A/N: Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all have a great week and enjoy the chapter; I think you'll enjoy it :) Let me know what you think?


Between the two of them, Hailey and Jay were able to bring all of Hailey's stuff up to his apartment. She was laughing the entire time in the elevator at Jay balancing everything he could in his arms, and it felt good to hear her laugh again. Once it opened, he let her walk out first before saying, "We have an issue."

"What's that?" she asked without looking back at him.

"Keys are in my pocket," he grunted while stopping her wooden box from tumbling out of his grip.

"Okay," she said. As she reached his apartment, she set all she was holding down before asking, "Mind if I grab them?"

"Uh," Jay weakly laughed and replied, "Sure."

Hailey nodded and tugged him closer by his belt loops in order to grab his keys from his pocket. Smiling, she lightly bumped her hip to his before unlocking the door.

Jay swallowed hard as she walked inside with everything she'd been carrying. It was actually happening – she had managed to relax and move in with him even if it was just for the time being. He stared after her for another second before walking inside and bringing her belongings to his room.

"Oh, do you want it in there?" Hailey asked from where she was setting everything in the corner of the main living area.

Jay glanced over his shoulder and countered, "What're you talking about?"

"I can keep it out of the way in here if you'd rather," she said softly, "I don't want to take up your bedroom."

Shaking his head, Jay replied, "You can stay in here. I don't mind. The couch isn't awful."

Hailey raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Jay, this is your house."

"Which is exactly why you'll be staying in the bed," he said, "It's okay. Come on, make yourself comfortable in here."

Hailey looked like she wanted to argue further, but she didn't say anything and just brought her suitcase into his room.

"I cleared some space for you," he said and pointed toward the closet, "Hang anything up."

"This is just temporary," she reminded him while staring at the floor.

"I know, but…" he trailed off and took a deep breath. "I want you comfortable, okay? Maybe it's for one night, but even then, you deserve to…I want…I care about you, so please?"

Hailey looked up to meet his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment until she breathed, "Okay."

Jay smiled and stepped out of her way so she could bring her suitcase over to the closet. "I can even move more of my stuff if you need to," he said.

Shaking her head, she replied, "I'm okay. Thank you, though."

"Yeah," he hummed. He debated watching her or keeping her company as she unpacked, but decided to give her space and returned to the living room.

He sat on the couch and looked back at her in his room before pulling his phone out to send a couple texts.

To Kim, Adam, and Kevin, he said Hailey would be staying at his place for the time being.

He told Trudy as well even though he figured she might somehow know already. He also included how he thought Hailey was doing – fine, a little emotional, but overall fine.

While he'd expected her to maybe cry upon returning home, he wasn't expecting it over the cross. He'd never paid much attention to it before; he always just walked in with whatever drink he'd brought and settled on her couch or at her kitchen island. In addition to that, he couldn't remember Hailey ever saying she was religious. He sort of always assumed she was raised in a church like him and then broke off once she was older and didn't have someone dragging her there each week. Maybe she was more religious than he thought. If anything, it made him feel bad for not asking before.

He glanced over to his bookshelf that had various family heirlooms and items from growing up on it. Peeking out from the corner, he could see his parents' wedding picture that had taken place in a church and wondered if he should bring it up with Hailey. Quickly after, though, he realized how dumb that sounded:

"Hey, my parents got married in a church and I was baptized. What about you?"

As if that would be relatable at all.

If he wanted to make Hailey comfortable, he needed to go about it a different way: food.

He walked over to the kitchen and looked through his cupboards only to be as disappointed as he'd been that morning at the lack of food he had. Chewing his lip, he bounced on his heels while deciding what to do. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich seemed so lame compared to what he knew he could make if only he had ingredients.

"Are you okay if I keep my bathroom bag under your sink?"

Jay turned from staring in his cabinet and said, "Uh, yeah, of course. There's more than enough room."

Hailey nodded then glanced past him with a slight smile. "No offense, but what the hell? Do you really eat out that much?"

He chuckled and leaned back against the counters, "No, but I'm not huge on keeping a ton of food that I'll have to throw out when it expires."

Walking over, Hailey said, "Write me a list, I can go out while you're at work and grab some stuff."

"No, that's okay, I'll grab it on my way home tomorrow," Jay said and waved her off.

Hailey raised an eyebrow and smirked as she asked, "Do you eat weird stuff that I can't see?"

Jay laughed and said, "Not at all. I just don't want you doing my errands. You're my guest."

"Jay," Hailey sighed and sat at his kitchen island, "You need to stop that. We're living together for the time being. I want to help out – food, laundry, cleaning, even rent – so please let me."

"Whoa, hey, you're not paying rent," Jay argued, "You can wash towels if you want and cook a meal or two, but you're-"

"Your guest, I know, but come on, Jay," Hailey said and put her hands out on the counter, "What if this is longer than a few days? Who knows when an apartment's going to open up? If I'm here a month, I'm going to pull my weight."

Jay pursed his lips until her words sank in and he asked, "You're going to get an apartment this time?"

Hailey breathed in then nodded before saying, "I want something small and I want to be in a building. I don't need that big of a house. I just need one bedroom. Honestly, a place like this wouldn't be bad."

Jay snorted quietly and looked around at his small apartment. "What're you talking about? This place is a huge downgrade from yours."

Hailey shrugged and smiled slightly. "I like it. For a dude, you're not bad at decorating."

Jay laughed harder as he said, "Don't lie."

Hailey laughed with him and shrugged. "It's nice. It's simple and reminds me of you."

"Well, good since I do live here," Jay said.

Hailey smiled and rested her chin on her hand as she said softly, "Yeah, you do. Thank you for letting me crash here."

"Don't thank me yet," Jay mumbled and turned back to his cupboards, "I think we have to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch."

"You eat cherry jelly, right?" Hailey asked.

He nodded and pulled out a bag of chips to make sure he hadn't opened them yet.

"Then let's eat some PB&Js," Hailey said as she jumped off the barstool.

Jay turned to see her go into his fridge and pull out the jelly. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I just ate hospital food for ten days, I want a peanut butter and jelly," Hailey said with a smile.

Chuckling, Jay nodded and replied, "Okay then."

"Are you a jelly on one piece and peanut butter on the other or jelly on the top of peanut butter or what?" Hailey asked.

"Jelly on one side and peanut butter on the other of course," Jay said. He grabbed the jelly once she opened it and stuck a knife in it.

"No, not of course," Hailey said. She held back a smirk as she began putting peanut butter on two slices of bread.

Jay glanced at her and asked, "What're you talking about?" He reached for one of the slices of bread on her plate only for her to slap his hand.

"These are for me," she laughed.

Jay's eyes widened and he said, "What?"

Hailey hummed a laugh and slid the jelly closer to her to drop some on one of her slices of bread. "I put peanut butter on both pieces of bread and then jelly in the middle," she explained, "It's delicious. I can make you a sandwich like this if you want."

Staring at her for a moment, Jay then laughed and shook his head. "No, no, that's wrong."

"You can't make a sandwich wrong!"

"You're doing it right now."

"I am not!"

"Oh, you for sure are."

Hailey rolled her eyes, but was still smiling as she finished making her sandwich. She then cut it diagonally before carrying it over to the couch.

"You cut it too?" Jay asked while finishing his own sandwich.

"Of course I do, I'm not some animal," Hailey said before taking a big bite.

Jay smiled at her then walked over to sit next to her on the couch. "Didn't cut mine," he said and bit into his sandwich.

"Animal," Hailey teased and knocked her shoulder to his.

Jay winked and continued eating.

Sitting on his couch with Hailey even in silence as they ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches felt like everything he had been wanting in the past week. She was safe. She was happy. She was home.

While eating together, she made soft comments about memories she had from school lunches growing up. She was actually smiling and didn't seem upset about any of them. It made him happy listening to her tell the quiet stories, and made him even happier when she'd laugh or tease him about his own stories.

This was going to be their life for the next few days or even weeks, and he was really okay with it even if it didn't look perfect from the outside.


Even though their day went by rather slowly with relaxed conversation as Hailey unpacked some of her stuff, a strange edge seemed to come up as it neared 9pm. It wasn't late by any means according to Jay and he'd often stay up later even on work nights, but it was dark outside and very clear that they were tired. Hailey couldn't stop yawning no matter how hard she tried to hide it in the purple blanket she brought that she had wrapped around herself while on the couch. Personally, his eyes were starting to burn and he couldn't get comfortable anymore.

"Um, I'm gonna shower," he announced while standing up from the couch.

Hailey's head snapped toward him before she said, "Oh."

He slowly nodded then walked into his bedroom to grab a pair of pajamas. He was about to walk into the bathroom when Hailey was suddenly at his side.

"Jay," she said, "Are you sure you want me to sleep in your bed?"

He smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah," he replied, "You sleep in there. I'll stick to the couch."

"I…you don't have to do that," she sighed, "I'll take the couch."

"Didn't we already talk about this?" Jay asked, "It's fine. Your ribs are bruised anyways, I know that's not comfortable."

Hailey shook her head and stepped closer to him. "We're adults, right? We can share a bed. It's not like you have a twin; it's gotta be a queen, right?"

Jay bit his lip then nodded once more.

"So we share," Hailey said and lightly squeezed his arm. "And we'll survive," she finished with a whisper, "It's us, right? You're my best friend and…and I trust you. You're quite possibly the only person I trust right now. Well…don't tell Platt or Kim or really any of Intelligence, but it's true. I…" she trailed off and looked down at their socked feet standing so close together. "Jay, I feel broken. I know what you've told me and what the nurses have said and Dr. Charles and I'm sure my new therapist will say it too, but I still feel it inside…until I'm with you." She looked up and let a small smile cross her face. "You're my friend and you didn't have to do this, but you did, so can we just be adults and share a bed platonically?"

Jay couldn't help but snort a laugh as he repeated, "Platonically? Damn big word for 9pm, Hailey."

She rolled her eyes and lightly shoved his chest. "Please? As friends?"

Jay watched her for a second and then nodded. "Yeah," he breathed, "Happily."

A ghost of a smile crossed Hailey's face before she replied softly, "Thank you."

"Go ahead and get comfortable in bed," Jay said with a nod toward his room, "I'll meet you in there."

"Which side do you prefer?" Hailey asked while walking backwards.

"Really doesn't matter," Jay shrugged.

Hailey rolled her eyes again and said, "Jay."

"Uh, left," he answered and waved his left hand, "Yeah, I'll sleep on the left."

Nodding, Hailey said, "All right," and turned to walk into the bedroom.

Jay breathed in then stepped into the bathroom. Not sure what Hailey was exactly going through, he debated locking the door until deciding against it in case something were to happen. He tossed his clothes to the side before turning on the hot water. As steam filled the room, he realized this was going to be the first shower he'd taken in a long time that wasn't going to be filled with absolute dread. Hailey was finally out of the hospital. She wasn't healed, but she was on her way and that was going to have to be good enough.

Even though it had been over a week of burning hot showers, the water still shocked him when he stepped inside. Swearing under his breath, he increased the cold water and closed his eyes as he was encompassed by the stream.

She was okay.

She was home.

She was okay.

It was the only thing crossing his mind.

He was so lost in thoughts of Hailey being in his bed that he almost missed a quiet knock on the bathroom door followed by a "Jay?"

Wiping the water from his face, he stuck his head out of the shower and said, "Yeah?"

"You're fine if I use the ice-packs in the freezer, right?"

"Of course, go crazy. That's what they're there for."

Hailey laughed on the other side of the door and said, "Thanks."

Over the sound of the water, Jay could just barely hear the sound of her walking away, so he returned to the shower. He began rushing through his routine with the thought of helping Hailey with whatever she needed. Suddenly, though, he stopped and realized what she'd asked him.

Earlier on the couch, she hadn't had any issue using the ice-packs and had happily accepted them. Then again, he had offered them to her, but he figured the offer would carry through her stay. He then smirked slightly as he began washing the soap from his hair: Hailey had wanted to talk to him while he was in the shower. It felt very similar to when she'd somehow known his ankle was swollen through his boot and sock a couple months before.

Fair game.

For once, he didn't stay in the shower for an ungodly amount of time and was quick to step out. He didn't even need the usual 'happy thought' to get out. Hailey was here. She was recovering here. Everything was going to be fine.

Pulling on his pajamas, he rubbed the towel over his head and walked out of the bathroom straight to his bedroom where Hailey was already laying on her side on the right side of the bed.

She looked up as he stepped in and smiled slightly before plugging her phone into its charger and setting it on the bedside table.

Breathing in slowly, Jay then shut off the lights and walked over to crawl into bed and lie back to stare at the ceiling through the dark.

"Comfortable?" he whispered.

"Yes, thank you," came Hailey's small voice, "Your sheets are on pretty tight. Army thing?"

Jay chuckled, "Maybe. I also put a new set on this morning before picking you up."

Hailey hummed and rolled onto her back as well. She lightly tugged the blanket further over her then whispered, "I can smell your shampoo."

"Good smell?"

"Yeah. I like it."

"I like yours too."

"I didn't shower tonight."

"I know, but you always smell good."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Jay laughed and turned his head to look at her. "Well, thank god we don't smell. That'd make for an interesting few days."

Hailey smiled at him through the dark. "If you smelt bad, I would have told you long ago. Hours in a truck or a van with gross man smell? I'd have to pass."

"What a conversation that would have been."

"I wasn't scared of you."

"No," Jay said softly and tried scanning her face in the moonlight, "You never have been."

Hailey stared back at him with a soft blush crossing her cheeks. She rolled back onto her side to face the closet and breathed, "Goodnight, Jay."

"Goodnight, Hailey."

He debated reaching out to pat her back, but settled on rolling over as well. He didn't want to startle her and they were already in each other's spaces - a queen bed is only so big. With his back to her, though, he could no longer feel the same body heat he'd felt when they were side-to-side.

In the silence, he remembered imagining sharing a bed with her months before. He smiled slightly as the thought of her hair getting on his pillow returned to his mind. He hadn't been lying when he said that her shampoo smelt good. A year before, the scent of her shampoo had hit him first when she'd found him gasping for breath on the cement after being shot. It was followed by the feeling of her hands on his throat as she tried finding his pulse.

It felt like a sick parallel to him searching for her pulse a week and a half before upon finding her crumbled on her hallway floor.

If only they could see themselves now.

"Jay?"

Her voice pulled him from his thoughts and he glanced over his shoulder.

"Hailey?"

Her soft laugh eased any tension in the air before she asked, "Are you okay if we talk?"

"Of course I am," he replied and rolled onto his back again.

There was a beat and then Hailey whispered, "Would you ever do yoga?"

He laughed and said, "What?"

"Would you do yoga?" she repeated while falling back onto the mattress next to him.

"I don't know," he chuckled, "Have you done it?"

"Yeah, but not in a while. Do you think I could do it now?"

"Now? In bed?"

"No," Hailey laughed and suddenly her casted hand was on his wrist, "I mean like…when I'm all bruised."

"Oh." Jay blinked then looked over at her using her free hand to adjust the ice pack over her ribs. "I'd be careful for sure."

Hailey pursed her lips and nodded. "Makes sense. I'll try it out tomorrow. God knows I'll have time."

Jay hesitated at her words and wondered where that cross from earlier had gone. Before he could ask, though, Hailey continued talking: "I did grab some of my paint. This just sucks. I get it, I need to recover, but…I don't want to be locked up in some tower for the next month."

"Hailey," he finally breathed.

She huffed and said, "Yeah?"

"You are not locked in here," he stated, "You're free to leave at any time. All I ask is that you do lock the door behind you."

Hailey smiled slightly and squeezed his wrist before pulling her hand away. "Thank you," she said softly, "I don't know if I'll leave tomorrow or even the next day, but if the weather's nice this week, maybe I'll take a walk or venture out to the store."

Jay furrowed his brow and asked slowly, "Why don't you think you'll leave in the next day or two?"

Hesitating, Hailey sucked in a breath then admitted, "I hate looking in the mirror, so can you imagine what people are going to say to me?"

Jay bit his lip as he stared at her. In a way, she was right. Whenever he saw anyone with any sort of bruising, especially on their face, he usually let his mind wander and attempt to figure out what had happened. He'd search for any defense wounds on their hands, look for a limp, maybe even scan the person next to them if they weren't alone. If he were to do that with Hailey, he'd notice the cast, the bruises on her arms, and the way she gingerly walked from her broken ribs. People were going to notice and they were probably going to pity her. She was going to hate it.

"I didn't think I'd ever have to be like my mom again and hide underneath a bunch of makeup," Hailey breathed without waiting for a response from him.

He closed his eyes and sucked in a slow breath. Anger filled him and he once again wished he could have done more damage to him when he was given the chance. Pushing that to the side, though, without opening his eyes, he said, "Hailey, you don't need to hide anything. You don't need to hide yourself or your face. You're beautiful and if people can't see that underneath the bruises, then screw them."

He felt Hailey shift in the bed and then there was a hand on his chest. Blinking his eyes open, the first thing he saw was her staring down at him. For a brief moment, he thought she was going to cry, but then she started tugging at his shirt until he sat up. Before he could ask what was going on, she launched herself at him and hugged him tightly.

Stunned, he rocked backwards slightly then gave in and wrapped his arms around her. He swallowed a sudden lump in his throat and put a hand on the back of her head.

"Thank you," she mumbled, "Thank you for everything."

"Hey, I'm always here for you," he whispered back.

Hailey sniffled against his shirt and gripped onto him. In response, he lightly brushed his fingers through her hair with one hand and used the other to rub her lower back.

And it broke a dam.

Hailey began crying into his shoulder and couldn't seem to catch her breath. She gasped as she dug her nails into his arms and began shaking.

"I've got you," he whispered as tears pricked his eyes, "You're okay. I'm right here."

Hailey tried talking, but just settled on saying nothing and pressing herself further into him.

"You can cry," he continued, "I don't mind." His fingers had a mind of their own as they kept brushing through her hair and occasionally rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere," he repeated, "You're safe now."

She stifled a sob and nodded.

They sat there on the bed for a while. Jay just continued holding her and whispering as she slowly calmed down. Will had said this was going to be the hardest part – the emotional healing – but he didn't realize it was truly going to be the hardest on him as well. Seeing Hailey so emotionally broken irked him almost more than when she had been physically broken.

"She's not broken. She's going to be okay."

The nurse's words echoed in his head and he corrected his thoughts. Hailey wasn't broken, she was just bruised. It was going to take time, but she would eventually recover. This was just Step Two after all.

He didn't know how much time had passed until Hailey slowly untangled herself from him. He kept a hand on her arm as she wiped tears from her face.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He nodded and brushed his thumb over her elbow.

She blinked her eyes quickly then laid back down on the bed, but it wasn't lost on Jay that she was much closer than she had been before.

He settled down next to her and pulled a blanket tight over them. "Do you…" he trailed off and met her eyes.

She nodded and slid closer to him.

He threw an arm over her waist to hold her closer. Her left hand came up to hold onto his shirt as she sniffled and finished calming down. It was then that he remembered his own experiences with being injured and recovering: there was something about the night that was incredibly hard. It left you to your thoughts be those memories or fears and it hurt. Every hour that ticked by left you in a state of anxiety and reminded you you were alone.

However, Hailey wasn't alone. He had her. Hailey was safe with him.

"I'll stay here all night," he whispered, "Just like before. I'm not leaving you. You're not alone."

Hailey nodded and tightened her hold on him.

"All night."


Hailey's cast occasionally scratched Jay's arm throughout the night, but he stayed close and was able to get some sleep as well. Whenever he woke up, he was grateful to see that she appeared peaceful beside him. If it was possible, the bruising didn't seem as scary in the dark – she looked like herself.

Finally, just past six, he gently rolled her onto her own pillow and crawled out of bed. He grabbed her purple blanket and tucked it around her before padding out of the room to begin making breakfast.

He was still going into work in a couple hours, but he wanted to make sure Hailey had some sort of meal to start her day even if he wasn't there to share it with her.

By the time he'd finished making a batch of scrambled eggs, he heard a soft creak in the floor and turned to see Hailey standing at the edge of the kitchen.

"Good morning," she whispered.

"Hey," he said with a smile, "I've got eggs going. I added some white American, ham, and green peppers, that okay? Just figured that's what we had on our last pizza."

Hailey laughed softly and walked over to start his coffee machine. "Works for me," she said.

"How'd you sleep?" Jay asked.

Hailey blushed as she grabbed two mugs from his shelf. "Once I fell asleep, I was okay," she admitted, "I'm sorry for what happened before that."

"Hey, no," Jay said and shook his head, "Don't do that. I was thinking myself that there was no way this was going to be easy. You just had a pretty traumatic thing happen to you, stayed in the hospital for a while, and moved out of your house. It sucks."

"Been there?" Hailey half-teased while watching the coffee pour into the first mug.

He chuckled and split up the eggs onto two plates. "Yeah," he sighed, "Second deployment coming home was pretty bad and then when I was last kidnapped."

Frowning, Hailey slowly shook her head and said, "I can't imagine."

"But," he cleared his throat, "I survived, and I know you will too."

Hailey breathed in then nodded silently. She passed him the coffee before filling another mug.

"Thanks," he said as he settled onto a barstool, "You don't have to eat with me right now, go back to sleep if you want."

She waved him off and turned to lean against the counter. "It's fine," she replied, "I'll try yoga once you're gone. It can be a good start to my day."

Jay smiled and nodded.

She breathed in slowly then said, "I know you don't want me to apologize, but thank you for just…helping me last night. I don't know. I needed something to ground me, so thank you."

"Anytime," he said softly.

Hailey grabbed her coffee and shot him a small smile before sitting next to him.

They ate in silence until Jay asked, "How is it?"

Hailey smiled and put her chin in her palm to look at him. "It's wonderful," she answered.

Jay laughed. "Shut up."

"It is!" She laughed with him and added, "It's really good, thank you. Usually I have omelets in the morning."

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, "With what in it?"

"Spinach, onions, and feta," she answered, "Like spanakopita."

"You've made that before," Jay said, "That is really good."

"Want me to make you some?" Hailey asked.

Jay raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't know if I have enough ingredients. Pretty sure I don't have feta."

"I can buy some," Hailey laughed softly, "I'll make some soon, promise. I'll do a whole Greek meal."

"Only if you want," Jay said quickly, "Don't think you have to."

"Now you need to shut up," Hailey teased, "I'll make you a meal. I can be like a 50s housewife."

"Oh my god," Jay laughed, "Please, don't."

"I'll put on some nice red lipstick and an apron and greet you at the door with a nice whiskey," she continued, "Just for you. Thank you for bringing home the bacon."

He laughed harder and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Kim said once that we're like a married couple, so we might as well go with it," Hailey said with a smile, "Everything my parents wanted for me."

"Well, glad I can play house for the foreseeable future with you," Jay chuckled.

"Thank you for giving me a house to play in," Hailey replied.

Jay lightly nudged his shoulder to hers then said, "Any time." He took one last bite of breakfast before standing up. "Mind if I head in the bathroom and get ready?"

Hailey rolled her eyes and said, "Go. I'm good."

He hummed in response and put his plate in the dishwasher. He quickly grabbed clothes from his room then went in the bathroom just to take a second in front of the mirror. Staring at his reflection, he took a few slow breaths before splashing cold water on his face.

Playing married couple was kind of a lot to swallow especially after the night they'd had. There was something about it, though, that felt natural and okay. No relationship was smooth sailing – having bumps in the road was inevitable. This bump was just rather large and caused by someone else, but there was no doubt that they needed to tackle it together.

It wasn't impossible to do: he was confident they could overcome it.

It was just going to take some time.


~ Doing ok? ~ Jay Halstead

~ It's been two hours ~ Hailey Upton

~ Just checking ~ Jay Halstead

~ I know. Thank you. Really. ~ Hailey Upton

~ Period at the end? What did I do? :P ~ Jay Halstead

~ Shut up. Get back to work ~ Hailey Upton

Jay smiled then flipped his phone over to avoid looking at it even more. He knew he needed to give her space, but he really was worried about her and wanted to know she was comfortable. Had she done yoga like she wanted? Did she start a painting? Did she leave the apartment at all? Has she ordered lunch yet?

"So, still busy?"

Jay glanced up at Kevin pulling a chair over next to him. He chuckled, "What do you need?"

"Just wondering how Hailey is settling in," Kevin answered.

"Well, it's been about twenty-four hours, so check back in a couple days," Jay said and raised an eyebrow.

"And last night?"

Jay bit his lip then sighed and sank down in his chair slightly. "Between us, it was kind of rough," he said under his breath, "She cried for a while. I think it's all just…a lot."

Kevin frowned and nodded.

"I don't know, I want this to work out, I want her to get back on her feet, but it's not going to happen over night," Jay continued, "I don't think I'll even feel better until that piece of dirt is locked away for a very long time."

"I don't blame you," Kevin sighed. He rubbed his chin then quietly admitted, "I'm worried. I get that it's standard to have a trial and at least he was denied bail, but come on, you cannot say he didn't try to kill her."

"I know," Jay said through gritted teeth.

The week before, after they had closed Hailey's case, there was a quick arraignment to determine the next steps. Jay hadn't been allowed to attend per Trudy's orders, but Kevin and Kim had gone with her to listen and pass the information along to everyone else. Tarik was being charged with attempted murder, assaulting a police officer, and domestic assault. According to Kim, he'd looked rather pale as everything was being stated, but suddenly became confident and pleaded not guilty at attempted murder. The lawyer had said it could be seen as a stretch, so she wasn't surprised, she just took it as a win that he pleaded guilty to the other two charges. It led to being denied bail and waiting in the jail until the official trial began. They were told to stay hopeful.

When all was said and done, they needed to prepare for a trial in the coming weeks that Hailey and Jay were going to attend in order to share their version of events. Personally, he was not looking forward to it at all and felt nerves in the pit of his stomach any time he thought of it. He didn't know how Hailey felt because she just kept saying "I'm fine" whenever she was asked about it.

It was definitely something he continuously heard her say in the back of his mind the entire night as he held her in bed.

With all this time on her hands now, it added to his worry about what she was doing at the apartment. She was being left alone to her thoughts, so the idea that she could be scaring herself with potential outcomes scared him in turn. All he wanted was to reassure her and protect her…this felt like something he was going to struggle with until the trial was over.

There was no way she was fine, but he was going to entertain the idea for her to give her some sort of space. They were going to be physically close for the time being, he might as well give her some emotional space.

Maybe he even needed it as well. While going to work and leaving Hailey on her own was going to be tough, it at least gave them some time apart to deal with their feelings, whatever they may be, on their own. They went from spending all of work together and then having separate homes to quite the opposite. He wasn't a relationship expert, but he was pretty sure having alone time was important.

It'd at least give them something to talk about each night when they were back together.


Upon returning home, he was greeted by the scent of tomato sauce the second he started unlocking the door. He was shocked given how it was pushing 7:30pm, but wasn't going to deny a hot meal.

"Hailey?" he said as he walked inside.

She came out of the bedroom with a wide smile on her face dressed in a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. "Hey!" she greeted, "How's spaghetti sound?"

Jay raised an eyebrow and chuckled as he slipped his jacket and shoes off. "You realize the 50s wife jokes were jokes, right? I was not expecting this," he said.

Hailey waved a hand and led the way into the kitchen. "I wanted to make you a 'thank you' meal and this was my best option. I hung out here for the day, but I'll go get some groceries tomorrow."

Jay watched her check the sauce as he settled onto a bar stool then asked, "What'd you do besides cook?"

"I did do yoga," she replied and pulled the pot off the stove, "It was a little rough, especially with this," she held up her broken wrist and sighed, "Plus my ribs made it difficult. I'm not as flexible as I used to be."

Jay swallowed a thought that quickly crossed his mind regarding her flexibility and reminded himself of his decision at the hospital to not make any sort of move until she was in a better place. He simply nodded and accepted the food she began ladling onto his plate.

"I'll admit, I ended up doing a beginning yoga class for middle-aged people on YouTube," Hailey continued with a roll of her eyes, "It was embarrassing, but at least I was moving and no one saw. No one even knows besides you, so will you keep my secret?"

He weakly laughed and nodded. "Safe with me," he reassured.

Hailey smiled at perhaps the double-meaning of his words then served herself. "How was work?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing huge," he said with a shrug, "Typical day."

"I want to hear all about it," Hailey said and shook her head, "I might have been content here, but I really am missing work. Tell me everything."

Jay took a bite of spaghetti and debated what to say before launching into a story from earlier that day when he'd impressed himself with a quick disarm. Hailey hung onto his every word and smiled along, even laughing occasionally, at his excitement. She finished eating before him, but didn't move from the island. Instead, she pushed her plate to the side and rested her elbow on the counter so that she could lean against her palm as she listened while he talked and ate.

He ended up finishing not long after, and yet neither moved from their places. The stools weren't the most comfortable, but the conversation was. Suddenly, Jay realized he wasn't seeing all the bruises and healing bruises across her face, he was seeing his friend and his partner and someone he loved. Hailey Upton wasn't broken at all, which was very clear now. She was still the same Hailey as before, now she just lived with him.

And that felt really good.