Hi there guys! Hope everyone is doing ok. After much thought I decided to try and give my last Upjas and Rowater fic a sort of sequel, and that's how this movie night at Hailey's place came to be. I miss Vanessa and the bond she had with Hailey so much, that it pushed me to write fics about them. Like the last one, it's set sometime on the current season. Hope you like it! (Huge thanks to the lovely one-cpd for kindly reviewing and giving feedback on this story 💛)

I'm also on twitter as moonycpd if you want to say hi :)

"In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, for in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed." — Khalil Gibran

Everyone in life is dealt with hardships and happier moments. Some people have more of one of those things than the others. Whether it was a thing of destiny, the design of a God, or pure luck, at the end of the day it was still a fact.

Hailey and Vanessa had both dealt with their own share of hardships. They didn't exactly have the same background, but both lacked in the family department.

Vanessa never really had a family to begin with. She was just moved from one foster home to another, and in none of them she really fit or was even wanted. Then she grew up and Luis became her family, but he eventually left her too.

Growing up, Hailey had a family, food, clothes, a warm bed, money. But intertwined in the normal life she seemingly had, there were memories of domestic abuse and a home that felt less and less like a home with time. She wasn't safe there and she knew that, so she left as soon as she was old enough to live on her own.

With time she found Intelligence and they slowly became her family, in their own and weird way. They weren't perfect, all of them had their pasts and scars, but at the end of the day they took care of each other.

There, for the first time in forever, Hailey found people that made her feel safe and cared for. In particular, a special person that saw all of her and still loved her deeply, Jay.

Vanessa was the last to join their little Intelligence family. After a rough beginning, with her fierce determination and sunny disposition, she charmed her way easily into everyone's heart. Hailey even opened her house to her when she didn't have a place to stay, and they transitioned smoothly from roommates and work partners, to friends, and then best friends.

They had different personalities, sure, and maybe didn't share the same tastes on everything, but they got each other's backs. Hailey was a sort of mentor for Vanessa, and the younger officer became the company Hailey never knew she needed during though times.

With time, they became more than best friends,sisters. Maybe they weren't related by blood, but they chose each other to become family, and that was more powerful than what genes could say.

Finding a family in the friends the Intelligence unit gave her, was one of the best gifts life could have offered Vanessa. That's why as soon as she had a break from her new job, she took the opportunity to reunite with them.

After the night at Molly's with her friends that turned into a night at her place with Kevin, and then a perfect early morning wrapped in his arms, Vanessa had a slow day while she waited for Hailey to get out of work. They had promised to meet at Hailey's place to have a movie night, like the old days when they still lived together.

When the blonde detective finally made it home she texted Vanessa to let her know she could come over, and a short while later she was receiving her at her door and letting her in. Vanessa had a big smile on as soon as she saw her friend and gave her a short hug. She noticed she looked tired, but at the same time happy because they got to hang out.

Hailey's new apartment wasn't as big as the last one, but it was big enough for her to live comfortably. Vanessa handed Hailey a bottle of her favorite vodka and gave her a knowing grin. The detective only laughed and shook her head while moving to place the bottle on the coffee table.

"Hey it's a really nice place you got. Feels cozy" Vanessa did a quick turn around to look at the kitchen, bedroom and living room.

"It is, and closer to work too. The guys helped with the move and Kim used her magic and helped me organize and decorate a bit." Hailey put her hands inside the pocket of her grey hoodie and gave her own look around her place with her eyes.

"This your office?" The room to the right had caught Vanessa's eye as soon as she entered because of the different portraits she could see from her spot.

"Yeah. And where I keep my souvenirs and photos too" Hailey walked into the room nodding at Vanessa to follow.

"Oh, you have our photos?" Vanessa asked excitedly.

"Of course I do. I kept most of them inside an album when I moved, but left a couple out. Thisis one of my favorites. Remember this day?" Hailey pointed to a frame sitting on the top of a shelf filled with books, some pictures of her with her brothers, and others with the unit.

There, between eucalyptus leaves on glass vases, was a picture of the two of them inside the bullpen. On it you could see Hailey sitting cross legged atop Jay's desk, resting her hands on Vanessa's head, who was crouching under her making a goofy face and pose.

That day was the first one of Jay back on duty after he was shot, and at the time the picture was taken Voight wasn't in the office.

"Yeah! Ruzek and Kev were messing around saying we should take pictures of everyone to celebrate Halstead spending one more of his nine lives" Hailey let out a short laugh.

"The surviving near death situations jokes at the time were too much for me. But, I liked seeing Jay laugh with everyone. And then somehow you did...whatever the hell that pose was, to try and cheer me up, and Adam took it. It was the first time after weeks that I laughed that much" Hailey smiled at the memory and turned to look at her friend.

"Mhmm. Halstead recovered quickly but those were really tough days for you Hails" she covered well at that time, but Vanessa could see the dark bags under Hailey's eyes, and the stress she carried everyday. Just because Jay survived didn't mean the emotional impact of almost losing him hadn't hit the blonde detective hard.

Through Jay's recovery Hailey had been by his side as much as she could, but only Vanessa knew she often had nightmares about that day. More times than she could count with her hands, Vanessa had to keep Hailey company on the nights she wasn't staying with Jay, assuring her that the worst had happened and he was ok. That all of them were ok.

"He wasn't sleeping well those days, so I wasn't either" Hailey frowned when she felt a slight heaviness in her chest. All of that was in the past, but it still hurt to remember.

"I know. You were over at his place more than ours back then. Couldn't blame me for suspecting you two were more than 'partners' " Vanessa air quoted with her fingers while lifting her eyebrows. Hailey smiled and gave a soft push to her friend's shoulder for her teasing.

"I don't know if I thanked you enough for holding me up through all that. Whenever I gave Jay his space and couldn't check on him in person, I was worried sick. But you made everything easier, helped me so much with the house and calmed me in the rough nights" the two friends smiled softly at each other, and Vanessa wrapped Hailey in a hug.

"It's nothing. After everything you've done for me, that was the least I could do"

They stayed like that for a while until they decided to watch the movie. Hailey grabbed a couple beers, while Vanessa got out the snacks, and they sat comfortably at the sofa.

"Here" Hailey grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and threw it over them.

"Cute blanket" said Vanessa while inspecting it. It was a baby blue color with a plaid pattern.

"A gift from Kim. Said it matched my eyes" grabbing the remote, Hailey started looking on her TV at the different movie options to watch.

"It is very her. Speaking of, we should do this sometime with Kim too. Like a girls night, or something like that" proposed Vanessa.

"Yeah! I actually asked her if she wanted to come by today but she had a family dinner with her sister and Adam, so" the blonde shrugged and kept her eyes on the TV. At the mention of Adam, curiosity got the best of the younger woman and she had to ask.

"What's up with them anyway? They married and I didn't know?" at this Hailey only shook her head no.

"They're not but it's almost like they were. Kim's in the process of adopting Makayla and Adam's been helping her. They're focused on that now, and he sort of moved in with them, so they're like a little happy family now" in the soft light of the lamps, Vanessa saw Hailey smile warmly. She understood the happy feeling.

Kim and Adam had lost together, but they got to rebuild something good together too, and that was a beautiful thing.

"Well that's nice. Next time we're all free let's plan something, and she can bring her little girl too if she wants. I'd love to meet her" Vanessa knew little about Makayla, but from the small details she got from Kevin, she was glad she found a good home instead of ending up in foster care.

"Definitely! You're gonna love her. Makayla is such a sweet girl, she's been through so much, but Kim has gotten her to feel safe and open up bit by bit." Vanessa nodded knowingly.

"She's lucky to have Kim as her mom" smiling at each other, they started opening the chip bags.

"Yeah, she is"

After some time deliberating, they picked Hidden Figures and started watching. They had already seen it before, but it was one of their favorites. When the movie ended, Vanessa said it was about time they opened the vodka bottle she brought. They poured the shots and toasted to them, grinning wildly after they threw them back.

Looking through her phone after that, Vanessa connected to the speakers and hit play on her drunk with friends playlist as she liked to call it, while Hailey poured a second round of shots.

They talked about everything and nothing, and soon two rounds turned into three. By then they were just laughing at random jokes and swaying side to side to the music. With a bit of liquid courage, Hailey decided it was time to have a long awaited conversation.

"You know, Kev was in a pretty good mood today..." she started casually while munching chips.

"He was?"

"Yeah, like singing My Girl while making coffee in the break room at eight AM kind of in-a-good-mood" this made the younger woman blush.

"Good for him"

"He was also late to work" the blonde added. Vanessa simply shrugged and pretended to be checking the playlist on her phone to not look at Hailey.

"That can happen to anybody" Hailey rolled her eyes playfully and chuckled.

"Vanessa...come on"

"Now you know how I felt when you acted all 'nothing happened, we're just partners' whenever I questioned you about Jay" she finally looked at Hailey who had her mouth open.

"That's...fair enough. Wait, so something did happen with Kev" this made Vanessa freeze in the middle of reaching out for the bag of chips. Feeling caught, she quickly tried to divert the subject.

"You saying those times something happened with Jay too?" Hailey wasn't falling for that and moved her arm so that Vanessa couldn't reach the bag.

"What? No. Stop messing around" grabbing a chip she threw it at Vanessa hitting her in the face. Her friend just gave her a can't-believe-you-just-did-that look and lifted her hands in the air in surrender.

"Ok, ok, fine. The man was late because he didn't want to leave my place this morning. Can you believe it? Was about to call the cops to drag him out but then I realized...I'm the police" she made a fake surprised face, and Hailey just glared in a playful manner at her.

"Such a comedian you are"

"I'm hilarious" Vanessa smirked and stole the chips bag.

"So...you guys spent the night, and part of the morning, together" Hailey tried to continue.

"Aye"

"This vague answers thing...is revenge, isn't it?" the detective arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. She had done the same thing whenever questioned about her relationship with Jay before, even though back then actually nothing had happened between the two of them.

"Exactamente" confirmed Vanessa in spanish for added effect.

"All right, I won't push if you don't want to talk about it but it's just...it is you, and Kev. We're best friends. You can't expect me to not want to know if it all went well" Hailey had a concerned look on her face then, switching on the big sister mode, so Vanessa decided to sober up.

"Hailey, you're the first person I want to talk about this. My bad for messing with you, but, you gotta admit is fun" she half smiled and turned on the sofa so she was completely facing her friend.

"For you, you mean"

"Mhmm" Vanessa nodded and made a pause before continuing. "Last night...was so, so good. We had fun at Molly's, laughed and catched up with things. Kevin and I pretty much established we really liked each other, and that we wanted to see where that could go. Then he drove me home, I invited him in and well, we had the most amazing night...like an out of a movie kinda thing..." she had a faraway and dreamy look. She opened her mouth to add more but closed it quickly. Hailey frowned at that, she sounded so happy mere seconds ago.

"What is it?"

"Yo, I'm happy we got to reconnect, but you know how our jobs are. Not a lot of free time. So for now we agreed we want to make it work, but if for some reason it doesn't, well...we said no hard feelings." Vanessa tried to smile but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Hey, V, is not easy. But it's also not impossible. For now take it one day at time and see where that leads. Kev is a great man and you're a great woman, and you're going to be great together. I'm sure" Hailey smiled warmly at her friend.

"Thanks, that means a lot. You know, after the thing with Luis I thought I'd lost my only family, but I always had you with me. And Kev, and the unit were there too, and you guys made me feel...like I wasn't so alone after all" this tugged at Hailey's heartstrings and she started to feel her eyes water a bit. She grabbed Vanessa by her shoulders and looked directly into her big brown eyes.

"You weren't, and you're not. We're here" Hailey took her hands away and both women reached for a hug.

"I love you Hails. Thank you, for everything" both separated from the hug with full smiles on their faces.

"Love you too. I'm honestly so happy for you guys. This calls for celebratory shots" Hailey reached out for the bottle and the glasses at the table, and poured a bit vodka on each.

"More?"

"You were the one that brought the vodka, so you should have seen this coming" clinking their glasses, they cheered and took the shots.

All of a sudden, a more upbeat song started to play, and Vanessa jumped excitedly from the couch. She started to sway in the spot and extended her hands towards Hailey who immediately shook her head no.

"Oh! Come on, I love this song!"

"I'm not a good dancer V"

"You just drank a bunch of alcohol so I think you'll be great. Now, get over here, it will be fun. No one's watching anyway" Maybe it was the alcohol, but Hailey didn't have it in her to say no to Vanessa.

Besides, it was a good song. Hailey let herself get pulled from the couch and soon enough, both women were making silly dance moves to the music while laughing like idiots.

They danced for a while until they tired themselves enough to let their bodies drop on the couch.

"That was fun" admitted Hailey while catching her breath.

"You know what we need to make this just like our old sleepover nights?" said Vanessa

"Brownies?"

At the mention of brownies Vanessa couldn't hide her excitement and exclaimed a loud yes, turning, up the volume on the music. Hailey laughed at her friend's antics and started getting everything ready.

Soon enough, the tray was in the oven and Vanessa started to randomly dance around the kitchen island while they waited.

Once the brownie was done, they cut it and carried the tray to the coffee table to enjoy a chocolate-induced sugar rush.

Through the night they drank more vodka, ate brownies and snacks, watched the rest of the movie, and did an impromptu karaoke that almost made the neighbors knock on Hailey's door to complain of loud music.

The next day, Jay decided to stop by Hailey's on his way to work to bring her breakfast and give her a ride. He stopped at a bakery close to her place, and knowing that Vanessa spent the night before at her place, decided to buy enough coffee and pastries for the three of them.

Before making his way to her apartment he called to let Hailey know he was on his way. Jay had a key, so he could have easily let himself in, but he felt that Hailey and Vanessa needed their space and time just for them. He didn't want to intrude on that.

However, his plans of being respectful of his girlfriend's special bonding-with-Vanessa-time were cut short when he called a third time and Hailey still hadn't picked up. Starting to get worried, he parked outside the apartment complex and took the elevator to her floor.

Once outside her apartment, he tried to balance the coffees and bag of pastries with one hand while knocking with the other. After a few seconds of waiting, a couple more knockings, and still no answer, he started to get seriously worried. He quickly grabbed the key from his back pocket and opened the door.

When he entered, he opened his mouth to call out to Hailey, but he shut it as soon as he saw the reason why she hadn't answered her phone or the door.

Covered in a soft blue blanket, Vanessa and Hailey were huddled together on the sofa. Both passed out cold and snoring.

Relief washed over him and he closed the door softly behind after making his way inside.

A quick look around the living room and Jay could see a couple beer bottles on the coffee table, alongside an almost empty vodka bottle. That explained why they were sleeping like the dead, he thought.

Smiling and trying not to wake them up, he carefully made his way to the kitchen avoiding empty bags of chips and gummies, some popcorn, and what once was a baking tray full of brownies scattered on the floor.

Jay set the pastries and coffees on the table and checked the time on his watch. They still had time before they had to go in for work, so he decided that letting the women rest for a bit more wasn't going to hurt anybody. And maybe Hailey wouldn't mind if he took a small nap of his own on her bed either.