Chapter 3: Hailey's mystery guy?

Jay/Hailey. Set after series 7.

I do not own Chicago PD or any of the characters.

Please, enjoy, read and review :).

For both Hailey and Jay returning to work, for the first week after Kim and Adam's wedding, had been a slightly weird feeling, because not only were they now partners at work, but also in their personal lives. Hailey was certain that Vanessa suspected something, but, as far as Vanessa was concerned, when it concerned Jay and Hailey's behaviour at work and outside of work, everything was normal: Hailey and Jay always spent time outside of work, but she did think that Hailey had met someone at the wedding. She wanted Hailey to invite this mystery guy to their house, but she had never directly mentioned him, so she was just waiting for the perfect moment to ask her friend. Or maybe she should ask Jay; she was sure that he would know, considering he was Hailey's best friend, but it was clear that his loyalty was to Hailey, and he was just as private as she was.

A week passed and Jay and Hailey spent most of their evenings, when they were not on duty, together, either in the city or in Jay's apartment, because Vanessa was in the house she and Hailey shared. This week brought the return of Kim and Adam, as the newly-weds.

As soon as Kim and Adam walked into the bullpen, they were greeted by cheers and congratulations again and, as this was happening, Jay and Hailey shared a secret smile before joining their friends.

"Enough of this mushy stuff!" Platt declared as she walked into the bullpen, walking straight over to the newlyweds. "I come bearing gifts. Your new name tags. A. Ruzek and K. Burgess- Ruzek." She rolled her eyes in a comical way, then remarked, "Let's hope no one is else in this unit gets married, otherwise it'll be a pain in the ass."

Adam laughed, as he admired his new badge. "We're the only ones, Serge. Unless, Kevin, Vanessa- there's something you wanna tell us?" They all broke out into laughter, until Voight told them to all be quiet. They had paperwork to do, so it was a slow day.

After their shift, Hailey and Jay had agreed to go to Molly's with the others, but that was not where they really wanted to be. They wanted to be alone, in either Jay's apartment, or on a date somewhere and the past week had confirmed that they wanted to keep their relationship a secret from tehri friends. Jay bought a drinks for all of the table, including Hailey, and sat next to her, as Kim was telling them about her honeymoon. Both she and Adam looked so happy.

At about 10, Hailey made her excuses, saying she needed to go to bed early because she had a headache and 10 minutes later, Jay left too. Jay leaving Molly's or any social gathering, early was not unusual, because of the moods swings he sometimes had with PTSD, but it was for Hailey and everyone had noticed, including Vanessa. "What's up with Hailey? Why's she leaving so early?" Adam inquired about his ex-girlfriend as he put his arm around his wife.

Kim looked at Kevin, who just shrugged, but that she looked at Vanessa and cried, "You know something! Spill! Vanessa, tell us!"

Vanessa shrugged and laughed before she took a sip of her drink and replied, "She's been acting this way all week, ever since we got back. She's been out at night more and she always looks so happy. I'm guessing she's going to meet this guy now. I think she met him at your wedding, she must have done. Whenever we have the night off, she goes out and doesn't come back until early in the morning, or at all."

"Do you have any idea who it is? Why is she being so secretive about it?" Kim asked, wanting to know all that she could.

"I don't know, but I've noticed a difference. I've been waiting for her to tell me, but maybe I should just ask her, or ask Halstead."

Kevin chuckled at the idea and added, "If you ask him, even if he knows, he won't tell you. They're partners and they always have each other's backs." He paused, then added, "If Hailey has a new man in her life, I'm sure Jay knows. They've been partners for years."

Kim looked at her drink, then took another sip, before musing, "I know Hailey's private, but there weren't that many people at the wedding. If she doesn't want to tell us, that's fine and I respect that. There must be a reason. But we'll put our detective hats on and figure it out."

"All I'll say is this guy clearly makes her very happy. She always comes back from seeing him smiling." Vanessa remarked, remembering how she had found Hailey sneaking back into their house in the early hours of the morning and, from the look in her eyes, she had seen how happy her friend had been.

Adam shrugged and commented, looking at his wife, "I don't know, darlin'. If I found out you were keeping me a secret, I wouldn't feel good about it. Maybe this guy doesn't know he's a secret from us?"

Vanessa shrugged as she took another sip. "He probably doesn't know he's a secret."

After considering for a couple of seconds, Kim remarked, "We all know Hailey's private and maybe her new guy is the same. Maybe he wants Hailey to be quiet about their new relationship, especially if they've only been together for a week. It's new to both of them. I'm sure, if they stay together, Hailey will introduce us to him." They parted for the evening. Voight had given them the weekend off, so they all wanted to make the most of it.

With their free weekend, Hailey and Jay had spend all of their time together, in Jay's apartment, making the most of their time together. Nothing had ever felt as natural and right to either of them and they were both so happy and they wanted to keep it away from their friends and their work. Their relationship was new and neither of them wanted to deal with the jokes and questions that would come. It was about them. It was their time to be together and they wanted it to be perfect.

On the Sunday night, after eating a takeaway and watching films on the TV, Hailey suddenly realised that she needed to go home, so that she could be ready for work tomorrow. Jay groaned and, with his arms around her, pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her body. Grinning, he asked, "Do you have to go? You could wear some of my clothes? That's why you've been doing for the weekend."

Hailey grinned back and laughed, resting her head against Jay's chest. She closed her eyes briefly and allowed her breathing to sink with Jay's, as their chests rose and fell together, before she pulled herself back to reality. She sat up, pulling herself out of Jay's arms. She sighed and replied, "You know I'd love to stay here, but if I turned up to work wearing your clothes, that might look a bit strange, don't you think?"

Jay titled his head and shrugged. "I guess. You look great in my shirts and sweet pants." A grin spread across his face.

"You know I do, Detective Halstead." Hailey leaned closer to Jay, her lips capturing his in a soft kiss, a kiss which Jay returned as they held each other close.

Later that evening, Hailey finally arrived home, in her clothes from Friday night, the clothes she had been wearing at Molly's. Vanessa had not seen her for the whole weekend and she had decided that she was going to ask Hailey. She had spent the entire weekend with this mystery guy, so she was clearly serious about him. She was not patient, like Kim, and she and Hailey lived together.

In the kitchen, Hailey was making herself a cup of coffee. Her hair was wet and curly because she had just had a shower and Vanessa walked into the room. "Where have you been all weekend?" When Hailey didn't say anything, Vanessa continued and walked over to her, resting her body against the counter. "You left Molly's early to meet his guy on Friday night and you've spent the whole weekend with him."

Pulling her eyes away from her coffee, Hailey turned to face Vanessa, her blue eyes bright against the blue tiles in their kitchen. "Yes, I was with someone this weekend and, yes, I was with him on Friday night."

Laughing, Vanessa asked, "So, why are you sneaking around? Why didn't you just tell me?"

Hailey pushed her wet hair behind her ears as she replied, "Because we-we want to keep it private. It's new for both of us."

"So you've been at his place this whole time?" Hailey blushed and Vanessa almost squealed. "Hailey Upton, I've never seen you like this! You're so happy. Tell me everything- You met him at Kim and Adam's wedding, right?"

There was a silence as Vanessa sat down at their kitchen table, but Hailey stayed where she was. She smiled and nodded, choosing her words carefully. "We got together at Kim and Adam's wedding." She folded her arms and admitting, "I've never been good at relationships, so I don't want to mess it up." There was not a word there that was a lie, but it was not the whole truth.

"You won't, girl! I've never seen you like this. He must be some guy, to make you that happy!" Vanessa laughed again and added, "You should invite him to Molly's some time, or round here. I want to meet the guy who's stolen Hailey Upton's heart. Pretty soon, I want all of the details!" Without another word, Vanessa left Hailey alone, leaving Hailey alone with her thoughts.

Vanessa words were echoing in her head. The guy who's stolen Hailey Upton's heart. The truth was that Jay and Hailey had held each other's hearts for years now, but it had only been that night that they had finally admitted it and given into their feelings, allowing them to have their interrupted moment, to finally be together.

The next day, when Jay and Hailey were surveying a suspect, Hailey turned to Jay and told him, "Vanessa practically grilled me last night, when I got back from yours. She was convinced that I met you at Kim and Adam's wedding, so I let her believe that."

Jay turned to face her, with a smirk on his face as he looked at her. "That's not totally a lie, is it? We did get together there."

"That's what I thought. She wants me to invite you to Molly's sometime."

That made Jay laugh and he shook his head and his hand brushed against Hailey's briefly before he replied, "Not yet. Just tell her your mystery guy is very shy." He paused, then asked, "What else did Vanessa say?"

Moving her hat down slightly, Hailey replied, as she shrugged, "She said she's never seen me this happy." She paused, then added, "Vanessa also said you've stolen my heart."

Jay's green eyes lit up as she said that and a smile spread across his face. They both knew that if they were not at work, they would be kissing now, but they remained professional and Jay just whispered, "Well, that's the trustiest thing Vanessa's ever said. And it's the same for me, too."