Hi guys! I had this chapter ready for a while but I decided to wait for FF to work properly again, so now...here I am!

Now I'm working on a single fic which - wow - I'm really loving but its so hard to write.

As always, stay safe out there in this crazy world.

Let me know and, if you need to speak, do not hesitate to write me. I know this historical period can be very, very difficult to deal with. Never hide your fears.

H.

Current prompt:

45. I'm worried about you. - juustory .

70. Can I ask you something? - Guest .

"Oh God, this hamburger…"

Kim wiped her hands on the napkin before rubbing her belly with a satisfied smile on her face.

Hailey looked at her plate noting how she ate the burger fast as lightning and now she had only a mountain of fries full of ketchup left.

"It was the best idea of the whole week", Vanessa muttered with her mouth full, "How did you know this pub?"

"Came a couple of times with Jay", she said casually eating a potato chip.

"So obvious…", Kim muttered smiling from behind her Coke and earning an annoyed look from the blonde woman.

"Don't make that face."

"Do we want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"You and Jay?"

"Nothing to say, as always."

Hailey angrily bit a potato chip away from her friends. The exchange could easily have been mistaken for an interrogation, but she knew them well and knew how to resist their questions.

"You never have anything to say, but you two are practically married."

"You're the only one saying that."

"Oh, c'mon! He has a toothbrush in our bathroom!"

Kim's eyes widened at Vanessa's words and then burst into laughter that made people turn at the tables next to them.

"No way! His toothbrush in your bathroom? Really?"

"Hand on heart."

"Just for convenience…", she tried to reply.

"You sleep in the same bed."

"Not often…"

"But it happens!"

"Yeah, well…he's my partner."

"Uh yeah, sure. Hello? Did we just meet? I'm Donald Trump", Vanessa snorted.

Hailey had always been good at lying, she knew. And she also knew that the only person who could read it with his eyes closed was the same one they were talking about and who, fortunately, was not sitting at the table with them at that moment.

Things with Jay had changed imperceptibly since her return from New York months ago. Nothing concrete had happened and yet their relationship had shifted slightly.

It hadn't been easy for her to go back to Chicago and know she was under Voight's strict control, she had fought against the reins he held around her wrists and against the monsters that repeatedly gripped her heart. Yet Jay was always one step away from her, always the usual grumpy and nosy partner. Hailey understood he was pretending to give her space to make her handle things her way, but he was slowly stepping her down the right path.

And, if already before New York she would have followed him in any situation, now she knew she was willing to spend the rest of her life with him.

She had fought so hard against herself to silence the feelings that gurgled inside her every time she thought of him. She remembered realizing she was in love with him during a long night of stakeout, one like many others.

It was raining heavily and they were parked not far from a street lamp whose flashing light faintly illuminated the darkness of the night. The water hit the truck with force and the passenger compartment resounded with the sound of rain. Hailey had her hat pulled down almost to her eyes, the blue scarf also covered her mouth and her feet were starting to freeze. She reached into the center console for the coffee flask and saw Jay puff on the hot coffee in his mug and she stood there, wide-eyed and heart beating slowly in her chest.

She was in love with Jay. And it was so simple, so clear and simple.

Since that night, she had accepted her feelings.

She certainly wasn't going to admit it to her friends, but Jay was…was Jay. He was her best friend and she had fallen in love with her best friend. What a cliché, she sighed internally.

Vanessa snorted loudly and, before Kim could say anything else, Hailey stuffed three chips into her already open mouth. She knew that was the only way to silence her, and Kim knew the same, who looked at her with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression.

"Do you want to join the others at Molly's later?"

Hailey shrugged casually at Vanessa's question as Kim scrolled to her phone.

She was genuinely tired and the shoulder she had slammed in a chase that morning was hurting her. Honestly, she wouldn't have minded coming home and getting into bed.

It had rained all day and she would not have been surprised if, at any moment, it had also started to snow. And she really was just hoping to go home.

"Holy shit."

Kim's shocked muttering made her straighten up in her chair but she didn't seem to want to say anything else as she kept typing a message on the phone with her eyes wide open.

Kim normally had big eyes but at that moment they could easily outshine the rest of the restaurant.

"Oh?", Vanessa shook her arm impatiently.

"For Christ's sake, Erin's at Molly."

Kim fixed her gaze on Hailey who simply froze with her hand in midair.

"That's good. Who's Erin?", Vanessa looked at them innocently, a potato chip full of ketchup in her mouth.

"Erin is… What ?!"

They were the only words came out of Hailey's lips before her brain shorted out.

Erin was in Chicago and she was at Molly. Erin was in town, holy shit!

"Who the hell is Erin?"

Vanessa waved a hand in front of their still shocked faces for a few seconds. Kim was the first to recover and Hailey noticed how her gaze hardened as she tried to formulate her thoughts.

"She… um, she worked in Intelligence years ago."

"Oh good! May I meet her? ", Vanessa exploded in her usual enthusiasm and Hailey suddenly realized how much time had really passed.

Erin had left Chicago for four years and every one of them. And if her abandonment was unnecessary for Hailey, it was not easy for the rest of the unit to accept.

Jay and Erin's past relationship was something she knew nothing about and too much at the same time. She had never asked for too much information from his partner, but she really remembered what he was like when Erin left.

But now, looking at Kim sitting across from her, Hailey realized that Jay wasn't the only one suffering from that sudden departure.

She knew from Adam that the two women had been very close and Erin helped Kim get used to Intelligence. Kim's emotionless voice as she told Vanessa who Erin was gave her confirmation of what she had only assumed.

Kim was uninterested in Erin and she could understand her well.

She came back to the present hearing her last words, which sent a shiver down her spine.

"…and she was the woman Jay believed could be the love of his life."

"What?", Vanessa hastened to wipe the Coke she had spit on the table.

Kim shook a hand indifferently, "I don't think Erin can really love anyone other than herself."

They were silent for a few seconds, Kim and Hailey too lost in their world of memories and Vanessa studying them carefully before intervening, "But I don't understand. Do you want to go to Molly, or not?"

Kim looked at Hailey as if asking her opinion and she suddenly had no doubts.

"Yeah, I…I have to see how Jay is doing. Sorry", she got up quickly as if her chair had started to burn and, before she knew it, they were all in Kim's car.

"I'd like to make a joke about Hailey running to Jay, but I feel that's not the moment", Vanessa mumbled to Kim.

"Jay'll be fine, Hailey. I bet it", Kim's voice had finally regained the usual warmth and tranquility that had always distinguished her.

They passed the Molly's doors, leaving the rain behind. Hailey sighed in satisfaction shaking her hair from the rain and watched her friends disappear among the few people present as she stopped to greet Herman who was behind the counter.

It was only a few minutes later she saw Kevin's head stand out among other people and decided that she really couldn't put off meeting Erin anymore.

Hailey knew Jay was still there because she had seen his truck arriving at the pub, but suddenly she didn't really want to join them.

"Hailey. What a pleasure to see you again", Erin was the first to see and greet her. Destiny, huh?

"Erin", she waved a hand in her direction as she sat down on the stool Kevin had just released. She glanced briefly at Jay, sitting on the other side of the table and saw him rather relaxed. More than she would have expected. And, honestly, she didn't know what to think about it.

"I met your partner shortly after you left. It's a solid one, isn't it?"

Her head snapped towards her at an almost impressive speed while her brain worked to be able to maintain an unreadable expression.

"Yes, he was a good temporary partner."

"I expected you to accept that FBI offer."

The silence that settled around the table was almost deafening and Hailey blinked a few times looking at Erin's brown eyes.

"As I told you before, I had no intention of that."

It was a dry reply, followed by a brusque nod. Hailey looked around feeling the heaviness of her friends' eyes on her.

"Did you meet in New York?"

Kim's shrill voice was the only thing that broke the uncomfortable silence into which they had fallen. She had seen her keep throwing bored glances at the brunette woman all the time, but she hoped this lack of news from her didn't take it too personally. It had been a difficult year for her and all Hailey wanted to avoid was making her life more difficult.

"An offer from the FBI?"

Vanessa's eyes widened giving voice to the thought that probably everyone was having. All except Jay, who already knew about her rejected offer.

"I thought you told them about the offer. I didn't want to put you in trouble."

"I made a choice, Erin. We all make choices in life, right?"

She challenged her with her eyes and words. Her jaw tightened slightly and Hailey was sure she too remembered perfectly the conversation they had in New York.

Erin asking how Jay was doing, how he'd spent those years. Erin advising her on how to behave with him, Erin advising Hailey. Even after all those months, Hailey scoffed at that conversation. Erin just had to shut up, she had no right to talk about Jay.

'It's just your partner', a part of her head reminded her.

Hailey shrugged impassively as she remained silent and stared at Jay for a brief second. The indifferent expression he kept showing was relaxing and terrifying at the same time. She knew him well, perhaps better than she knew herself, and in all those years she had learned to recognize those microscopic expressions that anyone could miss.

And in that moment, in front of the woman he had wanted to marry and who had abandoned him without even a goodbye, Jay was simply indifferent.

...

The lights inside Molly made his eyes sparkle in a way she really needed to concentrate to think. They walked slowly across the street, now they could see Molly's side but, all that mattered to her, no one could see them either.

"I'm worried about you, Hails."

She stared at him with wide eyes. Of all the things she expected him to say, this was nowhere near on her list.

"You're the most collected and controlled woman I have ever met. But Erin slips under your skin and makes you lose control."

"I'm fine, Jay", she shrugged leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.

She could feel Jay's gaze penetrate directly into her brain and if she took the risk of looking at him, she knew his eyes would have convinced her to say things that no, she couldn't say yet.

She felt him move slightly beside her and knew it was impossible, but she almost felt she could feel the comforting warmth of his body.

"I should be worried about you. Erin here…you know…"

"Hailey…", he breathed a laugh and really, 'he's just your partner, Hailey'. Lately she had needed to repeat it too many times.

The first time she heard Jay breathe her name like that, she immediately knew she was screwed. The way it settled in the back of her stomach and the shiver down her neck were, each time, a reminder of how screwed she was.

"Talk to me, c'mon."

"In New York, we talked, Erin and I", she sighed in defeat, "About you."

She turned her badge over in her hands, the only way she had to focus on something other than his eyes.

"About me, okay. Hailey, can I ask you something?"

She nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes. Jay only asked her permission when it was something that might have troubled her. She believed he would insist on knowing what they had talked about and she honestly didn't know what to expect anymore.

"Why are you letting her slip under your skin?"

She evaluated his words, not really expecting him to go that far. The tone was gentle, intrigued. But she knew he expected the truth and would see through her every bullshit.

Maybe the moment had come, the one they had been dancing around for a year, maybe longer.

She could see it in his eyes every day. In the warm smile reserved only for her, in the fleeting touch on the shoulder, in the way of being there for her even when she still didn't know she needed it. She read it in his eyes and - damn it - she knew he read the same thing in hers.

And maybe that was the moment they had been dancing around for a long time.

She sighed heavily as she dropped her head to the chest. In her field of vision, Jay's right leg moved slightly but his body was still. He was flaunting a tranquility that he didn't really have.

"She was telling me how I should behave with you and…I don't know, I think I just lost my patience."

"Yeah, I can totally see you", he chuckled in a low voice.

She waved him away before continuing, "I mean, who does she think she is? You are my partner, you are my…uhm… And she really, has no right over you. But she was there, telling me what to do, what she would do... And I guess I just went crazy a bit. I just wanted to go back to Chicago, to the unit. To you. And she was there telling me… God, I'm delirious."

She ran a hand through her still damp hair shaking her head in defeat. Erin had always had that effect on her and doubted that anything would ever change.

She roused herself feeling the warm weight of Jay's hand on her arm.

"Hailey, you were right about everything, but one thing in particular. I'm your partner…", Jay held his breath for a second before slowly releasing it, "And I'm yours. I went beyond Erin a long ago."

'It's just your partner,' her brain told her.

But no, it wasn't just her partner.

The moment around which they had been dancing for a year had arrived and suddenly she was no longer agitated.

It was Jay. Jay was in front of her. His green eyes were warm and she almost felt like she could breathe better. How, just back from New York, he was waiting for her at the airport and his green eyes calmed the storm inside her.

"This thing, between you and me, has been around for a long time."

She nodded, a lock of blonde hair blowing in the wind. Jay grabbed it, turning it over in his hands thoughtfully.

"And I don't want to lose what we have. But I don't want to deprive myself of what we could be either."

"So what?"

Suddenly the words cost her an effort. But his green eyes were still there, everything was fine.

"So I strongly believe we are soul mates. Can we take things slow?"

She giggled moving to her feet, "Soul mates? Is that your way of flirting, Halstead?"

Jay let out a low laugh and his breath ruffled her hair.

"Uh, no flirting."

"Soul mates…", she repeated. Her brain was rolling around the idea as she rolled the words over her tongue several times, "I think I can accept it, yeah."

"I'm pleasantly satisfied", he breathed.

And the next moment his lips were on hers. The first thing she realized was that he tasted like beer. But also of something that, she knew, from that moment and for the rest of her life she would associate only with him.

The kiss was gentle and firm at the same time, just like Jay. His lips were soft and for a second her head wondered how soft they would be under her fingertips.

One hand slipped behind his neck while the other on his cheek.

'Please don't go.'

It was the only thing she could think about. Her brain was in a bubble. Hell, her body was in a bubble.

And probably, if at that moment it started to rain again, she wouldn't even have noticed.

PS:

Before you think it, I know I've written about Erin before but simply her character gives me so many ideas on how she might affect my fics that I can't get her out of my mind.

So no, it will definitely not be the last time I put her in my stories!