I decided to come with one more chapter even though the reviews weren't many, I'll let you pick up the pace of this story. Thanks to those who reviewed, followed and favorited.
Chapter 2: Trust
Jay Halstead's life has been a nightmare since his last tour. He didn't really plan on many things, nor a future, so when he joined the intelligence team and met Erin Lindsay something changed. He doesn't want to go there, he can't, he promised to be professional but she was messing with him but he decided to keep it to himself.
"Hey" Lindsay calls him. It was late afternoon and they were on a case. She stares at him, she doesn't say anything, but he feels that look was a request for her to join him.
"What did you find out?" He approaches her from behind, very close to her neck and the approach makes him smell her, her perfume enters her bowels and when he exhales his breath touches her neck and all her hairs stand up. Concentrate. They mentally tell themselves.
"Yeah...hm" She clears her throat. "Look at this, we need to monitor these cameras." She tells him and he nods pulling an unsupported chair next to her desk, there was no need, but he sat as close as he could to her and they watched the cameras. They really needed someone from computer science to do this work for them.
A long time passes when Jay observes a suspicious situation.
"Are you seeing?" he asks without looking at her.
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking?" She responds, her eyes focused on the suspects' action.
"Yes, we have to warn Voight" He says and they stand up.
"Everyone, get ready!" Voight says as his detectives detail their findings. They go down to the garage and grab their vests and start getting ready.
"You were smart." Lindsay approaches Halstead.
"I always am." He scoffs. "As these moments are always frequent, you will need to detail." he asks tucking his vest in the back, his smart-ass smile gracing his lips. Erin can't help but smile too.
"Okay, you are an idiot." She smiles and looks at him fastening his vest. "So smart he can't even get his vest on properly." Her hand quickly went to the back, taking a part of the vest and holding it tightly to him.
"What's up? I know how to fasten my vest really well." He says, but not caring what she's doing for him.
"No, you weren't reaching the back, you were going to get stuck." She says and he doesn't complain.
"Let me see…" He pulls hers. "Loose just like mine, so I don't think you can complain about the. way I'm holding. Turn around." He says and she does, he lets go and steadies him and climbs into the handles. Their fingers gently run down her neck, Erin shivers and it feels like an electric shock goes through them. He quickly arrests and Voight orders them to leave.
The first two weeks flew by to Halstead. He and Lindsay discovered that their easy partnership wasn't just an initial moment that passes after a few days. They really are good together as partners, seeing each other day to day, protecting each other has empowered you to trust your life in each other. Since the day they helped each other put on the vest they didn't stop anymore, they both knew there was no need, but at the same time they both did and didn't complain. The friendship was easy between them, it was something natural and they could both swear they weren't that friendly before. It was growing, like all friendships, but theirs was a few levels ahead. Lindsay easily shared stories of how she became a detective, her time on patrol, but leaving aside her past, the dark moments and why she and Voight were so close, she wasn't ready for that yet. .
Jay was the same, he felt safe sharing things he didn't think he'd say to someone he'd met in two weeks, he actually didn't like to talk about it with anyone, but here he was saying he had a bad time in the army, that coming back after losing soldiers was not easy. He didn't reveal much, it was a broader explanation, but it was more than he ever revealed. Normally he avoided the subject and said it was okay, Erin saw that he'd been through hard things, probably a lot worse than she was, and he wasn't going to push it. Maybe that's what makes Jay feel so safe with her, it seems she understands what he wants without him having to say it.
They didn't go out to a bar to rehash their grievances. Within two weeks their relationship was strictly professional. Their conversations were shared in the comfort of the 300 or in the break room. Halstead still avoided going to Molly's and Erin didn't get a chance to buy Jay's drink.
The morning started going straight to the scene of a crash. It was a car accident that left 3 people injured and one dead. The fire department was there and that's when Erin noticed a tension between her partner and one of the paramedics, Gabby Dawson.
"Hey Gabby…how are the girls doing?" Erin approached the ambulance with Jay slightly behind her but out of Gabby's sight.
"Well…just a few bruises but they'll be fine. And did you guys find anything?" She looks at Erin just in time to see her ex approaching.
"They've caught a suspect they're taking to the district now, we have to go." Jay spoke before seeing Gabby and Erin nodded. She looked at him and then at the paramedics, intending to introduce them. "Jay this is Shay and this is..." Erin was interrupted by Jay.
"Gabby, hi" they were a little surprised, but no wonder they ended in a friendly way, but Jay was still avoiding going to Molly's which meant they hadn't seen each other for a while.
"Jay, hi, how long... I see you got into intelligence, I'm glad." She smiled at him, he thanks smiling at her. Before Erin has a chance to ask where they know each other, they are called by Voight and go to the car in silence.
"So…Gabby?" She asks without taking her eyes off the street.
"Dawson's sister I met while working undercover." He tells smiling at her curiosity.
"I know it's Dawson's sister, moaa?" She looks at him with an arch of her eyebrows. She knows she has more, at least she imagines so. He smiles but doesn't respond.
"Was it me or Voight and the firefighters have a past?" He stares at her and knows he has when Erin has stopped laughing, but still responds.
"They had a problem a while ago, but it's already been resolved." She dismisses this subject. "So…Gabby?" She smiles insisting, from the look on his face, it wasn't a problem to ask.
"We dated in my undercover time, it was over after that." He tells, he didn't mind saying, but he was embarrassed.
"I understood." She stops the car in the district. "Cool" She says getting out of the car. Jay follows her.
"Cool?" he asks as they enter the garage.
"You wanted me to say what?" She smiles walking up the stairs. He smiles back, really having nothing to say. As soon as they come in, they go back to work on the case.
It was later when Voight released them. The case hadn't given many leads, so they were leaving. When Jay reached the parking lot he saw Erin and walked over.
"Molly's?" He asks. He decided there was no point in avoiding the place, his relationship with Gabby was good and besides, he wanted to have a moment outside of work with Lindsay.
"You bet." She smiles, those endearing dimples appearing as she gets in the car.
At Molly's, Jay was at ease with his friends and Gabby who was behind the counter. Erin still hadn't arrived, he didn't see her until an hour after they left the district garage. She entered the bar smiling and greeting some people she passed, she had a charming smile and was charismatic, it didn't surprise him that people liked her, it was even strange the fact that Sergeants Voigth and Platt smiled at her, was it a charm? If he was going to kick it, it was the dimpled smile and that glowing look. He noticed that she took longer than the others and was curious to know where she was. Approaching her brought him out of his thoughts, she ordered a beer and waved at him.
"Delayed." He comments taking a sip of his drink trying to disguise her curiosity, but it didn't go unnoticed.
"Personal affairs, detective." She jokes, she wasn't bothered by the curiosity. She sat down on the free bench beside him.
A time passed when they were at the counter drinking and talking to fire house members, Antônio and Jules didn't stay long. He noticed a friend of Erin's, dark and pretty, not as pretty as Erin, he thought when they saw her talking. He found out she was a woman she knew from the patrol and when the woman noticed him she asked Erin to introduce them, so he rose to greet her.
"Jay Halstead" He smiled politely.
"Lydia James" she replied with a smirk. Erin took in the scene and rolled her eyes at how women looked when they saw Jay. It wasn't for that. She thought to herself. Her friend bent down whispering to Erin.
"Are you guys going out? Because you know, he's really hot." She asks looking and smiling at Jay, she knew he heard her.
"Not!" Erin responded quickly. "He's my partner Lydia!" She continued a little louder making Jay hear her, it was not what he wanted to hear, but they are professionals, nothing would happen between them, even if they wanted it when they met. Lydia smiled at what she heard and turned to Halstead.
"Do you date?" She questions.
"Not." He smiled. "Do you want a drink?" He asks. Erin rolled her eyes and stood up
"You can sit here. I'll be right away." She says and without reluctance the woman did. Jay glared at Lindsay to see any remnants of anger or something like that. There was nothing, so he said goodbye to Erin who then said goodbye to the others. It was funny because they learned to communicate just by looking in two weeks. This was new to them.
"Day!" He says when he sees Erin helping herself to coffee in the break room.
"Good Morning!" She turns to him. "Oh, I think someone didn't sleep last night. I thought it would make your mood soar. What was it, wasn't it good?" She scoffs at the tiredness and bad mood evident on his face as he pours himself some coffee. .
"Oh" He turns to her with a teasing smile. "Are you jealous polluted mind?" He plays. "It's not what you're thinking." He takes a sip of coffee and thanks heaven. "I left her at home after Molly's. Nothing happened, I wasn't interested and you know, I'm a gentleman." He looks at her with arched eyebrows. Erin starts to laugh, not quite believing it, but before she can say anything they are interrupted by Willhite informing them of a new clue.
"What happened to the dark gentleman, only if it's…" They both laugh. "...because it looks like you haven't slept since yesterday." She didn't believe his previous words...
"My neighbors just had a baby, and let's say their room is probably next to mine and the wall is really thin, I think they were hitting that baby because he wouldn't stop crying, my God." Jay says putting two fingers to his temples as he watches the traffic. That made Erin laugh.
"Grumpy detective, I think someone doesn't like kids." She scoffs.
"That's not it..." continued Jay "You weren't there, that baby cried for hours nonstop, no, he absolutely cried all night. I didn't know it was possible." He says puzzled. Lindsay's smile grew more and more.
"Get used to it, it's just what babies know how to do." She explains with Jay furious.
"I don't have to get used to it the child isn't mine." He says making them both laugh before they finally reach their destination. Even without meaning to, Erin thought about Jay not sleeping with Lydia. Was he really a gentleman?
Yesterday's case was ended and the man who died was in the army.
"I think I owe you a drink." Erin says approaching Jay's table.
"I remember it was only worth a couple of weeks ago." He fakes a smile, his day was not terribly good and it brought back memories of the army.
"I'm opening a free pass today, your lucky day. You can't miss it." She smiles at him and he realizes what she is doing. This surprised him, this was new to him. He saw that she knew the case had moved him.
"It's bad when you come back and still lose everything, it makes you wonder what you're doing here you know?" They arrived at Molly's and Jay is honest about the case and some of his thoughts. "You have family and you lose them, when you come back you still lose them, when you don't have anyone it doesn't matter and you wonder why not you instead of the other person." This is shocking to Erin.
"I know exactly what you mean, not the army part of course, but wanting you to go instead of someone else. Someone who deserves more than you live." He nods but doesn't say anything because he senses that she hasn't finished. "But you know what? I think in the end, it will all make sense, it will be worth it and then we will look back and think, this is why we survived, this is why we are still here and now it is worth it. " She says this time looking deep into his eyes. "I don't know what that will be, but I think I just need one thing to hold onto and not give it all up." She says and he nods.
"I think you're right. We just have to wait, right?" He stares at her as if she knows everything.
"Right."
The subject went from sad to full of laughs and conversations that completely changed the mood of both.
"You can never overeat" He says and they are both laughing.
Jay accepted Lindsay's drink offer. He normally preferred to be alone at home on days like this, but her standing in front of him showed him that he would love to spend as much time with her as possible. And when they were at the bar he confirmed it. They talked and laughed, for the first time he didn't want to dull the pain with too many drinks and women. For the first time it was just Erin Lindsay. He had a couple of beers while they talked and laughed. He had never felt so good, so at ease and he was grateful for her. They met in a funny conversation about when he was in the army and how bad the food was and how when they had the opportunity to eat something without being canned it made him happy.
"Okay, but mac and cheese isn't really a meal that..."
"Don't judge my mac and cheese. Besides, you've never tasted it, I'm a real Chef." He jokes moving his hands.
"Oh, believe me. That's all I can cook. Plus, it's my favorite dish of all time, wait...the second one, I love tacos, but I thought it was a childish palate..." She explains.
"No, none of that. It's a nice taste. Tacos too." He convinces her. "My second dish is truffles and I like lobster, but this one is more expensive, but I love sushi." He drinks his beer.
"This is going to be a great Halstead partnership as I love sushi." She smiles taking her beer.
"A toast to that then." He clinks his bottle with hers. Their smiles and gazes locked together.
They didn't know what was coming, but they needed to hang on to something and they decided to think that maybe, just maybe their lives would have some ending that was worth all the suffering they've gone through in their lives.
Erin didn't know, but she changed Jay's night. He didn't know if she had any power, but it eased his heart and his torments. It wasn't a perfect night, far from it, aside from having a baby crying, but Erin Lindsay made it one of her quietest nights in a long time.
The weeks passed and they started to team up and don't get it wrong, but their favorite moment was when it was just the two of them. It was different, they could laugh and share the things they didn't know they would be able to talk about. It wasn't by far the darkest parts, but trust was like that, right? It was little by little.
"Ok, looks like you slept through the night, I thought you were in a good mood when you ran after Chavez" Erin says sitting down across from him and handing him a beer. "Don't tell me you disappeared with the baby." She smile.
"The parents decided to move, but lucky for them, I can't promise I wouldn't have done something to him." He jokes, his eyebrows rising and Erin laughing.
"Not you..."
"Hi..." They are interrupted.
"Caitlyn" Erin smiles at her friend.
"Hi, can I join you?" she asks and Erin reluctantly nods. "Hi, my name is Caitlyn." She reaches out to Jay.
"Jay Halstead" He takes her hand and shakes her hand. In less than five minutes they both noticed the woman's intention. Lindsay's cell phone rings and she gets up.
"I have to go, but have fun." She says after the call ends.
"It's all right?" He says wanting to go with her.
"Yes. I have to go somewhere." She warns without going into detail, it wasn't an escape, but she was grateful that Annie had called and asked her to come to her house.
"Alright, let's have fun for you." Caitlyn smiles at Jay.
He forces a because, all he wanted was to go with Erin or have him called on a case. He knew he shouldn't, but the only woman he was interested in dating was Lindsay and she was off limits. Erin wished that once was a date and not just two partners talking. She wanted to be the woman he would take home for the night, but they both knew that wouldn't be possible, so they cleared their minds and said their goodbyes.
A/N: Thanks for reading, I'm not sure you guys are enjoying this story, I can stop with it and bring another one. So if you can comment what you think I will be very happy. Thanks.
