay's face. "You should never let him drive you anywhere. He's been known to get out of a car without even remembering to put in park."

Jay objected, "One time. It happened one time. Jeeze…you can never live things down around here."

Herman arrived with two shots and two bottles of beer for Kim, "Thanks, Herman," she called out. She turned back to Jay and Lily. "Have a nice night, you two." Directing her gaze toward Lily, "It was nice to meet you. I'll make sure to share a few juicy stories next time we meet." She then turned and made her way to the table where Erin sat.

Jay watched her go, his eyes fixed on the back of Erin. He could see her playing on her phone as she waited for Kim. She looked up as Kim arrived and place their drinks on the table. He kept his gaze fixed on the two while they toasted and took their shots. Kim said something that had Erin laughing. His heart flipped a bit as Erin's distinctly husky laugh floated across the noise of the bar and reached his ears. He had to force himself to turn away. As he did, he found himself eye to eye with a very amused looking Lily. He cringed a bit, "Ahh, sorry about that."

Lily chuckled, "Oh, its fine. Trust me. I was just sitting here thinking about what I would do if my ex showed up here while I was out with you. Your reaction is a thousand times more rational than I am sure I would be."

Jay gave her a doubtful look.

"No, seriously, I'd probably either burst into tears or yell and scream at him."

Jay sighed, "Secretly I probably want to do both."

She shook her head, "Well, you are showing great restraint then." She leaned forward letting her voice fall to a whisper, "I guess Molly's was a bad idea."

Darting another quick look over his shoulder, Jay shrugged. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. We are friends. We work together. We have the same friends in common. We hang out in the same places." His eyes grew sad, "We can't pretend that neither of us is going to ever see other people again. I'm just not sure what I should do right now. Do I go say hello, or ignore her?"

Lily bit her lip thoughtfully, "I think that we sit here for about ten minutes and finish our beer. Then I think you should grab my hand and walk me to my car. After that…it's up to you. You can go home, or you come back in and hang with your partner and your weird ex-partner, ex-girlfriend, ex-friend, but now friend again friend."

Jay laughed at her moniker for Erin. He eyed Lily with a smile, "I like you Lily. You're a cool chick."

Lily threw up her hands in agreement, "I know! Now why can't my stupid ex figure that out?"

"Cause we are guys, and we are idiots?" The two shared laughter as they finished off their beers.

"I can hear him laughing." Erin pointedly said to Kim. Her body was tense, and all her senses were firmly fixed on the scene occurring across the bar. She didn't need to turn around to know what was happening. Jay had an infectious laugh, and he always was able to get those around him to join in some sort of joke.

Kim glanced around Erin, and acknowledged that Jay was indeed laughing. She looked back at Erin and noted the dejected look on Erin's face. "Does this mean you will stop pretending you are fine with how things are between you and Jay?"

Erin meet her eyes, and Kim's heart sank at the look of utter heartbreak that was evident in Erin's eyes. "I'm sorry, Erin. I didn't mean to upset you."

Erin blinked away the tears that were threatening, "It's okay. I mean, it's not you. It's just… it's not even him. It's just… it's just that…I'm sad." She shrugged. "I want to be the one that he's with. I want to be the girl that he shares his laughter with. I know that it's for the best that we aren't together. I was hurting him, and that wasn't fair to him. But I can't help it. I'm jealous." She lifted her beer and took a long sip, relishing the burn as the liquid ran down her throat.

Kim studied the open vulnerability on Erin's face, "I understand. You know I do." Erin nodded, acknowledging that Kim had been dealing with her own heartbreak lately. "If it makes you feel better, I don't think they are too serious."

Erin slanted her eyes in Kim's direction, "Why do you say that? They've been together for almost a month. That's kind of serious."

"I don't know," Kim scrunched up her face in thought, "It was weird. They seemed like they were just getting to know each other." She laughed it off, "It almost had that awkward first date feel." Suddenly she sat up straight, "Don't look, but they are headed this way."

Erin stiffened and stared intently down at her beer. She heard his low voice call out, "Good night." Involuntarily, her eyes lifted towards the sound. He was holding the door open as his date walked out, his head turned toward their table a tight smile on his face. For just a split second their eyes met. Erin knew she wasn't hiding her emotions very well when she saw the smile fall from his face, and his eyes softened in sadness and remorse. She could see him sigh her name, "Erin?"

She quickly shook her head at him, "G'night" she called out. She willed him with her eyes to leave. She could sense the hesitation in him, before he gave a sharp nod and disappeared out into the dark Chicago night.

…..

Erin shifted her car into park, and turned the key in the ignition to off. She let her head drop back on the head rest, and she closed her eyes in exhaustion. She was emotionally drained. After Jay had left, Kim and Erin had both discussed their exes at length. She was getting tired of talking about Jay though. It was time for her to just be done with it all. Talking and rehashing the same old events over and over was just emotional torture. She'd felt like she was making such progress in recent weeks with her talks with Dr. Charles and making positive choices in her personal life. It was disheartening that just a few moments in bar could derail all that.

She took a deep breath and opened her car door, then reached around in the back seat to grab her bag. As she straightened outside her car, she was startled by the sudden quick approach of someone behind her. Realizing she had made an atypical error of not being aware of her surroundings, she quickly attacked. She swung her bag into where she judged was the assailant's face, then gave him a hard elbow to the stomach.

"Argh," she heard a familiar voice groan, followed by a pain filled, "What the hell, Erin?"

Turing to face her would-be attacker, she came face to face with Jay. Actually it was more like face to top of head, since he was bent over at the waist, nursing the area where her elbow had made intimate contact with his stomach.

"Jay!" she gasped. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you. I thought it was a mugger or something."

Jay looked up at her, "I was parked two spots down from you. How could you miss my car? I was worried when you didn't get out of your car. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Remembering the events of the evening, Erin averted her eyes, "I'm fine. I was just distracted." She didn't want to have this conversation with Jay tonight. Actually, she never wanted to have this conversation. She was done talking about it all.

Jay took a side step and angled his head to try and catch her eye. She resisted his effort and looked away. Jay let out a groan of frustration, grabbed her chin with his hand, and held it in place. He gently lifted it until their eyes met. "I'm fine." She repeated stubbornly.

"I would have never gone there if I thought there was a chance you'd be there, Erin. I don't want you mad at me." The look in Jay's eyes was apologetic, and Erin knew that he was being truthful. He really had no intention of throwing another woman in her face. As difficult as it was to know he had moved on, Erin knew he was not a vengeful guy. He wasn't the type of guy to rub something in her face.

"I'm not mad. I'm fine." She repeated one more time, her voice softer this time. His eyes bore into hers, as his hand continued to gently hold her face to meet his eyes. She relished the contact of his hand on her face, as much as she also wished he would let her go.

His eyes searched hers, and Erin had never felt more vulnerable. She felt he could see past her words, and read the truth in her heart. His voice was low when he finally spoke, "Then why do you look so sad."

Without warning, his hand slid around to grasp her neck, and the other reached to cup her cheek. His lips descended to hers, and Erin was powerless to fight it. The contact was electrifying. Their lips fused together in desperation. Weeks of emotion were poured into the kiss, as their lips and tongues met and danced. Jay's hands tangled in Erin's hair, holding her close and still as his lips devoured hers. Erin's hands at first just gripped Jay's shoulders, needing his strong weight to anchor her. Then, unable to resist touching him, her hands soon wandered along the firm planes of his shoulders and chest. Seconds turned to minutes until the need to breathe overtook them both. They broke apart, Jay leaning his forehead against hers, both breathing heavily, eyes closed.

"Why do you have this effect on me?" He whispered softly.

Anger flared into Erin, and she jerked away. Startled by her sudden movement, he released her from his embrace. "What's that supposed to mean?" She snapped. Was he blaming her for this? He was the one who had come to her. He was the one who kissed her!

Confused at her anger, Jay stuttered, "N-nothing. I just can't seem to stay away from you. I don't know what's wrong with me." He took a step back trying to put some distance between them to diffuse the situation. He really had only intended to come to tell Erin that he was sorry he'd been at Molly's with Lily. He had never imagined she would show up. While he had expected to see her eyes flare with anger, it was the sadness in them that had ripped his heart to shreds. As he had walked out the door of Molly's, Erin had looked at him with just such utter heartbreak, that he didn't even know what to do. He'd walked Lily to her car, then debated going back into Molly's or heading to Erin's to wait for her there. Not really wanting to also deal with the ire of his partner, he had opted for Erin's apartment.

When she had finally arrived, the sadness in her eyes had not yet dissipated. Combined with his mixed feelings over their recent closeness, he had just been so overwhelmed with emotion. Looking into her eyes, he had just needed to kiss her. He had wanted to feel that connection once again, despite all their troubles, their fights, and their disappointments.

Needing to break the spell, Jay took a few more steps back. Erin leaned against her car and crossed her arms defensively. "You can't just kiss me, Jay!"

"I know! I know! You just looked so sad." His own eyes held quite a bit of sadness as well. Erin thought she could see a bit of guilt flash in there, too.

Erin looked away in disgust, more at herself than at Jay, "I don't need you to kiss me because I'm sad, Jay. I'm a big girl and can handle this."

"Erin…" Jay began.

"I think you should go," Erin countered. She bent down and began to gather up her belongings that had spilled out of her purse when she had swung it at Jay's face. He silently bent and helped her. As he handed a few items to her, their hands brushed. Erin felt the heat from his touch, and she bristled at her body's betrayal. Standing up quickly, she stuffed everything into her bag. She turned to walk towards her apartment.

Jay reached out and touched her arm, preventing her escape, "I don't want things to be weird between us again."

Erin schooled her face into bland look, trying to hide the rampant emotions that had controlled her all evening, "It won't be. Today was just us being emotional. Getting lost in the past for a moment. We slipped. It happens." She gave him a quick glance. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Running?"

Erin faltered for a second. They were supposed to meet the next morning. A mere seven hours from now. "Umm, yeah. I'll see you at seven." She ducked her head, and she pulled away from his grasp. Jay let her go. He watched as she disappeared into her building. He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He had thought it was impossible that their train wreck of a relationship could become more complicated, but somehow it had. Where were they supposed to go from here?

Hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for all the recent reviews. I've been having so much fun writing these scenes. Especially with the show on break for this month. I need my doses of Linstead. Thanks for reading and thanks to those who take them time to write a review or PM me.