This Christmas, a chicago pd fanfic

Merry Christmas everyone! If you love Hallmark Christmas movies and Linstead as much as I do, then you're in the right place. Enjoy~!

The holiday season was often regarded as a season for miracles. A magical season. Erin just thought that it was a miracle in itself that she actually got days off for the holidays this year. And as for magic? Well, there had to be some magic at work because Erin Lindsay was actually doing this.

This being actually renting out a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, Wisconsin for two whole weeks. Nothing but the frozen lake, snow covered trees, and a cozy cabin for her to completely relax in. No distractions, no stressful cases at work and definitely no annoying ex-boyfriend calling her every minute.

She exited when the uber car pulled up to the address she had on her phone and compared the real thing to the pictures that were posted online when she booked the place. Cozy and quaint was the best way to describe the small cabin. Perfect for one person.

She dragged her suitcase up the snow covered path and entered the house, nodding impressively at her temporary home for the next two weeks. Half of the living room was taken up by the huge fireplace, although it was a tragedy that there were no woods to burn and she was definitely not the type of girl that would trek through the woods with an axe and chop down a tree. A gun, she was an expert in handling it. Knew her way inside and out. But an axe? Let's just say, she was not an outdoorsy type.

So what on earth would possess her to 'rough' it in a secluded cabin out in the middle of nowhere? After years of constantly working and losing parts of herself in heavy cases involving kids at DCFS, Erin needed a break. She wanted to get out of the City and enjoy a relaxing Christmas all by herself. It also helped that Wisconsin was miles away from her ex-boyfriend— correction, cheating ex-boyfriend— who was constantly begging her for another chance.

She dropped her bags on the corner of the master bedroom before she dropped herself on the comfortable looking bed. The bed was huge and so was the room. She glanced around and surmised that the owner of the cabin must be a guy, judging by the minimal decor of the place. No hint of feminine touch anywhere. Not that she was the type to care much about these things. But maybe the images of the typical settings of a Christmas in a cabin from all those cheesy Hallmark movies must've gotten stuck in her mind. Those always did look pretty nice.

Maybe she wouldn't mind going through the trouble of actually putting Christmas decorations up. After all, what would be the point of spending Christmas in a picturesque location if she wasn't going to get herself in the Christmas spirit?

That was the last thought she had before the comfy and warm bed pulled her down for a nap.

She woke up hours later, feeling more refreshed. She stretched her body and felt the chill in the room going down her spine. Shuddering, she stood up and searched for the bathroom. A hot bath sounded heavenly to Erin right now.

The luxurious looking bathtub was the main draw for Erin when she booked this specific cabin. It could easily fit two— maybe even three— people inside it. She filled it up with hot water and went to her bag for the special bubble bath she brought with her, in preparation for this.

The water felt as heavenly and glorious as she imagined, the steaming water warming her body immediately. She sighed and leaned back against the tub, the bubbles covering her body in aromatic goodness. She could spend hours here. Maybe the full two weeks.

Peaceful and comfortable, Erin closed her eyes, letting the warm water continue to soothe her. She was so relaxed and almost to the point of sleep that everything around her faded into oblivion. That must've been the explanation for why she didn't hear the opening of the front door, or the footsteps climbing up the stairs. Or why she didn't hear anything right outside the bathroom door until it was suddenly opened and a strange man walked right in, completely shirtless.

Erin jerked awake at the unexpected intrusion and stilled when the stranger appeared. The man was frozen in place, equally shocked to see her as she was him. At least until Erin got her wits back and screamed, yelling at the intruder to get the hell out. His reaction time wasn't fast enough so Erin grabbed the nearest thing she could— a shampoo bottle— and threw it at him.

"Get out!" she shouted again, the man finally snapping out of his shock and running out of the bathroom. Erin quickly stood up from the tub and grabbed her towel, covering herself. She ran out of the bathroom, ready to confront the intruder. It might've been stupid of her but she was running on pure instincts.

The guy was still outside— still half naked— his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he looked so lost. When she exited the bathroom in the master bedroom, he was looking at her like she was a ghost. Like he wasn't sure if she was real or not.

"Who the hell are you?" Erin demanded answers, glaring at him while holding her towel up. The guy was still looking at her, his mouth opened but no sound coming out. Frustrated, Erin snapped her fingers and repeated her question.

The guy broke out his daze and finally answered her. "Who the hell am I? I should be asking you that. Who the hell are you?" the guy shot back.

Erin scoffed at the audacity of the guy. He was the one trespassing on her cabin and he had the guts to demand answers from her?

"Get out!" she ordered, pointing at the door with one hand and holding up her towel with the other. "Before I called the cops."

The guy cocked his hands on his hips, Erin trying not to stare at the adonis belt that the location of his hand brought to attention. "Why should I leave? You're the one that shouldn't be here."

"Excuse me? You're the one that's intruding on private property," Erin argued.

"Yeah, it's my private property," the guy retorted. "So you're the one that's intruding here. You need to get out."

"What?" Erin spat, so lost as to what was going on. "This is your cabin?"

"Yeah," the guy replied, like she was stupid. "Who are you?"

"Who are you? I'm not telling you my name first." Erin cocked her hand on her hips, wanting to come off more intimidating.

The guy didn't even seem fazed. "Jay Halstead," he replied coolly. "Your turn."

"Erin Lindsay," Erin muttered, going over his name in her head. "Halstead." She remembered dealing with someone named Halstead when she booked the place. "You own this cabin?"

The guy, or Jay, nodded. "And you don't. You have no right to be here."

"I have every right to be here," Erin countered. "At least for the next two weeks."

"What are you talking about?"

"I rented this cabin," she explained. "It's mine for the next two weeks."

Jay frowned. "I never put this cabin up for rent. There's been a mistake."

"I don't think so."

"No. I would know if I put my own cabin up for rent and I didn't. You need to go."

Erin scoffed. "I'm not going anywhere. I already paid for the next 14 days. I have every right to be here." Erin walked over to her bags on the floor, pulled out her phone and pulled up the copy of the receipt. "See!" she exclaimed, shoving the evidence in his face.

"I didn't authorize it," Jay replied, reading the picture over and over again.

Erin shrugged. "Not my problem. I paid it for it and the contract is binding. Now you need to get out." She pointed at the door and waited for Jay to get out.

Jay just crossed his arms and stared her down. "Why would I go? I own this place."

"Says you! How do I even know that you're the actual owner. You can just be a crazy guy that walked in here, claiming to own this cabin," Erin pointed out.

He huffed before walking over to the nightstand and pulled out a picture frame. It was a picture of him and another guy that looked familiar to him, sitting in the living room of the cabin. "See here!" Jay said, holding the picture up so Erin could see clearly. "This is my cabin."

Erin crossed her arms and stood up straighter to match his height. "That doesn't prove anything. You could've planted that here," she countered, knowing that her argument was weak. But she wasn't budging and she wasn't giving up her vacation.

"Are you serious?" Jay balked, tossing his hands up. "Why would I plant this? How would I even…..why would I even?" He seemed at a loss for words.

"Who knows? Maybe this is your thing. Breaking into empty cabins and planting pictures so you can come back later and mooch off of people's vacation rental."

Jay ran his hands through his hair. "Okay, that makes absolutely no sense," he stated flatly.

"It could!" Erin said indignant. "I've seen crazier people."

"Hey, you're talking to a Chicago detective. You want to talk about crazy people?"

Erin paused. "You're from Chicago?" Jay nodded. "Me too. A detective?" she asked, looking at him up and down. He seemed like one, now that Erin looked at him closer. His stance, his stoic nature and his toned body just screamed law enforcement or military.

"Yeah. Intelligence."

Erin couldn't believe how small the world was sometimes. "Intelligence," she repeated quietly, wrapping her mind around the coincidence. "You work with Hank Voight."

Jay's eyebrows shot up. "You know Voight?" Erin nodded. "He's my boss. How do you know him?"

"Um," Erin started, trying to think of an easy way to describe how she knew Hank. "He's sort of family."

Jay looked surprised at her answer. "You're his daughter? I didn't know he had a daughter."

"I'm not," Erin replied. "Not really."

"...okay," Jay murmured, understanding that there was a story that she wasn't telling. "Anyway back to the topic at hand here, I'm not some psycho breaking in and planting evidence to get free cabin time. I do own this cabin and I didn't put it up for rental."

"Okay and I'm telling you, I rented this cabin online and already paid for it," Erin replied, holding up her phone again. Jay leaned down and took a closer look at the phone, Erin leaning back to get some distance from the sudden close proximity.

"Will," Jay spat, cussing under his breath. "My fucking brother. He must've put it up on the site."

"It sounds like you should talk to him about it," Erin began. "Somewhere else. Not here."

"How many times have I told you that I'm not leaving?."

Erin glared at him. "I'm not leaving what I already paid for either."

"Then looks like we have a problem here."

Erin smirked, not at all intimidated by the guy. Let the battles begin.

"...I don't care how much student loans you have Will! You can't just put my cabin up for rent without telling me." Erin heard Jay yelling into his phone, probably to his brother Will, for putting up his property for rental without permission. She stood by the door, listening and trying to think of a way to get this guy to leave so she could enjoy her winter break in peace. "What...what the fuck does it matter if you didn't know if I was gonna come up here or not? No, you know Grandpa left the cabin to me." She heard him sigh. "Yeah I know I gave you the keys. Big mistake by the way."

She leaned against the wall, remaining as quiet as she could so he wouldn't know she was eavesdropping. It'd be pretty embarrassing if he caught her listening in. But at least they were both fully clothed now.

"No you idiot. I didn't enjoy walking in on a naked stranger in my bathtub. What? Yeah, she's gorgeous. What... what does that even matter?" Erin held back the scoff at Will's question. At least she was being called gorgeous. Erin could think of much worse ways to be described. "She was in the bathtub, what do you think? No, I didn't see anything. I didn't look! Because I'm not a perv like you!"

Erin had heard enough and she didn't need to hear anymore of Jay's description to his brother about her being naked so she made her presence known, clearing her throat to get Jay's attention. Jay immediately spun around at the noise, almost dropping his phone in surprise. She crossed her arms and just stared him down, amused at how deep he blushed when he realized that she heard his conversation. It was almost cute. Almost.

"I got to go, Will." Jay said as he hung up his phone.

"Your brother?" Erin asked, gesturing to his phone. "Have a nice conversation about me being naked in your tub?"

"I didn't see anything!" Jay immediately claimed, holding his hand up. Erin just quirked her brow, waiting to see how else he'd react. "I swear."

Erin snorted and rolled her eyes. "Right, because you're not a perv like your brother, right?"

The blush remained on his face and he dropped his gaze to the ground like he was bashful. Erin didn't know what to think of this guy. He was obviously good looking— like objectively handsome— and he had a hot body to boot. He was also a badass detective— Erin knew just how hard it was to be an Intelligence detective— yet he was also shy and he blushed like a Catholic schoolboy when he talked about catching her naked in his tub.

"My brother," he released a sigh— both frustrated yet strangely fond. "He's….something, that's for sure." He sat down on the stool by the kitchen island. "And he's the one that put the cabin up for rent. Didn't think I'd be up here this Christmas."

She rested her elbows on the large island. "I didn't think Intelligence usually gets Christmas off. Hank never did before. At least not for more than a day."

"We don't but um...my vacation here was kinda a mandatory order by my boss."

Erin smiled knowingly. "So you're one of those workaholic detectives that need to be ordered to take time off too?" He shrugged like he was admitting to her description. "I used to live with one of those."

"Must've been fun, growing up with Voight," Jay said, shuddering. Then he realized that it must've come off offensive to her because he immediately looked apologetic. Erin tried to keep her face stern but seeing the almost scared look on his face had her cracking up soon enough. "Sorry," he offered.

Erin shook her head and sighed. "This conversation has almost been as fun as growing up with Hank, but we need to decide how we're going to figure this out."

Jay licked his lips and nodded. "You're right. We need to figure out how to get you back home."

Erin narrowed her eyes. "Considering I already paid a pretty penny to your pervy brother, I don't think I'm the one that needs to leave. But go ahead, take your time packing. As long as you're out of here before sundown, that'd be great." She gave him a fake smile, hoping that they wouldn't have to get into a fight for her to get him out.

Jay stood up and came around the island. "I think I already made myself pretty clear that I'm not going anywhere. I never agreed to have this place rented out."

"It's your brother!" Erin argued.

"Exactly! It's my brother, not me." He scratched his forehead. "Look, I don't get a lot of time for myself okay? And this place, this is the one place that I can come to and just relax and unwind and I really need this right now."

Erin watched him carefully, seeing something heavy in his eyes when he said those words. That look was familiar, like the one she usually got when some of her cases got too heavy and she got too emotionally attached and consumed by the children she came across. She could empathize with him.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I need this too, Jay. I know that Intelligence deals with hard cases and you probably need a break from everything seeing as how Hank felt the need to order you to take time off. But I need this too. My job isn't the easiest and I need to get away."

"What do you do?" Jay asked her.

"I work at DCFS."

Jay gave her a look of understanding. "You work with kids. That can't be easy."

"It's not." It really wasn't. She saw and dealt with vulnerable children and women all day, every day. Some cases were open and shut but there were some that didn't get wrapped up with a nice bowtie, some that just took parts of herself that she'd never get back. It wasn't like her to take an actual vacation for herself but like Jay, she was pretty much ordered to by her boss who saw how she was working herself to the bone. Forced to take a break, Erin was lost. She had no idea what to do. She had succumbed to watching those Hallmark Christmas movies she hated to pass the time and thought maybe spending the holidays by herself in a cabin didn't seem that bad of an idea.

Almost spontaneously, she began searching for holiday rental and when she saw the pictures of this place— especially that huge bathtub— she found herself booking it. She just didn't expect the cabin to come with a stranger who refused to leave also.

"Okay how about this? We both need this break and obviously neither of us are budging on this," Erin began, Jay studying her carefully probably wondering where she was going. "This is a big cabin so why don't we compromise?"

"You mean both of us stay here? Together?"

Erin shrugged. "Why not? I can stay out your way if you stay out of mine. Beats one of us having to leave and go back to Chicago, right?"

Jay nodded, thinking her idea over. "Okay," he said after a moment. "I don't mind sharing my cabin with you."

Erin scoffed. "I think it's more me sharing my cabin with you," she retorted, daring him to argue with her. "At least for the next two weeks."

"Won't Voight miss you for Christmas?" Jay asked.

"He didn't tell you that he's spending the holidays with Olive and his grandson in Phoenix?"

"Let's just say me and Voight are not chummy enough to share our holiday plans. All I know is that he took time off. Trust me, we were all shocked."

Erin laughed. "Fair enough. So do we have a deal?" Erin held out her hand for Jay to shake.

He seemed to be thinking it over before giving in. "Deal." Jay replied, shaking her hand.

Erin gripped his hand and pulled him closer. "But I get the master bedroom and the bathtub," she demanded. That was one demand she wasn't backing out on.

"That's my room," Jay argued.

"Not until Dec 27th," she pointed out. "Deal?"

Jay sighed, conceding. "Deal. Don't ever say I'm not a gentleman."

Erin smirked, looking at him up and down. "That's still up for debate." she said as she left the kitchen, ready to spend more time taking a bath. Hopefully, uninterrupted this time.

It wasn't until hours later that Erin realized that she hadn't eaten all day. Her stomach growled, calling attention to her lack of substance and she flopped around in her bed and thought of what to do for dinner. She groaned realizing that she didn't bring anything to eat with her, which was incredibly stupid of her. She pouted and wondered if there was such a thing as Grubhub that delivered out here.

She sat up and pulled her blanket to the side, immediately feeling the chill in the room. It was freezing, not that she should've expected anything different. She was just cursing herself for losing her damn mind for a minute and booking a trip out to Wisconsin in the middle of winter.

She dug through her suitcase and pulled out her extra thick robe and covered herself, burying her hands into the warm pockets. She headed downstairs in hopes that there might be something to eat. She could eat a horse right now but she'd settle for a freaking cracker.

She heard soft noises and saw the lights on the kitchen. She ignored the fire that was going on in the fireplace in the living room that warmed the whole downstairs in favor of the possibility of food in the kitchen. Jay was there, washing his hands until he noticed her presence and turned around to face her.

She suddenly felt awkward standing there, Jay looking at her and waiting for her to say something.

"Food," she blurted out, cringing at herself when she noticed his eyebrow rising to his forehead.

"Food," he repeated flatly.

"Hungry." And of course, her stomach growled at the perfect time, like it was helping her make her point.

"I see that. Or heard that, clearly." Erin wanted to smack the smirk on his face. "I'll get out of your way, per our agreement," Jay said, coming around her and grabbing the plate of food he had waiting on the kitchen island.

Erin ignored him even though he hadn't left the kitchen yet. Instead he was standing by the doorway, watching her to see what she'd do. Erin opened the fridge and found that aside from a few bottles of water, it was empty. So she turned her attention on the cabinets, finding them void of food also. Aside from a bottle of whiskey, there was nothing for her to even nibble on.

She let out a string of curses under her breath but apparently, she wasn't quiet enough because she heard Jay's soft laughter behind her. She whirled her head around and glared at him.

"Something funny to you?" she asked.

Jay shrugged. "No. Aside from the fact that you seem to think this cabin is a five-star hotel. Are you expecting room service or something?"

"I'm not expecting lobster and champagne okay? I was just hoping that there'd at least be some chips or crackers or something."

Jay tsked. "No."

She searched one last drawer and slammed it shut when there was no food in there either. "Damn, when was the last time anyone stayed here? There's no food at all."

"Not true. I have my sandwich here," Jay replied cheekily, holding up his plate of food in his hand.

Erin's mouth watered. "Where'd you get that from?"

"I brought it with me. I guess I'm just smart enough to have the foresight to know that I'm gonna have to eat."

"Are you calling me stupid?" He didn't reply but an infuriating smirk crossed his lips. "If I wasn't so weak from hunger, I'd punch you in your pretty face," Erin muttered.

"So violent. I guess I have to sleep with one eye open."

"Yeah, you do that," Erin returned, rolling her eyes. He was leaning against the wall, that same infuriating smirk still on his face. "What?" she grunted.

"You think I'm pretty," Jay replied, smiling smugly at her.

Erin recalled her earlier words and felt her ears heat up, not that she'd let him see her ruffled. "Did I?" she replied nonchalantly. "I must be delirious from hunger."

"You know what they say? A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts. Or in this case, a hungry woman's words."

"Yeah? Do you also know what people say about not messing with a hangry woman then?" Erin threatened, pointing her finger at him.

"Leave her alone while I go eat my sandwich in peace?" Jay said, making to leave.

"Wait!" Erin yelled out, stopping him. "Is there anything to eat around here?"

"Yeah," Jay replied, holding up his plate.

Erin sighed. "Is there anything for me to eat?"

"Nope!" he called over his shoulder.

"Wait!" Erin shouted again. "Does anyone deliver to this address?"

He turned and gave her a look like she was crazy. "You do realize that this isn't Chicago right? It's in the middle of the woods and it's snowing like crazy outside. No one is coming around here to deliver a burger."

Erin was expecting that. She had no idea why she didn't have the foresight to bring food with her. Especially since she had no way of actually getting to a grocery store without a car here. She was trapped here and maybe she'd starve to death with no one noticing until she had shriveled up to nothing but a corpse and a bear would break into the cabin and eat her.

Jay cleared his throat, snapping her out of her morbid thoughts.

"You have to give me some of that then," Erin demanded. It made logical sense to her. She was starving and Jay had food. After all, didn't people say sharing is caring?

"Oh, I don't think so," he refused.

"Come on," Erin whined. "I'm so hungry!"

"Then you should've brought food with you. What were you going to do if I wasn't here? You don't have a car and you have no food. Were you gonna hike through the snow to town?"

"I didn't think that far ahead okay?" Erin snapped. "Obviously, I'm not used to being out here." She waved her hands around.

"Obviously," Jay snorted.

"Come on, you can't be that heartless and make me starve for the night, are you?" Erin tried again, giving him her best smile and maybe even a bit of the puppy dog eyes. Anything to get him to share half of his sandwich.

Jay tossed his head back and groaned. "Fine!" he bit out. "But just half of the sandwich. No chips."

Erin grinned victoriously, happily following Jay's lead into the living room.

Erin moaned out loud as she bit into the sandwich. It was just a simple ham and cheese sandwich but it was the best thing she'd ever tasted. Hunger would do crazy things to people.

"So good," she moaned again, not even caring that she was coming across like a starved pig in front of Jay. He was watching her amused at her pretty much wolfing the sandwich down, like he'd never seen something like it before.

"Glad I got my hands out in time when I passed you the food," Jay remarked, shaking his head fondly. "Otherwise you might've bit it off."

Erin didn't even care enough to chide him for his comment. She was just happy that her stomach wasn't as empty as before.

"Either I was too hungry or that was the best ham and cheese sandwich ever," Erin commented, leaning back against the couch and stretching her legs out on the floor. They were sitting on the floor in front of the fire, completely relaxed.

"Considering I bought it from a random gas station on my way here, I'd say it's the hunger talking," Jay revealed. Erin paused at eating questionable gas station food then shrugged. Food was food. It wasn't like she could be choosy right now.

"Eh, I thought I might have to eat you a few minutes ago so questionable gas station food isn't too bad in comparison."

"So morbid. Again, one eye open when I go to sleep," Jay retorted, grinning.

"Shut up!" she muttered. "Just for that," she warned as she reached into his plate for a chip.

"Hey!" Jay cried, pulling his plate away from her. "We had a deal!"

"Come on! If I'm gonna starve to death in the next two weeks, I'd like my last meal to have some chips in it," Erin pleaded.

Jay rolled his eyes but passed his plate to her. "Only because this is your final meal."

"Look who's being morbid now," Erin said, taking his offer and popping a piece of chip into her mouth. "So we're not really gonna starve here right? Like I can call a taxi or uber to take me into town and buy some food?"

"Maybe, if it doesn't snow too much. Otherwise, I think we're outta luck." Erin's eyes bulged. "I'm just kidding," Jay said, laughing. "I have my car. Tomorrow I'll hit the grocery store and get us some food."

Erin sighed in relief and leaned back against the couch again. With a little bit of food in her stomach now, she was more relaxed and she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on the fire that Jay started. She remembered seeing that there was no wood when she first got here so Jay must've gone out and chopped some wood.

"Did you go out and gather some wood?" Erin asked, gesturing to the fire. Jay followed her eyesight and nodded. "You're like a real Paul Bunyan, huh?"

Jay chuckled. "I don't know about that but once you've been coming here as long as I have, you pick up on some things." Erin just nodded and returned her attention back to the cozy fire as Jay finished eating. "So what about you?" Jay asked, wiping his mouth.

"What about me?"

"You're clearly not a cabin type of girl so what would possess you to come out here?"

Erin turned her head to look at him. "That's a question for another day."

He frowned. "What? Why?"

"You're gonna make fun of me."

"I would not," Jay argued. But Erin's mouth was sealed. "Fine," he conceded. "Another question then. How are you related to Voight?" Erin pursed her lips like she was thinking. She stood up, catching Jay off-guard. "Where are you going?"

She didn't reply. Instead, she made her way into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of whiskey she saw earlier and two mugs. She held the bottle up to show him when she came back and sat down. "If I'm gonna answer any questions about Voight, I'm gonna need a drink."

Jay remained quiet and just watched as she poured them both a drink. "Cheers," Jay toasted as they both took a shot.

An hour— or two or three, Erin lost track— later, they were feeling warmer and more relaxed, all courtesy of their less than filling dinner and the whiskey that was now half-empty.

"Who knew Voight had a soft side?" Jay said after Erin told him the short summary of how she knew Hank. She left most of the details out. She barely knew the guy and he didn't need to know all about her less than pristine past.

Erin frowned. "You can't be that surprised. I know Hank has his tough exterior and can be stubborn…"

"Not to mention, scary," Jay chimed in.

Erin chuckled. "Yeah, he's all of those things but...," she shrugged. "I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for him."

Jay gave her an understanding look. "You didn't have it easy growing up huh?"

"I guess that's one way of putting it," she snorted. "What about you? How was it like growing up?"

Jay held up his finger, signaling her to wait. Erin watched curiously as he poured them another shot. "If we're gonna start talking about my childhood, we need another shot."

Erin laughed, both of them toasting each other before drinking the whiskey. "Your turn."

"I don't know. I guess it was a pretty typical childhood. Two parents and a brother. We grew up in Canaryville. Nothing interesting."

Erin studied him carefully. "Let me guess. Canaryville and the freckles. I bet you were a good Catholic school boy too."

"Guilty," Jay admitted. "Perfect attendance at Sunday school and everything," Jay boasted proudly. "Nah, me and my brother were little shitheads. It was almost a miracle that my mom didn't go crazy raising us."

Erin noticed that Jay mentioned his mom a lot but not his father. "Are you and your mom close?"

"We were," Jay replied.

Erin realized her mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry." Jay just nodded. "When did she pass?"

"A few years ago," Jay replied, a heavy look coming over his face. He was still hurting over his mom's death and Erin reached over and rubbed his arm in comfort. "It's hard. I feel like I can still feel her sometimes, especially whenever I come here."

"Is that why you like coming up here?"

Jay gave her a small smile, nodding. "I always loved it here though. Ever since I was a kid. It was my grandfather and we spent all our holidays here."

Erin could just see it now. "That must've been nice. The lake must be even better in the summer."

"Yeah. My grandfather specifically had the cabin dragged up here so it could be next to the lake. It's the perfect spot in the summer but my favorite is always the wintertime."

"You're crazy. It's freezing out here," Erin remarked.

"Ah, I got the cure for that," Jay said, pouring them another drink. "Whiskey, it warms you right up." Erin had to agree. With the fire still going and the whiskey working its magic, she was feeling so good— all nice and warm. "Like I was saying, summer's nice but Christmas, that's the best time."

"Yeah?" she asked, leaning her elbow against the couch and propping her head on it. "Tell me about it."

"For starters, me and Will would just mess around in the snow for hours. There's this small hill close to here and we'd go sledding all day. Then we'd come back and our mom would just have this amazing meal. Everyone would go crazy over the food. Something about the cold making the food taste even better or something. Then I don't know, we'd just sit around the fire, all spread out and just exchange Christmas presents."

Erin smiled softly as she listened to Jay tell her about his childhood Christmases. It was exactly what she had in mind when she thought of a perfect Christmas holiday. Like he was describing everything she'd seen in those Christmas movies. Ones that brought her to this cabin.

"That sounds amazing." she whispered. "That's exactly what I had in mind."

"What do you mean?" Jay asked about her slip of tongue.

Even though she had not been forthcoming with her answer earlier, the whiskey was making her lips loose because she found herself telling Jay what had gotten her to book the cabin. And just as she had been expecting, Jay started laughing. She couldn't even blame him because who wouldn't after hearing that she had decided to come all the way to the middle of Wisconsin by herself because she had been inspired by the very cheesy movies she swore she hated?

"I knew you would laugh," she said, feeling a bit embarrassed about telling Jay about it. Jay stopped his laughing and looked contrite. "It sounded like a good idea at the time okay? I had a list of things I wanted to do."

"I'm sorry," Jay offered. "But it's just…."

"Ridiculous? Crazy? I must've lost my mind?" Erin finished for him.

"Adorable," Jay countered. "It's adorable."

Erin frowned. "Now you're just yanking my chain."

"No," Jay protested, reaching over and laying his hand on hers. "I swear I'm not. Besides I'm sure you're not the only one that has done something like this. I heard those movies can be very….addicting."

Erin recalled all the different Christmas movies she watched during her first couple of days off just to pass the time. Even though they were all the same plot with just different characters, she still found herself watching them all day. Addicting was the perfect word to describe them.

"I'm so embarrassed," she admitted, covering her face with her hand. But Jay reached over and pulled them off of her face, his eyes filled with laughter. "Stop."

"I'm sorry for laughing," Jay said again. Then his eyes lit up like he had an idea and he stood up, going over to a drawer and pulling out a notepad. "I have an idea," he started as he rejoined her on the floor.

"What?"

"Here. Write down everything that was on your list," Jay suggested. Erin looked at him, still lost. "You said you had a list of things you wanted to do when you're up here. Write them down."

"So you can laugh at me some more?" Erin questioned. It was only because she was almost drunk that she even let her secret slip out. She didn't want any evidence of it for him to laugh at when they became sober again.

"No laughing, I promise." He nudged her, gesturing to the notepad again. "Come on, write it down."

"Why?" Erin asked.

He shrugged. "You never know what might happen. Maybe there might be a Christmas miracle. They have those in the movies, don't they?" he teased.

Erin held back her amused laughter and complied, jotting down all the different cliche things she remembered seeing in all those movies.

"Done," she said, dropping the pen after she was finished. "Now I need another shot," she demanded. Jay poured them another glass easily enough and that was the last thing Erin remembered.

Erin groaned when the sunlight streamed in and hit her in the face, waking her up. She slowly opened her eyes, clutching her head when a headache hit her. She blinked a few times, trying to get her bearings and slowly sat up when she realized that she was lying on a big comfortable leather couch.

The blanket that was covering her— one that she didn't remember seeing last night— fell onto her lap and she looked around her surroundings. She spotted the half empty whiskey bottle on the coffee table and memories of last night came flooding in.

"Jay?" she called our, her voice sounding especially rough. She cleared her throat and tried again but no replies came. She pushed the blanket off and stood up. Just as she was about to go upstairs, she heard the front door open and Jay walked in, all bundled up and carrying a few paper bags in his arms.

"You're up," he smiled when he saw her standing. She could only nod, still sleepy and a bit fuzzy. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so hot," she answered honestly, holding her head. She looked at Jay. As horrible as Erin was feeling, he looked the complete opposite. He certainly didn't look like he spent the entire night drinking shots of whiskey.

"I got just the answer for that. Come on," he called her over, tilting his head to the kitchen. She followed slowly and sat down on the stool by the island. Jay was rummaging through the bags of grocery and pulled out an aspirin bottle as well as a bottle of water, passing them both to her. "I thought you might be needing these and I was right."

She could only grunt a thanks in the midst of quickly taking the medicine, hoping that her hangover would subside soon. She rubbed her face and blearily looked up at him. "You got groceries?"

Jay nodded, beginning to put the food away. "Yeah, I thought I'd go into town and get us some food. That way, you won't be jacking my food later," he teased. She was still out of it and Jay noticed. "Hey, why don't you go take a shower? It'll wake you up. I'll make us some breakfast."

Erin nodded, managing to give him a grateful smile before heading upstairs to wash up.

When she was feeling a little bit more human and came back down, Jay was finishing up and plating the food up. One for her and one for him.

"Just in time," he called out when he saw her. Erin's eyes lit up at seeing the eggs and toast. It was a simple breakfast but simple was what she could handle and she needed to get some food into her stomach.

"It smells so good," she exclaimed happily as she sat down, ready to dig in. But before she took a bite, she noticed a few more bags in the kitchen. Way more than she saw earlier. "Did you leave any groceries left for other people?" Erin asked, pointing to the bags.

Jay glanced at the bags and grinned. "It's not groceries," he said mysteriously.

Erin's brows furrowed. "What is it then?"

The grin on his face got bigger as he went over and pulled out a box of ornament from one of the bags. "They're Christmas decorations!" he revealed, excitement coloring his voice.

"What?" Erin was so lost. Then Jay took out a paper from his pocket and Erin gasped, her eyes widening when she realized what it was. It was her embarrassing list from last night. One that she made while she was inebriated. "Oh no," she groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Come on!" Jay exclaimed. "It's a good list."

Erin scoffed. "I think you mean cheesy, cliche, not to mention embarrassing."

Jay shook his head. "No, I meant good." He sighed, seeing her reaction. "Erin. I don't know how much you remember about our conversation last night. But you know what I remember?" Erin lifted her head to look at him. "I remember telling you about my mom and all the Christmases we spent up here," Jay continued, a wistful smile taking over his face. "It made me realize that it's been awhile since I thought about those good memories."

Erin gave him a small smile. The Christmases Jay told her about last night did seem wonderful.

"You know what else I realized?" Erin shook her head. "That I haven't had a good Christmas in a long time. Since my mom passed, I stopped celebrating Christmas, choosing to work so I wouldn't have to think about it. But talking to you about them, it helped me see how much I used to love the holidays and how much I miss it."

"So this is for your benefit then?" she questioned.

"For both of our benefits," Jay replied. "After all, you said you never had a traditional Christmas either right?" Erin nodded, still unsure about the whole thing. "So as long as we're here together, why don't we do some of the things on your list? Together."

Erin took the list from Jay and read it.

Decorate a tree.
Build a snowman and have a snowball fight.
Go to a Winter festival.
Kiss under a mistletoe.
Sit in front of a cozy fire.

Erin could die. All the things that she'd written down were things that were found on like a random Hallmark movies bingo card.

"It'll be fun." She met Jay's eyes and saw him being so excited about the list. It was almost infectious, especially when she recalled their conversation last night when Jay told her about his mom. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. After all, wasn't it the whole reason why she even came up here in the first place? Maybe a Christmas miracle would happen and the Christmas spirit would find her this year.

"Okay," she said, agreeing and Jay smiled. "But first, we need to add one more thing to the list." She felt Jay's eyes on her as she grabbed a pen and made an addition to the list.

Jay took the paper to read what she had written down. "Go sledding at the hill." Their eyes met. "I'm sure the sleds are still here. I can dig them out." Erin grinned. "As long as we have a deal."

She rolled her eyes but gave in. "Deal."

Seeing as Jay had gone overboard in buying all the Christmas decorations, their next order of business was to actually get a tree. Erin was clueless as to where they could actually go. She never bothered to get a tree for herself back home since she lived alone and she never usually celebrated Christmas. It was too much trouble for her to go out, buy a tree, lug it back home and decorate it.

Jay had reassured her that he knew what he was doing so she followed his instructions, especially the one where he advised her to dress warmly. She understood the reason when she stepped outside and saw the grounds covered completely in snow. Despite wearing layers upon layers, she still shivered as she watched Jay pick up his axe before he led her into the woods.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Erin asked, walking next to him. "You're not taking me into the woods so you can murder me with the axe, right?"

Jay rolled his eyes. "If I was, would I tell you?"

"Good point," she conceded. "Where are we gonna get a tree?"

"Here," Jay replied, waving his hands to point out that they were in the middle of the woods. "Take your pick!"

Erin's eyes grew larger. "You're gonna chop a tree down? Here?" Jay nodded, instructing her to pick out a tree that they can take back to the cabin. Erin glanced around, looking for the perfect tree. She spotted one a few feet away. It was the perfect size for them so she pointed it out.

"Good choice," Jay said as they headed over to the tree and Erin watched fascinated as Jay began chopping it down with his axe. He looked so handsomely rugged as he swung the axe around that Erin could only watch wordlessly. So much so that she didn't notice the tree falling over or Jay calling for her attention.

It wasn't until Jay was literally waving his hand in front of her face that she snapped back to attention. "I'm sorry, what?" Erin asked, startled and her cheeks warming up at how blatantly she was checking him out.

"We're good here. Unless you want to stay out here for a bit longer, we can start heading back." Erin nodded as Jay tied the tree so he could drag it back to their cabin easily. Erin kept watching Jay out of the side of her eyes, seeing his breath in the air as he carried the tree back home. He was clearly strong and out in the snow, he looked even more handsome, with his cheeks red from the cold and his eyes extra blue. He met her eyes a couple of times and every time Erin turned her head like she wasn't staring at him.

They got back to the cabin and Erin reveled in the immediate warmth, a direct contrast to the outside.

"Here?" Jay called, asking her to pick the perfect place for the tree. Erin pointed to the perfect spot right near the fireplace and Jay carried it right over.

"Perfect."

They stepped back to admire their new tree together. It was the perfect size as they had thought but it was still bare. So they got started on decorating the tree and the rest of the cabin.

Jay passed her the ornaments that he bought while she hung them up in the tree, the sparkly objects attracting lights with every movement. The classic jazz Christmas carols Jay had put on was the perfect accompaniment to the two of them decorating the cabin. Jay had gone all out, not only with the ornaments but with different garlands and strings of lights that they hung up all around the cabin. When they were done, it looked like a storm of Christmas came barging in and left its imprint on the cabin.

But they didn't get the full effect of all of their hard work until it was nighttime and the sun had gone down. It was then that the different lights came on, encasing the whole room in a cozy and warm glow. With the fire that blazed quietly in front of them, it was the perfect setting.

"What do you think?" Jay asked as Erin handed him a mug of apple cider she made. They were sitting on the floor in the living room again, just taking everything in.

"Pretty," Erin replied, taking a sip. "I think you might have a career in decorating shopping malls for the holidays if your career as a detective ever falls through."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jay said. "Maybe I might need a new job if Voight ever finds out that I'm here with his daughter," Jay remarked.

"I told you I'm not his daughter," Erin protested. "Besides, it's not like you and I planned to be here together. We're just friends, right?"

Their eyes met, Erin seeing the fire and the lights reflected back in Jay's eyes. He gave her a small nod. "Of course, we're friends."

Erin didn't know if the fire got bigger without them knowing because it suddenly got warmer, the room filling with tension. Jay held her gaze, like he was daring her to disagree with his statement. But Erin couldn't so she just held her mug up, like she was toasting him before busying herself with her drink.

"You're sure it won't hurt?" Erin asked for the umpteenth time.

"I promise. It won't hurt," Jay reassured her again. But she was still unsure. She had never been sledding before and while it had been her idea to add sledding to the list, now that she was here at the top of the hill and seeing how steep the drop was, she was starting to regret it.

Jay noticed her apprehensive expression so he came over to her sled and sat down behind her.

"What are you doing?" Erin asked, surprised that he was seated right behind her on the same sled, his own sled left abandoned to the side.

"We'll do it together," Jay replied, his voice in her ears and his breath blowing her hair. She shivered at the sensation, not expecting Jay to be this close to her. "Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, her voice a bit shaky at the close proximity of their bodies. Especially when Jay's hands tentatively came and rested on her sides, like he was unsure too and was waiting for her to push him off. But Erin didn't and he grew braver, holding her gently.

She took in a sharp breath which Jay interpreted as her being scared because he leaned into her and whispered in her ears. "Don't be scared. I'm right here."

Erin turned her head slight and saw how close their faces were, their breaths mingling in the cold air. But when she looked into his eyes and saw the reassuring look in them, she felt her nerves go away, like a cold breath dispersing in the air.

"Ready?" he asked her and Erin nodded. He gave her a smile as he pushed off, sending the sled downhill. Erin exclaimed happily at the thrilling sensation of going down the hill at a fast speed. Jay's arms came around her side again and he held onto her, not letting her fall until they came to a slow stop at the bottom.

"Oh my god!" Erin squealed, the happiness loud and clear in her voice. "That was awesome!" she exclaimed as she took Jay's hand and he helped her stand up.

"I told you there's nothing to be scared of!" Jay replied, looking just as happy as she did.

"We have to do it again!" Erin claimed, already dragging the sled back up the hill and Jay dutifully following behind her.

With each trip downhill, Erin was loving sledding more and more. Plus Jay holding her each time wasn't so bad either. But she was becoming more confident that she could go down the sled by herself and she wanted to try it at least once.

"Okay," Jay said as he got onto his own sled right next to her. "Remember, push off as much as you can and just hold on tight."

Erin nodded. "Race you down there?" she called out, her eyebrow raised in a challenge.

Jay wasn't the type to back down because he agreed right away. "You're on."

"Ready? Get, set, go!" Erin shouted as she pushed herself off and down she went. It was just as freeing to slide down hill over the snow. The only thing missing was Jay's hands around her, holding onto her.

She glanced over to see where Jay was for a brief second but it was enough for Erin to lose control of her sled and she veered off course, bumping into Jay. From there, it was the two of them tangled up with one another as they went tumbling down the rest of the way, until they landed in a heap at the bottom of the hill, their sleds sliding far away from them.

Erin was completely covered in snow as she laid on the ground, Jay pulling himself off from her. She laughed out loud at their predicament and their less than graceful landing.

"I think this means I won," Erin said, smirking.

"What? How?" Jay asked, not moving away from her.

"I'm on the bottom so it means I reached downhill first, duh!" Erin claimed.

"You crashed into me! Otherwise, I would've won!" Jay protested.

"You should be thanking me for breaking your fall!" Erin pointed out, Jay looking indignant at her suggestion. After all, it was her fault that they were in this position since she was the one that lost control of her sled.

Jay didn't reply. Instead, his hand came up to brush away the snow on her face and her hair. "You wouldn't have fell if you were with me." Erin lifted her eyebrow at his statement.

"Is that right?"

Jay nodded, his hand still on her cheek. "If you were with me, I'd never let you fall."

Erin felt her mouth dry at his words and the way Jay was looking at her. The atmosphere between them quickly shifted from playful to something….more. Erin found herself at a loss for words and all that was running through her mind was that maybe it was too late for Jay's promise.

Maybe she had already begun falling.

As days passed, Erin was becoming more and more aware of her attraction to Jay. It didn't help that despite their initial agreement to stay out of each other's way, they had spent every day at the cabin together, crossing each item off her list. The closer they grew together, the more she found herself liking Jay.

Not that anyone could blame her. He was obviously gorgeous with his chiseled yet endearingly boyish features and an infuriatingly adorable grin that always seemed to be on his face. He was snarky and always had a smartass comment on the tip of his tongue. Not to mention, he was an amazing listener.

They had spent every night since they'd been here just talking for hours in front of the fire. Erin had never done anything like this before and she wasn't talking about the activities on her list. She had relationships before but she had never taken the time to actually talk and get to know someone like the way she had gotten to know Jay in the past couple of days. It was ridiculous just how quickly they grew close but it just felt so natural with him. Like she could tell him anything and he would understand.

Did she mention how hot she found Jay yet? Because he was quite possibly the hottest guy she had known in her life. The physical attraction between them was palpable if what happened earlier was any indication.

Jay had coaxed her out of the cabin earlier. To build a snowman, he had said and Erin had reluctantly followed his lead. Even though she had grown up in Chicago and its brutal winters, it was nothing to the season in Wisconsin. The snow was heavier, the wind stronger and it was the type of cold that just seemed to seep into the bones. But once again, she found Jay's enthusiasm infectious and she found herself out in the snow once again.

Jay had taught her how to build a snowman like she said she wanted to do on her list. He had even sung "Do you want to build a snowman", mumbling over most of the lyrics that he didn't know the words to. It was cheesy and dorky yet she still found him and his horrible singing just that much more adorable. She loved that he had this side to him— that he wasn't just an one-dimensional hardass detective from the bad side of Chicago. He was that detective plus the type of guy that loved the holidays, was close to his mom, that shared half of his sandwich with her and the type that sung her cheesy Disney songs loudly that got stuck in their brain the rest of the day. It made him even more attractive in her eyes.

The time out in the snow had been more fun than Erin was expecting but it wasn't what she had been thinking about all day. What had been running through her mind all day was a moment. A moment between them. They had just finished building the snowman when the snow began to fall again, adding to the already blanket of white snow on the ground. Erin had been watching the snow, mesmerized, when she felt Jay's arms come around her shoulder, Jay pulling her into his chest.

She had been taken by surprise by the move and she had looked up to meet his eyes, finding that he was already looking at her in return. They didn't say a word, instead their eyes did all the talking. She had seen his feelings written clearly in his eyes. He had wanted to kiss her and the truth was, she had wanted to kiss him too. But there was also a hint of nervousness that lingered in his eyes, like he wasn't sure where she stood.

So even though they had begun to lean in slowly towards each other, Jay had stopped at the last second. Instead, his fingers came up to her cheeks and he brushed over her skin gently before pulling away. That had been it, the moment was over and Erin was left feeling confused. Did she imagine the moment in her head? Or was she right in thinking that maybe Jay was feeling the same way she was?

"Erin?" Jay's voice came from the other side of her room's door, followed by a few knocks.

"Yeah?" she called out, not sure if she was ready to face Jay just yet after the disappointing ending earlier.

"Can you come downstairs?" Jay asked. Erin rubbed her face and groaned quietly to herself. She couldn't say no unless she wanted Jay to know something was wrong.

"Yeah, give me a sec," she replied, hearing Jay agree before leaving. She went into the bathroom and fixed herself before braving herself to go down and face Jay.

He was in the kitchen, waiting for her. He gave her a tentative smile when he heard her coming.

"What's up?" she asked as she sat down next to him. God, he even smelled good to Erin. She was going crazy because of him.

"I wanted to take you out," Jay said, Erin's eyes growing larger. Was he asking her out on date?

"What?" was all she could utter out.

"There's a small Christmas festival that's in town. It starts today and I think we should go. What do you think?"

Erin's heart fell. So it wasn't a date. Instead it was just Jay trying to cross off another item off the list. "A Christmas festival?" Erin asked, sounding unsure.

"Yeah, didn't you say you wanted to go to a winter festival? They're practically the same thing," Jay explained.

Erin thought it through. Maybe getting outside the cabin was a good idea. Otherwise she'd spent the rest of the night wallowing in the bathtub and trying to avoid Jay. "Okay," she agreed, her heart did a flip when she saw how Jay's face lit up at her agreeing.

Erin could only look on in awe at the small Christmas festival that Jay had taken her to. Although small was the last word Erin would use to describe it because it seemed as though everyone that lived in this small town was here tonight. There were lights everywhere, the snow covered trees lined the street, Christmas carols playing everywhere and every store on the street opened and welcoming people in. She felt like she was just transported into a postcard. It was the vision of a picture perfect small town Christmas.

"Wow," she breathed out as she and Jay walked down the street, their bodies brushing together side by side every so often. It was crowded so Jay had kept Erin close to him, making sure they didn't get separated in the crowd. "They went all out," Erin commented, looking at all the booths that lined the street, each of them offering different things.

"Erin, it's a small town. There's nothing they take more seriously than Christmas. Except maybe for fish fry."

"What's that?" Erin asked.

"You've never heard of a fish fry?" Jay asked, surprised. Erin shook her head, waiting for his answer. "It's this event where people get together and fry fish."

Erin scrunched her nose at his answer. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Jay replied, nodding. "It's a big thing around here. Happens every summer. We'll come in the summer so you can see it for yourself."

Erin tried not to smile too broadly at Jay's offer but failed anyway. Her heart skipped a beat at Jay making plans for them for the summer, like whatever they had right now wouldn't be ending as soon as Christmas was over and they'd return back to their own lives.

"Sounds good," Erin said, Jay grinning at her as big as she was.

They continued to stroll down the main street, just taking all the sights in. But as the night wore on, it was becoming more and more crowded. People were pushing to get past other people and Erin felt herself being pushed several times until Jay pulled her closer to him, tucking her to his side to keep her safe and warm.

He held her by his side until they finally came to a clearing at the end of the street where there were less people. Erin took in a deep breath, feeling like she actually could for the first time since they got here.

"Sorry," Jay offered. "I didn't think it'd be so crowded. It seems like there's more and more people every year."

Erin waved his apology off. "It's alright. It was fun." She looked back at the main street fondly. Even though it was crowded and way more lively and animated than she was used to, it was still a beautiful sight. She understood why everyone in town came out for the event. "But it's much nicer here though."

"I don't know. I kinda like you being so rubbed up against me though," Jay remarked, his eyes sparkling with mischief with his comment.

Erin could feel herself blushing. It wasn't like she didn't enjoy being all up against Jay either. She just wasn't going to say it out loud. So instead she reached over to smack his chest, Jay grabbing her hand and holding it with his own against his chest.

Their eyes locked again as Erin's hand rested on his chest, right over his heart. She could feel how fast his heart was beating. She was sure if he could feel her heart, he'd know that hers was beating just as fast as his.

They stood in place, not moving as they kept staring into each other's eyes. Like they were daring each other to make the first move. She saw Jay's eyes travel to her lips before they returned to her eyes.

"Erin," he whispered her name, just the sound of Jay calling her name had her curling her toes.

"Go ahead. Give her a kiss!" A stranger's voice cut through their moment and Erin turned her head to find a man she had never seen before looking at them with a big grin on his lips.

"Excuse me?" Jay asked, looking just as in the dark as Erin was.

"There's a mistletoe," the man said, pointing to a mistletoe that was hanging over them from a tree. One that neither of them had noticed, apparently. "Go on, it's tradition."

"Um," they both voiced awkwardly, not really knowing how to react. Erin hated being put in the spotlight and the man pointing out the mistletoe had gotten a few of the other's people's attention.

"Come on!" Other people began to join in, catching onto what was going on. "It's Christmas season."

Erin pursed her lips, wanting to crawl into a hole somewhere. Clearly, Jay didn't want to kiss her and the last thing she wanted was a pity kiss from a guy she was starting to like a lot.

"It's okay," Jay protested, holding up his hands. "It's fine. I don't think she wants me to kiss her and I don't want to make her uncomfortable," Jay said, catching Erin's attention.

A low grumbling of boos and jeers sounded out from the small crowd, even a few shouts of Grinch were heard before the crowd dispersed.

"I guess they do take Christmas seriously here," Erin muttered as she and Jay were left alone again, only this time they weren't standing as close as before and their hands hung awkwardly by their side.

Jay chuckled. "Sorry about that. I didn't notice the mistletoe."

Erin gave him a tight smile. "It's fine. Not like I noticed it either."

"We should probably move before more people come around again and you'll really end up having to kiss me," Jay commented, his voice sounding like he was trying to tease her but she heard something else within it. "You probably don't want that."

"Says who?" Erin found herself asking. Jay looked staggered by her question for a brief second, looking at her like she just told him that unicorns actually existed. Then his expression shifted and a smile came across his face. Only Erin had known him enough by now to know that this smile that he was giving her wasn't a genuine one. He was giving her a fake smile in a poor attempt to get past the moment. "Jay," she called his name. "Why do you think I wouldn't want to kiss you?" she asked bravely.

She saw Jay's eyes cloud over, almost like walls coming up to protect himself. As far as Erin was concerned, he was the one that pulled away earlier when they were about to kiss in the snow. So why would he think that she didn't want to kiss him?

"Jay?"

"Do you?" Jay asked instead of giving her an answer.

Erin inhaled sharply now that the question was directed at her. She felt like she was trying to balance on a tightrope and the answer she gave him would tip her in one direction or the other. She could lie to him and say that she didn't want to kiss him, and maybe they'd go back to the platonic friendship and part ways after their vacation was over. Or she could take a risk with the scarier option and be honest with him about what she wanted and maybe she'd get everything she'd been looking for.

"Yes," she whispered, choosing to put herself out there. Jay released a soft gasp of surprise at her answer, letting her know that he wasn't expecting her to say that. "Your turn. Do you want to kiss me?"

She saw Jay swallow, like he was gathering his own courage. "Yeah," he breathed out. "I want to kiss you, Erin. I've been wanting to kiss you for a while now."

A smile threatened to burst out on her face but she tried her best to hold it back. At least until they got everything clear out in the open. "So why didn't you earlier?"

Jay dropped his gaze to the floor bashfully before lifting his head to meet her eyes. "I...I didn't think you wanted me to."

Erin looked at him incredulously. She had thought she had been giving him all the signals that she was falling for him but here he was telling her that he had thought she wouldn't want to kiss him. They really were idiots, the both of them.

"How could you even think that?" she asked, smacking his chest. "I was giving you all the signs."

Jay laughed, almost like he was relieved and half in disbelief. "How would I know that?" he exclaimed, defending himself. "Look at you!"

Erin scrunched her nose. "What about me?"

He held her shoulders, his thumbs pressing into her soft skin. He held her gaze and shook his head softly like he couldn't believe what he was seeing in front of him. "You're beautiful. Gorgeous. Not to mention, smart, funny and so interesting. You're the most amazing woman I've met in my life."

Erin smiled at how Jay was gushing over her, knowing that she felt the exact same way about him. "So you were intimidated by me?"

"Can you blame me?" he shot back, grinning. "It's like...I've never expected to meet you and it feels like you're too good to be true." Erin was never one to fall for sweet words alone but there was something about what Jay said that had her heart fluttering. Maybe because it came from him and despite the short time they'd gotten to know one another, Erin was sure that Jay was the type of man that always meant what he said.

"I feel like you're too good to be true too," Erin admitted. "I never expected to meet you on this trip either or that I'd fall for you this quickly."

"Because I'm such a handsome and awesome man?" Jay teased, grinning.

Erin rolled her eyes fondly. "Yes," she admitted. "Also kind and funny. And easily the best wood chopper I've ever met."

"I'm the only wood chopper you've met," Jay pointed out.

Erin just shrugged, smiling widely. "You know what else I'm hoping you'd be?"

Jay wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, his head leaning in closer. "What?" he asked, dropping his voice.

Erin brought her arms around his neck, lacing her fingers together. "That you'd be the best kisser I know."

His face lit up and he leaned in even closer until their noses were brushing. "There's only one way to find out."

That was all Jay said before he closed the gap and brushed his lips over her. It was a soft and almost tentative press of his lips against her at first, like he was waiting for her permission. That was something she was easily willing to give so she kissed him harder.

Jay took her lead and deepened the kiss, his arms holding her even closer to his body until there was no space left between them. The kiss was everything Erin had imagined it'd be. All she could feel, taste and breathe was Jay. She was consumed by him while everything else just faded into the background. She never wanted the little shivers of pleasure to stop as he parted her lips further, pushing his tongue in.

She gasped but he swallowed every sound she made, his hands grabbing her hips. They were completely lost in the moment, not caring who else was watching them practically make out in the middle of a crowded street. It wasn't until her chest began to scream out for air that their lips parted, Jay leaning his forehead against her. They were both breathless, their eyes still closed, as they slowly recovered from the high.

Her lips pulled into a soft smile when Jay laid a few pecks on her nose and forehead, the two of them still wrapped up in each other.

"Wow," he whispered against her forehead, breathing her in.

"Wow," Erin repeated, unable to find any other word to describe what she was feeling. Just wow.

If Erin had to describe a heaven on earth, it'd be here. Out in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin, in a cozy cabin, in Jay's bed. She was quickly getting used to spending each night like this. Making love with Jay until they were completely spent then Jay would cover both of them up with the huge blanket and just hold her until they'd fall asleep.

Like right now. As Erin stirred awake, she smiled when she felt Jay's arm around her and his face buried in her neck.

She studied him as he slept, a peaceful expression on his face. He really was beautiful, both outside and inside. She trailed her fingers over the light smatterings of freckles on his face, barely ghosting over his skin so he wouldn't be woken up. She felt his breath on her fingers when she reached his mouth, one that she loved to kiss.

How was it that they fitted so well together? In every way? Making love to Jay was just pure ecstasy. She wouldn't admit it to him easily in risk of stroking his ego but he was easily the best she ever had.

It was crazy. It had barely been a week and a half that she had met him and yet, she felt like she had known him for years. There was just something about him that pulled her in, rendering her helpless to his charm. Was she actually crazy? Or was it possible to fall this hard this fast?

The questions in her head fell by the wayside when Jay began to wake up, blinking several times before his blue eyes landed on her. Immediately, his mouth broke out into a big grin and he tugged her closer to him. Erin laid her hand over his heart and smiled into the kiss.

"Morning," Jay greeted her, sounding especially sexy in the morning. He brushed her hair away from her forehead before he traced his thumb across her jaw.

"Morning," Erin returned, an equally bright grin on her face. "What?" she asked after Jay didn't say anything else, instead choosing to just stare at her.

Jay shook his head. "Nothing," he replied, his arm tightening around her. "Just...I still can't believe that I'm here right now, with you like this."

"Still feel like you're dreaming?" Erin asked.

"If it's a dream then don't ever wake me up," Jay voiced before connecting their lips again.

Erin felt the exact same way. If she was dreaming right now, then she hoped she'd never wake up.

Erin felt like she was in a dream, where she was weightless, safe and completely blissful. She could have spent years here if she was so lucky.

It wasn't until Jay's fingers coming to rest on her sides that brought Erin back to attention to where she was actually. Jay teased her by splashing a few drops of water on her face.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," he murmured into her ears. Erin let out a soft mean, leaning back further against Jay's bare chest.

"I'm comfy. Let me alone," she whined, closing her eyes again and her fingers trailed the top of the water in the bathtub.

Just as she expected, the giant bathtub did come in handy. Filled to the brim with her special bubble bath and Jay also joining her, was there any more Erin could ask for? She didn't think so.

The water was warm, a perfect temperature to keep them comfortable. But the shivers that shot up through Erin had nothing to do with the temperature. It was the fluttering kisses that Jay was leaving all over her bare shoulders and back that was responsible.

Jay laid one more kiss on the back of her neck before resting his chin on her shoulder, his arms coming around her waist, just barely underneath her breasts. Erin laid her back against his chest, her arms coming to rest on his.

"Can we spend the rest of our vacation here?" Erin muttered, completely relaxed and content. Jay let out a hum, agreeing with her. "Although, we do need to eat sometimes," Erin pointed out.

"I know something we can eat," Jay drawled, squeezing her closer.

Erin gasped and turned to smack his chest. "I can't believe you just said that!" Erin asserted, Jay laughing at his own crude joke. "I guess being a perv really does run in the family."

"Trust me, I got nothing on Will," Jay insisted. "Besides, that joke was right there for me to take. I had to take it."

Erin just snorted. "You're such a dork."

"Yeah but I'm your dork," Jay declared, Erin feeling herself melt at his words. What was he doing to her?

"Q-I, Qi," Erin called out as she placed the tiles on the scrabble board. "That's….11 points!"

"Wait. Qi? Is that even a word?" Jay asked, stopping her from writing her score down.

"Yes! It means life force or energy flow," Erin explained.

Jay still looked unconvinced. "Use it in a sentence."

"Jay being a sore loser about me kicking his ass at scrabble is really screwing with my qi," Erin said snarkily. "That's still 11 points for me, babe."

Jay groaned. "You're killing me with these two letter words, Erin."

"That's my secret plan," Erin revealed, beaming. "Let's see the score. Yep, I win again!" Erin declared, raising her arms up in victory. "That's 3 straight victories for me and none for you, Halstead."

Jay tried to keep his face stern but was unable to after seeing her reaction.

"Fine," Jay grunted, conceding. "You're the scrabble master."

"Damn right!" Erin replied, smirking. "Now I get to collect my prize," Erin said, laying on the couch so she could get a massage from Jay.

"You know, giving you a massage isn't really a punishment for me right?" Jay asked as he began to massage her. Erin just chuckled. "I'd say it's more of a mutually beneficial prize."

"Shh, I'm trying to relax. Be quiet," Erin chided him teasingly as she laid her head back on the couch, focusing on the pleasure that Jay was giving her with his hands.

After the massage was over, Erin was nearly asleep from how good and relaxing it felt. Sometimes, Jay had ended up on the couch with her, Erin laying on top him and his arm around her so she wouldn't fall off.

She was at the edge of falling asleep, Jay's fingers rubbing her arms soothingly only speeding up the process, when Jay spoke.

"Tell me something about you that I don't know." Erin lifted her head and rested on his chest, looking up at him. It was a thing they started ever since their first night at the cabin. They'd ask each other to tell the other something about them. It had started off with trivial facts at first like how Erin loved cheesecake more than any other desserts, or how Jay hated ice-cream. Then as days passed, it slowly got deeper, each of them revealing something about themselves that was harder to voice and put into words.

Erin wanted Jay to know everything about her, the good and the bad. This was new for her, this wanting to share the deepest and darkest parts of herself with another person and trusting him to understand and not judge her. But for some reason, she knew in her heart that she could trust Jay, not only to listen but to understand her.

She sighed, thinking of a good way to tell him about one of her deepest secrets. She pursed her lips and Jay saw that she was having a difficult time.

"Hey, it's okay. You know you can tell me anything," Jay reassured her, his fingers still stroking her softly.

Erin looked into his eyes, wanting to see them as she told him about things she did as a younger person that she wasn't proud of.

"You know that Hank rescued me from the streets when I was 15," Erin began, swallowing every so often. Even though she knew she could trust Jay, it was still hard to talk about these things that she worked so hard to buried within herself. She spent so many years trying to run away from who she used to be that it was difficult to go back to that time, even mentally.

"You were his CI," Jay chimed in, remembering what she had told him.

"Yeah. But what I didn't tell you was how I met Hank in the first place," Erin began, her chin resting on his chest. "When I was 14, my mom stopped coming home and I got evicted from the apartment that we lived in. I couch surfed at my friends for a while but pretty soon, I was out on the streets by myself." She felt Jay tense at the hardship she went through. She grew up so differently from Jay that she knew that he couldn't really comprehend everything. It wasn't something a person could understand 100% until they lived it themselves.

"That's where you met Voight? On the streets?"

Erin nodded. "Yeah. He busted me….for soliciting." There it was, Erin's deepest and darkest secret was out. The fact that she was a teenage prostitute was something she had never told anyone in what she considered her new life. She didn't expect people to understand why she had to resort to that lifestyle. Jay was the first.

"Soliciting," Jay whispered. Erin nodded, studying his reaction carefully. She held her breath as she saw different emotions played across his face. It was a scary moment for her because as much as she trusted him, there was always the what if. What if it was too much for him to handle? What if he couldn't understand or accept who she used to be or part of what made her who she was today?

There were no words exchanged between them as Erin continued to look at him. She saw flashes of shock, disbelief, anger before it settled on sympathy.

"I'm sorry," Jay finally spoke.

"What for?" Erin asked, confused. Even though she didn't see a hint of judgment of Jay's face, she didn't know what he was apologizing for. Was he about to break up with her?

He buried his hand in her hair, holding her gaze. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that. That the people that were supposed to protect you didn't and that you had to fend yourself so early in life."

Erin gave him a small smile, relief flooding through her that Jay was who she had thought he was. "It's fine."

"No, it's not," Jay argued, Erin finally understanding why anger flashed across his face earlier. He was angry for her. "Your mom should've been there for you and she wasn't. It's not alright. You shouldn't have to risk your safety and your health just so you can have a place to sleep and food to eat. She should've provided those things for you."

Erin just chuckled. "Trust me, my mom...she's not worth all the anger. She's just...she's never gonna be someone that'll step up. I learned to accept it a long time ago."

Jay nodded, listening to her. "I'm glad that someone did step up though. As much as me and Voight have our own differences, I'm grateful to him that he was there. That he stepped up and saved you. In a way, he brought you to me."

Erin smiled at his words. How did she get so lucky to meet someone like Jay? She had no clue but all she knew was that she didn't want to let him go. Even though there was an imaginary clock ticking away in the background, counting down until their vacation was over and they were to return to their own lives, Erin knew that she didn't want this to be just a fling.

Before they knew it, two weeks quickly flew by and it was Christmas day. There was an unspoken tension in the air as their days at the cabin was nearly coming to an end. An unspoken subject of what would happen after they'd leave their little cocoon in winter wonderland and return to Chicago.

Erin knew what she wanted. She wanted to continue being with Jay. Past this cabin. For however long they can be together. She just hoped Jay wanted the same things as her.

She spent the day packing, not wanting to leave it to the last minute since she was leaving soon. Jay had been busy with his own project, downstairs, making her promise that she wouldn't come down until he was finished.

Finally, just before six in the evening, Jay had called her, telling her that it was time for her to come down. As soon as Erin climbed down the stairs, she was immediately hit with a delicious smell. Something smelled so amazing, coming from the kitchen.

"Jay?" she called his name as he was preparing their plates.

"Surprise!" Jay exclaimed, holding his arms out.

"You made me a Christmas dinner?" Erin asked as she looked at all the different dishes Jay had prepared. He really went all out, considering it was just the two of them. "Are we expecting an army to join us or something?" Erin teased, pointing to the gigantic amount of food that was on the dining table.

Jay just laughed, taking her hand in his and leading her to a seat. "Not tonight," he replied as he sat down next to her. "This is the meal that my mom always prepared for Christmas day. It's our Christmas feast."

Erin quickly understood just how special this meal was at that moment. Jay had raved about his mom's cooking, especially the Christmas dinner, so many times and here he was, making her the exact same one so she could experience it too. This was honestly the best Christmas present she could've asked for.

"Jay," she voiced, cupping his face.

"It's been a while since I've eaten mom's cooking but her recipes were all in the box," Jay revealed, gesturing over to a recipe box that was on the kitchen counter. "Thought it was time I finally took it out again. They're too delicious to be hidden away."

Erin smiled, giving him a kiss. "Thank you for sharing them with me."

"Who else would I share them with?" Jay returned, connecting their lips again.

Erin had to admit, Jay wasn't exaggerating when he was gushing about his mom's food. It was as delicious as she had expected. They stuffed themselves until they were nearly bursting at the seams, both of them having to lay on the floor in the living room afterwards with their stomachs full.

"That was so good," Erin moaned, lolling her head to the side so she could see Jay. Jay was in the same state as her, relaxed and content. Not to mention, completely stuffed. "You were right about your mom's cooking. That was easily the best Christmas dinner I've ever had."

"Mom would be happy to hear you say that," Jay returned then he sighed. "I just wish she could've been here to meet you."

Erin was so touched by what Jay said. It was obvious to her just how important his mom was to him and just how much Jay loved her so for him to say that he wanted her to meet his mom? She had no words. All she could do was slowly make her way over to him and straddle his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I wish I could've met her too," Erin confessed, brushing their noses together. "You think she would've liked me?"

"I know she would've loved you," Jay insisted, not a hint of doubt in his voice. "Who wouldn't?"

Erin sucked in her breath at what he just said, the emotion that she had been feeling threatening to spill out of her mouth. But she stopped herself, thinking it was too soon. After all, who fell in love this fast? It was insane. But she just couldn't deny it to herself though. She was in love with Jay and she wanted him to know. Whether or not he returned her feelings, it was a risk she'd have to take. After all, the last risk she took worked out well for her. Maybe it'd be the same this time.

"Jay," Erin started, her voice trembling. He looked at her, filled with concern, his arms holding her in place.

"What's wrong, babe?" Jay asked.

Erin took a deep breath. "I feel like I'm going crazy because I think I love you," Erin confessed, waiting to see how Jay would react.

She saw his eyes widened in shock briefly before the look she loved took over. It was one of happiness and tenderness. He leaned closer to her until their foreheads were resting against each other. "If you're going crazy then I must be insane because I know I'm in love with you," Jay confessed, Erin's eyes glistening with unshed tears of happiness. "I love you, Erin."

She pulled him into a bruising kiss, "this is crazy!" she muttered in between kisses. "We're crazy!"

Jay laughed, pulling her closer. "We are! But who cares? I know what I'm feeling and I love you." He kissed her until she was breathless. "I love you, Erin," Jay declared.

Erin traced his face with her hand, looking deep into his eyes. "I love you too."

It was difficult to leave their little bubble after Christmas was over. The spontaneous trip to the cabin had brought Erin so much more than she had been expecting and she found herself being sad at having to leave it.

Jay saw her looking at the front of the cabin forlornly, her suitcases by her feet. He came and held her from behind, kissing the side of her head.

"I'll miss it too," he said, already knowing what she was thinking. "But we can always come back whenever we want. Don't forget, we still have that fish fry to go to in the summer."

Erin nodded, turning her side to the side so Jay could kiss her nose. "I know. Who knew I'd come to love this cabin so much?"

"Maybe you just love the man that owns it," Jay joked.

"That too," Erin mumbled before Jay pressed his mouth on hers. Erin sighed, giving the cabin one last look. "Let's go home."

Jay squeezed her shoulder before picking up their suitcases and taking them to the back of his car. "Let's go home."

Even though they never voiced it out loud, Erin knew that they had been a bit nervous of how their relationship would be like when they got back to Chicago and it wasn't just the two of them in the cabin. But it seemed as though they had nothing to worry about because they slotted into each other's lives perfectly.

Since they returned to Chicago, they spent every night together. Some nights at Erin's, others at Jay's. Jay had even met a few of Erin's closest friends and her some of his. But the one topic that they avoided was the elephant in the room. Hank Voight.

Erin knew that Jay was apprehensive about how Hank would react when he found out that she was dating someone from his unit. Erin understood his fears. Hank had always been overprotective of her since he came into her life, Erin being the daughter that he never had.

So there was an unspoken agreement between her and Jay. They'd deal with Hank finding out when the time came but for right now, they just wanted to be together. They were going to take it one day at a time.

And tonight just happened to be one of the most momentous occasions. New Year's Eve.

Both of them were tuckered out from all the holiday spirits they encountered in Wisconsin so a low-key New Year's Eve just the two of them sounded absolutely perfect.

Erin sighed contentedly as she spread herself on Jay's sofa, tucking herself into his side. They had ordered some takeouts and she had brought over a six-pack. They had everything they needed. Including Erin's movie of choice for the night.

"So let me get this straight, the blonde curly hair one is Carrie. Miranda is the redhead. Charlotte is the brunette and Samantha is the other blond that lives in California?" Jay listed as they watched one of Erin's favorite movie— Sex and the City, the movie.

"Yep. But Carrie becomes a brunette briefly in this movie," Erin pointed out, laughing when she saw the confused look on Jay's face. She couldn't blame him, it was probably not easy to keep track of all the different names since he wasn't a regular series watcher like she was.

"So are they celebrities or something? Because I don't see why anyone in New York would care about Carrie that she had to dye her hair to hide who she is?" Jay asked.

"No, they're not celebrities. They're more like….socialites? I guess. Carrie is a journalist and a published author so she's sort of famous."

"Uh-huh, sure." Jay turned and looked at her.

"What?" Erin asked, wondering why he was looking at her like that.

"I guess I just never pegged you as someone that would like this movie," Jay shrugged.

"I'm full of surprises, Halstead," Erin drawled, quirking her eyebrows.

Jay hummed before pulling her for a kiss. As always, the kiss quickly got heated, Erin's mouth parting so Jay could kiss her deeper. She let out a moan when Jay began to suck on her tongue, his hands exploring everywhere on her body.

"Mmm," Erin hummed, stopping the kiss. "Hold on, this is one of my favorite scenes." She pulled away so Jay could see what she was talking about.

It was one of her favorite scenes from the movie, the reason why she specifically picked this movie for tonight. It was the New Year's Eve scene where a montage of the main characters and how they spent the night played on the screen. Charlotte with her family, Samantha with Smith and the iconic scene of Miranda being alone until Carrie went out of her way to join her so the two of them could spend the night together.

"I love this song," Erin said, leaning into Jay's side. She closed her eyes, humming along quietly to the rendition of Auld Lang Syne that was playing. "I love this version."

She could feel Jay smile into her hair before he laid a soft kiss on her head. "If you love it, I love it." Erin giggled at his declaration. "And look, perfect timing," Jay said, pointing at the clock on the wall that read it was midnight. The start of the New Year.

"Happy New Year, Jay," Erin whispered, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Happy New Year, babe," Jay returned before their lips met for a midnight kiss, Erin's favorite version of Auld Lang Syne still playing in the background.

It was the perfect way to ring in the New Year together. No fuss, no mess. Just the two of them, sharing kisses and hopeful wishes for the new year.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy, this content. Erin was just so caught up in her new romance that she had also forgotten that whenever something went well in her life, the other shoe was bound to drop.

And this time, it didn't just drop. It exploded.

With the holidays over, Erin finally returned to work, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Her boss had been right, the time off was just exactly what she needed.

Now, she was even more re-energized and determined about her cases and helping out as many families and children as she could

"Hey, Debbie," Erin greeted one of her favorite co-worker. "Did you have a good Christmas?"

"I did until I got the call the next day about the Parker's case."

"Don't tell me, the dad lost custody?" The answer was obvious on Debbie's face. Despite the DCFS trying its hardest to keep a child with his father, the judge had ruled otherwise. All because the judge was unable to look past the father's record from when he was a teenager. But he had turned his life around since then, not that it mattered to the judge. "I'm sorry."

"The worst part was having to break up their Christmas celebration and tell them that I needed to take his son away from him. Sometimes, this job sucks."

Erin nodded, rubbing Debbie's arms comfortingly. "I know. We just got to remember the good that we do. He'll get his son back. We'll make sure of it."

Debbie gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. I missed you. How about you? How was your time off?"

"It was great," Erin answered but it was obvious by the big grin on her face that something more happened.

"You met someone didn't you?" Debbie asked, immediately understanding the look. "Oh, you have to tell me! What's his name?"

Before Erin could even tell her Jay's name, gunshots rang out in the building, catching everyone by surprise. She heard screams followed by bodies dropping down to the floor.

"What the fuck?" She and Debbie glanced outside the window of her office and saw a man in a black ski mask with a gun, shooting everywhere.

"Quick, hide behind the desk," Erin ordered as she quickly closed the lights to her office and locked the door. She pushed Debbie who seemed to be in shock and pulled her so they could hide behind Erin's desk together. "Stay quiet," Erin whispered, trying to recall everything Hank had taught her on what to do in cases like this.

Hank had always warned her to be prepared for anything. Erin just never thought that she'd be in a situation with an unknown gunman running loose at her job, killing her co-workers.

Erin could feel Debbie trembling besides her, shaky whimpers coming out every so often.

"It's okay, "Erin whispered as quietly as she could, holding onto Debbie's hand. "Just stay quiet and he won't see us."

Even though she was trying her hardest to be strong and calm for Debbie, Erin was scared out of her mind. The lock on her office's door wouldn't put up much of a fight and she had no weapons here to defend herself. All she could do was hope and pray that the shooter would be stopped.

She snuck her head out a little so she could see what was going on, stilling when she spotted the killer's legs right outside her office's door. Erin immediately hid behind her desk again, gesturing for Debbie to be as quiet as she could.

Erin felt herself trembling now too, the shooter's location right outside their door petrifying her. If they made one mistake, the shooter would find out that they were inside and it wouldn't be long before he'd make his way in and shoot them.

Erin wasn't ready to die. She had so much more to live for now. Her family. Her friends. Jay.

Jay. She clenched her eyes shut and thought of his smiling face. He was her happy place and she just needed to think of him and keep herself calm. She knew that the police would be on their way by now and as soon as Hank heard that there was a shooting at DCFS, there was no way he wouldn't barge his way onto the scene.

That meant Intelligence would be here soon and so would Jay.

Erin knew he must've been worried about her. She had seen his protective streaks over her several times already. It was obvious that he cared about her well-being. Erin just hoped that Jay would stay calm and wouldn't do something rash and stupid like barge his way in against orders.

It felt like hours that she and Debbie hid behind her desk. Each minute seemed to creep by at a snail pace as they were met with complete silence, the location of the shooter unknown. As far as Erin knew, he was still right outside their door and all he'd have to do was shoot his way into her office.

She could feel her heart pounding. It sounded so loud in her ears and for a brief second, fear rushed through her that the gunman could hear her right outside. She held her breath, petrified, when she heard faint footsteps getting louder.

All she could assume was the gunman was coming back for them. She was going to die. The footsteps were getting louder and Debbie grabbed her hand and clutched it when they heard the lock on the door jiggled. Then the sound of a crowbar breaking the lock rang out and the door swung open. Erin met Debbie's eyes, both of their faces pale with fear.

"CPD! S.W.A.T!" A loud and strong voice called out. "Anyone in here?"

Erin snuck her head out again and relief filled her when she saw that it really was a police officer, a S.W.A.T officer to be more specific.

"We're in here!" Erin yelled out, helping Debbie up.

"You guys alright?" the officer asked.

"We're fine. Is the gunman gone?"

"We're evacuating this floor. We need to go. Follow my orders and I'll get you guys out safely, okay?" Erin and Debbie could only nod, hoping that they could make it out safely. Judging by the officer's answer, it would seem as though the shooter was still in the building, just on a different floor. That meant Erin had a small window to make her way out before they ran into the shooter again.

The officer was calm and direct as he led her and Debbie to safety. Just as they reached outside and the police officers that were waiting pulled the two of them away from the building, the S.W.A.T officers went back in to rescue more hostages inside.

"You guys alright? Are you hurt?" the officer asked them.

"No, I'm fine," Erin muttered distractedly. She was more busy looking at the scene outside, trying to find Jay in the middle of dozens of cops and other officers running around. She turned to Debbie. "Are you alright?"

Debbie was still shaken but she nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"Why don't you come with me, Miss? Get yourself some water and calm yourself down?" Debbie nodded, following the officer.

Erin took the opportunity to search for Jay, trying not to get in the way of other officers. It was funny because had this happen a month ago, Hank would've been the person she'd be searching for. But now? The person she needed to see was Jay.

She finally spotted him a few feet away, relief flooding through her that he hadn't gone in after her blindly. But judging by the vest he was wearing and the thigh holsters he was sporting, he looked like he was ready to rush inside. She made her way over to him, overhearing his heated conversation with a blond woman. His partner, Erin assumed.

"Voight will kill you if you go in, Jay. You know that."

"I don't give a fuck, Hailey. I need to get inside." Jay pushed his partner's hands away, ready to make his way inside the building against orders.

"Why? Who's inside?" His partner asked, following him. Jay looked like a feral animal, steams practically coming out of his ears as he stalked towards Erin, too consumed by his emotions to even notice her standing a few feet away. "Halstead! Just let SWAT do their thing."

"I can't wait that long and hope that they are capable of saving the hostages inside," Jay spat, shoving his gun into his thigh holster, another one ready to go in his hand. "I don't care if I'm breaking protocols. I don't give a fuck if Voight fires me. The only thing I care about is making sure Erin…" Jay's words trailed off as he turned and finally saw her standing there. "Erin."

Erin wasn't sure who reached who first. All she knew was that as soon as Jay called her name, she was already running towards him until she was in his arms. Jay lifted her up, her legs locked around him as they clung onto each other. He held her so tightly like he was scared that she might slip through his fingers if he didn't. Erin didn't even care about the pain, she was holding onto just as much.

He buried his fingers into her hair and he released a broken sound, like he was still wrapping his mind around the fact that she was safe. That she was in his arms.

"Erin," another broken cry of her name came out.

"I'm okay, Jay," Erin promised, reassuring him the best she could. "I'm safe!"

He cupped her jaw before pulling her in for a searing kiss— hard and bruising— but affirming to him that she really was safe.

"I was so worried," Jay confessed into her neck, breathing her in. "I almost lost my goddamn mind."

Erin could only chuckle, the sound coming off more broken than amused. She had seen how he was just now when he thought she was still inside. She saw how he was willing to risk his job and his life to save her. God, she loved him so much.

"I'm here," Erin repeated again. "So don't go storming in anywhere."

He let out a snort at her request and nodded. He was still holding her face, like he couldn't bear to let go for even a second. "I love you."

"I love you," Erin returned, smiling for the first time since the whole thing started. "So damn much." Her last words were swallowed up by him as his lips crashed down on hers again, both of them reassuring each other that everything would be okay.

But they spoke too soon because their kiss was interrupted by a loud sound of someone clearing their throat. Erin and Jay pulled apart to come face to face with a furious looking Voight, who was looking at Jay like he wanted to crush him with his hands.

This was it. Their secret was out in the open. Voight had found out about them.

Erin held onto Jay's hand as they faced the wrath of Voight together. They had gotten so caught up in their relief that they hadn't paid attention to being discreet about their relationship or that Voight was there at the scene.

Voight had caught them red-handed and as expected, he wasn't happy.

"Start talking!" Voight barked as he pulled the two of them into his office. Erin flinched at the loud noise but it was much better than the deadly silence she suffered on their car ride to the district.

"Hank," Erin began but Voight held his hand up stopping her.

"Not you!" Voight shouted. "You!" he pointed at Jay. "Explain to me about how you started messing around with my family or why you're sneaking around behind my back!"

Jay sat up straighter, looking much braver than Erin was feeling. "With all due respect, Serge. Me and Erin, we're not messing around. We're in a committed relationship."

That only seemed to fuel Voight's anger and he turned even redder. "A relationship?" he scoffed. "How long?" Erin and Jay exchanged a look with each other. "How long have you two been sneaking around my back?"

"Hank. We're not sneaking around behind your back," Erin explained. "And it hasn't been that long but Jay is right. We are together and I love him."

An ugly expression crossed Voight's features and he looked like he had been told the worst news of his life. "You love him? You two are in love? Are you fucking with me?"

"No. Erin's telling you the truth. I know you're not happy with this but I'm in love with Erin. I love her," Jay declared, sounding confident about his feelings even in the face of Voight's wrath.

Voight turned his attention onto Erin. "I warned you, Erin. I told you over and over again to stay away from cops. And now I find out that not only are you dating a cop, you're dating one from my unit. What? Is this another rebellion streak of yours? Are you trying to prove a point to me or something?"

Erin could only scoff. "No offense but not everything I do revolves around you, Hank."

"What else am I supposed to think? That you're actually serious about him? Please," Hank mocked. "Halstead is supposed to be different for you? He's just another one in the trail of broken hearts you left behind. Only this one has the added benefit of pissing me off also."

"No, he's not," Erin protested. Jay wasn't like the other guys. He was different. "Hank, I don't care if you believe me or not but I'm telling you I'm in love with Jay. I'm with Jay."

Voight nodded, jutting his lips out. "You want to be with him?" he began, nudging his head at Jay. "Fine." Erin looked at Jay, both of them knowing that it wouldn't be that easy. "You stay with him and he's out of my unit."

"What?" Erin exclaimed, outrage. "You can't fire Jay for this."

"Watch me," Voight dared her. "What's more important to you, Halstead? This fling with Erin or your career?"

"Hank, that's not fair and you know it. You have no right to fire Jay just because of what he does in his personal time."

But Voight wasn't listening to her. Instead, he was staring Jay down, waiting for his answer.

"Well, what do you say Halstead? Erin or your career?"

Erin wanted to scream in frustration. There was no way she was going to let Jay lose his job because of her. Not when she knew just how much Jay loved being a detective. He was meant to be a detective. She wouldn't be the reason why he couldn't be one.

Jay stood up and took off his badge, dropping it on Voight's desk.

"Jay, don't," Erin pleaded with him, grabbing his badge and trying to get Jay to take it back. "You can't give up your badge. Not for me."

But Jay wasn't taking it back. "You want an answer Voight?" Jay asked, staring at Voight. "Is this clear enough of an answer for you?"

Erin turned to Voight and she saw that he was surprised by Jay's answer and how quickly he gave up his badge for her.

"Hank, that's not his answer. He's not giving up his badge."

Voight didn't say anything, instead choosing to run his tongue over his teeth. Almost like he was waiting to see what would happen next.

"Jay," Erin called his name, turning him around so he was looking at her instead. "You can't do this. You can't give up your job for me. You love being a detective."

Jay gave her a small smile, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "I do but I love being with you more."

Erin only cried harder at that. She couldn't do this. No matter how much Jay loved her, she knew that he'd regret walking away from his job one day and she loved him too much to make him give up so much.

"Erin," Voight called her. "Looks like Halstead made his decision. Now it's time for yours. You either break it off with him or you cut me off from your life. And not just me but Olive and Danny too. Your choice."

"What?" Erin spat out, turning back to see Jay's reaction. Only this time she saw hesitation on Jay's face, so different from the assured look he had earlier when he was giving his dreams up for her.

"You can't do that, Voight," Jay argued. "You want me to give up my job, I'll gladly do that. But you can take Erin's family from her."

Voight didn't pay Jay any attention, instead he was focused only on her. "You know I'm only doing this for you, Erin. Maybe you won't see it today or tomorrow but trust me, this is better for you in the long run. He's not right for you, no matter how much you think you're in love."

Erin felt like crumbling under the pressure. No matter what she chose, she'd hurt one of the two most important people in her life. How could she make the decision? What was the right choice?

Jay held her, trying to catch her eyes. "You know I only want you to be happy, Erin. That's the only thing that's important to me. Nothing else. Not my badge, not my job. Only you."

Erin wiped her tears away. Here was Jay being so selfless and putting her first. Going as far as giving up his dream so he could be with her. No matter how much she loved and wanted to be with Jay, she couldn't let Jay do that. She couldn't let him lose his dream.

Suddenly, the answer was clear to her. She knew what she had to do, no matter how much it would hurt the both of them.

"Jay," she began. "I think we should stop seeing each other."

She felt him stiffen and heard his sharp inhale of breath. "Erin," he whispered after a few seconds. "If this is about me giving up my badge, I already told you I don't care about that."

"No, it's not just that, Jay," Erin said, lying. "Hank is right. This is getting too complicated for me." She took a deep breath, holding back her emotions. "I think I just got caught up in the whirlwind of everything. Fooled myself into thinking that my feelings were deeper than they are. The truth is, you give up your badge, you're going to regret it one day. One day, you're gonna wake up and realize that it wasn't worth it."

"Erin," Jay started but Erin quickly cut him off.

"You said you wanted me to be happy. This is what would make me happy."

She steeled herself against Jay, not meeting his eyes. Her face was blank, all of her emotions were shoved down so Jay wouldn't know how much it was killing her to break up with him.

"I do want you to be happy," Jay finally spoke. "If this is what you want then okay. We'll break it off." Erin could only nod as Jay began to leave, his eyes never leaving her.

"Halstead," Voight called out, holding up Jay's badge for him to take back.

"Are you serious?" Jay asked, scoffing.

"Take it, Jay," Erin said, grabbing the badge from Voight and shoving it in Jay's chest until he was forced to take it. "Goodbye, Jay."

Jay didn't say anything else, Erin avoiding his eyes until he walked out of the office, slamming the door on his way out. Only then Erin deflated, falling onto the chair.

"Are you happy now?" Erin bit out.

Voight was watching her from across his desk. "I'm never gonna be happy seeing you cry, you know that. But you'll see. It's better to break it off and cry now than down the road. You made the right choice, Erin."

Erin didn't want to be anywhere near Voight right now and hear his empty promises of how it was the best choice for her. She just wanted to be alone.

It was amazing how a person could come into your life out of the blue and make such a deep impact. But that was what Jay did to Erin's life. He barged his way in like he barged his way into the bathroom on their first day and he carved out a space for himself in her life. Not only that, he breathed life back into hers.

No matter how short of a time they were together, Erin had never been that happy as she was when she was with him. And now that it was over, she was left reeling. She was miserable. She was furious. At Voight but mostly at herself.

She didn't want to be around anyone else right now and if it wasn't for Olive and Danny being in town for a short time, she'd never step foot in Voight's house again. But they were here and Erin knew she couldn't pass up seeing her nephew, no matter how angry she was at Hank right now.

"He's getting so big," Erin said as she bounced Danny on her lap, the boy squealing with laughter.

"Yeah, getting way too heavy for me to carry him around," Olive replied, tickling her son. "I'm so sad every time he outgrows his shoes. It's selfish but I want him to stay little forever."

Erin laughed. "I guess all parents have a hard time, letting go," she said just as Hank came back into the room. The tension was palpable between her and Hank that Olive had noticed.

"I'm gonna take Danny out for a little walk. Tired him out so he'll go down for his nap earlier," Olive said, being so not subtle in her attempt to get Erin and Hank alone and quickly making her exit with Danny.

Erin stood up. "I'm gonna go too."

"Erin, wait," Hank called her, stopping her. "I just put on a pot of coffee. Why don't you have a cup before leaving?"

"It's okay. I have somewhere I need to get to," Erin replied, lying.

"Halstead gave up fighting for you so you wouldn't lose your family. Are you really gonna let his effort go to waste?" Hank asked, addressing the elephant in the room.

Erin glared at Hank, feeling her anger grow. "So you do realize what Jay did for me?" Erin asked. Erin knew that as soon as Voight issued his ultimatum to her about choosing between Jay or her family, Jay would never let her choose him over Voight, Olive and Danny.

"Halstead is the noble type. Always has been. It wasn't that hard to guess what he'd do," Hank revealed, not even looking a bit apologetic about manipulating the situation.

"He's noble, he's selfless. He's good enough for you to have in your unit but somehow, he's not good enough for me to be with?" Erin asked. "What the hell is your problem Voight?"

"Are we really going to talk? Sit down and talk or are you going to storm off in anger again?" Hank returned. Erin sat back down reluctantly. Maybe it was better to have everything out in the open again. "The problem isn't whether Halstead is a good guy or not."

"Then what is it? Why are you so against us being together that you flipped out on both of us the second you found out about us? Is it your ego? Is your ego really so big that you couldn't handle being kept in the dark about us for a second?"

Voight jutted his lips out, letting Erin's blunt questions go. Even her insults to him about the size of his ego. "He's a cop."

"What?"

"The problem I have with Halstead is that he's a cop." Erin was so lost. Hank was blue blood through and through. Hank believed in the brotherhood that the police had with one another so why was he so against her dating a cop.

"What are you talking about? You didn't want me to date Jay because he's a cop?" Erin asked. "He's a detective."

"That's even worse," Hank shot back. He sighed, knowing that he was going to have to explain himself. "You know that I love being a cop and how much pride I take in protecting the streets. I'm blind to a lot of my faults and other officers' but one fault that I'm not blind to is how hard it is to be with a cop."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know most marriages involving cops end in divorce? Or the rate of domestic abuse that runs rampant? Being a cop isn't just a job. We can try as hard as we can to separate who we are on the clock and off the clock but it isn't long before the two start to blur together. Sooner or later, it's no longer just a job but a way of life. It's who we are. It's all we are. And a detective? That's even worse. Seeing death and violence and injustice every day can wear on the strongest of men. It gets so heavy that you begin shutting down just to make it through the day. Then it isn't just you shutting down to yourself but to your wife, your girlfriend, your children. I wouldn't put my worst enemy through that."

"But you and Camille, you guys were happy together."

"We were. But it wasn't easy for her. I didn't make it easy on her. As much as I loved her, I couldn't stop being who I am. That's someone whose job always came first, leaving her to carry the household by herself. To give me support while I was too busy to support her. I'll always wonder what would've happened if I had just quit when she got her diagnosis. Would me being around more could've kept her here longer? If she wasn't so lonely, so burdened, so stressed?"

Erin felt like she was finally starting to understand where Hank was coming from. He didn't want her to be a cop's wife. Now that she remembered, he had always told her to steer clear of dating cops.

"You know that Camille passing isn't your fault right?" she asked, needing Hank to know that it was no one's fault but the awful cancer that took Camille too early from them. "She loved you. She was happy with you."

"I know she did but she deserved better than me. And so do you." He sighed. "Ever since I came into your life, I've always been protective of you because I see you as a daughter, Erin. For all intents and purposes, you're my daughter, blood or no blood. I just want the best for you. A lawyer, a doctor or even a boring accountant. Someone who's stable, someone who can give you a stable life you didn't get as a child. That's what I want for you."

"What about what I want, Hank?" Erin asked. "As good as all those sound on paper, what good is all that if I'm not happy? Or if the person I spend the rest of my life with doesn't make me happy?"

Hank seemed to be thinking it over. "And Halstead makes you happy?"

"He does," Erin replied, not even needing to think it over. It was even more apparent just how much these past couple of days. "I know we haven't known each other very long and you think we're rushing things but there's just something about Jay. I can't explain it and I can't put it into words so you'd understand. But I trust it. I trust my feelings."

"But you weren't willing to fight for him or he for you."

Erin tossed Hank a look. "You know why Jay didn't. He's stupidly selfless that way. You know as well as I do that as soon as you threatened to cut me off, he was never going to let that happen. Just like I was never going to let him lose his job."

"Let's slow down before we start making Halstead sound like a hero," Voight stated, creasing his nose like he smelled something foul.

"I don't know what to say to you to make you change your mind, Hank. Other than, you always said you wanted me to be happy. I'm telling you that Jay makes me happy."

"I just want the best for you," Hank replied.

Erin smiled, holding Hank's hand. "I know you do. And I know you have your fears about me being with a cop and everything that comes with it but Hank, I know I can handle it. You taught me to be strong."

"You guys haven't known each other very long," Hank pointed out.

"Didn't you tell me that you fell in love with Camille at first sight? And look at how you two turned out, til' death do you part. Do you regret taking a leap of faith with Camille?"

"Not for a damn second," Voight answered. He sighed. "He's the one for you?"

Erin smiled. " He is."

"Are you going to fight for him?"

"Hank, I'm about to run to his apartment right now and beg him to take me back with or without your permission," Erin stated honestly. She realized how foolish she was being, making both her and Jay miserable when they could be happy together. She knew how hard it was for happiness to come by, especially in a near perfect package like Jay did. She'd be a fool to let him go again. So she had made up her mind. It didn't matter that Voight approved or not. All that mattered was that Jay knew how sorry she was for giving up on them so easily and hoped that he could give her another chance. That they could be selfish and put what they want first.

"What are you waiting for then?" Hank asked. Erin beamed, leaning over to give him a quick kiss on the cheeks before running to leave. "But I'd better not see anything PDA around me. I'm not ready for that."

Erin laughed. "Alright." She opened the door but stopped. "Hank, I love you."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I love you too. Now go!"

Erin didn't need to be told twice. She just hoped that she didn't screw things up with Jay too badly.

She banged on Jay's door, unable to stay still as she waited for him to open the door. She heard noises from the other side so she knew he was home.

This was it. This was Erin taking a leap of faith. Of her taking another risk when it came to Jay. Only this time, she knew that he was worth it.

She knocked on the door again, hearing the footsteps getting closer before the door swung open.

"What do you want?" Jay shouted, not expecting to see her. "Erin!" was the only thing he could get out before she wrapped her arms around him and crashed her lips onto his.

She poured all of her apology, love and affection into the kiss, hoping that he could feel her sincerity. Jay was taken aback for a brief second before he quickly recovered, melting into the kiss and kissing her right back.

"Wha...what are you doing here, Erin?" Jay asked after they managed to pull themselves apart. He was looking at her like she was a ghost, like he was imagining her there.

"I'm so sorry, Jay," she muttered as she laid fluttering kisses on his face and neck just anywhere she could. "I'm so sorry that I gave up on us so easily. But I don't want to be without you, not anymore. I love you too much to be apart from you."

She could feel him stuttering at her confession. "What?"

"I finally came to my senses, Jay I don't care how selfish I'm being right now or how crazy I'm coming off as. All I care about is that you know just how sorry I am for hurting you. For making you think that I didn't want to be with you or letting you think that you're just one of many hearts that I've broken. You're not. You're so not. You're...everything. I know it."

Jay cupped her face, looking at her. Only now, she could see his face clearly. She saw the dark circles under his eyes, his stubbles that he didn't bother to shave. He looked just as miserable as she had looked. Her heart ached at how she was the one who put him through this.

"What about Voight?" he asked her.

"What about him?" Erin shot back.

He gave her a sad smile. "Erin, you know that I love you too. So much and everything you're telling me right now is everything I've been wanting to hear. That I've been dreaming of hearing. But if Voight is still in the way, none of it matters. Because no matter how much I love you or want to be with you, I'm not going to be the guy that takes your family away from you."

Erin smiled, not expecting anything less from Jay. "I know."

"You know that I would've fought for you but not if it meant you losing Voight and your family. You love them too much."

"I also love you," Erin pointed out.

Jay closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against her. "I never thought I'd hear you say those words to me again."

Erin held his face in her hand so he would look at her and see the honesty in her eyes as she said these next words. "I'll tell you a thousand more times. A million more times. As long as I'm still breathing, I'll never stop telling you that I love you."

Jay looked touched but still confused. "What about Voight?" he asked again.

"Jay, you told me that you wanted me to be happy the most right?" Jay nodded. "What if I said that being with you makes me the happiest?"

"Erin." He sounded agonized.

"Jay, you were willing to give up your badge for me. That's your dream, your career," Erin reminded him.

"That's because you're more important for me. All I want is for you to be happy."

"I know. I'm very lucky because not only do you want me to be happy, so does Hank."

"What?" Jay asked, hope seeping into his voice.

"We had a talk, a real talk. Not just the two of us just yelling and screaming at each other in anger. And while I was talking to him, I realized that as much as you two want me to be happy, I need to want it for myself first. And I know the only thing that would make me happy is being with you. So with or without Voight's approval, I was gonna come here and ask you for your forgiveness and for you to give me— us— another chance. So Jay, can you forgive me?"

He brushed her hair away from her forehead. "You know I already have."

"Then can you give us another chance?" Erin asked, holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

Jay's face lit up, telling her his answer before he even said a word. But he said it all the same, leaving no doubt in her mind. "Yes. I want to be with you Erin. I never stopped"

Erin smiled before kissing him. "Then that's all I need." She kissed him again. "Oh as for Voight, he'll stay out of our business as long as we keep the PDA out of his."

Jay looked pleasantly surprised at her news. "I think we could do that," he teased before connecting their lips again. "We'll just have to be more creative about finding places to make out." he said in between kisses.

"Good idea. I just wished you guys could get started right now," a new voice interrupted them, Erin turning her head to where the voice came from. It was a man she didn't know but judging by the similarities to Jay, she immediately knew it was Will, Jay's brother.

"Shit! Will!" Jay cursed. "I forgot you were here!"

"Obviously," Will smirked. "I take it this is Erin? Or otherwise, we're going to have a very awkward situation on our hands"

Erin gave him a smile, shaking his hand. "Will, the pervy brother." she returned, giving it to Will as good as she got.

"A compliment, I like you," Will returned back, not missing a beat. "And seeing as how Jay hasn't been able to keep his hands off of you, he clearly does too."

Jay groaned, letting go of Erin for a second to open the front door wider. "Alright Will, time to go!"

Will tried to protest at first but Jay was practically pushing him out the door, Erin watching their interaction in amusement. "Alright. Alright. I get the hint. I'll leave you two alone and let you start the new year off with a bang." Will winked.

"Oh!" Erin groaned, scrunching her nose. Jay looked mortified, pushing his brother out of the door faster.

Jay let go of the door as Will left, not noticing the door was still open. Instead, Jay made his back to Erin, pulling her into his arms and lifting her up, Erin's legs immediately winding around him.

"Now where were we?" Jay asked before connecting their lips.

"Oh one more thing!" Will pushed the door open again. "Since I was sort of responsible for you two meeting, I demand that you name your firstborn after me."

Erin laughed, hiding her face in Jay's neck, embarrassed.

"Out!" Jay pointed at Will, pushing the door close.

"It doesn't have to be William. I'll take Will!" Will shouted from the other side.

"He's very interesting," Erin commented, amused by Will's antics.

"Thank you!" Will shouted again from the other side. "Oh hey, I'll even take Billy!" he shouted before finally leaving, his laughter echoing down the hall.

"Where were we again?" Jay repeated the question, leaning in.

"Something, something about our first born?" Erin replied, smiling.

"Right. That means we better get started on that," Jay replied cheekily before connecting their lips and carrying her to his bedroom. Erin just held on to Jay, determined to not letting him go again.

It was way too soon for them to be talking about firstborn and baby names but no one said they couldn't have fun in the meantime practicing. Did they?

AN: I was hoping to post it earlier but as usual, the story got away from me and turned into this long ass piece. At least it's a one-shot this time.

I also wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. I hope you guys are safe, healthy and are spending it with your family. I hope you guys enjoy my little present for you. If you want to give me a present too, leave me a review and let me know what you thought of the story.

Now I'm gonna go bury myself in a 2000 page translated novel about an 800 years old love story for the rest of my Christmas break. I'll see everyone soon.