77This is a sequel to "No Surrender". Chapter 1 picks up right after the ending of that story, and is more like a prologue. It might start slowly and cosy, but don't let yourself be fooled. Trouble is on the way with a new case.
Hailey Upton woke up long before the alarm went off. She didn't want to get up just yet, wanted to cherish the time with *him*. Jay Halstead. Her partner, friend, and now her boyfriend. What an amazing thought. Hailey and Jay were a couple.
She and Jay had finally managed to admit their feelings for each other during the latest case for Intelligence; and suddenly everything fell into place for the two of them. The case had been bad for Hailey, as her nemesis Ronald Booth had hired three men to terrorize Hailey. She had been close to losing her job and her house. Jay had been there all the way. Even before Intelligence could step in, Jay had stood beside her. Even though he had told her she would have managed alone just fine, she knew that without him she would have collapsed.
Now the case was closed; the three criminals were convicted; Booth was transferred to a prison out of state. They could go back to business as usual, which of course was far from a normal nine-to-five job when you worked in the Intelligence Unit with the Chicago Police Department.
Usually she could sleep in on a Saturday, but today the whole unit and the guys from Firehouse 51 had agreed to help Hailey clean up her house after the fire set by Booth's companions. So she would have to get up eventually.
Slowly she turned around to face a still sleeping Jay. She had seen him, looked at him so often, yet now that they were a couple, she finally allowed herself to look at him differently. His face looked so young, so vulnerable in his sleep, the long eyelashes over his green eyes, the freckles, the fine laugh lines around his eyes, the sensitive line of his mouth, the stubbly beard. The muscular arms and chest. He was the most loyal person she knew, the kindest, most passionate person. He could be so sweet, so tender, so funny.
If you looked at him superficially, you might take Jay Halstead for a cocky, extremely self-assured and slightly arrogant ex-military turned cop, who had a clear, stubborn agenda, who seemed to know exactly what he wanted, what he considered right. Yet he was so much more than that. He had his flaws, like anyone. He could be a hothead at times, too stubborn, would go against everyone's better judgement, would keep to himself too much, would not recognize his own problems. But still – he had captured Hailey's heart. She had trusted him from the moment they met, and that mutual trust – albeit tested to the limit at times – had turned into a deep friendship and love eventually.
It was still early, the alarm wouldn't go off for an hour, and Hailey decided to wake him up. She put her hand on his cheek and planted a soft kiss on his mouth. Jay let out a soft groan.
"I could wake up like that every day," he mumbled.
"I can take care of that," Hailey answered with a smile. She put her hands on his shoulders, pushed him on his back softly, placed herself on top of him, and lowered her head to his. Kissed him passionately. She didn't have to wait long for his reaction. Jay kissed her back, wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, pressed her body close to his, his hands were all over her body, and soon the world was forgotten.
Later than planned they got up, took a quick shower, and drove to Hailey's house. As promised, their friends and colleagues from Intelligence and Firehouse 51 arrived from 8 am onwards. Hailey was moved by the sheer amount of people showing up to help her, it was almost too much. As she was still shaken by the fact that someone had set her house on fire, Jay automatically took over the planning. He and Kelly Severide agreed on who would work where, would do what, so that by the end of the weekend all rooms would be habitable again.
Jay wanted to make sure Hailey didn't overdo it today, as she had been injured just the day before, but he decided to keep quiet. Hailey didn't like it when someone made too much fuss about her. So he decided to watch out, but keep his worries to himself.
Quickly they agreed on what to do: One group went downstairs, disassembled the now useless kitchen and the furniture in the adjacent living room to get rid of everything. Hailey asked Kim Burgess and Sylvie Brett to help her in the bedroom. The furniture was still good, but needed to be cleared out, cleaned; and the walls needed a new painting.
"So...," Sylvie finally said when the three of them were alone in Hailey's bedroom. "You and Jay?"
"Yes, me and Jay," Hailey answered with a smile.
"That's a surprise," Sylvie said.
"Nah, not really," Kim laughed. "It was a surprise when she hooked up with Adam, but this... no, not a surprise to anyone."
"It was a surprise to me," Hailey answered. "As for Adam – yeah, that too. I hope he'll be fine with that. He's a great guy. I don't want to hurt him, I still care for him. Just not like that."
Kim looked at Hailey. It was unusual that she confided in others – beside Jay – like that. Kim had her own thoughts about Hailey and Adam's relationship, and in a way was glad that was over. But Hailey and Jay, that sounded about right.
"And what does Voight say?" Sylvie asked. "I thought he didn't like in-house romance."
Hailey shrugged. "I don't know. He wasn't happy about me and Adam, but didn't say anything. He knows about me and Jay, yet hasn't commented so far. I hope this means we have to prove to him that our relationship doesn't interfere with our jobs, and then we'll be ok."
Hailey looked out the window and saw Jay outside. Her heart skipped a beat.
Both Sylvie and Kim noticed how her expression changed and exchanged a grin. Yes, Hailey was head over heels.
Things went smoothly, by the end of the day the whole ground floor was empty, cleaned and ready for new painting, the upper floor was halfway done already.
Jay had ordered a massive amount of takeout food, so they all gathered in the empty house and had an improvised dinner of pizza, Chinese food and drinks. Hailey visibly enjoyed the time and was more relaxed than usually, and she was completely overwhelmed by all the support.
And to make it even better, Kelly approached her and Jay.
"Listen, Hailey," he said. "We've come very far already, so if you trust us, go furniture shopping tomorrow. We'll have everything done here by the time you come back."
Hailey's eyes widened. "Wow, that's fast." She looked at Jay. "Ready for some hardcore shopping?"
Jay grinned. "Here's to our first major relationship test," he answered. "If we can do that, we can do everything."
Both Hailey and Kelly burst out in laughter.
"Good luck, Halstead," Kelly smirked. "That's a job only for the toughest of us."
Shopping for a new kitchen, sofa and coffee table turned out surprisingly smooth. Both Jay and Hailey were easygoing, didn't have too many special wishes. Both wanted something that looked ok and did what it was supposed to do. Nothing super fancy or luxurious. And Jay didn't try to talk Hailey out of anything she liked, for him it was basically her decision. The fact that Hailey's insurance would cover the costs helped as well.
They enjoyed their first actual "couple task", Hailey had ordered a new kitchen and living room furniture quickly. They were in a great mood when they returned to Hailey's house in the early afternoon.
"We didn't expect you back so early," Kelly greeted them. "Job cancelled?"
"Nah, everything done," Hailey answered matter-of-factly.
"What? Kitchen and couch?" Stella asked. "How is that possible?"
"What's difficult about that?" Jay asked back with a proud little grin. "We looked around, saw something Hailey liked, and that was it."
Stella and Kelly looked from one to the other as if this were the greatest miracle.
"Come on in, have a look," Kelly said. "We're almost done."
Hailey took Jay's hand and followed Kelly inside her house. It was unbelievable what her friends and colleagues had done. The ground floor looked like new, had a new coat of painting, was clean and waited for the new furniture. The stairs and upper hallway also looked spotless. And the rooms upstairs were ready for her to move back in right away.
"If you need anything until the new kitchen and furniture arrive, just let us know," Kelly added. "We'll find something."
"How can I ever thank you," Hailey replied. "This is... it's … guys, you're the best. When everything's complete, I'll invite you all over for a big barbecue."
Jay looked at her, surprised. Inviting so many people into her house, that was huge for Hailey. He knew, she felt connected to the unit and the people from the firehouse, but she didn't consider most of them friends and had always kept her distance. Her walls began to crumble, now that she saw that they actually cared enough to help her out like this. He was just as reluctant as Hailey when it came to opening up to others, so he understood how thankful Hailey was to everyone.
"I don't think I need interim furniture," she decided.
"No, you won't." Jay agreed with a soft smile. "You stay with me as long as you want."
Everyone was too tired to go to Molly's after work was done, so Jay and Hailey once again organized take-out food, so that nobody had to go home hungry. It was a good ending to the exhausting weekend.
