"Everyone has a weakness, but I have two;

Everything you say and everything you do."

- Shel Silverstein

She starts her Sunday with coffee and a bagel from a place down the block and then does the most touristy thing she can think of and makes her way to Times Square.

She'd woken up that morning and thought she'd end up walking through the Met for hours on end, but as she exits the subway out onto 42nd Street and the buzz of people and lights and traffic finds her, she knows she made the right choice.

She needs the distraction the city provides. If she's honest, she thought she'd be waking up this morning to Jay, his body warm and sure and steady against hers.

And maybe that's silly. Maybe she shouldn't have let herself think about something so concrete in such an unsettled situation.

Maybe. But she did anyway.

(The bed had felt bigger, emptier than usual this morning, and if she'd gotten up quicker than usual, that didn't mean much.)

She wanders through stores and down crowded sidewalks, stands off to the side and people-watches, and by the time her phone lights up with Jay's face and a FaceTime call, it's early afternoon and she's a little embarrassed to admit how much she's looked forward to talking to him today. She pops her earbuds in and answers.

She's greeted with almost as much noise as the streets around her and instead of just Jay's smiling face, she's greeted by Kim, Kevin, and Adam too.

"Hailey Upton!" Adam yells, and she rolls her eyes.

"Please come back and save me, Hail. I'm severely outnumbered, and by true idiots," Kim yells, and Hailey laughs.

In the background, Kevin holds up a peace sign, and she waves. They're all in the district parking lot, and she misses them and that cramped parking lot desperately.

"Hey," Jay's voice greets her, finally, and she smiles as he comes back into the frame. "We're going to get lunch" - "and beers!" Adam yells in the background - "and beers, to cap off this weekend OT."

"You get your guy?"

"Finally," he says, stopping in front of his truck. "Guys! Molly's?"

There's a chorus of yeses and doors closing, and finally, it's quiet and just the two of them as Jay closes his door and her view becomes just him from the phone mount on the dash.

"Sorry," he smiles. "They needed to see you." The quiet hum of the truck comes over her earbuds and she watches the familiar movements of him backing out of his spot.

"You didn't need to see me?"

He glances over at the screen for a moment, and she knows he's waiting to pull out of the lot. "Hailey, I always need to see you."

She smiles. "Good."

"Where are you? It's loud."

"Hang on," she says. "I know you're driving. But I'm here." She turns the camera so he can take in the crowd and lights and billboards.

"That's gotta beat a hotel room or the FBI offices," he says.

"That it does." She watches his face as he drives, his strong jaw, the way he keeps his eyes focused on the road except for the quick glances he makes toward the screen, toward her.

"Hey," he says. "This case? It's closed, and I'm glad. But I just… you should know. I could have spun out. But I didn't, and I know it's in large part thanks to you. So. Thanks."

"Jay." She's glad he didn't get too close, but. "I didn't do anything."

He glances at the screen quickly. "You did. You always do."

She pauses and tries to think of a response that might mean something, might convey some sort of feeling that he seems able to so easily surprise her with, but nothing comes. "That's just part of what works, I guess."

He smiles, and she recognizes the familiar Molly's parking lot outside the window.

"It all works, Hailey."

"Yeah."

There's a knock on his window and she watches him hold up a finger to who she can only guess is Adam, based on the way Jay rolls his eyes.

"I promised to buy the first round, so I should go."

"Go. Have fun."

"It'd be more fun if you were here."

"13 days and I will be."

He grins. "Yeah, you will. Later."

"Bye."

The call ends and she steps back out into the crowd, happy to be in the middle of a fun new city, but quietly wishing she was in the back of a dark, familiar bar.

—

Just accidentally interrupted Kev and his hot bartender making out in the hallway at Molly's.

Good for him. Guess the brace worked.

Seems like it. Is that what it takes to get a little action at Molly's?

Quick, Hailey. Come home, my knee hurts.

Nice try.

Can you blame me?

Nope. But I promise you won't have to try that hard.

I was right, I would absolutely be having more fun if you were here.

—

Monday and Tuesday start and end with Jay's sleepy grin and quiet voice on her phone screen, and somehow, full days of surveillance and paperwork happen in between, but they feel like a blur.

Wednesday starts the same way, but for the first time since she's been in the city, it's rainy and dreary outside when her phone rings.

"Wait, I'm sorry, are you still in bed?" She can hear the note of surprise in his voice and she smiles, shifting to prop the phone on the pillow next to her.

"Okay, you're still in bed too, so let's not get judgy."

"Yeah, but it's early here and I'm me."

She laughs. "True. OA's in court this morning, so I get to go in a little later. Perfect day for it, it's pouring out there."

"Cozy," he says. His voice is thick with sleep still, and she wants to spend her whole day listening to it. "Wanna go back to sleep?"

She shakes her head and tucks her hair back behind her ear. "No, I'm awake. I'm just comfy."

He nods, and she watches him shift to roll on his side. "You do look comfy."

It's quiet for a moment as she just stares at his slightly pixelated face and bare chest on the screen. She shifts onto her back and runs a hand down her face, laughing.

"We were having a nice moment, Hailey," he laughs. "What could possibly be funny?"

"I'm sorry, it's not. It is nice. It's just… if you'd tried to FaceTime me at 8AM, shirtless, like a month ago, I'd have driven to your apartment and punched you in the face."

He laughs. "Well, you know what they say about absence."

She rolls back over on her side and just watches him for a moment.

"You're not going to ask what they say about absence?"

"No," she whispers. "I think I know."

"Yeah. Me too," he says. They're quiet for a minute, and she knows this is one of those cliched moments she'll have to stop herself from grinning about the rest of the day.

"Hailey," he whispers a few moments later, and she raises her eyebrows in question. "Would you have really punched me in the face?"

She laughs, long and loud.

He gestures to his face as she laughs. "This face? You'd risk injuring this face?"

"God, you're so cocky," she says.

He laughs and as it comes across the phone speaker, she's suddenly aware that she desperately wants to hear it in person, next to her in the early morning light.

(It shouldn't come as such a surprise, or make her bite her lip in a moment of nervousness, but it does all the same.)

"I'm just saying," he continues. "The face is my moneymaker."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm sorry, have you seen the rest of you?"

He laughs. "I'm not sure if that's an insult to my face or a compliment."

She smiles. "It's a good face."

Outside, she can hear the rain beating against the windows. It echos into the room and she shifts, burrowing further into the plush pillows and closing her eyes for a moment. When she opens her eyes again, he's just watching her.

"Hailey, you're gorgeous."

It's quiet, his voice rough, and she just breathes in and out slowly for a moment. It's the first time he's said something so direct, not just a vague idea of flirting or wanting to kiss her.

It feels real, and god, she wants it to be.

"Jay," she starts, even though she's not entirely sure how she's going to finish the sentence.

Shut up.

I wish you were here.

What are we doing?

And maybe it would have been some combination of the three.

But a text pops up on the screen before she can figure it out. OA, telling her his court date was canceled.

She has to go. And he must immediately see the change on her face because he frowns slightly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she sighs. "OA just texted to say his morning was canceled, so it looks like mine is starting earlier again."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Me too," she whispers. "I'd rather stay in bed."

"I'd rather you stay in bed, too. Plus, I'm losing my excuse to not go to the gym this morning."

"You go to the gym?" She fake-gasps, and he laughs.

"I know, I know. It looks effortless, what can I say?"

She watches him sit up, his sheets pooling at his waist, and yeah, yep, she has to get out of this bed immediately, or she probably never will.

"It's definitely worth the effort," she says, and he smiles, quick and easy.

"Are you going to get up, now that you've forced me to?" He asks, and she bites her lip.

"I need to, but I'm not wearing any pants," she laughs.

"Ooh," he grins. "I won't peek, promise."

"Oh my god," she whispers. "Shut up. Bye, Jay."

"Hey, real quick."

She pauses, glancing up at the screen.

"Ten days, Hailey."

"Ten days," she echos.

It feels like a promise, like they could have this morning in person, and it would be even better, somehow.

She smiles and ends the call and lets herself just sit with the warm, relaxed feeling buzzing through her.

—

The morning had started too well, and now, as she searches for an offender down a back alley in the rain, she knows she let her guard down too much.

Days that start that good rarely end that way, in her experience.

The offender comes out of nowhere, the heavy rain masking his footsteps, and before she can even process it or fire her weapon, she's on the pavement, wet and sore, but fighting.

She should have stayed in bed, warm and relaxed and flirting, safe, with Jay.

It's the last thing she thinks before the adrenaline kicks in and she blocks out everything but her instincts.