A/N: Happy Monday! I'm really excited for you all to read this one, so I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think :)


He was intermittently knocking on Hailey's door for a minute when he started getting worried.

He had waited another minute before calling her.

After minute three, he knocked again assuming Hailey had been in the bathroom or dozed off.

Anxiety began bubbling in his stomach at the fourth minute, and he was turning to go get her spare key from his apartment when she stepped around the corner from the elevator.

"You came," she said softly.

"You asked me to," he breathed, taking in her appearance as relief flooded his body.

Hailey smiled slightly at him then walked forward to unlock her door. While she fumbled the key in the lock, he noticed her red-rimmed eyes and chips of her new dark purple nail polish missing as if she'd picked at it. He didn't know where she'd been so late at night, but none of it sat well with him if it resulted in her looking like this.

Following her inside the apartment, he took a deep breath as she shrugged her coat off and hung it up in the closet.

"Drink?" she asked quietly.

"Um, no, I'm okay," he replied with a glance to the oven clock noting the time – 12:06am.

She nodded before walking around him to pull a bottle of beer from her fridge. Sitting at the bar, her hands shook while trying to get the top of.

"Want me?" he asked softly and took a step forward.

She shook her head and switched to knocking the top of the bottle to the countertop.

"Hailey," he breathed with another step toward her.

She groaned, but held it out to him.

He bit his lip as he accepted the bottle. He used his shirt to pull the cap off then passed it back to her.

"Thank you," she mumbled before taking a long sip.

"Yeah," he whispered. He breathed in then hesitantly pulled the other barstool out to sit down.

They sat in silence as Hailey drank her beer, but Jay couldn't take his eyes off of her. Her hand was still shaking every once in a while, and he could now see scratch marks near her wrists. Being this close to her, he could see that there were a couple under her jaw as well. It made his blood run cold.

Finally, she whispered, "I went to my mom's for dinner."

Jay blinked and tried to fight any shock that was beginning to show on his face.

Hailey groaned and leaned forward to rest her forehead on her arms crossed on the counter. She sniffled then mumbled, "She texted me and I just…I figured why not?"

"I'm sorry," Jay breathed. His hand twitched on his lap, and he wanted to reach out to comfort her, but he didn't know if that'd be crossing a line.

"I froze again, just like that night," she continued, "It was so simple, just a normal dinner, and it was actually nice, but then…then I said it. I told her what had happened, and she ripped into me." Clearing her throat, she sat up to look at him with tear-filled eyes. "She started lecturing me about what I put myself through and that I should have known better," she said, "That's not fair. It's not fair for her to do that. I was just-I was just starting to heal. M-My face is healed, why-why can't she…Jay."

The second her voice cracked on his name, he closed the distance between them and gathered her in his arms.

"Hey," he whispered in her ear, "I'm here. You're okay. Take a second."

Her chipped nails scraped against his back as she grabbed onto his t-shirt.

"Bed?" he asked softly.

He felt her hot tears hit his neck when she nodded against him.

"All right," he said while standing up with her. He led her to her bedroom where he helped her sit onto the bed before going over to her pillow where he knew her pajamas were waiting. Like he'd expected, his black t-shirt was there balled up with the same pair of sleep shorts he'd found weeks before at her old place. He smiled to himself before walking back to her and handing her the pajamas. "Change, and I'll go grab you a water bottle," he explained.

Before he could walk away, she grabbed his wrist and asked, "Will you stay the night?"

He finally let her see his smile when he replied, "Of course."

"Thank you," she replied quietly with a small smile of her own.

Jay nodded and waited a beat for her to drop her hold on him before walking from the room. In the quiet of the kitchen, he leaned against the counter to steady himself.

He couldn't get Hailey's broken expression out of his mind, and was now determined to fix it in any way possible – starting with getting her a water and staying the night at her place.

Upon finding her obnoxiously large water bottle in the cabinets, he filled it with ice and water to bring back to her. He knocked on the door before stepping in the room where Hailey was just then climbing into the covers.

"I want you to drink this," he said softly while walking over to her.

"It was one beer, dude," Hailey joked.

He chuckled and nodded as he sat on the bed. "I know, but I think the water will help you…" Trailing off, he took a deep breath and tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah," she breathed. She accepted the water bottle and played with the cap of it before taking a sip. Closing her eyes, she breathed in and said, "It hurt. I was beaten and pins were put in my wrist and I was in the hospital, but that hurt. She had no right to do that to me."

"No, she didn't," Jay agreed. He kicked his shoes off then pulled his legs up on the bed.

Hailey took another sip of water before setting the water bottle on her nightstand and pushing the covers down for him. "I thought she'd be happy that her daughter wasn't like her and was able to free herself, but instead she was pissed that I put myself into that situation."

"No, remember, we're not saying that," Jay said as he tucked his feet into the sheets, "This was not your fault."

Hailey sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she mumbled, "Right, sorry."

"Don't have to apologize," Jay said with a shake of his head.

Hailey nodded again and ran a hand through her hair. "I've been working on remembering that, though, and knowing that it wasn't my fault. It was him. He did this to me."

"But he didn't break you," Jay added and gently nudged her shoulder.

Hailey shot him a small smile and whispered, "Thank you."

Jay let the familiar, comfortable silence wash over them for a moment before he carefully asked, "So you were at your mom's all night?"

Hailey shook her head and sighed. "I went for a walk," she explained, "Found a bridge and sat for a while to do some thinking."

Jay's eyes widened, and he couldn't hold back his hissed, "Hailey."

She waved her hand before sighing again and saying, "It was one I'd been to before – just a walking bridge, no cars, so don't worry. I needed fresh air."

Jay sighed as well, but said, "Okay."

Hailey began picking at her nails again as she continued, "I felt bad about what happened between us. I think we did need the space, but I also just…disappeared, and that wasn't fair to you. I'm sorry."

"No, don't do that," Jay said quietly, "I'm the one who should have told you. She had come up a couple times and I choked. I'm sorry."

Hailey nodded slightly and, without looking up at him, whispered, "Did you like it?"

Jay raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Like what?"

"Kissing her."

Jay closed his eyes and dropped his chin to his chest. There had been that small part of him that had liked when she'd kissed him and given him attention after the weeks of listening to Hailey in her relationship with Tarik, but the bigger part had been incredibly disappointed that it was a girl different than the one he'd truly wanted.

He could tell her 'no,' yet that'd still include lying by omission and that's what got them into this mess, so he swallowed his pride and admitted the truth: "At first, yeah, but she wasn't you and there was no way-"

"She wasn't me?" Hailey interrupted.

Jay glanced up at her now watching him and said, "Yeah. I…she wasn't what I wanted. Everyone knew it too, it's why they told me to go after her, they thought…they thought it'd help me get over you."

Hailey's eyes got even bigger as her lips gaped slightly. She slowly shook her head and gripped onto the comforter.

"It was dumb," Jay mumbled and looked away again, "It didn't work. It was never going to work."

"Why?" Hailey asked so softly he almost didn't hear her.

He smirked and shrugged. "I liked you," he said then corrected, "I still like you."

It was out there now. What he had wanted to say back on the Columbus Bridge was so easily summarized in seven words, and, just like that day, he was filled with many nerves.

He was just silently begging Hailey to say something. He needed her to talk even if it was to kick him out of her bed. The longer she stayed quiet, the longer it seemed like admitting his past feelings had been a mistake. He didn't want it to be a mistake, but maybe it was. Maybe he'd been right all along and should have kept his feelings hidden even longer.

But then his nerves were broken away when Hailey's hand slipped into his line of sight and rested on his knee. He glanced up at her to see her staring at him without blinking. It was almost unnerving to see her so close with such big eyes, but he held her eye contact. He wanted her to know he was serious. He did like her then, and he still liked her now. Nothing about the last few days or even weeks had changed that.

"I like you too," she whispered. She squeezed his knee then scooted closer to him. With a small smile tugging at her lips, she shook her head before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tightly.

He closed his eyes again and leaned into her. Slipping a hand up in her hair, he didn't even want to say anything.

She really was his Hailey now.

He could feel it.


Settling into the bed together once again felt like coming home. They didn't talk much after their confessions, so Jay didn't know where they stood, but in the moment, he didn't care. He was in a bed with Hailey again and everything felt right in the world once more.

Holding her in his arms, he slowly twirled her hair around his fingers while occasionally rubbing the back of her neck. In turn, she drew simple patterns and swirls along his chest and breathed slowly against his throat from her curled up position.

Together, they slowly fell asleep with Jay trying his hardest to stay awake so the last thing he would hear would be her soft breaths. Just like it had been for those few weeks, it was the most calming thing that could have put him to sleep.


Jay woke to Hailey's pointer finger gently tracing along his jaw. He smirked and turned his face toward her to whisper, "Good morning."

"Good morning," Hailey whispered back with a smile on her face.

If there was a hint of nervousness on her face, Jay was certain there was some on his as well.

Probably seven hours before, they'd both admitted their feelings to the other, but they'd left it at that. It seemed easier to live in the moment than confront the complexities of their relationship, and he really didn't mind.

Holding Hailey all night was what he'd needed to calm any anxieties from the past few days.

But now here they were and the morning light made it scary all over again.

Hailey seemed to be thinking the same thing because she slowly breathed in then whispered, "So…"

"So," Jay chuckled quietly and reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face.

"I don't…I don't trust myself to know how to handle a relationship right now," Hailey said softly, "But I trust you, and I know that when we do do this for real…it'll be so good." She chewed her lip for a moment before asking, "Is that okay?"

Jay cleared his throat while sitting up slightly. "Hailey," he began, "You and I, we'll figure it out. No matter when we move on with each other or what exactly we do, it'll be okay."

Hailey smiled slightly and nodded. "Never off the table," she whispered.

"Never," Jay said with a nod of his own. He let his fingers brush against the side of her face and slip back into her hair. Rubbing his thumb over her temple, he added, "I trust you too, okay? And I trust that we'll figure that out. I know that now. I thought I lost you, but-"

"Lost me?" Hailey repeated softly, "Jay, you could never lose me. I might have needed to figure myself out, but I was always planning on coming back to you. You're you…how am I supposed to leave you?"

Jay couldn't help but smile as he nodded. He found himself lost in her eyes for a moment before whispering, "And you'll never lose me either. Promise."

Hailey smiled back at him then scooted up toward him. She hesitated before leaning forward to press a soft kiss to his cheek. Her hand followed with her fingers lightly slipping around his neck to play with the back of his hair.

Jay closed his eyes for a quick moment soaking her in. Weeks before, she'd kissed his cheek in the bar and he'd felt rather insulted. Now, she kissed his cheek and it wasn't a bad thing at all – it was Hailey and her letting him know she was starting to get ready.

They were going to have to put in the work and be gentle with each other, but it was going to be incredibly worth it.

Anything with Hailey always was.


Minutes ticked by with Hailey's fingers carding through his hair while his own twisted in hers until his stomach grumbled between them.

Hailey laughed at the redness rushing to his cheeks and lightly poked his nose with her free hand. "You're hungry," she stated, "Come on, I'll make you waffles."

"Waffles?" Jay asked through a soft laugh as they both sat up completely, "What happened to eggs and omelets?"

"Did we not tell each other something rather important last night and this morning?" Hailey countered and raised an eyebrow.

"We did," Jay said slowly.

"Then come on," Hailey said while getting out of bed. She put a hand out and wiggled her fingers. "Let me make you breakfast."

Jay smiled at her while reaching out for her hand. Together, they walked hand-in-hand to her kitchen just slightly bigger than the one they'd previously shared. "How do you like the place?" he asked.

"Oh, it's not bad," Hailey answered as she dropped his hand and began looking through her cabinets, "It's bigger than yours, so the extra space is a new thing."

Jay laughed and looked around the living area. "It's really nice, though."

Hailey nodded and pointed to the wall to her right. "That extra bedroom's great too."

"Lucky you," Jay said. He wandered over to the open door to look inside. She'd set up the room like an office, but she also had a little paint studio in the corner. Her old easel was currently holding a canvas with a painting that looked very familiar to him.

"Jupiter?" he called out.

Hailey softly laughed and said, "Yeah. I was trying to do most of it by memory, but I did have to look up some pictures online. It's not finished yet."

Jay smiled and stepped into the room. He couldn't tell that it wasn't finished; it looked perfect – along with the other paintings around the room. It felt like stepping into Hailey's mind: there were a few sketches done of people he thought might have been the members of Intelligence, but they were rather light so he wasn't certain, a handful of small canvases were covered in lifelike flowers, some larger paintings were done of various parts of the Chicago skyline, and there were a couple other landscape drawings – and of course Psári was sitting on a shelf nearby. It was all perfect.

He could have stayed in there forever had Hailey not then snuck up behind him and placed a hand on his back. "What do you think?" she asked softly.

Jay hummed before turning to face her. "I think you're talented," he said.

Blushing, Hailey smiled and looked down at her feet.

"I also think that now would be a perfect time to cash-in that at-home date where you teach me to paint."

Jay wet his lips as he watched her process his words. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about that last night together often. He could so clearly remember holding Hailey against his chest and the feeling of her fingers intertwined with his after having hot chocolate together. He'd thought about their promise of an eventual date many times, and by the look of Hailey's Jupiter painting, it looked like she had too.

And based on the look on her face once she looked up, his assumption seemed right. With a large smile, she said softly, "I'd like that."

"Great," Jay replied.

Hailey let out a soft laugh then grabbed his hand. "Come on," she said, "We'll eat our waffles, go to work, then talk about painting later. Deal?"

"You're coming back to work today?" Jay asked as she tugged him from the room, "I thought you weren't coming for another two days."

"Got cleared by my doctor yesterday," she explained. She gently pushed him toward a barstool then walked around the counter to slide a plate of waffles closer to him. Passing him a bowl of berries, she said, "You okay with that?"

Jay wasn't oblivious to the double meaning behind her words: was he okay spending so much time with her again and was he okay with her returning to her previous life without interfering?

He sucked in a breath because of course he wanted to spend time with her, but he really was worried about her being back in the field. Just thinking this, though, stopped him in his tracks. Hailey had made it clear the other day that he needed to trust that she could take care of herself both at work and at home. This was his first step to letting her do just that.

"Yes," he stated before accepting the berries, "I'm okay with that. I trust you, remember?"

It was the answer Hailey wanted to hear. She visibly relaxed as she walked back to join him at the counter. Sitting next to him, she let out a breath and began putting butter on her waffles. "Thank you," she said softly, "Your support means the most to me."

"I'll make sure to mention that to Platt," Jay chuckled.

Hailey shoved his arm and said, "Don't you dare."

He laughed harder and shook his head. "I wouldn't, but piss me off and I'll rethink that."

Hailey smiled at him as she joked, "Are you blackmailing me?"

"Maybe I am," Jay said with a shrug and a smirk.

"You suck," Hailey mumbled, but was clearly trying not to laugh.

Jay took a bite of his waffle before sending a wink in her direction and nudging her shoulder. She finally let out her laugh and shoved him back.

He continued eating enjoying their silence before he couldn't hold it in anymore and said, "Hailey."

"Hmm?" she hummed.

He glanced over at her squirting whipped cream on her waffle and smiled. Breathing in for a second, he then said, "I'm glad to be back."

She looked up with her own smile and replied, "Me too." Holding up the whipped cream can, she simply raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. In response, he laughed and nodded, holding out a finger. "Oh, no," Hailey laughed as she shook the can, "Open up, Halstead."

"I'm not doing that," he said through a laugh.

"Come on, don't be lame," she teasingly whined, "Watch." Opening up her mouth, she quickly squirted a dollop on her tongue and said, "See? It's good. You need to live a little."

"I live perfectly fine," Jay scoffed.

"Oh, okay," Hailey laughed. Before he could reply, she squirted the whipped cream on his nose and shrugged. "There you go," she said with a smirk.

Jay blinked before laughing with her and wiping his nose off with his hand. "Very funny," he chuckled.

"Eat it," Hailey said, "For me. Come on."

Jay sighed, but with one glance to her big eyes, he gave in and licked the whipped cream from his finger.

Smiling, Hailey asked, "Good, right?"

"Sure is something," Jay chuckled.

Hailey laughed and shoved his arm again. She squirted one last bit of whipped cream on her waffles before going back to eating them.

Watching her, Jay felt the last bit of stress he'd had wash away. They really did make it.


At the district, Voight easily agreed to Hailey being Jay's partner again. Jay didn't know what he would have done if a different decision had been made, but thankfully he didn't need to figure it out.

If he'd been worried about how Hailey would handle work, he was proved wrong. She slid so easily back into work that it felt like no time had passed at all. He even heard Vanessa whispering to Kim in the break room that she was really impressed by Hailey. It made him smile to himself and puff up with pride – of course Hailey was impressive; she was damn good at her job.

They were halfway through the day when she relaxed in his passenger seat and smiled to herself.

"What?" he asked.

She shook her head then said, "Feels so good to be back."

Jay smiled at her and nodded. "Back where you belong."

"By your side?" she asked skeptically.

He chuckled and shook his head. "No," he said, "But that is nice. I just mean at work. You're good at this job, Hailey. You belong out on the streets helping people. It's where you shine."

She blushed in response then looked down at her hands. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Course," he said.

She lightly picked at her nails before sticking her hands under her thighs and taking a deep breath.

"Nervous habit, huh?" Jay said with his eyes on the road.

"Yeah," she answered softly.

"Shame, kind of liked the color," Jay said.

Hailey glanced up at him and raised an eyebrow.

He smirked to himself, but said nothing as he drove.

She pulled her hands back out and examined her nails before admitting, "I wasn't sure what to do. I'm not one for bright colors, but Kim insisted we go and it did feel good to wash that hand. It was pretty gross."

Jay laughed and nodded. "Always is," he said.

"Purple was better than pink," Hailey continued, "Plus it's pretty dark. I'm just not a bubblegum pink girl."

"Not a Barbie girl?" Jay asked.

"No, but I did have a doll house and I loved it," Hailey said, "It was one of those plastic ones with the blue roof. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Maybe, but I was not into dolls, so I'm sorry," Jay chuckled, "I did have cars and some G.I. Joes."

"Oh, of course," Hailey laughed and nodded, "I wouldn't expect anything else. Is that what pushed you to the army?"

"Um…" Jay swallowed against a lump in his throat. He hadn't expected a conversation about Hailey picking her nails and playing with dolls to lead to talking about 18 year-old him deciding to 'throw his life away' in his dad's words. It wasn't that he wanted to hide his past from Hailey, but it was never something he was keen to talk about no matter who he was having the conversation with.

Luckily for him, he turned the corner and the warehouse they were about to check out was in sight, so whatever conversation about the army they might have had wouldn't have any real time.

Hailey caught on to his silence and said softly, "Sorry. I didn't mean-"

"No, no," he said and waved her off as he drove into the parking lot, "Don't be sorry. Just wasn't expecting to talk about this right now. Maybe later, okay?"

Hailey seemed unconvinced, but she still nodded and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Maybe," she repeated, "If you want."

Jay shot her a small smile then parked the car. Nodding back, he turned the car off and slipped his seatbelt off.

Hailey grabbed her water from his console to take a sip. As she finished it off, she smiled and picked up her hair tie from the cup holder. She held it out and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

"Put it on," she said softly.

"Hailey," he chuckled, "It's yours."

"This one's always been yours," Hailey said. She waited a beat only for him to do nothing, so she reached over for his right hand. Holding it in hers, she slipped the hair tie on his wrist and said, "There. Always with you, remember? For anything you need." She squeezed his fingers before dropping his hand and hopping down from the truck leaving him in the silence of the cab.

He watched her confidently walk up to the building then shook his head. Glancing down at his wrist with the light yellow hair tie around it, he couldn't help but smile before getting out of the car.

His Hailey was something else.


The rest of the work day went rather fast. Everything felt simple and flowed together like no time had passed at all since Hailey had last worked for real. She had such an ease about her as she worked, that Jay truly felt proud of her every moment.

She seemed to be enjoying herself as well, at least until she collapsed into the passenger seat at the end of the day and said, "That was exhausting."

Jay chuckled as he drove away. "Need some time alone tonight then?"

Hailey rolled her head to look at him before asking, "Did you have something else in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know," Jay said quietly, now slightly nervous that maybe Hailey hadn't been on the same wavelength as him, "I just thought we could hang out a little, maybe you could show me how to paint Jupiter or we could watch a movie together."

Hailey smiled and said, "I'd love either of those options."

Jay relaxed and nodded, saying, "Okay, cool."

In response, Hailey put her hand on the console while keeping her eyes trained on him. Without even looking away from the road, Jay knew exactly what she wanted, so, with a smile on his face, he placed his hand on hers and intertwined their fingers.

Hailey gave him a soft squeeze before turning her gaze to the streetlights passing by.

Jay still didn't know where they stood – just friends, partners at work, dating, former roommates, neighbors? – but he realized in that moment that he didn't care. The truth was that they were perhaps all of those things rolled into one, and he was completely okay with that. Her hair tie was back around his wrist, and she proved that she'd never stopped wearing his t-shirt to bed. They were always going to carry a piece of the other no matter the situation, and it felt so damn good.

They split once they reached the apartment building with Hailey taking the elevator to her floor while Jay took the stairs to his. They promised to meet back at Hailey's in half an hour after having a chance for a quick meal and a shower.

Despite knowing that it was his Hailey, Jay was aware that she wasn't just Hailey anymore. She was Hailey – his maybe girlfriend – so if he spent an extra couple minutes drying off his hair and making sure he was wearing clean clothes that smelt like fresh laundry, he didn't care.

Walking up to Hailey's apartment in the same sweats he'd worn upon finding her beaten in her old condo felt oddly satisfying. Everything had felt so dead-end that night, but now here they were. They had survived.

He was still having a hard time even looking at that once blood-stained white t-shirt, though.

Pushing thoughts of that damned night aside, he knocked on Hailey's door and held his breath until she answered.

Wearing his Blackhawks hoodie over a pair of leggings he'd seen countless times over the past few weeks, she answered the door with a smile and pulled his hand before even saying anything. "Hey," she greeted while leading him into the second bedroom.

"Hi," he laughed, "Are we just getting right into it?"

"Might as well," Hailey said and gently pushed him into a chair next to her desk, "It's my turn to boss you around, right? Show you up?"

Jay laughed harder and watched her put a canvas and pallet of paint in front of him. "I guess it is," he said.

Hailey smiled and pulled a chair over to sit next to him before saying, "Let's see it."

"What?" he scoffed, "You didn't tell me anything."

"I want to see what I'm working with," Hailey said, a hint of a smirk playing at her lips.

"Okay," Jay said as he rolled his eyes. She didn't seem to be budging, though, so he hesitantly picked up a paintbrush, dipped it in orange paint, then drew a circle on the canvas.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that Hailey winced, but she stayed quiet and continued watching him.

"Um," he whispered. Staring at the paint, he tried figuring out what exactly to do next with his mouth gaping slightly. He decided on filling in the circle with the same color causing Hailey to shake her head and put her hand on his.

"Hold on," she said, "You're doing it wrong."

"How can I be painting wrong?" he countered.

Hailey smiled and shook her head. "You need to keep your strokes in the same direction," she explained, "Like this." She then slowly helped him move his hand along the canvas while saying, "See how all the lines are going in the same direction? It'll help us later on, especially since Jupiter has all that dimension. We should even try to curve the lines to show the sphere."

If Jay hadn't seen her at work about an hour before, he wouldn't have believed this was the same Hailey that came bursting into a bank demanding he leave 'her' crime scene. This Hailey seemed quiet, thoughtful, and clearly creative while the other had been sassy, confident, and, honestly, badass.

She was new, but he loved her all the same.

"You're staring."

"Hmm?" he hummed.

"You're staring at me," Hailey said softly with her hand still on his, "You haven't even been watching the paintbrush. Do I have something on my face?"

"Of course not," Jay said, but still reached up his free hand to cup around her jaw. He brushed his thumb along her chin and explained, "I was just thinking."

Hailey's eyes fluttered for a moment before she softly asked, "About?"

"You and painting," he easily answered, "It looks like it relaxes you."

"Of course it does, I've told you that," she breathed.

"Yeah, but…now I can see it," he replied.

Hailey nodded and looked down at her hand still lazily guiding Jay's along the canvas. Letting go of him, she gently tugged the paintbrush from his hold and said, "It's what kept me sane this past week without you. I hated it." She dipped the paintbrush in red paint before adding a few light lines to the canvas. "I meant what I said in that last text."

Jay blushed slightly knowing exactly what text she was talking about. He'd seen the 'I miss you' text earlier that morning upon going back to his apartment to prepare for the day.

He scooted closer to the table and set his right hand on her thigh. Brushing his thumb over her leggings, he said softly, "I missed you too."

Hailey glanced up at him with a small smile on her face. She placed her hand on his to gently play with the hair tie wrapped around his wrist.

He tilted his head to the side for a moment then stated, "But we're good now."

It wasn't a question: he didn't need to ask her, he just felt it in his gut, and thankfully Hailey seemed to agree.

She nodded and squeezed his hand. Taking a quick breath, she moved closer to him and licked her lips.

"Hailey," he whispered.

"I know," she breathed and brought her other hand up near his face. She hesitated before lightly touching his cheek.

She felt so close to him in that moment - he could feel her soft breath against his lips. Her eyes were still as blue ever framed perfectly with her blonde hair escaping her ponytail. Kissing her would be so easy, but he couldn't do it. He'd love to, this just felt so soon given what had happened that it also felt impossible.

She brushed her thumb once over his cheek then sat back to put her hands in her lap. "Oh," she breathed then laughed softly.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hailey looked at her hands and held one out with a splotch of orange paint on it.

"Really?" he chuckled.

"Sorry," she laughed again.

He smirked then dipped his finger in orange paint just to lightly poke her nose. "Even now," he said.

Her laugh rang through the room as she nodded and said, "I guess we are." She picked up a stray piece of paper towel, but instead of cleaning her hand off, she used it to wipe his cheek before holding it out to him.

Jay smiled and accepted it then wiped his finger off. He then gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist to hold it steady and clean the paint from her palm.

"Being responsible, huh?" Hailey asked.

"Maybe I'm just preparing for later," he answered while wiping the remaining paint from her nose.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

Hailey's smile widened once he finished and tossed the paper towel to the side. "Preparing for what?" she finally asked.

"Well," he started and grabbed her hand again. He intertwined their fingers and said, "I wanted to do this, but I didn't want paint in the way. I'm not one for sticky stuff."

"It's a little gross," Hailey agreed with a nod, but she had a hint of a smile on her face giving away her gentle tease.

"Are you making fun of me?" he asked while holding back a smirk.

Hailey shrugged and said, "Maybe."

He laughed softly and squeezed her hand. "No one likes getting sticky," he said.

"If only you could hear what you're saying," she laughed, "You keep saying it, and my brain is taking me back to eighth grade and every sex joke anyone could come up with."

Jay's smirk finally cracked wide along his face. "Dirty mind, huh?"

"Oh, shush," Hailey said, her cheeks tinged pink, but her face matched his, "You can't tell me you never made jokes like that when you were younger."

"Not at all," he chuckled, "I was the perfect Catholic boy."

Hailey laughed, causing her head to tilt forward against his chest. "Shut up," she said.

"I will not," he said now laughing harder, "I was good."

"Okay," she said with a smile as she straightened up, "If that's the story you want to tell."

Still smiling at her, Jay watched her for a moment then glanced to the painting and said, "Sorry, I guess I'm not a great painter."

"Well, it's a good start," Hailey said, shaking her head. She shifted in front of the desk and grabbed the paintbrush again. "We just need to add some more shape to it."

Unsure, Jay said, "It's a planet; it's a circle."

"But it's made of gas, right?" Hailey asked, "Mr. Astronomer?"

Jay laughed softly and nodded. "Yeah, mostly hydrogen, but there's some helium too."

"Like the balloon?" Hailey continued asking while lightly swirling her brush through all the paint.

"I guess, yeah, but I don't think helium balloons would work there, something about the weight of the gas," Jay explained.

"You're pretty amazing," Hailey said softly without looking up.

"Me?"

"Of course."

Jay breathed in slowly and found himself unable to look away from her. Now in her own world, she worked silently with a strong look of concentration on her face paired with a relaxation he hadn't truly seen since they lived together. She looked perfect right now in the warm light from the lamps as she softly swayed back and forth while continuing to paint.

Eventually, she sat up completely and said, "There we go."

Jay blinked and finally looked down at the Jupiter painting only for his eyes to widen as he breathed, "Hailey."

"Is it good?" she asked, but with a small smile on her face like she knew she'd done something impressive.

"God, Hailey, of course," he said and leaned closer to get a better look, "This is awesome."

"Thank you," she replied softly, "Would you want to take it home?"

Jay glanced up and asked, "Really?"

"Yeah, we made it together," Hailey said, her smile widening, "I want you to have it."

"Well, thank you," Jay said as he straightened up, "Maybe I take it home when it's not wet?"

"Fair," Hailey laughed softly. She wiped her hands absentmindedly on the piece of paper towel before standing up. "Drink?" she asked, "We could just do water."

Jay looked up from the painting and noticed the exhaustion beginning to form in her eyes. He sadly smiled and shook his head. "We should head to bed," he said while standing as well.

"Yeah, I guess," Hailey breathed. She brushed her hand over her face then sighed. Wetting her lips again, she shot him a shrug then smiled slightly.

Jay knew what she meant by it: she wasn't sure if he should stay or if she should go to his. In all honesty, he wasn't sure either, but he did know that they needed to continue this slow path. They were figuring everything out now, and they were going to do it right. It wasn't the time to dive head first into something just 24 hours after making up.

"See you tomorrow?" he asked softly.

She nodded and put a hand on his arm. "I'll walk you out," she whispered.

Together they walked to the front door just to hesitate again. Jay weakly laughed with his hand on the doorknob as he said, "There's something in the air, huh? I mean, we can do a few hours without each other. No need for the bummed face." Without thinking, he reached out to brush the back of his finger along her cheek.

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. Nodding, she said quietly, "I just don't want to lose you again."

"You're not going to," Jay replied. When she opened her eyes, he shot her a smile before leaning down and hugging her tightly to his chest. Before he could straighten up, he lightly kissed her cheek and whispered, "We'll figure it out when we're ready. I know it."

"Yeah," she whispered back.

Jay smiled and said, "Goodnight." He gently ran his hand over her ponytail before turning the doorknob with his other hand and slipping into the hallway. The door clicked close a second later leaving him alone with his thoughts.

They felt overwhelming, but in a good way. He leaned against the wall right next to the door just to shoulder them. Closing his eyes, he could still feel his lips against Hailey's skin and briefly wondered if he'd done the right thing by kissing her even if it was just on her cheek.

A soft thud on the other side of the door as if she also suddenly leaned against it gave him his answer – it was the right move to ease them into their new eventual relationship.

It put a smile on his face and gave him the strength to walk back down to his apartment and get ready for bed.

They were on the right track, he was positive of that.


A/N: What do you think? :) Are you ready for fluffy Upstead? Just wanted to pop in and say we're on the downward slope and there will be two chapters left. It bums me out, but I'm excited for what's to come (both here and elsewhere), and I can't wait for you to see! Talk soon!