Chapter 2: Line in the sand

Erin was in total bliss, her eyes fluttering shut in untamed pleasure as Jay explored her body like it was his personal wonderland. They had been lost in each other for the last hour, driving each other to the edge and again and at this point, she already lost count. But she didn't care. Not right now. Now when his lips were leaving the most sinful kisses on her thighs, inching closer and closer up to where she wanted them the most. But he was a sadist—the way he was teasing her right now, knowing just how desperate she was getting under his kisses. She practically mewled when his lips ghosted over her core, his warm breaths driving her mad. Her fingers reached down and found their way into his hair, tugging at the short strands. She felt his lips formed into a smirk on her skin and she knew he was just loving having her under his control.

"Jay!" It almost sounded like a whine, a desperate plea but she couldn't bother to be embarrassed right now. She didn't care if he knew that he had her right where he wanted, she had a feeling he already knew anyways. She just wanted his lips on her, his tongue in her. And just as he was finally about to oblige her, frantic knocks interrupted them.

He snapped his head up and looked up at her from his position in between her thighs, eyes wide like they had been caught. She almost laughed at the frenzied look on his face.

"Relax Halstead. They're on the other side of the door."

"Expecting someone?" he retorted, shifting off of her so she could get up and find out who was banging on her door. She stood up, legs feeling weak from their activity the past hour, and searched for something to put on. She settled for her nightie and put it on, covering herself with her silk robe. She turned back to Jay who was now leaning his back on the headboard like he belonged in her bed.

"What?" she asked, seeing the way his eyebrows rose at her choice of attire.

He shrugged. "Didn't figure you for a nightie type."

"There's a lot you don't know about me Halstead," she smirked, her face heating up at the way he was staring at her right now, like he wanted to rip off the thin material of her nightie and just have his way with her. And the way he was looking right now? The way he laid on her bed, his taut and toned body barely covered by her sheet, almost made her want to ignore the interrupter and just let him have his way with her. But the frantic knocks continued, causing her to sigh. "Stay here." She instructed, just in case. They hadn't explicitly talked about keeping the arrangement a secret yet but it almost didn't need to be spoken. He rolled his eyes at her, like he found it ridiculous that she even had to tell him in the first place.

"Just hurry up and get rid of whoever it is." He patted the empty space next to him in bed, sending her a heated look. She just chuckled, leaning down to give him a quick peck.

"Clingy," she teased him, earning a laugh. She took a quick look at her reflection in the window, fixing her stray hairs so she didn't look like she had been ravished by her partner who was off limits for the last hour.


Her bare feet patted down the corridor and swung the door open, barely having time to see who was on the other side when Justin walked in like he was crazed. She cut him off before he made his way further into the living room, not wanting him to find Jay in bed. Really, she should've checked the peephole before she opened the door or she should live in a place where bedrooms came with doors. But who knew that she'd be in this position—hiding her partner in her bedroom like they were teenagers sneaking around from their parents?

"Justin!" She gripped his arms, keeping them in the hallway by the door. "What's up? What's going on?"

"I did something," was all she caught from Justin's panicked mutterings and he started pacing back and forth in the small space.

"What did you do?" She was getting worried now. She knew Justin was having a hard time readjusting, harder than he wanted his dad to know and now he came to her, panicking. She scanned his body up and down, trying to get a clue of what was going on and her eyes landed on his blood stained hands. "Justin, whose blood is this? What did you do?"

"Uh…" he couldn't answer, his mouth hung opened but no coherent words coming out.

"What? Tell me!"

Justin finally recovered, pulling his hands away from her grip. "Uh, I just got in a fight. It's nothing."

She scanned his hands, finding no marks or bruising on them. "There's no open cuts on your hands. Seriously, Justin. Tell me the truth."

"I caught the other guy with my elbow and this is his blood," Justin stammered, pocketing his hands in his jacket to keep them away from her view. "I shouldn't have come here. I got to go." Erin tried to stop him but he quickly made his exit, slamming the door closed. Erin stood there, stoic and in shock, for a minute wondering what the hell just happened, knowing in her guts that it was something bad.

"I heard the door slammed." Jay called from the opposite side of her condo, leaning on the opening of her bedroom with his boxer already back on. "Figured it was safe to come out. You okay?" He approached her slowly, frowning at the expression she had on her face. "Erin? Hey. Who was that?" he asked, holding her arms.

She snapped out of her thoughts, glancing up at him to meet his worried eyes. "Oh um, it was Justin."

"He alright? What did he want?"

She rubbed her face. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "He was acting strange and I'm worried about him."

He nodded in understanding, rubbing her arms gently. "Anything I can do?"

"No," she shook her head, smiling at him gratefully for offering in the first place. "I don't even know what's going on." She bit her lips, knowing she was about to disappoint him. "I'm sorry Jay but I should call Hank and keep him in the loop. Can we call it a night?" She wrapped her arms around his bare waist. "Take a rain check?"

Despite the look of disappointment that came over his face, he nodded. "Yeah," he conceded, his hands on her hips. "That's fine." She gave him a kiss in appreciation, regretting having to cut their time short. She was having such a good night—one of the best in recent memory—but she knew she wouldn't be able to focus on Jay, not when familial matters were weighing on her mind. He released his hold on her and headed back into the bedroom, Erin following close behind.

After he had rebuttoned his dress shirt—not even bothering to put his suit jacket back on—they stood face to face, almost awkwardly like they didn't know what to do now that he was fully clothed.

"It was…it was fun," she told him.

"Yeah," he agreed, a tight smile on his face, not like the usual grin that she had gotten used to seeing. "We should do it again," he said hesitantly, almost like he was testing the water. She just returned a small nod and an unsure look came across his face, almost like he was wounded by her reply—or more specifically, her lack of reply. But he didn't say anything more, just headed out of her bedroom, ready to leave. She followed him, wanting to reassure him that she didn't regret tonight like she was sure he was thinking.

"Jay," she called out, Jay pausing at the door and turning around to face her. She took a chance, got on her tiptoe and leaned into catch his lips. He quickly responded to her kiss, his hands reaching up to cup her face to bring them closer to each other. She sighed into the kiss. Even though she had meant for it to be a quick kiss—a peck—it seems as though she seemed to lose all semblance of time and place whenever his lips touched hers. But the pressing matter beckoned and she reluctantly pulled away, ending the kiss with a couple of more pecks. "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course."

He turned to leave but she grabbed his hands, stopping him from leaving just yet. "Jay," she intertwined their fingers. "I mean it. I don't regret what happened. It's just….he's like my family you know. I have to take care of this first."

That unsure look that had been stuck in his eyes from the moment she wanted to end the night was slowly replaced by his usual understanding one—the look that made her feel like he understood everything about her. He smiled—her heart unexpectedly lightening at seeing his usual grin return to his face. "I get it," he said, now it was his turn to reassure her. He reached out and held her face. "Just call me if you need anything. I'm here."

And then he was gone, leaving her with a quick kiss and memories of a night she barely could believe actually happened.


" Hey, I've been calling you all night," she walked alongside Voight, finally finding him in the rollup after all night of calling and texting.

"I was busy," he said gruffly. "Why? What's up?"

"You okay?" she asked, noticing how distracted he looked. He just nodded, gesturing her to just continue with what she was about to say. "Justin came over last night and he was acting strange."

Voight paused in his step, turning to face her. "Acting strange how?"

She leaned in and lowered her voice so they couldn't be overheard. "He had blood on his hands and he was just rambling about getting in a fight or something. And he just ran off. I've been trying to reach him since then but he had his phone turned off. Completely off the grid."

Voight sighed, rubbing his temple. "Yeah, I'll take care of it."

"Hank," she stopped him, grabbing his shoulder. "I'm not telling you so you can take care of it by yourself. I'm telling you so I can help with whatever's going on with Justin."

"Erin," Voight said, his tone leaving no room for discussion. "Just….don't worry about it. Just do your job." With that, he walked off, leaving a frustrated Erin behind, scoffing at how stubborn Voight was.


"Frank Fitori," Voight wrote on the whiteboard. "He was caught with a couple of .20 round in his chest last night."

"Yeah, Fitori," Antonio piped up. "I remember him. Big hitter from the South side, swims with a lot of big fishes."

"Swam," Jay corrected, shrugging at the look Antonio gave him, holding his hand up.

"Swam," Antonio repeated, sarcastically.

"Alright, me and Halstead will go check out the murder site," Erin volunteered, grabbing her jacket.

"Good idea. Why don't you and Jay go check it out?" Voight added, almost spitting out Jay's name like he was hinting at something. Erin tossed him a confused look, her eyes catching Jay doing the same. But they both held their tongue, both deciding that it was better to remain silent and quickly get out of the bullpen, away from Voight's stare.


"Did you see that?" Jay questioned now that they were in the safe confines of the 300 and she glanced over at him quickly, taking her eyes off the road for a quick second. "Did you see the way he said my name?"

"Relax Jay," she drawled, amused at his reaction. "It's not like you have 'I banged the boss's daughter' written across your forehead. Just act like nothing's changed and he won't know."

"Easier said than done," Jay retorted. "It's not like you're the one with the target on their back."

She quirked her eyebrows. "You have a target?"

Jay gave her a 'duh' look. "I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not exactly Voight's favorite. Even before he warned me to keep it in my pants." He rolled his eyes, putting airquotes around the phrase.

She scoffed. "It's not like you're his biggest fan either. You know? You two have more in common than you think."

Jay almost looked offended at her remark. "Really?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Yeah smart ass," she shot back. "You two are the most stubborn men I've ever met in my life. Not to mention, both of you think you know best, for everyone. Plus this whole black and white point of views of the world you both have going on."

"Black and white?" Jay scoffed. "I'm pretty sure we're on opposite sides when it comes to that."

"Still. Both of you see the world in this black and white way. You believe in justice and the system and following the rules. No matter how much you want to bend the rules, you won't allow yourself to. Voight? He's the opposite. He believes in justice, whichever way he can get it. His only belief is that justice has to be served—official justice or street justice, either one."

Jay remained quiet, resting his head on the car window. "Maybe," he conceded. "But we're still on the opposite sides of things."

"What does it say about me?" Erin laughed to herself. "Having Voight as a father figure and getting involved with you."

"We're involved now?" he asked, smirking at her flustered reaction. "I thought we were just having fun. Friends with benefits right?"

She rolled her eyes, hand reaching across the console to give him a light smack. "You know what I mean." He was getting way too much amusement at her slip of the tongue. "Keep it up Halstead and there will be no benefits in this partnership pretty soon."

"Not even 24 hours into this relationship and she's already threatening to withhold sex," he muttered to himself under his breath but Erin caught his words. She bit her lips, not really knowing how to respond or react to his use of the word 'relationship'. She had made it clear that she wasn't looking for a relationship with him, not wanting the complications and all the strings that would come with it. Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue, similar to her own. But before she can reiterate the terms of the new evolution in their relationship, they had arrived at the murder site. She decided to shelf the conversation for another time.


She followed Jay out of the car and to the empty marsh. "Where's the dead guy?" she asked the two cops that were still there, not seeing the dead body.

"They already processed the body and took him away already."

Erin sighed. It seemed as though they came all this way for nothing. She glanced around the empty field, spotting a pod a few feet away. "Is that one of ours?" Jay followed her line of sight and nodded, not really impressed. "I bet it has the dump on it."

Jay frowned, creasing his nose. "Those things suck."

"I don't think so," Erin shot back. "Dinner at the Pig? Loser has to buy."

He grinned. "You're on," he accepted. "You know if you just wanted to ask me out on a date and take me to dinner, all you have to do was ask."

She rolled her eyes. "Get your head out of the gutter, Halstead."

"Pretty sure my head's been in there since last night."

She gave him a light smack on his chest. "Alright, just focus on your job, friend," If he noticed Erin emphasizing the word 'friend', he didn't show it. Just gave her the same amused smile as he usually did. But Erin still felt the need to make the lines clearer. She knew this change between them was so new and they were in uncharted territory and for some reason, she had an inkling that Jay had never done this whole "no strings attached" thing before. She studied his side profile as they walked back to the car. Clean cut with boyish good looks, certainly looked like he had a good upbringing. Yeah, he seemed like the type that was always in relationships. She just hoped that he wasn't looking for one with her, not right now.


"I'll call the Pig, make reservation," Jay shouted across the car as they finished securing the number to get the more clear security footage of the crime scene. "It's only fair since you're buying. And just so you know, I'm thinking truffles." She rolled her eyes, laughing at the little smug look on his face. He was a dork, but he always managed to make her smile. It was one of her favorite things about him.

"Alright big guy. Just get in the car so we can get back to work."

She started driving back to the district, all while feeling his eyes on her. "What?" she asked, glancing over at him.

"Big guy huh?" A smug grin came across his face. "I mean, I can't disagree. But nice to know that you approve."

"You're such a loser," Erin retorted, even though she couldn't keep the smile off from her face. "I'd love to see how you'd react if Voight overheard you saying something like that."

The smile immediately wiped off from his face. It was such a sudden change that Erin wanted to laugh. Who knew Jay was that scared of Voight? "Relax Jay, it was just a joke."

"Voight having my ass? Not so funny."

She chuckled. "Who knew you were this afraid of Voight? You scared he's going to bump you down to patrol?"

"No," he denied right away. "I mean I don't want to lose my job but that's not why I don't want Voight to find out about us."

Her curiosity peaked. "Then why?"

He was quiet for a beat before replying "I don't want to be the one that ruins your relationship with him. Not when I know now how important he is to you." She met his eyes and he just shrugged, like what he said wasn't a big deal. She didn't know how to respond, not without getting feelings involved so she just kept quiet, keeping her complete focus on the road despite still feeling his eyes on hers. She couldn't meet his eyes, she was afraid of what she would find in them.


Erin groaned as she sat back down in her chair, ready to work on the paperworks and just wrap up this hell of a case. It had been a long day and she was completely drained. From Justin's outburst last night to finding out that he was involved with Fitori's murder and running around and making sure that he didn't go down for it, she was completely done. She knew Voight had blurred the lines again, trying to protect Justin, and she knew the tension between the team was growing because of it. Antonio and Voight had been going at each other all day and Jay had been growing more and more irritated at the way Voight handled cases. Meanwhile she, like Adam and Al, had been just trying to keep their head down and go with the flow, not wanting to add more tension to the mix.

"Hey, they found a body in the harbor," Adam announced to the group. "It looks like it's Joe Catalano." Erin glanced over to Antonio who was silent, just processing the information. So Fitori's murderer had been caught and "served justice". But none of them felt good about the case. She didn't even want to brave a glance over at Jay, knowing she would see the disapproval in his eyes. She was spot on correct earlier when she compared him and Voight. Voight would call this case a success, Catalano being served justice for murdering someone, even if that justice had come from the Outfit and not the police. Jay, on the other hand, would have never let that happen in the first place.

Antonio suddenly stood up, grabbing his jacket, and left the bullpen. She knew he was having a hard time processing everything too.

"I'm going to call it a night then," Adam said, sheepishly. It was obvious that Adam was well aware of his status in the food chain—barely out of the Academy and basically lucking into Intelligence—and he obviously didn't want to make waves. "Night guys."

Erin just gave him a small wave in return. She sighed, standing up to walk over to the whiteboard. The case was done so she started removing the pictures from it. She heard Jay's chair being pushed back and soon enough, she felt his body heat next to hers.

"What the hell is going on here?" He crossed his arms, waiting for an answer from her. But she didn't have an answer to give him, not without getting into the whole thing with Voight and his brand of street justice. She was tired and she just wanted to go home.

"Just leave it," she told him. "It's Voight." He narrowed his eyes, looking like he wanted to say something but he held his tongue.

"Alright, so what about dinner?" he asked, leaning on the whiteboard.

"Well, technically I did win so dinner is on you." Jay shook his head, more fondly than annoyed, a small smile on his lips.

"Fine, truffles on me then," Jay replied, pushing himself off from the whiteboard. "Ready to leave?" She didn't move from her spot and he paused, seeing the look of hesitation on her face. "Erin?"

She gave him an apologetic smile. "I don't think I'm up for it tonight." She was just completely toast for the night. Her mind was heavy and her body was weary and while usually hanging out with Jay would be the cure whenever she felt like that before, she knew that if she took him on his offer and found herself sitting across the table from him, they'd have to talk about things she didn't feel like talking about. Not tonight.

His face fell but he was quick to recover, just giving her a small nod. "You tired?"

"Yeah," she just replied. "I just feel like being home tonight. Rain check?" What she really wanted was him and her on her couch, just unwinding from the day. No fancy dinner, no heavy cases and no Voight and the lines he might have crossed with the case hanging between them. Maybe even cap the night off with another round in bed with him, a way to relieve the stress and troubles of the day. But she bit her tongue so she wouldn't actually voice her desire and just watched as he walked away from her, out of the bullpen.


He didn't know why he was doing this. Actually, he knew. He just didn't want to admit it, even to himself. But feelings won over rationality in his head and that was how he found himself outside of her door, despite her rejecting him tonight.

He wasn't stupid. Despite whatever happened between them last night and the way their partnership had changed, she had been pulling away all day. Throwing around words like 'friends' and clearly drawing a line in the sand, making sure he understood that they weren't dating. That despite him finally seeing all of her and kissing every inch of her soft body, nothing had changed between them. They weren't suddenly gonna go out to dinner in dimly lit restaurants or kiss goodbye or good morning when they saw each other. He had gotten that message from her, loud and clear. He should've expected it, really. In the months that he had known her, she had never been the type to be open with her feelings. Hell, it took him months just to find out the true story of her relationship with Voight. He hated to admit it but he felt growing respect toward his Sergeant at what Erin had told him. It was one thing to try to be a good cop on the street but to actually open up your home to a stranger? That was a whole another level and he was having a hard time reconciling that Voight with the Voight he saw daily—the one who treated criminals with zero respect, the one who eagerly took the laws into his own hands, the one who was willing to do anything to get answers. He finally got a glimpse of why Erin was so loyal to the guy, why she felt like he could do no wrong, why she was willing to look the other way when it came to Voight. Jay didn't like it or agreed with it, but he understood it.

But that wasn't his focus tonight. That wasn't why he was carrying a bag of takeout, standing outside her door. He just wanted to see her, eat fast food and just be around her. Maybe she was right when she teased him last night when she called him 'clingy'. He was certainly starting to feel like it. But he liked her, it was simple. He had liked her since he met her. She was more than just a pretty face and a clever mouth. She was spunky, strong and one of the toughest people he had ever known. She had this uncanny ability to turn his world upside down with just her presence and he wasn't sure if he could handle it. All he knew was that he didn't want to lose it—lose her. Not when he finally had her in a way that he could only dreamed about before. He wasn't going to ruin this. If she wanted no strings attached then he could do that.

He knocked on the door, waiting for her to answer. Just a couple of seconds later, she opened the door. She was the complete opposite from last night—in the place of a tight black dress and fancy make up, she was in a large shirt and shorts, face completely scrubbed clean of makeup—and he still felt his breath being taken away. She was beautiful, no matter what she was wearing.

"Jay, what are you doing here?" She didn't sound mad or annoyed, just completely baffled by his appearance at her door. He replied by just holding up the bag filled with food. "Dinner." She finally noticed and stepped aside to let him in. He followed her to the couch, placing the food on the coffee table.

"You might not be up to going out for dinner but I figured you were still hungry," he said, taking off his jacket and taking his usual seat on the couch. It was funny that he had been over to her place so many times before that he had a place he deemed his on the couch but there had never been this much tension in the air before. They were both acting sheepish, like they were strangers just meeting each other for the first time on a blind date.

"This is crazy," Erin finally commented, shifting her body to face him. "We're acting completely crazy."

He let out a huff, agreeing with her. "Tell me about it."

"Nothing's changed…much," she added. "We can be like we were before. This is just like any other time you came over for dinner and hung out." He shrugged his shoulders in agreement.

"Totally," he replied. "We're still the same us. We can sit together and eat and watch the game. And if the night just happen to end in sex then we'll call that dessert." She rolled her eyes, chuckling fondly at his remark. He laughed along with her, happy that the tension in the room seemed to have ease a bit. Then their eyes met and he held her gaze.

Suddenly the air in the room shifted and the tension that was there before became charged again—only this time it was sexual tension. He saw her bite her lips and his mouth dried at the action and he gulped. He watched as a glint came over in her eyes—loving how she had the ability to go from shy to completely sexy and seductive in a second—and she lifted herself and straddled him on the couch.

She ran her finger down his throat slowly, his Adam's apple bobbing at her action. She leaned in until their faces were just inches apart. "Why do you say we skip dinner tonight and go straight to dessert?" She was looking with a hunger in her eyes, one that made his stomach twist in anticipation and excitement. She was a minx, his sexy minx and he really stood no chance against her.

His throat was dried and he needed air. So he just titled his head up to capture her lips and breathed her in like she was his oxygen. She grinned against his mouth, like she just knew she had him in the palms of her hands. He buried his fingers in her hair and brought their faces closer to each other and their lips continued moving in perfect sync. Then she made the most seductive sound—a throaty moan—and all the blood rushed to his groin. He needed her now so he gripped her back and flipped them so she was laying on the couch now and he was hovering over her. She was looking perfectly delectable, her heavy breathing and pink lips practically beckoning him to her. He bent down to connect their lips again, her arms automatically wrapping around his neck until he was on her completely.

"Best. dessert. ever," he kissed into the sweet skin, ready to completely give into her pull until he fell apart under her touch.