July

"My hand hurts."

"You're being dramatic."

"Hailey," Jay sighed, "Do we have to keep writing these right now? We worked all day."

Hailey looked up from the 'thank-you' card she was writing, "Yeah, we do. It's rude to accept money and gifts from people and not thank them for it."

"There's just so many more fun things we could be doing," Jay said.

Hailey smirked slightly, "Like what?"

"Like…" Jay trailed off as he looked around the apartment where a handful of gifts were spread throughout from an impromptu wedding shower that Vanessa had given them the week after they'd returned from their honeymoon, "We could try out that new blender Platt got us."

Hailey followed his gaze and chewed her lip, "We need a new place to put all of this in. We haven't really put any of it away."

"We haven't put any of it away period," Jay corrected and happily pushed away the 'thank-you' card he'd been writing to stand up and walk over to the boxes where he knelt down and started opening the blender.

Hailey smiled slightly, "Did you at least finish-"

"Yeah," Jay answered without looking up.

Hailey laughed and finished the card she was working on before going over to the couch and sitting down, "Are you going to make me a milkshake?"

Jay looked up with a smile, "You want a milkshake?"

"Mhmm," Hailey nodded, "A chocolate one."

"I think I can do that for you," Jay stood with the blender and carried it to the small kitchen.

Hailey watched him dig through the freezer for the chocolate ice-cream she had just bought the day before. She hid her smile behind her hand as he dumped that along with a handful of chocolate chips and a splash of milk into the blender.

The diamond on her hand then caught her eye and she held her hand out to look at it snug against the gold wedding band. She loved that Jay had given his mom's ring to her. It was the perfect amount of simplicity and intricate. She could stare at it all day, but lately, she'd been worried about losing it.

She grabbed her phone and unlocked it to look at the silicone rings she'd had in her online cart for days now – a black one and a rose gold one.

"Okay, two chocolate milkshakes," Jay said while walking over with two filled glasses, "And I may have licked the spoon I used to scrape the blender and it was delicious."

Hailey laughed and accepted the glass, "Thank you, it looks delicious." She took a long sip then smiled more, "Oh that's delicious."

Jay chuckled behind his own glass, "I think I'm a pretty good cook."

Hailey laughed harder, "I wouldn't say blending ice-cream and chocolate chips together makes you a cook, but if you say so."

"I do," Jay smirked and leaned over to kiss the side of her head.

They quietly drank their milkshakes on the couch for a few minutes, and the entire time, Hailey kept her eyes trained on the gold band around Jay's ring finger. She had picked it out for him; it was rather simple, but so was he. She'd hate to see something happen to it though.

Hailey cleared her throat and set her empty glass down, "Can we talk about something?"

Jay's gaze shifted to her and he nodded, "Of course."

Hailey took a deep breath and picked up her phone, "So, I've been thinking-"

"Is this going to be something like changing your name?" Jay cut her off, "You worried way too much about that and here we are a month later and your official name is Hailey Halstead; it wasn't a big deal."

Hailey smiled a little, "Maybe."

"Hey," Jay scooted closer to her and set a hand on the back of her head, "We're married and we're in this together."

"Okay," Hailey nodded and showed him her screen, "I was thinking that we should get some of those silicone rings so we don't have to worry about our actual rings at work."

Jay grabbed her phone and looked at the two she had picked out, "All right, I'll grab my wallet."

"What?" Hailey's eyes widened, "That's it?"

Jay nodded and walked to the counter by the door where he kept his wallet, "Yup."

Hailey raised an eyebrow, "You don't have anything against it?"

Jay hesitated then went back to the couch, "Yesterday, I took it off before we got to the scene-"

"I noticed," Hailey nodded.

"Right," Jay continued, "I didn't want it to get caught on my gun because I heard about this thing where people get their rings caught on things and their finger basically slides off."

Hailey tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help it and said, "What?"

"It's real, Hailey," Jay stated, "So I didn't want that to happen to me and then, well, um…I lost it."

Hailey's smile died on her face, "What?"

"I couldn't find my ring," Jay said, "I…I thought I lost it."

Hailey grabbed his hand and pulled his ring off to look at it.

"I found it," Jay said quickly, "That is my ring, I swear."

"Where was it?" Hailey asked.

"It had slipped out of my pocket into the back of the truck while I was getting my gun ready," Jay answered.

Hailey took a deep breath, "Okay, that's good."

"Exactly," Jay nodded, "And I was actually looking at these rubber ones earlier while you were showering and apparently they stay on your finger better and will prevent that horrible finger thing from happening."

Hailey smirked again, "Jay…"

"It's true," Jay shrugged and entered his credit card information into the website.

Hailey laughed softly and reached over to hug him tightly, "I love you and your weird medical theories."

"They're not theories," Jay said, but still smiled into Hailey's hair.

"Sure," Hailey rubbed his back before pulling away, "I'll just call Will and ask him."

"Whoa, you don't have to do that," Jay chuckled.

"Thought so," Hailey took her phone and his wallet from his hands once he'd clicked the 'submit' button.

"Yes?" Jay watched her set both down on the coffee table.

Hailey shrugged and stared pulling her tank top off, "It's getting pretty warm, don't you think?"

Jay laughed and stood to easily pick her up, "Don't play dirty with me, Mrs. Halstead."

Hailey laughed as he carried her to their bedroom.

Jay watched Hailey lazily play with his fingers as they laid on their couch with the TV on in the background. He kissed the back of her head before tilting his own back against the cushions.

Hailey shifted slightly in his lap and breathed out.

Jay internally winced at the warmth coming from her back against his chest. It was the middle of July and it was hot and given their activities just an hour before, he couldn't cool down despite the empty water bottle on the side table behind him.

He could feel each drop of sweat slide down the back of his neck. Despite everything he loved about Hailey, he couldn't get comfortable on the couch with her at the moment. He knew staying in their bed sheets would have been much worse than this couch, but that didn't lessen the stickiness of the material against the back of his legs.

"What do you think I'd look like pregnant?" Hailey suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" Jay hummed and came back to the present.

"What do you think I'd look like pregnant?" Hailey repeated.

Jay laughed softly, "Are we really doing this?" he slid his hands onto her stomach, "Cause if we are, I'm gonna need to know if you're still on the pill and if you are, we're going to have to repeat what we just did tomorrow."

Hailey tilted her head back on his shoulder and looked at him, "No, no, not now," she nodded toward the TV where the main character was pregnant, "I'm just thinking about the future."

"Oh," Jay shrugged, "Well, you're probably going to look like that," he lifted his hands about a foot from her stomach, "And this is probably where my hands will be when we lay like this."

Hailey laughed, "You think it'll go out that far?"

"Pretty sure," Jay chuckled, "Pregnant ladies get big."

"Oh, great," Hailey pressed her face into his neck, "I'm going to be fat."

"Nah, not fat, you'll be cute," Jay said, "I hope you waddle."

Hailey turned against him and kissed him lightly, "That's not at all sexy."

"I disagree," Jay whispered against her lips, "I can't wait to see you like that."

"In the future," Hailey said.

Jay ran his hands up her back and played with the back of her sports bra, "Want to go practice making a baby again?"

Hailey smirked, "You sure?"

"Definitely," Jay stood with her in his arms.

They were halfway to the bedroom when the TV shut off.

Hailey detached herself from his lips and looked over Jay's shoulder, "Did the power go out?"

Jay paused and turned to look, "I hope not." He lowered Hailey to the ground and hurried over to kitchen, "Crap. The clock's out on the stove and the microwave."

Hailey chewed her lip, "Well, the power's probably just out because everyone has their air on, it's not a big deal."

"Yes it is," Jay snapped and rubbed his face, "Maybe we can go to Will's."

Hailey raised an eyebrow, "Jay, it's fine. Take a breath; it'll probably come back on in a few minutes. This happens all the time."

"It hasn't happened in the last year," Jay said, "I can't even think of the last time the power was out in the summer."

"Pretty sure there was a decent sized blackout last year when we were at the cabin," Hailey walked over to sit on the couch again.

Jay shook his head, "Doesn't count."

Hailey looked at him amused, "What in the world is happening right now? Jay, we're going to be fine. It's not hot in here yet, we still have the cool air from the air conditioning and I'll be that by the time the air gets stiff, the power will be back."

"I hate the heat," Jay crossed his arms.

"I know," Hailey put her hand out, "Come here."

Jay sighed then walked over to fall onto the couch next to her.

Hailey moved up onto her knees, "Why do you hate the heat? You've always made that clear, but you've never said why."

"I don't…I don't want to talk about this now," Jay said, "We were just going to have sex, let's not ruin the mood."

"I think you ruined the mood when you flipped about the power going out," Hailey set a hand on his shoulder.

Jay softened and met her eyes, "Sorry."

Hailey shrugged, "It's fine," she rubbed her thumb in circles, "Want to try and get the mood to come back?"

Jay bit his lip briefly, "Um, no."

Hailey laughed in shock, "What?"

"It sounds hot," Jay admitted, "Like temperature hot and I'm not really in the mood for that."

"Huh," Hailey sat back, "Interesting."

"Excuse me?" Jay chuckled.

"We dated for an entire year, have been married just over a month, and you are turning me down for the first time because of the heat," Hailey said, "That's interesting."

"Let's get one thing straight," Jay started, "I don't think this is the first time I've turned you down."

"Oh, the time when you ate too much pizza with Adam after work?" Hailey guessed.

Jay rolled his eyes, "I could have gotten sick."

"Sure," Hailey laughed.

"And also, you've turned me down plenty of times," Jay lightly poked Hailey's stomach, "For one, once a month for an entire week-"

"Shut up," Hailey shoved his chest and stood up.

"What?" Jay's eyes followed her as she walked to their room.

Hailey held up her middle finger behind her, "Low blow, Halstead."

"Let me make it up to you," Jay said, trying to keep the laugh from his voice.

Hailey laughed slightly under her breath then closed the door behind her so she could fall onto the messy bed in peace. She groaned at the heat that was starting to form inside her causing her skin to start sweating against the sheets.

Jay had every right to hate the heat, this felt awful and it hadn't even been half an hour since the power went out.

Hailey sighed and rolled onto her back to whisper, "I'm never going to be pregnant in the summer, I swear to god."

Jay tossed around on the mattress groaning quietly.

Hailey huffed and sat up, "Jay."

The power was still out. The air felt thick and hot. The battery powered fan on the dresser doing next to nothing. It didn't help that their apartment was on the fourth floor.

Jay continued rolling around and kicking at the sheets shoved to the bottom of the bed.

Hailey grabbed her phone to look at the time. 12:30am. She sighed and pushed Jay's arm away from her, "Stop."

He groaned again and started panting quietly.

Hailey chewed her lip as she watched him. She hadn't seen him have a nightmare in a while, maybe since May. She took a deep breath and lightly set a hand on his side and the other in his hand closest to her.

"Jay," she said softly, "Jay, wake up, come on, you're okay." She closed her eyes briefly before squeezing his hand, "Wake up, we're in Chicago, it's Hailey."

He whined in his sleep and kicked his legs again before his eyes shot open and he quickly pulled away from Hailey off of the bed.

"Hey," Hailey said sharply and held her hands up, "Jay, it's me, it's Hailey – your wife."

Jay visibly softened and blinked his eyes a few times.

"There," Hailey whispered, "Come on, you're okay, we're in Chicago, over here," she put her hand out.

"Sorry," Jay breathed and shook his head before grabbing her hand and sitting on the mattress.

"You're good," Hailey set a hand on his back, "You're shaking though, what's going on? Are you cold?"

Jay laughed weakly, "No, definitely not."

"Okay," Hailey started rubbing small circles against his hot skin, "Talk to me, please."

"No, no, I'm not doing that," Jay bent forward and pressed his palms into his eyes.

"We're married now," Hailey said.

"Doesn't change anything," Jay mumbled.

As frustrated as she was that Jay wasn't letting her in, Hailey continued rubbing his back knowing that touching him usually helped ground him and bring him back to reality.

"It's the damn heat," Jay eventually whispered, "It…it's…"

Hailey nodded even though he couldn't see her, just happy that he was telling her something.

"I can work with that," Hailey lightly kissed the back of his head then hurried out of the room. She opened the fridge, reveled in the cool air that rushed out for only a second, grabbed a water bottle then went into the kitchen where she wet two washcloths.

"Okay," she said while walking back into their bedroom, not surprised to see Jay hadn't moved even an inch, "I have water that's decently cold and," she climbed on the bed to drape one of the washcloths over his neck, "This should also help cool you down."

Jay's mouth turned up the slightest amount and he turned in time for Hailey to uncap the water bottle and hold it out for him. He took the water and nearly finished it in one sip before saying, "I don't know how I got so lucky with you."

Hailey shrugged and smiled, reaching out with the other washcloth to wipe his face down, "I think I'm the lucky one."

"Don't get all sappy on me now," Jay smirked.

Hailey laughed softly, "I won't. I'm just glad you're doing better."

Jay raised an eyebrow and lifted his still shaking hand, "Am I?"

"At least you're awake," Hailey breathed and trailed the washcloth down his neck and chest.

Jay watched her eyes follow the washcloth and whispered, "Do I scare you?"

"Jay," Hailey sighed, "No, I'm not scared of you. You have never scared me and you never-"

"Don't say it," Jay cut her off, "You can't guarantee that."

Hailey sucked in a breath then moved closer to him, "I love you, you realize that?"

"Of course," Jay said quietly.

"Good," Hailey hugged him tightly and kissed the side of his head, "For better or for worse."

Jay nodded and slid his hands over her back.

Hailey pulled away, "So what should we do?"

"About?" Jay asked.

Hailey hid a yawn, "Sleeping."

Jay chuckled, "You can sleep. I think I'm gonna go sit on the kitchen floor." He stood, rubbing his face, and grabbed his water to quickly finish it.

"I'll go with you," Hailey said.

Jay reached over and kissed her forehead, "You love sleeping."

Hailey smiled a little, "I love you more."

"Stay here," Jay set his hand on the side of her neck, "Maybe without my body heat in bed it'll be easier for you to actually fall asleep."

"If you need me, please come get me," Hailey said.

Jay hesitated then stepped back.

"Jay," Hailey crossed her arms.

"Okay," Jay said, "I'll come get you."

"Thank you," Hailey breathed out and laid down.

Jay laughed quietly before walking out to the kitchen and settling himself down on the tile floor. He had no intention of sleeping, but the cool tile felt a hell of a lot better than the sheets on the bed.

Hailey was woken just past six in the morning to the lights on in the bedroom. She smiled knowing what it meant and hurried out bed. The TV had turned back on and she could hear the soft whirl of the air conditioning.

"Jay," she said while walking into the kitchen.

She stopped at the edge of the tile and held back a laugh at him sleeping sitting up against the wall. He had a total of four empty water bottles around him and a couple melted ice packs on his thighs.

She smiled and went to kneel next to him, brushing her hand over his forehead. He still felt warm, but he was much calmer than the last time they'd talked.

She breathed out and whispered, "You really are something else, aren't you…husband?"

She laughed to herself at her own words, but quickly quieted down so she didn't wake him. Friends for three years, dated for just over a year, engaged for thirteen days, and now married for two months. She loved him with her whole heart and being, but he sure did throw her for a loop still.

She didn't want to push too hard though, so as his eyes started blinking open, she decided to store this moment away in the back of her mind for the future – sleeping in the heat was some sort of trigger – she just hoped that next time he wouldn't be so worried about scaring her to tell her what was going on.

A/N: Hi! Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter and is excited for more :) I love putting this little world together and connecting it to my other stories. There were a couple in here that I consciously connected to We Can…and one I connected to the sequel ;) which, btw, if you follow me on Twitter (onecpd14) you'll know I'm going to really get to work on that soon and I think I'll need some help, so I'll probably be doing at least two polls on there in the next couple weeks for the title and one other thing that I'm keeping a secret. Anyways! I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve! See you in 2021!