So, a while ago, one of my favorite humans on tumblr onechicago-upsteadrhekker asked for a forced bedsharing fic. That resulted in a 12,000 word chaotic mess of a fic. This fic is pure flirting and fluff and pining, but honestly, isn't that what we need with the finale coming up? Anyway, part two will be posted next week. Until then, hope you enjoy!

Title from "West" by Sleeping at Last

It all starts with an innocent phone call.

"You know, you probably shouldn't talk on the phone and drive," Hailey tells Jay jokingly from the passenger seat of the truck. "Especially when we are working."

He rolls his eyes at her, but stays silent, humming a small response to whoever he is talking to and keeping his eyes glued on the road.

It is not until he clicks off his phone and throws it back into the cup holder that he lets out a long groan.

"What?" Hailey questions "Your hot date cancel for tonight?"

He rolls his eyes yet again and she can't help but smile because this, this is what works. The joking and the banter and the annoyed eye rolls and the soft smiles that no one else sees. While she was in New York with the FBI a few weeks ago, she was nervous they would not find their rhythm again, but here they are, and they are just fine.

"Close," he chuckles. "My landlord. Apparently, some idiot on the floor above me tried to install his own shower and now they have to turn the water off for the entire building for the next few days."

"When are they turning it off?"

"Three hours ago," Jay mutters.

Hailey lets out a low whistle, leaning back against the passenger side seat and cocking her head to look over at him. "So, what's your plan?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe shower at the gym? Or I could stay with Will, but I have no clue what his deal is right now with Hannah-"

"You can stay with me," she offers gently before she can fully process the words herself.

He apparently is taken aback by her offer, because he just raises a surprised brow at her. "Really, Hailey? It's fine. I can just put up with Will for a few days. It's not like I haven't been putting up with him for my whole life."

"Yeah, but you always get cranky when one of you has to crash at the others," she reminds him, thinking back to previous times there has been maintenance at Jay's apartment or when Will stayed with his brother after his broken engagement a few years ago.

"Well then, you are gonna have to deal with me being cranky," he says cheekily.

"Exactly!" Hailey laughs out the exclamation. "I'm the one who suffers from that situation. Literally, just stay with me, I think it's going to be far less painful."

"Hailey Anne, are you trying to get me to spend the night with you?"

He says it far more flirtatiously than her work partner should in the middle of the workday. The way he raises his eyebrow, the way he cocks his head, that damn devilish smile, it is all more than that of a partner and she has to work hard to push the millions of thoughts that are flooding her brain aside and focus on this moment.

"You know what, now that I think of it, Adam has a couch and you can just-"

"I'll stay with you," he cuts her off before she can finish her sentence and she can feel the proud little look overtake her face as he just sighs again.

"It's only gonna be like four days," he says. "I promise to not get in the way and I'll take the couch and-"

"Jay," she smiles, shaking her head at his nervousness. "It's fine. You're my partner, we spend a ridiculous amount of time together. It's fine."

"Okay," he whispers. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure," she reiterates. "It's fine."

She is not sure if she is trying to convince him or herself, but it is fine. More than fine. He is her partner, her best friend, and maybe, while she was in New York, she thought they might be moving towards something more, but sitting here in the front of his truck, laughing and teasing like they always have, she knows she is okay with however they end up because she just needs him in her life, no matter what it looks like.

It probably is not her wisest idea, inviting the partner that she has secretly harbored feelings for to spend an extended amount of time at her place, but she has been keeping her feelings under wraps for the past few years, so it's not like this is going to change things.

Besides, it's only four days. What could go wrong?

Hailey has never been so happy that they worked late because, by the time they get back to her apartment, it is nearing ten. He runs to his apartment to grab a few things for his stay at her place and she runs to pick up some food since they both worked through dinner. She figures with the late hour, all they will have time to do is eat a quick dinner and pass out, leaving little time for the awkwardness that she is sure was going to take place otherwise.

The minute she told him it was fine back in his truck her mind started to go into overdrive, thinking about all of the ways this was not in fact, fine. She should have just let him go stay with Will and dealt with whatever grumpiness would surely come her way because that would be easier, that would be safer.

Because this? This was not safe. Having the partner that she harbors something not resembling partner-level feelings for come into her space? It feels a little too real, a little too serious, a little like they are towing a line she is not sure they are ever going to cross.

Part of her thinks that if it was supposed to happen, it would have happened by now. It's not like she is exactly hiding her feelings and if her elite detective of a partner has not figured out by now that something else is going on, then they have a whole other issue here.

Or maybe it has not happened because they are both trying to play it safe, preserve the partnership they have worked so hard to develop, protecting it at all costs, even if it comes at the expense of their own happiness.

And when he knocks on her door that night, a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder, flashing her that boyish charm smile, she thinks she should have continued to play it safe.

"Hey roomie," she breathes out as he comes in, a weightless attempt at breaking the tension she feels rising in the air.

"Temporary roomie," he corrects her, setting his duffle bag next to the couch.

"Should I be concerned about how against this you are?" She tries to play it off as joking like there is not already a knot in her stomach telling her that she is reading too much into all of this.

He cocks his head at her knowingly and she feels a little bit of relief, but not enough. "You know I love spending time with you. I just don't want you killing me because it's too much time."

The first thoughts that come to mind are there is no such thing as too much time and I could spend forever with you and it still probably would not be enough, but thankfully, her brain works faster than her mouth does at the moment and she is able to use a filter, just chuckling at his words instead.

"It's been four years," she says, making her way over to the kitchen to start plating the pizza she picked up for them. "If I have not killed you yet, I probably won't."

"You know, I think that might just be the nicest thing you have ever said to me."

They both know that is far from the truth, but she does not have it in her to argue tonight.

"One slice or two?"

"Two."

She comes around to the couch with two plates of pizza in hand and he gets up to get them some water. It feels normal, like countless other meals they have shared before, and it's almost enough to calm Hailey's nerves for the night.

"Should we set some ground rules?" Jay asks as they settle into their late dinner, causing her to shoot him a confused look.

"Ground rules?" she asks. "What do you mean?"

Jay shrugs. "Just with me staying here, I figured some ground rules might help."

Hailey shakes her head with a laugh, temporarily putting down her pizza to study her partner. He is a stickler for rules, for order and clarity, and it's one of those things that can drive her crazy, but she secretly loves as well.

"Jay, you're staying for four days, not for a year. I don't think we need any ground rules."

"Just making sure," he hums. "Don't want to piss you off somehow and then have you request a new partner."

Whatever nervousness she was feeling earlier, he clearly is too, he just does a better job of physically masking it. So, Hailey lets out a sigh and cocks her head over to him as she asks, "Alright, so some ground rules?"

Jay nods, slowly, focusing his attention on his pizza. "It's your place, so I feel like you set the first rule."

Hailey sets down her plate and gives herself a moment to think. "Um….no getting up super early and making a ton of noise. I love my sleep and if you wake me up at five in the morning because you are incapable of sleeping like a normal human, I will kill you."

Jay's tired laugh fills up the room at her rant and suddenly, that flip flop in her belly is back. "Well, obviously. I'm not a monster, Hailey. What else?"

She bites her lip and tries to think of what else they need to discuss for the next few days to go by as peacefully as possible. Something pops in her head and she is about to say it before her filter kicks in and she stops herself, but not before he notices the change in her facial expressions.

"What?"

"Nothing," she shakes her head as she picks up her plate of pizza again and distracts herself with finishing her dinner.

"Oh, well now you have to say it," Jay leans closer to her on the couch and shoots her that smile that always gets her feeling some type of way.

But now it results in a groan and she hates him for even bringing up the idea of ground rules.

"You can't be pissed at me when I say this, because it's totally an inappropriate question for your partner to ask."

"Oh boy."

"You sleep with clothes on, right?" Hailey starts nervously. "Like, I'm not going to find you walking around my apartment in the middle of the night naked?"

The way he looks at her, she swears he is going to get up and leave right this instant, but after an awkward second or two, he just starts laughing again and shakes his head.

"I will sleep with clothes on, Hailey. Once again, I am not a monster."

Her shy little smile fades and she takes the last bite of her pizza before she jokes with him, "You never answered the original question though."

"Do you want the answer of how I normally sleep?" He challenges lightly, an eyebrow raised. "Because I know that's one of those conversations that partners should not be having."

"Right, right," she says quickly. "Your turn. Ground rules."

"Hailey, it's your apartment, I feel like I don't get to make any of the rules, I just have to follow them."

She shoots him that look she always does that says she isn't buying it and she watches as he shoves one last big bite of pizza into his mouth before grabbing his plate and reaching for hers. He gets off the couch and goes to put the dishes in the sink, calling out to her as he does.

"I don't know. I guess feel free to tell me if I'm bothering you. Or if I start snoring or yelling in the middle of the night and it wakes you up, just come kick me or something."

He says it so casually in such a joking tone that she almost doesn't catch the hidden meaning. That, maybe he is scared that sleeping somewhere new will set off those old triggers and he will have a nightmare by the middle of the night. Like maybe he will disrupt her or scare her or worse.

She turns on the couch, resting her arms on the back of it as she watches him in the kitchen. "Hey."

He turns around to see what she wants and there's that familiar expression, a little bit of worry and a whole lot of concern.

"Whatever happens, I got you."

She has told him that she would follow him blindly, but telling him that she has him in the quiet comfort of her apartment somehow feels deeper than that. But, still, he smiles and whispers a small thanks before finishing his task of cleaning up.

They quietly get ready for bed after that, both of them dead on their feet, and if she was nervous before, she is something else entirely now. It is almost overwhelming, how mundane this all is because it's normal in a way that it should not be for two people who are just partners.

It's the way he bumps into her shoulder as they are switching places for who is using the bathroom and how she finds a way to tease him about anything and everything regarding his nighttime routine, just because it results in that sweet annoyed smile she loves so much.

But the thing that gets to her the most is how comfortable he looks on her couch, how simply he fits into her space, how even though she feels nervous, this still feels right.

"Okay," he says when they finish their nighttime routines and she thinks this might be the most nervous she has ever seen him. Normally, she would tease him, but right now, she is feeling the same nerves, so she bites her tongue.

"You sure you don't need anything else?" Hailey asks for the fifth time. "More blankets, an extra pillow, a-"

"Hailey," He cuts her off with an amused chuckle. "You should have seen my sleeping arrangements when I was in the military. Your couch is a serious step up."

"Okay, if you're sure," she concedes. She knows that even if something was wrong, he wouldn't say a word because that's just who he is.

"So, I'll be in there," Hailey starts to awkwardly backpedal to her room, earning a smirk from Jay.

"Figured," he hums. "Goodnight, Hailey."

"Night, Jay."

Hailey's always been one to have a hard time falling asleep, but tonight it's not from the insomnia and it's not from the stress. It's the thousands of thoughts running through her head of her sleeping partner in the other room.

This is a normal thing partners do, right? Crash on each other's couch for a few days? If Kevin and Adam or Kevin and Kim were doing this, it would not be a big deal.

But Hailey knows deep down, those situations are very different and no matter how much she tries to tell herself this isn't a big deal and they are just partners, she can't quite find the right words to get herself to believe it.

She tosses and turns for most of the night.

The strangest part of the next morning is how it does not feel strange.

They work in tandem much like they did the night before. He bumps her shoulder once again and she still finds a reason or two to tease him.

Only now, he is making them both coffee and she tries to rummage through her fridge to find enough food to make breakfast for two and it feels normal, good even.

It makes her think of future mornings like this, where they are not rushing out the door to get to work and they have all the time in the world. Slow, lazy mornings that start with a kiss in bed and that end with them somehow finding their way back there.

"Hailey," Jay calls out her name and by the way he is saying it, it is not the first time he has tried to catch her attention and she immediately snaps herself out of her thoughts.

"Coffee," he hums simply as he pushes a mug in front of her and she smiles when she sees he has made it just the way she likes, two sugars one cream.

She rationalizes that it is normal for partners to know each other's coffee orders. Kevin must know how Ruzek drinks his coffee she thinks to herself, but it is not enough to stop the way her stomach does somersaults as she takes a sip of the coffee.

He moves across the kitchen to put the cream back in the fridge, his hand finding its way to his lower back and rubbing it gently as he opens the refrigerator door.

"You good?" Hailey asks as she sits down at her kitchen island where there are two bowls of cereal waiting for her and Jay.

"Yeah, fine," he murmurs.

"Your back?" She asks, already knowing the answer, but she is not surprised when he shakes his head and comes to sit next to her.

"I'm fine, Hailey."

"You starting to have back problems in your old age or something?" She teases in between bites of cereal, amused at the way he rolls his eyes in response.

"I'll have you know, I'm in the prime of my life."

"Yeah, whatever grandpa," she snorts.

"What are we even eating?" He ignores her previous comment and gestures to their bowls.

"It's cereal."

He smirks at her, playful and annoyed, and she thinks he should not be allowed to make faces like that so early in the morning. "It's pure sugar, Hailey."

"It's my apartment so we eat my cereal," she states simply. "You can have whatever boring-ass cereal you want whenever you go back to your apartment."

"It's gonna be a long few days, isn't it?" He chuckles as he makes a show of shoving another spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"If you complain about everything, then yeah, it probably will be."

He doesn't respond at first and she looks up from her cereal to catch him looking at her, a soft smile on his face.

"You know I appreciate you letting me stay here, right?" He tells her. "You said it was to make your life easier, but I still really appreciate it. So, thanks, Hailey."

His eyes are calm and his voice is gentle and the way he is looking at her, it's overwhelming. It's soft and it's caring and it's so unlike how he typically looks at her at work and maybe it's because they are alone in the quiet of her kitchen, but it feels real.

"Of course," she says, much softer than she intended. "It's what partners do."

He gives her a small nod before returning his attention to his cereal.

Partners. Just partners. That's it.

For their morning having such a unique start, their day is relatively normal. They close their case around six and spend the next few hours finishing up paperwork. Everything about the day feels the same, except for one thing. Every now and then, Hailey glances over at Jay and sees his hand move to his back and his face makes that same wince of pain that he had this morning. It's not all that noticeable and he covers well, but she is his partner, so she notices.

He does it when he gets up to get another cup of coffee that morning in the bullpen and he does it after they chase down their suspect in the afternoon.

It's late again when they get back to her place. They reheat the remainder of last night's pizza for dinner and she grabs the two remaining beers from the fridge and they settle at the kitchen island in much the same way that they did this morning. The dinner is quiet, with the exception of when one of them brings up a funny anecdote from the case they worked on or thinks of something random to share with the other.

When he gets up to clear their plates, she notices it again. That same wince of pain and the same arch of his back that he has been doing all day.

"What's going on with your back?" She asks, leaning her elbow against the counter.

"What are you talking about?" He asks, his back turned to her as he puts their plates in her dishwasher.

"Jay, I'm not blind. Your back is bothering you. What happened? I didn't see you get hurt."

He closes the dishwasher and turns around, pressing his palms on the counter behind him. "No, I didn't get hurt. I, um..."

His voice trails off and she notices he is looking at something behind her. She turns around and sighs when she realizes what he is looking at.

Her couch.

She knows from experience it's not exactly the comfiest couch, but it serves its purpose. But, he's also several inches taller than her, so it's not really a surprise that the couch is causing him more pain than it typically would cause her.

"Why didn't you say something?" She asks softly as she turns around to face him.

He shrugs. "It's not a big deal, Hailey. It's just a few days."

She cocks her head and makes a face at him. "We're cops, Jay. You can't be in pain for four days."

"Hailey, it's-"

"What happens if we are chasing some suspect and your back decides to start spazzing out?" She cuts him off. "What if it slows you down and we lose the offender? Or worse, one of us gets hurt?"

He shakes his head. "Hailey, that's not gonna happen."

"But it could," she argues. "Did you even get any sleep last night if you were that uncomfortable?"

He doesn't answer at first and it's clear by the look on his face that his sleep last night was less than peaceful. She feels bad, because she is the one who practically forced him to stay here and now he is not getting any rest.

"You can take the bed," she offers. "I fit on the couch."

"Hailey, I'm not kicking you out of your bed." He walks over to the other side of the kitchen island, leaning against it lightly so they are a few inches away from each other.

"Jay, it's not a big deal."

"Hailey, no."

"Then, we'll both sleep there."

The words slip out of her mouth before she can even stop them and she does not fully process what she has said until she watches his face change in confusion.

"I mean, we're both adults…" she nervously tries to redeem herself. "And the bed's big. Plus I don't want to die because your back was hurting while we were in the field and you weren't able to do your job correctly."

He looks unconvinced by her ramblings and Hailey currently wishes she had just let him go stay with Will, because then she would not be trying to clear the awkward tension that is in the air between her and her partner.

"Hailey, I don't know-"

"It's fine," she reassures him, but it feels like it is more for her. Honestly, she doesn't know why she is insisting, but at this point, it feels like she is too far in to change her mind and not have it be weird.

"Hailey,-" he starts again and she is not sure if it's her pride or what, but she cuts him off yet again.

"For once in your life, can you not be stubborn?" She asks. "It's not a big deal. We're partners, we literally trust each other with our lives. This isn't as serious in the grand scheme of things."

Maybe it's not as high on the scale when it comes to them being partners, but when it comes to their being whatever else they are, it seems pretty big.

"Fine," he lets out a sigh of exasperation. "Just because I know you and I know there is no way I am winning this argument."

She lets out a little smile, a strange mixture of pride at her ability to convince him and nervousness at what her winning actually means.

It's fine. They are adults, they are partners, it's simply practical, nothing more.

They go through the same motions they did the night before, taking turns in the bathroom and getting ready for bed, and somehow, it all feels more mundane knowing they will end the night in the same bed. Hailey tries to focus on her nightly routine instead of focusing on the way her heart is about to pound out of her chest.

Wash face. Brush teeth. Comb hair.

Don't think about your partner.

It's a lot easier said than done.

She opts to put on a little more clothes than she would typically sleep in, throwing on a light pair of leggings under her long sleep t-shirt that grazes her thigh. It is not lost on her that he is sleeping in the t-shirt he wore to work yesterday and she thinks that maybe he is starting to feel as weird about this as her.

She thinks maybe he is going to back out, tell her he will just sleep on the couch or he will go sleep at his place and come back here to shower in the morning. She thinks that maybe, he is starting to think this is weird and wrong and shouldn't be happening.

But why not? They are just partners. If anything more was going to happen, it would have already. So this, this should not be weird. It should not mean anything. This is just another one of those things partners do.

If she keeps telling herself the lie, maybe she will start to believe it.

As Hailey slips into bed, she notices Jay awkwardly dawdle around the room, picking at the invisible lint on his shirt and fiddling with his watch.

"This is the part where you actually get into bed," she jokes lightly, hoping to break the obvious tension.

He rolls his eyes, but his fingers stop messing with his watch. "I got that."

Slowly, he makes his way to the right side of the bed, taking extreme caution as he peels back the covers and gets into bed. It's almost like he thinks the bed will break with his weight.

Or maybe he thinks that by doing this, something else will break.

"Is this-"

"It's fine, Jay," she finishes his thought. "You stay on your side, I stay on mine."

He nods, but he doesn't look convinced. He starts to play with a loose thread on the blankets as he says, "Is this weird?"

"Only weird if you make it weird," she hums. "You seem to be really against this. Should I be concerned?"

"No, it's not that," he chuckles, nervously. "You're right. We're partners, this isn't that big in the grand scheme of things. Besides, I'm like 90% sure Kevin and Adam have shared a bed before."

She lets out a loud belly laugh at his joke. "Oh, I wouldn't be surprised by that at all. You know those two are practically joined at the hip."

Just like us.

"New ground rules?" He offers and she just chuckles, shaking her head at the fact that he is the bravest person she knows, but something as simple as sharing a bed has him acting like a nervous child.

Although, she thinks she might understand where he is coming from.

"No snoring, for starters," she chuckles. "And no getting handsy, Halstead."

That gets him to crack a genuine smile for the first time since he crawled into her bed. "Wanna put a wall of pillows in between us just to be safe?"

"I would if I had enough extra pillows," she says with a laugh. "So, you're just gonna have to behave yourself. Think you can manage?"

He nods, even though they both know it's a dumb question because he is ever a gentleman. She trusts him with everything in her and she knows that she really has no reason to be nervous about sharing a bed with him tonight.

"The whole kicking me if I start snoring or yelling rule still stands," he says it in a quiet voice, almost like he is hoping that she won't hear him and she lets out a soft sigh. She can tell he is more worried about it tonight than he was yesterday, because tonight she is inches away, not a room away, and if he starts flailing, she will notice.

"It'll be okay, Jay."

He nods, and there is a beat before his smile starts to change and it looks like he genuinely believes her words.

"So, this is a normal partner thing?" He asks as he turns around to adjust his pillows. "Sharing a bed? Because I totally missed that day in the Academy."

"Yeah, it's like one of the first things they teach you," she hums, laying down on her back and turning her head to look at him. "Right after they teach you that a good partner buys their partner endless coffee and beer."

He chuckles as he copies her movements, laying down on his right side to face her. "Are you saying I'm a good partner because I buy you drinks?"

"No, I'm saying you should buy me more drinks."

He laughs softly against the pillow and it takes everything she has in her to not get lost in this moment, how comfortable he looks here, his face against her pillows, his body warm against her blankets, his eyes completely trained on her in the safety of her bedroom.

It makes her think that maybe, if it was real, this is a glimpse of what it could look like.

"I clearly missed a lot in the Academy," he says at last. "What else did they teach you about being a good partner?"

She bites the inside of her cheek as she thinks, stroking her chin in a theatrical manner, and his laughter fills the silence of her bedroom once again.

"A good partner...lets their partner drive their truck."

"Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to be a bad partner then."

She props herself up on her elbow, just enough that she can lean forward and push him gently.

"You don't trust me with your truck?" She asks in a skeptical tone.

"It's not that I don't trust you…" he starts.

"It's just that you care more about your truck than you care about me?" She finishes his sentence as she falls onto her back once again.

There is a wild smile on his face as he confirms. "Exactly."

"You know, if you like your truck so much, you can go sleep there."

"Eh," he shrugs his shoulders lightly against the pillow and it is hitting her again just how natural he seems in her space. "Your bed is comfier."

"Nice to see that you've grown accustomed to my bed," she mutters.

"Real comfy," he makes a show of getting comfortable, grabbing the covers and pulling them up higher. "It might be hard to get me out of bed in the morning."

She tries to ignore the fact that he is basically saying he has no problem staying in her bed because it does something to her feelings that she cannot quite explain.

"Well, it's going to be really hard to get you out of bed if we don't go to sleep," she says in an attempt to divert the conversation back to a safe topic. "I'm sure you are less than pleasant in the mornings."

The banter, the joking, the what feels a whole lot like flirting, it's all a little much, especially when with every passing second she is starting to see how one day, she wants this to be real.

"Yeah, you're right," he says softly. "Goodnight, Hailey."

"Night, Jay."

She turns over quickly so she doesn't have to see him get settled and turns off her bedside lamp, letting darkness envelop the room. In the pitch black, she can feel his body jostle the bed and she can tell he has flipped over as well, his back now facing hers. She imagines that he is hugging the edge of the bed, trying to give her as much space as he can.

She does the same.

It is strange how normal this all feels. The fact that the domesticity fits so easily into their thing, as if it were the missing piece of the puzzle they had been looking for, it is confusing and Hailey is not quite sure how to feel about it.

Because she wants this, she really does. She wants him to feel comfortable in her bed and she wants to close that valley of space that is currently between them. She wants this to be normal, for something to actually happen between them.

But there are so many things stopping them. The fact they are partners being the biggest thing. She knows they both don't want to jeopardize the way they operate at work. They have to be smart, objective, on the ball at all times and they can't let their feelings get in the way.

But then there is the way that he knows her so deeply, so intimately, as her partner and as more. He anticipates her next step at work and he knows the simple details of her world after hours. It makes her think that the feelings would not get in the way as much as she fears.

Which leads to the other thought that has been bouncing around her head for far too many months. If something was supposed to happen, it would have happened by now.

He would have said something in the breakroom when Kelton was going to be elected or she would have been honest in the hospital when he got shot. She thinks she should have said something before she got on the plane to New York, told him that she couldn't say goodbye without him knowing the truth, not when she was so unsure of what the future held.

But when she came back, the fact that still, neither of them was ready to make the move did it for her. They were separated for weeks and somehow grew closer and if after all of that they still were not ready to take the leap of faith, Hailey assumed they never would be.

Maybe they missed their shot or maybe they were never meant to be, but either way, now they are just partners and friends and things are simpler that way.

But when he jostles against the bed again, it makes her wish that things weren't simple.

It takes Hailey a while to fall asleep that night.

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See you soon for part 2!