Chapter 8

Hailey woke up the next morning to an empty bed, unsure how she had slept through not one but two people getting out of the bed. She supposed it had something to do with the past few late nights. Thankfully Voight had given her the morning off to rest and catch up with Ellie before coming in for the afternoon to wrap up the case. Hailey picked up her phone to check the time. It was only just after nine, which was late for her to wake up, but she also hadn't gone to sleep until close to three in the morning, so she wasn't all that surprised. She was eager to see Ellie though, so she hurried out of bed, running her fingers through her hair in an attempt to control it before going to find Ellie and Jay.

The scene she walked into in the kitchen melted her heart, even more than thoughts of Jay being with Ellie in the hospital the night before. As she came down the stairs, she could hear music playing softly from the TV and saw that Spotify was pulled up. Glancing into the kitchen, she spotted Jay with his back to her. He was standing at the stove flipping a pancake, but he was also bopping his head in time to the music, singing along to the words of Ain't Too Proud to Beg. Sitting up on the counter next to him was Ellie. Hailey could still see the bandage on her head but Ellie was beaming and laughing with Jay as she too rocked back and forth to the music.

Hailey stood there for a moment, taking in the happy scene, not quite ready to interrupt it. Jay and Ellie interacted so easily with one another that it was impossible to look at the two of them and know that they had only known each other for a few short weeks. Her moment of staring came to an end as Jay turned from the stove to reach for plates from the cabinet and spotted her. He grinned at her smiling face watching them, standing there on the bottom step in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Ellie spotted her mother just after Jay, jumping from the counter and racing over to greet her.

"Mommy, you're awake!" Ellie exclaimed, running into her mother's waiting arms. Hailey wrapped her arms around her girl, squeezing her tightly against her waist, being sure to avoid her bandaged head.

"Hi, baby girl," Hailey greeted her. "You should have woke me."

"Jay said we should let you sleep," Ellie said, finally being released from her mother's arms. "He said you had to work really late."

"Well, yes, but I still wanted to see you," Hailey replied, appreciative of Jay's actions as she had definitely needed to catch up on some sleep.

"Mommy, we're making pancakes!" Ellie informed her, moving on quickly.

"I see that and they look delicious, but how's your head?" Hailey asked, gently peeling at the taped gauze. Ellie squirmed a bit but allowed Hailey to remove the dressing to inspect the stitches. Jay came over to peak as well.

"Yeah, Nat said she only needed the dressing last night and she can have it open to air now," Jay said, seeing that the stitches still looked good. He was glad the gauze hadn't stuck to the stitches because he knew that could be painful to separate. "Just has to keep it clean and dry and wash gently with soap and water. I left the papers on the counter." Jay gestured to the discharge paperwork sitting on the island and then walked back over to the stove to remove the last of the pancakes. He had them all piled up on a plate, turning off the stove before carrying them over to the island where Ellie had already climbed up.

The table was already set with orange juice poured in glasses so Hailey sat down in her usual spot. "This looks great," she said as Jay served two pancakes onto her plate. He set one on Ellie's and then two on his own, leaving still a few pancakes if anyone was still hungry after. Before he sat down though, he went over to the Keurig and brewed Hailey a cup of coffee, handing it across to her. She appreciated that he knew her well enough to know that she couldn't eat until she'd had her morning coffee.

"We threw blueberries in just for you," Jay said. "Ellie says they're your favorite."

"Very true," Hailey said, taking a bite and smiling at the little girl. Ellie had already smeared blueberry across her cheek but it didn't phase her in the least. She was enjoying her pancakes and still bopping along to the music, The Temptations replaced by The Foundations' Build Me Up Buttercup.

They didn't say much over breakfast, occasionally commenting or singing along to the music. Hailey kept glancing over at Ellie and smiling. The little girl seemed unphased by the events of last night, and Hailey suspected she had Jay to thank for that. Jay on the other hand couldn't seem to keep his eyes off Hailey. She could feel him watching her, and every time she glanced at him he was smiling at her. She found it difficult to finish her breakfast owing to the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach at the way he was looking at her. She knew things had been changing for them in recent weeks, but he had never looked at her like that so consistently and unashamedly before.

She was glad to have the excuse to get up and start cleaning up their breakfast when Ellie had finished eating and asked to be excused. Ellie wandered out to the living room, turning up the music and continuing to dance around while playing with some of her toys. Hailey gathered up hers and Ellie's plates and carried them to the dishwasher before starting to wash the pancake pan in the sink. She was so focused on her scrubbing that she hadn't even heard Jay get up from his spot at the counter and approach her until he was suddenly standing next to her. She couldn't help but notice that he was standing much closer to her than normal, so close that their hips were touching as she leaned over the sink and he leaned his back against the counter. She hoped the flush that she felt rising in her cheeks wasn't too noticeable to him, but just in case, she stayed scrubbing the pan longer than necessary to regain her composure, finally setting it on the drying rack and reaching around him for the towel to dry her hands. She noticed that he didn't lean away from her at all when she reached past him, something he always had done in the past.

She finally looked up at him, seeing his eyes still completely focused on her. "You're staring a lot this morning," she finally decided to call him on it, figuring being direct was better than dancing around all the tension.

"Did you know you snore?" was his reply.

Hailey smacked his arm with the towel. "I do not," Hailey said indignantly.

Jay laughed. "You do, very softly. It's pretty adorable actually." He had that boyish grin on his face she loved so much as he spoke. "You keep your mouth wide open and everything," he added.

"Oh, so you're watching me while I sleep now?" she countered, trying to embarrass him like he was her.

It didn't work however, as he had a quick comeback. "Well, to be fair, your snoring did wake me up." Hailey rolled her eyes as he continued to laugh. "But then yes, I did watch you sleep." He admitted it unashamedly, and sincerely as he had stopped laughing, continuing to study her to gauge her reaction, smiling the whole time.

Hailey wasn't sure what to say to his admission. She should have felt embarrassed or creeped out that he had watched her sleep, but she really just found it endearing. And that boyish smile was back on his face that she always just wanted to kiss right off. She didn't even realize that her body was slowly inching closer to his until suddenly she was standing right in front of him, almost flush against him. She could practically count the freckles on his face. His eyes were locked with hers but he hadn't moved a muscle, clearly waiting for her to finish the move she had started. His head tipped down ever so slightly towards hers so she could feel his breath against her skin. Just as she was tilting her face up to meet his... the phone rang.

Hailey stepped back quickly, the phone bringing her back to her normal self. There was a reason she hadn't taken this step with Jay before, and she was playing in the next room. She certainly didn't want them to take this step with Ellie within sight and not without them talking about the implications of their actions first. She was a mother now, she had to think about her daughter first, she reminded herself.

Shaking herself at her near blunder, she stepped away from him to retrieve her phone from the counter.

"Hey Sarge," she answered, seeing Voight's name across the screen.

She glanced back at Jay as Voight spoke. Jay hadn't moved from his spot against the counter, and his eyes hadn't moved from her either. He was studying her, a somewhat pained look in his eyes and Hailey had to remind herself to focus on what her boss was telling her.

"Okay, I'll see if I can drop Ellie off a little early I guess," Hailey said into the phone, her eyes still focused on Jay. He finally looked away as she spoke, realizing that their moment was gone and duty was calling. He loaded the last of the dishes into the dishwasher as Hailey said, "Are you sure you don't mind? I just don't really want to leave her again so soon." There was a moments pause for Voight to respond before Hailey said, "Okay, thanks Sarge, we'll be in soon then."

She hung up the phone as Jay turned back around towards her again. She was quiet for a moment, knowing she should address their almost kiss but not knowing how to. Before she could though Jay was changing the subject.

"We gotta go in?" Jay asked, clearly already knowing the answer.

Hailey nodded. "They took a run at the interrogation this morning but they're not getting anywhere. He wants us to come in and help go through more footage and social media to see if we can find more leverage before taking another run. I'm gonna bring Ellie in with me."

Jay nodded, glad that Ellie and Hailey would still get to spend some time together, even if it was at the district.

"Ok, I'm gonna swing home and grab a change of clothes then," Jay said, starting to head for the door. "I'll see you at 21."

He stepped into his shoes quickly, grabbing his keys and wallet from the table by the door. He had left his gun and badge in the glove box of his car, not wanting to bring them into the house without knowing Hailey's safe combination.

"Jay," Hailey called as he had his hand on the door. He turned back to look at her. Hailey opened her mouth to address the elephant in the room but nothing came out. As usual, Jay seemed to understand and just smiled at her. It wasn't the boyish grin from this morning, but it was sincere. His eyes lingered like that for a moment, and then he was gone, shutting the door gently behind him.

A/N: Kind of short chapter this time but I wanted to cut it off here. We're getting closer to some real Upstead so stick with me. I appreciate all the amazing reviews so far so keep them coming. I'm really enjoying writing this story so far and I hope you guys are enjoying reading it.