"Last one!" Erin announced with a smile as she dropped the final box of Jay's belongings onto the floor of her apartment. "Who knew you had so much stuff? Seeing as you wear the same two shirts everyday, I never would've guessed," she teased her boyfriend.
"I could wear no shirt," Jay smirked, lifting the hem of his shirt and beginning to pull it over his head.
"Don't you dare," Erin quickly crossed the room and slapped his hand off his shirt.
"Why not?" Jay challenged, raising his eyebrow as he grabbed her hand.
"Because," she whined, "then you're gonna be all hot and sexy and these boxes are never going to get unpacked."
"Are you saying I'm not sexy with clothes on?" Jay feigned hurt.
"Eh," Erin shrugged and stepped closer to him, pushing herself up on her toes so she was eye level with him. Leaning in, she stopped millimeters from his lips and whispered, "Easier to use self control," She tore her face away and sauntered over to the pile of Jay's stuff.
Jay groaned. "Can't we unpack tomorrow?"
"Nope," Erin smirked and lifted up Jay's motorcycle painting, the only decoration she'd let him take. "Where do you want this?"
Jay strode across the room and took the painting out of Erin's hands, putting it back on the floor. "I don't care. I want you in the bedroom," Wanting to tease her like she'd just done to him, he lifted his shirt and pulled it all the way off this time.
"I hate you," Erin said with a smile, running her hands down her boyfriend's newly revealed abs.
"I love you," Jay mumbled, wrapping his hands around her tiny waist to pull her into him and crashing his lips to hers. Within seconds, he accomplished his plan of getting her into the bedroom.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
"If this is what living with you is like, I'm never going to get anything done." Erin whined afterwards as they lay in bed, snuggling further into Jay's chest.
"Fine by me," Jay placed a kiss into Erin's hair as he tightened his hold on her. They were interrupted by a harsh, incessant knocking on the front door.
Erin groaned as she pulled her shirt back over her head and slipped out from under the covers to find her pants. "I'm going to kill whoever this is," she grumbled as she made her way out of the bedroom.
Jay heard the front door open and nearly had a heart attack when he heard Erin greet their guest.
"Hey, Hank," she feigned happiness as she pulled her father figure in for a hug. "What are you doing here?"
"What, a guy can't stop by to see his kid? We haven't gotten a chance to catch up outside of the district since you got back from Wisconsin, I wanted to hear about your trip." Hank paused when he saw the piles of boxes behind Erin. "Are you moving or…?"
"Fuck," Erin thought. She'd never told Hank that Halstead was moving in with her. "No, uhm, actually… Jay moved in with me…"
Jay had been redressing to go into Erin's living room and greet their boss, but quickly changed his mind when he heard the conversation in the other room.
"What?" Hank spat. "Were you planning on telling me?"
"Of course," Erin sighed nervously. "Like you said, we haven't had a chance to talk in awhile."
"Where's Halstead now?" Hank looked around the apartment like he expected Jay to crawl out from under Erin's couch.
"He's, uh, he ran to the store to get a few storage containers," Erin quickly blurted out the first lie she could think of to avoid Hank finding out that he was actually naked in her bed.
"Then why are both of your cars in the parking lot?" Hank challenged and Erin internally groaned. Of course he'd checked the lot before he came up to her apartment.
"He walked?" Erin said weakly, knowing she was caught.
"Erin," Hank gave her a look that took her back fifteen years to when she'd drunkenly tried to sneak back into his house after being out at a party and he'd caught her. "Are you happy?"
"What?" she asked, caught off guard by his question. "Yes. Of course. I'm happier than I've been in a long time, Hank."
'That's all I care about. I'll never be thrilled about two of my detectives playing house, but I haven't seen you smiling like this since before Camille died. And if Halstead is the reason, I'm glad he moved in here." Hank reached out to squeeze Erin's shoulder reassuringly.
"Thank you," Erin smiled as she placed a hand on top of his. That wasn't how she'd expected the conversation to go, but she definitely wasn't complaining.
"Now go get your boyfriend out of your bedroom and tell him to get dressed because we're going out to lunch." Hank smirked as he moved to sit down on Erin's couch.
Erin gasped and felt her cheeks redden. Even at thirty years old, having a detective as a father figure was clearly never going to get easier. "Yes sir," she mumbled, disappearing down the hallway.
When she walked into her bedroom, Jay's face was equally as red as hers. "You heard that?" she asked, scrunching her nose.
"Every word," Jay couldn't help but laugh at her face. "Did you mean what you said? About being happy?" he asked as he stood up, walking over to where Erin stood by the door.
"Are you kidding?" Erin asked, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. "Of course I meant it. You make me happier than I ever thought possible, Jay. I love you." She pecked his lips softly, overly aware of Hank's presence just down the hall.
"I love you baby," Jay pressed a kiss to her forehead once she pulled away. "Now let's go before Voight gets the wrong idea." He grabbed Erin's hand to lead her out of the bedroom.
"Too late for that," she mumbled, letting out a quick laugh as she felt Jay nervously grip her hand harder.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
One month later….
"Er, you got mail from Bunny!" Jay yelled down the hall, placing the envelope down on the counter.
"What?" Erin emerged from the bedroom with a confused look on her face. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I can read, ya know," Jay rolled his eyes as he tossed the envelope at his girlfriend like a Frisbee.
"Ass," she mumbled just loud enough for him to hear, looking up at him with a smirk as she tore open the envelope. Her smile quickly dropped as she read the contents of the mail.
"What is it?" Jay asked, concern evident in his voice.
"I can't believe this," she nearly whispered, not removing her eyes from whatever was on the paper.
"Erin," Jay repeated, walking over to where she stood. "What is it?"
Unable to find words, Erin handed the envelope over to him and brushed past him, throwing herself down on the couch and burying her head in her hands. Jay quickly reopened the envelope and pulled out the contents: a wedding invitation. He sighed and made his way over to the couch, sitting next to Erin and pulling her into him. She tried to resist at first, but quickly gave up the fight and buried her head into Jay's chest.
"Why does she keep doing this?" she mumbled into Jay's chest as he stroked her hair. "What does she expect from me? I couldn't even tell you the last time I spoke to her, and now she's inviting me to another wedding? I don't want to go, she doesn't deserve to have me there, but I'm gonna look like the bad guy if I don't show," Jay's heart broke as he felt Erin's tears soaking through his shirt.
"Shhhh, Er, it's okay," he tried to soothe her. "You're not going to look bad if you don't go, no one will blame you. And no one will judge you if you do want to go, because she's your mom and I know how big your heart is. Whatever decision you make, I got you."
Erin sighed and tried to snuggle further into Jay's chest. As much as every part of her brain was screaming at her to say no, she knew she would end up at Bunny's wedding in hopes of having a real relationship with her mother, just as she had the four weddings prior. "Will you come with me?" she whispered so quietly she was unsure if Jay even heard her.
"You're not seriously asking me that question,"
Erin's head shot up from Jay's chest, confusion written all over her face. "I'm sorry, I just thought-"
"Erin," Jay interrupted her, cupping her cheek to force her to look into his eyes. "I would never let you go alone. Besides, I never pass up a chance to wear one of my nice suits,"
Erin couldn't help but laugh. That's what she loved about Jay – well, one of many things. No matter how bad things seemed, he always knew how to put a smile on her face and make her believe that maybe, just maybe, everything would work out.
"Plus, weddings are our thing, ya know. Look how well the last one we went to turned out," he continued, winking at her.
Erin's smile stayed plastered to her face at the memory of Will's wedding. "Do you ever think about what things would be like if I didn't show up for Will's wedding? Like what if I didn't call you that morning or if Hank didn't give me the day off?"
Jay dropped his hand from her face and shook his head as if to physically shake the thought out of his mind. "Why would I ever want to think about that?"
"I dunno," Erin shrugged, not really wanting to think about it either. "It's just weird how one little decision like that can change your life forever,"
"Yeah," Jay agreed. "What if I never took that last tequila shot at Molly's that night? I never would've had the balls to call Voight and declare my love for you without it."
Erin snorted. "Yeah, most girls aren't a fan of getting phone calls to come pick a drunk guy up from the bar at 2am… but I'm glad you made that stupid decision as well,"
"Oh, now you're calling me stupid?" Jay stuck his tongue out at her.
"In the most loving way," she smirked. "What are you going to tell our kids when they ask how we got together? 'Oh, kids, one night I blacked out at the bar and called Grandpa Hank at 1am to beg him to let me date your mom?' You're going to set such a good example, babe."
Even though Erin was making fun of him, Jay couldn't help but beam at how easily she mentioned having a family together. "Oh no, no. I'm going to tell them that their mom wanted me so bad she drove all the way to Wisconsin to pretend to be my girlfriend."
"Key word: pretend! You made the first move!" Erin insisted through a fit of laughter.
"I did not!" Jay shot back. "You totally jumped me in the middle of the dance floor because you got all territorial when Ally showed up!"
Erin groaned, remembering that he was right. "Are you complaining?"
"Not at all," Jay leaned down to press a quick kiss to her lips. "That was the moment I knew I wanted to kiss these lips forever,"
"Even after I drag you to my junkie mom's sixth wedding?" Erin sighed, remembering the basis of their conversation.
"Especially then." He leaned in to peck her lips again.
"Thank you," she mumbled against his lips as she deepened the kiss.
"Always, Er." Jay promised.