Author's note: So, this idea was given by my friend G, who said, and I quote, "do one of those 100 Ways to Say I Love You prompt things, but make it Upstead."

So that's what we're doing. We're gonna just live in Fanfiction land and pretend season 10, or parts of it, didn't happen.

On another note, this one got away from me, and it kinda made me want to write a part 2 for it but I don't want to bore you guys. Soooo if you'd like to read what happens when Hailey and Jay get to Wisconsin (I have good ideas for this one), let me know and I'll write a part 2. I'm ALSO taking prompt requests for this and for my other Upstead prompt series, so review here/there or PM me!

Anyway, hope this doesn't suck too badly, and please review! Thanks for reading. See you soon. :)


Chapter One

Prompt: "Pull over. Let me drive for a while."

...

It had been a rough week.

Actually, rough wasn't an adequate adjective. There were certainly more appropriate ones if Hailey thought hard about it:

Horrific.

Heartbreaking.

Sickening.

And for Hailey, triggering.

She'd been out driving around at 4:00 in the morning that Monday, her insomnia having struck hard. She and Jay had only been officially dating a couple months, but he'd already witnessed Hailey's frequent bouts of insomnia and told her to wake him when she couldn't sleep.

And sometimes, she did, but that morning he'd looked so damn peaceful she couldn't bear to disturb him. So she'd quickly pressed a kiss to his shoulder and climbed out of bed, her bare skin blooming with chills at the contrast between laying next to Jay's body heat under the covers and walking across her cold bedroom.

The minute Hailey stepped outside, she regretted her decision and damn near turned around.

And now, looking back at that morning as she drove down the interstate towards Wisconsin with Jay in the passenger seat with the inky black sky above them, part of her wishes she had.

Because that call Hailey had responded to as she drove away from her house, eyes stinging from lack of sleep, had started as something that seemed manageable; like something she could handle or at least try to.


It had started as a call from a woman named Amy Young who'd received a troubling hang-up phone call from her neighbor/friend — Layla Castellanos — during which she'd heard arguing and, towards the end, what Amy swore was a scream.

After an already-worried Amy went next door to her friend's house, she'd found it dark, the door locked and the family car gone. That's when she'd called, her concern for Kayla and her two daughters growing by the second.

It had started as a woman's concern for her friend after a worrisome 3:45 AM phone call that gave her a sick feeling.

It had ended with Hailey, Voight, and Kim finding Layla and her two daughters, Rhea and Ana — nine and seven years old — stabbed to death and dumped in a snowbank.

Now, Jay is sitting in the passenger seat and Hailey can feel his eyes on her. She knows he feels guilty that he wasn't the one who found them, that Hailey was the one who had to see two little girls and their mother, slaughtered and dumped like trash.

Two little girls and their mother, slaughtered and dumped like trash by the girls' own father and Layla's ex-husband, George.

George Castellanos was a hulking Greek man known to abuse his wife and children. Intelligence had found that the bastard had a sheet as long as his damned arm, and that he was now on meth and involved in drug trafficking.

Voight had made the mistake of allowing Hailey to interrogate him when he was finally in custody four days after the murders. The entire time George was talking, all Hailey saw was her own father. Cold. Uncaring.

Beyond heartless.

It had ended in Hailey flying across the interrogation room, hand clenched into a fist intended for George's throat, with Voight catching her just in time and dragging her out of the interrogation room.

That had been on Thursday, and Voight had put Hailey and Jay on mandatory furlough for the next week after he heard her completely break down in the locker room once Jay had realized what had happened and followed her in there.

Voight had to have known it was a PTSD-induced panic attack, or else no mandatory furlough would have even been considered, let alone a week of it.

Jay had practically had to carry Hailey out of the 21st, tears streaking her face. She was nearly catatonic for two hours after they got back to Hailey's place. Jay just held her the entire time, sitting up against her headboard with her back to his chest, shushing her when she cried and stroking her hair.

That night, after Jay had finally convinced Hailey to eat — Bartoli's was the ticket — Hailey said something that she could tell shocked the shit out of Jay.

"I wouldn't blame you if you left tonight, Jay."

Jay had been cleaning their plates and nearly dropped one at her words. "What?"

The shock in Jay's voice in turn shocked Hailey. "With the way I acted at the district, and even after we got back, Jay… how the hell could you want to stay here with me after that?"

Tears were filling Hailey's eyes. She could feel them stinging and then pouring down her cheeks.

She watched Jay's face change, and then it was his turn to shock Hailey. "We're going to Wisconsin, Hails."

Hailey's brows knitted together. "We're what?"

Jay put the plate in the sink with a loud thunk that made Hailey jump and slowly walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "My family has a cabin there. We have a damn week of furlough, and Hailey, we need to get the fuck out of Chicago. Out of Illinois, period."

Hailey put a hand up and ran it over her face, groaning. "Jay, we-," she tried to protest.

He stopped her by putting a hand up. "No, Hailey. I cannot see you like I saw you today again. You scared the shit out of me." He put a hand on her cheek, wiping tears she'd forgotten had fallen.

Hailey's face softened and she leaned into his palm. "I'm sorry. I just… talking to George Castellanos was like talking to my father. It took me right back... I- I didn't mean to scare you, Jay. I'm sorry."

"Hey, hey, hey," Jay whispered, cupping Hailey's face in his hands, his thumbs stroking her cheekbones. "Don't be sorry. Just come to Wisconsin with me, please. Escape this shit show. Leave all this behind us as much as we can for a week. We could leave early tomorrow morning."

Hailey chewed her already-raw bottom lip for a few seconds, staring into Jay's green-blue orbs with her own tear-filled ocean ones before finally nodding. "Let's go tonight."

And now here they were, hauling ass towards Wisconsin in Hailey's Jeep. They'd left straight from her house after packing only things they knew they'd need, rushing as if they were afraid something or someone would stop them.

As if either of them would allow that.

Hailey had jumped into her Jeep instead of Jay's truck and he hadn't protested or commented, just loaded their bags and climbed in beside her wordlessly.


Now, they were barely out of Chicago city limits when Jay put his left hand on Hailey's leg and squeezed, giving her more comfort than he could ever know.

The clock on Hailey's dash said 11:17 PM when they crossed over into Wisconsin. About an hour ago, Jay had begun running his hand through Hailey's blonde locks and massaging her scalp with his fingertips, something he clearly had noticed she loved. She was convinced he was trying to put her to sleep.

His next words validated that suspicion.

Jay's hand returned to her leg, this time with his palm running over her kneecap and up her thigh, then back down. "Hails, why don't you pull over? Let me drive for a while." His voice was soft and sweet and full of concern and damn it, he could have convinced her to do anything.

So Hailey Anne Upton did something she rarely did, but only because it was Jay: she did what he suggested without fight.

She was pretty sure that concerned him, but if it did, he didn't let on when she nodded her head and flipped her blinker on, pulling off through the closest exit off the interstate.

Truthfully, Hailey had no business driving, especially with no bright sun shining through the windshield to keep her awake. She truly couldn't tell you the last time she'd slept — really slept — and her eyes were stinging like she'd opened her eyes in a chlorine-filled pool.

Plus, the car was cozy and warm and Jay's hand was on her and if she were being honest, she felt more ready to fall asleep there than she had in her bed — or, in the past two months, Jay's — in far too long.

Hailey and Jay both climbed out after pulling into a well-lit gas station parking lot and met at the back of the Jeep, where Jay surprised Hailey by taking her face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers so gently that she could've fucking cried.

"We're gonna be okay, Hails," was all he said after their lips parted before kissing her head, giving her a tired but adorable smile, and rounding the corner to the driver's side, leaving Hailey stunned for a few seconds before she followed suit by climbing into the passenger side.

The Jeep's outdoor temperature display on the dash said it was thirteen degrees Fahrenheit outside, but you couldn't tell from inside the car. Jay had turned on the seat heater and had the passenger thermostat perfect. Hailey could practically feel herself dissolving into the seat.

Jay pulled out of the gas station parking lot and, before driving out to pull back onto the interstate, he leaned over and kissed Hailey one more time, grasping her chin gently in his palm. "Please get some sleep, Hails. I'll wake you when we get to the cabin," he murmured, pressing one more kiss to her cheek. "I love you, baby."

Hailey smiled tiredly and kissed Jay's palm, squeezing his hand tightly before releasing it. "I love you, too, Jay Halstead."

As Coldplay played softly on one of the SiriusXM stations, Jay navigated them back to the interstate, and by the time Coldplay's song "Yellow" ended, Hailey was knocked out, her head against the window, left hand slumped over the center console as if she'd been reaching for him when she'd conked out.

Jay took her hand, her fingers wrapping around his even in her sleep, and Jay couldn't help but smile as he listened to Hailey's breathing even out, and watched Chicago get further and further behind them.

Of course, he couldn't say for certain that everything would be fine. No one could. But for now, things were as okay as they could be after the week they'd had.

George Castellanos was in custody. Hailey was out of Chicago and, as of 11:17 PM, out of Illinois, and she was finally getting some rest. Jay was getting a type of rest of his own just knowing that Hailey was.

For now, everything was okay. That was all they could ask for.