You guys make me so happy: Over 50 followers by now and yeah! those lovely comments: Keep them coming! It really does feel amazing and keeps my ideas for this story in a constant flow. Sometimes it seems I live in a parallel universe with Jay and Rianne and try to keep up with my real life on the side, maybe some of you know how that's like... So sorry this update took a while, but this time my real life needed some attention...Happy Sunday

Chapter Title "Picture You" by Mumford & Sons

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Chicago PD, Fire or Med characters, only my OCs!

"What time is it guys?"

"Just five minutes past the last time you asked…"

Stella had been going on Kelly's and Matt's nerve since they had walked into Molly's after their shift. No, ever since Rianne had given her a heads up, that her and Jay would make an appearance tonight. Now she was anxiously waiting for those two to arrive here together. She wanted to see it with her own eyes and catch the vibe of the development she was so happy about.
Now it was already a quarter to nine and still they hadn't shown, the bar getting busier by the minute, even if it was a Tuesday night. Stella hoped they wouldn't chicken out.

"Just act normal!" She advised her male co-workers and roommates / boyfriend, who looked at each other confused.

"Why wouldn't we act normal?" Matt said and continued nursing his beer.

"Dude, didn't you get the memo? I probably did get it five times already…" Kelly slapped him on the arm and knew that being sarcastic would probably get himself into trouble with his girlfriend, but he just couldn't help it.

This was ridiculous!

"What memo?"

"To act normal and not freak out and cause a scene because Halstead's back from the dead and rumor has it that Rianne and him now are officially in a relationship!"

"Oh yeah, that memo!" Matt played along, getting up to the newest addition to Molly's: A vintage jukebox.

"You two are insufferable!" Stella pouted and started cleaning up some glasses to distract herself.

When after five minutes she turned around from storing them away on the shelf there was some commotion at the entrance of the bar. She could hear scattered cheers and louder excited voices through the overall buzz of the bar.

"Here they are!" she squealed excitedly.

"Stella? Remember: Act normal!" Kelly pointed his finger at her sternly, before he cracked up laughing at the annoyed face she made at him, before turning her attention back to the entrance.

Stella could tell by Rianne's outfit that her friend had been nervous about tonight. Trying to brace herself by wearing her hair in a way-up-high bun, leopard headband and aztec-print platform wedges thrown in the pattern-mix, rust colored linen loon pants and a short white rib-knit long-sleeve made for some statement outfit. Stella shook her head smiling. In contrast Jay was dressed far more understated and casual like he always was. Dark blue well-fit jeans, grey-blue rib-pat sweater, leather jacket, heavy boots. But he didn't pale one bit next to the appearance of Rianne. He could "pull her off" by just wearing himself in that confident, upright way. Just like Stella had predicted a few weeks ago: Equals in a unique and uncommon way.

Jay was looking far more together, healthier and overall better than when Stella had last seen him at Med.
His skin was fresher, not that ashen anymore, sporting some casual scruff on his cheeks, his eyes well rested and giving off a certain spark, when he interacted with his people from Intelligence who had sauntered in his direction the minute they had noticed him. Yet for those who knew him and took a closer look there was a mixture of anxiousness and anticipation on his face when him and Rianne made their way further into Molly's. Stella thought it kind of cute that he too seemed to be a bit nervous about this like Rianne was. He managed to hide it better though, always keeping a protective arm around her, not ever breaking the physical contact as they slowly pushed through the crowd of hello's and hugs and inquisitions about his well-being. When Rianne and Jay had finally made their way up to the bar, her friend met Stella's stare with a sheepish smile, so unlike her. Her eyes and skin were glowing, body turned into Jay's side. Stella immediately ran up and engulfed her friend in a tight hug, doing the same with Jay, which was actually a rare, if not a first occasion. Kelly and Matt joined into the affectionate party and it was really difficult to get a word in alone with those two "celebrities" because contrary to Stella's instructions everyone wanted to spend some time with them pronto.

She was glad when at one point Rianne came around the bar, to join her on the "other side" and be able to dish some dirt without too many prying ears, help her get some orders ready in the process. It felt like she hadn't seen her in weeks, although it had only been a week.

"So, how's that sweet detective of yours really doing? You two like dropped off the face of the earth for almost a week…" Stella had texted Rianne a few times but the answers had been shorter than usual and she hadn't called her back, same went for everyone else.

So finally she had backed off, not wanting to intrude on their probably much needed time to themselves.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I never wanted to be that girl, but… there were some things we had to figure out, got caught up in the moment I guess…"

"Hey, it's fine girl! Don't worry I get it!"

"I feel like I've been a bad friend though. How's Kelly after that arsonist thing?" Typical Rianne to direct the attention away from herself first opportunity she got.

"He's fine, you know him! And he even turned down an offer from Seager to go work with her again, so... we're really good, water under the bridge! So give me something on you now: how's Jay doing, how are you doing, is he gonna be okay? He certainly looks better and so do you!"

"We're... fine… more than that if I'm honest," Rianne paused a moment to look over at Jay who had somehow been pulled away from the bar, hogged by the people in his unit right now, probably already talking crime investigations. He must have sensed Rianne watching him, because he turned his head in her direction a second later, smiled and winked at her in a way that even got Stella a little flustered.

"He… I hope he is getting there with time…" Rianne added sighing and grabbed herself that beer Stella had placed in front of her.

"Yeah, welcome to the club of women who love men that do stupid things to safe other people all day…" She looked at her own sample of such a man.

Kelly was laughing uproariously with Cruz paying half attention to the game playing on the tv screen, head thrown back, that straight line of white teeth with the gap between his incisors she was loving so much, on display. Yeah, the love for those men putting their life on the line every day could be all consuming.

Stella noticed that Rianne wasn't fighting her on the expression of love anymore, just kept looking back at Jay's figure in the crowd with a soft and vulnerable expression on her face that almost got Stella to tear up just watching her. Her girl was in deep. Whatever had gone down between her and Jay in the time they had spent wrapped up alone in each other's presence without any distractions, had clearly changed a lot.

"I'm really proud of you hon! You look radiant by the way," she heard Matt tell Rianne, snapping her out of that dreamy haze.

Stella's captain looked at their friend meaningfully and got himself a long, warm hug as sort of an answer and maybe even a "thank you" for knocking that girl on her ass in the hospital.
Kim Burgess came over to the side of the bar as well, ordering some more drinks for Intelligence and also hugging Rianne, a happy smile on her gorgeous face:

"So this is official now, you and Jay? That's great news!"

"Thank you, it really is! But how are you, did you make a… decision?" Rianne kept her voice down when she asked the last part.

Kim looked a little nervous and Stella tried to avoid her gaze and keep herself busy at the bar as to not give away that she had heard too.

"Yeah, I did. But let's not talk about this here, maybe meet up for lunch next week?"

Stella thought she really had to get Rianne to herself to get all the newest gossip she obviously didn't know anything about yet.
Adam was suddenly beside Kim to help her get the order over to their table and grabbed Rianne in the process to do some shots with Intelligence too. Yeah, that talk would probably have to wait, Stella sighed.

When Rianne, Adam and Kim came over with that new round, Vanessa and Hailey cheered, grabbing themselves some glasses. Jay only reached for a beer because he didn't want to overdo it by mixing the pain meds he was still taking a low dosage of with high-proof alcohol. Kim had surprisingly brought some ginger ale for herself, which earned her boos from her female colleagues. Only Ruzek seemed to not be surprised by Kim's sobriety, and Rianne just didn't say anything about it. It was a bit weird, Jay felt some tension there. Uttering she still had that stomach bug and at least someone had to make sure they all got home safely at a reasonable hour for a week-night, Kim was let off the hook. Rojas complained that while working with Intelligence it didn't matter what night it was. There were times when they couldn't even tell what day of the week it was, because cases didn't care about shift ends, weekends, holidays and neither did their sergeant.

Voight was missing tonight, which didn't surprise Jay. He wasn't that much of a regular at Molly's. His boss had called Jay today though, asking how he was feeling and if coming back wasn't too early. But Jay was confident that he would go crazy staying home for another week, especially when Rianne went back to working normal hours. Being all alone with only so much he could do, wasn't really his thing.

The others had assured him Kevin would make an appearance later on, because he had to take care of something. Jay knew with his team-members this could mean everything and nothing at the same time. He was just happy that he got to see them in this casual atmosphere before he went back to the station this week.
They were bombarding him with infos about cases, probably sensing that Jay wasn't that comfortable with talking about himself and what had happened, more than necessary. It was good to be back with his crew and hear about the latest adventures on the streets, he had missed this and the excitement that went with it. Being with them now he felt the urge of wanting to be included into that again growing stronger.

Rianne was relatively quiet tonight. He knew this was kind of a big thing for her. Their first time out together as a couple, admittedly in love, stronger, bonded, out in the open…
Jay loved how she kept close to him, as if to make sure she wasn't alone in this and that their bubble wouldn't burst completely, just because they were around other people. She would ease into it eventually.
Conveniently everybody already knew her one way or the other. There was no need for the sometimes awkward introductions one normally had to go through when bringing a new girlfriend to your usual hang-out spot. Even when nervous, Jay felt that she was his rock beside him tonight. Her presence so comforting that he felt he was able to endure all the questions and well-intended encouragements directed at him without slipping into that guilt-spiral and brooding again. She was part of his armor, carrying his dark thoughts, secrets and insecurities inside her and wouldn't let anyone touch them.

At some point Mouch and Trudy joined them too. Platt surprised Jay by giving him the warmest and longest hug he had ever received from her:

"I'm so glad you're okay, hon! Don't ever do that to me again, I'm not getting any younger! And it's good to see that pretty face didn't suffer any permanent damage!" The older woman accessed his features thoroughly by holding his chin in her hand before sitting down at their table, closing herself off again.

Jay didn't know what to say other than stare at their grumpy desk sergeant in awe and having trouble believing the words she had just said. Adam laughed hard:

"Yeah, Jay honey, you heard her right. That's what almost getting yourself killed gets you!" He slapped him on the shoulder in good humor.

"She just called me hon," Jay grinned at Rianne next to him, her own eyes sparkling with mirth too at the unusual scene with Platt just now.

"And she said you had a pretty face, don't forget that!" she said to him softly and ran her fingers through his hair, laughing into his eyes.

Forgetting that they were in the company of so many others he quietly whispered: "If I remember correctly you said that about me too a while ago!"

"Did I now?" she raised her eyebrows in mock surprise.

Instead of reminding her of the occasion, Jay pulled her in for a kiss that was chaste enough for the public, but long enough to get Adam to cat-call at them.
Rianne immediately bombarded him with some peanuts from their bowl of bar-nuts, calling him out:

"Why is everybody acting so childish about this?"

Jay truly didn't care. He had nothing to hide on that front.

Trying to catch a break, Hailey had gone to freshen up in the bathroom.
Splashing some cold water on her face and washing her hands for longer than necessary she tried to reign in everything inside of her. Somehow that scene in the bar-room just now had been too much for her, it had felt like a sharp stab to her stomach.

For the last week and longer she had been missing Jay at work. Usually he was just always there. Even if they weren't partnered up: he was there, for her, for the unit, just there. Working with him side by side, anticipating his thoughts and needs had become so natural to her that she'd felt the void of him not being by her side, even more. Knowing she wasn't at least the one taking care of him and helping him recover had been a hard pill to swallow. Somehow, she wouldn't have thought it possible that it affected her that much. Normally she would have checked in with him more, but she had stayed away since he had been released, only texting and calling him sporadically.

When it had been leaked to Intelligence that Halstead was making an appearance at Molly's Hailey had been looking forward to going and catching up with him in person, just see for herself that he was getting better, that he would come back to work and to her soon. It had been stupid not to think about the fact that he probably wouldn't come alone, that he wouldn't be in HER company. In her company as in them being a couple sort of company. Hailey wondered if she had ever seen Jay kiss a woman in front of her before and couldn't think of any occasion. Well, having witnessed it now, it didn't feel so good.

Just when Hailey was about to leave and face the music again, the woman she had been thinking about walked in, heading straight for the lavatory, a sweet wave of orange blossom, vanilla and patchouli following her.

"Ruzek spilled beer all over my shirt," Rianne explained to hide her surprise, when she saw Hailey and began rubbing at her clothes with some wet towels.

Hailey urgently wanted to say something, but couldn't decide where to begin, but she also couldn't move and leave.

"Something on your mind?" Rianne had obviously noticed her intense staring and turned her head around, while drying off her hands.

She looked calm, but somehow guarded, as if she wasn't really expecting the start of a superficial and pleasant conversation right now. Their last encounter in the hospital had been kind of frosty. Hailey took a deep breath, weighing her words for a minute. In the end she just couldn't help herself:

"Taking care of Jay is not an easy task. You sure you're up for it?"

Instant regret filled her, it came out all wrong, more aggressive than it was meant to. But still, she felt this was a matter she needed to put out in the open, feel Rianne out. If there was any chance she could keep Jay out of harm's way, she would take it.

"I'm sorry, how is this of your concern?" Rianne's tone was soft, maybe with a little arrogant undertone, but the way she looked at Hailey was telling her head-on that she would accept her challenge.

Maybe she seemed a bit surprised though that Hailey didn't dance around the obvious issue between them.

"Listen, I don't want this to be all cliché: Partner / best friend and obviously girlfriend fighting about a man, pretending to know what's best for him. That being said: I've known Jay for some years now and the last thing he needs is to get his hopes up and begin to trust you and then you back out again."

Just like she did those first days at the hospital. Hailey didn't have to say it in these exact words. She had the feeling that Rianne knew what she was hinting at.

"I won't back out again, I'm all in. Where the hell is this coming from?"

"He's a good guy, he deserves all the best!"

"I know he's a good guy! I've been with and talked to him on some occasions, thank you very much! Again: Why are you pushing this so hard?"

"I told you, I just don't want to see him get hurt!" Hailey found herself raising her voice.

"How long have you been in love with him then?" Rianne seemed to be taken aback herself, when those words dropped out of her mouth without much hesitation.

Hailey felt herself flinching, silence trapping her in a staring match with Rianne, shocked that she dare say something like that. How long had she been in love with Jay? She probably couldn't even tell herself, when that had happened, if that even was what had happened. But she also couldn't deny it being true to some extent. Maybe she was in love with her partner.
Rianne was the first to recover from the powerful echo of those words:

"Look, if you love him and you wanna be with him, then just go back in there right now and tell him! If you think that's what's best for him, for you, just do it! If you think you and him are a better match than him and me: Be my guest, I won't try and stop you…He's a grown man and I don't own him, so he's free to decide who he wants to be with… "

Hailey couldn't believe her ears. What exactly was Rianne saying here? And she was not finished:

"But I guess there's a good reason why you haven't made a move on him in all these years. I can't imagine that there hasn't been some kind of opportunity along the way. Jay chose to be with me although he knows I am not undamaged. He knows what he's getting into. I'm not pretending to be someone I'm not in front of him! So if the reason why you two aren't together already is still a good reason, I would appreciate it, if you did your job as his partner and let me do mine as his girlfriend. I know he adores you, and he loves you for always having his back and I am grateful that he has someone like you fighting alongside him, I really am. So I won't make him choose between us. In fact I know that he possibly talks to you about things he can't talk to anyone else about and it's fine. I won't keep him from you in that way, because he needs you. But I think I can cover the rest on my own."

Hailey still didn't know what to say. She guessed the expression on her face was telling Rianne everything the other woman needed to know. Her features softened a little before she turned on her heel and left the room.

Hailey was almost filled with remorse because she had let her protective side get out of hand and came across rather aggressive and emotional. Rianne wasn't stupid, she had seen right through her, and she certainly wasn't weak. In fact she was incredibly strong and just sure enough of herself standing up to her like that. Hailey knew this was something what Jay needed. It was the reason why she had even told Jay to get his head on straight concerning Rianne in the beginning.
In spite of knowing that, being a witness to that unfolding relationship and Jay almost dying had stirred up feelings she hadn't known she was harboring for him.
Now Hailey feared she would lose him another way and was angry with herself that she hadn't been able to take a different path with him. Frustrated that despite all the blind trust and understanding they had there still was this barrier between them that had kept her from telling him how she felt about him, had kept her from just grabbing and kissing him. Maybe now she would never know what that felt like.
They were always very careful with their words concerning their personal feelings towards each other, their eyes mostly just speaking of the connection they had. When it came to admitting something beyond that partnership, that friendship, they had always gotten tongue-tied, checking the other one out, careful not to destroy anything, careful to not get rejected.

Jay and Rianne on the other hand didn't have that barrier anymore, at least not in front of others. Hailey had begrudgingly seen that before and she had seen it again tonight. There was an invisible thread connecting them even when they weren't side by side, both always knowing where the other one was in a room full of people without having to check. Sharing all those little almost unrecognizable intimate gestures and inside jokes couples shared that had been together for far longer. When their eyes met those spoke of a secret only they knew about, a secret conveying a burning and raw passion they both seemed in awe of.

Hailey had to admit it was different from the looks she had shared with Jay up until now and though knowing this, it still hurt. Hailey guessed that she would have to wait and see how she would deal with her partner not being single anymore in the future.

Rianne had taken a beat in the back-room after that confrontation to not let anyone see how much it had really affected her. She was trying not to feel bad for having taken what Hailey maybe had wanted to have herself, but she hadn't known and it wasn't her responsibility. At the same time she had to nourish that self-assurance about how Jay felt about her. If him and Hailey were supposed to be a thing after all there was nothing she could do to stop it from happening anyway other than not let him down or make him doubt her.
¿Que cojones...? Her mouth had always been braver than her heart. Of course she didn't really want Hailey to tell Jay that she loved him too. God knows what would happen then, but she couldn't have stopped herself if she tried.
Rianne didn't even want to imagine how it would feel if Jay chose Hailey over her. Why was that woman acting like Rianne was a man-eating, unreliable hydra, when it could very well be that Jay would be the one to break her heart someday?
Something like this had been the reason she had wanted to never leave that loft with Jay again. Things had just started to un-complicate themselves... Thanks a lot universe!

Walking back into the bar-room after harrumphing loudly to herself once, her eyes searched for Jay and didn't take long to find him. He had a special presence everywhere he went, not loud, not blatant. But one could never not notice Jay Halstead in a room.

He was talking to Kevin at the bar, who had surprised everyone by bringing a date to this casual get-together. Rianne was happy that at least some part of that sweet man's life was falling into place. She had heard through the grapevine that he had real troubles because his brother was in town again and involved into some crime Intelligence tried to solve.

Jay had sensed her approaching and turned to her with a soft smile on his lips, even before she had appeared in his visual field. It instantly calmed her down to no end.
She quickly kissed him on that smile and went to stand between him and Kev, giving Kevin a hug, because she hadn't been able to say hello to him yet. There had just been so many people here tonight wanting to have a quick conversation, or an update on her and Jay.

Rianne leaned back then until her behind hit Jay's knees, which he quickly reacted to and sat more wide-legged on his bar-chair, so that she could perch on it as well. With one hand grabbing the bottle he was pushing over to her, the other one resting on his thigh, she relaxed her upper body into him. She let her head sink back on his shoulder and he kissed her ear and let his head rest on hers for a moment.

"You okay?" he quietly asked, Rianne loving the way his voice rumbled through her body due to their closeness.

"Yeah, fine!" she turned her head to rub her cheek along his for a minute.

It would be fine, everybody would just get used to them being together like she herself would get used to it and to sharing her life again.
Stella leaned over the bar next to them so that Rianne and Jay could hear her over the music and hubbub:

"You guys are actually so beautiful and sweet together, it might make me wanna puke."

"Yeah, I think I'm with you on that girl!" Kevin clinked bottles with Stella and winked at them, then took a look around to where his stunning beauty had wandered off to.

"Thanks a lot guys," Jay laughed and pulled Rianne even closer against his chest, his fingers finding the place where her sweater didn't quite meet her pants, gently grasping at naked skin.

As usual his tenderness and constant need to touch her tugged at her heartstrings and filled her with warmth. She caressed his arm where he had rolled up his sleeves, gently pulling at some of the fine hairs there, chasing his veins popping out with the tip of her finger. Every single detail of this man was just cherish-able and ¡por el amor de Dios! she wasn't going to leave him any time soon.

Later when they called it a night and went to get to Rianne's car she felt like she saw a man standing on the street-corner opposite Molly's, looking a lot like Nate. But Jay'd pulled her into his side and distracted her by pressing a happy and exuberant kiss on her lips. When she turned around again there was no one there. She thought she must have been mistaken. Surly Nate would have contacted her if he was back, wouldn't he?

AN: For the record: I am not ANTI-Upstead or Anti-Upton, I really am not. Just for this fiction it would be unrealistic in my opinion if Hailey was totally on board with the new relationship Jay's getting into, as it will certainly change something in their dynamic as well! Hope you guys aren't offended I portrayed her like that. Still love her on the show though.