16Someone noticed that in one scene Hailey seems to wear a shirt that looked a lot like one Jay wore in another episode. This turned into a brief one-shot
"Isn't that Jay's shirt?"
Hailey flinched, looked at Vanessa. "What?"
"The shirt," Vanessa replied. "The one you're wearing right now. It looks a lot like one of Jay's."
Hailey frowned. Keep cool, Upton. Just keep cool. "Why? Why would you think that?"
"Because it looks like Jay's shirt. I've seen it before. And it looks quite large for you," Vanessa repeated, slowly, with a slightly amused look on her face. She pointed at the red and black plaid shirt Hailey was wearing. She was sure it was Jay's shirt, and she was determined to get a confession out of her colleague and friend.
"Why should I wear Jay's shirt, Vanessa?" Hailey shrugged it off and turned around before Vanessa could see that she was blushing. Much to Hailey's relief the guys, Adam, Kevin, and Jay, came walking up the stairs in this moment. Phew. That was close. Vanessa would have to wait for her answer a bit longer. Like forever. Perhaps Hailey would have a good, inconspicuous answer later today. Hailey was sure she hadn't heard the last of this. Vanessa would not just let this go.
The night before
Jay and Hailey spent the evening together in a bar. Both needed that time alone, to do their thing. Jay needed the confirmation that he had done the right thing blowing the case – he had pulled their suspect off his wife, as the guy had attacked and hit her. Jay couldn't just let it happen. He had to interfere. He needed to help Michelle, needed to make sure her husband would stop beating her. But because Jay ran into the house and pulled him off Michelle, Intelligence couldn't get the evidence they needed. The case was lost, and it was upon Jay. If he had waited, they might have a confession now. Instead, the guy was arrested for domestic abuse and would probably be back out of prison in no time.
At least Hank didn't give Jay one of his speeches, didn't make him feel worse than he already did. For once he seemed to accept what Jay had done, even seemed to understand.
However, that wasn't the most important thing right now. When they sat together having a drink, Hailey explained to him why the case was so difficult for her, told him about her family, her own abusive father. She was glad that Jay listened, that he didn't judge, didn't try to give advice, that he was simply there for her. He had done the right thing – she had told him so earlier in the office, and she believed it. Jay had saved a woman and a child from an abusive husband. Something nobody had done for her family.
"Want me to drive you home?" Jay asked when they had finished their drinks.
Hailey tilted her head, thought about it for a minute and didn't reply.
Jay raised his eyebrows. "Did I say something wrong? What is it?"
"No, Jay," Hailey quickly assured him. "It's just – I'd rather not go home just yet."
"So either we take a cab later or continue this at my place," Jay suggested. Hailey didn't want to leave him, she wanted him around and spend time with him. He liked that – a lot. Especially now, that she had confided in him, shared what haunted her. Therefore he wouldn't leave her alone, whatever she would say now.
"Your place," Hailey answered quickly – before she could change her mind. Vanessa would be at home, in Hailey's house. And as much as she liked Vanessa, she wanted to continue this evening with Jay alone. She didn't want to break the underlying magic.
Right after Hailey had answered, Jay stood up, before she might change her mind, threw some money on the table, and both left the bar in a hurry.
Back in Jay's apartment they went into the living room. Jay grabbed a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, poured each of them a generous drink, and they sat next to each other, staring into their glasses, sipping the smooth liquor from time to time.
"We're quite the happy crowd tonight," Hailey said after a while. She felt responsible for the silence, and even though it was not an uncomfortable silence, she wanted to lighten the mood, for herself and for Jay. She wanted to forget about the case, about her father.
"Oh yes, we are," Jay chuckled softly.
"And by the way, I was asked a lot of nosy questions because of the roses I brought home."
"You did? Let me guess, Vanessa?"
"Who else?"
"So they survived," Jay said teasingly. "Good to know."
"Why exactly?" Hailey grinned back. "Would you have rather given them to your other girlfriend, who knows better how to handle flowers?"
"Who? What?"
"I don't know – Trudy perhaps?"
Jay burst out in laughter, recovering quickly from the short moment of complete and total insecurity. "Yeah, Trudy. Who else. Had to make sure Mouch didn't find out."
"So that's my competition." Hailey concluded, laughing with Jay. "Good to know."
Jay swallowed audibly. "There's no competition," he mumbled before he could convince himself to be quiet, then quickly downed the rest of his drink.
Hailey almost flinched at what he said, and now she was the insecure one all of a sudden. Had he just said that, or had she imagined it?
She took the bottle, filled both their glasses up.
"Do you want to get me drunk?" Jay asked with a teasing grin.
"You and me both," Hailey answered and drank some more.
"Okay then, sounds like a plan," Jay replied, not sure what he wanted to do in this moment. Getting drunk sounded good, though. That would be the easy solution.
Hailey grabbed the remote and switched on the TV, and within a few minutes they were engaged in a stupid late night show, giggling and making fun of it, both happy that this tense moment was over.
Jay woke up suddenly, when there was a screeching sound coming from the TV. Disoriented he tried to make sense of it, noticed a body leaning against his. Hailey. She was fast asleep. Good, he didn't wake her up. What should he do? Both needed to go to work the next morning, so a few hours of sleep would probably be a good idea. Should he wake her up? Or let her sleep leaning against him? Jay decided for a third option – he cautiously moved Hailey so that she leaned against the back of the couch. Took the glass from her hands, noticed that she had spilled some whiskey on her shirt. Well, he couldn't help that. Slowly he picked her up, carried her to his bedroom and placed her on his bed.
She had taken off her shoes when she arrived, they were in the hallway, and he decided against removing any of her clothes, despite the distinctive smell of whiskey coming from her shirt. He only covered her with a blanket, grabbed a spare pillow and blanket for himself and returned to the living room to sleep on the couch.
In the morning both woke up hearing the distinctive sound of their phones.
Hailey reluctantly opened her eyes, tried to make sense of where she was. Jay's bedroom. She looked around – no, Jay was not here. And she was fully clothed. When she looked down herself, she saw the large stain on her shirt, and she noticed the smell of liquor. She wrinkled her nose. She had a slight headache, too. Not good. What had she done last night?
The phone kept ringing, and she finally answered it. It was Vanessa – they had a case. Groaning she stood up, stumbled out of Jay's bedroom into the living room, where Jay was sitting on his couch, just having finished a similar phone call with Ruzek. He looked just as tired and hungover as she felt.
"Morning," he mumbled.
"Morning," she answered with a weak smile. "Can I quickly take a shower, please? Bad enough I don't have time to go home to change, but I need to clean my shirt. And I've got a headache"
Jay nodded. "Sure, go ahead."
While Hailey was in the bathroom, he got some fresh clothes for himself, then a thought crossed his mind. He looked through the wardrobe, where he quickly found what he was looking for.
As soon as he heard that the shower had stopped, he went to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Hailey?"
"Just a minute, Jay. I promise to hurry."
"Hailey, open the door, please. I've got a fresh shirt for you."
Hailey cautiously opened the door a bit and looked at him questioningly. Jay handed her the plaid shirt. "Wear this, it should be okay. At least it's clean."
Her suspicious look turned into a wide smile. Once more she was surprised at how considerate Jay could be.
Within five minutes she was out of the bathroom, and Jay shoved a cup of hot coffee in her direction. The shirt was obviously too big for her, but it was definitely better than her own shirt that smelled of whiskey. She had similar shirts at home, so hopefully nobody would notice.
They arrived at the crime scene with the rest of the team, and everyone was busy all morning. Nothing unusual so far, and once they returned to the precinct, Hailey had already forgotten that she wore Jay's shirt. It felt right, comfortable, and she actually liked to have Jay's scent on her. That, however, was something she only realized when Vanessa mentioned the shirt.
To be honest, Hailey had no reason at all not to tell Vanessa what had happened the night before, because nothing had happened. Still, she kept quiet and was glad that the guys interrupted their conversation.
"Jay," Hailey said, when they were both in the break room getting some more coffee. "Thanks."
"For what?" He looked at her with this soft smile he seemed to have reserved for Hailey only.
"For last night, for being there." She smiled back at him. "And for the shirt."
"Well, you look good in my shirt, so my pleasure."
Before she could answer, Vanessa entered the break room. She looked from Hailey to Jay and back. "Did I miss anything?"
"No, nothing. Want some coffee?" Hailey pointed at the pot in the corner.
Vanessa rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I want an answer, Hailey, not coffee." She turned around and left the room again, still shaking her head.
"What was that?" Jay asked curiously.
"Vanessa thinks she knows something," Hailey answered. "Something that happened only in her imagination."
Jay raised his eyebrows. "And what would that be?"
"Nothing, Jay."
"What, Hailey?"
"You won't let this go, will you?"
"No," he grinned. When Hailey tried so hard not to answer a question, she usually had a good reason. And it was kind of cute how she cringed trying to evade answering.
"Well, Vanessa noticed that I'm wearing your shirt."
"Oh, I see," Jay's grin got wider. "And now..."
"And now she imagines things."
"Like that you spent the night at my place."
"Like that."
"You know," Jay teased. "You did."
Hailey dramatically rolled her eyes. "Not like that, Jay!"
"Don't I know," he mumbled.
"What?"
Jay just smirked, drank some coffee, and then he looked at her, suddenly with a challenging look on his face.
"You know, Hailey..." he started tentatively. "You know, if everybody thinks we're doing it, then why don't we?" He smiled at her as if he just now had the revelation of a lifetime – the solution to all their problems.
"What?"
"You understood me perfectly well, Hailey," Jay said, his voice husky all of a sudden. "Why not?"
"Because... because..." she stuttered. She must have blushed as bad as possible, felt hot adrenaline rushing through her body. The temperature seemed to have increased significantly within seconds.
Would he really go there?
Did she want him to go there?
"See? You don't know either." Jay said triumphantly.
He quickly looked around, confirmed that the door was closed and the blinds were down, then he leaned against said door, so that nobody could enter. He took Hailey's hands in his and pulled her closer. Hailey was too surprised and at the same time too intrigued to resist as he wrapped his arms around her, slipped one hand to the back of her head and kissed her passionately.
Hailey's body reacted to his kiss faster than her mind, before she could run as far away as fast as possible – because that's what her head told her – she was kissing him back, holding on to his strong body as if drowning. This was so much better than she had imagined, his lips were so soft, so amazingly soft. They melted into their kiss, for a minute forgot time and space, forgot that they were at work and not at home alone.
Breathlessly Jay pulled back, grinned at her. "So why don't we, Hailey?"
"I wish I knew, Jay," she pulled his head down to hers again, kissed him again softly. "No, there is no reason, no reason at all. I want you so bad, Jay."
"Halstead, Upton!" Adam's voice interrupted them before Jay could realize what Hailey had just said. "Rolling in five."
Breathing heavily, they pulled apart.
"My place, tonight after shift?" Jay whispered. "I'll provide food and drinks, and you make sure to bring an overnight bag."
"Oh yes."
"Yes!" Jay almost shouted.
Both tried to calm down a bit, leaned against the wall. After a few seconds, Jay put his hand on the door handle, looked at Hailey inquiringly.
"Ready to face the hyenas?"
She placed a brief kiss on his cheek, let her hand run over his chest and nodded.
They left the room, trying to look totally inconspicuous, but failed miserably.
When she tried to walk past Vanessa, Hailey felt a hand holding her back.
"Don't you dare tell me that this is not Jay's shirt, or that there's nothing going on between you two," Vanessa whispered in Hailey's ear.
Hailey couldn't stop herself from looking in Jay's direction – he smiled his best, sweetest smile at her. She shrugged. "I'm not saying anything, Vanessa."
"I knew it."
