A/N 1: I hope this chapter doesn't feel too rushed for some of you.
On Friday night, Jay got dressed to go out as he usually would. He couldn't help but feel awkward as he thought about what the night would entail. When Erin had told him her ex wanted to grab drinks with him, he didn't know what to feel. What did the guy want from him?! It just wasn't the same as going to the pub with his friends. Who knows how the night could end.
They had decided to meet at Molly's, and as soon as Jay walked into the bar, he felt Kelly's cool blue eyes on him. Jay cautiously made his way over to the stool opposite the firefighter, removing his leather jacket and hanging it around the back of the chair.
"Hey." Kelly greeted. "Beer?" Jay nodded and watched as Kelly made eye contact with a brunette behind the bar. She nodded in reply and quickly brought over two bottles that matched Kelly's nearly empty one. "Thanks, Dawson."
"Dawson?" Jay asked, he had heard that last name before, but he couldn't put a face to the name.
"Mhmm. Antonio—Erin's partner at work—is her brother." Kelly replied.
"Hm, I thought it sounded familiar." Jay took a quick sip of his beer. "So, what'd you want to meet up about?"
"I just wanted to get to know the guy that's hanging around my kids."
"Look man, I don't want to step on any toes." Jay said, getting to the point quickly. "The boys are great, and Erin is amazing. I don't want to fuck this up."
Kelly could see the raw emotion on Jay's face as he spoke. It was obvious that Jay had strong feelings for the three of them. Kelly didn't want to admit that he felt a bit jealous. He had always wanted to get back with Erin—he never thought that Erin would move on. Between her work schedule and the boys keeping her busy, he didn't think that she would have the time to date again. He watched as Jay took a gulp of his beer, letting out a long sigh. He held his bottle up towards Jay, looking him dead in the eye.
"Cheers, man."
Erin quickly made her way towards her front door as she heard the heavy knocking, not wanting to risk the boys waking up. As she looked through the peephole, she rolled her eyes and plastered a smile on her face. It was crazy how this man had such a positive effect on her life.
"Hey." Jay greeted sheepishly.
"Hi, what are you doing here?" Erin grinned as she looked her man up and down. God that jacket looks good on him.
"Well, we thought it would be a great idea to come over and have some drinks!" Kelly exclaimed as he turned towards the apartment. Erin almost jumped in surprise when he made his presence known. "Don't you think drinks are a fun idea, Erin?"
"How about you both go sit on the couch and I'll go grab you some water instead?" Erin proposed, moving out of the way so her drunk idiots could make their way into the apartment. "And keep it down, the kids are asleep."
"Oh. Jay, shhh." Kelly tried to whisper as he stumbled towards the living room. "Did they have a good day at school?"
"You know they always do." Erin said as she smiled over at Jay.
"We did fingerpainting today." Jay whispered loudly, remembering to be mindful of the sleeping boys down the hall. "It was nice."
"That explains all the paint I had to wash off during their baths." Erin said as she handed each of them a cold bottle of water.
"Oh yeah." Jay took a big gulp of his water. "I'm sorry, they just looked really cute so I didn't say anything."
"Fuck I'm never drinking that much again." Kelly stated as he closed his eyes. "I think I should get going."
"Why don't you spend the night?" Erin proposed.
"Nah. I wanna be in my own bed tonight." Forcefully standing up, Kelly made his way back over to the front door with Erin following closely behind. "I'll see you guys soon."
After locking the front door, Erin made her way back towards the living room where she found Jay sitting on the couch quietly, staring off into space.
"I think I just went on a date with your ex. And it was kinda fun."
Erin rolled her eyes as she came to sit next to him. After a few minutes, Erin carefully moved into his lap, their eyes never leaving each other. She placed a soft kiss on his lips, feeling him reciprocate the action. Her hands roamed across his broad chest and she squeezed his large biceps as he intensified the kiss. Jay's hands quickly moved to cup her ass before he stood up, not even pausing to break the kiss. He blindly carried her to her bedroom, losing himself in everything Erin Lindsay.
The next day, Jay and Erin decided to go out, finally having the time for a date alone. It had only been a few weeks since their last date together, but with work and the boys, life had been pretty busy.
Their date wasn't anything glamorous—they didn't dress up and Erin didn't put any makeup on but she loved when she could be as natural as she could. Erin loved that she could be herself around Jay. They went to a local pizzeria in sweats and hoodies and demolished their way through two large pies before deciding to stop for ice cream on the way home. It was a little chilly for ice cream, but there was just something about looking Jay up and down that ignited a fire in Erin's body.
"I'm so stuffed, I don't think I'm gonna survive." Erin said, taking deep breaths as they walked around the block trying to digest all the food they had eaten. She glared at her boyfriend when she heard the sound of his low chuckle, which he quickly tried to suppress. "I'm serious Jay. I feel like I'm going to pop."
"You're not gonna pop, relax babe." Jay stopped walking as they arrived outside of Erin's apartment building door. "The worst thing that will happen is you'll be destroying your bathroom in the morning… Although you've done some serious damage already." Jay braced as he saw Erin's hand come up to thump his arm.
"I'm not that messy." Erin defended. "I just don't have the time to clean everything up."
"Mhmm. Got it." Jay smiled teasingly. He bent down to place a kiss on her lips but frowned when she moved away. "What was that for?"
"Wouldn't want my mess getting all over you." Erin smirked as she stood tall, almost victoriously as Jay pouted. He could see her resolve deteriorating as the seconds ticked on and he knew he would win this competition easily. "Okay fine." The kiss was soft and slow, and they basked in the warmth of each other before pulling away. "Will I see you tomorrow?" Erin asked hopefully.
"Oh definitely." He smiled at her again. "C'mon, it's freezing. You should get inside." Erin moved away from the door and went to grab the handle, only to be halted by Jay's much larger hand that was already holding it. He pulled it open and watched her make her way into the lobby, stopping only to wait for the elevator. Once it had arrived at the ground floor, she waved him goodbye and stepped in.
Jay turned away from the glass, his hands digging in his pockets to find his car keys. He had just opened the door when a van screeched to a stop behind him, and as he turned to look at what was going on, his face was met by something metallic.
As he collapsed against the gritty asphalt, he noticed two figures wearing all black hovering over him. Jay tried to get back up—like the Rangers had taught him—but the pain had him completely dazed. He felt himself being roughly turned over before his wrists and legs were tied together with rope. He tried calling out for help, but all he could muster was some quiet groans.
When he was turned to his back again, a black hood was quickly put over his face, concealing him from seeing anything, including the metal object that collided with his face again—this time knocking him unconscious.
A/N: This is for you, floopdeedoopdee. :)
