A/N: I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to write a review lately. It was wonderful to hear some of you look for the updates to this story daily! Now I know that Erin was a beloved character and I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of crap for this chapter, but remember, everything is not always as it seems. This chapter is a little shorter than normal but I wanted to get it out this morning. Hoping to have the second part of "Blackmail" out later today or tomorrow at the latest. Enjoy!
FLASHBACK (2 MONTHS AGO)
JAY'S P.O.V.
As I lay here in bed, in one of the guestrooms, I can't help but think how amazing of a mother Christine is to our twins. It was their first day home and she seemed so confident, so sure of herself. It was if she had been waiting for this moment her entire life. I, on the other hand, am not that confident yet but I'm definitely better than what I had been when Aiden and Quinn were first born. It was wonderful to be able to read to them in their rooms for the first time tonight before we put them down in their cribs. During the moment when we stood over Quinn's crib I thought I saw a look in Christine's eyes...a look I haven't seen in a few days...a look of love and lust. But after we walked out of the nursery Christine walked into the master bedroom and closed the door behind her.
I think I've already checked on Aiden and Quinn ten times tonight. Christine and I both have video baby monitors but I liked seeing them up close. As I try to come up with a plan to repair the damage I did to our relationship I can hear my phone buzzing. Looking at the clock I see it's 2:15am. That means it's most likely work, which is strange because I'm supposed to have the entire weekend off. I look at the text. It's from Erin. "Need to talk in person ASAP." I texted her back and told her I would be free for a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon but needed to be home by 4:30pm. After agreeing to meet at 3:00pm at Umami Burger in the West Loop, I then went and checked on the twins one more time before finally falling asleep.
The next morning, as we fed the twins, I told Christine I had to go to work for a few hours but would be back before the party began. I felt bad. I had promised I would be here the entire weekend and I knew there was a lot going today but I needed to find out what Erin was up to. I left the house at 12:00pm and first headed to the District. I did have some paperwork to finish up on, so I wasn't telling an outright lie to Christine. I was just leaving out the part about meeting up with Erin. At 2:30pm I got back in my truck and went to meet Erin. She was already seated at a table when I arrived. I grabbed the menu and ordered a Manly Burger with Cheesy Tots and a beer. Erin decided on (after what seemed like 30 minutes) a Royale Burger with Tempura Onion Rings and a beer. After we ordered lunch and the waiter walked away from the table Erin began with "I'm moving back to Chicago. Wait...before you say anything please know I've been thinking about an offer I received months ago to head up an FBI Task Force here, in Chicago. After seeing you the other night and spending an amazing night with you I decided it is definitely the right move for me to make. You and I can be together again and find a way to coparent with Christine. Down the road hopefully we can add kids of our own into the mix. I was thinking after lunch today we can go look at apartments. What do you think?"
I looked at her in shock and couldn't help but wonder if she had suffered some sort of traumatic experience lately that was causing her to act so irrational...to act so much like Bunny, her Mother. "Erin, don't you remember when I told you the other night that I am in love with Christine? That's why I wouldn't have sex with you. I couldn't cheat on her. I'm not sure what's going on with you, Erin. You seem a little off...unbalanced almost...spiraling, almost how you were after Nadia's death. If you want to talk about this change I'd be happy to listen but Erin, if you decide to move back to Chicago don't do it for me. I plan on rebuilding my relationship with Christine. I wasn't going to tell you but I asked for her Dad's blessing. I'm going to propose to her by the end of the year. I'm sorry Erin but I'm not the one for you. And let's be honest, after the shit you pulled on Wednesday with that bogus warrant, Christine will never let you anywhere near the twins." I said trying to figure out what has caused Erin to go completely off the rails.
The conversation took a brief pause as the waiter returned to the table with our food and then brought us another round of drinks. I took that time to attempt to process what the hell was going on. I couldn't figure out why Erin would even consider moving back to Chicago. Why she would think I would leave Christine for her. I made it very clear from the moment she landed in Chicago that I was trying to protect my family. Even though Christine and I weren't married we were family...we had a family. I loved her and the twins more than I ever thought was possible to love. Maybe I should reach out to Voight. Yeah, he might be pissed at me right now but Erin was like a daughter to him and there is obviously something going on with her that he should probably know about. He could help her deal with whatever it is.
The sound of Erin's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Well Jay, I hate to point out when you're wrong but I'm going to. We did have sex on Tuesday night. You may have been drunk but it was still really good. I was a little disappointed that you didn't wake me up for another round of scrabble before you left on Wednesday morning. You look like you don't believe me. Well...hopefully this will refresh your memory." Erin said as she slid her phone across the table towards me. I hit play on the video that was pulled up and I watched in disbelief as it showed Erin and I having sex. Fuck! I knew I had been pretty wasted but even at my lowest I never blacked out to the extent where I didn't remember having sex. How much did I drink, I wondered to myself. There's only one reason I can think of that would case me not to remember and I didn't want to believe it was true. "What did you put in my drink Erin? Why would you drug me? What the fuck is wrong with you?" I asked the woman I once loved. The woman who had become a complete stranger in less than two years.
"I'll tell you what Jay, in order to keep the video between us I need you to agree to a couple of things. You agree to go apartment hunting with me today before we stop by Christine's party. I'll pretend to be sincere with my apology to her. The story will be that you convinced me that there is no future for us to be anything but friends. I'm not happy but I agreed. And I promised you that I would only go after the others, Paddy McGuire...Finn O'Doyle...Anthony DiStefano, and leave her out of my investigation. That should get me back into everyone's good graces. Kim might be a little difficult to convince but I'm sure she'll come around. Who knew she could be such a bitch? Now, if you're done eating why don't you pay the bill. There's an apartment I want to look at over on North Lake Shore Drive." Erin said.
What the fuck is going on, I wondered to myself for about the millionth time since I sat down at the table. Erin has to be in some sort of trouble to be acting this way. I looked at her, and in that moment, I saw a look of fear flash across her face so I decided to play along. I need to see where this leads and find out what's going on. I paid the bill and looked at my watch. It was already 5:30pm! I pulled out my phone to find two text messages from Christine. The first one was a picture of the twins with a caption that said "Hurry up and catch the bad guys Daddy. We miss you!" The second had been sent at 4:45pm and was not as pleasant as the first message. Christine was not happy that I wasn't there. Shit...
It had been a shit show when I walked into Christine's later that night with Erin by my side. I'm pretty sure I lost the respect of our friends and family when I did but I honestly didn't feel that I had any other choice. I need to find out why Erin was acting this way. I went back to Christine's later that night and saw her kissing Severide. I could have overlooked that but when I snuck out of Erin's hotel room early the next morning and went back to the house it felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest when I saw Severide's arms around Christine. The pain was so strong that I doubled over. I guess Kim had been right. I had pushed Christine out of my arms and straight into the open arms of Kelly Severide.
A/N: As I mentioned, things aren't always what they seem. Stay tuned for Part Two of Blackmail and things will come to light. I hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter and please remember to follow the story to keep up with the updates!