Jay had slept soundly through most of the night, with only a couple of restless moments which Erin woke up too and managed to calm him down, most of the time without him waking fully. They woke up around nine and Jay cooked them pancakes.
"God I've missed these pancakes!" Erin groaned, taking her first bite, "Mmm still as good as they always have been," She complimented.
Jay grinned, "Glad you like them. Okay, so I forgot to tell you last night that Will is going to be home all day so he said I could drop by to get my stuff whenever. I was thinking we take advantage of our final day of 'the flu': Go to Will's - get my stuff, on the way home grab some sandwiches from the little shop down the street and then spend the day chilling? Maybe watch some films?"
"That sounds perfect," Erin replied. "Are you sure you're ready? I'm not pushing you too much, am I?" she suddenly asked, realising that the whole him moving back in conversation was rather easy.
"Babe, I promise. I'm good. I'm ready. Do you want me to be honest?" He asked and she nodded her head, "I honestly wished I hadn't left in the first place. I have spiralled so much these past nine weeks, and honestly? I think if I had allowed you to help me carry my load, then I wouldn't have felt so shit and began to spiral. I have barely slept in the past nine weeks - but after two nights next to you, I have slept better than I have since then. I know my nights haven't been 100% normal sleep, but they are much better - especially after I opened up to you. I know sleeping by you isn't a cure, I'm still going to work through my issues properly. I am going to phone Dr Charles this afternoon," He said, "Are you still okay with me coming back home?"
Erin smiled and took a hold of his hand, "I am more than okay with you coming home. I love you, and I want to help you get through this - more than anything. I can't wait to have you back home again and we will be able to work through this together. I love you."
"I love you too," He grinned and leant over and kissed her forehead. The pair of them finished eating their breakfast in a comfortable silence.
After spending the morning cleaning up the kitchen in the apartment, they made their way over to Will's to collect Jay's things. Will let them in and Jay went into the spare room where he had been storing his clothes but not sleeping because his brother was more of a cheap skate than he was and hadn't bought any bedroom furniture for it - just a desk and a chair. Nina had offered for them to put a bed in the room after three weeks but Will refused saying they didn't need to - and it was fine as it was as an office. Now that he thought about it, Will probably didn't want to make it too 'homely' for him - forcing him to at some point, face his demons and go back home with his tail tucked between his legs.
As Jay had left to go pack his stuff, Erin and Will sat on the couch, "I have to say, I've not seen him this well rested in a long time. How's he doing?" He asked.
"He's slept a lot. He's still not 100% but he wants to get better," she replied.
"He told me last night that he's going to make an appointment with Dr Charles," Will said, not hiding the surprise in his voice, "What changed his mind? Every time I spoke to him about it, he'd shut me down and just tell me that he was fine. When I knew full well he wasn't."
Erin shrugged, "I suggested it after he told me that his support group had been more triggering than helpful. I said that he helped me a lot after Nadia died, and I just think he was ready in himself."
"Thank you," Will said, sincerely. "Honestly I've been so worried about him but nothing I was doing was helping. I know it can't have been easy for you to take him back to your place after everything - but seriously, thank you."
"He'd have done it for me," She replied, not wanting to take credit for Jay finally seeing sense, "He had to decide that it was time for him to face his problems in his own time - not anyone else's. I'm just glad that he's getting better."
"Still though, thank you." Will reiterated and Erin had realised how worried Will had been about Jay.
Jay returned into the room with two duffle bags and a rucksack, "Oh god I hope you're not talking about me," he joked.
"Yes we were actually! I was just telling Erin about the time that someone stole all your clothes after PE and you had to walk through school in a teeny tiny towel," Will grinned and Erin couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"You forgot to mention that you were the one to steal all my clothes," Jay bit back, rolling his eyes.
"You didn't!" Erin exclaimed, looking at Will.
"He taped over my favourite Star Trek episode! He had to pay," Will laughed, defending his actions.
Jay just rolled his eyes yet again and mumbled under his breath, "Tosser."
"Oh god, please don't tell me you were a trekkie too?" Erin grimaced.
"No way! I actually taped a David Attenborough documentary about the Amazon, it was awesome," he replied, not ashamed of his nerd tendencies.
"Nothing's changed there," Erin laughed as did the two brothers.
"Right, we best get going, I'm starving," Jay said, grabbing his bags, "Thanks, bro. For everything."
"No worries baby bro," Will replied giving him a hug, and then ruffling his hair, "Now get out of here. The party guests are arriving soon. I'm having one in your honour of finally not being here."
"God you're an ass," Jay grumbled, rolling his eyes. "See you later."
"Yeah, see you," Erin said as she followed Jay out of the apartment.
"Bye guys," Will said after them as he watched them walk down the hall to the lift. He was so glad that his brother had finally got his shit together enough to move out. He was definitely proud of him, he deserved to be happy. Whatever happened was in the past and Jay now needed to try and face his demons with the help of Erin. As much as Will had actually liked having Jay around, he was looking forward to having some time with Nina - completely uninterrupted. They needed to try and save their relationship and having his little brother crashing on their couch had made their attempts to fix their relationship much harder than it should've been. He was hopeful that they could get through it, but only time would tell.
After grabbing some sandwiches from their favourite sandwich shop which was close to their apartment, Erin and Jay returned home to their apartment. After eating, Jay got to work on unpacking his clothes and Erin begrudgingly did her laundry - something that she hated keeping up on (especially since Jay had put himself unofficially in charge of the washing because she once shrunk five of his Henley's) so after watching Jay get to work on unpacking and putting everything away with military precision she grabbed her basket of washing and went to put it in the washer. Jay found time to call Dr. Charles and made an appointment for Monday lunch time. Once they'd both finished, they got back into comfy clothes and settled down on the couch. Instead of films, they decided to rewatch Criminal Minds again from the beginning because it was their favourite show. Neither of them said it out loud, but both thought it, Criminal Minds was the first show they binge watched together as a couple, so rewatching it now seemed to be a fresh start for them. During the end of the fourth episode, Jay looked at Erin who was watching intensely. He was so grateful that she was there for him, for a while he didn't think he was going to get out of this hole. She was his rock and he honestly couldn't put into words how much he loved her. She felt his gaze on her so turned to face him, "What?"
He leant in and kissed her softly. When he pulled back he kept his gaze on her, "That was for never giving up on me," he smirked.
Erin could sense where this was going and kissed him back, "What was that for?" He asked, cheekily.
"That's cos I wanted to kiss you," she replied and they both laughed, leaning in to kiss each other again. The kiss quickly grew heated and it wasn't long before clothes were shed and they tested the function and form of the sofa once again.
"Still great function," Jay teased as he pulled a blanket over them from the back of the sofa.
"Pretty good form, too," she smirked, as she snuggled into him and rested her head over his heart, "I've missed this."
"Me too," he replied, placing a kiss to the top of her head. He reached for the remote, "Want to continue with criminal minds?" He asked to which she nodded. So he put on the episode that they'd missed and they lay there, slowly falling back to sleep for a much needed afternoon nap (once again missing the same episode).
A couple of hours later, they were awoken by a loud knock on the door. The pair of them quickly got up and Jay threw on his boxers and shorts before going to answer the door. Erin put on her sweats and grabbed Jay's t-shirt that he'd been wearing because she couldn't see her bra or vest top. As she pulled on his t-shirt, she spied her bra hanging off a kitchen cupboard and her top happened to be behind the sofa. She quickly grabbed them and put them into their junk cupboard - hiding them from sight of whoever was at the door.
The door knocked one more time and Jay opened it, "Oh, hey Sarg, what's up?" He asked.
"Do you ever wear a shirt? I think like 90% of the time you and answer the door, you're always half dressed," Hank grumbled, "Also, how many times do I have to tell you, it's Hank when we are not at work."
"Sorry, we were asleep," Jay said, scratching the back of his neck, "Come in."
They walked into the living room and saw Erin in the kitchen, Hank went over and sat on one of the bar stools (thank god not the couch - especially after what they'd just done on their) while Jay went to go and get dressed.
"Hey Hank, what're you doing here?" She asked.
"Just come to check in," He replied, "Ah so you're the reason why Halstead never wears a shirt," he said, pointing to her wearing Jay's tee.
Erin just rolled her eyes and passed him a beer out of the fridge. Jay came back out of the bedroom dressed in his shorts, a t-shirt and some trainers, "I'm going to go down to the shop. We are out of coffee and I do not want to deal with you without coffee in the morning," he shuddered just thinking about it and Hank laughed.
"Whatever, you're just as bad," Erin grumbled.
"I know," he grinned, "Right see you later. Bye, Sarg - sorry," He corrected himself, "Hank."
Hank just nodded at him as he left.
Erin took a seat next to Hank at the breakfast bar, "He seems better. How is he? Take it he's moved back in?" Hank asked, not beating around the bush.
"Yeah, he's back home, and he's doing ok, he's slept a lot these past two days. Monday, he slept through the day into the evening with a couple of nightmares, we got up at half 8 that night, watched tv and ate. Went to bed around 3 in the morning and he slept solidly - barely moved a muscle until 17:00 yesterday.." she explained.
"Shit..."
"Yeah, he's been a bit restless last night but nothing major - he didn't wake up in a panic or anything. And he just got a few hours before you came today, so he's definitely caught up on his sleep," she informed him without going into too much detail, knowing that Jay would inform him of everything tomorrow at work.
"And how are you doing?" He asked, worried about how it is affecting her.
Erin shrugged, "I'm actually okay. I won't lie and say it's been east but we talked properly yesterday and we're good," she told him. Once again not going into details to still allow Jay his privacy.
Hank nodded, "I'm glad. Although we all know you had split up and it definitely hasn't been plain sailing, I have to say I've been impressed that you both kept it professional. You didn't complain and demand a new partner, you both just got on with it - despite what was going on in your personal life. I know that must've been hard for you both."
"It was hard, but we made a promise to each other a long time ago back when we broke up the first time to always have each other's backs. And we always kept that promise," she explained, "I'm just glad he's doing better."
"Me too, kid," Hank replied, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze, "So, has your flu cleared up? Will both of you be back in the bullpen tomorrow?"
Erin laughed, "Yeah, we will. Thank you Hank. What made you want to talk to him anyway?" She asked.
"Will called me, he was worried about him. I was actually going to talk to him regardless because I was worried about him too," Hank shrugged, playing it off.
"Aww, you care!" Erin laughed.
He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well he's a good guy. I best be off, I am meeting Al for a drinks I'll see you both tomorrow bright and early."
Erin got up and walked Hank to the door and gave him a hug, "Bye, Hank."
"See ya, kid," he replied as he left their apartment.
Erin took herself back to the couch and went back to the criminal minds episode they've managed to miss - twice and decided to wait for Jay to come home.
Jay walked in about ten minutes later, armed with two bags of shopping. He put them down on the floor and took his shoes off and lined them up neatly, "I'm back," he said as he took the food bags through to the kitchen, "I got coffee and I got food. I was thinking of making a chicken stir-fry. What do you think?"
Erin stood up and followed him to the kitchen, "Sounds great. I have to say I've missed your cooking," she admits, hopping onto the counter so she could watch him get to work chopping the chicken and vegetables before preparing the sauce. She sat drinking a beer, admiring him at how good he looked in the kitchen (then again, he looks good everywhere). They made light conversation as he prepared the meal and once it was on to simmer he walked over to her and stood between her legs. His hands came up to rest on her waist, "Hi." He grinned,
"Hi back," she smirked putting her beer down and wrapping her arms around his neck, "It smells great by the way."
"It should be about eight to ten minutes," he informed her, pecking her lips softly, "So, how was Hank?"
"He was fine. He's very worried about you though. He asked how you were doing and I said you were fine. He guessed you'd moved back in," she laughed.
"Yeah, I wasn't very subtle with that, was I?" He grinned.
Erin shrugged, "Eh, he'd have found out anyway. I just told him that you were getting better but obviously not at 100%. I haven't told him about your appointment with Doctor Charles though, I assumed you'd want to do that."
He nodded, "Yeah, I will talk to him in the morning. Oh, but the way, where are the rest of your clothes from before? You're wearing my shirt and not yours?"
She laughed and nodded over to their junk cupboard, "They're in there. You had flung my bra so far, it was hanging on the this cupboard's handle," She said pointing to the cupboard behind her head, "And my vest top was behind the couch - I can't wear that top without a bra so threw your shirt on and quickly got the rest of my clothes and threw them in there!"
He laughed and so did she, he looked at her with a soft expression, "Thank you, by the way."
"For what?" She asked.
"For being you. I love you, so much I can't even begin to describe it," he said, sincerely and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"I love you too," she whispered and rested her forehead against his, both were feeling emotional.
He cleared his throat, "I have something for you," he said and she looked at him in surprise. He reached around his neck and grabs the necklace of his dog tags and places them over her head so they hung around her neck, "I want you to keep a hold of these. I will always love you and I want you to wear them as a reminder of that. Even if I am in a bad place, remember that I'm always with you."
She felt her eyes fill with tears, "Jay, I don't know what to say," she whispered, holding the tags in her hands, "I love you, so much." She felt like she couldn't say it enough. They both knew they loved each other, but after saying it that first time, they didn't say it too often - taking advantage of knowing that they both just knew.
She kissed him then, the kiss began off soft and slow but quickly deepened and just as they'd been this close to the point of no return, Jay reluctantly pulled back, "I hate to break this up but the stir fry is going to burn and I need to add the noodles," he laughed once he caught his breath back.
She groaned, as she felt him pull away to tend to their dinner, "Who'd have thought that a chicken stir-fry would serve as a literal cock block!"
"A tasty cock block though," he grinned, "Here, have a taste."
She ate the bite he offered her and groaned, "Oh my god, that's amazing!"
"Isn't it just? Why don't you go and set up on the couch, this shouldn't be much longer," he suggested.
She did as he said and took the cutlery over to the coffee table and grabbed them both another bottle of beer. Once Jay had finished cooking, he plated them both up a huge portion of his favourite chicken stir fry and sat down next to her on the couch. They took this time to finally watch that episode of criminal minds they had missed twice today already - and thoroughly enjoyed it. After a couple more episodes, the pair of them quickly washed up the dishes and pans used for tonight's dinner and then headed to bed - ready for a full day of work tomorrow. They got into bed after doing their teeth and doing their usual bedtime routines and snuggled up to one another. Neither of them said anything, they just lay in each other's arms, allowing each other's presence to bring them peace and allow them both to fall into a peaceful sleep.
AN: Thank you for all the feedback on this story & the one I posted the other day! I'm hopefully going to alternate when I post each story so I don't fall too far behind on them :) Let me know you thoughts! I enjoy reading them :D
