Thank you all again for your continued support! All of the reviews have been so incredibly kind and I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate them! Here we go with Chapter 7!

The first few days Hailey is home from the hospital remind him a little bit of the first few weeks of their partnership. It's a strange balance between absolute trust and uncertainty. He is not quite sure how much time he should be spending with her and how much space he should be giving her. It is hard to find a middle ground between telling her about her memories and not overwhelming her. Sometimes, he honestly has no clue what to say.

She does not open up about her sessions with Doc Charles much at first. The emotional vulnerability has always been a bit more difficult for her, so he does not push her to tell him all that she is discussing in those sessions. However, she is more than willing to talk and or complain about her physical therapy sessions.

Being a former military man, Jay sees a tactical vantage point. If she'll open up about physical therapy, that is his way of making another connection with her, just one more opportunity to show her who he really is and how well they work together. So one day, he casually offers to help her with some of the exercises the doctors recommended. She recently was told she could stop wearing her shoulder sling and that they wanted her to do a bit of light exercise outside of her physical therapy appointments.

Of course, she raises a knowing eye, smirking at his completely innocent suggestion and he just groans as she teases him.

"Pretty sure whatever you're thinking is not what the doctor's recommended," She points out and he rolls his eyes. She may have lost a lot through all of this, but her sass and quick wit are still fully intact.

"Not what I meant," He tells her but he can't help but flash her a flirtatious smile as he does so.

"Sure it isn't," She sends him a devilish smile of her own. He shakes his head at her incessant teasing, happy that at least one aspect of their lives has not changed.

"They said I should start slowly going back to my old exercise routine," She says with a sigh. "Only problem is, I don't remember my old exercise routine."

Jay smiles wide. "Well, lucky for you, I do."

That is how they end up at an old gym on a Saturday morning. Hailey is not very happy that he made her get up so early on a weekend, but he figures she does not have physical therapy today so it would be good to get in a short workout at the doctor's approval.

"You really didn't have to help me work out," Hailey pants out about halfway through their workout. It's a light workout, barely even a workout by their normal standards, but her physical therapist was incredibly clear that she did not want Hailey to overdo it. A little bit of strength training and a half-mile run at the most should be all she is doing two weeks post her injury.

Jay ignores her grumblings, knowing it is just a mixture of exhaustion and frustration from her inability to work out the way she would like to. That, and she probably is not the happiest that he is not feeling the effects of the workout the way she is, so he keeps his mouth shut as they walk over to the treadmills.

"How much did we used to run when we would work out together?" Hailey asks as they hop on two machines and she sets her treadmill to a slow pace.

"Depended on the day," Jay tells her as he starts a slow jog. "If we came to the gym and did other stuff, only like two or three miles. If we went for a run outside, we did longer."

She eyes him suspiciously, eyebrow raised, and she shakes her head before starting her own slow jog. "I feel like you are lying to me right now. Because I'm pretty sure I hate running."

"You do." Jay laughs. "But you are faster than me so you always want to go on a run so you can rub it in my face when you win."

"Sounds like something I would do."

They workout in silence and Jay knows that if it were not for him nervously glancing over at Hailey every few minutes to make sure she is not over-exerting herself, she would probably be going much harder. But eventually, she finishes her short run with minimal frustration and pain.

As they are walking out of the gym, Jay hears a voice calling his name, causing both him and Hailey to turn around.

"Jay! Hey man!"

Jay smiles at the familiar face, glancing at Hailey quickly before taking a step forward to give the man a friendly pat on the back. "Wyatt, hey! Crazy running into you here."

"Yeah, my old gym closed," Wyatt tells him. "Figured I'd try this one since you keep blabbing about it." He pauses, before nodding at Hailey. "This your girlfriend?"

Jay glances at Hailey yet again and it's clear that she is incredibly uneasy right now. She is normally not one to be anxious around strangers, but he assumes that constantly talking to people and having no idea if she knows them or not has been a difficult challenge.

"Partner," Jay says, not exactly correcting him. "Detective Hailey Upton. Hailey, this is Wyatt Butler."

Wyatt smiles at Hailey. "So, you're who keeps this one safe. Honestly, from the stories Jay tells, you probably deserve a raise."

"Yeah," Hailey chuckles nervously. "He's a real handful."

Wyatt does not read anything into Hailey's behavior, but to Jay, it's obvious that she is uncomfortable. He is about to offer her some type of simple explanation or even excuse themselves when Wyatt speaks again.

"Man, we've missed you in group. Everyone has been asking about you. It's been a few weeks since-"

"Yeah," Jay cuts him off. "Work has been hectic, you know? I'm trying to get back."

Wyatt hums. "Well, you know you can call me if you need anything. We should grab a beer soon."

Jay can practically feel Hailey's eyes burning against his skin as she waits for him to respond. He has not brought up Wyatt or any group in the past two weeks and he is sure she is incredibly confused at the moment.

"Yeah, man. I'll give you a call."

There is another minute or so of awkward small talk, Hailey's eyes never leaving Jay's face, until he decides it's best to cut their conversation short. "Hey man, we've got to run but it was really good to see you."

"Yeah, totally." Wyatt smiles before waving at Hailey. "Nice to meet you, Detective."

Hailey gives a small, polite nod. As Wyatt heads into the gym, she is quick to turn around as well, not even waiting to see if Jay is following her, despite him being the one who has the keys. He jogs to catch up with her, pushing through the glass door of the gym and squinting in the Chicago sun.

"Hailey-" He calls out, finally catching up to her on the sidewalk. She slows at the sound of his voice, turning around and sighing.

"Was I supposed to know who he is?" She asks the question that has clearly been buzzing around in her mind since Wyatt came over and said hello.

"No," He says quickly. "He's just a friend. I don't even know if I've ever mentioned him to you."

"And the group?"

Jay sighs. He had hoped that maybe she had not heard that part. "It's nothing. I just-"

"You can tell me about the bad things." She cuts him off. "I won't break."

She's perceptive, a trait that was not lost in the accident, so it should not shock him that she has put two and two together and figured out that the group he knows Wyatt from is not a happy one.

"PTSD support group, down at the VA."

She does not respond, instead nodding to the sidewalk before she starts walking again. He is a few steps behind her, walking in her shadow, when she slows her pace and softly says, "You can't just tell me the good stuff."

He is confused by her statement but does not say anything. He lets her words linger in the air as they make their way to the truck. She silently walks around to get in the passenger side as he just watches her, his feet firmly planted on the sidewalk.

He gets in the truck a moment later, putting the key in the ignition and hoping she will break the silence. It is not until he is pulling into the street that she finally continues.

"You can't just tell me the stories where we are all happy and in love and not tell me the difficult memories. That's not fair to me."

He does not understand why his not wanting to talk about his PTSD group a few moments ago is spurring this response and he assumes this is something she has been sitting on for longer than she lets on.

"You've been through a lot," He says gently. "I didn't want to talk about me and my stuff."

"You didn't tell me about my stuff either," Her voice is monotone, her eyes trained on the road in front of her. "You didn't mention my past relationships, my work injuries….my family."

There it is. He knows she knows about her family and what her father was, but she has no way of knowing what her relationship with her family is now. He never once mentioned them and her family never visited her in the hospital. He imagines with the memories of her childhood being some of the only crystal clear ones she has left, she must often wonder what became of her relationship with them.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to know about any of that."

It's the truth. He knew she could handle hearing about it, but he was not sure if she wanted to hear about it. And, if he was really honest with himself, he was not sure if he wanted to be the person to tell her all of those emotional memories.

"I'm trying so hard to get back to normal." She says softly, still looking out the window, studying the roads and sidewalks."And I love that you are helping me with all of that, but I need more than the good stories. I need to know who I was."

"Hailey-"

"Did I tell you my mom called me yesterday?" She cuts him off gently. She turns to look at him, resting her temple on the headrest."I didn't even pick up because I honestly had no clue what to tell her...and I know where I left things with her a few years ago, but…"

She lets her voice trail off and he feels his hands tighten on the steering wheel in a white knuckle grip, instantly feeling worse for not bringing up her family at any point during her recovery.

"I should have told you," He says quietly. "I'm sorry."

She shoots him a small, reassuring smile. "I'm not mad at you. I know you're trying...it's not like there's a handbook on what to do when your girlfriend loses her memories."

He chuckles at her attempt to lighten the mood. "Maybe I'll write that handbook after all of this and get rich and famous."

"You'll remember me when you're some big famous author, right?"

"Eh, maybe."

His answer earns him a playful shove to the arm and he scoffs at her, feigning offense.

"Don't worry, I'll split my earnings with you."

"Oh, good."

A comfortable silence fills the truck as he turns onto her street. He is not quite sure how they continue this conversation, but he knows, for both their sakes, it needs to be continued.

"Wanna do lunch?" He asks her after he parks. "I gotta run home and shower, but then I can grab something and come back here."

"You know, there's such a thing as delivery right?"

He just laughs softly. "Still gotta run home to shower and get changed."

Hailey shakes her head. "I have a shower and you still have a ridiculous amount of clothes in my bedroom. Just shower here, it will save time and gas."

He raises an eyebrow, ready to challenge her on her offer, but she is unbuckling herself and jumping out of his truck before he can even form a sentence. Figuring it's probably just best if he listens, he turns off the truck and jumps out, taking a few large steps in an attempt to catch up with her as she walks into her building.

He should not be overthinking everything, but he just can't help himself. It's not like he's never gotten ready at her place. Even before they started dating, there were a handful of times one of them crashed on the other's couch after a night of drinking or they used the other's shower after an early morning workout. But today, it all feels strange, spending an extended amount of time in her apartment, and he finds himself unsure of what he should do or how they should act, or how he should start the inevitable conversation.

Hailey showers and changes first, while Jay orders them food, before they switch, her getting their lunch ready while he showers. He tries to not overanalyze how this is such a normal thing for them. In the mornings, he starts the coffee while she showers, and then she scrambles something together for breakfast while he gets ready.

That's on the mornings that he is not successful in convincing her that sharing the shower is a good use of their time and is the environmentally conscious thing to do. On those mornings, they both make the coffee and grab a granola bar to eat on the car ride.

"So, I still talk with my mom?" Hailey finally brings up the conversation after lunch, as they are cleaning up their meal.

He is not one hundred percent sure what her relationship with her mother was like seven years ago, but he assumes it's pretty similar to what it is now. They text every now and then and if Hailey can get some free time, they grab lunch. She has an okay relationship with her mother, unlike the nonexistent relationship she has with her father.

"Yeah." He tells her, grabbing their plates and walking them over to the sink. He places the dishes into the soapy water to soak and he turns around, leaning against the counter. "You saw her maybe a few months before you lost your memories." He pauses, thinking over his words before he continues. "Your dad had a heart attack a few months ago and you got lunch with her like two weeks after that."

"My dad's still alive?"

"Yeah."

He can't read her expression as she busies herself with gathering all of their garbage, throwing it into the medium-sized bag that their food came in before walking it over to her garbage can.

"Hailey-"

"I'm gonna make the assumption I don't still talk to him." Her voice is flat and her eyes are trained on the garbage can.

"No." He tells her. "As far as I know, you haven't talked to him in years. Long before we met."

Hailey hums. She moves away from the garbage and nods her head to the left, silently asking Jay to move so she can grab a towel to wipe off her hands. He slides against the counter, now leaning against the side of the fridge, just watching her movements.

"My brothers?" She asks it like she is going through a checklist, not talking about her family.

"Peter moved to Indianapolis like three years ago. You haven't been able to get out to visit him since he moved, but you said he normally comes back to spend Christmas with you and Thomas."

Hailey nods, wiping off her hands and staring at the fabric of the red towel. "And Thomas?"

"Still lives in the city. He and Merideth had a kid like a year ago. Carter."

Hailey looks up at the mention of her nephew. "Tommy had a kid?"

"Yeah." Jay chuckles. "You love that kid. You told me that you kept buying him toy cop cars and it totally pissed your brother off."

Jay has not gotten to meet either of Hailey's brothers yet, but he has heard a fair amount about them, especially her oldest brother, Thomas, mainly in part because of his new son, Carter. Thomas was the first one of the three Upton siblings to have a child and he was so determined to give his kid the life he and his siblings did not have. Hailey often told Jay that she was amazed how Thomas turned out, despite everything they experienced.

She was close with her brothers, something he did not expect initially. For the first few years of their partnership, she did not even mention her brothers and when she finally did, she never said their names. But, as they started getting closer, he learned that she was much closer with her two older brothers than she let on.

"We were all each other had," She explained to him once. "We had to look out for each other. We had a pretty unique bond."

She told Jay that it was hard to have a normal and healthy sibling relationship as they got older and left the house, but they all put in the work. Their father had already taken so much from them, they would not allow him to take their relationships with each other too.

"When's the last time I saw him?" Hailey asks, throwing the towel to the side and leaning against the counter on the other side of the sink, a few feet from Jay.

"Three months ago. It was Carter's first birthday."

There is clear disappointment written all over her face at the fact that she does not remember anything about Carter. He knows how much Hailey loves that little boy and if Jay is honest, he loves hearing her talk about him.

"I looked through my camera roll the other day," Hailey says with a dry laugh. "I wasn't gonna because I thought it was going to be overwhelming, but I caved. There were a bunch of pictures of a baby and I wasn't sure who it was, but I didn't want to ask. So, I guess, now I know. He's pretty cute."

"Yeah, he is."

"Have you met him?" Hailey questions, looking over at Jay.

"No, but you've shown me pictures. I haven't met either of your brothers or your mom. You knew Will from the hospital, but besides that, we haven't really done the whole meet the family thing."

Hailey nods, slowly processing his words, before she hesitantly asks. "You said your dad died, right?"

"Yeah," Jay tells her with a small nod. "Little over two years ago."

She opens her mouth to ask another question, but stops herself, biting her lip. He looks at her gently, urging her to continue, and she breathes in deeply. "And your mom?"

"Died when I was 22. Cancer."

"I'm sorry," Hailey whispers.

He bites the inside of his cheek and nods. "It was between my first and second tour. I reenlisted after she died."

"How many tours did you do in total?" She turns, now leaning the right side of her body against the counter so she can see him better, crossing her arms as she does so.

"Just the two. I was medically discharged at the end of my second tour."

"Medical?"

"IED explosion." He states simply. "Wasn't pretty."

It's not a story he likes to recount and it's the event that plagued his dreams for years after got out of the military. He has told Hailey the full story just once and even that was a difficult experience. She is always mindful of bringing up his past in the military. He wants to tell her things and he is working on opening up to her more about it, but there are still stories that are hard to tell.

It's clear that now, even without her memories, she can read him like an open book, so she does not push him further. "You join the CPD after that?"

"Yeah." He tells her. "Patrol, then Organized Crime, then Intelligence."

Hailey nods. "I was Patrol, then Robbery-Homicide, then Intelligence, right?"

"Yeah," Jay confirms.

Hailey smiles and pushes her palms against the counter, lifting herself to sit on the countertop. It's such a normal, domestic sight and it makes him chuckle as he thinks about how many conversations have they had in this kitchen, just like this. He shifts as well, moving to lean against the kitchen island so he is standing a few feet in front of her.

"Which one of us made Detective first?" She asks with a teasing smile. "Me or you?"

"Year wise? Me. I made Detective in 2012."

Hailey scoffs. "I was barely old enough to make Detective in 2012. Age-wise, who is it?"

"You."

Her face scrunches in a proud smile and it takes Jay back to the first time they had this conversation. It was long before they were dating on one of those many nights where they were at one of their places with a bottle of whisky. They probably had a little too much to drink and were laughing more than they normally would when Hailey kept teasing Jay about how she made detective first and how that made her the better cop.

She was just teasing, he knew that, but in the back of his mind, he kept thinking about how it was true. She was the better cop and she made him want to be a better cop too.

"You were meritoriously promoted," Jay says softy, not sure if Hailey remembers this part of her story. "Some undercover case you never were able to tell me about. You were pretty proud about it though. I'm pretty sure the first time you ever told me about it your exact words were for me to 'put it in my pipe and smoke it,'"

It's something they have come to laugh about now, the fact that she basically told him off in the back of that van, and he should have known then how much trouble he was in with this girl.

"Sounds like me," Hailey chuckles. "Any other remarkable stories from my police days?"

He might be a tad biased, but he thinks she's had a remarkable career. She is a highly decorated officer and she has more than enough work stories to tell at the bars. But, he knows those are not the stories that she is asking for right now. She does not want to know about the praise, she wants to know about the stories that made her the cop she is.

"No major injuries," He tells her. "You are way safer on the job than me. You had one other major undercover case before coming to Intelligence. You were under for a couple of months. Do you remember it?"

She shakes her head. "When was it?"

"2013." It's right around the seven-year mark of what she remembers and what she doesn't. He is not sure if she retained her memories of Booth or if she was lucky enough to get him out of her head for a few weeks.

"I don't remember. What happened?"

"It was a drug case," Jay tells her, wracking through his memories for the details that Hailey has shared with him from the case. "You went undercover with your partner, Garrett. You went undercover as a couple...but you guys had already been dating for a little while before the case. You were after this guy named Booth."

Jay swallows nervously, glancing over at Hailey who is patiently waiting for him to continue his story. It feels wrong, being the one to tell her this, details so intimate, so volatile.

"Booth was an awful man….we ended up working on a case involving him about a year after you started with Intelligence and man, he was just sick. Had some real weird obsession with you."

"Something happened?" She asks, but by the tone in her voice, she already knows.

"He attacked you. Garrett got you away. Took you to a hospital."

"Did he-"

"No." Jay cuts her off, unable to let her finish her sentence. He remembers a time they had this exact conversation, the roles reversed, and it breaks his heart being the one telling her this. But she wants her memories, the bad ones included.

She sits with it for a moment, staring at the floor quietly before she whispers, "What happened with the case?"

"You guys got Booth on a distribution charge and you never testified. He got out on good behavior and ended up dealing again, which is how Intelligence got involved. You went back under and long story short you beat him up pretty good and we made another arrest. Bastard is still in Cook County."

"And Garrett?"

Jay sighs. There is only so much he knows about Garrett. He knows Hailey was in a relationship with him, that they weren't that serious before they went undercover, but being in that unique situation made them closer. He knows that the situation with Garrett played a large part in her hesitancy to date another partner.

"He went missing during the case."

"Booth?" She asks and Jay nods, confirming her suspicions. Neither of them say anything and Jay is incredibly nervous about all that is going on in Hailey's head right now. Garrett was so important to her and within thirty seconds she learned about him just to learn that she lost him.

It must be overwhelming.

"Thank you for telling me all of that," She says sincerely after a moment. "I know it wasn't really fun...but I needed to hear all of it."

Jay nods. "Of course. Anything you want to know, I'll tell you."

A soft smile forms on her lips as she hops down from the counter gently. "As much as I would love some more storytime, I'm honestly exhausted. I didn't realize how much going to the gym was going to knock the wind out of me."

They both know the exhaustion is not from the gym, but they don't say anything.

"Want me to let you get some rest?" He asks hesitantly.

"Yeah...I'll probably just take a nap or something."

"Okay." He whispers, slowly moving to grab his jacket and gym bag from where he left them in the living room.

"Hey, Jay-" She calls out, pulling his attention back to the kitchen. "Thank you."

He's not sure if it's a thank you for telling her the difficult stories or if it's a thank you for giving her some space, but either way, he'll take it.

He feels strange as he slips out of her apartment, leaving things on such a heavy note, worrying how she is going to deal with it. He wishes he could be with her to help her, but he knows she is strong. Hailey just needs some time to process everything before she is ready to open up.

But whenever she is ready, he will be there.

He does not hear from Hailey the rest of the day. It's hard to not let his mind go a mile a minute thinking about if she is okay, but he knows she has survived a lot without him and she will be okay right now.

However, when he gets a text the next day from her, he can't lie and say he's not just a little bit relieved.

Hails: Sylvie dropped off some dinner for me and it's way too much food. Wanna come over for dinner tonight and attack this lasagna?

He chuckles at the way she phrases it, but quickly texts her back yes, he would very much like to come over and have some lasagna, although he is a little more excited to just see her, but he does not know if they are at the point where he should say that.

He goes to her apartment a little before five and she greets him at the door with a shy smile. She is dressed in leggings and a gray v neck that is a little worn out. He is not entirely convinced the tshirt is not one of his old ones that got mixed up in her laundry, but he keeps this information to himself.

"It was nice of Sylvie to drop you off some food," Jay hums, sitting down at the kitchen island as Hailey pulls the casserole dish out of the fridge.

"Yeah, she said she wanted to make sure I got some real food and didn't just live off of takeout for the next few weeks."

Jay chuckles. "Smart woman."

Hailey's breath hitches and she turns around in the kitchen, biting her lip nervously as she glances up at Jay. "I didn't just invite you over to have some lasagna."

"Really?" He sits up straighter, intrigued by her confession. "Did you invite me over because you missed me?"

She snickers at his joke and takes a step forward, gently leaning on the other side of the kitchen island, the countertop in between them. "Definitely not that."

"Sure," Jay hums playfully.

A breathy laugh escapes her lips as she rolls her eyes. "I texted Thomas this morning."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Hailey confirms with a nod. "I told him about the amnesia. I asked if maybe we could talk...if I could maybe see Carter."

"And?"

"We're gonna Facetime tonight."

"Hailey-"

"I'm excited," She cuts him off gently. "I really am. I've been looking forward to it all day...but I think it might be hard too. And I kinda thought I might want someone there with me. So, I called you."

He can feel the smile grow on his face at her words. She wanted someone to be there and she wanted it to be him. She was more than capable of doing this on her own, but she still wanted to let him in.

"I know you haven't met him yet," Hailey continues. "So, if you don't want to do this I-"

"Of course I'll do it."

It's Hailey's turn to smile, face scrunched up happily and dimples slightly showing. There is a moment where they are just leaning against this kitchen counter, smiling gently at each other and Jay forgets about everything else going on, getting lost in that smile and those eyes he has come to love.

But eventually, she breaks away to finish heating up their dinner, but the smiles do not disappear from either of their faces.

They Facetime Thomas after dinner, her leg bouncing nervously as the familiar ringing of an outgoing Facetime call fills the living room. He is sitting a few inches away from her on the couch and it takes all of his strength to not reach out and place a hand on her leg to settle her.

But when her brother's face fills the laptop screen, the bouncing of her leg stops and she just smiles.

"Hey," She breathes out.

"Hey, Smalls."

"Ugh," Hailey groans. "Of course you still call me that."

Thomas Upton just smiles, alternating his attention between his little sister and the man next to her. Jay has seen a few pictures of Thomas, mainly when Hailey was showing him pictures of Carter. He looks a lot like his younger sister, with bright blue eyes and blonde hair that's a little darker than hers. But actually meeting him now, in this strange way, sends a bit of nervous energy through Jay's body.

"Thomas, this is Jay," Hailey says before she glances over at Jay, unsure of how to actually introduce him.

"So, this is the partner?" Thomas asks cheekily, eyeing Jay up and down. "I apologize for her. I know she can be a bit of a handful. And she's just annoying."

"Hey!" Hailey fights back lightly but Jay just chuckles at the siblings' antics, knowing he and Will are often the same way. It is nice seeing Hailey so relaxed after everything from the past two weeks.

"Honestly, if one of us is a handful, it's me," Jay cuts in. "Your sister has saved my butt more times than I can count."

Thomas hums at his words. He knows Hailey has told Thomas about him throughout the years and he is sure a few of those stories have involved his recklessness and work-related injuries. He also knows that the last time she saw Thomas at Carter's birthday, she let it slip that she and Jay were dating. The duo had only been together a few months at that point, but she said since it was something they were already keeping from their friends, she did not want to keep it from Thomas as well.

"Well, it seems like you two are good together. Keeping each other in line and all that." Thomas says at last.

It's not a direct comment on the detective's relationship with his younger sister, but it's enough to calm Jay's nerves.

Hailey looks like she is about to say something when a happy shriek comes from across the call. Thomas smiles and glances to his right before looking back at his sister. "I think Carter is ready to make an appearance."

Hailey nervously smiles, nodding as her brother calls for the little boy, who toddles over to where his father is sitting on the couch, taking small uneven steps as he holds onto the cushions with one hand. Carter has gotten bigger from the last picture Hailey showed Jay, but he still looks just like his aunt and father, all bright blue eyes and blonde hair.

It might be a little early to be having this thought, but it's the same way Jay always envisions his children with Hailey looking.

"Hey Carter," Thomas coos as he picks up his son and plops him on his lap. "Look, it's Aunt Hailey."

"Ee-ah!" The little boy screeches happily, waving his hands at the sight of his aunt.

"We're working on saying 'theía' but he still hasn't quite figured out the t sound," Thomas explains with a laugh.

"Hey, I'm just impressed that my nephew is bilingual." Hailey jokes.

She must see the look of confusion on Jay's face because she leans over to him and softly says, "Theía is Greek for Aunt."

"Oh," Jay says quietly and they redirect their attention to the little boy on the screen.

The next hour or so is filled with Hailey virtually playing with her nephew and exchanging small talk with her brother. Jay pops into the conversation every now and then, but for the most part, he lets her do her thing. It's nice seeing her like this, having something resembling a normal interaction, where she does not have to think about the fact that she does not have her memories.

She smiles wider and laughs louder than she has since she came home from the hospital.

After a while, Thomas says that he needs to get Carter to bed, but that it would be good to Facetime Hailey again, which she happily accepts. As they close the laptop and silence fills the living room, Hailey leans back against the couch and glances at Jay.

"Thank you," She whispers. "I'm sure that was not how you wanted to spend your Sunday night but I really appreciate it."

"Hey," He leans forward, just a bit. "We're still partners, Hailey. That hasn't changed. We got each other's back."

She gives him an appreciative smile, turning her head on the back of the couch. "I know I said it yesterday, but thank you for being so honest with me about everything. It probably does not make sense, but it really does help."

"Anything you want to know, I'll tell you."

"I know," She whispers. "Everyone else just wants to sugar coat all of the memories, like they're nervous if they tell me the truth I'll break...so I appreciate you being real with me."

It must be so frustrating, having everyone tell you a half-truth version of everything, almost like they are watering down the past. That must make it incredibly hard for her to get any sense of who she actually is.

"You're strong," Jay states simply like it's the most well-known fact. "You were strong enough to handle living through the memories, so you're strong enough to hear about them."

"Thank you," She whispers, reaching out to place her hand over his on the couch cushion, giving it a quick squeeze before pulling her hand back to her lap.

Her words make him think that maybe, this is how he connects with her, just pure and simple honesty and trust. After all, it's how they connected the first time and it's what their partnership is built on.

Partners are honest and partners trust each other. Partners deal with whatever difficult situation gets thrown at them together.

And that's exactly what they'll do. Because, like he said, they're still partners.

A couple of quick chapter notes:

-This chapter was not in the original story outline, but it felt necessary to add. Hailey is one hundred percent someone who wants the whole truth, not just the good stories. It felt like she really needed to explore her past and her relationship with her family.

-I know a lot of people go back and forth about whether Hailey would be close with her brothers. For me, it was simply a personal connection to the story.

-Yes I one hundred percent got the name Carter from the Superstore series finale because I wrote this chapter after watching it and I'm still not emotionally okay

Anyway, thanks for reading! Stay tuned for chapter 8 (I'll tell you now, it's one of my favorites)