September

"Jay, hey."

Jay turned on the stairs at Adam's voice, "What's up?"

"Um, all right, we need to talk," Adam said and pushed Jay to keep walking down to the locker room.

Once they were inside and the door was closed, Jay crossed his arms, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Adam breathed and quickly scanned the room before saying, "Okay, I think we're alone."

Jay chuckled as he sat down, "What's going on?"

"So I was thinking of asking Kim out again," Adam smiled slightly, "What do you think?"

"I think it's about damn time," Jay nodded.

Adam bit his lip, "Really?"

"Yes," Jay laughed, "You two have been dancing around this forever."

Adam took a deep breath, "I guess."

Jay waited for him to say something, but when he remained in silence, he asked, "Is there a reason we're here right now?"

"I want it to be a double date," Adam said.

Jay's eyebrows shot up, "Why?"

"To lessen the tension," Adam sat on the bench opposite Jay, "So come on, me and Kim, you and Hailey…double date."

Jay shook his head, "I don't know. You two don't need me and Hailey there as chaperones."

"Not as chaperones," Adam sighed, "Just to hang out with us."

"Are we hanging out or going on a date?" Jay asked, "Because there's a difference."

"Date," Adam nodded, "This is definitely a date. What do you say?"

The door opened and Kim stepped in, "Whoa, what'd I walk in on?" She laughed and walked around Jay to get to her locker, "Did I just hear him ask you on a date?"

Jay groaned quietly, "Essentially."

Kim looked toward Adam, "What's he talking about?"

Adam smirked slightly, "Uh, well, you see," he rubbed the back of his neck, "What do you say about a double date? Me and you and the Halsteads."

Kim's mouth gaped, "What?"

"A double date," Adam repeated, "Let's try it out."

Jay felt his face turn hot as he stared down at his feet – hating being literally in the middle of this exchange.

"Try what out?" Kim laughed softly and closed her locker.

"Us," Adam smiled, "Me and you again. We've been dancing around each other for a while now, right?"

Jay snorted as the words he'd said minutes before came out of Adam's mouth.

"I guess," Kim stepped around Jay and took a deep breath, "So a double date?" She lightly touched Adam's arm, "What're we going to do on this double date?"

"I was thinking dinner and a walk around the park," Adam said softly.

Jay sat up straighter, completely confused. That was not a double date.

"I like that," Kim nodded and stepped back, "What time?"

"Pick you up at seven?" Adam asked.

"Seven," Kim smiled before turning and hurrying out of the room.

Jay waited until he was sure she was gone to stand, "Dinner and a walk in the park?"

"That okay?" Adam nervously tugged at his shirt sleeves, "I thought it was lowkey enough for a not-first first date, but still kind of romantic where we might…you know."

"Sounds like a great date," Jay nodded, "But a double date? Come on, man."

"Just come," Adam said, "We'll have fun."

Jay breathed in, "Okay. I'll talk to Hailey. Text me where you want to go. You're doing all the planning."

Adam nodded and put his hands up, "You got it."

Upstairs at her desk, Hailey jumped when Kim grabbed her shoulder.

"Adam just asked me out," Kim hissed in her ear.

Hailey laughed in shock, "What?"

"Adam asked me out on a date," Kim said as a smile spread across her face, "You were right."

"That's great," Hailey smiled, "What're you guys going to do?"

"We," Kim pointed between the two of them, "Are going to dinner and a walk around the park. I know it's not fully planned out and small, but isn't it cute?"

Hailey's eyes widened slightly, "We?"

"Yeah, it's a double date," Kim said and pulled Adam's chair over to sit next to Hailey, "I'm fine with it. I think it'll help any awkwardness."

"Awkwardness?" Hailey asked, "Kim, you two hang out all the time."

"But now he wants to label it as a date," Kim shook her head, "That's different."

Hailey spotted Jay coming up the stairs. He just shook his head and walked in the break room.

Hailey tried to smile at him then looked back to Kim still staring at her, "Okay. Sounds fun."

"Thank you," Kim's face lit and she hurried back to her desk.

Hailey took a deep breath then went over to Jay, standing next to him at the counter as he cleaned out the mug he'd used that morning.

"Sorry," Jay whispered, "I was just thrown in the middle of it."

"Is it going to be weird?" Hailey asked.

"I don't know," Jay sighed, "But he insisted we go."

Hailey nodded and leaned against the counter, "She's pretty excited too."

"I mean," Jay shrugged, "What were we going to do tonight?"

Hailey bit her lip then laughed softly, "You mean that's different from our usual night of watching The Office, eating some sort of chocolate, and making out on the couch? No idea."

Jay laughed and squeezed her waist, "Are we falling into a rut already?"

Hailey shrugged, "I don't know. Our job doesn't exactly allow for us to go crazy in our personal lives."

"True," Jay said, "Well, all right then, tonight we're going on a date."

Hailey smiled, "Could be fun."

"Yeah," Jay shrugged, "What could go wrong?"

"The restaurant could catch on fire," Hailey stated, "Or our car could break down on the way there or we could get food poisoning or-"

"Stop, stop," Jay laughed again and gently shoved her shoulder, "You're going to jinx us."

"Or by not saying anything are we jinxing ourselves?" Hailey raised an eyebrow and started walking backwards toward the door, "Think about it."

"You're so weird," Jay shook his head and chuckled.

Hailey winked and blew him a kiss before turning to return to her desk.

Jay held the door open for Hailey, "Wife."

Hailey laughed and set a hand on his chest as she slid past him, "Knock it off…husband."

Jay smirked and grabbed her hand to follow her toward the hostess. "Hi," he smiled, "Uh, might be under Adam Ruzek."

The young girl looked at her list then nodded, "Follow me."

Hailey and Jay walked through the tables until they finally got to a corner booth. Hailey scooted inside and slipped off her jacket, passing it to Jay so he could hang it on the hook.

"Thank you," she smiled and grabbed a menu, "Adam picked a fancy place for a first date."

"Our first date was kind of fancy," Jay said while sitting next to her.

Hailey glanced up at him, "I remember. It was a really nice night." She set her hand on his thigh and swirled her fingers, "What do you remember about it?"

Jay bit his lip over a smirk, "I remember…saying 'I love you.'"

"Mhmm," Hailey smiled, "Anything else?"

"Oh, the steak was delicious," Jay chuckled.

Hailey lightly nudged her shoulder to his, "It was."

"And your body was," Jay nodded as he thought of a word, "Super hot. Especially when it was underneath me on my bed."

Hailey burst into laughter and softly hit his leg, "Jay!"

"No one heard," he laughed with her and kissed the side of her head before trailing his lips to her ear.

Hailey's eyes fluttered close and she breathed, "Jay."

"You've already said that," he whispered.

"Wow, so that's disgusting."

Hailey's eyes shot open to see Adam and Kim standing next to their table slipping their jackets off. She blushed, "Hi."

"Hey," Adam winked at her and set a hand on Kim's back as she sat down.

"You two look nice," Jay said.

Kim laughed softly, "Thanks. You two don't look-" her words died on her lips as she took in what Hailey was wearing. Her own face turned red and she breathed, "Oh."

Hailey weakly laughed as she realized they were wearing the same dark red dress, "Um…the labor day sale at Florodora?"

"I didn't think you shopped there," Kim said.

"Vanessa and I went because she was looking for a certain top," Hailey chewed her lip then glanced at Adam and Jay staring at them in amusement, "If you want, I can put my coat on."

"No, no, that's silly," Kim relaxed and waved her hand before taking a long sip of water, "It's fine, really, it's just a dress."

Hailey slightly nodded, "Yeah. And…um, well you did your hair down and mine's up, that's a difference."

"I sort of like yours better," Kim blushed.

"Ladies, ladies," Adam quickly interrupted, "You both look beautiful."

Jay nodded, "For sure. We're the luckiest guys in this place. How about I order wine? Wine's good, right?" He waved down the waiter and stared at the list of bottles in front of him, "Um…Hailey?"

She laughed softly and pointed one out to him to order.

Once he did, Jay took a deep breath and looked around the table, "So, how's everyone doing?"

The conversation was easy and relaxed. Hailey was glad they had agreed to come. In all honesty, she didn't remember the last date they had been on.

They went out to dinner a lot, but was it really a date when they went straight from work in jeans?

They got ice-cream the week before, but she'd spent the car ride there holding back tears because she'd had to tell a mother that her only daughter wasn't going to make it home from school, was that a date?

They walked around the park almost every Sunday, but that was because Jay liked to do early morning runs and the walk together was a cool down, did that count?

Right now, though, with Jay's thigh pressed up against hers and his hand brushing against her back every once in a while as he told jokes and brought up memories of Adam in an attempt to embarrass him, it felt like a date.

Even though Kim was next to her nervously eating bread between her own bits of the conversation that made Adam just beam, it felt like a date.

And with Adam, her ex-boyfriend, sitting opposite her insisting they take a picture to remember their first – first, he continuously made that very clear that more were to come – double date and telling Kim to order whatever she could possibly want, it felt like a date.

When the bill came and Adam quickly grabbed it, glancing at the bill with wide eyes, Jay shook his head and pulled out his wallet, "Adam."

"It's fine, I've got this," Adam said, "It was my idea."

Jay ignored him and slid money across the table, "Just take it."

"I can pitch in too," Kim opened her purse.

"No, no, you definitely don't have to pay, darling," Adam gratefully slipped Jay's cash next to his own within the bill and set it at the edge of the table.

Kim blushed and her fingers slipped along the zipper of her purse. She nervously laughed and grabbed her glass of wine to take the last sip.

Hailey raised an eyebrow and lightly touched her arm, "Want to go to the bathroom?"

"Sure," Kim nodded, "Thank you."

Jay stepped out of the booth for them and Hailey led the way to the back. Once they were in the bathroom, she asked quietly, "You okay?"

"He called me darling," Kim took a deep breath, "He…he hasn't said that in a while. I think we were engaged last time he said it."

Hailey smiled slightly, "So what's going through your head right now?"

"Gosh, I don't know," Kim shook her head, "It seems really real and it's obviously different, we've been through so much since we went out. Hell, he dated you."

Hailey couldn't help but laugh as she entered a stall, "Yeah, I guess that did happen. Kind of seems like a while ago. I've moved on and he definitely has too."

"Do you think he's having fun?" Kim asked while going into her own stall, "Am I being funny enough? I feel nervous."

Hailey laughed more, "I think he is having fun; I know Jay and I are enjoying ourselves."

"I'm really glad you two agreed to come," Kim said, "It's helping break the weirdness."

"What weirdness?" Hailey asked.

"The weirdness of 'are we really taking this step right now and going from dating to engaged to broken up to friends to parents to friends again to dating,'" Kim explained.

Hailey rolled her eyes and flushed the toilet before stepping out of the stall, "Kim."

"It's weird, Hailey!" Kim argued, "Weren't you a little nervous when you started dating Jay for real?"

Hailey smiled at herself in the mirror, "I guess, but it also just felt right. He's my person…my anchor."

Kim's toilet flushed and she stepped out a second later, "You two do belong together. No one can argue that."

Hailey shrugged as she started drying off her hands, "So do you feel the same way?"

Kim thought in silence and slowly washed her hands. Once she was done and had accepted the paper towel Hailey offered, "I do. I'm happier with him. I think we needed to grow up a little first, but now that we're here," she smiled and nodded, "He's home."

Hailey laughed softly and reached over to squeeze Kim's arm, "That's really really great. I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you," Kim laughed with her in disbelief, "Wow, I like him a lot."

"Always a good thing," Hailey opened the door.

"He's…wow, yeah," Kim nodded, "This is happening."

Hailey smiled at her before they walked back to the booth.

Jay stood and grabbed her coat, "You two ready to go?"

"Yup," Hailey slipped her arms into the coat when Jay held it out.

Adam helped Kim into hers, "So we're thinking about taking a walk in the park by Kim's place, did you two want to join?"

"Actually, we're gonna continue this little food adventure on our own," Jay said before Hailey could really even process what Adam had asked.

She turned and looked up at him, "Where are we going?"

"Continuing the date," Jay teased quietly, "Listen when I talk, wife."

"Shut up," Hailey laughed and lightly shoved him.

Kim smiled at them, "Well thank you for joining us. It was a lot of fun."

"Thank you for inviting us," Hailey replied and hugged her quickly, whispering in her ear, "Text me later."

Kim rolled her eyes, but nodded, "Okay."

Together, the four of them walked out of the restaurant, splitting ways at the door.

Hailey grabbed Jay's hand, "So, what kind of food are we talking?"

"That was pretty fancy," Jay said while they headed down the street, past the parking lot, "I was thinking maybe something more our speed."

"Such as what?" Hailey laughed.

"You'll see," Jay wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Hailey tucked herself into his side and breathed him in. The city wasn't quiet, but it was peaceful and sort of romantic. She'd always liked how it felt at night.

"I was thinking of something," Jay said softly once they'd walked a block in silence.

"Yeah?" Hailey lightly touched his side, "Everything okay?"

"No," Jay breathed in the crisp air before kissing the top of Hailey's head, "That was our first date in a while."

Hailey blushed slightly, "I…I guess I was thinking the same thing earlier, but it's okay."

"It's not," Jay shook his head, "You deserve to be treated to more nights out and I'm really sorry I haven't done that."

"We've gone out, Jay," Hailey said.

"Yeah, but look at us now," Jay stepped away from her, "You look incredible in that dress and you're in heels and your hair is up all fancy? I mean come on, you are beautiful everyday, but right now I'm really realizing how lucky I am that you're mine. And not to be all into myself, but I think I look pretty good in this suit."

Hailey rolled her eyes, but still blushed and laughed, tugging his arm so she was once again against his side, "We are pretty hot."

"Exactly," Jay kissed the top of her head, "So what do you say? Wanna make this a once a month thing? Maybe even an every other week thing?"

"I like that," Hailey smiled, "It doesn't have to be this fancy because we can't afford that."

"Don't worry about money," Jay said.

Hailey raised an eyebrow, "You know we have a joint bank account, right? And have the same job? You make a little more than me because of your years, but it's not millions. We can't afford steak and lobster dinners with endless wine every night."

"It won't be every night," Jay squeezed her to his side, "Besides, I know we can't have all of that all the time; it'd make it less special and you, Hailey Anne, deserve special."

"Jay," Hailey said softly.

"Don't fight it, I've told you that from the start," Jay rubbed his hand over her back.

Hailey watched the ground as they continued walking before saying, "I think we just have to be intentional about our nights out."

"That's fair," Jay nodded and slowed to a stop, grabbing Hailey's hand.

She looked up at the bright lights and laughed, "McDonalds?"

"Dollar cones just sounded really good after a dinner like that," Jay chuckled.

Hailey laughed with him and nodded, "They do."

"So," Jay stepped forward and opened the door, "What do you say? Continue our date with a two dollar dessert?"

Hailey's smile was wide as she nodded quickly, "Yes please."

They walked inside and once they were seated at a small table off to the side each holding a cone filled with vanilla soft serve, Hailey couldn't help but laugh. She was looking at Jay, tie now loosened, black suit jacket stark against the white plastic of the standard McDonalds booth, and she was filled with more joy than she could put into words. There they sat at perhaps the most unromantic restaurant wearing their fanciest clothes and she couldn't imagine loving anyone more.

A/N: As always, thank you for reading and sending me your kind words. They really mean so much to me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And I hope you all enjoy tomorrow's PD, I think it's going to be a good one ;) :)