"Boarding call for Flight 604 to Chicago, O'Hare."

"Oh for fucks sake," Erin mutters under her breath as she moves past yet another person who doesn't seem to comprehend the concept of standing to one side on a travelator to let other people pass by.

She doesn't miss the glare on the old man's face as she forces herself and her carry-on suitcase past him. Erin ignores his gaze and pushes on, weaving through the crowds of people as she focuses on getting to the gate she can see at the end of the long stretch of Washington Nationals' domestic terminals.

She can't miss this flight. Her mother would likely fly to Virginia and give her hell if she did. Erin has missed one too many family events over the last three years - not that she would ever complain about that.

But she's nearly there. Clutching her ticket tightly in her hand, Erin abandons the travelator and power walks through the airport, ignoring the burning sensation in her arches. Why she didn't change into her sneakers in the cab is beyond her, and she's regretting her lack of forethought at this moment. The pain, however, is relieved the moment her body collides with another - sweeping her off her aching feet to land flat on her ass in the middle of the airport.

"Ooft, sorry!" A deep voice says, Erin's eyes shut as she tries to ease the tension in her back. That's definitely going to form into a bruise. When she squints one eye open, there's a hand held out to her, rough and calloused against her own soft palm as he helps pull her back to the upright position.

"Are you okay?" The voice asks again, and Erin looks forward and straight into a set of the most beautiful, piercing green eyes.

"I, uh, yes-"

"I'm so sorry, I should've been watching where I was going."

"This is the final boarding call for Flight 604 to Chicago O'Hare."

"Shit. I-I gotta go." Erin scrambles, gathering her ticket from the floor and grabs the handle of her carry-on again.

The man frowns, "You should really get checked-"

"Don't worry about it!" She yells out, now running through the airport.

She barely hears the surprised tone of the stranger's voice, yelling, "Well, Merry Christmas to you too!"

"I cannot believe you missed the last flight." Her mother yells through the phone.

"I know, mom." Erin groans, the pads of her fingers pressed against her temple trying to quell the oncoming headache.

"This is so typical of you, Erin!"

Erin rolls her eyes and says, "You're right, mom; creating a snowstorm that grounds all flights in and out of Chicago just so that I can skip Christmas with the family. Classic Erin!"

Her mother takes a deep breath, the speaker crackling as she breathes out, "You're right. It's not all your fault, I'm sorry. It's just … I was so looking forward to having you home, sweetheart. It's been so long since I've seen you, I worry about you out there by yourself."

"I'm twenty-seven years old, mom. I am perfectly capable of being alone."

"And that's exactly what I'm afraid of." her mother sighs, "You've gotten too good at being on your own, Erin. It really is about time you started to think about settling down."

"Mom," Erin says, annoyed, "We agreed not to talk about this during the Holidays. You promised."

"I know, I know. And as soon as you and that new beau of yours get here, I promise I will not say a word about it. Oh, I'm just so excited to meet him, sweetheart!"

Her mom's giggles make Erin's heart sink further.

"I know you are." She simply says, seeing the waitress standing in front of her

"Where is he, is he with you? Oh, let me wish him a Merry Christ-"

"He's in the bathroom. Mom, sorry, I've gotta go, I'm in line to see when the next flight is and I'm almost at the front of the queue.

"Oh, of course. I'll see you soon, honey. The both of you! Keep me up to date and be safe, I love you."

"Love you too, mom." Erin hangs up and slumps down in her chair at the airport restaurant.

"Is everything alright, miss?" the waitress, Kate - if the nametag Erin is reading is correct - asks.

"Yes. Sorry, everything's fine." Erin places her order with the young woman.

"Given the holiday rush, I've been asked to see if you're willing to share your table with another person?" Kate asks, "We're a bit short-staffed so we can't do as many tables today."

"Of course, that's fine." Erin smiles politely and as soon as the waitress walks away, she drops her head in her hands as she groans - her conversation with her mom playing on a loop in her head.

How was she supposed to tell her family, especially her mother, that the 'serious boyfriend' she's been dating for the last six months didn't actually exist?

"Well, well." Erin looks up at the familiar voice.

She inhales sharply. 'Green eyes.' she barely manages to stop the words from falling out her mouth, instead saying, "You again."

"Me again." He chuckles, pulling the chair back and sitting down across from her. Erin looked back down at her hands on the table. She knows she had told Kate that it was fine for them to seat someone with her, but she hadn't expected it to happen that instant; she needed a minute to push her emotions back down.

"So, I take it you didn't make your flight?" Green eyes asks.

Erin doesn't answer, simply shaking her head. Between not making her flight and dealing with her mother's infinite disappointment, she's not really in the talking mood at the moment. She prefers to sit and mull over her thoughts alone. But the man across from her continues to talk, seemingly to himself at this point, and time to herself is no longer an option.

"So?" He asks.

Erin shakes her head, blinking her eyes open wider as she forces herself to focus on him, "Excuse me?"

"Who've you got waiting for you?" He asks, "From the way you were practically bulldozing through everyone earlier, I take it you've got someone special waiting for you at home."

Erin rolls her eyes, "Perennially disappointed parents. Believe me, I'm not all that upset about having missed the last flight out." She glares at him as she adds, "And I was not bulldozing anybody. You ran into me."

"You were the only one of us running anywhere." He smirks

The waitress walks, drinks in hand. She places the gin and tonic in front of Erin, smiling at the man as she places a beer in front of him. She points to B he bar as she says, "The woman over there bought this for you, said to extend her thanks for your support.

He smiles politely, looking to the bar and raising his drink in thanks to the blonde sitting on the barstool and waving at them. It's then that Erin finally takes in the dark green suit he's wearing - the various medals pinned to his chest and the gold plated name tag.

"You're military?" She asks.

Jay sips from his drink, "75th Regiment, ma'am." His tone is almost sarcastic, and it makes Erin frown, "What, no more quippy retorts? We had such a good thing going."

Erin shakes her head, "Thank you-"

"Please," he says, his voice infinitely softer now, "don't."

Erin watches him scull the remainder of his drink, barely flinching as the stiff drink burns his throat. His demeanour changed almost instantly - the speckle of light that shone in his vibrant greens had been swept away with a storm of emotion that clouded his eyes.

"My brother serves. Going on six years now." Erin says, "He's never liked the thanks either. Says it makes him uncomfortable - all the 'unnecessary gratitude'. I never really understood that. It's always felt necessary to me."

"It's not something that can be explained, I guess. It's different for every person, I guess." Halstead shrugs. Erin nods in response, staring down at her glass as she runs her finger over the rim and listens to the dulcet tones it produces. "Is he stationed somewhere?"

"Iraq." Erin says, "He was supposed to be back last month but …"

"Last-minute assignment?" He says knowingly.

Erin sighs, "It didn't really surprise me. My mother was distraught, but his wife and I, we kind of expected it. His tours always seem to run over. I just try to focus on how lucky we are, for every time he does make it home - better late than never."

Jay smiles tightly at that, pouring some water for the jug Kate had left on the table for them into his glass. He raises it between them, "Better late than never." He says, waiting until Erin clinks hers with his.

"Cheers," She says, looking down at the name on his jacket, "Halstead." She smiles and lifts her glass to his.

Halstead taps his glass against hers, his glass resting against his lips as he says, "Call me Jay."

"Jay," she grins, "Erin."

They're not sure how they got to this point. They know they're tipsy, having been at the restaurant for nearly five hours now. Spanning light-hearted, humour filled conversation, somewhen stepping into more serious topics. She can't help it though; Jay's a Ugh huh listener, and when she looks into his eyes she finds herself lost and saying every thought that pops into her head. Maybe it was something to do with the way they kept matching each other drink for drink. Erin had always prided herself as being a person who could handle her alcohol, and handle it well, but Jay was keeping up with her almost effortlessly.

"So, let me get this straight." He says between sips, "You told your mom you have a serious boyfriend of six months, and that you would be bringing him home for Christmas, even though you're single?"

"It sounds so much worse when you say it all together like that." Erin groans, "I can't believe I let this happen."

Jay can't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all, "How did it even happen in the first place, anyways?"

"My mom's always been on my back about my dating life," Erin rolls her eyes, "I haven't been home for down thethanl

a weekend trip in years, and I haven't had a serious relationship in an even longer time. She had called me a few month ago, wanted me to come down for her and my dad's 30th anniversary and I told her I couldn't because of work, and she was so upset; wouldn't stop rambling on about how I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life if I don't start putting some effort into my personal life and focus a little less on my cthe career, and I just …"

"Told her you had a boyfriend."

"Pretty much. I didn't expect it to snowball like this but, once I started it was like I couldn't stop. I haven't heard my mom sound so happy in a conversation with me in years. And it was the best excuse of all time - every time I had a work emergency or something, I just told her I had plans with my 'boyfriend' and suddenly she was all 'oh of course, sweetheart, I understand! Quality time in a relationship is so important!' as opposed to her usual disappointment in me."

"Surely she's not that bad." Jay asks.

"She's not, not really, it's just … Everytime I go home I'm told it is so okay that I'm not in a relationship. Except it's really not - my mother spends the entire time setting me up with her friend's son or her cousin's sister's best friend and I'm just- I'm so tired of it. For once I'd like her to just … not feel like she has to worry about me."

"She's your mom. Worrying about you is kind of in the job description." Jay says, "I get why you lied to her though."

Erin looks surprised, "Really?"

"I know all too well about wanting to try and impress your parents - my dad and I weren't exactly on good terms before I joined the miltary. He didn't approve of my lifestyle at the time. So, yeah, I get it. Sometimes the lie is easier than the truth."

"I just wanted to make her happy," Erin says softly, "I didn't want to spend another holiday dealing with passive-aggressive comments about being an old maid, or her trying to set me up with every tom, dick and harry in the neighbourhood. I just wanted her to think I was happy and building a future with someone - even if it was all a lie, at least it would ease her worries for just one week, you know?"

"I do." He says, reaching over to take her hand in his, "Your heart was in the right place."

"If only my head had been there along with it." Erin scoffs, "Now I'm going to have to deal with my family's judgement when I turn up without a date. I'm going to have to tell them the truth, and it'll probably give my mother an aneurysm."

"Well, not necessarily. Just find someone to go with you." Jay states, downing the rest of his drink.

She rolls her eyes in response, "Yeah, right. I doubt I'll find a boyfriend waiting in the airport for my flight for the next 36 hours."

"Worry less about finding a boyfriend, and just finding somebody who could pretend to be your boyfriend. Maybe even a friend who knows you and your family, that could be easy enough to fool people with too - you tell your mom it was all kept so secretive because you wanted to surprise her."

"That is … actually a really good suggestion." Erin says, shocked. She whips out her phone, immediately sifting through her contacts to see who could possibly be a viable option for such an undertaking.

Jay smiles smugly, "I'm kind of a genius, it's why I got all these." He brushes his finger over the commemorative medals pinned to his jacket, "And who knows? Maybe you actually will find someone worth walking down the aisle with one day. Make all your mothers dreams come true."

Erin snorts amused, "Doubtful, I don't believe in marriage."

His laughter takes Erin by surprise, and she looks up from her phone to see Jay's head tipped back as he chuckles; completely missing the unimpressed look on her face until his laughter starts to subside and he opens his eyes to look at her - fading to silence in an instant.

"Oh, you're serious?" The question comes out more like a statement but erin nods regardless, "may I ask why?"

"Marriage just isn't necessary in my opinion. It doesn't guarantee someone would love you forever - love fades."

Jay looks confused, "love doesn't fade, if it does that's not real love. Love is a beautiful, passionate thing."

"It gets ugly." Erin counters

"It's honesty."

"It's heart-breaking."

"Wow." Jay whispers, "and there it is. So, who was he?"

"What? Who was who?"

"This guy that absolutely broke your heart. That messed with your head. I mean, it's gotta be somebody, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't be working this hard to avoid telling your mother you're still single."

Anger flares in her chest, a raging heat that stems from being so accurately analysed by a man she's known for a few hours. From having to relive the heartbreak her younger self endured around this time almost five years ago.

"You don't know me." She growls.

"I know that keeping your heart hidden because it seems safer than risking being hurt by someone again, is a waste of life."

"You want to know what's a waste of a life? A know-it-all with a freshly shaved mullet who slaps on a uniform and thinks it gives him the moral high-ground, when really he's just risking his life to please his dad."

The words are bitter as they leave her mouth, regret filling her as soon as she says them. But it's too late.

They sit in silence, Jay's focus on Erin as he steals himself, but she can see the pain behind the rich green of his Iris. Erin didn't just pour salt into the wound - she took the knife and stabbed into the scar tissue and brought all the blood to the surface first. She stung him a bit too hard.

Jay reached his hand out beside him, eyes fixated on Erin as he leans sideways down and grabs his duffel bag. He slings it over one shoulder as he stands, staring at down at her.

"Merry Christmas, Erin. Good luck to you." Is all he says before he walks away from her.

Erin sits at the bar in the restaurant, savoring the drink in her hand. She's paid their bill and vacated the table shortly after he left, choosing to wallow in the corner of the bar alone instead. She couldn't get the words out of her head, the malice in her tone echoing through her eyes; nor could she forget the look on Jay's face when she had said them.

He hadn't deserved that. It wasn't his fault that she was so untrusting, that she had gotten her heart broken so many years ago. No, there was only one man to blame for that and he wasn't Jay Halstead.

Erin's heart sat heavy in her chest. Jay was right. She always did this - pushed away anyone that wanted to try and get past the walls she had built around her heart. They were there for good reason. Her mother had made a good point earlier - Erin was good at being alone. She's conditioned herself to be single, to not allow anyone to get close enough that she would rely on them. But, maybe it was time she tried to change that; to finally move forward.

With that in mind, she abandoned her drink on the bar counter and slid off the stool, grabbing the handle of her roller suitcase and pulling it behind her with renewed determination.

She scanned the screen in the walkway of the airport, scrolling through the various cancelled flights. There were only four flights that were supposed to go to Chicago - to their surprise, they were both travelling to the same hometown for Christmas - and from their conversation earlier, she knew he wasn't on hers. So, that left three, all at different ends of the airport. Of course, she thought, rolling her eyes. Gripping the luggage handle tighter, Erin moved quickly through the airport once again, determination in every stride. She needed to make this right.

Thankfully, he was at the second terminal. She spotted him easily, sitting alone in a row of empty chairs by the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was focused on something in his hand, completely unaware of Erin's presence until she plopped down breathlessly on the seat next to him.

"I'm sorry," she breathes out before he can say a word, "I was upset and I crossed a line.."

Jay shakes his head, turning in his seat to look at her, "I came on a little strong. I shouldn't have pushed so-"

"No, no, no, I shouldn't have said it. I was hitting below the belt." Erin insists.

"I wouldn't let it go, it's on me, alright?"

"No it's my fault. You didn't deserve that, Jay."

"Are we really arguing about who was at fault for our previous argument?" Jay chuckles suddenly.

Erin laughs, nodding her head, "Apparently so. Call it even?" She asks, sticking out her hand.

Jay smiles and the two shake hands in agreement. He looks back down at the picture, feeling Erin's eyes on him.

"What have you got there?" Erin asks.

Jay hands the picture over to her and Erin examines it. It's a faded, discoloured wallet photo of a young woman with a little boy on her lap, sitting on the floor in front of a Christmas tree. Their arms are both open wide, mouth-open but smiling in a way that makes Erin think they were saying 'ta-da!' and motioning to the tree behind them for whoever was taking the photo.

"She's beautiful." Erin says.

"My mom." Jay says wistfully, "She passed away while I was on tour a few years ago. It's hard this time of year - Christmas was her favourite holiday. I haven't been to Chicago since her funeral. Always had something to do, somewhere to be, but now …"

Erin reaches over and places her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, "Can't keep running." She says softly, repeating his earlier words.

Jay huffs out a chuckle, nodding at the irony, "Yeah, I guess I can't."

They sit in silence, neither knowing what to say. After a few minutes, Erin gets up, smiling down at Jay as she says, "Well, it's been, uh-"

"Exhausting?" he offers.

"I was gonna say interesting, but that too." She giggles, "Anyways, have a good …" she trails off, realising that it probably wasn't the most fitting thing to say given what he'd just told her.

"Yeah, you too." Jay smiles, "I'll think good thoughts for you in the new year."

Erin groans, "God, you sound exactly like my mom."

"I'll take that as a compliment of the highest regard." He quips, "and I have a younger sister, so I tend to sound like everyone's mom."

"Oh, well, mine would love you." She smiles,"Anyways, uh, bye."

"Yep."

Jay watches her take a few steps, a sharp feeling in his chest at the thought of saying goodbye to her. They've only known each other a few hours, but it feels like a lifetime. But then Erin stops, turns around and rushes towards him again, and throws him for another loop as she says, "Come with me."

"What?"

Erin sits back down, her hands grasping his arm on the rest of the chair, "Look, I know you don't really know me. You're probably not even sure if you like me at this point, but, be my boyfriend."

"Seriously." He says, shocked, "I know I suggested this but…"

"Jay, I can't deal with that looks on their faces again." Erin says softly, almost desperately, "And it's only going to be that much worse when my mom realizes I lied to her. Just be my boyfriend, for one night. We tell them you have to fly back for some work emergency, or you're meeting your family or something. I don't know, but between the two of us we can surely figure it out."

"I don't know …" Jay sighs.

"Well what else are you gonna do?" Erin exclaims, "I mean you said it yourself earlier, you were going to spend Christmas alone anyways. At least this way you get a home-cooked meal and the satisfaction of knowing you helped someone out. It's the Christmassy thing to do."

He scrunches his face at her words, "Christmassy?"

"Shut up, you know what I mean." Erin whines, "consider it a part of my apology. My mom makes the best apple pie in Chicago."

"I do love apple pie ... it's just one night?"

Erin's grin widens, "I promise, just one night. We pretend to be together and please my concerned mother, and I'll send you on your way with a pie and my deepest gratitude. What's the worst that could happen?"

A/N: This was originally meant to be a super long one-shot, but life got in the way and writing became nearly impossible - so it's going to be a three-part series instead! Part 2 is 'Family and Christmas'. I'll do my best to update as soon as possible but honestly, life is just so hectic at the moment that I don't know when that will be. Hopefully soon, but if not, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas/holiday season and a hopeful start to the new years x

Please drop a review if you read - Happy Holidays!