Upstead (First Kiss)

Chapter 14

Hello guys! I am slightly late with an update this time, my apologies for that. I have been rather busy for the past few days. Hope you understand and enjoy this chapter now that it has come. :)

It took Hailey a moment to regain her composure before pulling off from the parking lot of Jay's building. She couldn't stop the tears nor could she stop the barrage of emotions that were invading her mind. But she knew she had to pull herself together because this was far from over, Abby was going to do something or the other but what concerned her more was the fact that Jay and she were not being able to move forward freely, every time something or the other came up. She decided she would stop thinking for the night and just go to sleep, the rest could be solved tomorrow.

Jay too had a difficult time swallowing this. He was angrily wondering why Abby had come and what would happen next regarding her. It concerned him too that every time Hailey and he were taking a new step a hurdle was popping up and blocking their way. But whatever it was, he was going to make sure that they got past this too.

The following morning before leaving for work Jay shot a text to Hailey asking her if she needed him to come pick her up but Hailey had declined wanting to keep their new relationship a secret still. Jay didn't question but understood the situation and they met directly at the district. Whatever had happened between them the previous night was not forgotten but neither of them spoke about it either. It had been a painful moment. The team had gathered in the bull pen and Voight came out of his office just finishing a call. He stood looking at all of them and started, "Alright, so we have another case today. And we have a new member joining our unit today as well."

At that everyone's eyebrows raised slightly since no one had been informed about this. Suddenly Voight motioned towards the staircase and said, "There she is."

Everyone turned and Jay and Hailey's breaths stopped. They couldn't believe their eyes and this seemed to be a complete nightmare. Abby was walking up the staircase a broad smile plastered on her face. She kept looking at Halstead and Jay felt as though darts were piercing his being. What the hell was she doing here? This couldn't be happening. He turned his head to look at Hailey and he saw the same expression on her face. Then Voight began speaking, "Everybody, this is Abby. She has served in the army and is now dedicating her life to the police department."

Abby nodded and thanked him and everyone for the introduction. The fact remained that nobody knew about Jay's marriage to Abby except Hailey, and probably Voight because he knew everything. If this wasn't the worst thing that could happen, the next announcement had Hailey and Jay's world rocking. Voight said simply, "Since Vanessa is back, Hailey you'll ride with her and Jay you'll partner up with Abby. I figured it would be good since both of you have served in the army."

Hailey was so shocked that she didn't look at anyone and went next to Vanessa hoping to get out of the district before someone saw her discomfort. All the while Jay was looking at her silently wishing that he could do something about this sudden but terrible change. It appeared that Abby was happy, she was glad to work with Halstead. Seeing that no one had a problem with this, at least externally, Voight began explaining the case. And soon enough everyone was assigned a particular job and everyone was busy with their work. Vanessa and Hailey were going to find a suspect with Ruzek and Atwater. Hailey hurried out of the district not even looking at Jay. She knew this wasn't his fault but she was angry at him nonetheless. As they drove Hailey decided to fill Rojas in on whatever happened last night. Rojas was both shocked and happy. The appearance of Abby was certainly threatening but the news that Jay and Hailey had decided to explore their relationship was uplifting. And Hailey said finally, "I don't know what to do now."

Vanessa for once did not have an answer. There was nothing she could say that would change the fact that Abby had joined the unit, so she remained silent hoping that Hailey would understand the meaning of her silence. But Hailey wasn't going to drop the matter so easily, so she continued, "And I am pretty sure she has joined the unit for Jay. She's not interested in protecting the city."

Vanessa knew that Hailey was upset but she didn't quite agree with her friend. One never knows what one is up to and it could be that Abby was genuinely interested in working with Intelligence. Whatever it was, it didn't matter. There was nothing anyone could do about it, at least for the moment.

The day went by in this manner, the team chasing leads and questioning possible suspects. But still they hadn't found enough evidence to tie a particular suspect with it, so the case was to continue the following day. Jay was in the coffee room when Hailey entered, he looked at her and it was evident she was tired and done with this day. She approached him and asked him softly, placing her hand on his hand, making sure no one was looking, "Does Voight know?"

"I don't know," said Jay, genuinely wondering himself.

"Well, Vanessa knows. I told her everything," Hailey said exasperated by the entire situation.

Jay simply nodded, trusting Hailey's judgement and believing that Vanessa would not divulge this information to anyone. Hailey began again, "But you need to tell Voight. He needs to know."

"And what about our relationship?" Jay asked.

Hailey looked at him intently for a long moment and said almost in a whisper, "No. Not yet at least."

It was Jay's turn to look at her intently now. The more interesting aspect was that Hailey herself didn't know why she was so adamant on hiding their relationship. Because both of them knew, it would come out sooner or later. Then Hailey changed topics and asked, "How was Abby?"

Jay didn't know quite how to answer this. Should be lie to her to make her feel better or should he be honest with her and tell her the truth always? He decided on the latter, "She hit on me throughout the day and it doesn't even seem like she is going to back off."

Hailey was angry after hearing this but she didn't say anything. She knew whatever would come out of her mouth would be terrible. But she knew she had to let him know something else for sure, "Jay, you have to speak to Voight now. I don't care if it's late or that he has to go, or that you have to work. You have to do it now, because I don't trust this girl one bit," she finished her voice louder than before and her frustration more evident than before.

Jay could see she was troubled and how he wished he could just hold her and tell her everything was going to be fine. But he couldn't do that. He did what he could and took her hands in his and assured her softly, "Hailey, I am going to speak to Voight now. Please don't worry, it will all work out."

His touch did the trick for the moment at least and Hailey seemed to calm down. She exhaled loudly and said, "Fine, I'll meet you at my place then. I am exhausted and I need a shower."

Jay nodded, relieved that his girl was no longer tensed out of her nerves and said as she was about to leave, "Hailey, I love you."

She smiled and left. She just couldn't bring herself to reciprocate, not under these circumstances anyway. She loved Jay but she was terrified of losing him and that always made her deny her feelings.

Jay arrived and hour later and Hailey had just set the table for dinner. This had become their normal now, they lived at each other's houses most of the time. And that had led to Jay bringing over several clothes and essentials to her house and Hailey had done the same. As Jay entered he said, "I'll just take a quick shower and come."

Hailey nodded, glad that he was home and with her. He came back in a few minutes and they were seated for dinner. Hailey enquired, "What did Voight say?"

Jay smiled and answered, "Apparently he knew and it was a conscious decision from his part."

Hailey scoffed unable to produce any other reaction. This was worse in a way, it implied that Voight thought they could work things out and be a great team. And again a sudden terror passed through her being, she couldn't lose Jay, no she couldn't.

"So, I told him about the recent events and he said he'll look into it. He believes she'll be a great cop, disregarding her as a person out of the unit."

"So he knows about us?" asked Hailey realising that recent events meant all that they had gone through as well.

"No, I didn't tell him about us, although I am sure he knows something is going on between us," Jay said matter of factly.

Hailey nodded, believing him, because Voight really knew a lot of things. And this was the moment where she let go and a barrage of emotions took over, causing a few tears to form in her eyes immediately. She exhaled, hoping to regain composure, but in vain. Jay saw the change and moved closer to her, wondering if he should just hug her. Hailey wanted to say something, rather admit something, "Jay, I can't take this anymore. Hiding our relationship from everyone, Abby constantly threatening to jeopardize our relationship and the stress of the job are things I no longer can bear."

Jay knew now his thought had to be executed and he got up from his seat and went to her. He sat close to her and pulled her in for a tight but tender hug. She sighed against his chest in relief but knowing within herself that all this was going to take a while to be sorted out. In that moment Jay thought he should let her know what he had in mind since the evening. He had decided to do this the moment she had asked him to speak to Voight. He whispered softly, "Hailey, there is something I have been meaning to tell you."

Hailey freed herself from him and looked him in the eye, wondering what new surprise could await her now. Jay hesitated for a slight moment to formulate his words and finally said, "Move in with me Hailey."

Well, this concludes the chapter. I tried my best to make the story move forward in a realistic and fun way. Let's see how you guys like it. Please comment, it will really help me write better. Looking forward to your thoughts. Thank you for being part of this. :)