10. Chapter 10

Hey guys, again, this chapter is rated M. Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing this fic. Please continue! I love to read your thoughts and feelings about this story as I've hit a wall and need to get over my writer's block so please, inspire me!

Chapter 9

Erin lay on her bed, her bra firmly in place as her fingers gripped her bed sheets. She moaned and groaned, her body feeling ever so hot and sticky. "Jay...please!" She panted. His familiar face appeared from beneath the bed sheets; his hair tousled; his trademark grin firmly in place."Take me now. I need to feel you in me!" She pleaded as Jay placed gentle kisses on her stomach.

"Patience, Erin...patience."He replied, between kisses. "It will be worth the wait."

'Beep beep, beep beep', her alarm clock rang out. Erin jumped up and looked around before switching off her alarm. Her hair was stuck to the back of her neck, her skin was on fire, and her breasts were in pain. This had to stop! What if Severide had stayed over and heard her moans and groans?

She knew Jay was so confused by her behaviour. She had avoided partnering him the last few days and was keeping any communications short and snappy. Thankfully for her, he was not inviting her over to hang out. She didn't know if she could trust herself to be alone with him.

Jay walked into the station. "Good morning Detective Halstead." Sergeant Platt greeted him.

"Morning Sergeant Platt." He replied, heading on towards the steps before he paused and headed towards the desk. "Sergeant Platt...can we talk?"

"Talk." She barked. He swallowed hard, forgetting how intimidating she could be at times.

"Oh, right we're doing it here." He muttered.

"I haven't all day Halstead!" She snapped.

"Oh right." Jay said, jumping to attention. "I um, I kinda have an offer for you...I'm hoping we can make a deal from it."

"An offer for me? Do tell." Sergeant Platt retorted, sarcastically.

"Oh right, um..." Jay stuttered. "Well ah, Ruzek mentioned that every year your dad comes to town and you need someone to play your fiancée."

"He told you that?" Sergeant Platt snapped.

"It's our little secret." Jay quickly brushed over it. "Anyway, this year, I'm offering to play your fiancée."

"And what makes you think I'd want you?" Sergeant Platt laughed. "I need a man...not a boy."

"I'm older than Ruzek." Jay replied, becoming embarrassed.

"In years...but not facial hair or body mass." Sergeant Platt highlighted.

"So I've got a boyish charm...I've never had any complaints." Jay said, trying to defend himself.

"Okay, fine." Sergeant Platt said, giving in. "So why are you making this offer? What do you need?"

"You know Nadia, the kid we have answering our phones?" Jay began. Sergeant Platt nodded. "Well, she wants to do her GED at the community college and if a sergeant signs off on it, the C.P.D. pays her fees, so will you sign off her application?"

"Sure." Sergeant Platt replied.

"Just like that?"Jay asked.

"I like Nadia...she reminds me of my younger self." Sergeant Platt replied. "I would have agreed without your offer if you had just asked."

"Right so you don't need me for that dinner when the time comes..." Jay stated, hopefully.

"Oh no, I'll need you." Sergeant Platt replied. She reached out and pinched his chin. "Don't worry; I'll give you two weeks notice. It'll give you time to try and grow some hair."

"Thanks?" Jay replied, already filled with dread.

"You can go now." Sergeant Platt stated.

"Oh right." Jay said, before running off towards the stairs; Sergeant Platt smirking as he left.

When Jay finally entered the office, the team had already gathered around the case board. Jay looked at the board wondering if they had a new case but found the same information from the bodies they had been called out to the other night.

"Boss, why are we even looking into this?" Ruzek asked. "Homicide has been given jurisdiction."

"Because Ruzek, something about this case feels off." Voight hissed. "I know this case will get fired back to us when Homicide realise they've bitten off more than they can chew so we might as well have a head start."

"I might have an in with the law firm Montgomery was a partner at." Erin supplied.

"Okay, take Halstead and let me know how it works out." Voight replied.

Jay inwardly smiled. This was the first time in a few days that they'd been partnered together. She couldn't avoid him this time.

"Actually, can I take Atwater?" Erin asked. She could sense Voight was going to deny her request and she couldn't be alone in a car with Jay. "It's just, my C.I. has a thing for black guys."

"Fine!" Voight barked. "Atwater, go take one for the team."

"Don't worry Atwater..." Erin reassured as they moved out; not realising that Jay had followed them out to the stairwell. "...you had to get your cherry popped at some point."

"Ha ha Lindsey!" Atwater replied. "Why do you really need me instead of Halstead?"

"I told you...as racist as it sounds, she likes black guys." Erin replied.

"Hey Atwater, can you give us a sec?" Jay called from behind, following them down the stairs.

Atwater looked at Erin, then at Jay, and then back to Erin. He could tell that Erin really didn't want to talk but he could also tell Jay wasn't going to give up. He didn't want to get caught up in any partnership drama. "Sure...I'll meet you at the car, and yes, I know you're driving." Atwater said and left them alone on the stairwell.

"What the hell Jay?" Erin snapped.

"Are you avoiding me?" He asked.

"Jay, I hate to break it to you but the world does not revolve around you!" Erin hissed. "I'm bringing Atwater because he's got what I need."

"I'm not just talking about today." Jay replied. He reached out to take hold of her hand. Erin flinched, as if he burned her skin and pulled away. Now he was more convinced than ever that Severide had asked Erin to keep her distance. "Erin, just remember, that during working hours, no matter what is going on in our outside lives, I'm your partner. Talk to me."

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Erin replied before walking away, down the staircase.

Jay sighed, watching her go and then returned to the office. He saw Nadia at her desk and realised he hadn't told her yet about her GED application. He walked towards her. "Hey Nads, your little problem has been solved." He said as he arrived at her desk. "Platt will sign off on it."

"Thanks Jay." Nadia said, smiling. "How did you...?"

"You don't want to know." Jay replied jokingly, before turning to return to his desk. He felt Nadia reach out and grab his wrist. He turned to look at her, confused.

"Are you two okay?" She asked, her eyes filled with concern.

He instantly knew that she was talking about him and Erin. He hung his head, it was finally confirmed that it wasn't all in his head, Nadia had noticed it too. He looked at Nadia and forced a smile. "Yeah...she just gets like that when she's PMSing."

Nadia nodded. She could tell that he was lying. She had lived with Erin. She knew all about her PMS and this wasn't it; but she also didn't want Jay to dwell on her concerns so she smiled, and accepted his lie.

"So much for her liking black guys..." Atwater stated, looking directly at Erin as they entered the station. "...saying she's a lesbian!"

"Maybe its black girls she likes." Erin shrugged. "I get a little confused at times. At least we got some information."

"Yeah, I just wish I knew about her sexual orientation before I went on the flirt offensive." Atwater complained, waving to Burgess and her new partner at the desk as they made their way towards the stairwell.

"That was you flirting?" Erin teased, her eyes resting on Burgess and new partner Roman, displaying what seemed to be playful banter. The banter she used to share with Jay. "Hey, Atwater...I need to talk Burgess a sec. Can you go ahead and update the team for me?"

"Sure." Atwater replied, completing the security scanner to enter the stairwell. There was not much to update. The firm didn't think any of their criminal clientele had been involved in the murders. Apparently, the Montgomery's had a taste for the dark side in terms of their bedroom antics. This was looking more and more like a sex act gone wrong.

Erin walked towards the front desk. "Hi Roman, Burgess." Erin stated. She focused on Burgess. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." Burgess replied. She looked at her partner.

"I think I have paper work to file." Roman said and made a quick exit.

"He seems nice." Erin observed.

"Yeah he is." Burgess replied. "He's kinda helping me remember how great it is being a uniform cop."

"That's nice." Erin said.

"Lindsay, are we just exchanging pleasantries or do you need to talk to me about something?" Burgess asked.

Erin led Burgess away from the desk. She did not want Sergeant Platt being aware of her conversation. "So um, you and Ruzek...do you regret it?" Erin finally asked.

"What? No, of course not." Burgess replied. "I mean, I wish things happened under different circumstances..."

"Even though he cost you your chance in intelligence?" Erin asked.

"Wow!" Burgess sighed, taken aback. "I'm not going to lie, it hurt but I don't know, lately I've been seeing there's life outside intelligence. Why'd you ask?"

Erin sighed; debating whether or not she should share. "If I talk to you about this, it has to stay between us." Erin pleaded. "Okay?"

"Of course." Burgess replied, becoming concerned. "Wait! Has Ruzek cheated on me? I mean, I know he's a little jealous of Roman but I already told him nothing is going on..."

"What? No of course not!" Erin exclaimed. She saw the relief wash over Burgess. "I um, I've been having inappropriate dreams and thoughts about Halstead."

Burgess scoffed. Erin looked at her, her eyes questioning her. "I'm sorry but I'm sure a lot of females in this station have had those thoughts." Burgess explained. "How bad could they be?"

"Pretty bad when you can't even trust yourself to let your boyfriend stay over just in case you call out something in your sleep." Erin replied. "I mean, my life has become a constant cold shower. I can't even stand near him, never mind be alone..."

"Which is crucial for being partners." Burgess stated.

"Exactly, so what do I do?" Erin asked.

"Well, a few of my flight attendant friends have had similar experiences." Burgess began. "For most of them, the best way for them to get over it was to get under someone else."

"And what if that doesn't work?" Erin asked, knowing she'd already tried with Severide.

"It's kinda like an itch." Burgess replied. "You're gonna have to scratch it."

Erin hung her head. "That's what I was worried about."

Erin sat at her desk, watching the rest of the of the intelligence team finish up for the day, each of them saying goodbye as they left. She watched as Jay slipped into the bathroom by himself.

Erin took a deep breath and stood up and followed him into the bathroom. When she entered the bathroom, she found him standing by the sink, washing his hands.

"Erin?" He gasped with surprise.

Erin did not respond. Instead, she looked in all the cubicles, to ensure no one else was in the bathroom. When she was convinced they were clear, she locked the door and stepped towards Jay.

"So, you've finally decided to talk to me?" Jay asked confused.

He never got an answer as Erin's lips covered his and her hands went directly for his belt. At first he was frozen on the spot; taken by surprise; but then his reactions kicked in. His arms lightly gripped her wrists and removed them from his belt as he pulled back. "Erin." He said softly.

"Sssshhh, it's okay. This can be our little secret. Allie never needs to know." Erin replied, moving forward to cover his mouth with hers again.

"Erin!" Jay barked, his grip on her wrists firmer as he push her way, keeping her at arm's length. "What the hell?"

"Don't you want this?" Erin asked, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. She had never expected him to reject her. "Don't you want me?"

"Not like this." Jay replied. "Not as some sort of revenge against Severide for him asking you to stay away from me." He was sure this display was Erin rebelling against Kelly's request.

"Wait! What?" Erin stuttered, confused. "Did Kelly ask you to stay away from me?" The anger began to build up inside her. Now she realised why Jay didn't invite her to hang out.

"I thought..." Jay began. "Look, he's getting serious about you Erin and I can see he makes you happy; I just don't want to complicate things."

"Well you have!" She snapped.

"How?" Jay asked.

"Because you let your girlfriend fill my head with ideas about how amazing you are and now I can't think about anything else!" Erin retorted.

Suddenly, every flinch she had when he touched her; every time she avoided being alone with him; it all made sense. "Erin..." He began; his voice ever so soft.

Erin stepped towards him, her wrists still in Jay's hold. She gently kissed his lips. "We can have this Jay." She whispered between kisses. "Nobody needs to know." She slowly felt Jay respond to her kisses, his grip getting lighter, and his lips relaxing. "It's just sex."

Suddenly, Erin felt his whole body become hard as he completely released his grasp and stepped back. Erin looked at him, confused. "Jay..." She said softly.

"I can't do this." He replied.

"Why? Because of Allie?" Erin asked.

"No, because of you." He replied. Erin looked at him, confused. He reached out and stroked her cheek. "I don't just want sex...I want you...all of you; mind, body and soul."

She paused. She hadn't expected this. She always thought their chemistry was pure sexual tension, not genuine romantic feelings. "I can't..." Erin trailed off.

"I know...but I can't accept any substitutions." Jay stated, removing his hand.

"So what does this mean?" Erin asked.

"What it always should have meant." Jay answered. "We're just partners...professional partners." He unlocked the bathroom door and left, leaving Erin by herself; deep in thought about what had just happened.

To be continued...