Hailey parked the car in the district parking lot and took a deep breath.

"So it starts now?" Jay asked.

"I mean, we could wait until we get into the actual building," Hailey said.

Jay smirked, "You sure?"

"Yeah," Hailey nodded, "From the second we step in to the second we step out."

"Shake on it," Jay held his hand out.

Hailey laughed, "Jay."

"Just saying, I want established rules," he smiled, "Shake on it."

Hailey rolled her eyes and shook his hand, "Ready?"

"One second," Jay pulled her closer and kissed her quickly, "Ok," he whispered, "Got my fix."

Hailey smiled against his lips, "It's not like we make out in the locker room all the time."

"Yeah, but if I can't even touch you," Jay groaned and squeezed her leg, "I need something to think about."

Hailey laughed and kissed the side of his head, "Let's go."

"The second we step in the building," Jay repeated and got out of the car.

Hailey nodded, "As soon as we step in."

"All right," Jay put his hands in his pockets.

Hailey followed him inside. "Thank you," she said as he held the door open for her.

"You're welcome," Jay said, "And game on."

Hailey turned back to look at him, "What?"

Jay unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and slid past her, expertly avoiding touching her, "Morning Trudy," he jogged upstairs.

Hailey's mouth dropped slightly and she stared after him.

Trudy looked at her, "What's going on with him?"

Hailey shook her head, "He's too much," she followed him up to the bullpen.

Jay was sitting at his desk smirking at her and she shook her head as she sat down to turn her computer on.

They worked in silence for a few minutes before Kim and Adam came upstairs arguing quietly.

"Maybe if we actually punished her for doing bad things-"

"She's five-"

"And she does some pretty crazy things-"

"She hid your badge."

"We were late today. I didn't even get coffee."

"So that's what this is about."

At this point, everyone was turned in their seats to watch. Kim looked over at everyone and blushed, "Hi," she waved slightly and quickly sat at her desk.

Adam shook his head and went in the break room.

Hailey made eye contact with Jay and nodded toward the now closed door.

Jay raised his eyebrows.

"Jay," Hailey whispered and tilted her head.

He sighed and got up, hesitantly walking into the break room, "Hey."

Adam looked up from the coffee pot, "Hey."

"What's going on?" Jay leaned against the back of a chair.

"Cara thought it'd be funny to hide my badge last night so that when I needed to look for it today, she would be late for school and miss the morning meeting," Adam grabbed a coffee mug.

Jay slowly nodded, "Why'd she want to miss the meeting?"

"Apparently it's her turn to talk about her family and she was too nervous," Adam poured his coffee, "Kim wanted to let her skip, but I said she needed to go and now I'm the bad guy."

"Smart girl," Jay said.

"Too damn smart," Adam dumped sugar into his mug, "She needs to learn consequences, though, and that needs to start ASAP."

"I feel like her intentions weren't terrible," Jay straightened up.

Adam glared at him, "Did Kim tell you to say that?"

"No," Jay shook his head, "I just see where she's coming from. Kim said a while back that Cara's not interested at all in calling you her parents."

"Having a kid made you soft," Adam moved to walk past Jay.

Jay set a hand on his chest, "You need to calm down before you go back out there."

Adam sighed and sat at the table.

"I know we became parents pretty much at the same time, but can I offer you some advice?" Jay asked.

Adam took a long drink of his coffee, "Do I have a choice?"

"You're definitely an ass before you have your morning coffee," Jay said.

"And you're starting to annoy me," Adam snapped.

"You know what? Whatever."

Jay turned to leave, but Adam said, "Wait. What were you going to say?"

Jay bit his lip, but still turned back, "Put yourself in her shoes. I'm trying to do that more with Drew when he's upset or angry and it seems to help me know how to help him more."

Adam nodded a little, "Thanks."

"Yeah," Jay said quietly and left. He closed the door before going back to his desk.

"Everything okay?" Hailey breathed.

Jay nodded, "He'll be fine."

"Thank you," Hailey smiled slightly.

Jay smiled back, "No problem," he was about to kick his foot forward to knock it against hers in the small space under the desks, but stopped when he remembered their bet. He stared at her before shaking his head, "Very sneaky, Mrs. Halstead."

"What?" Hailey laughed.

"Trying to soften me up to touch you," Jay said, "Well, I'm sorry, but it's not going to happen."

Hailey fake gasped, "Soften you up? I would never. That'd be like purposefully undressing in an attempt to seduce you."

Jay smirked and looked to his computer screen, "Who would do that?"

"I have no idea," Hailey smiled.

Jay chuckled and winked at her.

Hank walked out of his office, "Hey, feel free to go out to lunch. It's clearly not a busy day and I think we could all use some air," he sent Adam and Kim both a pointed glance, "Agreed?"

"I hear you," Adam stood and grabbed his coat, "Kim, lunch on me?"

She breathed out and crossed her arms, "I guess."

As the two of them left, Hailey looked at Jay and said, "What do you want to get?"

"Who says I want to eat with you?" Jay stood and put his jacket on.

Hailey rolled her eyes, "Ha ha so funny."

Jay laughed, "How's the deli sound?"

"Fine by me," Hailey stood and put her hands in the pockets of her jean jacket. She felt her keys and smiled, glancing behind her at Jay waiting for her. She bit her lip and took her keys out into her palm, looking at them before dropping them to the ground. "Oh, darn," she sighed and bent over at the waist to pick them up.

Jay's eyes followed her and he felt the heat rising to his face.

Kevin whistled quietly, "Someone's making a move."

"Shut it," Vanessa hissed.

Hailey smirked as she slowly stood up. She looked over her shoulder and put her hand out, "Ready?"

Jay swallowed hard and slightly reached his hand out before blinking and stepping backwards, "Nice try." He walked past Hailey and hurried down the stairs.

Hailey laughed to herself and followed him as Kevin breathed, "What the hell?"

Jay leaned against Hailey's car in the parking lot and crossed his arms.

Hailey was still smirking when she walked over to him, "Like what you see?"

"Get in the car," Jay said and sat in the passenger seat.

Hailey laughed again and got in the driver's side, "That one down-"

"Are we off work?" Jay asked.

"Can't keep your hands off of me?" Hailey teased.

"Are we off work?" Jay repeated.

Hailey hummed as she thought then said, "Sure."

"Good," Jay made quick work of reaching over and pulling Hailey on top of him.

"Jay!" Hailey laughed loudly and sat in his lap, "We can't."

"Screw that," Jay slipped his hands under her shirt, "Real quick. You played dirty."

"I did?" Hailey asked, "Look at you," she grabbed his shirt that he'd unbuttoned hours before.

Jay reached down and tilted his chair back, earning a soft yelp from Hailey, "That's nothing compared to what you did."

"If you say so," Hailey smiled.

"I do and I will prove that," Jay tangled his hands in her hair and pulled her down closer to him.

Vanessa looked up from her desk as Hailey and Jay walked back into work an hour later carrying takeout containers. She raised an eyebrow, "What's going on? Why didn't you eat there?"

"Long line."

"Traffic."

Jay and Hailey looked at each other before saying exactly what the other had just said.

"Traffic."

"Long line."

"Uh-huh," Vanessa slowly nodded and scanned them both over, noting the wrinkled shirts, Hailey's new ponytail, Jay's sleeves that were now rolled down, and his missing – "Did you bribe them with your belt?"

"What?" Hailey turned to look at Jay.

His hands shot to his waist and his eyes widened.

"Long line and traffic," Vanessa laughed, "What a shame. You know, when Kevin picked up soup for the two of us about half an hour ago, he said there was no one there – not even you two."

Hailey shook her head and sat at her desk.

Jay blushed, grabbed his sandwich from the bag, and sat down.

Vanessa continued laughing softly to herself until Hailey spun around and pointed at her with her spoon, "Shut it."

Vanessa held her hands up, "Hey. What you two do on your break is none of my business, but next time at least try a little harder at hiding it."

Hailey's face turned a bright red and she stared at her food.

Jay chuckled and shook his head.

"What's so funny?" Hailey whispered.

"Nothing," Jay smiled, "Just really happy and feel good about winning this thing," he winked, "Same time tomorrow?"

Hailey stared at him before laughing weakly and shaking her head, "You're impossible."

"Love you," Jay blew his straw wrapper at her.

Hailey laughed, "Love you too."

The next morning, Hailey may have worn a tighter shirt and Jay may have forgotten to shave. They said nothing to each other as they got started at work, but Hailey could feel Jay's eyes on her as she turned her computer on.

"Hey," Kim said as she walked past their desks into the break room.

Hailey looked up as Kim waved her over. She smiled and stood to follow her, "Everything okay?" she asked and closed the door.

"Have you and Jay fought yet about Drew?" Kim sat on the couch.

"A bit," Hailey sat next to her, "Is this about yesterday?"

"Yeah," Kim sighed, "We're really not agreeing on what to do about her acting out. She hid my shoes this morning in another attempt to miss school."

"I'm sorry," Hailey said softly.

"I feel for her," Kim put her head in her hands, "She still misses her mom and she's confused about what to call us. Other kids don't know what a 'Kim' or an 'Adam' is and she hates it. She's a confident little thing with more sass in her pinkie than you and I have combined, but gosh this family thing might have broken her."

Hailey nodded along and lightly squeezed Kim's arm, "It's hard. I wish I had the right answer for you, but I don't know and I'm sorry."

Kim shook her head, "Don't. I just don't know what to do. Adam thinks we should just force her to go and hope she gets over it, but I can't do that. She's hurting, we need to help her."

"I think you and Adam should just sit down and talk to her," Hailey said, "Maybe there's a book about families you could read with her. I was thinking about finding more books on friends and even failing for Drew this weekend at the library, do you want to come with me?"

Kim breathed out and nodded, "Sure, yeah, we can do that."

"I guess my last piece of advice for you and Adam would be to talk," Hailey smiled slightly, "I know it sounds stupid, but we've been working on talking more at night before bed and being with each other and I feel like we're more on the same page than ever."

"Thank you," Kim said softly and hugged Hailey, "I'm glad we're going through this together."

"Me too," Hailey rubbed her back.

"And by the way," Kim sniffled and sat back, "We can all tell you and Jay have been even more in tune with each other." She gestured toward Hailey's outfit, "Like this? I haven't seen flirty Hailey in a while."

Hailey blushed slightly and smiled, "We…we have a bet going actually. I thought it'd be fun."

Kim laughed, "Oh do tell."

"We're seeing who can hold out longer and avoid touching the other person this whole week," Hailey explained.

"You're going to lose," Kim nodded, "So now I'm understanding the tight shirt."

Hailey gasped, "Am not!"

"Hailey, I don't know if I've ever seen you completely keep your hands to yourself around him," Kim laughed more, "It's not a terrible thing at all, but definitely not convenient in this situation."

Hailey rolled her eyes, "He's just…hot."

"We have said that since the beginning," Kim smiled.

Hailey shook her head with a smile, "I don't know, I think I'm doing a good job though! After you guys left for lunch yesterday, I teased him and then he jumped me in the car."

"I heard about your little rendezvous," Kim teased, "Love it."

Hailey's eyes widened, "Who told you?"

"Vanessa, but I also heard a patrol saw," Kim laughed.

"Oh my god," Hailey put her hand to her face and groaned loudly.

"If you didn't want to be caught, why'd you stay in the parking lot?" Kim asked.

"I don't know," Hailey sighed, "It just happened." She stood and walked out of the room, "Jay."

"Yeah?" he looked up.

Hailey was about to set her hand on his shoulder, but she stopped herself and set leaned against his desk, bending down so her lips were barely an inch from his ear, "People saw us yesterday."

Jay swallowed and looked at her from the corner of his eye, "I know."

"How are we not fired?" Hailey whispered.

Jay chuckled, "Cause we're good looking people."

In normal circumstances, Hailey would have smacked the back of his head, but that would have counted as touching and she refuses to lose. She shoved her hands in her pockets, "Jay."

"It's fine, we're fine," Jay said. His hands twitched in his lap, fighting the urge to comfort her.

Hailey closed her eyes and whispered, "This is bad."

"Only if you keep talking about it," Jay pointed to her desk, "Sit and shut up. It's okay, Hailey. We are not the first people to have sex in the parking lot."

Hailey sighed, "Fine, fine, you're right." She sat at her desk, "We're okay."

"Yes," Jay nodded, "Just breathe."

Hailey smiled a little and quickly wrote on a post-it note than crumbled it and tossed it at him.

Jay chuckled and opened it just to shake his head when he read her message:

I wish I could hug you right now – but I am not a loser.

"You're the sweetest," Jay said.

"I know," Hailey smiled.

Jay stared into the interrogation room in complete awe at Hailey and it had nothing to do with her choice of clothing for the day – she had even put on his jacket for this. No, he was blown away by her way to connect and control the room. It was nothing new, but there are certain times when this spark lights in her that reminds him of why he thought she was amazing in the first place.

As she finished, he walked around to wait for her by the door with a bottle of water, "You killed that."

"Thank you," Hailey smiled and carefully grabbed the water without touching his hand. She opened it and took a sip, "She just really pissed me off."

"I'll say," Jay led her down the hall.

"I can't stand stupid liars," Hailey breathed and fell onto the couch in the break room.

Jay sat at the table and nodded, "It didn't show." He bit his lip and took a deep breath.

Hailey watched him and noticed his hand was rubbing slowly against his jeans. "You good?" she smirked.

"Yeah," he breathed and nodded, "I'm good."

"Mhmm," Hailey moved to the seat next to him and slipped his jacket off, "Thanks for letting me borrow this," she tossed it on the couch then set her arms on the table.

Jay swallowed and watched her hands.

Hailey leaned forward more and adjusted the neckline of her shirt, "How're you holding up? Bummed we didn't hang out at lunch?"

"I'm fine," Jay's eyes scanned up to her face.

"Just fine?" Hailey fake pouted, "I'm sorry, how can I fix that?"

Jay set his hand on the table and was just inches away from touching the side of her finger when Hank walked in, "Halstead – Jay – downstairs, you have some late paperwork to sign. Hailey, you're with me and we'll book the girl."

Jay closed his eyes and remembered what was going on. He stood and cleared his throat, "Not a problem."

Hailey groaned quietly as he walked out of the room.

"You good?" Hank asked.

"Yeah," Hailey said quietly and stood, "I'm fine."

The next morning, Hailey honestly dreaded going to work and she had a feeling Jay did as well. The past two days, the minute they get in the car, her hand is in his and they've been attached at the hip at home. Drew even commented that they 'looked really in love.' Hailey knew that wasn't really the goal of this whole bet, but if their son thought they looked in love, was that really a bad thing?

Jay never realized how often Hailey would brush up against him at work whether intentionally or unintentionally, but he really missed it. He liked feeling her around him; it reminded him that she was okay and alive and his…and now he had to rely on looking at her from a distance because he couldn't trust himself to get closer than a foot otherwise he'd grab her and just hold her.

"I'll drive with Rojas."

Hailey's voice pulled Jay from his thoughts and he nodded, "That's fine, I'll go with Ruz."

Adam clapped Jay on the shoulder, "Fine by me."

Hailey smiled sadly at Jay and waved at him as she followed Vanessa to her car.

Once they were in, Vanessa said, "You need to end this."

"End what?" Hailey asked and tied her hair up.

"You and Jay messing around, I'm over it," Vanessa quickly started the car and followed Hank.

Hailey couldn't help but laugh, "You're over it?"

"Yes!" Vanessa smiled, "Gosh, it's just pathetic, we all know you want to touch each other and you both need it. You're like little puppies. It was cute the first day, but now you're both sad."

Hailey shook her head, "I can't lose. Kim thinks I'm going to."

"Yeah, but Adam and I are on your team. We think Jay's going to lose for sure," Vanessa said.

Hailey's eyes widened, "Do you all talk about us behind our backs?"

"Just this stuff," Vanessa shrugged, "We always have."

"Oh my god," Hailey breathed and looked out the window.

"Never bad stuff," Vanessa reached over and patted Hailey's leg, "Promise."

"Thanks," Hailey rolled her eyes.

"Please don't be mad," Vanessa said, "Hailey, we love you guys. This is just really funny."

Hailey smiled slightly and glanced at her, "We love you too."

Vanessa slowed down the side street and parked the car next to Kim and Kevin's, "Think you can get through the rest of the week."

"One hundred percent," Hailey stepped out of the car.

"We love a winner," Vanessa followed her to where the rest of the team was waiting.

"Okay, Jay and Hailey will take the back, Kim and Kevin at the front, Vanessa and Adam with me," Hank directed, "Good?"

Everyone responded and Hailey followed Jay to the back door.

"Ready?" Jay asked.

"Yeah," Hailey breathed deeply.

"I'm with you," Jay said.

Hailey nodded and stood to the side.

Within seconds, everyone was in the house, yelling out for each other as people started coming from all directions trying to get out without getting caught.

Hailey dodged a bullet and jumped behind a wall, calculating her next move before running out and chasing one of the offenders out the backyard.

Jay lost sight of Hailey when he got involved in a fistfight with a man trying to escape.

Everything calmed down after a few minutes and Hank walked around trying to take count of everyone both that belonged to him and those that he'd be transporting back to the district.

He noticed Jay sitting on the ground in the corner holding a hand over his bleeding nose. He squatted down and lightly knocked his hand away, "What happened?"

Jay shook his head and spit blood on the ground, "'M fine. Promise."

Hank sighed and stood, "Talk to your brother," he gestured for patrol to come grab the man Jay had managed to apprehend next to him.

Hailey pushed through the backdoors in search of Jay. She ran through the small house and spotted him slowly pushing himself up near the front door.

"Jay," she sighed and hurried to him, "What happened?"

He looked up at her and said, "I'm fine." He stumbled against the wall and slid back down, leaning his head back, "I think I won."

Hailey breathed out and sat next to him, "You look horrible," she gently took his face in her hands and looked him over, "Do you think it's broken?"

Jay couldn't help but smirk through the pain and shake his head.

"Good," Hailey ran a hand over his hair and whispered, "Oh my god. I hate when you get like this. You don't always have to be the hero who gets hurt."

"Hailey," Jay said softly.

"Don't talk," she rubbed her thumb under his eye, "We'll get one of the paramedics to look you over."

"Hailey," Jay repeated and coughed.

"Shh," Hailey kissed his forehead, "I'm right here. I'm not leaving you."

"Hailey," Jay raised his voice.

"What?" Hailey sat back.

Jay chuckled and shakily wiped the blood coming from his nose before saying, "I won."

"You-Jay, you already said that," Hailey checked the back of his head for a bump, "Did you hit your head? Yes, you won your fight, congrats, but let's focus on you and not pretend we're in a video game, okay?"

"No," Jay cleared his throat, "I won our bet."

Hailey's eyes widened and she looked to her hands still rested against his face and skin.

Jay laughed quietly and closed his eyes, "I won. I didn't think I'd make it through the day, but I won."

Hailey shook her head and couldn't help but laugh along with him, "Fine, you won."

"Yeah I did," Jay smirked.

Adam walked over and sighed when he noticed Hailey's hands on Jay while his own still remained firmly in his lap before turning around and yelling, "Hey, Rojas, bad news, we owe Kim and Kevin a round at Molly's."

A/N: Oh my gosh hi! Hello! I was definitely going through some stuff and needed a mini break. I'm super bummed because my schedule's about to get hectic (though admittedly, nothing's set in stone yet and literally changes everyday because of covid, so there's that adding to my constant stress), so I don't think I'll be able to update every single day like I have been throughout the summer, but please please know I still really love this story and am committed to continuing it. I also really like all of you – this community's amazing and I've really grown to love being a part of it, so THANK YOU all for sticking around and helping me be creative and write and supporting me. It means more than you could ever know.