A/N: Happy Day 7 and the final day of Upstead Week! I haven't written this much since last summer, but it's been so much fun especially with writing for some of my friends. However! There are so many of you that are super important to me, so I'm dedicating this to each of you – whether we're friends on Twitter, only talk here, or you just read stuff I write. You have no idea how much I appreciate you all taking time out of your days to read something I write. So thank YOU :)

Day 7 – "You're an idiot." "But you love me."

Jay went for a run on Sunday mornings. Each week, he'd wake up at 6am, kiss Hailey on the forehead, then slip out of bed to the bathroom where his basketball shorts, t-shirt, and socks were waiting for him. He'd then run about seven miles, sometimes eight. His only goal was to be back at Hailey's door by 7:30.

It was then that Hailey would come out of her condo, take his hand, and they'd walk around the neighborhood for an hour. They'd talk about their plans for the week, work, old memories, and occasionally what they imagined when they pictured their future together.

Sundays easily became their favorite day of the week.

September 2020

"It feels humid today," Hailey groaned while locking her front door.

"Yeah, I'm pretty gross," Jay said. He slipped his hand in hers and they began walking down the sidewalk.

Hailey glanced at him and the sweat stains on his back and sides. She laughed softly, "You are."

"Shower with me later?" Jay smirked.

Hailey rolled her eyes, "Only if you actually shower first."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jay chuckled.

"That I want you to use soap before I even step into that bathroom," Hailey laughed.

"You're saying you don't want to wash me off?" Jay teased.

Hailey lightly shoved his arm, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Ouch," Jay put his hand over his heart, "That hurts."

Hailey smiled and squeezed his fingers, "Sorry not sorry. I don't like smelly men."

Jay hesitated, "Do I smell?"

"Don't," Hailey put a finger up, "I refuse to smell you."

"Well, if you can't smell me from there I should be good," Jay said, "I just don't want to be the smelly boyfriend."

"You'd be my first," Hailey nodded, "And probably my last."

Jay raised an eyebrow, "Last?"

"If you smelled every single day, I'd have to break-up with you," Hailey explained, "But if it was just a one time thing…maybe we could upgrade you to fiancé."

Jay's face lit up, "I like the sound of that."

"So do I," Hailey smiled.

"How's this week sound?" Jay joked.

Hailey paused and let go of his hand, "What?"

Jay turned to look at her, "What?"

"Are you proposing?" Hailey asked.

Jay blushed, "Uh…no?"

"You just asked if this was a good week to upgrade to fiancé," Hailey said, "You…that sounds like a proposal."

"Well, it's not," Jay shook his head. He took a step closer to her, "It was a lame attempt at a joke, sorry."

Hailey took a deep breath, "Right, no, I'm sorry, that was silly."

"Yeah, I was silly," Jay frowned and put his hand out, "Keep walking?"

Hailey smiled slightly and nodded before taking his hand and continuing the walk. She was quiet for a moment then said, "I'm a little busy this week to be proposed to anyways."

Jay laughed, "And what're you doing this week?"

"Well, work," Hailey began, "And Vanessa and I want to go see a movie one night. I have kickboxing tomorrow and then I wanted to check out the new HIIT class on Thursday. Of course, that's all if we finish work on time."

"Busy week," Jay nodded.

Hailey shrugged, "Just little things. I need to go grocery shopping too. Do you? We could go together."

"Yeah, we can do that," Jay said, "Pencil me in for Tuesday?"

Hailey laughed, "Sounds good. What're your plans this week?"

"Will's been wanting to get dinner, but that's it," Jay shook his head, "Nothing too exciting."

They stopped walking at an intersection just as a light drizzle began.

Hailey wrinkled her nose, "Oh, this is disgusting."

Jay laughed, "It's barely raining. You'll survive."

"It's just a hot rain," Hailey sighed, "It's making me feel even sweatier than I am."

Jay smiled, "You don't look sweaty."

Hailey rolled her eyes, "My hair's going to get frizzy."

They walked across the street and Jay said, "Since when do you care what your hair looks like?"

Hailey gasped and shoved him, "I always care what I look like!"

"Okay," Jay chuckled, "Sorry."

"What if you see my hair all crazy looking and decide to break-up with me?" Hailey asked.

"Weren't we just talking about getting engaged?" Jay shook his head, "I'm not breaking-up with you for having frizzy hair."

Hailey sighed, "Fine, okay, but still."

Jay stopped walking and grabbed her waist.

Hailey raised her eyebrows, "Yes?"

Jay cupped her cheek in both hands and used his thumb to wipe the few raindrops from under her eye, "I don't care if your hair is frizzy or if you look sweaty in the rain, I think you're beautiful."

Hailey smiled a little then whispered, "Thank you."

Jay kissed her slipping one of his hands to the back of her head holding her against him. Hailey laughed softly against him and put her arms over his shoulders.

Jay finally stepped back after kissing her nose, "You're welcome."

Hailey smiled and grabbed his hand to pull him down the sidewalk as the rain picked up and they started walking faster neither caring anymore if they smelled or looked sweaty or had frizzy hair.

August 2021

Thunder cracked overhead just as Hailey and Jay rounded the corner to the last two blocks before they'd reach their new house.

Hailey looked up at the sky, "I hope it holds off. We just need like ten more minutes."

"We'll be fine," Jay shook his head, "Trust me."

"Oh, really?" Hailey laughed, "Why should I trust you?"

"Because I watched the weather before I left this morning," Jay said.

Hailey laughed harder, "Makes sense."

"It does," Jay smiled, "The weather guy and I have a pretty close relationship. He doesn't lie to me."

Hailey nodded, "Of course you do. What's his name?"

Jay rubbed his jaw, "John."

"John?" Hailey laughed, "That's not his name."

"John…John…" Jay trailed off.

"His name isn't John John," Hailey shook her head.

"I wasn't finished," Jay chuckled, "John…Oh! John Riley!"

"No," Hailey smiled, "That's the name of the witness we met with yesterday."

"What?" Jay's eyes widened, "No, we talked to a girl. Her name was Riley-"

"John," Hailey finished, "You just flipped it around."

"Huh," Jay slowed down, "Maybe I did."

"Mhmm," Hailey hummed.

It started raining and they both gasped as the cool drops hit their skin.

Hailey laughed and started running.

"Hey!" Jay laughed as well and took off after her.

They ran all the way back to the house, but it was pretty much useless because they were both soaking wet by the time they reached the driveway. Jay cut Hailey off, though, and grabbed her around the waist.

Hailey squealed and pushed against his hands, "We're getting wet."

"One second," Jay breathed and turned her to face him. He smiled then bent down to kiss her.

Hailey's lips parted in shock before she pushed up on her tiptoes to press closer to him. Jay chuckled into the kiss and tangled his hand in the back of her hair. They could have kept going, but another crack of thunder forced them to step away from each other.

"What was that for?" Hailey asked.

Jay shrugged, "Last time I kissed you in the rain, it was barely raining. Figured now was my chance."

Hailey smiled and was going to reply, but she saw lightning over Jay's shoulder and decided to pull him to their covered porch. She then raised an eyebrow and said, "You really chose the start of a thunderstorm to fulfill the 'kissing in the rain' trope. You're an idiot."

Jay laughed and knew she was joking just based on the smirk playing at the edge of her lips. He brushed her wet hair from her face and said, "But you love me."

Hailey rolled her eyes laughing again, "Jay."

"Say it," Jay laughed harder and picked her up to hold her out under the rain, "Say you love me!"

Hailey screamed and kicked her legs, "Jay Halstead! Put me down!"

"Tell me you love me," Jay repeated. He stepped out and spun her around, "Tell your husband you love him!"

"I love you, I love you!" Hailey laughed.

Jay smiled and brought her back onto the porch to kiss her quickly, "Thank you."

Hailey gasped and hit his chest, "Now you say it!"

He chuckled and crossed his arms, "Say what?"

"Unbelievable," Hailey shook her head.

Jay squeezed her waist, "I'm kidding; I love you."

"Better," Hailey teased.

Jay laughed and kissed her again, "I do. I love you, Hailey Anne."

Hailey smiled into his kiss then repeated, "I love you too." She lightly bit his bottom lip before whispering, "But can we go dry off now?"

Jay smirked and nodded, "Yeah, we can go dry off now, Mrs. Halstead."

Hailey rolled her eyes, "Dork."

"Not gonna get tired of saying it," Jay said while unlocking the front door and holding it open for her so they could go upstairs to change.

May 2022

"God, it's just been so rainy lately," Jay said running his hand over his wet hair once the light drizzle ended allowing them to continue their walk in peace.

Hailey frowned, "I know. It's making things difficult."

"Well," Jay sighed thinking back to the boy they'd been meeting with who didn't like the rain at all, "We just work around it, it's fine. He'll be fine."

Hailey took a deep breath, "Yeah, yeah, you're right, everything's fine."

"Exactly," Jay grabbed her hand.

They walked in silence for a few minutes just looking at the houses they passed and the puddles around the neighborhood.

Eventually, Hailey said, "Do you remember when we did our first stakeout together?"

Jay chuckled, "In the van with Al?"

"No," Hailey smiled, "It was the first one just us. We were in the van again, but it was raining sort of like it just was where it was coming down pretty good, but no thunder and lightning."

Jay thought for a moment then slowly nodded, "Okay, yeah, I remember that. We were waiting for one of Kevin's CIs because he was starting to get a bad feeling about him."

"Yes," Hailey nodded, "So we were just sitting there, we couldn't hear anything and you started drumming your fingers on the desk and you were tapping your foot and it was like you were making your own music."

"Did it annoy you?" Jay chuckled.

"Yes, but not because of the noise," Hailey said, "But because I couldn't for the life of me figure out the song."

"If you're going to ask me what that song was, I have no clue," Jay smirked.

Hailey rolled her eyes, "No, that's not where I'm going with this. I knew I'd heard it before and so I kept trying to figure it out for months-"

"Months?" Jay laughed, "Hailey, you should have asked."

"Oh, because you were in a good place to ask?" she asked sarcastically, "I don't know if you remember, but you were going through some stuff then."

Jay sadly smiled and looked at the ground as they walked, "Yeah, I do remember that."

"So I kept it to myself," Hailey shrugged, "And, honestly, I eventually forgot about it until the other day when you came home and threw your phone on the counter before going to the bathroom after your run. It was 'Born in the USA.' You were listening to it and I could hear it through your headphones and it just clicked. It was like some memory was born again in my head."

Jay laughed, "I like the song."

"It's a good song," Hailey smiled, "So my mystery was solved. Jay Halstead liked Bruce Springsteen."

Jay nodded, "Caught me." He squeezed her hand, "We listened to him a lot when I was overseas. Everyone can find a song they like, but that was the favorite for sure."

"Patriotic," Hailey lightly bumped into Jay's arm.

"That and Neil Diamond," Jay said. He stared straight forward as if lost in a memory, "There was this guy, Jack Stevens, that loved Neil Diamond. He was pretty quiet and kept to himself, nice enough though, like he wasn't rude, just shy, maybe because he was the youngest one. I felt bad for him because the people we were with the most tended to be louder. And one day we were all just sitting around when we got our letters from home and I went up to him to give him his and he was listening to 'America,' so the next day when we all got together to hang out, I put that song on and everyone loved it and he looked so happy. I'll never forget it. So, I tried putting it on whenever I could and it always cheered him up."

Hailey smiled at the story nodding along. When he was done, she whispered, "What happened to him?"

Jay's face immediately fell, "He…he died. He was one of the ones in the accident."

The second Hailey saw his face, she anticipated the answer, but still felt her stomach drop. She just squeezed his hand and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles.

"I had to go to his parents' house," Jay breathed, "And you know what they were listening to? Neil Diamond." He shook his head, "I'd bet anything that they've never listened to him again and that kills me because Stevens – Jack…Jack would want them to still listen."

Hailey stopped walking and turned him to face her. She didn't have any words to say, so she just hugged him. Her fingers slipped up to rub the back of Jay's neck before holding his head to the side of hers.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"You're welcome," she replied.

Jay straightened up and took a deep breath. He tried to smile at her then shrugged.

"I know," Hailey said softly, "It's never easy. Everyone hates doing it, but that seems especially difficult."

Jay shook his head, "Makes our jobs real crappy."

"God, yeah," Hailey sighed.

Jay rubbed his face then looked down at her. He brushed his hand over the back of her hair and tilted his head to look at her. Hailey wanted to say something about the frown on his face, but didn't have time because then he kissed her.

They were on the sidewalk nearly in someone's driveway, yet Jay was kissing her as if no one else existed. Hailey easily sunk into him and let him take over. Whatever prompted him to kiss her there in the middle of the neighborhood was important – whether it be love or comfort or just wanting to – he needed to feel Hailey against him and she wasn't going to stop him.

"I never want to lose you," he whispered against her lips, "Please…please don't ever leave and I will promise to support you and love you and-and care for you forever."

Hailey pressed her hand to his cheek, "You won't lose me. I'm in this with you."

Jay nodded with his forehead on hers.

"Together," Hailey whispered.

Jay took a deep breath then repeated, "Together."

June 2026

Jay kept his hand on Hailey's back as they walked down the sidewalk following their two boys running toward the park. Their baby girl talked to herself in the stroller Hailey was pushing and waved to anyone they passed.

The younger boy tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, but before either Jay or Hailey could even react, their older son picked him up and helped dust him off.

"I hope they always help each other like that," Hailey said softly.

"They will," Jay nodded watching the boys grab each other's hands and decide to walk instead of run, "They love each other."

Hailey laughed, "You think so? Because last night I definitely heard them yelling about whose room was whose and what legos could be played with and which ones were for just building models."

"I must have been in the shower," Jay chuckled.

"How convenient," Hailey smiled.

"Always," Jay kissed the side of her head.

Their daughter threw her small, stuffed penguin and yelled, "Daddy!"

Jay sighed, "That was on purpose."

"Oh, it was not," Hailey laughed.

Jay raised an eyebrow before passing the penguin back to their daughter, "Hold onto this, Princess, no throwing."

She giggled and held it above her head, "Daddy."

"No," Jay shook his head.

"She's going to throw it again and you're still going to run and grab it," Hailey teased.

"She's just too damn cute," Jay breathed looking at their daughter's big blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair tied up in two pigtails.

"And she knows she has you wrapped around her finger," Hailey held up her pinky.

"The Terrible Twos are going to destroy me," Jay groaned.

Hailey smiled, "Well, maybe when she starts going to daycare in the fall, she'll learn some manners or something."

Jay glanced at her, "So you…you really want to start her in daycare? That wasn't just a 'My kids are driving me crazy at home all the time' thing?"

Hailey shook her head, "I meant it. I…I think it's time for me to go back – in the fall, of course. I want this last summer with them before we start the next chapter."

Jay hugged her to his side as they walked, "I love that idea."

"I just need to get a job," Hailey jokingly sighed, "Do you know any units hiring? Preferably with a sergeant that's not bad to look at."

Jay laughed, "I might know one or two. How do you feel about Organized Crime?"

Hailey rolled her eyes, "Boring."

Jay hummed, "What about Special Victims?"

"Oh," Hailey smirked, "I met that sergeant at the Christmas party, he was pretty cute."

Jay raised an eyebrow, "Hailey."

She pinched his side, "I'm joking, babe, cool it."

"Hey," he held up a hand, "No one likes hearing their wife talk about other men."

"Ah," Hailey laughed, "Noted."

Jay smiled and kissed her temple, "I actually was thinking of hiring a new detective."

Hailey gasped in fake shock, "No way!"

"Way," Jay chuckled, "You want to come back to Intelligence and be my right hand?"

"Well, I am left-handed," Hailey trailed off, "So, I might be better suited for that."

Jay laughed, "Deal."

Hailey smiled up at him then put her hand out, "Shake on it?"

"Course," Jay grabbed her hand, "Can't wait until you're back."

"Three months," Hailey held up three fingers.

"Am I one of the kids now?" Jay asked.

"Hey, I've been home for two and a half years now, cut me some slack," Hailey laughed, "Some things just happen."

"Yeah, like when you cut up my dinner for me last night," Jay said under his breath.

Hailey shoved him, "You liked it."

"I'm also a grown man," he laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," Hailey waved her hand, "Whatever."

Jay quietly mocked her then turned back to their boys waiting before crossing the street. "Thanks, you two," he yelled, "We'll be there in a second."

Suddenly, the yard that the two boys were standing in front of sprang to life and sprinkles popped up shooting water everywhere.

"No!" the older boy yelled.

The younger one just laughed and started running around in it.

"Shoot," Hailey breathed.

The girl in the stroller gasped then kicked her legs around, "Daddy! Daddy! Out!"

"Mommy, look!" the younger boy yelled, "Mommy, look at me!"

Hailey and Jay ran over to them.

"Hey, hey, let's go," Jay said quickly.

The younger boy started rolling in the wet grass and squealed in enjoyment. The older boy hesitated then slowly put his hand in the stream of water. As he got wetter, he laughed and decided to join his brother.

The little girl tried yanking at the tray holding her in the stroller, "Daddy!"

Hailey couldn't help it and laughed as she watched her sons play in the sprinklers.

"Hails," Jay said, "They-"

"They're having fun," Hailey smiled up at him.

Jay softened and turned back to the boys. They were having fun and he really did love the sound of them laughing. He hesitated then stepped around to release their daughter from the stroller. She screamed and ran straight onto the grass where her older brothers were jumping around.

A sprinkler turned and hit both Jay and Hailey square in the stomachs; they gasped as the cool water soaked their shirts before turning back to the grass only to return a few seconds later.

Jay started laughing and shook his head.

Hailey smiled at him and shrugged as the water once again hit them. She closed her eyes soaking the moment in.

Jay smirked before sweeping her in his arms and bending her backwards to kiss her. Hailey laughed wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Ew!" the older boy yelled, "We're in public!"

"Yucky!" the younger one said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

Hailey smirked against Jay's lips and whispered, "You're grossing our kids out."

"They do gross things all the time," Jay breathed before kissing her again.

Hailey laughed again and slipped her fingers through Jay's hair briefly before pulling back to straighten up. She took a deep breath and winked at him then ran into the sprinklers to grab her youngest two and spin them around.

Jay smiled watching her play with them. He then couldn't resist and chased them all around the stranger's yard.

None of them cared where they were or what their original plans were. They were all together on a Sunday morning…just like they liked it.