Prompt #14: "You lost your chance." AND

Prompt #23: "I have a feeling we should kiss." ... "Is it a good feeling or a bad feeling?"

Things between Jay and Hailey had been great since she got back from New York. It had been about a month now and all and all Jay couldn't have been happier by the way things were going. Hailey seemed to be back to her normal self, more relaxed and less serious. And with Vanessa taking an opportunity outside of the city, Jay had Hailey back all to himself again. It gave them the chance to have nights at her place to do their thing like years past. And whether it was the fact they had more alone time again or because they realized how much they missed each other when she was in New York, their flirting had also picked up. Nothing had come from it yet, but they both felt it bubbling beneath the surface more than usual. For the first time in years Jay was excited for what the future held. That is until he saw Hailey take that phone call at work today. He knew it was the FBI since she addressed the caller as "Agent" and he felt the apprehension in his gut when he saw how genuinely surprised in a good way she sounded.

They had been alone in the bullpen when she took the call. Just the two of them sitting at their joint desks. Once she hung up she instantly noticed him studying and staring at her. He didn't even try to hide it. She gave him a polite smile, which felt forced, maybe even a little confused. And he knew, he just knew. He was going to lose her before he even had her. Still, he forced the feelings down and smiled back.

"Everything alright?" He tried to sound casual, like the weight of that phone call hadn't held his entire hopes and dreams with it.

"Yeah. Just work stuff. Drinks tonight? We should probably talk outside of here." She responded hesitantly.

"Sure."

He started to tell her, but before he could say or ask more Kim, Kevin, and Adam came plowing up the steps. The three in jovial spirits and appearing to have info on their latest case, oblivious to the tension that had just been in the room seconds before. Jay and Hailey gave each other one last charged stare before they gathered around Kim's desk to see what the team got. For the first time since the beginning of their partnership, Jay was actually dreading this bar outing with her.

Hailey's emotions hadn't been much better throughout the rest of the day, nor especially now sitting in a rather romantic setting across a bar table from Jay. The candlelight making his eyes shimmer more, hints of sadness evident in them tonight. The two of them had been off ever since she took the call. Agent Castille had been on the other end, offering her a job that most detectives would likely kill for. Hailey had never been one with dreams of government aspirations, she liked getting her hands dirty serving her city, but the money the Feds were offering would make even an anarchist consider selling out. Plus, aside from missing her team and more importantly, Jay, her time in New York hadn't been bad. In fact, she'd even go so far to say she enjoyed it a bit. But she'd be an idiot to accept a permanent position without seeing what this thing between her and Jay really was, right? They both knew they'd been dancing around it, and even more tonight the elephant in the room between them now was ominous. The small talk was starting to die down and she saw it coming even before he spoke.

"The phone call was for a job, right?" Jay finally asks.

She does her best to smile at him. "Yeah. How did you know?"

He smirks, but she can tell he's trying to hide his feelings. "Had a bad feeling."

"Ouch! For me or you? Or you just hate the Feds that much?" She tries to joke and keep the mood light, but he doesn't seem to bite.

"What did the FBI offer you?"

"Joint Level Task Force." She beams at him because it is an impressive offer for someone who was originally sent to them as a form of punishment to get her head back on straight.

She instantly notices his face fall even though he quickly tries to catch it. Man, she wishes they could just be honest with each other about their feelings. Stop running. She tried once, at the hospital when he was getting released after being shot, but it just didn't seem like the timing was on their side. Now she just wants to see more from him. There's only so many times she can put herself out there.

"That's great, Hailey. Really. It's not every day or even ever that someone gets offered an opportunity like that. You deserve it more than anyone!" He musters up saying to her.

"Thanks! I mean, I haven't given them an answer yet. It's a lot to think about." She tries to emphasize.

"Yeah. But you have to do what's best for you, right?"

"Yeah..." she nods back as they quietly stare at each other.

Their spell is broken when their waiter comes over asking if they want anything else. She watches Jay tell him "no" and then politely agrees herself, trying to push the disappointment down. Wishing this conversation went differently. She watches Jay drop money into the tab holder and stand up. Before he can even grab his coat she decides to throw him a rope again, hoping he'll catch it this time.

"You know, you could tell me you don't want me to take it!" She avoids looking directly at him as her heart races, not able to hide the hint of flirtation in her voice.

He smiles down at her sweetly. "Hailey..." he starts and says it in his soft way that always makes her heart melt. "All I want for you is to be happy. Whatever that is. That's all I've ever wanted for you!"

She bites her tongue from blurting out "you!" There's no point, this conversation isn't going anywhere else tonight. She nods politely and internally sighs, grabbing her coat to leave with him. So much for the romantic setting. Maybe she should just take the job at this point. Maybe it would be better than pining over Jay for the rest of her life, stuck in a perpetual cycle.

A few days go by since that dreaded day. If Hailey had made her decision yet, she hadn't let Jay know. A part of him hates himself for not taking the bait she left for him at the bar the other night. He so badly wanted to tell her he didn't want her to take it, he didn't want to lose her. But he didn't want to be the one to hold her back because Hailey would listen to him, put him first, even if this job was something she wanted. He couldn't be that selfish. Now he was kicking himself as each day passed, fearing that it was one day closer to losing her. He really was in between a rock and hard place.

While at work they've been their usual well-oiled machine, but things between them personally have been a little awkward. Part of him wishes he could just wipe this whole year away; it's been nothing but chaos. And just when he thought it was finally looking up, that him and Hailey were finally moving forward, the rug got pulled out from under him again. He just wanted to get through this shift then go home and have a wallowing date with his bottle of whiskey.

Later in the day while Hailey and him were walking down to Observation, Platt started walking toward them. Her hand protruding out with mail. She eyed him up oddly before turning to Hailey.

"The Feds are sending packages..." she said to her as she thrust it into Hailey's hand.

Jay watched Hailey inhale, knew she was calculating her move and response in her head. After a beat she just responded simply.

"Thanks Sarge, I'll take care of it!"

Hailey said while grabbing it then turning on her heels, presumably to put it back on her desk. Completely ignoring Trudy's "Mhmm." Jay was hoping to continue on his path, crushed even more. They really wanted her. He really needed this day to be over with now and didn't feel like talking to anyone. He thought he was close to escaping when he heard Platt call for him. He tried not to groan as he turned back around.

"Hey Halstead! Told ya they like keeping good people! They're smart for jumping on it. If only I knew someone who was smarter to convince her it's worth it to stay..."

Jay stares open-mouthed at his sergeant. She doesn't even give him a chance to respond before she's swiftly walking away. Leaving him standing there with his millions of racing thoughts. It's not until he has to stare at that damn package 50 more times throughout the day sitting on Hailey's desk that he makes his decision. It was time for him to be a little selfish.

A few hours after work ended and only doing a shot of liquid courage instead of half the bottle, Jay found himself banging on Hailey's front door. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he knew for once he wasn't leaving without laying it all out there. No matter what happened they both deserved the truth. She answered the door in her sweats and a little smile, as if she was expecting him.

"Jay..."

"We need to talk!" He rushes past her erratically, the fear creeping in that she'll cast him away.

"Apparently..." she laughs at his nervous behavior.

"Hailey... I don't want you to take it! But I don't want to hold you back either..."

"Jay..." she says in warning, trying not to show her frustration.

"I told you the other night I just want you to be happy. And I think I could do that. I think I can make you happy. We could be happy together. Whatever that means, I know I can't lose you. So if you really want this job, then it looks like New York is my new home too, because I'm going where you go..."

He waits on bated breath for her response. She surprisingly doesn't seem to react to his words at all and he's starting to fear he's been reading them, this all wrong. Finally, she gives him something.

"You lost your chance..." she says softly.

Jay feels his heart drop. "What?" He manages to choke out.

"...to tell me you don't want me to take it. Or to offer to come with me, for that matter. I declined their offer after work..." she smiles at him, big and bright, lighting up her beautiful eyes. He realizes it's the first he's seen it genuinely since the start of the week. And he grins back ecstatically knowing he put it there.

"Hailey, are you sure?"

"You and I both know I'm not cut out for fancy suits. Besides, they didn't offer me the one thing I need."

He walks closer to her, gaining confidence, and gently puts his hand on her waist.

"What's that?" His voice barely above a whisper.

"YOU!" She grins and tilts her head at him flirtatiously as he pulls her closer.

"Hmm. I have a feeling again... I have a feeling we should kiss!"

"Mmm. Is it a good feeling or a bad feeling?" She whispers back.

"Oh, it's a good feeling. It's always going to be a good feeling from now on..."

He says against her lips as he softly places his hands on her cheeks and she wraps hers around his waist. And then they're kissing each other with fervor, every pent-up emotion, longing, and wanting-stare over the past few years being channeled into it. It's moments later while he's carrying her to her bedroom that they realize this job offer was the best thing to ever happen to them. It was exactly what was necessary to FINALLY give them the push they needed. And the next several hours they spent showing each other exactly that. Their happy night must have been obvious too because Jay walked into the precinct the next day seeing Trudy Platt's knowing smirk, and for once he never felt more at ease around it.

[A/N: Figured I'd try my hand at a prompts version for the upcoming 8x03 episode, & combined two of them. I am hoping that their bar scene isn't the last part of the episode (unless of course it leads to them going home together ;p), which is why I wrote the Trudy parts later. I'm loving all the stories & takes coming from this promo and can't wait to see what the writers have in store. Even if we're all completely off-base, I just pray it leads to Upstead ASAP! Here's to hoping, & thanks for reading as always!]