Truly sorry for the long-ish updates, I'll really try and get a move on with everything! Anyway, thanks to all who have reviewed recently (positively, that is, or even with constructive comments) it really means a lot!

Got stumped for a while on this one, but I'm really stoked about the next one I've got. I guess inspiration picks and chooses when to strike.

I got two similar requests for this, so I decided to put them together. Timewise, I see this pretty later on for Erin and Jay. Both from guests, they're:

"I take back what I said." and "I want to take it all back. "

In all honesty, Erin was glad when Kelly said he wouldn't be able to make it that night. They'd cracked a tough case and it had drained her, not to mention the fact Nadia had completed a full first week at work too. They were both exhausted.

Nadia had crashed early, telling Erin the change of pace had really gotten to her. So while the city was beginning to wind down after a rough night, so was Detective Erin Lindsay. She was lounged out on her couch, head drooping on her shoulder slightly, with a beer in hand as she watched the highlights of the game. Every so often she raised the tip of the beer and took a long sip, savouring the burning as it slid down her throat.

As her heavy lids weighed down, she thought of Kelly. Her boyfriend, Kelly Severide. The more she said it, the less real it felt. He didn't feel like her boyfriend. And she wondered if he ever would. She enjoyed his company and welcomed his presence, but whenever she was alone she considered how much effort it took; how hard she worked to hold herself together around him.

And then her mind wandered to her partner, who had already seen her at her worst and somehow managed to not let it warp his perspective of her. She thought of how easy he was to be around; how they could spend hours together and she wouldn't even notice. And how she'd pretend not to notice the drop in her chest when he left.

She lifted the beer bottle again, but before the glass could meet her lips, there was a knocking at the door. She could hear low mumbles on the other side of the threshold, and the odd laughter as she lifted her body from the comfort of the couch and over to the peep-hole. Looking through, her brow furrowed at the sight of Ruzek and Halstead. Swinging open the door, she noted how Adam was almost holding Jay up. Based on his lolling his head around and the intense stench of alcohol, Erin guessed her partner had had one too many at Molly's.

"I tried to take him home," Adam sighed, retrieving his arm from around Jay. "But he was adamant of coming here."

"Okay, thanks. I'll take it from here." Erin told him with a smile, although she was still extremely questioning of why Jay was requesting to show up at her apartment, blatantly drunk when it was close to midnight. Ruzek handed her Jay's phone, which she guessed he was holding for safe keeping, and retired down the stairwell, leaving Erin to attempt to manoeuvre an extremely inebriated Jay.

"Alright, come on," She said, almost grunting as she guided him over to the couch. He sunk down with ease, his head rocking back. Erin mad her way to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, knowing the smart thing would be to get some fluids in him as an attempt to reduce the hangover impact.

She returned to the couch, but sat opposite her partner on the coffee table. They were close. So close, their knees were almost knocking together. She handed him the bottle of chilled water, but he just held it. He steadied his head and held her gaze. She finally noticed the glaze to his eyes, but also the brightness behind them.

"I have to..." He slurred his speech, and Erin watched as his pupils moved in and out of focus. "I have to tell you something."

"Tell me what?" She asked with a light tone, almost humouring him. She leaned forward slightly and began removing his jacket from his body, guessing he was warm. His sluggish body provided no help in the matter, and Erin was forced to physically move both arms out of the sleeves. She tossed the jacket onto the side of the couch and resumed her seat on the coffee table, crossing her arms over her chest. She felt strangely awake all of a sudden.

Under the light ambience of the lamps, his face had a hollowed orange tinge to it, and his blue eyes seemed brighter than usual. She watched as he tried hard to maintain his focus. And as he did, she reached for her beer and took a sip. She noted that she'd had a few already, and concluded that she was over the limit, if only slightly. It meant that she couldn't drive her partner home, he'd have to crash on her couch. The bottle was just brought down from her lips when he'd managed to find the words.

"I love you." He didn't slur those three words. His smile was light and dazed, while Erin felt frozen. She watched his pupils with determined dexterity, looking and waiting for him to waver. He never did, though. Instead, he continued to look at her like he always did; like he knew her better than anyone. Finally, she broke into a sad smile and dropped her eyes to the ground.

"You're really wasted, huh?" She commented with a half chuckle, reaching down to take off his shoes, one by one. "You're gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow."

"I mean it." Without looking at him, Erin wouldn't have guessed he was drunk, not by the steadiness of his words. After she took off his second shoe and met his gaze again though, the fluttering of his lids told her he wasn't in the right state of mind. "I'm in love with you."

"Jay, stop." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Her tongue glazed over her lower lip and she clamped her eyes closed for a brief moment. She told herself it wasn't real; what he was telling her was a mixture of various alcoholic drinks and poor judgement.

"I know you're scared. But I'm not. I love you." He reached out a hand but she stood up before it could make contact. She didn't need this.

"You need to sleep this off, okay. We've got work in seven hours." She stood up and grabbed the throw from the back of the couch. She could still feel Jay's eyes on her but she didn't let it stop her. She dropped the throw down next to him and hit the button on the remote, shutting the television off. She heard him mumbling indistinct phrases that she couldn't make out, and as he did so she made her way to her room.

She finally heard him call out her name, but she closed the door to her bedroom before she heard anything else he would surely regret saying in the morning. Her hands palmed the cool wood as she took deep breaths. There was a harsh silence and a sickness in her stomach that she tried desperately to ignore. After a final breath, Erin turned around, pressing her back to the door. A million 'I love you's ran through her mind as slight fingers ran through the roots of her hair, her eyes closed tight.

Jay woke up with his head on fire. His thoughts were burned to a crisp and whenever he moved he felt his entire body tense into an ache. As his eyes adjusted to the morning light streaming in, he noted that he wasn't in his bed. In fact, he wasn't even his apartment.

He swallowed and the rawness of his throat caused him to wince. Sitting up, Jay took in his surroundings and realised he was at Erin's, helplessly pained on her couch.

"Morning." He winced again at the sound of Erin's voice, her presence startling him slightly. He watched with squinted eyes as she made her way over with a bottle of water in one hand and a painkiller in the other. She handed him both and he thanked her wordlessly.

He popped the pill quickly, chasing it down with a gulp of relievingly cold water.

"Sorry." He felt like an idiot; drunkenly crashing on his partner's couch was not something an emotionally stable detective was supposed to do.

"It's fine. You managed to keep all vomit inside of you, which I'm happy about." There was a faint lightness to her words, but Jay felt her holding back.

He tried to smile but it all hurt, so instead he raised his eyes and tried to thank her that way. Erin stood above him, her fingers twirling softly and avoiding eye contact.

"Wanna grab breakfast?" Jay asked, trying not to sound like every syllable he sounded out was getting replayed louder in his head. He needed a way to thank Erin, maybe free food was the way to do that.

"Uhm..." Jay watched her squirm nervously. "I... Can't. I've gotta run."

Running from her own apartment sounded bizarre. She must've been running from him.

"Everything okay?" He asked, a drumming in his head. "Is this about last night?"

He watched as she froze for a nano-second, before her shoulders untensed slightly and she combed away a strand of hair from her face. "No, I just... Have some stuff to do."

Jay watched as his partner backed away from him with a forced smile painted on her face. With all the strength he could muster, Halstead lifted his body from the couch and followed Erin to the kitchen, needing to straighten it all out. What 'it' was though, he wasn't quite sure.

"I want to take it all back." He said brazenly when he reached her. She whipped round to him, eyes wide. "What I did... I want to take it all back."

"What are you talking about?"

"I clearly did or said something stupid. So I take it back. I'm sorry." She shook her head slightly and looked pained. He didn't know what the problem was.

"You don't remember?" She asked. He tried searching his brain, but he was coming up blank. It was all a blur.

"Was it that bad?" He was starting to worry now. He could feel an awkwardness between them as she kept her distance.

"You know what? Let's just forget about it. Clean slate, and all." Erin said, hopefulness seeping through her voice. Another forced smile was an attempt to end the conversation, but Jay wasn't accepting that.

"Forget what? What did I say, Erin?"

For a second he thought she might tell him. Her mouth poised open and her eyes shone through his, like she wanted to tell him. But that look slipped away within a second as Erin attempted to walk past her.

Reaching out, Jay's light touch landed on Erin. "Hey," She didn't meet his eye. "Will you tell me what's going on here?"

He watched her breathe in and breathe out. He watched as she looked tired and sad and desperate to get out of his presence. He watched as she finally looked up and met his gaze with longing and want.

"You said you loved me." She said. "Still think you can take all that back?"