A/N: I have once again taken a prompt too far.

Hi there. A while ago, I asked for prompt responses on Twitter, I decided to go back to it tonight since I had no other ideas and wanted to write, and then I turned what could have been a short story into 1730 words and I realized I couldn't post it on Twitter and that it should live here. So...have fun? :) I actually did with this one.

This is for you Cami! I think you were the only one that said this prompt haha

Prompt 4: "I thought things were going great."

Hailey hated break-ups. It didn't matter who said what or whether or not it was for the right reason, she hated break-ups.

Sitting in her apartment stewing over her failed relationship with Adam, she grew antsy. In her gut, she knew that their relationship was never going to last and that it was mostly built on sex. They hadn't made any deep feelings known, and her heart told her she never would have said what most would have by now. She knew she would always be friends with him, and she hated that she perhaps hurt him by ending things with him, but she knew none of it was fair. They both loved their jobs too much and maybe even had feelings for other people – that wasn't meant to be.

So she forced herself out of bed at 11pm, threw on a pair of leggings beneath the baggy t-shirt she'd been trying to sleep in, and decided to wander. Her neighborhood always seemed rather quiet at night, so a walk could be the perfect cure to her restless mind.

Once she locked the door to her condo, she took a deep breath and shoved her hands in her coat pockets, turning to head around the block only to freeze where she stood at the sight of a man walking toward her beneath the moonlight.

"Hailey?"

She relaxed slightly and said, "Jay?"

Jay took another step forward into the soft glow of her porch light and said, "Yeah, hey, I – uh – I wasn't sure if you'd be awake. I was going to just call from the truck, but then I saw you come outside."

Hailey nodded slightly and countered by asking, "What're you doing here?"

Jay tried to laugh and glanced down at his feet. "Might have run into Adam at the bar," he admitted quietly, "And he might have told Kev and I what happened. I thought I would come check on you. I didn't know if you had anyone."

"Oh," Hailey breathed.

Jay looked back up at her then said, "But clearly you're going somewhere. Obviously you have other friends – probably girls – right? Maybe it's weird if we hang out right now. I don't know. I just…I wanted to make sure you were okay."

A wide smile crossed Hailey's face, and her hands fell from their tense spots in her pockets. She couldn't remember a time when anyone – best friends or not – had come to her when she'd gone through a break-up in the past; it'd felt like she was always the one going to someone else's dorm room or apartment when she experienced heartbreak.

Jay showing up for her right now proved that maybe breaking up with Adam had been the right choice.

"I'm just going on a walk," she explained softly, "Would you want to come with me?"

Jay smiled back at her and nodded. "Of course," he replied.

She nodded toward the sidewalk then led the way to their short adventure of sorts. No part of her had been worried about walking around the block early in the night, but having Jay right at her side gave her a sense of safety and peace she wasn't sure she would have had without him.

"So I'm all for this," Jay began once they'd passed a handful of houses, "But it's also kind of late. Do you always go for walks after breaking up with guys? Because I'm typically a get drunk and mope at home kind of person."

Hailey let out a laugh maybe too loudly for the time of night. "No," she answered, "I don't always go for walks after break-ups. My mind just wouldn't shut up. This felt like a better idea than the whole 'get drunk and mope' thing."

Jay chuckled next to her and nodded. "Makes sense," he replied, "Well, did you want-"

"Hold on," Hailey interrupted, "I want to make something clear because you said something and I don't know what Adam told you: I am not always the person who does the breaking up; that was just the case tonight. I'm a good person."

Jay smirked down at her and said, "Okay. If that's what you'd like me to believe."

Hailey gasped and shoved his arm. "Jay!"

He laughed and turned the corner with her. "Sorry, sorry. I had to, you know?"

"Uh-huh," she mumbled, but still began laughing with him.

When they finally quieted down, Jay cleared his throat and said, "All right, let's hear it: worst break-up you've ever had."

"Oh god," Hailey groaned. Tipping her head back to the stars for a moment, she sighed and said, "Um, senior year, two days after prom, Cory Turner sent me a Facebook message telling me I was a great girl and that he'd had a great night with me, but that we needed to see other people."

"Oh," Jay said with a wince, but still laughed quietly, "That is really rough. I'm assuming 'great night' means-"

"That I lost my virginity to the guy? Yeah," Hailey said. She laughed with him in disbelief and shook her head. "This is why boys are awful people. I can laugh now, but you should know that ruined my summer."

"I bet it did," Jay replied, nodding along with her. He sent her a smile then said, "My worst break-up also involves sex, except I wasn't the one doing it. When I was first on patrol, I started dating the waitress from the diner my partner and I would always stop at during the midnight shifts. She was great, super nice, and she really just distracted me from all the terrible stuff that first year."

Hailey hummed to acknowledge him and smiled down at their feet as they walked.

"Fast forward four months, my partner comes into work and tells me that he saw Juliana at the bar the night before with another guy. I was like 'cool, of course this happens to me now' and decided to break-up with her. When I brought it up, though, she starts crying and says stuff like 'But you're such a good guy' and 'I thought things were going great, where is this coming from?' even though she was the one who cheated on me. I just started walking away, and then she threw a shoe at me and said they'd slept together 'just one time' and if I couldn't get over that, then she didn't want to go out with me anymore."

"Oh my god," Hailey laughed with a gasp, "That is really something."

"Right?" Jay chuckled, "I was pissed."

"Did you go out and get drunk to get over it?" Hailey lightly teased.

"With Mouse," Jay replied with a nod, "We always made the best stupid decisions together, and I really needed to make stupid decisions after that."

Hailey laughed and shook her head. "You'll have to introduce me to him some day."

Jay shot her a smile and nodded. "I'd like that. He would too. He should be coming home this summer for a few weeks. Maybe we could get drinks."

"That sounds perfect," Hailey said softly.

Jay lightly nudged and her arm and asked, "Did you want a drink tonight? I know Adam said it was amicable, but-"

"Adam said it was amicable?" Hailey repeated with a raised eyebrow. She smirked and shook her head, "There is no way he said it was amicable. Great guy, but that word is not in his vocabulary, and I'm actually shocked it's in yours."

Jay laughed loudly and shook his head. "Hey, don't be rude. I'm trying to be your friend."

"Mhmm," Hailey hummed. She kicked at the ground and said, "But it was amicable. Just wasn't meant to be. We weren't going to be long term. I…I'm okay. It sucks, maybe I'll need to drink about it tomorrow, but, for now, I'm okay. Thank you, though."

"Yeah," Jay said softly. Blowing out a breath, he looked around their surroundings and said, "You live in a nice area. I guess I've never noticed it before."

Hailey nodded and breathed, "Yeah. Maybe it takes the darkness to realize how safe you really are."

Jay hummed with her and stuck his hands in his coat pockets. "And maybe it's our job that makes us realize the darkness doesn't always hide the scary things."

Hailey nodded again and took a deep breath. Glancing up at Jay, she bit the inside of her lip then took a step closer to him so her arm brushed against his.

In turn, he looked down at her and asked, "Yeah?"

She shook her head and looked forward again. "Just…glad you're here. Not just tonight either, but also at work – at our job that can get kind of scary."

It was Jay's turn to nudge her, so she looked back up at him staring down at her. "I'll always be here for you," he said softly.

She smiled up at him through the dark and nodded. "Thank you," she murmured.

"You're welcome," he replied softly.

They fell into a gentle silence until they reached their next corner where she chose to start their next conversation, but this time it was about their worst dates – just to keep on par with their earlier topic. But as they walked this time, neither of them moved away from the other so that their arms occasionally brushed against each other. Through her coat, Hailey felt her skin warm up so that by the time they'd returned to her house after many more stories swapped about past relationships she didn't even feel like she needed it anymore.

There on her porch with the midnight moon up above, Hailey watched Jay head back to his truck after he'd bid her goodnight and invited her to breakfast the following morning. She breathed in slowly and smiled to herself before turning back to unlock her door.

It was all just an affirmation to her thought right at the beginning of the walk: breaking up with Adam was the right choice. Even if she didn't confess any real feelings to Jay for another year of her life, at least she was free to feel those feelings now without having any guilt.

She might have hated break-ups and still spent the next night drinking whiskey alone on her couch, but at least she was going to be okay. She was sure of it.