A few days have gone by now since Jay was shot. In that time span, Hailey managed to make another day trip to Detroit to gather some belongings and sign off on all the papers for work. While she did go to Jay's new apartment to leave most of her stuff, she still spent every night at the hospital with him. Jay hated to see her do it, and her body hated her for doing it, but both were secretly glad they got to be so close to each other again. Sometimes during the night, one of them would wake to find that their hands entwined during their slumber, hers outstretched from the recliner and his from the bed, but neither of them ever mentioning it to the other.

Also in that time span Hailey had finally called Will. Naturally he was pretty pissed he wasn't alerted until four days after it happened, but he knew it was only his stubborn brother he had to blame, not what should have been his sister-in-law. Once Will tied things up at the hospital he was working at and with Natalie, he made it back to his hometown the next day. He of course made sure to spend an hour with Jay's doctors demanding to be briefed on everything. After spending a few minutes catching up with Will, Hailey left Jay's hospital room to give the two brothers some privacy.

Once Will was sure Hailey was out of earshot he reprimanded Jay. "I can't believe you made her wait so long to call me! I'm your brother, don't you think I had a right to know!?"

Jay looks at him guiltily, knowing he would be just as pissed if Will did it to him. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to worry about me any more than you've been."

"That's not for you to decide, Jay. You don't get to dictate how you want people to care about you!"

"Yea, I know." He looks down at his hands glumly. "Besides, if I'm being fully honest, I wanted this time with Hailey also. I figured if you came down, she wouldn't have a reason to stay…"

Will looks at him in disbelief. "I didn't possibly think you could get any dumber. Are you sure they shot you near the heart and not the head? No matter what's happened between you and her, Hailey would still stay even if you had 100 family members around. And that is a lot of Halsteads even for me!" Will shivers as he says it and they both smirk.

"Yea, you're right, she's as stubborn as I am, and still the most caring person I've ever met."

Will gives him a look. "Are you gonna tell her?"

Jay stares back at his brother, knowing exactly what he's referencing. "Not yet, man. She's already been doing so much for me, and we're finally in an okay-state again… I don't want her response to be out of guilt, or worry because I got shot…"

"She'd be proud of you, y'know."

"I know. I just fear it's all a little too late for a grand gesture."

"Are you kidding? Girls eat that shit up!" Will jokes and Jay shakes his head.

"Alright, enough of this. How's everything with you? Is the Land of Cheese treating you well? You better not turn into a Packers fan on me!"

"Never!" Will smiles back and starts to fill Jay in on his new life.

Before they know it almost an hour has gone by and Hailey pops her head back in the room, not wanting to fully interrupt their brotherly bonding time. It had been a while since she saw the two of them laughing and joking like they were. She missed those days. She missed a lot of things.

"Sorry to disturb the dynamic Halstead duo, but I'm gonna grab something to eat from the café; just wanted to see if you wanted anything, Will?" she smiles at the brothers.

"No, thank you, I'm alright. I'll probably head out soon, and grab a hotel. It's been a long day, and I know Jay's in good hands." Will smiles back warmly and Hailey blushes, trying to avoid seeing Jay's look of awe.

"Alright, well I'll be back shortly to say goodbye."

Hailey walks away from the room again and Jay turns to his brother. "How long are you going to stay?"

"Probably just a couple days just to make sure you're still progressing well. You should probably be out of here in a week as long as there are no setbacks."

Jay is thrilled to hear that, but also slightly disappointed because he knows the faster he heals, the sooner Hailey will be leaving him again. He doesn't want to think about that now though.

"You know, Hailey's been staying here, so you can totally crash at my place. No reason to drop money on a hotel."

"You sure? I don't want to impose."

Jay gives him a look that reads, 'not like I'll be using my place!' "Yea man, might as well. Hailey just goes there to shower and change, so you guys can just coordinate."

Something that Jay says triggers a memory for Will and he can't help but drift back to it…

Will had been calling Jay's phone since last night and his brother still hadn't called him back. At first he just assumed Jay had gone out, had a few drinks, and passed out… but now that it was bordering lunch time, he was starting to get concerned. He thought about calling Hailey since she was his partner, thinking maybe they were on some big case, but if they weren't he didn't want to worry her as well. Normally he wouldn't be this concerned, but he knows Jay's head has been everywhere these past few months with everything from Kelton to Voight to Adam to Antonio, so he just hopes nothing triggered him.

He finally made up his mind and decided to ride over to Jay's. He still had a key from those few months he lived with him, so if anything, he could let himself in. When he arrives he knocks loudly a few times at the front door and receives no response. Will sighs, knowing Jay's truck is outside and starting to really wonder what happened to his brother. He resigns and unlocks the door. A quick glance into the small living room reveals nothing amiss. He sees that the bathroom door is closed and walks over to it.

"Jay?" he calls out, knocking softly on the door. He hears a gasp and something clang inside. Thinking something is up he quickly turns the knob and pulls the door back, his jaw dropping in shock at what he sees.

His eyes widen in embarrassment and surprise as the person staring back at him is no other than Hailey, fresh out of the shower, holding up a towel, and wrapping it around her. Both relieved she managed to cover herself fully before he could see anything he shouldn't.

"Holy shit! I am so sorry!" Will says while quickly backing out of the room.

"WILL! What are you doing here?" she loudly whispers, following him out now that the towel is completely wrapped around her.

"Me!? I should ask the same of you!" he gives her a wink and she tries to hide her blush, unsuccessfully. "I'm sorry, but I've been calling Jay since yesterday and got a little concerned when I never heard back."

"Shit, I'm sorry. We uh, we… got a little distracted last night and he must have left his phone in the living room. It probably died."

Will gives her a knowing smirk. "I see… so… how long has this been going on with you two?"

Hailey rolls her eyes at him smiling, knowing that they're caught. "A couple weeks… we just wanted to keep it under wraps for a little and enjoy the privacy and newness. I'm sorry we didn't tell you."

"Don't be, I totally understand. Hell, I'm actually surprised it's only been a couple weeks, probably should have been a couple years at this point…" Will jokes.

"You Halsteads man!" Hailey laughs, shaking her head.

"I'm happy for you guys, really. You're good for him, Hailey. I've always thought that. Glad both of your stubborn asses finally woke up… now I should probably go before Jay actually wakes up. You must have worn him out good if he's still sleeping this late."

"Oh my God!" Hailey says while trying to swat at him as he cracks up. They make their way to the front door so he can exit. Will content knowing his brother is way more than fine now.

"Always a pleasure, Will!" she says as she starts to close the door again.

"Yes, tell my brother I say, 'get it!'"

Hailey chuckles as she makes her way back into Jay's room, entering quietly, but he's stirring regardless. Jay's eyes pop open fully and he gives her a huge grin seeing her only in his towel.

"Were you talking to someone?" he questions.

"No… Must have been my music you heard." she feigns confusion.

"I can't believe you showered without me… Didn't even get a morning kiss…" he pouts and outstretches his arm, signaling for her to come over to him.

She walks over to the bed and casually sits on it, keeping the towel in place. "You mean a third morning kiss… pretty sure you got two things this am."

"Mmm, well, they do say 'third time is the charm.'" He says as he grabs her to him and as she yelps he pins her under him, kissing her neck as the towel gets bunched up.

"Jay…" she can't help but moan out, running her fingers through his hair. "We can't stay in bed all day…" she feebly tries to protest.

"Like Hell we can't, it's Sunday… and you're the only thing I have planned for today!" he grins before he kisses her, both gladly willing to end the debate that way…..

Will continues to smirk at that long ago memory. He's pretty sure Hailey and him have kept it a secret to this day still; Jay none the wiser how early on in his relationship with Hailey that Will caught him. He finally came clean to his brother about a month after that day, and Will pretended to act completely surprised over the news.

"What are you grinning at?" Jay asks him.

"What? Oh, nothing… just that I think Hailey is way more chill and understanding than you're giving her credit for these days.'

"Oh, not this again, please, she'll be back any second…"

"I'm just saying, talk to her, tell her everything while she's still here. Do what you couldn't do months ago…" Will drifts off as he notices Hailey making her way back to the room. Jay nods at him, silently promising to try and fix things.

As Will says his goodbye before he heads off to Jay's apartment, he pulls Hailey into a hug and whispers into her ear, "He's done good these past few months, really tried, you'd be proud. Don't write yourselves off completely yet… I have a feeling you guys are due for countless more days of you in a towel all afternoon…"

Hailey catches the reference and her eyes slightly well up with tears, remembering how happy they were. She nods her thanks at him and does her best to compose herself again before Jay can notice. It's going to be a long few weeks…


[A/N: So this one is just a happy little filler chapter. Originally planned to do more, but it's late, and figured I'd leave you off on a good note instead of a depressing one. Enjoy this, cause those sad moments are coming... but it will all be worth it in the end, I hope? ;) Also, a Will addition, who I wasn't sure I was going to include, but I know a faithful reader, Mary, wanted to see him in this, as I'm sure others did too. He assists a lot in this chapter, so surprise! Thank you all again for reading, you guys have been awesome.]