She stepped through the door of Molly's with Will and Natalie and let the warmth wash over her. Chicago winters were as unforgiving as she remembered them.

As she searched the bar for familiar faces, she was pleased to see Dr. Choi and Dr. Reese at the bar and made a straight line for them. Third-wheeling with Will and Natalie was not a feeling she particularly enjoyed.

Reese's face lit up when she saw her. "Dr. Atticus."

"Willa's fine," she chastised, having told her to use her given name more than once. The younger woman gave her a resolute nod.

Ethan looked at her. "What are you having?"

She considered her options for a moment. "Just a beer, thank you."

He smiled. "You got it." He turned his attention to the bartender, who Willa recognized as a firefighter named Herrmann.

"I came here with the lovebirds," she told Reese as she hung her coat on the back of her chair. "I felt like the third wheel, almost like I was intruding on their private time."

"You probably were," Ethan chipped in, handing Willa her beer. She took a long sip of it, and as she lowered the bottle, a new but familiar face with a sharp jawline, a purple eye, and a stitched-up cut at his hairline walked through the door with a couple of other people. None other than Jay Halstead stood in the entrance, and if there was a God up there somewhere, Willa silently thanked them for listening.

"He is so attractive," Reese noted, effectively bringing Willa back to reality.

"Who? Halstead's brother?" Ethan was puzzled.

"Obviously," Reese said matter-of-factly. "Even with a black eye and a cut on his face." Willa kept quiet, afraid to say anything that would give her thoughts away. She didn't mean to, but she locked eyes with him, prompting him to excuse himself from his friends and make his way towards her and her colleagues at the bar.

Reese froze when she noticed him approaching. "Why is he coming over here?"

"I stitched him up," she explained while he was still out of earshot. Her heart was banging in her chest, and if the room had been quiet, she was sure everyone would have been able to hear it. So much for not being attracted to him.

"Hey," he greeted, keeping his eyes on hers. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"And why is that now, Detective?" She brought the beer bottle to her lips, not even trying to keep the wide grin off her face. She knew she was in trouble, and this was only the second conversation she'd had with him.

His smile faltered slightly. "I'm not going to answer that." He said hi to Ethan and Reese but kept most of his attention on Willa, even as he ordered a beer from Herrmann.

After a few minutes of mindless small talk, Sarah and Ethan got up to move seats while Reese mumbled something along the lines of Willa being the lovebird now.

"So," Halstead said and sat on the stool Sarah had once occupied. "You're originally from here?"

She nodded and took a swig of her beer, keeping her eyes on the bar disk. "Yes," she finally said. "Spent the first ten years of my life here."

His features were arranged in a way she imagined was similar to how he looked when trying to solve a tough case. "So, why did you leave?"

Her chest tightened. "My father needed a change of scenery, so we moved to New York." It was technically the truth, and besides, he didn't need to know her entire sad story, though she did wonder how he knew that she was originally from Chicago. She had only mentioned that she started a Med a month earlier, not that she'd relocated.

"But you're back now." It wasn't a question but a statement. She nodded and was about to say something else but was cut off by a man with scruff and disheveled hair.

"Hey, man," he said and patted Jay on the shoulder. "Will says he didn't put you back together."

"He didn't."

"I did," Willa said, raising her hand a little. The man looked at her and then back at Jay.

Jay let out a breath, and she swore there was a tinge of annoyance in his voice when he finally spoke. "Ruzek, meet Dr. Atticus. She's new at Med."

The man named Ruzek, she assumed it was his last name, nodded. "Good job, doc, he still gets to be the most handsome guy at the District."

She chuckled. "For now, at least," she agreed and shrugged.

Ruzek grinned and patted Halstead on the back again. "I like her." He walked off, a big smile still on his face. The table he went back to was filled with first responders, including Natalie and Will, who looked to be even more disgustingly in love than the day before, and Willa found herself wishing Connor were there to entertain her. Unfortunately, he was working a double shift at the hospital and couldn't join them though his reply to her text saying he would be missed was a little infuriating. He had accused her of being anti-social more than once.

Willa sipped from her beer and then made eye contact with Jay again. "So why aren't you over there with your friends?" It was a feeble attempt at trying to get the focus off of her.

"I look at their faces every day. Why would I look at them after work?"

"They're your friends," she offered. "Most police units are pretty close; I highly doubt yours is any different." He might have been smiling, but there was a sadness in his eyes that she couldn't quite pinpoint, and as much as she wanted to ask, she knew not to.

"You're not over there with your friends," he countered and gestured towards her Med co-workers gathered around one of the larger tables towards the back of the bar. It wasn't that she didn't like her colleagues so much that she didn't know them very well.

"With the lovebirds? Not a chance."

Jay laughed, low and smooth, and all she wanted to do was reach out and touch him. She'd never believed in love at first sight and still didn't, but God, talking to Jay was so easy. "I'm gonna tell Will you said that."

Her eyes widened. "Please don't. He's my Attending, and I don't need him watching my every move. I have Dr. Stohl for that."

He put his arms up, leaning back on his stool a little. "Okay, I won't," he agreed. "Seriously, though, why aren't you over there with them?"

She hesitated, embarrassed about her lack of social life since moving back to Chicago. It wasn't that they hadn't offered to take her to Molly's before; she just hadn't felt up to it. The move had been stressful, and she'd spent the better part of the last month on the phone with her dad. She was hopelessly attempting to convince him that his care nurse wasn't trying to kill him and didn't actually have it out for Willa like he thought. When she wasn't working or on the phone with her dad, she was sleeping, and one time, she had woken up in the doctor's lounge after sitting down to rest for just a moment.

Eventually, she let her gaze meet Jay's, and his bright blue eyes showed her nothing but kindness. She sighed. "What if they don't like me outside of work?" Jay's expression was so confused that it was almost adorable. "I know it's ridiculous, but somehow sitting at home with my textbooks and an empty fridge is more comfortable than making an effort with them." He didn't say anything, just studied her as if waiting for her to say something else or tell him that she was joking. Willa immediately went into self-preservation mode. She had just ruined the moment by oversharing, and she cursed her brain and mouth for not working together for the millionth time in her life. Some days it was a miracle she had even managed to become a doctor.

She tried to laugh it off, but it came out forced even to her own ears. "Forget it," she said. "It's stupid."

"Willa, wait," he said as she got out of her chair.

She slipped her coat over her shoulders. "It's late. I should go home," she said. "I'm exhausted." She knew Dr. Charles would have all kinds of things to say about her need to remove herself from an awkward situation but pushed his voice out of her head. Jay repeated her name, but she ignored him as she zipped up her coat and went to let her co-workers know she was leaving. They tried to persuade her to stay for another drink, even the man named Ruzek, but Willa didn't budge, citing her long day as the reason. When she got back to the entrance, Jay was waiting with his coat on.

She furrowed her brows. "What are you doing?"

He opened the door for her and let her through it first. "Taking you home," he explained as the door closed behind them. "It's cold, and you don't have a car."

She stared at him and the cloud of hot air that came out of his mouth when he spoke. "How do you know I don't have a car?" He raised a brow. "My apartment's only a few blocks from here. I can walk." She started to walk, but Jay maneuvered around her so she couldn't get past him.

"Please, Willa," he said. "It's freezing, and this is Chicago, no way I'm letting you walk home by yourself."

She let out a heavy breath, surrendering to his plea. "Fine," she grumbled. "You win but don't get used to it."

He grinned as she pushed past him to the rows of cars parked along the street. "Yes, doctor," he said, barely keeping the chuckle out of his voice. They walked alongside each other until Jay indicated which car was his. They climbed in, and he turned up the heating so they could get warm as fast as possible. She gave him the address and noticed his jaw clenching, but he didn't say anything - she knew it wasn't a great neighborhood, but the rent was manageable, so she'd taken it.

"You know," he said after a few minutes of silence. "Taking a while to settle in isn't anything to be ashamed of."

Willa looked over at him. "I'm not ashamed; it's just..." she hesitated. "It's been a month, but I still feel like the odd one out when I'm around them. The only real friend I've made is Connor. It's stupid, I know. It's like I'm back in high school."

Jay chuckled, which was not the reaction she had anticipated. "I get it."

"You do?"

"I felt the same way when I enlisted." Her bottom lip dropped slightly, but she quickly closed her mouth again. She hadn't realized he had been in the army, but how would she? They'd only just met, and he didn't have to tell her anything he didn't want to. She nodded, deciding that nothing she could say would make sense.

After a ten-minute drive, Jay pulled up outside her building. "This it?" He eyed it with a less than enthusiastic look.

"Yeah, that's it," she said. "Thanks for driving me home. I appreciate it." She opened the door but was surprised when Jay did the same, meeting her on her side of the car.

"I'm gonna ask you the same thing I did back at Molly's. What are you doing?"

"Following you to your door," he explained. "I'm a gentleman."

She snorted. "Cheeky." She opened the main door to her building and let Jay come through. She pressed the elevator button.

"Cheeky?"

She blew air out through her nose. "My aunt's husband is British," she told him. "I lived with them for a while, so I picked up a few words and phrases."

They stepped into the elevator. It was old and creaking in a less than ideal way, but at least it had one, and Willa pressed the button for the third floor. Neither of them said a word, but she felt strangely comfortable in it. Once they arrived, she stepped off the elevator with Jay close behind her and stopped at her front door.

"Thank you," she said. "You really didn't have to do this."

He shrugged. "I wanted to." Willa turned around and put the key in the lock. She waited for the familiar click and pushed the door open but didn't walk inside. She didn't know what he was waiting for; she'd already said thank you.

"Goodnight, Jay," she said at last.

He leaned down towards her, and for a split second, she thought he was going to kiss her, but his lips made contact with her cheek instead. She was relieved but resented the disappointment that flooded her veins.

When he pulled away, his eyes met hers, and there was a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Goodnight, doc."

She watched him walk down the corridor, past the elevator to take the stairs down. She watched him until he was out of sight and didn't even try to wipe the ridiculous grin off her face as she got ready for bed and eventually drifted off to sleep.


Author's Note: This one's dedicated to my beloved friend, ultimate Willa stan, and main hype woman: Jess. This fic would not exist without her. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think. Follow me on tumblr at itscapokaybye.