[[Sorry for the delay, but this chapter wasn't easy to write, somehow. Hopefully the length makes up for it.

Chapter title - Jupiter by Donna Missal]]

After that day, Alicia waited for Jay to reach out to her. And she waited. She didn't want to call him and bother him in his work. She saw the victims who were completely fucked up from that drug and understood that Intelligence needed to find who was behind it. Hell, she wanted them to find those people who had ruined others. But still she felt a ball of disappointment grow slowly in her, as three days passed and she neither got a message nor a call from him. She tried not to focus that much on it, but instead went home immediately from her shifts to spend time with Nadia. She had to admit that she liked having a roommate – a lot. Not only was Nadia funny and kind, but also someone who got her because she's been through similar stuff, or worse. Alicia found herself opening up to her way sooner than she'd expected. Being a victim of any sort of assault, it was a huge difference whether someone looked at one pitiful or unphased.

And Nadia was easy to be around. On their first evening, they agreed to be honest about whether they wanted company or alone time. So, after all, having a roommate felt like an enhancement.

"Do you plan on going back to criminology classes?", Alicia asked her one night when they did the dishes together.

"Yeah, I do. I just don't know if I can go back full, you know? Working for Intelligence and go to those classes was a lot and I don't know… if I can do that right now."

"I see. I wish I could help with some advice, but all I can say is, if you put too much on your plate too soon, you'll regret it real fast. But if you ever need me, like for cooking dinner if it's getting late for you, or anything, I'll be there for you."

Nadia nodded, then put down the dish towel and pulled Alicia in for a hug. "I'm so happy to live here with you, you're already doing so much for me."

Allie held her tight for a few moments. "I'm happy you're here, too."

The following days were uneventful. At the end of the shift, Alicia changed from her workwear to black jeggings, an oversized grey shirt and brown lace-up boots. She put on a black denim jacket and as she grabbed her bag, she heard her phone ring. It was an unknown number again.

"Hello?"

Again, there was silence. Then, someone clearing their throat, before she heard a familiar voice she never expected to hear again, say hello.

"Wes?", she asked, dumbfounded.

After a couple of seconds of both of them not saying a thing, she heard his voice say her name, in a tone of voice she couldn't really assess.

Before he could say anything more, she hung up. A rush of panic flooded her body and she sat down on one of the benches. Quickly, she turned her phone on silent, so that she wouldn't hear him call her again. In that moment she was so full of adrenalin, she didn't even think about blocking his number, she just threw the phone in her bag and got up to go home. To not deal with it now, not here.

Why did the guy who mistreated her, call her again? Did he know she was in Chicago? Did he plan on apologizing again? Sure, he tried to reconnect with her a few times after she cut him off, but there hadn't been a single thing since she had announced that she was about to leave town. And she didn't tell him where she'd go. Even if, why would he call her, if she was miles upon miles away? Her brain was unable to gather any rational thoughts.

As she walked down the hallway, she saw that Gabby and Sylvie were waiting for her, and quickly relaxed her face, to appear as normal as possible.

"Hey", Gabby said, "you good?"

"Yeah. Just tired."

"I just wanted to tell you something. I was just on the phone with my brother. He said they know who is behind the OD's we had the past couple days. He said it's a bigger thing, but they're on it. They got a lot of pills off the street so far."

"Oh, thank who ever y'all believe in", Alicia sighed. Those two dead teens were heavy on her mind since then. Hearing that there was justice, made her feel lighter. Which made the roller coaster of feelings in her even worse. Focus on that positive thing, she reminded herself.

They started walking out together.

"So, how about we celebrate that at Molly's later?", Sylvie suggested, and at first, Allie was temped to decline, and just lay in bed listening to music, but she knew it would just end up with her overthinking that phone call, so she said: "Great idea! Maybe we can grab something to eat before that, what do you guys think?"

She heard Gabby chuckled next to her when they walked down the gateway of the department. "Um, honey, I think you got other plans. See you next shift, I say."

"Huh?" Alicia looked up, just to see Jay Halstead standing at the side of the road, leaning against his car. "Oh, yeah… Looks like I do. See ya, ladies!"

She waved at her two colleagues as they walked towards their cars, as she headed towards Jay.

"Hey, there", she greeted him.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get back to you earlier", he said, opening up his arms for a hug, she happily received. "But the case was intense, we were working on it overtime. So, I thought, maybe I can make up to it if I pick you up and we have dinner?"

Alicia smiled at him. "That's a great idea. I'm starving. And I just heard from Gabby that you got a lot of shit off the streets."

Jay gave her a crooked smile. "Yeah, it's a step in the right direction. Keeps a lot of kids safe, we hope. So, any wishes for dinner? I'm not the best cook I admit, but I'm happy to give it a try."

"Honestly, I'm a bit done, so you could serve me bread and butter and I'd be happy."

He opened the passenger door for her. "Luckily for you, I have a better idea."

The better idea turned out to be take away from an Asia restaurant. Half an hour later, they sat down on the couch in Jay's apartment, eating rice with steamed vegetables and peanut sauce.

"Tell me how your day was", Jay said between bites. "Why are you so done?"

Alicia wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Okay, first of all – great choice. That stuff is so good! And yeah, let me say it like that. The reason I'm all fresh and bathed after a 24 hours shift, is that I had, indeed, to shower. Because someone vomited on me."

Jay tried to hold back a laughter with his mouth full. "Oh, damn."

"Yeah, a guy my age, drunk out of his mind, his fiancé embarrassed as hell. And… I have a bit of a hard time, with those OD's, you know? I mean we responded to two teenagers with their life ahead of them, I did everything I could, and now they're gone."

I could've ended like them, she thought, but didn't say out loud. The knot in her stomach grew again. Not now, she thought, and cleared her throat before he could say something. She looked up from her food. There was a soft expression on his face, his green eyes looking over her face, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Anyway, good thing there's less of that stuff out there that kills people."

"Yeah, but the sooner we get everyone in the system, the better", Jay said, "And, um, I talked to Will, and he said there was nothing more you could've done, they just had taken too much."

Alicia nodded silently, thankful for his reassurance. They continued eating. When she scraped together the last pieces of rice, she asked, "And how are you?"

"I'm good."

They both put down the takeaway boxes at the same time.

"That's all?", she asked, laughing.

Jay chuckled. "Yeah, my day today was not more than 'we got the bad pills', and I just told you that story." While talking, he got up, picked up the boxes and went to the kitchen. He came back with two beers.

"Oh, thanks, just what I needed! Cheers!"

"Cheers!" They kept eye contact while taking the first sip. She felt a shiver run down her spine. Damn, how were his eyes so green, his gaze so intense. Suddenly, she felt the attraction to him and that made her curse internally. As much as she wanted to talk to him and help him, she also had the urge to touch him.

She put her bottle down and lifted her hand, carefully touching the skin on his face. "I see, the bruises are gone", she whispered, letting her fingers wander down to his lips that were ripped before. She felt him gasp, his eyelids were fluttering for a second. And the fact that her touch did something to him, made her go in for a kiss. When their lips touched, he raised his arms to cup her face with his hands. He deepened the kiss, pulling her in just a little closer. She let her hand glide down from his face to his chest, the other one found its place at the back of his neck, right where his hairline started.

"Hey", he whispered against her lips in between kisses, "you let me know if you don't like something, or don't want something I do."

"I will", she said under her breath. "Same goes for you", she added. They looked each other in the eye, their faces just an inch apart. She could feel his breath on her skin and suppressed a shiver, before kissing him again. This time, she realized, she didn't even feel a sprinkle of panic in her. Quite the opposite, she couldn't even think about leaving right now. When his lips opened again, she slid her tongue into his mouth, meeting his. He could hear a low growl come from him, as he wrapped one arm around her. The other one wandered up to her neck, carefully touching it. She still stopped him by gently pushing away his hand. "Not the neck, please", she whispered, not wanting to think about the why. He nodded and let his hand sink down to her thigh. She was he didn't apologize but just did what she asked. For a second, she let herself think about what if he liked obeying her orders, and her arousal got so overwhelming she pulled away. Jay looked at her, asking "everything okay?"

She nodded and couldn't help but smile. "It's just… wow."

"Yeah", he said, "same. – But we do this your pace, okay? It's your call when to stop. No matter when."

She kissed his cheek, towards his lips. When she stopped, he too lowered his head and whispered, "Is kissing your neck fine, or is that zone just off-limits."

She giggled as his breath tickled her. "No, that is fine." She supressed a sigh when he didn't do as announced, but instead wrapped his arms around her a little tighter. She closed her eyes, trying everything to embrace this moment, she took in his scent, the feeling of his upper body against hers, only separated from two layers of fabric. She could stay like this forever.

"Can you just hold me for a little while?", she asked softly, and before she could finish her question, Jay leaned back on the sofa, gently pulling her with her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and after a few moments, he laid his head on hers, placing a kiss on her hair. They both remained silently like that, for what could have been minutes or hours.

"I told you I'm good", Jay said, suddenly. "But that's not really the truth."