Prompt #1: "You're really drunk right now. I don't think you're going to remember any of this." … "No, I'm not drunk at all, you're just blurry."

Hailey had been in New York doing her quick FBI stint when the dreaded Covid-19 made its way into the United States, at least officially. It was a nightmare for everyone, cities and towns across the world had started shutting down and the U.S. was now right behind them. Everyone was in fear of this potentially deadly virus and it didn't help that New York City had suddenly become the epicenter for it. Fortunately for her she was able to get back to Chicago before everything shut down completely, but still, the virus made returning home not the pleasant experience she had wanted. Right when she returned there were massive quarantines across the country and unless you were an essential worker, everything closed down except the bare necessities. The government begging everyone to self-quarantine, avoid others outside of your household, and don't leave your home unless absolutely necessary. Considering police and first responders were of course essential, the Intelligence Unit still had a job to do, albeit it looked drastically different. Since major crime was down at the moment and in order to help with the social distancing, Voight split the unit into A and B days, so half of them would be in on the days the others stayed home unless something drastic arose. Hailey had been paired with Jay and Vanessa, which thrilled her, but it also meant she didn't get to see Kim, Kevin, and Adam upon her return.

Things were different on the personal front too, whereas weeks before Hailey and Jay couldn't wait to get back to spending every waking moment together, quarantining had put a major damper on that. The poor partners missed each other so much in those few weeks Hailey had been in New York, but then this damn virus prolonged their wants and desires about how much they wanted to see the other. While Jay did stop by Hailey and Vanessa's on occasional nights for a little hang out time, they felt guilty going against the makeshift law of avoiding extended periods of time with those outside your household. And since Hailey had been in New York, she didn't want to potentially compromise anyone more than necessary. All of this unfortunately left them to mostly seeing the other just the 2-3 days at work. It was unfortunate because both of them secretly thought they'd finally be open with their feelings for each other once she returned and at last take the next step in their "relationship." But like everything with Jay and Hailey over the past bunch of years, it became another slow burn.

The one good thing about quarantine though was that while the days seemed like they dragged at the start and the before of it felt like a lifetime ago, the weeks started to blur together rapidly. Before everyone knew it somehow April turned into May which turned into June which allowed restrictions for a lot of the country to ease since the original hot spots of Covid case locations had gone drastically down. Luckily for the Intelligence Unit, Illinois was one of the first states to start rolling out the phases of reopening. Once outside dining and some indoor had opened back up it was time for some major celebrations. Not only did everyone want to get out to enjoy the freedom of it and celebrate the start of hoping to get a handle on things again, but they wanted to celebrate Hailey's return which they never got to do. And outside of the occasional passing or Facetime, Kim, Kevin, and Adam still hadn't seen her since she left for New York, not to mention not seeing Jay or Vanessa these months either. They all decided to rectify that tonight by going to one of their favorite bars that had a huge outside patio.

The team had all agreed to meet there at 3pm and hours upon hours of drinking and catching up were had. The girls were by far the drunkest they'd been in a while, but Hailey was the worst considering everyone wanted to buy her shots for her return and for not getting to see her off when Voight sent her all those months ago. For most of the day though she had a handle on it because Jay kept slipping her water between each drink. But as night had fallen, even no amount of water could save her intoxication.

"Guys, corn hole is finally open, let's go play!" Vanessa says excitedly as her and Kim run over to the boards.

Adam and Kevin quickly follow while Jay makes his way slowly with Hailey who is insistent on bringing her drink with her, but is clearly in no state to carry it all the way.

"You guys in?" Kevin asks them.

"Nah, think we'll sit this one out and watch." Jay says as he guides Hailey to a nearby table and stool.

"You're such a pooper." Hailey says sticking her tongue at Jay while he presses near her with his arm draped behind her back leaning on the fence to keep her from falling. Her little bit of conscious brain left is way happier to be in this position with him then playing corn hole with her friends despite her protests.

"Okay then, girls vs guys!" Kim says.

"YES!" Vanessa agrees, making her way down to Kevin's side since Adam will now be on Kim's.

"Alright, let's make it even more interesting then. When Kev and I are up, we'll throw behind our backs, and when you guys are up you have to throw it while we hold you piggy-back?" Adam suggests.

"Oh c'mon bro, can't we just be normal?" Kevin groins.

"When have we ever been normal?" Adam replies.

"Alright, you're on! Rojas and I are gonna kick your asses!" Kim agrees to the challenge.

Jay shakes his head, happy he turned down the game now. Although the thought of having Hailey on his back does intrigue him… maybe the next bar outing when she's more clear-headed. A few minutes go by as they watch their idiot friends play with Adam's new rules and it's as amusing as you can imagine. Jay suddenly senses Hailey's eyes on him, a small smile playing at her lips. He looks at her with a questioning stare.

"Have I ever told you that I love the way that t-shirt hugs your arms? Makes them look so big, like Superman!" she says as she reaches to squeeze his bicep, almost losing her balance.

Jay quirks his eyebrow in amusement and shock at her bold words and cracks up. "No, but I'll never let you live it down now! You want me to flex for you too?"

"Shutup!" she tries to roll her eyes then looks contemplative and gets a thrilling look in her baby blues. "Actually, yes!"

"Jesus Hailey, we should have tried this liquid courage of yours years ago!"

"Yeah?"

He laughs again. "No, probably not because you're gonna hate this when you're sober."

"Whatever, Halstead!"

He grins at her while she attempts to take another sip of her drink and fails. He gently pries it from her hand and places it on the table and then casually tucks her head against him. He's exhilarated when she doesn't try to fight it.

"Even though you're a butthead, I did really miss you, and your arms." Hailey says through a hiccup.

"I missed you too!" Jay agrees in earnest.

"Yeah?" Hailey pulls back from his chest to look into his eyes and whispers in surprise.

"Of course!" he assures her.

"No, but I mean I really missed you! Not just in New York, I've missed this too. I missed doing our thing, stupid virus. You're so cute I've missed looking at you all the time, I love it. And you." She says nonchalantly while reaching for her drink again, as if she didn't just drop a huge truth bomb on them. Ahhh, alcohol.

Jay's mouth drops in awe, wondering if he heard her right. Remembering her words from early spring, I miss the wind, and you. Even though he knows she's not in a clear state of mind at the moment his heart still constricts. "You're really drunk right now. I don't think you're going to remember any of this."

Hailey looks back at him confused. Then as if she's trying to focus on him. "No, I'm not drunk at all… you're just blurry."

"Alright, I think it's time we get you home!" he replies as he takes the drink from her again and helps her off the stool.

"Such a pooper today, man!" Hailey whines as he leads her to say goodbye to their friends before heading out. "Halstead won't let me stay and have any more fun!"

The other four crack up, never having seen Hailey so drunk before. She normally tries to maintain control even in the worst state.

"Good luck with that, Jay!" Kevin yells.

"See you guys in the morning!" Vanessa calls out simply assuming Jay will just be crashing at their place.

Jay beelines them to his truck so Hailey gets no ideas about ordering more drinks, but the liquor has finally seemed to settle and take its toll on her now. She suddenly looks like she can fall asleep standing up. The ride back to Hailey's is uneventful (with the exception of Jay stopping to grab them a few slices of pizza) and quiet as she passes out against his window. He gently wakes her and tells her that it's time to go once they're outside the apartment and she nods at him in slight recognition. He takes her keys and puts his arm around her as he leads them to the door and opens it. Once inside Hailey clumsily kicks off her sandals, almost falling, but Jay is quickly at her side. He guides her to the couch where she wants to plop and fall asleep again, but he won't have any of it. He runs to grab water and to get the aspirin out of the bathroom before coming over with a slice of the pizza.

"Come on, sit back up a little. Eat this slice and have some water and then I'll get you to bed." He uprights her and hands her the plate.

"You got me pizza!? You're the best, Jay Halstead. Where were you when I was in college?" she beams at him before biting into it like a pig while he smirks eating his own.

Once they finish, Jay making sure she took the aspirin and drank two big glasses of water, he half carries her up to her room. The second she enters she starts stripping off her clothes, leaving her in just her bra and panties, without a care in the world that Jay is still there. He stares off biting his lip, thinking he should be elected to the sainthood if he somehow makes it through this night without touching her the way he wants to. Finally she plops on her bed and under the covers and he can breathe a sigh of relief. He turns to shut her light, debating going home all together but knowing he'll just go and sleep downstairs on the couch. Even in her state, Hailey realizes what he's doing and calls after him.

"Where are you going? Don't leave."

"I'm just gonna go sleep on the couch."

She taps her hand on the bed beckoning to him. "Don't do that. Stay in here with me, please." She pleads.

He sighs, knowing he won't be able to refuse her and at the same time thinking fuck it; they've danced around this long enough. It's about time they at least sleep together. He walks over to the bed and takes off his shirt, draping it on her chair. He decides to leave his jeans on for good measure though, knowing she's already barely wearing anything underneath the covers. He's only human after all. Hailey smiles as he gets under the covers with her and snuggles close to him so she can lie on his chest. She's fast asleep less than two minutes later, her drunken stupor in full effect, but Jay stays up for a while enjoying the feeling of finally having her in his arms.

Hailey finally wakes around 10am with the feeling of strong arms tightly around her. When she opens her eyes she sees Jay's staring right back at her, a shy but happy smile on his face. She can't help but smile too, but then she feels the pounding in her head and their surroundings hit her.

"Oh God, what happened?" Hailey groins.

Jay looks disappointed. "So you don't remember?"

"You mean outside of this hangover that no 32-year old should have to deal with?"

"Yikes! Sorry, I was hoping the aspirin, pizza, and water last night would have eased it some."

"No, I think I'd feel infinitely worse had it not been for those things, so thank you." She takes a moment to study how close they are together in her bed and his shirtless appearance. NO! This couldn't have been how it finally happened. "Umm, did we….?" She whispers questioningly, signaling her finger between the two of them.

"Of course not! I'm a gentleman, Hailey, you really think I'd take advantage of you when you were in that state?"

"No, I just thought it may have happened since I told you how I felt."

Jay rapidly inhales. "So you do remember?"

"What? That I said I missed you and think you're cute… and love you? Jay, you of all people should know by now that I'm always in control of my words…"

"Yeah, but, I just thought you were so drunk, that, I don't know." He replies flabbergasted.

"I mean I was drunk, like really drunk, but I know what I said. In fact, I think you owe me a bicep flex." She jokes.

"Just when I think I know all there is to know about you, you still surprise me."

"Oh, I'm full of surprises, Jay." They both chuckle quietly and she leans her head closer to his on the pillow. "But just for the record, I always mean what I say. You are kind of cute… and I do love you…" she murmurs by his lips.

Jay smiles the brightest he has in years, maybe ever and wraps his arms tighter around her. "Well, good to know because I think you're cute… and I love you too!"

"Yeah?" she asks in her typical way, already assured of his response.

"Definitely!"

He responds huskily before the moment that they've been waiting on for months (years) finally happens. They're not sure who leans in first, but when their lips meet it's as if every moment was leading up to this very one. Hailey instantly forgot about her hangover and was feeling a completely different euphoria in her head now. And Jay felt like he was drunk, and she was the best drug he's ever had. Needless to say, they didn't end up seeing Vanessa until the afternoon…

[A/N: So if you didn't gather, I'm going to try my hand at a prompts list for one-shots. This is new for me, so we'll see how it goes. I chose this first one, so I hope you guys enjoyed it; but I will include the list after this note in case anyone wants to make specific requests. I make no promises, and can't guarantee I'll ever get to do all 30, but let's give it a shot! Thanks so much for reading as always, and for your future participation in this.]

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-PROMPTS-

1. "You're really drunk right now. I don't think you're going to remember any of this." … "No, I'm not drunk at all, you're just blurry."

2. "Mmm… you're warm!"

3. "You're so cute when you're half asleep like this."

4. "I've had a rough day and honestly all I want right now is a drink and someone to cuddle with."

5. "No you can't get up you're my prisoner for today."

6. "You have something in your hair- um, do you want me to get it out?"

7. "I would have had breakfast ready, but you were sleeping on my arm and I didn't want to wake you."

8. "Are you wearing my shirt?"

9. "Wanna like, I mean- if you're not busy, we could get lunch? Or even just coffee if you don't have a lot of time?"

10. "We live together. You can't blame this on anyone else."

11. "Shooting star. Make a wish!"

12. "Wow, you're hot!"

13. "It's midnight, where the hell were you?"

14. "You lost your chance."

15. "Were you ever going to tell me?

16. "Sorry doesn't fix everything."

17. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong, and don't try lying to me."

18. "Pack your shit and go. Get the fuck out of my sight!"

19. "I can't do this anymore… not with you."

20. "Are you happy now? Huh? DOES THIS MAKE YOU HAPPY?"

21. "Did it ever occur to you that you're hurting me too?"

22. "Isn't this, like, illegal?" … "Probably."

23. "I have a feeling we should kiss." …"Is it a good feeling or a bad feeling?"

24. "You're jealous, aren't you?" … "I'm not jealous!"

25. "You think I'm dumb enough to fall for that stupid move?"

26. "You weren't supposed to laugh, I'm so embarrassed!"

27. "There's been some real friction in our friend group lately. I suggest an orgy to save our friendship!"

28. "I saw that. You just checked me out!"

29. "Are you stupid or stupid?"

30. "I can't believe you dragged me into this!"