A/N: Hello! thank you all so so much for all the nice words about the start of this fic. I'm super excited to share more with you :)
Hailey woke the next morning feeling like she'd been hit by the bus. It had nothing to do with the alcohol she'd had the previous night, but everything to do with the new mattress she'd gotten. Her back ached so much that she struggled to even sit up in bed.
Groaning quietly, she dragged herself out of the blankets, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and made her way from her room. To her surprise, Kim and Vanessa were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and whispering over an open box of coffee cake.
"Hey," she said quietly while walking over.
"Good morning, sunshine," Kim laughed and pushed the chair out for her.
Hailey hummed and sat down, accepting the mug of coffee from Vanessa.
"Did you really drink that much?" Vanessa asked, "I thought for sure I'd be more hungover than you."
"Yeah, what the hell?" Kim said, turning her attention away from Hailey now slowly sipping the hot drink, "Did you do shots with Mouse?"
"Maybe," Vanessa said and waved her hand in the air, "Hailey, what happened to you? Why're you so…bleh?"
"You really are so kind," Hailey replied.
Vanessa laughed then said, "Come on."
"You disappeared for a while," Kim said while swirling her finger over the edge of her mug, "And Jay disappeared for a while…"
"What a crazy coincidence," Vanessa said.
Kim smirked and raised an eyebrow at Hailey. "Care to explain?" she asked.
Hailey rolled her eyes and said, "We just stepped out and had a drink together. It really wasn't anything more than that."
"Sure," Vanessa said, "If that's what you want to call it."
Hailey sighed and shot her her middle finger as she took another sip of coffee. Kim and Vanessa burst into laughter, but she had a gut feeling they knew nothing else had happened between her and Jay. They hadn't been the type of friends to hide relationships from each other, and there was no indication that it was going to start now that they were graduated.
"What do you know about him?" she asked once their laughter died down.
"Jay?" Kim clarified.
Nodding, Hailey replied, "Yeah. He seemed nice."
"Course Hailey calls him nice. It's her go-to compliment," Vanessa teased.
"Shut up," Hailey said, "It is not."
Kim laughed and rested her chin on her palm. "Honestly, not too much. We don't talk a lot. I'm closer with Mouse, I guess. Jay's good though. He recently went through a horrible break-up."
"Was that the red wine comment?" Hailey asked, thinking back to what Adam had said the day before around this same table.
"Oh god, he's such an idiot," Kim breathed, "Adam, not Jay. He shouldn't have said anything. It's not his story."
"So you're not going to tell us?" Vanessa asked.
"Hell no, I'll tell you," Kim said. She sat up in her chair causing Hailey and Vanessa to scoot their own chairs closer to her. "He was pretty into this girl, Erin. I liked her too, she was always nice when we'd be at parties together."
"You had other friends?" Vanessa gasped.
"How dare you," Hailey teased.
Kim laughed then continued, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry. Anyways, he met her pretty early on in college, they dated sort of like me and Adam - on and off."
Hailey and Vanessa exchanged a look, but said nothing as they both had their reservations about such a relationship. Neither had anything strongly against Adam, but watching Kim's heart break twice now was always devastating.
"She was his age, girls' swim team, political science major, so I don't think either of you ever met her," Kim said, "She had her eyes set on the FBI, I think specifically she wanted to be involved with law, but I can't remember for sure. Anyways, they were together for almost a year by the time they graduated last year-"
"A year straight?" Vanessa asked.
Kim nodded and clarified, "Before that, it'd been a lot of sex and like…friendship I guess? I don't know. They always gave me friends with benefits vibes. That's whatever, though. They tried the dating thing, it worked out, they graduated, Adam told me Jay had a ring and was planning on asking Erin to marry him, and then she disappeared."
Hailey felt her heart sink as she whispered, "Did she die?" The words were only out of her lips for a second before Kim's earlier comment clicked in her head: it was a break-up. She didn't die-
"She left," Kim said with a shake of her head, "None of us really know why. I think there was some sort of argument or disagreement with her parents. She had a foster dad, but her bio mom was still in the picture. It was a mess. Jay tried dealing with it on his own for about a week before the rest of us took over. The most I got was a text saying she'd call me when she could, but that never happened. Mouse tracked her phone and found out she went to New York; that's it, though."
"Oh my god," Vanessa breathed, "That's awful."
Kim nodded. Frowning, she said, "He was devastated. I've never seen someone shut down like that. Like Adam implied, he drank a lot. The last night, we were actually all upstairs at the guys' place, and he drank a whole bottle of red on his own and then threw it all up all over the bathroom. I think the guys sat him down the next morning and talked him through it all. He's been a lot better since then, but hasn't had a drop of red wine since."
"How long ago was that?" Hailey asked.
"Um, maybe six months?" Kim guessed, "I lost track with student teaching. I haven't been hanging around them as much as I did before; I feel kind of bad about that."
"Hey, you were crazy busy," Vanessa said.
Hailey nodded and added, "None of us blamed you for sticking to yourself. You were working for free – that's not easy."
"Internships need to be illegal," Kim sighed.
"Remember that job I almost got freshmen year that was a borderline internship?" Vanessa asked.
"Oh god, yeah," Kim said.
Hailey ignored their continued conversation about internships as she got up from the table to pour herself a cup of coffee. While she felt bad for what happened to Jay, it sounded awful to just be ghosted like that, she couldn't help the tiny voice in the back of her head saying she wasn't surprised. If he was truly in love with this girl, there was no reason why she should have left him. This just supported her idea that love was fake. There was no such thing as love. True love does not end in double suicide like in Romeo and Juliet or in the husband beating his wife and children or in the girl running away to New York without a word. True love didn't exist.
Life in the new apartment was rather normal. Hailey actually liked her new routine. She woke up each day, had breakfast with Vanessa, unpacked a few boxes around the apartment, sometimes went to the store for missing items or food, and explored the surrounding neighborhoods.
The two stuck together and didn't spend anymore time with Jay or Mouse across the hall. They actually didn't see them at all. That was one thing Hailey wasn't used to. When she lived in the dorms, she seemed to see everyone constantly. Then again, everyone was on similar schedules with classes and getting meals, so perhaps it was easier to run into neighbors.
She wasn't necessarily looking for Jay, she just wasn't avoiding thinking about him. Seeing a police officer reminded her of Kim's story about his ex and the FBI. Walking past the whiskey at the grocery store reminded her of the whiskey he'd let her try. Even just glancing at her kitchen where he'd searched the cupboards reminded her of the short time they'd spent together there.
She was not attracted to him. She had no desire to date the man. She just wanted to get to know him.
He'd seemed kind and funny, and, now that she knew about his past, part of her was very intrigued by him. He'd been a lot quieter than his friends, but he didn't completely stick to himself and was very open to talking to everyone no matter the topic. She'd heard him have a big debate about noodles with Vanessa and at one point he was teaching Kevin how to fix a faucet. It had all been so random, but that's what made him intriguing. He was clearly smart and friendly, and there was something very drawing about him.
She might not have needed to date him, but she did need to get to know him.
"You're kidding me. You're actually kidding me."
"I'm not. Dude, you're the one who left your own key in there."
"Because I thought you were in there!"
"I was, and then I wasn't."
"I'm going to kill you."
Hailey stepped up onto the stair landing to see Jay and Mouse crowded around their apartment door wiggling the doorknob. She adjusted her hold on her grocery bag and leaned back on her heel to watch them.
"Who the hell leaves the door locked when they leave the room?" Jay whispered.
"I didn't think it would happen," Mouse argued.
"You're so stupid," Jay mumbled.
"Everything okay?" Hailey asked while stepping closer.
Both guys spun to look up at her with wide eyes. Jay's hand jumped off the doorknob and he stumbled backwards right into Mouse.
"We are great," Mouse answered.
Jay nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "Never better," he added.
Hailey smiled slightly and stepped down into the hallway next to them. Leaning against the wall, she asked, "Why're you in the hallway?"
"Just…you know," Jay said.
Mouse nodded and said, "Getting some air."
"Yes, yes, getting air," Jay agreed. He clasped Mouse on the shoulder and forced a smile. "We are breathing in some fresh air together."
Hailey breathed in dramatically then said, "Ah yes, the smell of hallway. So fresh. So nice."
Mouse snorted only for Jay to elbow him in the side.
Hailey smirked and winked at them before pushing off the wall. "Well, enjoy your fresh air," she said as she walked toward her door.
"Ask her," Mouse hissed.
"Ask her what?" Jay replied.
"Maybe she has a key."
"To our apartment?"
Hailey bit her lip over a laugh while unlocking her door. She had just stepped inside to set the groceries down when Jay asked, "Do you happen to have a lock-pick kit?"
She smiled and poked her head back in the hallway to say, "A lock-pick kit? Whatever do you need that for?"
Jay sighed and said, "Mouse locked us out."
"Pro tip," Mouse began, "Don't step out of your apartment after setting the lock inside. It will lock without you knowing."
Jay glared at him then shook his head and turned back to Hailey. "Please?" he asked.
"Come here," she said, "You can search through our junk drawer and tool box. I've never needed a lock-picking kit because I know how doors work, but my brother might have gotten me one in my house warming gift."
"Junk drawer already?" Mouse asked while walking into the apartment, "How did that happen? It's been like a week."
"We just had a bag from our dorm that we dumped out," Hailey explained while opening the drawer. She let the two of them look through it as she walked to the back closet in search of her toolbox. Upon finding it, she returned to the kitchen and passed it to Jay. "Whatever you need, have at it," she said.
"You're awesome," Jay said and began searching through the various tools Hailey's brother had given her earlier in the week when he'd stopped by to visit.
She smiled slightly and crossed her arms as she leaned against the back of the couch while watching them. "I like hearing that," she said.
Jay scoffed and sent her a smirk before straightening up with a small kit in his hand. "This should work," he said.
Mouse pointed at Hailey and said, "I owe you if this works."
"You owe me nothing," she said.
"We owe you," Jay repeated while walking out. He made quick work of the doorknob with Hailey's tools causing the door to easily swing open.
"Home sweet home," Mouse breathed and stepped around Jay.
Hailey smiled and accepted the small kit from Jay. "Are you gonna put him in time-out?" she teased.
He laughed and glanced over his shoulder at Mouse grabbing a piece of pizza from the box on their counter. "Oh, he'll get something," he said, "Dumbass."
Hailey laughed at him then stepped backwards. "Was nice seeing you again," she said.
"Well, wait," Jay said and stepped toward her, effectively closing the distance she'd just made, "I meant it when I said I owe you."
"You really don't," Hailey said, "It's what neighbors are for."
"Neighbors are for a cup of sugar and some butter," Jay said, "And even that was back in the fifties."
Laughing, Hailey shrugged and said, "Maybe."
"Do you have laundry?" Jay asked.
Hailey raised an eyebrow and tried holding back a smirk, but failed miserably. "You want to do my laundry?" she asked, "How the hell am I supposed to interpret that? You want to look at my private belongings, Jay?"
He blushed, but easily rolled his eyes and said, "Ha ha. I just mean that I'm doing my own today and have a ton of extra quarters. I'll happily pay for your first load in your new place."
Hailey stared him down for a moment and realized he wasn't joking. Finally, she nodded slightly and said, "Give me a minute."
Without waiting for an answer, she returned to her apartment and quickly made her way to her bedroom. In truth, she'd been putting off doing laundry. It was easily her least favorite chore, and the idea of having to stuff the machine with quarters was not desirable in the least, so having someone else offer to pay was a dream come true. Maybe he'd even fold it all if she asked.
Quickly, she tossed a pair of pajamas in her laundry bin before dragging it out of the apartment. She glanced to Jay and made a big deal of pulling her key out to lock the door.
"Helpful, smart, and a bit of a show-off," he said.
Hailey laughed and put her key in her pocket. "You already told me I'm awesome, you can't take it back now," she said.
"Oh, I can take it back," Jay said while grabbing her laundry bin.
"I can grab that," Hailey said and tried grabbing the handle, but Jay pulled it away.
"I'm repaying you, remember?" he said. He put the handle down then lifted the laundry bin. Holding it to his side, he added, "I'm sure you've had enough of carrying things up and down all these stairs."
"True," Hailey said, "My arms were pretty sore earlier this week."
"It can be a pain, but it actually is a nice building," Jay replied, "How have you been liking it?"
"A lot," Hailey answered, "It's nice having my own room."
Jay chuckled. "Yeah, those dorm rooms get annoying after a while. Did you at least have a private bathroom?"
"The last two years," Hailey said, "Our first two were community bathrooms. You get used to it."
Jay nodded and said, "True. Still not ideal."
"Obviously," Hailey said before they fell into silence for the rest of the walk to the basement. As they walked together, she could feel Jay glancing at her every once in a while, but she simply smiled to herself and watched her feet while heading down the stairs.
In the laundry room, Jay led her to a corner where a black basket was sitting on top of a washing machine. "Mine should be done in a few minutes if you're cool with that," he said.
Hailey nodded and glanced around noticing that every washer was already filled. "Don't think I have a choice," she said.
Jay laughed and shrugged. "Well, it was the gesture," he said.
"Of course," Hailey said with a smile. She made her way to a counter and quickly jumped up onto it. "Is it usually this busy?" she asked.
"On Sundays, yeah," Jay answered, "Everyone's doing their chores today."
"What other chores do you need to do?" Hailey asked.
"Well, Mouse is supposed to be cleaning upstairs," Jay said, a hint of a smirk forming on his lips, "But we all know that's not happening."
Hailey laughed and said, "Pretty sure I saw him digging into a pizza before your door closed."
"That would be about right," Jay chuckled.
"When'd you guys get pizza?" Hailey asked.
"Two days ago," Jay answered, "You a fan?"
"Of pizza?" Hailey clarified. When Jay nodded, she scoffed and said, "Who isn't a fan?"
Jay laughed. Leaning against the dryer, he said, "Fair point, but what kind of crust do you like? Are we talking thin or thick?"
"Deep dish is really the only answer to that," Hailey said.
"Maybe we'll have to get some one day then," Jay replied.
Hailey smiled and kicked her feet off the edge of the counter. "Sounds fun," she said.
"Do you watch baseball?" Jay asked. Before Hailey could answer, the washing machine buzzed and he began taking his clothes out to toss them in the dryer. She tried not paying too much attention to what he was doing, but her eyes lingered over the balled up t-shirts and shorts. Once everything was moved over, she hopped off the counter and grabbed her laundry basket.
Tossing her clothes into the washing machine, she asked, "Like professionally on TV? Or do I go to Cubs games?"
Jay stopped from pouring laundry detergent into a cup to look up and say, "Cubs? You're a Cubs fan?"
Hailey's jaw dropped and she straightened up. "Am I not supposed to be?" she asked.
"Oh, Cubs are not where it's at," Jay said, "White Sox all the way."
"Really?" Hailey asked, "Why?"
"Why not?" Jay said, "Look at all the games we've won and attendance is way higher. The Cubs lose all the time. I'll send you an article later today."
Hailey laughed and returned to putting her clothes in the washing machine. "You're ridiculous, I've never heard any of that," she said.
"It's fact, Hailey, fact," Jay argued. He stepped around her to pour the laundry detergent in her machine then pulled a handful of quarters from her pocket.
"You really don't have to pay for my laundry," Hailey said.
Jay shook his head and placed the quarters in the machine. "Think that's enough?" he asked.
"Yeah, thank you," she replied softly and turned it on. Watching her clothes spin through the door, she let out a breath before leaning against it and asking, "Didn't the Cubs recently win the World Series?"
Jay pressed the ON button on the dryer then exclaimed, "In 2015! And what have they done since then? Absolutely nothing."
Hailey laughed softly and crossed her arms. "Really?" she said.
"Yes, and I will show you all the stats, I promise you that," Jay said.
"I look forward to it," Hailey said through her laughter. She returned to sit on the counter and crossed her legs underneath her. "Is there a game coming up?"
"There's always a game we could watch," Jay said, "But yes, Mouse and I can host a game night; we'll have deep dish for you."
"Only if it's from Bartoli's," Hailey said.
"Obviously," Jay chuckled and walked over. "You mind?" he asked with a hand on the counter.
Hailey shook her head and scooted over giving him room to jump up and dangle his legs down. "You know Vanessa and I can host sometimes too," she said, "I can throw a good party."
Jay snorted and looked over at her to ask, "Yeah? Party girl in college?"
"Well, no," Hailey laughed, "Not like blacking out and the whole sorority thing, but I went to a few and had people over."
"Wild," Jay chuckled.
Hailey nudged her shoulder to his and shook her head. "I'm just saying I didn't stick inside all the time. I did go out."
"Never said you didn't," Jay said, "I guess I was the same way. Adam and Kev partied a little more, same with Mouse."
"Did you just stay in on your own?" Hailey asked with a hint of a laugh.
Jay smiled at her and laughed softly. "A couple times, but it wasn't often. I'd study for tests or just didn't go out because I was waking up early the next morning and didn't want to be hungover for breakfast with my mom."
Hailey hummed softly in understanding. She'd done the same before – never because of breakfast with her mom, but maybe she was meeting her brothers or simply had a study group at 9am – so she got what he was saying. Perhaps they didn't agree on lust and love, but they had the same priorities with school, and maybe even work, and that was a good base to start on.
"You've mentioned your mom before," she said softly.
"Well, yeah, she's my mom," Jay chuckled quietly, "And you'd mentioned your brother. Glad to know neither of us are aliens and we have some sort of tie to Earth."
Shaking her head, Hailey laughed and leaned back against her palms. "I never doubted you," she said.
"Oh, I doubted you," Jay teased, "You've got blonde hair, there's something up with that."
Hailey tipped her head back and laughed harder. "What?" she exclaimed, "What the hell does that mean?"
"It's just really blonde," Jay chuckled, "It's natural, isn't it? I don't know if I've met a girl with naturally blonde hair before."
"You are crazy," Hailey said, "There are so many people out in the world that have blonde hair."
Jay hummed and shrugged. Smirking, he said, "Maybe."
"Oh, I know," Hailey laughed, "But if it helps, I do get my hair highlighted, so it's not this blonde all the time."
"Good, I was worried," Jay said through his own laugh.
Hailey laughed again, but still rolled her eyes and lightly punched his arm. "What a good second hang-out," she said, "Laundry and you're accusing me of being an alien."
"What can I say? I'm a charmer," Jay said.
Hailey smiled at him and nodded because he was completely right: he was extremely charming. She barely knew this man, and she already had no intentions of leaving him. She liked being around him.
"So this brother," Jay began, "You said he got you a housewarming gift. Are you two close then?"
"Um, kind of," Hailey said, "I have two: Michael and George. Mikey's older than me by about five years, and Georgie's just a year below me. Mikey kind of raised us. Our parents weren't really around, so it was the three of us a lot of the time."
"Where were they?" Jay asked.
Hailey swallowed and debated her words before saying, "They owned a restaurant. Well, they still own it."
Jay stared at her as if he knew she was holding back, but instead of pushing, he landed on asking, "What kind of food?"
Relaxing slightly, Hailey said, "Greek."
Jay instantly smiled and said, "So all the food Vanessa said you're good at cooking is Greek? That's convenient."
Hailey laughed and lightly shoved his arm again. "Are you just going to be my friend for my food?" she asked.
"It certainly sounds like a perk," Jay chuckled.
Hailey hummed and asked, "And what's your perk?"
"My perk?" Jay repeated.
"Mhmm, why should I be your friend?" Hailey asked with a smile.
"Oh, well, to start, I've already shared my good whiskey with you and I'm currently paying for your laundry," Jay said.
"So your money," Hailey teased, "Okay, I see you, Jay Halstead. You're rich."
Shaking his head, he laughed and said, "No, definitely not rich. Just trying to be smooth."
"Well, no need to be smooth," Hailey said, "Money isn't a huge turn-on for me anyways."
"A turn-on?" Jay asked and raised an eyebrow, "You think I'm trying to turn you on?"
Hailey's mouth gaped for a moment before she said, "No."
Jay laughed and shook his head again. Looking down at their feet, he said, "I don't need to flirt with you. We don't need to get lust and love mixed up, right?"
Hailey blushed slightly and looked at the side of his head, catching a small smirk cross his face. "What're you getting at?" she asked.
"Ah, nothing," Jay chuckled quietly.
"No," Hailey said, "What do you mean mix up lust and love?"
"Maybe I'd rather you like me than just lust after me," Jay said, "Especially if you claim they're two different things."
Hailey scoffed and pulled her legs up underneath her, any embarrassment having now disappeared. "I don't even think love is a real thing," she said, "But it's certainly not built on lust."
Jay shrugged and swung his feet. "Maybe-"
"But not always," Hailey finished with a roll of her eyes, "I remember."
Jay laughed and jumped down. "Fine, fine, I'll drop it. You want a snack?"
Hailey raised an eyebrow and asked, "You brought snacks?"
"No," Jay chuckled and pointed toward an old vending machine in the corner, "Chocolate's over there. What do you want?"
"I can get my own snacks," Hailey said and slid off the counter.
"Did you bring money?" Jay asked.
Hailey hesitated and felt her pockets. Sighing, she mumbled, "No."
"So I'll continue repaying you with candy," Jay said, "What do you like?"
Hailey glanced back at the vending machine then answered, "Anything."
"Specific," Jay joked, but didn't question her and just walked away.
Hailey held back a smile and tilted her head to the side as she watched him pick something out of the vending machine. His comment about lust and love made him seem like he was coming on a lot harder than she was, so she wanted to make sure she continued keeping her walls up. In the past week since moving in, she might have been interested in getting to know him, but it certainly did not mean she wanted to date him. Just the opposite actually. His little comment about money reminded her of Garrett and that was not something she wanted to deal with – even if it was a joke.
She glanced at her laundry spinning around in the machine then returned to her spot on the counter just as Jay walked back.
"Thoughts on kit-kats?" he asked.
"Definitely an underrated chocolate," Hailey replied.
Jay smiled and jumped back up on the counter. He opened the wrapper then split the chocolate in half. Handing her two pieces, he said, "I completely agree. They're the perfect splitting chocolate too. My mom used to get them for me and my brother."
"She's a nurse, right?" Hailey asked.
Jay glanced up at her and said, "How'd you know?"
"Um," Hailey blushed then admitted, "Adam or Kevin told me."
Jay blinked in hesitation before a smirk began spreading across his face. "Asking about me?" he teased.
Hailey easily laughed and shook her head. "It was that first day when I met you. They were still at our place for a bit before we went to yours, so they told us about you."
Jay hummed and bit into his chocolate. "Fair," he said once he swallowed, "What else did they tell you?"
"Oh, nothing huge," Hailey said, "Your brother's a doctor too, right?"
"Plastic surgeon," Jay chuckled quietly, "But he's been wanting to get into emergency medicine for a while now."
"That's pretty cool," Hailey said.
"Sure," Jay sighed and took another bite of chocolate.
Hailey slowly chewed on hers while watching him and got the feeling he didn't want to talk more about it. Just like she had earlier about her parents' restaurant. She could most certainly relate.
So instead of asking more about his family, she began asking him about soccer. He quickly countered by asking her about what she'd done in college. Her participation in the forensic science club led to him asking about what kind of place she'd like to work in. After describing her dream partnership, she questioned him about his own future and listened intently as he told her about eventually making his own practice and having a small pediatric physical therapy office. They were so lost in their conversation that they hadn't even noticed both of their machines buzz once they finished.
The machines had actually been done for close to ten minutes when an elderly woman came over and began taking Jay's clothes out of the dryer. She was almost completely finished by the time Hailey broke Jay's eye contact and glanced over at their machines.
"Hey, hey," she said quickly and jumped off the counter, "Those are ours."
"I've been waiting for about half an hour, it's my turn," the woman said without looking up.
Jay hurried over to grab his clothes off the top of the dryer where she was setting them. "Mrs. Platt, please," he said, "It's Hailey's turn."
The woman, Mrs. Platt, glanced up and sighed. "You," she said.
Jay weakly smiled and said, "Hi."
"Did you know your friends came home drunk again last night?" Mrs. Platt asked.
Jay rubbed the back of his neck and stepped backward slightly. "I…did not," he said.
Hailey raised an eyebrow, but stayed quiet while slowly opening her washing machine. As Mrs. Platt went into a long-winded story about Kevin and Adam being loud around 3am, she tried sneaking her laundry into the open dryer that still had a few of Jay's clothes in it. She'd rather give them back to him at a later date than try and take them out without this Mrs. Platt finding out and potentially turning her anger on her.
"I'll talk to them," Jay eventually said just as Hailey had finished putting all her wet clothes in the dryer, "I'm sorry they were annoying last night."
"Control them," Mrs. Platt said. She then turned to look at the dryer and sucked in a breath.
Hailey weakly smiled at her and waved.
Mrs. Platt pursed her lips then shook her head and pointed between Hailey and Jay. "I hate this building," she said, "Too many young kids." She angrily grabbed her laundry basket and turned on her heel to walk out of the basement.
Hailey sighed in relief as Jay began laughing and loading quarters into her machine. "Nice job," he said, "That was not at all what I expected you to do, but I love it."
Hailey crossed her arms and asked, "What'd you think I'd do?"
"Literally no clue," Jay chuckled and turned the dryer on, "But that was perfect. Her name's Trudy and she's just grumpy all the time. I wonder if you've seen her when visiting Adam and Kevin; she lives across the hall from them. Not exactly a fan."
Hailey laughed softly and said, "I got that."
"Just stay on her good side," Jay said. He grabbed his laundry basket and looked down at the warm clothes. "Pretty sure some of my stuff is still in there with yours, is that okay?"
"Of course," Hailey answered, "I needed to act fast or else we would still be getting lectured."
"That's for sure," Jay chuckled, "Do you mind if I go drop this off in my apartment? I can come back. I just want to make sure Mouse has actually gotten some cleaning done. I swear, he doesn't have any cares in the world regarding cleanliness."
Hailey laughed again and nodded. "Fine by me," she said, "Take your time."
"Thanks," Jay said while holding his laundry basket to his hip.
"Hey, thank you for paying for my laundry," Hailey countered.
Jay shrugged and said, "It's what neighbors do. See you in a few."
Hailey smiled as he turned away to lightly jog up the basement steps. She let out a breath and returned to sitting at the counter to wait for him.
However, he didn't show back up. She hadn't even grabbed her phone to entertain herself, but she also didn't want to leave to go and get it in case Jay did return. It left her bored while people watching and getting to know the others in the building just based upon observations.
Her laundry finished close to an hour later, so she reluctantly jumped off the counter to dump it all into her laundry basket. She hadn't realized how heavy the basket had been earlier as Jay had been the one to carry it to the basement for her. She decided in the future that she would try and do her laundry sooner in the week to avoid a crowd in the basement and to make sure the basket wasn't too heavy.
Vanessa wasn't back from her job at the radio station by the time Hailey returned to the apartment, so she settled on doing her least favorite job of folding it all. Part of her hoped that if Jay was still around, he'd come knocking on her door asking for his clothes and they could then continue their conversation from earlier.
He didn't, though, and Hailey couldn't help but feel slightly hurt as she made a pile of his clothes on her dresser. It had just been two mismatching socks, a pair of shorts, and a white short-sleeved button down. There was something about the button down that left her wondering what he looked like in it.
But not in an attracted way. In a…she liked wearing white herself and thought he'd look good in it way. It was completely normal.
Not lust at all and definitely not love.
Just a curiosity.
A/N: I feel so bad doing this, but I'll be going out of town and won't be able to update next week, so whether Jay gets his clothes back or not will have to wait until July 11 ;) Hope you don't mind and enjoy the start of your summer!