Erin fell asleep on the couch, head rested on Jay's lap, later that afternoon in a deep slumber. She hadn't slept like this ever since he left. It just didn't feel right hugging her six cold pillows in the middle of the night instead of feeling the hard bones of his ribs and hearing the sound of his heart, steadily thumping.

His smell left their bedsheets after a couple of weeks and Erin couldn't bring herself to throw them in the washer, ridding any trace of him that he had left behind. She slept in the few shirts he didn't pack, yet they still didn't bring her the comfort of him. But as she laid on their couch with the comfort of his arm on her, his thumb tracing patterns on her arm, it felt good. More than good. It felt like security and fulfillment. It felt like home. He felt like home.

Erin began to stir after about an hour, and was greeted by his lopsided grin and blue-green eyes looking lovingly down at her. She smiled up at him before she brought her hand up into his hair and pushed his head down towards her. She met him in the middle and kissed him like she wouldn't be able to ever kiss him again. She pulled back and hesitantly opened her eyes, their deal of waiting being forgotten.

"Sleep okay?" His voice remained soft, deep and soothing. Like she always remembered it.

"Mhmm." He laughed as she closed her eyes and dug her face into his shirt.

"Still sleepy, I guess?"

"Yeah… But I wanna get up. We should go over to Will's and get your stuff." She quickly attempted to sit up, trying to rid herself of the drowsiness fogging her mind.

"If you wanted to sleep some more I can go by myself. It's just a duffle bag."

Now that was one thing Erin Lindsay couldn't give up. The comfort of her home, a warm blanket, some pillows. That's all she needed. And throw in a Jay Halstead in there to top it off and make it perfect.

Jay could see the internal conflict she was having. He laughed and kissed her forehead sweetly.

"Go back to sleep. I'll go get my stuff and be back with you before you know it," he said.

Erin smiled sleepily up at him before adjusting her body so that Jay could get up. He grabbed his keys and wallet and slipped quietly out the front door. As he drove, Jay couldn't help but smile to himself. His life was slowly coming back together. He was back where he belonged with the love of his life and he had a meeting later in the week with a lawyer to help him finalize his divorce from Abby.

"What are you so smiley about?" Will asked as Jay walked in.

"I'm moving back in with Erin."

"Really? That's great, Jay! I'm really happy things are starting to work out between you two. I know how much this means to you," Will said, grinning at Jay.

"Thanks, Will. Look, I really appreciate you letting me stay with you while I was figuring myself out. I know it wasn't easy, especially after what happened with Nina-"

"Hey man, it's no problem at all. You'd do the same for me." Will interrupted.

The brothers hugged before Jay turned away towards his temporary room. He collected his things, shoving them into the duffel bag he had brought and zipped it closed with a sense of finality. He was done running away from his problems. All it had done was cause problems for him and the people he loved. He was done hurting the people he cared about, especially Erin.

"Thank you for letting me stay with you, Will." Jay reiterated again as he headed towards the door.

"Anytime, bro. Good luck," Will said, clapping Jay on the shoulder.

By the time Jay got back home, Erin was still passed out. He set the bag down in the bedroom before carefully sliding onto the couch so that Erin's head was resting on his lap. Jay ran his fingers through her soft hair, being extra gentle so as not to wake her. He had missed this feeling. The comfort and security of having Erin so close to him, wrapped in his arms. Protecting her had always been one of his top priorities, but now he felt like it was more important than ever. Sure, he knew Erin Lindsay was more than capable of taking care of herself, but there was something about those eyes that made him want to wrap her up in his embrace forever.

"Hey," she whispered, her eyes still closed.

"Hey."

"Did you get your stuff from Will?" she asked, her eyes fluttering open slowly.

"Yeah I did, just got back."

"I'm really glad you're home," she whispered after a few minutes of silence had passed.

Jay's heart simultaneously broke and healed at the her words. It killed him that it had taken so long for them to work things out, but he was so happy to be back where he belonged. Erin looked up at him and smiled when she saw the light in his eyes. It made her feel complete in so many ways.

They simply laid on the couch, enjoying each other's company for the better part of the day. Nonsense shows played across the TV screen, but neither of them really took notice.

"Are you hungry?" Jay asked, breaking a long period of quiet.

"Starving."

"Does Chinese sound good? I can go grab some takeout." Jay offered.

"Let's go out for dinner. We've been on this couch all day." Erin said, sitting up and stretching.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Jay joked.

Erin laughed and stood up, pulling Jay with her. While she showered and did her hair, Jay put away his things from the duffel bag. He smiled to himself when he saw that Erin had still kept her things on one half of the closet and that the drawer she had left his drawer untouched except for a few shirts that she had taken out and worn.

"Are we going somewhere fancy or can I wear jeans?" Jay asked as Erin came into the bedroom, wrapped in a towel.

"Where do you want to go?" she asked, searching through the closet.

"I have an idea. Get dressed and stay in here until I come and get you," Jay instructed, pressing an excited kiss to her temple.

"Wait! What am I supposed to wear?" she asked.

"I wouldn't say no to that red dress you wore when we went to that sex club a couple of years ago," Jay said with a mischievous grin.

Erin rolled her eyes and went in search of the requested dress while Jay grabbed some clothes and raced out of the room.

He pulled on his dress slacks and a white button up, tossing his suit jacket over the back of a chair before racing around the kitchen, throwing things in a basket. Erin hadn't gone to the grocery store in a little while, so his options were limited, but Jay happily put together a picnic for the two of them. He added a bottle of wine, glasses, and napkins before grabbing a blanket and running the basket out to his car. When he got back upstairs, Erin was putting the finishing touches on her makeup.

"You look incredible," he said, approaching her.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she replied, sliding her feet into a pair of black heels and grabbing her purse from the dresser.

She followed Jay to the car and eyed the picnic basket in the backseat.

"A picnic?" she asked apprehensively.

"Shut up. I'm trying to be romantic." Jay laughed, sliding behind the wheel.

Erin giggled, but didn't say anything else. As they drove, Erin slid her hand into Jay's free one, squeezing gently.

"Promontory Point?" she asked, looking around.

"My mom used to take Will and I here when we were little. It was my favorite place," Jay explained, a smile etched onto his face.

Erin heart ached as Jay shared the small insight with her. He didn't talk about his mom often, so it meant a lot to her that he was opening up and sharing this spot with her. This was a special spot for him, a place that made him happy, and Erin couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face. He grabbed the picnic basket and blanket from the back before taking her hand and leading her down to the stone steps that ran along the waterfront. While Jay opened the bottle of wine, Erin began pulling out the rest of the picnic.

"PB&J?" she asked, looking at the sandwiches. "How romantic." She giggled.

"You didn't exactly have a lot of groceries to work with," Jay defended.

"I wasn't expecting to need them," she said quietly.

Jay squeezed her hand reassuringly, knowing that she was still feeling guilty about leaving. She gave him a half smile before pouring them both a glass of wine. They started eating, making small talk about the case Intelligence had just wrapped up.

"The guy didn't even try to cover his tracks. It was like he wanted to get caught," Jay said, finishing his sandwich.

Erin shook her head and took a sip of wine. She missed working in Intelligence. It hadn't even been a full week and she already craved the hustle and bustle of District 21. Now more than ever she wanted to get that adrenaline rush of going out on a raid; getting their vests on and guns loaded in the garage.

She even missed Sergeant Platt.

"You look sad," Jay commented with a frown as he looked over to Erin.

"I was just thinking about Intelligence and what I'm going to do going forward," she admitted.

"Don't think about that right now. Just take tonight to put all of that on the back burner and enjoy this bitching picnic that your amazing boyfriend made for you," Jay said.

Erin laughed at Jay's choice of words, but decided to do what he suggested. There was nothing she could do about the situation right now, so she decided it wasn't worth ruining their comeback date. By the time the sun had set, the bottle of wine was long gone and the conversation had started to fade. Yet Erin's mind was still stuck on what she would be doing going forward.

"Are you good to drive?" Erin asked, looking over at Jay who was packing everything back up into the basket.

He nodded, standing up before reaching out a hand to his girl. She took it and let him help her to her feet. Once they were both standing, Jay pulled Erin into a much-needed hug. He just held her, letting their love surround them. It washed over them, healing remaining wounds and soothing aching souls. They fit into each other perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle. Erin could feel Jay's heartbeat against her and she knew that she was back where she belonged. Chicago was where she belonged. In the protective arms of her man and nowhere else.

Nothing would prepare her for the series of events that came next.

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