Kindred Spirits

by Sincerely Tiffany

You meet a stranger, you fall into bed and you part ways, never expecting to see each other again. Too bad it's never just that simple.

50. Brawl

Erin grunts, groans and then presses redial for the umpteenth time, holding the phone to her ear as it rings and rings and rings until the melodic voice of her mother picks up the phone, "Your kid is fine. She had a bottle, she's been burped and now she's doing tummy time," in lieu of a greeting, Camille gets straight to the point, already knowing why she called.

"Can you send me a picture?"

Without seeing her, she knows her mother is rolling her eyes, "You're unbelievable," she criticizes yet a photo comes to Erin's phone of Emma on her tummy, holding up her head with Milo standing guard next to her, "Don't call unless it's an emergency or to tell me you're on your way home."

Before she can rebut that with the reminder of her mom's behavior with her own children growing up, Erin hears her baby crying in the background. Shuffling follows and she assumes her mother is tending to her. A quiet coo with a whispered shush is heard before Camille's voice fills the phone, "She's just whining. No tears are in her eyes and no tears are falling. She's okay."

"Are you sure? I don't mind coming home a little early."

"You just left, and it's too quiet which tells me you're not even inside the bar. Go enjoy yourself."

"Mom, are you-" Erin frowns, pulling the phone away from her ear to stare at the screen before averting her eyes to her best friend, "I think she hung up on me."

"Good," Kim snips, crossing her arms and tapping her heeled shoe impatiently, "we've been outside long enough. There are drinks inside calling my name. Can't you hear it?" Kim cups the back of her own ear, pretending to listen out for the voices as she mimics them in a high-pitched voice, "Kimberly, Kimberly, Kimberly, I think I hear one calling your name too, Erin, Erin-"

"You are fucking ridiculous," Erin laughs. She has to admit, the personality of her best friend truly cheers her up, it takes her mind off of missing Emma, yet when her eyes cast to her reflection in the bar window, she is taken aback by the added curves and the slight bulge. She doesn't voice her negative thoughts, her self-criticism, but Kim can immediately read her mind, assuming what she's thinking when a display of uneasiness crosses her face and her hands start to fidget at her sides.

"I just want to say your post baby body looks hot," Kim compliments, jokingly fanning herself.

Erin presses her hands against her stomach, flattening out her dress and getting rid of any and all invisible wrinkles, "Are you sure?" Frown lines appear on her forehead as she gives her friend a desperate look, "I'm not going to lie. I feel a little insecure because of all the weight I've gained."

"You've gained it in all the right places. And besides, your body still needs time to adjust and get back to what it was and if it doesn't then so what, you still look beautiful."

"I feel like you're only saying that because you're my best friend."

Kim is taken aback, looking somewhat offended, "Just because I'm your best friend doesn't mean I'll lie to you or let you walk out of the house looking a hot mess. I'm offended."

For a moment, Erin is able to pull her hands away from her dress to move closer to her closest friend, grabbing Kim's hands and encouraging her to look her way, "I know you wouldn't lie to me," she tugs her friend's hand to reaffirm her statement, "I know. It's not you though, it's me."

"Are we breaking up?" Kim jokes because it's apparent that she can't take anything serious.

"Let me talk please," Erin sighed, frustratedly, she really wants to get this over with, "I know it's not you, it's me, it's my insecurities. No matter what you tell me, I'll second guess it because my thoughts are telling me something completely different. And you know how the mind works," she shrugs, "it'll always believe everything we tell it." She releases her friend's hands.

"So, tell it something different."

"I'm trying. It just won't happen overnight."

"Just remember I'm always here to help. And if I'm not around and you need a self-esteem boost, text me compliment and I'll send you one. Just a heads up though, I'll probably text the same."

"It's a deal."

Kim smirks, "Oh I just love our friendship."

Erin stood on the sidewalk, facing her best friend, feeling a bit self-conscious at the way the black dress fits on her. It's the first time she's going out for the night, -post pregnancy. It's to nowhere fancy, just Molly's, a place where she knows majority of the people that comes in and out of it. If she were being honest with herself, the only reason she agreed to doing this was because Kim couldn't take no for an answer. Kim figured new moms need nights out too, which is true, but it just feels like it's so soon. It's her first night away from her baby, her first night hanging out with her best friend, Jay and the rest of Intelligence and even knowing that much isn't expected of her tonight, she doesn't want to be the person that brings down the mood by moping around about missing her baby. Because she does, miss her baby that is, she misses her a whole lot.

"Are you even listening?"

"Yeah," Erin blinks out of the zone she'd been in, "yeah, I am."

"…then what did I say?" Kim crosses her arms.

She doesn't even try to pretend anymore, "Okay, I don't know. I wasn't listening."

"I said I want to treat you to a few drinks tonight but I know Little E drinks from those boobs."

"I pumped before I left," Erin admits, looking over at the neon sign illuminating the name of the bar, "and I'll just have to pump and dump later but I'll still probably limit myself to a few drinks."

Kim loops her arm through her best friend's arm, "Not only do I get you out for the night, but I also get to drink with you too! Oh, I'm excited! It'll be just like old times!"

"…not necessarily," Erin hates to be a buzzkill but it's the truth, "I do have to be home at a reasonable hour to relieve my mom from babysitting duties. She does have a husband she would prefer to spend her Friday night with. And old times didn't involve leaky boobs, raging hormones, a waist trainer and back pain, but-" Erin cuts her friend off before she has the chance to chime in and interrupt her, "it's not about that, I know, it's about having a good time and I'm so ready to have a good time. I need this! I want this! It's been a long time coming. I got this!"

"That's my girl," Kim high-fives her, "that's exactly what I like to hear!"

Yet despite saying that, she still can't shake the raw feeling in the pit of her stomach. She rubs her sweaty palms together, not knowing if the signs of nervousness are solely due to missing her baby, her insecurity surrounding her baby weight, seeing Jay or even still processing her ex-boyfriend's random, out of the blue visit. Whatever the reason for the cause, now, wasn't the time to figure it out because there was nothing she could do to change it. Erin takes a deep breath and looks up to meet her best friend's gaze, ready to move forward and get this over with, when she realizes, her friend was mid-sentence, "Why'd you stop talking?"

"How are you holding up?" Kim starts, and while Erin knows what she's referencing, it doesn't stop Kim from elaborating, "since Eric's visit?"

"I wish people would stop asking me that," she wholeheartedly admits. It's truly what she wants the most, yet this whole week, every conversation with her parents, with Kim and even with Jay has started off by either asking if Eric has contacted her again or how she's doing?

"Hey," Kim reaches for her shoulders, squeezing them tightly, "I'm asking because I care, we're all asking because of that. I wish I was there; I hate that I wasn't. I would have kicked his ass."

"Kim-"

Her friend interrupts her with the shake of her head, "I know, I know, it's probably a good reason that I wasn't there, but I'm glad someone was, even if it wasn't me. I don't even fully understand it, how'd he even know where you live, why'd he decide to show up now, what was the point of it all and did he really think dropping past your place tossing out insults would work?"

"Look I just," Erin bites her lip to pause and look over at the bar, the buzzing sound of people inside filling her ears, makes her release her lip, "I just want to put this all behind me. Pretend it didn't even happen. I called my therapist, she's talking my head off the ledge so I don't need you doing the same, I just need normalcy. It's why it took so long for me to tell you everything in the first place, I didn't want you looking at me like that, or treating me any differently."

And Kim knew Erin was right.

So, without further conversation or stalling, Kim grabbed her best friend's wrist and the two of them headed into Molly's bar to find it looking just like the last time they've seen it. As if no time had passed at all. For Kim it was much recent than Erin, considering the latter of the two hadn't stepped inside the bar since the day she met Jay. The glow of lights attached to the ceiling, dangling above their heads immediately drew her eyes in. You'd think she'd never been here before considering the way in which she's taking in her surroundings, she's observing the tables that are filled, a couple conjugating near the corner of the establishment, passing kisses back and forth and the television in the ceiling corner above their head plays some game highlight clips. She swivels her head around, spotting two men drunkenly playing darts, cringing internally because the mother in her sees the danger in that. The rest of the patrons are either sitting, chatting and nursing their drinks, swaying on their feet, trying to uphold their balance or at least the balance of their glasses or being loud and boisterous as they try to get Stella's attention for a refill.

"Jay is waving us over," Kim tugs Erin in the direction towards the bar, practically pushing her in the empty seat next to him and then suddenly disappearing from her side. Huh? Strike Erin as confused, but she doesn't dwell on it long because Jay is turning in his seat to face her, his knees brushing against hers, sending her mind flashing back to the day they met, no names shared, just harmless flirtation being sent back and forth. It felt like a lifetime ago, practical strangers going to the bar to clear their heads, only to link and forever be connected. And now here they are, friends, very close friends raising a baby created by a night of passion they never thought they'd revisit yet months later, here they are now, and here she is mentally revisiting it and him and what he can do-

"Camille watching Ems?" His question interrupts her memory, thankfully.

"Um, yeah, she actually sent me a picture before I came in," Erin clicks on her messages, enlarges the photo and hands it over to him. Her smile matching his own as the smile lines crinkle around his eyes. He uses two of his fingers to zoom into Emma's face, looking at her gummy smile, and the drool coating her chin and bib. Then he clicks out of the picture and air drops it to himself.

Jay slides the phone back to her, and she jokingly admonishes, "You're stealing pictures now?"

"…when it's of my heart then yeah," his answer truly does make her heart flutter, "I won't deny that. I'll steal any and all the pictures if she's in it."

"I can't blame you. I'd do the same honestly," Erin sighs, pulling the photo back up to zoom in on her daughter's happy face and those precious dimples peeking out, "Initially I was going to let Emma spend the night over my parents' house but I realized I was going to be missing my baby badly and then said I wouldn't go out if my baby had to sleep elsewhere so the plans changed."

Jay takes another swig of his beer, "Did you drive here?"

"No, I rode with Kim, why?"

"I'll give you a ride home. I want to come up and see her. I don't care if she's sleeping."

"You got it," Erin has no complaints or concerns about that. She nods in the affirmative and he goes to take another swig of his beer now that it's settled.

Yet from the way in which he sets his glass of beer down on the bar top, Erin could tell there was more left to discuss, and while assuming it had to do with Emma, she finds herself shocked when it isn't, "I know you don't want me to bring this up again," and now she knows what's it in reference to, she doesn't speak, figuring she'd let him finish just for the small chance that she's wrong, "I want to know how you're doing. I've held back on asking you because best believe I've wanted to ask you at least ten times today but I didn't, it's just, I keep seeing your face in my head after he left, I was worried about you, I am worried about you. We're friends remember?" He bumps her shoulder with his, "this is what friends do, they check on each other. So, how are you really doing?"

"I'm fine Jay," and when he gives her a look as if he doesn't believe her, she amends her statement, "Okay, I'm not fine, but I will be. I know I will, I always am. Always. He just caught me off guard. I wish that whole night played out the way it did in my head. He reopened wounds that I thought had finished healing only to come and find out they're still fresh. I just wanted to be strong."

"You are strong," Jay reminds.

"I just wanted to be stronger!"

"Yeah, well I just wish I got to hit him again," his hand tightens around his glass; the condensation around the cup cooling his hands off which inevitably cools him off, "He got some nerve, did he really think he could talk to you like that, especially in front of me and I'd do nothing about it?"

"I wish I got to hit him too" she agrees, leaning forward to rest both arms on the bar, she groans after her forehead falls to rest on her arms, "I swear, we both deserve so much better. Emma deserves so much better," she lifts her head, "and we owe it to that girl to give it to her."

Jay tips his glass to that. He takes a larger swig just as she lifts her head and scans her surroundings. Erin notices her best friend's eyes linger on Ruzek a bit longer than socially acceptable and she makes a mental note to ask her about it later. This wasn't Kim's first time seeing or meeting Adam but Erin figures she'd been so preoccupied in the past that she never had a chance to see her best friend had a crush. It's nice being on the other side for once. Usually, it's Erin making heart eyes at Jay and being caught red-handed, now the tables have turned and she finally gets to tease Kim for it, "If you take a picture, I promise it'll last longer," she jokingly whispered under her breath.

"Don't tempt me," Kim retorted, elbowing her friend in the side, "I'll do it."

"I believe it," Erin responds. She would not put anything past her. Kim isn't known as the reigning champ of truth or dare for no reason. Erin wraps her arm around her friend's waist, tugging her closer to her side to lean her head against the space beneath her underarm.

Kim tilts her head, further assessing Adam Ruzek's appearance with no qualms or hesitation about it, "I've always thought he was one fine specimen, but there's something different about him that's making him extra hot. I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Is it the facial hair? I think he mentioned he's growing it out."

"That's it," like a bell going off deeming that the answer, Kim hops and steps out of Erin's hold.

Jay finishes off his beer, leaves it at the bar top for Hermann to pick up, and then nudges Erin's side to gain her attention. He doesn't speak, he simply points his thumb over his shoulder, aiming it towards the hall that leads towards the restrooms. She gets the message and she nods, assuming she'll spend her time talking with Kim, only to find said best friend a few inches off to the side laughing loudly at a joke Ruzek said that Erin is pretty sure wasn't that funny.

Erin turns in her seat to face the bar, deciding on biding her time until Jay gets back, twiddling her thumbs in an effort to not look bored until her eyes meet Stella's from across the bar. She met the bartender through Stella's relationship with Kelly and a beautiful friendship bloomed and blossomed over the emotionally stunted figure that is Stella Kidd's husband. While Erin wishes they had kept in better contact when she moved away to New York, her friendship with Stella is the kind where you can go months and years without talking, but when you do, you're able to pick up where you left off and catch up just like old times.

"Hey pretty lady," Stella greeted, walking over while running her hand through her hair, "can I get you anything?" She leans her arms forward on the bar top, patiently waiting for Erin's order.

"My best friend is supposed to be treating me so make sure you hassle her to cover the tab."

Stella salutes, nodding her head at the order, "You got it. What can I get you?"

"…a cosmopolitan please."

"You got it."

Stella steps a few inches off to the side to prepare Erin's drink, grabbing the necessary ingredients before finishing it off with an orange twist peel. She carefully balances the drink in her hand, not wanting to pour any of its contents over the top before slowly lowering it down, "Here you go."

"This looks really good."

"Doesn't it?" Stella rhetorically asked, partially amazed at her bartending skills, "hopefully it tastes as good as it looks, I don't make it too often. The guys that frequent here stick to whatever's on tap, they rarely let me branch out and actually put my skills to use."

"Well call me up whenever you feel like switching things up! I'll make myself available. I'm sure I can chisel some time out of my motherly duties to have a drink and some me time."

Stella wiped down the condensation on the bar from the drinks with the nearest rag and then tossed it off to the counter behind her. She scanned the bar, double checking that everyone in her vicinity had been taken care of, before giving Erin her undivided attention once again, "Speaking of motherly duties, how is that precious baby of yours doing?"

"She's doing good, she's getting so big and messing up the place," naturally Erin goes to grab her phone with every intention of showing Stella pictures, "My place is practically flooded with toys."

"Isn't that normal?" Stella laughs, "I'd be more concerned if it wasn't."

Erin quietly chuckles as she swipes to the start of a few recent pictures, only turning her phone around to show her friend when she gets there. Stella takes her device, heart melting and verbally sighing aw as she swipes through the photo library, "You're giving me baby fever."

"Good," Erin laughs, leaning over to see which picture Stella is looking at now, "Ems needs a friend around her age so get that husband of yours and start trying."

"Don't let Severide hear you say that. He's ready."

"…and you're not?"

Stella sets the phone down, not yet handing it back over because she's not yet finished, "I don't know. I want kids especially with him. I mean it has to be illegal to not reproduce his genes."

"So, what has you hesitant?"

"I made lieutenant last year," Stella offers what is now common knowledge, "I'm rising in the department and if I get pregnant…" she doesn't have to finish because Erin knows. Instead, Stella shrugs, "it's easy for the guys, they aren't the ones that has to carry the baby. When you have such a dangerous and physically intense job, there's no way to safely perform that while pregnant."

Stella goes back to looking through the pictures of Emma. And Erin stares at Stella, taking in her wild curls that makes her signature Stella Kidd-Severide look. She definitely sees where she's coming from, shoot, Erin's job isn't physically intense and if she didn't accidentally get pregnant, she probably wouldn't be planning to have a baby anytime soon considering she had just started working in Chicago a few weeks before her pregnancy, and with the number of kids she helps in a day, there is no logical way -at the time at least- she could have figured out how to balance that and having an actual kid at home. She gets it, just in a different way.

"Only you can make the decision because only you know what's right for yourself," Erin offers before adding one last piece of advice, "just try not to get so caught up in making a living that you forget to make a life. You're amazing at what you do, so good that I trust you completely, but and I'm not saying this to change your mind or to push you towards a decision, I'm just saying this to provide perspective," she throws out that disclaimer before continuing, "if something unfortunately were to happen to you, your employer would be advertising to fill your job by the end of the day, but it's your loved ones, your chosen family, your friends that would miss you forever. That life I mentioned not forgetting to make, you don't want to forget to live it either."

Erin meets Stella's eyes, both of them smiling at one another before Stella goes back to looking through what seems like endless pictures of Emma. Just as she finishes and hands Erin back her phone, Erin notices for the first time, the wedding band matching and lined up so perfectly well with her engagement ring, reminding her about the invitation she received years ago that she never responded to, "I'm sorry. I hate that I couldn't make it to you and Sev's wedding," Erin starts her apology, but Stella waves it off, practically hinting to her that it wasn't needed.

"You were busy," Stella says softly, the implication behind her words being that she was busy grieving her brother's death, "and besides, you sent an amazing gift which made up for your dearly missed absence," she offers the joke at the end to change the mood, not wanting to risk sparking her grief, which Erin appreciates more than anything. It's been two years, almost three since Justin was killed in the line of duty yet his absence still feels like an opened wound that just won't heal no matter what she does or how much time has passed. Erin blinks out of the mental image she has of her brother, who would have been an amazing uncle, to see a shot glass placed down in front of her, "this one is on the house. Just don't tell Hermann. You know he's cheap."

"Hey! I heard that!" Hermann's supersonic ears pick up.

Erin chuckles at Stella's antics before throwing the shot back and watching her old friend's gaze drift behind her, a smile tugging at her lips at who Erin can assume is Severide approaching. Erin hears his voice before she sees him. He's with Casey and Brett and the three of them slide onto the barstools while continuing some conversation about a prank Tony and Capp must have pulled on one of the firehouse's newbies. Stella taps the bar top, earning Erin's attention, "do you still have my number?" Erin shakes her head because she doesn't which led into the reason why she hadn't kept in contact as much, "don't leave before you get it." Erin nods, and just before Stella turns to walk away, she says a few parting words, "it was nice seeing you, Erin. We've missed you. A lot."

Stella walked away, and based on the sparkle that fills Severide's eyes, Erin knew she was approaching him. She watched the dynamic between her two old friends, seeing Kelly grab Stella's hands, covering both of them with his own before bringing them up to his mouth to peck. And in watching them, she realized that she missed them probably way more than they missed her. She's glad to have moved back to Chicago, she's glad to be out of the house, meeting new friends and catching up with old ones. She's glad that Kim convinced her to leave the comforts of her home and her baby to get some fresh air and communicate with people that can form a sentence. And speaking of Kim, she swivels around in her seat in search of her, "She's talking to Adam."

Erin looks to see Jay approaching, holding two glasses of whatever he managed to convince Hermann to make, "this is something called rusty nail," he sets one of the glasses down in front of her, "I hope you like it," before taking a cautious sip of his own.

She clears her throat after her face cringes, "Wow…it's something."

"Perfect descriptor of it," Jay says after trying it himself.

"If I finish this, I'm going to be pumping for days."

He takes the glass from her and pours the rest of it into his own glass.

"I appreciate the effort though," she shrugs, turning to finish off her cosmopolitan, "it's the thought that counts." Jay hops onto the stool next to her, nursing his drink.

"I meant to bring this up with you yesterday when I dropped by," he starts and the sound of hesitation in his voice makes her nervous. Her spine straightens and she side eyes him, watching as he takes a large gulp of his drink, "my brother text me back."

Her spine relaxes. Her shoulders drop. That's it? That's all? That's what the tone in his voice was about just now. She scoots closer, moving towards the edge of her barstool and extending her hand to rest on his knee, giving it a slight pinch to gain his attention, "That's good, right?" Erin tugs on his arm, not wanting to bypass this topic, it's too important to skip over, "what did he say?"

"He broke down Emma's results to me, said she's a healthy baby girl and said that it took him so long to respond because he got a second opinion from a pediatrician friend of his."

"That's great to hear about Ems, and it also shows he's trying to extend an olive branch."

"How did you possibly get that from that message?"

"He explained his delay in response when he honestly didn't even have to."

Jay hadn't thought about it like that. Erin's right. He even thinks back to previous text exchanges pre-Emma where if he asked a question, his brother would simply answer the question, giving nothing more and nothing less. And that's if and only if he chose to respond in the first place.

"I'm really glad you came out today," he smiles at her, all while subtly changing the conversation.

And she grins back, "Me too."

As the night picks up, glasses constantly being filled, tabs being opened, darts being played and laughter surrounding them, it gives true testament to Erin actually being happy that she chose to come out. A new atmosphere filled with adults, a change of pace, a change of scenery was something that she didn't know she needed, but it did a world of wonders. As the night continued to carry on, a true new mother to her core, Erin finds herself showing pictures and videos of Emma to any and every one that wants to see, pictures that others can truly see the adorableness of and why they're saved on Erin's camera roll. Most were just as eager to see as she was to show and some were acting enthused just enough to appease the proud mom in her.

She swipes to the next photo, one of Emma on her blanket getting in her well-deserved tummy time, "…about five seconds after I took this picture, she started crying."

"You're acting just like Jay," Ruzek jokes, sliding the phone from her grip to set it on top of the bar, "He bombardes us with pictures of Emma every day at work."

"Shut up," Jay rolls his eyes, shoving the back of his friend's shoulder. Ruzek stumbles, nearly bumping into Kim, but holding his arms out to catch her before she nearly falls.

Erin observes her best friend in her peripheral, watching her slack-jawed, starstruck as she whispers her thanks then watches Ruzek walk away and before she can call her out on devouring that man with her eyes, Kim turns to face her, grinning extremely hard, resembling the smile of a Cheshire cat, "I know I said this but I'm going to say it again; Ruzek is hot. I know the beard has done magic, but beards don't usually do all that. Has he always been that cute or am I drunk?"

"You've had half a beer, you're far from drunk."

Kim shrugs, takes another sip of her drink and turns back in the direction that Ruzek disappeared, "I wouldn't mind if you set me up with him. I think we'd hit it off."

"Since when did you need me to play matchmaker?"

Kim is pulled away from answering when she hears glass shatter. She turns, following Erin's line of vision to see two men off into the distance, holding onto each other, tumbling and knocking a nearby table over and causing for all the contents above to spill out and spread over the floor. It only escalates from there, with the friends of the two guys now getting involved, throwing punches, shoves and kicks to each other, knocking into innocent patrons minding their business and inserting those that tried to stay out of it into it by accidentally pulling them into the fray. All of this starting over one of the guys flirting with a girl in a relationship with the other guy, and all of this intensifying by the liquor adding to their buzz and confidence. The hand Jay has rested on Erin's lower back slides off as he and the rest of the unit excuse themselves to break up the fight, "Be right back, stay right here," he tells both her and Kim. Neither one argues with his command.

It gets crazier when the fight starts to grow and spread like a wildfire. Intelligence detectives and firefighters from 51 are all mixed into the crowd trying to break it up. Erin watches from a distance, growing even more concerned when Stella leaves from behind the bar to try her hand at breaking up the growing tussle. Erin and Kim move further back, leaving the breaking up of the fight to the professionals. She grabs her drink to protect it, then takes more steps back just as she hears Severide call out his wife's name, wanting her to stay out of the fray as he forces two pretty large size dudes to separate and move to different corners. Stella doesn't listen to him, she remains in the mix, getting between another two guys to stop one from hitting the other, using her words instead of physical force to get them to back down and step away. She truly commands a crowd because those two guys did in fact listen, and neither one of them threw a punch at each other.

"Should we help?" Kim asks concerned as the fight grows in size, the people cursing, shoving and throwing punches doubling in number to the ones making an effort to break things up.

Erin hears Adam's name being shouted as a warning and just in time, he moves, ducking a hit that was flying in his direction. She looks side to side, scanning the crowd in search of Jay, and she knows he would want her to stay out of it, but when she's unable to spot him, it makes her want to get involved, "Yeah, we probably should," she swallowed what was left in her glass and slammed it down on the bar top. She rolls her shoulders and scans the crowd once more, looking for him, listening closely to hear his voice shout commands, warning them to stand down, providing her with a sense of relief to know he at least hadn't been knocked unconscious.

Intelligence and firehouse 51seem to have a handle on things and just as Erin was about to change her mind about getting involved, she sees an elbow shove backwards into Stella's face, sending her falling to the ground and sending Severide further into the spiral of fights, him shoving and pushing just as much as the actual patrons who started the fight in his effort to get to his wife. Erin grabs Kim's wrist, mind officially made up as they dive into the crowd, pushing men and the occasional woman into different corners. Being in the fray gives a different feeling than being on the outskirts, watching from a distance. It feels never-ending like when they break up one fight, another two start. Erin feels her back being pushed and she turns around to see another person had stumbled into her, nearly falling if not for her getting in his way.

"…maybe we shouldn't have helped!" Kim shouted over the arguing, the cursing and the music.

Despite their attempts to help, it doesn't even feel like they've put a dent in anything. Erin sees Severide knock the guy that hit Stella to the ground before Casey has the sound of mind to pull him back and push him away. That hit obviously wasn't to serve any other purpose but for payback. Severide throws his arm around his wife's shoulders, cursing under his breath as he pulls her into his chest and moves further out of the crowd, protecting the rest of her from any flying fists or drunken stumbles. He obviously no longer cared about the fight because based on the blood on his wife's face, she takes understandable importance. Just as Severide walks out of her line of vision because bodies continue to tussle, she sees Jay, pinning a guy against the wall, yelling for him to stand down as another figure looms from behind, taunting the one guy. Jay turns to him, pushing him back as well and warning him that if the taunts continue, he'll be taken care of next.

"Jay," she hollers, pushing her way through the crowd to get closer. He hears her, and he briefly looks over his shoulder to see her.

"I told you to stay over there!"

"I thought you needed help!"

And now similarly to Severide's distraction, she now poses one for him. He wants to keep an eye on her, but he currently is holding two large dudes back, keeping them separated. Erin had no intention of getting in the way, if anything, she wanted to help, and because she isn't a cop, he automatically thinks she's incapable of helping. But that's far from the case, especially considering she's broken up a few street fights with delinquent kids who are nine times tougher and dangerous than these blue-collar workers drunkenly swinging at each other. Jay points at the guy against the wall, glaring daggers at him as he orders for him to stay before turning in her direction, grabbing her arm and tugging her off to the side, "I'm not trying to imply that you can't help," he pauses to steady her when a few bodies bump into the both of them, "but I can't have Em's mama coming home banged and bruised."

"…and you think I want you coming home the same?" She argued.

"But that's different," he quips, "it's a part of my job!"

"Last I checked, you're off the clock!"

Jay chuckles, but it more so lacks the humor in it. And he's just about to respond to argue that point she thought she made when she separates herself from him and goes further into the crowd to try her hand at breaking up the different fights. He loses sight of her. Even though he's about a foot taller and can see over a lot of heads, he still can't quite see her. He can hear her though. He can hear her shout orders, and when he follows her voice, he sees her step between two guys, warning them with her gaze to not throw another hit. And surprisingly, they heed her silent threat. Still, he doesn't risk it, and he makes his way over to her, wanting to stand nearby just in case they decide to pick up where they left off. There are moments where the fighting does appear to be dying down, maybe because of the heat accumulating inside from all these people crowded in one corner or it could be because the adrenaline rush is finally tapering off, but seconds following, it's like the fighting picks back up, they're all back at it, some old faces and some new. Intelligence and 51 stay in the mix until back up came rushing in, orders and threats of arrests are made and surprisingly the fight starts to calm down when the aggressors are cuffed and escorted out of the building, leaving behind the groans of the injured and a frustrated Hermann taking in the damage.

The corner started to clear out, the people dispersing, leaving behind a flushed Jay and a red-faced Erin, who is now scanning her surroundings in search of her best friend. Soon enough she spots her checking out the developing bruise on Ruzek's jawline. Kim is no doctor, no nurse, no paramedic yet that doesn't stop her from examining his injury as if she was one. Knowing she's alright, Erin leaves her be, grabbing onto Jay's hand and leading him back over to their stools.

"I did not see any of that coming."

"If you did, I'm sure you wouldn't have invited us," she smirks. Both of them are on some type of adrenaline high, his arm draped around her shoulders as they notice their stools are now occupied by Stella on one and an opened first aid kit on the other. Severide hovers near her face, and if you didn't know what was going on, you'd think he was about to kiss her, when in reality he's scanning the damage. It's not much. Some ice and some rest would do her wonders but as the concerned and protective man that she married scans her face, anyone else would think otherwise.

"I wish you would have stayed out of it," Kelly holds the cloth up to his wife's nose, dabbing at the blood spilling from one nostril. Fortunately, her nose isn't broken as reassured by Stella's best friend, Sylvie, who now looms and hovers opposite Severide.

Stella moves the ice pack to her bruised jaw, "and let you have all the fun? No way!"

"It was hard to break up a fight and keep an eye on you at the same time."

"Then I guess it was good enough for the both of us, I didn't need an eye to be kept on."

"Yeah?" He questions and she nods, causing him to pull the cloth back to show her the damage, "then explain this to me please?" She's speechless, obviously unaware of the impact that elbow truly had on her face. He brings the cloth back to her nose, holding it down to collect the downpour.

Stella pouted, knowing that he made a valid point. Then she shrugged her shoulders, earning a short chuckle from her husband before he leaned in to kiss the corner of her pouted lips. Erin admired that, and a large part of her wanted that. The way Kelly looked at her in a way he has never looked at anyone else. You could not convince him that Stella didn't hang the stars and the moon, he looked at her as if she could do no wrong, as if she were the only one in the room, as if he'd be willing to give up anything just to be with her. He's changed so much, and from what she remembers from her younger adult years, that was probably something not even Kelly Severide saw coming. Erin swallowed down the remnants of her drink, slammed it down then backed away, choosing to give the couple a semblance of privacy in the crowded bar.

Instead of sitting at the bar, she, Jay and eventually Kim and Ruzek sit at a high-top table, she and Kim on one side and Jay and Adam on the other. Each of them nursing a beer as they talk about the fight that just happened and Ruzek exaggerating many of the details, including his role in ending the fight, "I'm pretty sure that shiner on your jaw says otherwise," Jay deadpans.

"Don't hate it man, I'm telling you the girls love it!"

"Yeah, it's definitely hot," Kim adds. And Erin snickers into her drink because her friend is head over heels for a man that she's known for quite some time already. Yet, her actions say differently.

Her friends are lost in the conversation, teasing each other, joking about Ruzek's darkening bruise and the stories he'll embellish in order to make himself seem superhuman. Erin, as observant as she is, wishes she didn't have that trait today. She tunes out of the back and forth when she spots the entrance door to the bar open and in walks Abby. She had completely forgotten that yesterday, Jay mentioned he'd invited her and she'd completely forgotten that this morning, he said she would be running late.

Unbeknownst to anyone but Abby, her tardiness was not due to any of the lies she formulated in her mind to buy herself some time, it was all due to the fact that she made a visit to Erin's that didn't go quite as planned and then the screenshots she took of photos of Erin off social media -gotten courtesy of Jay's phone- and sent to herself, she'd paid pretty money to get photoshopped, blown up to a poster size and printed and they were finally ready for pick-up. She came here right after getting them from her contact and until she has officially decided on what she wants to do with them, she'll keep them stashed and hidden in her trunk.

Erin finishes off her drink, needing the alcohol to boost her patience.

"Hey guys," Abby greets, waving both of her hands as she comes over, "Kim it's nice seeing you again," Erin's best friend doesn't say anything back, but she does nod, "hey babe," she leans over, kissing Jay's cheek before turning to face Ruzek, "I know we've met before but I'm blanking."

"Adam," he extends his hand towards her.

And she reintroduces herself as well, "Abby. It's nice to meet you again."

Jay rises to his feet, offering up the excuse that he's going to go grab Abby something to drink, something non-alcoholic, she reminds him, and then he leaves, stranding her with three people she's not completely familiar and comfortable with, yet he doesn't think twice.

Abby inhales a deep breath, gives off a bashful sigh and then runs her hands down the front of her dress. She grins widely, scanning the table to see which person to speak with before her eyes settle on Erin, the grin on her face looking as fake as the one on Abby's, "I just want to say you look great, Erin. I wish I had the confidence you do," Abby's eyes scan Erin's body, up and down, taking in the dress she was self-conscious about choosing, "to wear that. You look great. I hope precious little Emma is doing good, I can't imagine how hard it was to leave her." Talk about a backhanded compliment. Leave it to Abby to know how to dig at the one thing she is a bit insecure about, -her weight. And just as Erin is about to respond, figuring if Abby wants to cut deep, she can cut deeper, Kim wraps her hand around her wrist to cease her words. Instead of pulling her away though, her best friend whispers a reminder in her ear, "Don't listen to her. You look great."

And she's right, Erin reminds herself that Abby of all people is someone she shouldn't allow to get to her. She takes a deep breath and decides to be the bigger person because with Erin of the past if Abby went low, Erin would have gone to hell. Things are different now. Erin's a role model, a better person, a mature adult so she musters up every fiber of strength in every crevice on her body to not respond with what she initially wanted to say, instead she simply says, "The added weight was worth it," she waves to Hermann, signaling she'd like a refill, "all the changes to my body brought Emma to me." It was her truth and she didn't mean for it to be taken as a dig but the way Abby looks taken aback, Erin could tell she interpreted it as such. Not that Erin really minded.

Abby turns to Ruzek, letting him know to tell Jay that she's going to the restroom and when he gives her an offhanded thumb up, she backs away to the hall before tucking into the secluded bathroom, disappearing into one of the stalls and latching it closed. She shuts the lid and sits on it, pulling out her phone to tap into the live feed, wanting to make sure that no red flags were raised by Camille at her sudden, rapid departure. Her leaving wasn't perfect, and she wouldn't be able to fully enjoy herself until she was reassured that she had gotten away scot free.

She'd been late because she had a few pitstops to make, one of them being to Erin's place, yet she had forgotten Camille was watching the baby at the apartment and not at her own home. She stood outside, longer than planned, watching the surveillance until it was a safe time to enter the apartment. Camille was trying to rock the baby to sleep in the nursery and Abby could only assume Milo was at her side, but just in case he wasn't, she came prepared this time. She had treats in hand. So once the coast was clear, she let herself in, moving extremely slow so as not to alert Camille. The only potential foil to her plan was Milo barking, repeatedly, earning the frustration of Erin's mother who sends him out of the room. He heeds her command and runs out, gnarling, his canines on full display and when Abby reaches into her pocket and throws the treats as far as she can, she's surprised when he doesn't even bat an eye. He stays focused on her, eyes squinting as if he's insulted that she thought that trick would even work. He takes a step towards her and she takes a step back, moving further and further back until her back is up against the door.

She shuffles off to the side, cracks the door open large enough for her to slide through and then closes it just as gently as she did when she came in. She releases a breath she had not realized she'd been holding in. And now she's panting, her chest rising up and down so fast that she thinks it's going quicker than her heartrate. She rushes further down the hall, not yet feeling in the clear because she can hear Milo still barking. She gets to the stairwell and once the door slams shut, she's sitting on the top step, pulling her phone back out to check the feed. She spots Camille's annoyed face and she notices her disappear down the hall, she's heading in the direction of the front door, causing the curiosity in Abby's being to rise pushing her to peek through the stairwell window. Camille opens the front door, looks up and down the hallway and then shuts it, locking it and after shutting it and not once realizing that it had been unlocked, Abby gathers herself and takes the stairs down to the ground level. She's nearly out of breath because of the close call, her breathing is erratic, her forehead is sweating and her legs are starting to burn from all the running.

Abby wants to scream, but she's in public.

She'd had been consistently following Jay and Erin each and every day, dividing her time between one or the other based on her mood for the day.

She taps out of the app when she sees Camille strapping Emma into her swing. She appears to be calm, she's not calling anyone and despite Milo sitting in the hallway, as if guarding the entrance, everything seems pretty normal. She'd gotten out undetected, although she hadn't had a chance to go inside and do what she intended to do. Still, it's a small win that she wasn't caught. She should have changed her plan after briefly checking the feed, yet because she knew about Jay and Erin's plans to go to Molly's, she had assumed Emma would be watched at the Voights' house. It's absolutely scary to think about how close she had come to being bit by Milo and seen by Camille. It was a close one, a terrifying one, one with no possible way to talk herself out of if she were to get caught. She'll have to be careful and extra vigilant next time, especially now that she knows treats won't work with Milo, she'll need something more, something that'll shut that mutt up. Possibly permanently.

Abby looks up when she hears the door to the bathroom swing open, followed by the laughter of some girls she doesn't know. Through the cracks of the stall door, she can see them approach the mirror, touching up their makeup. Despite not using the bathroom, she still stands and flush, giving off the appearance that she did. She steps out, the girls smiling at her harmlessly in the mirror when her eyes met theirs and she smiles back, "Excuse me," she whispers, approaching the sink to wash her hands. She comes off as innocent, as harmless, it's one of her strengths in leading in unsuspecting people, male or female, it works for her and has never done her wrong.

By the time she gets back to the table, it feels as if she's missed a lot of the night. Her drink is getting warm, sitting unattended in front of Jay. Ruzek is no longer here, being called away by some unexpected emergency, leaving his seat empty. Abby slides into it and thanks her boyfriend for the drink, "you were gone for a while," Jay comments.

"It was a line for the bathroom," she lies so easily. And the more she does it, the easier it gets.

The mood shifts around the table, growing awkward as they all twiddle their thumbs and try to fill in the silence that surrounds them. Kim is momentarily called away, earning an eyeroll from Erin for leaving her but with a promise of returning before she even knows she's gone. Erin turns to face Abby and Jay, taking in the sight of them, knowing that from the outside in they appear to be an average couple, Abby's arm is looped through his and the side of her head rests against his shoulder. If Erin was impartial, she could admit that the two of them looked pretty adorable, but she was far from neutral, she couldn't be unbiased if someone paid her. Erin could only watch so much of that though, the way Abby is staring at him, she can tell that she's head over heels in love with him, but Jay doesn't even pick up on the cues. He's such a guy in that aspect, not being able to see how in love Abby seems to be, and maybe that's a good thing for the both of them, she hasn't quite decided yet, but what she did decide is that she doesn't want to sit here and figure it out. Erin finishes off her drink, pats the table and stands to wobbly legs, "Well I should be getting ready to head out. I need to relieve my mom from babysitting duties."

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind watching Emma for another hour. You should stay," Abby gives a weak attempt to keep Erin around but because Erin is determined to see the worse in her, she assumes Abby wants her to stick around so she can stay for the show she's currently putting on with Jay. Erin wouldn't put it past her, she's staking her claim, and while Erin has never been the type of person to fight over a guy, if Abby wanted a competition, Erin will give her one.

No, Erin immediately thinks to herself, do not stoop to her level. She's an adult, she tells herself, it's not the time to play childish games. Erin reigns herself in, stumbling a bit on her feet when her hand drops from the table, "it's pretty late and if my mom is not home by a certain time, my dad will probably worry and send out an APB," she jokes, but based on Jay's knowledge of Voight, he wonders if there is some truth to that, "I should really get going."

"I'll drive you," Jay hops to his feet, reaching behind his seat for his jacket.

"Oh, you don't have to do that, I rode here with Kim."

"I want to do it. I want to see Emma."

Abby sits up straight, arms crossed over her chest as the puzzle pieces in her mind start to fit together. He's using Emma to leave with Erin, he's using Emma to spend time with Erin, he's using Emma. Abby sympathizes for the little girl now, her emotions pulled in different directions, feeling angry with Jay for using his daughter to leave and another is her loyalty to Jay trying to remind her that he simply wants to visit his daughter. It's nothing wrong with that. And maybe Abby can even offer to come along, however before she gets the chance, he's kissing her forehead and telling her not to wait up for him. She finds herself distracted by the feel of his lips against her forehead, even after the kiss ended, she's still thinking about it. Erin is talking with Kim, most likely telling her about the change of plans and then Erin is out the door, -with her boyfriend.

And she's not happy. Abby rises to her feet just as a drink is sat in front of her. The hand attached to the beverage she sees belongs to a man she doesn't know, his smarmy smile, one that she can read through clearly because of how good she is at making that exact face. She's not interested in anyone but Jay Halstead, no one will ever replace him, and no one will ever come close to trying.

Abby leaves the drink unattended, not even risk taking it with her just in case it's drugged or in case she gets pulled over. There's no way to explain an exposed glass of alcohol to a cop while behind the wheel of a moving car. Abby grabs her keys, excuses herself and leaves without bidding anyone farewell. Based on the time on her phone, she had surprisingly been here for a little over an hour, which is enough time for her considering she's a home body and the perfect world would consist of her and Jay and never leaving the apartment again.

She comes to an abrupt stop outside as the vision of she, Jay and possibly little Emma playing house, staying inside forever and ever and ever. It's the perfect world. One that she's going to do everything in her power to make happen. Soon enough, she snaps out of the image of her destined future, gets in her vehicle and takes the familiar route to Erin's place. She's done this drive so many times that it's second nature. It's muscle memory, she's coming to drive down the street and park adjacent to the building which seems to be becoming her usual spot. She can assume that Erin and Jay are almost here since they left a few minutes after her since both of them got caught up talking to Kim, letting her know that they're leaving and Jay is taking her home. Abby passes the time to load up the app, raising the volume to watch as Camille coos to the baby, rocking her in her arms until she's put to sleep. Her attention is only drawn away from the feed when she spots headlights in her peripheral. The make and the model are spot on to Jay's car, and when her eyes zero in on the license plate, she knows for a fact it's him, leading her to suddenly duck down, hiding her face and appreciating the darkness for obscuring her appearance.

When the headlights disappear, Abby scoots back up, peeking out the window to see where they are parked. She watches them, splitting her time between him helping her out of the car and Camille going into the nursery to set Emma down in her crib. Jay has his arms around her shoulders, both of them giddy, tipsy and high off the adrenaline rush from the night. He opens the door for her and Abby loses sight of them, forcing her to turn back to the camera feed and watch until they make it to Erin's apartment. The smile hasn't left his face since he left the bar, he drops his arm from around her shoulders, and watches as she steps forward to press the button for the elevator. She turns, hands clasped behind her back and leaning against the wall, "Don't do that," he smirks, referring to the casual press of her upper teeth down on her bottom lip.

"Do what?" She plays dumb.

He knows what she's doing, and he's playing right into her hands. He steps closer, hand extending to rest against the wall above her head, he leans forward, hovering in her personal space as the people floating around the lobby ignore them and leave them in their bubble, "be a tease," he answers. She looks up at him, her eyes meeting his, as she thinks about the moment they shared in the car, his hand on her leg, and her hand on his, as her body shivered despite the summer heat.

Before either could speak or reflect further on the moment, the piece of time in the car where her hand moved so close to his crotch, the elevator doors open. She smiles, and he couldn't resist kissing the dimple in her right cheek. He steps back, holding out an arm and waving for her to enter, "Ladies first."

"Such a gentleman," she teases, walking into the elevator with him following closely behind.

She leans her back against the furthest wall, hands wrapping around the railing and the second the doors close, his lips are on hers and her hands are tangled through his hair. The kiss ended just as fast as it had started when the doors open, granting them access to her floor. She exits first, and he watches, hand running through his hair as he questions what the fuck is he doing. He's in a whole relationship, though one can argue that he's been checked out of the relationship since moving to Chicago, but Abby still views them as a pair, which technically means they are a pair because the hard, inevitable conversation hasn't happened yet. And he's been putting it off because he's a coward, because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings, because outside of working with criminals he's non-confrontational, because despite his actions, he does want the best for her and to see her happy, and because he's human, he's far from perfect and he's never been in this type of situation before, it's just easier for him to avoid, to pretend like all is well in the world even though it isn't.

Erin wobbles in her heels, leaning against the door frame as she impatiently watches Jay dig through his pockets in search of his keys, "Take your time, we can be out here all night."

He rolls his eyes at her sarcasm, "Find your patience please before I lose mine," he jokingly retorts moments before finding the key and using it to let them into her apartment. When the door opens, he steps back, waving for her to enter first. She has her hand on the wall, using it to guide her down the darkened hallway, "Mom!"

Abby damn near smacks herself in the face with her phone when Erin's voice carries through the speaker of her phone. She's staring harder, spotting Camille peek her head around the corner, into the living room, dishtowel draped over her shoulder, "Shush, Emma's asleep."

"Oh sorry," Erin covers her mouth with both hands.

"You two look like you had a good time."

"We had a great time," Jay grins widely.

"I got back at a decent time too. We've come to relieve you of babysitting duties."

"We?" Camille repeats, quirking her brow as she turns to face her daughter.

"Jay wanted to see Emma before heading home."

Her mom nods but it's obvious her mother doesn't believe her. And neither does Abby. Yet, fortunately Camille doesn't call her out on it, question her more or embarrassingly say something that'll have Erin turn ten shades of red. Instead, she collects her things, bids the two of them farewell and leaves. No further words said, just silence, just Milo poking his head out of the nursery to ensure he knew who was here before grunting and strolling back inside the nursery to fall back asleep on the rug underneath Emma's crib. Apparently, it's his new unofficial doggy bed, at least when Emma's napping in her nursery, she usually sleeps in Erin's room and if that happens, it's highly likely that Milo is nearby either laying at the edge of the bed or to the side of the bassinet.

Erin twirls in her living room, arms spread open and head tilted back as she appreciates being back home. Jay watches her, appreciating the joy spread across her face, and he thinks back to his thoughts leaving the elevator. It's just so much easier being with Erin, it's fun, it's refreshing, and when she takes his hand and pulls him towards the nursery, he's reminded that this is more than fun and refreshing, this is family, and he has that with her.

"Hopefully she's out for the rest of the night," he whispers.

"Doubt it," Erin laughs, "I got four hours at most and that depends on when she went down." The two of them leave the nursery, not wanting their whispered voices to be the reason why Emma wakes up earlier than needed. Erin spots the baby monitor and crosses the room, light on her feet to turn up the volume, "Are you staying the night?" She's back to carelessly twirling.

And he's back to enjoying the show, "…I will if you want me to."

The twirling stops, she balances her stance and meets his eyes across the room, "I want you to."

Neither of them is drunk but they're definitely a tad bit buzzed. And that buzz is the primary reason why they suddenly cross the living room space to meet each other in the middle to join their lips, to press their bodies flushed against each other, to breathe into his mouth as he breathes into hers. It's why his nose is squished against her face, why his hands are gripping her hair, why the scruff around his mouth brushes against her face, why his nails dig into her hips, why she bites down pretty hard onto his bottom lip and why he groans loudly when she pushes him on the couch and straddles his lap. He groans again and this time it sends vibrations through her body when it originates from the back of his throat before being released. He thrusts his tongue into her mouth with no warning. It's hot, it's strong and it's demanding and it causes a melodic sensation to travel through her veins, through her body before being released through her mouth.

Only briefly did she pull away and it's for good reason, it's to catch her breath. But he wasn't ready to stop; he didn't need oxygen like she did. He continued to kiss her, his lips moving along her jaw and down her neck before latching onto her collarbone and nipping and sucking hard enough to leave a mark. Her clothes become far too constricting; he notices. And without words being said, both of them decide that now is the best time to do something about it.

She moans when his hands begin to wander, moving up and down her back, over her ass and gripping it to thrust her forward. He inches the bottom of her dress up until it's wrapped around her waist while she fumbles and fidgets with his jeans until they are undone. His lips latch back onto hers and without pulling away, she whispers, "…protection." He doesn't pull away; her words simply enter one ear and out of the other. Her hands hover above the one place he wants them to touch the most and when he draws his head back, she smirks when she finally gains his full attention, "…condom," she asserts, "because I'm not having another kid while the first one has spent more time in my stomach than in the real world." He's a bit embarrassed when he laughs because she's obviously learned from their mishap, but it appears that he hasn't yet. She drives him out of his mind. He isn't like this with anyone else, just her. And that should scare him.

But it doesn't. He wants it. He craves it. It doesn't scare him at all, it simply fascinates him, sparking the part inside of him that makes him yearn for her touch.

Abby remains seated outside in her parked car. Her mascara smudged as tears continue to fall from her eyes. She doesn't know why he's here, why he's at Erin's of all places. It's late. She checked the feed and Emma's asleep so there is no reason for him to be here yet when they flirt and kiss, Abby is reminded of the fact that he used Emma to leave the bar with Erin. Abby hits the wheel of her car, the horn accidentally going off, causing her to jump in her seat. She's startled. But it did pull her out of sulking, of feeling like a victim, and now she wants to take charge. She grabs a piece of paper, ripping off a corner of it and then grabs her pen, scratching on the sheet of paper until the ink clears up and then writes in practically ambiguous font, stay away from him or else.

She looks back down at the feed, hesitating for a moment only to see it take him less than a minute to pull a condom out of his wallet and while he puts it on, Erin finds herself lifting up halfway to slide her underwear to the side before impaling herself on to him and riding him into oblivion. It's the basic definition of a quick fuck because there's a baby in the other room who will wake up in any minute wanting a bottle because she's hungry. He's filling her completely, the way his hands clench her ass and her nails dig into the back of his head and it sends her mind back to that night, the night their little girl was conceived because the way he handled her body was done with a level of confidence and skilled expertise. Her mouth is parted and she's breathing out deeply, her hot breath pants into his opened mouth as he grunts, "a perfect fit for me," she continues to move above him as he continues to speak, "you just feel so good! I could seriously stay inside of you forever," she covers his mouth with hers to silence his words.

"I never realized how much you talk," she moves her hand from the back of his head to the back of the couch, holding down and gripping onto it with such force, "I like it though."

She grins. She groans. He does too. The sounds of their groans mixing and blending together as the both of them ride over the edge, him pulsing inside of her as her breathing shudders. She kisses the side of his face, pressing her lips against a line of sweat before falling over. Her head drops to his shoulder as she struggles to catch her breath, "...that will never get old."

And after seeing that, Abby doesn't think twice again before stepping out of her car, slamming the door and looking both ways before jogging across the street. She spotted Erin's car when she arrived. Erin may not have driven to the bar, but she's parked pretty close to her usual parking spot. She grabs her windshield wiper, gripping it aggressively to lift it up, place the note down and slam it back. She's breathing rather aggressively through her nostrils, staring at Erin's car and envisioning herself breaking every window and deflating every tire. And because she couldn't do that now, she settles for clenching her fists and banging her hands down onto the hood of it, while expecting to only do it once, she finds the anger in her body releasing and convincing her to do it over and over and over again. It feels good, and she doesn't want to stop.

That is, until someone calls out to her, "Hey, stop that or I'll call the police!"

Abby gathers herself to the best of her ability, she turns, rolls and drops her shoulders before pouting, "Please don't, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I guess I just let my anger get the best of me."

"Then you need to register at a gym and take it out on a boxing bag."

"You're right," she immediately gives in despite said anger only growing at his remark, "I didn't leave a dent or a mark so I'm going to head home," she pauses to see if he'll stop her, question her further or follow through with his threat, but when he doesn't, she turns to leave. Truly, she doesn't know if she left a mark, but a large part of her hopes she did. In her opinion, it's the least of which Erin deserves for screwing her boyfriend once again. After all the promises given, it happened again, and once again, Abby doesn't see the hypocrisy in her thinking. No part of her holds Jay responsible, in her mind, all the fault lays at Erin's feet. Abby doesn't think she deserves to have Jay or Emma in her life, both of which are too good for her, both of which Abby thinks Erin takes for granted.

Feeling extremely angry, her fingers tap at her side, and she storms off before anyone else sees, and fortunately for her no one else sees her walk away, however unfortunately for her, she doesn't see the wind blow the note away, sending it down to the ground and blowing towards the car parked behind Erin's vehicle. Abby feels better by the time she gets in her car and by the time she's loading up the app on her phone to watch what happens inside, she's propping up her phone to listen and drive home simultaneously, increasing the pressure on the gas when she hits areas that causes the feed to freeze or shutter and slowing down when the feed is the clearest.

Emma hasn't woken yet and neither of them are anxiously waiting for the inevitable moment that she graces them with her melodic cry, -sarcasm noted. He holds her to him. She wraps her arms around his neck. And as their breathing evens out and the expected cry of their little one eventually rings out, both are in a rush to get to her and neither are aware of the purple octopus propped up in the corner, the lopsided eye zooming in, live recording and giving Abby the clearest image ever of the man that promised to never hurt her again throwing on clothes after making love to a woman that isn't her, that will never be her. She stops the screen recording, saves the file to her phone before plugging her phone into her computer and transferring the large document there. She doesn't know what to do with it yet, but in the coming days she'll figure it out, she'll decide how she wants to broadcast his affair to the world because in her mind, it's only right.

You hurt her; she hurts you back ten times harder.