Jay insisted that Erin take the bed again, so the next morning he was awoken from his couch slumber by the sound of coffee brewing in the conjoined kitchen area.
With half cleft lids he took in his surroundings. A black suitcase was placed beside the door filled with Erin's things to take on the yacht. . She was at the coffee pot in a pair of pajama shorts and tank top, waiting for it to finish brewing. He squinted, trying to study what she held in her hand, twirling between her fingers. After his eyes came into focus it quickly resonated that it was her newest sobriety coin.
Before thinking twice, his sleepy morning croak filled the suite. "Happy two hundred and fifty days sober."
She jumped slightly. "You gotta stop startling me like this, Halstead." She turned on her heels to find him sitting up on the couch watching her. His eyes were still squinty from sleep; he had the craziest bed head, and one of his adorable boy-like grins on his lips. She'd always found him to damn adorable first thing in the morning. "But thank you."
He'd remembered. It wasn't a huge milestone like one year either. He'd obviously been keeping track of the days along with her, and the idea made her feel not so alone. He recognized her accomplishments, and that meant more than she could ever express.
To hide the smile tugging on her lips she turned back to the coffee pot and poured them both a cup.
The hint of surprise on her face didn't go unnoticed by him. "You didn't think I'd remember, did you?"
"I guess I didn't expect anyone to pay attention to the exact amount of days but me."
"Well I'm not just anyone, Er. I'm you partner, and your best friend, and I'm proud of you, so of course I remember."
She bit the inside of her cheek still trying to suppress a smile. "I poured you a mug whenever you're ready for it."
"Thanks." He stood from the couch and headed over to retrieve the caffeine. After taking his first sip, he nodded towards her hand still holding the small coin. "It's almost time for a new one right? The nine month one."
"Mhm" she nodded not looking up from the token she was holding.
"Do I still get to come watch you get it?" He asked meekly. He'd gone to every meeting where Erin was presented a new sobriety coin.
He'd always clap and smile like an idiot, radiating so much pride for his partner.
When she'd walk back to take her seat beside him, he'd always wrap her in the warmest, tightest bear hug. Then he'd press a kiss to head while mumbling just how proud he was of her. It was the same every time. It was something she looked forward to as an incentive to keep going on the hard days.
"You still want to?" An element of surprise was evident in her voice.
"I..." He paused for a moment caught off guard by her doubt. "I couldn't imagine not being there. It's important to you, so it's important to me."
God he made it so difficult not to be completely in love with him. She thought she was getting to a place where she could turn her feelings off, or at least ignore them for now, but then he had to go and say something perfect and sweet, and bring them all right back to the forefront. "Then, yeah. I'd like it if you still came."
"Good" he grinned. "I'd sneak in the back if you told me no anyway. Did you notice that today also happens to be Wednesday? It's a shame we can't celebrate 250 with a small fry and a vanilla milkshake." He winked.
She scoffed at the running joke they had between them. "I hate you."
"You always say that, but never mean it!" he teased her back.
"One small French fry and one Vanilla shake." Jay handed Erin a paper bag and the shake only to receive a glare that could only be described as Erin's "are you kidding me" face. He did his best to not let the corners of his mouth turn up into a smirk.
She peeked inside of the bag and her own mouth turned into a grin. "I hate you. The shake is chocolate too isn't it?"
"I've been getting this order every Wednesday for how long now, Erin? Of course I know it's a medium French fry and Small chocolate shake, yet you still text it to me every week like I could somehow forget!"
"Fine, I'll stop trying to be helpful by texting you my order. You're going to be screwed when I decide I want something different and don't text you because of this conversation."
"You, Erin Lindsay, are a creature of habit. That's why your order will never change." He spoke while stealing a fry from her bag and quickly dipping it into her milkshake that she had taken the lid off of.
"Get you own." She smacked at him. He sat at the end of the couch, and she turned to rest her feet on his lap.
"First off, I bought the food, so I think I'm entitled to a bite. Secondly, you expect me to eat with your feet here?"
"They're little, and they're cute, and they're clean; what's the big deal?" She asked wiggling her toes for emphasis, while tipping her head back, and dropping a fry into her mouth.
Jay smiled and shook his head. She ate like a little kid full of enthusiasm. "You're lucky you do have cute little feet, or else there is no way I could eat onion rings with them in my face."
She scrunched her nose. "Just don't get all creepy foot fetish on me now, Halstead. I'm not into that shit."
His voice pulled her from remembering one of their weekly Wednesday milkshake nights. Every Wednesday he'd go get them food while she went to a meeting, and then they'd meet at her place to eat. "What time do we have to meet Madison, anyways?"
"Oh, um 3 o'clock I think, but I wanna check in with her sooner before everyone else is around. "
"Then I'll hop in the shower now, so you can have the bathroom while I finish packing." He dropped his mug into the sink and disappeared into the bathroom.
When he was gone, Erin let out a sigh of frustration. He was so good at acting like nothing had really changed since their last milkshake night, and she was jealous that she couldn't just move on like he seemed to have.
Later in the afternoon, Erin let herself in Madison's room an hour before they were set to leave for the yacht. "Hello?" She called out, only to receive no reply.
She ventured further into the room and noticed the empty bottle of Vodka tipped over on the coffee table. She froze when she saw the ruminants of a line of cocaine. Taking a deep breath she composed herself and continued her search. "Madison are you here?"
She looked into the bedroom and found the younger woman passed out on top of the covers, still dressed in the clothes from yesterdays bunch.
"Madison you only have an hour. You gotta get up." She was meet with whimpers and sniffles, so she moved closer towards the bed.
Tears streamed for Madison's eyes. She was very clearly hung over, if not still high. "I thought he was in town to see the secretary he's been screwing. I knew he was here, but I didn't think he could ever... Do you think he really did it?" She cried.