Jay can tell something is bothering his partner. He notices it during the first twenty seconds after he picks her up that sunny Chicago morning. He doesn't pry though; that's just not how they work. He knows she'll talk about it when she's ready.

Today is actually supposed to be their day off; however, both detectives are interested in some overtime, after Sergeant Platt asked them to help out oh so nicely.

They are in their blues (which is a very rare occurrence), acting as extra security during a Chicago street festival. Jay honestly has no idea what the festival was for and Platt wasn't in the mood to explain it to him.

Jay and Hailey stick together as they patrol the street; the conversation is kept fairly light, but Hailey seems distant and uninterested and Jay is starting to worry slightly.

"Hey, is everything okay?" He asks her, as they turn a corner. She turns to him with her eyebrows raised and he instantly jumps in to defend himself. "I know, personal question. But you've been off all morning. Just want to make sure you're alright."

Hailey chuckles, losing their eye contact to watch the festival in front of them. It was busy but not overly crowded that they couldn't hear what the other was saying. "No, I'm fine. Just have a few things on my mind."

It was Jay's turn to raise his single eyebrow, attempting to catch her gaze again. "Anything you want to talk about?"

Hailey looks like she wants to laugh and that just leaves Jay even more clueless; she really was aloof about her personal life. "No, it's nothing serious."

"Still," he shrugs, stuffing his hands into his front pockets. "I'll listen."

Hailey smiles, patting his shoulder that slumps in defeat. "I know, Jay. But I'm fine."

…

Jay doesn't pry anymore after she shuts him down. They finish their volunteer shift, agree to go home and shower and meet up at a bar nearby. They still go to Molly's to hang out with the other first responders, but they've started going to this other bar, as to not have other prying eyes around. Sometimes they just want to talk, something they just want to drink, but this way, it's just the two of them.

He's watching Hailey at the bar, buying them another round of beers. She's still been slightly off, but he's confident she's about ready to crack.

Jay's halfway into his second beer when she finally explodes.

"Okay, I've decided I'm going to tell you what's up, but you're not allowed to laugh."

She looks so serious and Jay is so confused. Why would he laugh if something was wrong?

"Okay?" He replies, more as a question.

She looks as if she's mentally preparing herself and he's clueless, but that seems to be the norm around Hailey.

"One of my ex-boyfriends is getting married."

Jay raises his eyebrows, expecting everything but that.

"To my ex-best friend."

Realization is slowly dawning on him.

"He cheated on me with her, so we broke up, naturally."

He's kept quiet because she doesn't look finished venting yet.

"But they're getting married in like a week, and I wasn't going to go because fuck them, you know?" Hailey was going off now and Jay listened diligently, a hint of a smile on his lips. "yes, you heard correctly; I received an invite. Anyway, I never sent in my RSVP either just to keep them guessing and mess up their wedding plans. But then," she adds dramatically, rolling her eyes; Jay is trying really hard not to laugh now. "I saw them! I saw both of them last night on my way home. Of all the places I could run into them, I ran into them at the convenience store when I was picking up milk," she looks so annoyed, "milk, Jay."

At this point, Jay can't contain his laughter anymore. Hailey looks affronted.

"Hailey, I'm sorry, okay?" He can't seem to stop or look the least bit apologetic. "I'm not laughing at your story, I promise. It's just the way you're telling it. I've never seen you so invested in something and so annoyed."

Hailey is pissed, but not at Jay; it's just the whole situation in general has been bugging her all day and she just needed to tell someone. "Oh, there's more."

Jay's eyes widen. "Oh no, what happened?"

"So, there I am, carrying the milk and they're being all friendly and shit like nothing happened," her eyes are squinted, "like what the fuck?"

Jay nods, smirking. "How dare they?"

Hailey pauses, glaring at him. "I know you're being a smartass, but I'm going to ignore that because, listen to this," he leans in, completely invested. "They asked if I was going to the wedding, but like what the hell am I supposed to say to their faces?"

"Oh no," Jay mumbles, "Hailey, you didn't."

"Yes, Jay, I absolutely did," she laughs, "when they mentioned they never got my RSVP, I told them it must have been lost in the mail because I definitely sent it."

Jay is full on laughing again and Hailey can't even be mad because she's laughing too.

"Jay, it gets worse," she groans, dropping her head into her hands. Jay is basically already losing it; he's not sure how much worse it can get. "They asked me for the details so they could add it into their plans, and they asked me if it was two spots; one for me and one for my boyfriend."

Jay's eyes widen. "Oh shit."

"I know they were messing with me; I could see it on their faces," she adds angrily. Her blue eyes are slightly wild, and her messy hair is sticking to her face as she spoke ferociously. "But there was no way in hell I was telling them I'm going to their wedding solo! So, now I need a last-minute date, and the wedding is in like a week."

Jay takes a swig from his beer, amusement still present on his facial features. "Wow Hailey, that was a rollercoaster. No wonder you've been off all day."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Halstead," Hailey sasses while rolling her eyes. "But don't you worry, your time of reckoning will come." Jay's eyebrows furrow and he doesn't like where this conversation is going. "You got a nice suit?"

Jay shakes his head rapidly. "No. Not this again."

"What?" Hailey interrupts, looking confused. "You're coming to this wedding with me, you have no choice."

Jay sighs. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I'm not showing up solo, Jay," her expression is serious. "And if I have to pretend to be in a fake relationship for one night, I would rather it be you."

Jay ignores the way her words make him feel inside. "Okay, fine. Looks like I don't have much of a say anyway."

Hailey smiles toothily and any doubts he previously had disappear. "No, you definitely don't. Also, I'm pretty sure Voight is out of town, so you're really my only other option."

He chuckles, finishing the last of his beer. "Okay, if we're going to do this, tell me everything I need to know."

…

Hailey should probably be nervous, but she surprisingly isn't.

She's about to spend a night pretending to be madly in love with her partner (which honestly wasn't that hard to do), and she hasn't started panicking. It's basically like working undercover; she has just never done this level role-playing with Jay before.

But he seemed good. He didn't seem nervous at all, as she gazed at him from the passenger seat of his truck. He picked her up about twenty minutes ago, looking absolutely dazzling in a pressed simple black suit. She was momentarily speechless, but she awkwardly smiled and gave him a random compliment when he cleared his throat.

Contrary to what Hailey thought, Jay was a little nervous. This was uncharted territory and they hadn't discussed much of how they would act around each other. It was like an undercover operation and they would just go with the flow. But he had to be honest; with Hailey wearing a dress like that, it was going to be extremely hard to focus. Her dress actually was quite similar to Erin's from their undercover op in the sex club and honestly, the parallels between them lately were uncanny.

"What?" He asks as he catches her staring for the fifth time since they left for the ceremony.

She giggles, "sorry, nothing. I'm just picturing Nate's face when he sees you."

Nate is the ex-boyfriend; Kathy is the ex-best friend. Hailey had caught him up over the last week on everything he needed to know. She may have omitted a few details, but what he didn't know, he didn't know, right?

Jay raises an eyebrow, turning right onto the street of their destination. "Why?"

Hailey rolls her eyes; he can be so adorably clueless. "Shut up; you know you're attractive, okay?"

He smirks and internally debates whether he should use this moment to blatantly flirt with her, but figures he'll have lots of time for that throughout the evening. He pulls into the venue and secure a parking spot, catching Hailey's fidgety hands from the corner of his eye.

They had decided to keep their fake relationship as close to reality as possible, as to make everything easier. They had been partners for a bit over three years and started showing romantic interests in each other two years in. They decided to give it a try a few months later, and have been together ever since.

"You ready?" He asks in a soft voice.

Hailey nods. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," she wipes her hands on her red dress (honestly, red? Was she trying to kill him?). "Just realizing I'm going to see a lot of people from my past in there tonight."

Jay reaches over the console and taps her knee, careful not to linger. "What did you say the other day? Fuck 'em?"

She looks over at him and smiles. "Fuck 'em."

…

The wedding is taking place at an extravagant hotel wedding plaza; the ceremony is happening in the outside garden at sunset, while the reception is immediately following within the hotel. As they make their way to the back garden, Hailey is stunned by the beauty of it all. There are fairy lights decorating the whole perimeter, clearly illuminating the make-shift altar where the vows would be held. Over the altar, there is a gorgeous arc with lights intertwined and a pathway made up entirely of flowers. The color scheme is off-white and light pink and it blends together beautifully.

"I have to hand it to them; this place looks amazing," Hailey murmurs low enough for only Jay to hear.

Jay smiles, grabbing two flutes of champagne from the waiter passing through. "You ever think of how your wedding would look?" He asks as he hands her a flute.

Hailey chokes into her first sip. "God no," she licks her lips and Jay stares. "After everything we deal with and see on a daily basis, thinking of something like my own wedding just seems so miniscule and pointless."

"So, you're a Vegas wedding type of girl?" He smirks.

Hailey returns his devious look. "If it saves me time and money, I'll cheers to that," she clinks her glass with Jay's before turning to scan the crowd. It was part of her nature to surveillance everyone around her, even if she didn't realize it. "Oh hey, that's Nate, by the way."

She points to a tall man, dressed in a pressed black tux, laughing with what Jay assumed were his groomsmen. Jay surveys him for a second, well aware of Hailey's eyes on him, and shrugs, "you can do better," he says as he takes another sip of champagne.

Hailey beams and he fucking loves it.

But he sees her smile fade away as the man in question starts making his way over to them.

"Oh my god," she panics, "here we go."

"Relax," he murmurs into her ear, sliding closer, "we've got this."

Nate reaches them and Jay takes a moment to study him up close. He looks polite enough, but Jay knows better. Nate's eyeing Hailey like she's a piece of meat and he's definitely not into that. He decides he doesn't like the guy.

"Hailey! I'm so glad you could make it!"

Jay glances at Hailey and sees the strain in her features. He can almost read her mind; is this guy serious?

"Thanks Nate, and congratulations," she turns to Jay with adoration in her eyes (wow, she's good). "I want you to meet my boyfriend, this is Jay."

Jay sets Nate with a cool but polite look. "Hey, it's nice to meet you. And congratulations on your wedding, this place looks beautiful."

Nate reaches for Jay's outstretched hand and doesn't falter under his tight grip. "Thanks, man. How did you meet Hailey?"

"We're partners," he replies easily.

Nate raises his eyebrows. "Robbery-homicide?"

"No, I joined the Intelligence Unit at the 21st district a few years ago," Hailey jumps in.

Nate looks oddly surprised. "Oh, you left? I didn't know you moved to the other side of town."

Hailey smirks, "yeah, guess I just had to leave some stuff behind."

Nate nods, teetering awkwardly. "Sorry, I just always thought you'd be a lifer down there," he says with such a nonchalant attitude that Jay is raising his eyebrows at his audacity. "You always said you weren't cut out for more."

Hailey opens her mouth to respond but she looks temporarily stunned; Jay decides to step in with some truth bombs. "Hey man, Hailey's an amazing detective. If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't even be here today."

"Wait a minute, what the fuck?" Hailey snaps and Jay bites his lip. Her voice is low because she knows better than to embarrass the guy too horribly on his wedding day, but he deserves this. "I never said that, you said that! Because you didn't want a fiancée more successful than you!"

Jay casts a quick look at her when he hears her say fiancée, but she's too heated to notice.

Nate also looks affronted that she mentioned that, or that she responded at all. "Clearly we're both remembering different situations."

"Yeah, clearly," Hailey snorts. "Anyway, congratulations on your wedding day but respectfully, fuck you for everything."

Jay is absolutely stunned as she grabs his wrist and yanks him in the direction of the outdoor bar. She quickly asks the bartender for four tequila shots and downs the first one, all within the minute.

Jay has literally never been more attracted to her.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?" Hailey hisses angrily. She takes another shot. "I swear he just invited me to piss me off."

Jay pushes the other two shots in her direction. It's one in the afternoon; he can't fathom having two tequila shots at that hour, but Hailey has already had a day and she clearly needs them. With Jay's silence, Hailey stills after her third tequila shot. Her brows furrow and worry lines appear on her face.

"Shit, was that too much?" She says, panicking. "Did I overreact and make a big scene on his wedding day for no reason?"

Jay smiles, instantly putting her worries at ease. "Oh no, not at all. He was an ass and deserved it, trust me," she nods and takes the last shot. "That was pretty badass."

Hailey snorts, rolling her eyes. "He's lucky I didn't punch him in the face. I have a pretty great right-cross."

"Let's not give the groom a black eye before he's even gotten to the altar," he says as he leads her to the seating area. Other guests are starting to find their seats, while the groom and his party make their way to the altar. "We're still not halfway through this thing."

…

The ceremony is standard; nothing special.

Jay and Hailey politely stand for the bride to make her grand entrance. Her dress is big and poufy and Hailey hates everything about it, but she stands quietly and watches. Her anxiety is out the roof given the situation she's currently in but having Jay next to her really does calm her. He's not doing anything special; they're only touching the bare minimum, sitting right next to each other, but that's all she needs to relax her.

The reception that follows is also very bland. They are seated with three other couples, who are surprisingly very friendly. Hailey doesn't recognize them, so they must have come into the picture after her departure.

"Hey," Jay murmurs, a few minutes after they dim the lights for dancing. "I don't want to pry, but I'm curious."

Truthfully, Hailey has been waiting for this question since her outburst earlier with Nate. She's surprised he didn't ask sooner, considering his lack of patience when it comes to curiosity. "What do you want to know?" She levels him with a slightly smirk.

"Come on, Hailey," Jay gives into a half smile. "Why didn't you tell me you were engaged to him?"

Hailey pauses for a moment, actually thinking about her response. "The truth?" He nods solemnly. "I didn't really want you to know about my failed relationships."

Jay's eyebrows raise to his hairline. "Your failed relationships?" He's almost laughing. "Hailey, have you even seen all of mine?"

She laughs, "I know, but I don't know," she's twisting her fingers together to keep her busy. "I just – I really loved him. and then that happened, and I felt like it was my fault, you know? Like I did something to warrant that. I didn't want people knowing. Especially you; I didn't want you to think any less of me."

Jay's eyes go wide and he shakes his head. "Hailey, I can't even begin to tell you how wrong everything you just said is."

Hailey looks at him shyly; she's not a shy person.

"I would never think any less of you; you're one of the best people I've ever known," he says seriously, his eyes star deep into her soul; she can't escape. "Also, none of that was your fault. If he was stupid enough to lose you, he's an idiot and nothing you did caused that."

Hailey smirks at him. "I know that now. He's trash and I deserve better."

The smile Jay sends her is blinding. "Good. You do deserve better."

He continues to look at her and she doesn't tear her gaze away; she can't.

Their tender moment is interrupted by the screeching of chairs, as the bride and groom decide to make their rounds to every table. And because Hailey has been extremely lucky lately, all the other couples are either on the dance floor or at the bar when they decide to come to Jay and Hailey's table.

Hailey can see them approaching, and she wants to run, yet tragically, she cannot.

"You got me?" She mumbles to Jay quietly, grasping his hand automatically.

He looks at her with a fond smile and tightens his grip. "Always."

Both detectives brace themselves for the next few minutes. They've faced flying bullets and bombs, but somehow, this feels worse.

"Hailey!" Kathy squeals, dipping in for a hug. Hailey goes rigid and her facial expression changes to one of pure discomfort. "So glad you could make it! And who's this?" She sets her eyes on Jay, and ow it's his turn to be uncomfortable. Nate has looked uncomfortable during this whole interaction so far; probably has something to do with Hailey telling him to fuck off. Respectfully.

"I'm Jay," he introduces himself, thrusting out his hand before she has the idea to hug him too. Kathy pauses, but shakes his hand anyway; clearly, she wanted a hug.

Kathy raises an eyebrow. "You're the new partner, right?"

"Sure," Jay shrugs. "It's been a while, but yeah, you could say that."

She raises her eyebrows suggestively in Hailey's direction. "I can definitely see why you wanted more than just partnership with this hunk."

Hailey stares at her. "Do you hit on everyone's boyfriends, or just all of mine?"

Jay's eyes widen, but he keeps his composure for Hailey's sake. Kathy's face blanches and she straightens as if Hailey has just slapped her across the face; well, she may as well have.

"Hailey, please don't forget you're here at my wedding, as per my request," Kathy deadpans in response and if Jay thinks they were in trouble before, they're really in for it now. "Do not disrespect me like that."

Hailey's eyes squint and the words she's hearing are causing her physical pain. "Are you kidding me?" She hisses. "You slept with my fiancé and had the audacity to invite me to the wedding, so who the hell do you think you are sassing right now?"

Kathy purses her lips. "I thought you'd be happy for me. We were such great friends."

Hailey is about to lose her shit. "Jay, I'm going to hit her," she says quickly and Jay decides to take charge and jump in.

"Alright, you know what? It's your wedding day, we don't need to make a scene," he says calmly; Hailey is still breathing deeply. "But you both should acknowledge you did Hailey dirty and she deserves an apology, at least."

The bride looks affronted that he would even get involved. "Apology? She should be apologizing to me! She's causing me stress! You don't upset the bride on her wedding day!"

"I'm about to do more than just upset you," Hailey growls, quickly standing up and planting her feet firmly to the ground. Jay has no doubt in his mind that Hailey will not hesitate to give the bride a black eye, but he really can't let her do that.

With his rapid instincts, he's able to wrap an arm around her waist and yank her into his side and farther away from Kathy, who pales and flinches a few steps back. To anyone watching, it merely looks like he's unable to keep his hands off his girlfriend and pulled her closer for a quick cuddle. It seems this is enough to snap Hailey out of whatever revenge-infused fantasy she's living in her head. "I'm going to leave," she says calmly, "and I would like to say I wish you both nothing but happiness but really, I want to tell you both to go fuck yourselves. Respectfully."

With those last few words, Hailey grabs her clutch, Jay's hand and pulls him in the direction of the exit doors.

And once again, he has never been so attracted to her.

"Oh my god," I can't believe that just happened," she groans as soon as she exits the building. She instantly leans against the brick wall and allows the coldness to distract her. At his silence, she peaks an eye open to see him gaping at her. His cheeks are flushed, and he looks flustered, which is highly unusual for Jay.

"What's wrong?" She questions. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He seems to snap out of it but he is blushing like no tomorrow. Hailey is shocked; this is literally never happens. "It's nothing, sorry," he mumbles. "You just look really good."

Hailey has to strain her ears because she almost can't hear him, but she does. "What?"

Jay huffs but decides he can't get out of this now. "Apparently I have a thing for angry Hailey," he says honestly, and she's floored. "I'm probably crossing a line here or something, but I'm very attracted to you right now."

Jay is being bold and meeting her blue eyes, but Hailey is slightly speechless.

"And if I'm being honest, I really want to kiss you. Have wanted to all night."

Hailey decides to feed off his confidence and play along. "What's stopping you?"

He forces his eyes not to widen at her forward matter and instead takes a step closer to her position against the brick wall. "Oh God, so many things…" he groans, his hands finding her waist.

"But?"

"But I don't care."

His lips meet hers tantalizingly slow.

His kiss is soft, much like his entire character when it comes to Hailey. One of his hands reaches up to cradle her cheek and Hailey surges forward because it's not enough. Jay pulls back.

"Finally," Hailey mumbles, cuddling her face into his neck. He holds on tight, the overwhelming scent of her enough to keep him smiling. "I've been wanting to kiss you since the first time you got shot."

Honestly, he can't remember when he started wanting to kiss her but he's damn well glad he finally did. "Thanks for coming with me today," she says quietly, "it's hard for me to open up about my past, but I really hope I can get there with you."

He's still holding on tight, and he's smiling as she sneaks a glance at him. "We have all the time in the world."

hellooo all!

this is incredibly long and i absolutely HATED the ending but i wanted to get it done and posted before online classes started again!

also, once again, the inspiration for this story came from an episode of the rookie, where lucy is going through the same situation. however, tim does not attend said wedding with her (although, that would be a great addition to the episodes/fics).

anyway, i like the gist of this story... not entirely sure how i feel about how it turned out but i hope you guys liked it!

if you guys have any prompts, PLEASE let me know, i'm like running out.

anyway, leave reviews, thanks for reading everyone!