8. Chapter 8

Hey guys, thank you so much for your reviews. I hope they continue as I haven't written anything all week as I have been back at work and I could do with some information to get moving with future chapters. I hope you enjoy and please review!

Chapter 7

The next night...

Erin sat at her usual table at Molly's, wearing jeans and a green silky cami. Her makeup was minimal; her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, exposing her stunning bone structure. She was tearing up a napkin, trying to ease her nerves.

She was so nervous about how this was going to go. Kelly and Jay were two very important men in her life, for very different reasons. She really needed them to get along and she couldn't help but wonder which Jay would turn up tonight. The moody and dark Jay, the overprotected and closed off Jay, the charming and flirty Jay or the fun 'I'm everyone's friend' Jay.

She saw Kelly approaching with their drinks, red wine for her and a beer for him. She quickly discarded the shredded napkin. "They haven't arrived yet." Kelly observed as slipped into his seat beside Erin, he loosely draped his arm over her.

"Yeah but they're only 15 minutes late." Erin replied. Kelly nodded his head as he sipped his beer.

As if on cue, Jay entered the bar, hand in hand with Allie, wearing a lemon skater dress that fell two inches about her knee, lemon 4 inch heels and a fitted grey blazer with a lemon trim. Her strawberry blonde hair was hanging down in loose bouncy curls. Her makeup was non-existent apart from a little mascara and lip gloss. She skin was practically flawless.

Erin felt Kelly's arm around her tighten as they approached their table. "Sorry we're late." Jay apologised, pulling out the chair for Allie. His eyes noted Kelly's arm on Erin.

"It's my fault." Allie added. "I wasn't sure of the dress code and Jay here..." She playfully swatted his chest. "...he was no help. He would've had me out the door in my sweats."

"Well you look amazing!" Erin replied, looking Allie up and down. Her legs seemed never ending.

"Thanks." Allie replied, smiling. "You look stunning as well. I never realised Jay's partner was so pretty. Of course until recently, I thought you were a guy."

Erin looked at Jay, confused, while Kelly stifled his laughter.

"Aaron, Erin...they all sound the same on the phone." Jay quickly explained, swallowing hard. He held his hand out to Severide. "Kelly...Jay, great to finally meet you."

"You too man." Kelly replied, shaking his hand.

"And Allie, this is my female partner Erin Lindsay." Jay stated. "Erin, Kelly, this is my..."

"Friend." Allie inserted for him, knowing he was struggling for the correct terminology.

He looked down at Allie, a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes that Erin had never saw before. He was gently stroking Allie's back. "My very special friend Allie." He corrected, which made Allie beam.

Jay sat down beside Allie and took her hand in his. He turned around and called over to Hermann behind the bar their drink order – a beer for him and a white wine spritzer for Allie. He also ordered a beer and a red wine for Kelly and Erin. He turned his attention back to the table. "So..." He sighed...

"So..." Erin repeated, not sure where the conversation was meant to go now.

After about twenty minutes of overly polite conversation, Erin was frustrated. She had watched as Jay held Allie's hand in his and occasionally, when she said something that made her sound insecure, he would bring her hand up to his lips for reassurance. Occasionally, they would both look at each other with a silly grin and give each other quick kisses. They were so attentive to each other, it was sickening. She had never expected Jay to be the 'model' boyfriend and it was raising so many unwelcomed thoughts in her head.

Erin glanced over at Kelly. She could tell he was struggling with the PDAs between Jay and Allie. Erin knew that Kelly and her were not one of those PDA couples but she knew he was doing his best to keep up. His thumb was continually grazing her bare shoulder and ever so often, he would lean over and place a gentle kiss on her shoulder closest to him.

Erin knew she should return the favour by possibly snuggling up to him but she couldn't relax enough to let herself. She was so confused. Was this really her partner Jay Halstead? The guy she had set up numerous times with her friends only for him to bail out after one date?

Then a sickening thought entered her head. What if those set ups had never worked because Jay wasn't over Allie – Allie was the only one for him. Apart from Gabi Dawson, who was an undercover target, Erin had never seen him fawning over another girl.

She needed to know the nature of their relationship and polite conversation was not going to uncover it so she decided to start her line of questioning. "So Allie..." She started to say, her fingers toying with the napkin in front of her, trying to sound as casual as possible. "...I heard that you and Jay were high school sweethearts."

Allie looked coyly at Jay and let his hand go. She then placed her hand on his knee. Jay stretched back, placing his newly released hand around Allie's waist. Jay looked knowingly at Erin; he knew what she was playing at. Erin shrugged in return, playing innocent.

"I guess you could call us that." Allie answered, looking at Erin. "I mean we dated both our junior and senior year."

"Wow! Two years; that's like a life time in high school!" Kelly scoffed, getting involved in the conversation while Erin tried to take in the answer Allie supplied.

Allie looked at Jay for reassurance. "I guess but it doesn't feel that long when it's with the right person." Allie replied.

Erin noted how Jay smiled when Allie answered the question. She leaned forward, releasing herself from Kelly's gentle hold. She looked at Jay, before focusing on Allie. "Allie, maybe you can help me out?" She asked. "Jay never talks about high school and what type of person he was back then which kinda has me thinking he was a nerd, so was he?" Erin ignored the daggers that Jay was throwing her through his eyes.

"A nerd?" Allie laughed. "No way...although his 3.7 GPA could lead you to believe it."

A 3.7 GPA? Erin shook her head; suddenly her GPA of 2.8 didn't seem so impressive. "So who was he then?" Erin pressed again.

"I was a jock, okay?" Jay replied taking the attention off Allie.

"A jock?" Erin repeated, silently hating the fact that her boyfriend seemed to know her partner better than her. "But I've never actually seen you play sports...just watch them. I mean, what sport did you play?"

"You really should be asking what sport he didn't play." Allie answered, looking at Jay, smiling proudly. "He was the captain of the soccer team, on the baseball team, on the swim team, the track team and he also played a little ice hockey."

"Wow!" Erin sighed, wondering why Jay was so hesitant about sharing who he was. "So let me guess, you were a cheerleader?" Her question came out a little too abruptly.

"Erin!" Kelly scolded, while Jay shot her a look.

"Um, no actually I wasn't." Allie replied.

"Allie was the editor of the school paper, chair of the dance committee, treasurer of the school council." Jay replied, his hand stroking Allie's back as he looked at her, full of pride. "Oh, and she ran the teen helpline."

"So how did you two meet?" Erin asked. "Did Jay phone the help line?" She was joking; they could tell.

Allie looked at Jay and smiled before turning her attention to Erin. "I was asked to write up a profile on the school's star athlete so we spent a few afternoons together and after the profile was published, Jay asked me out." Allie replied. "The rest is high school history."

"How sweet!" Erin muttered, hoping she didn't vomit in her mouth.

"So now you know who Jay and I were in high school, who were you?" Allie asked while Jay grimaced. He knew that his high school experience and Erin's was completely different which is why didn't want to share it.

Erin focused on the napkin in her hands, debating how to answer the question without revealing too much. She knew that Jay was watching her. She looked up. "High school wasn't exactly for me." Erin replied. "I just kept my head down and waited for graduation."

She could see the empathy in Allie's eyes as Allie nodded her head. "I know how lucky Jay and I were. For most kids, high school is the worst four years of their lives; I see it every day in my job as a school counsellor." Allie stated. "High school does suck for the majority but on the plus side, for most, life after high school is so much better."

"You're telling me." Erin agreed, her eyes meeting Jay's as Kelly gave her a reassuring squeeze of the arm.

Jay cleared his throat and turned his attention towards Severide. "So Kelly, you want to share how high school defined you?" He asked.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want you to feel left out." Erin added; a small smile on her lips.

"Not much to share." Kelly replied. "I was kinda like Erin; I hid out in auto class and wood shop until graduation."

"Well, now we've let high school define us, I'm going to head to the ladies and you men can get some drinks in." Erin stated, sliding off her chair.

"Oh, I'll join you!" Allie exclaimed, jumping up.

"Great!" Erin muttered, realising that Jay and Kelly were going to be by themselves.

Erin and Allie stood in front of the mirrors at Molly's washing their hands and adjusting their appearance. "So how did you and Kelly meet?" Allie asked.

"We met through a case." Erin replied, matter of factly.

"It must be great though." Allie said. "Dating a fireman?"

"What do you mean?" Erin asked, confused.

"Well isn't it every women's fantasy to bed a fireman?" Allie retorted.

"Yeah, I guess that side is definitely a highlight." Erin agreed, smirking. "I mean, there's definitely nothing to complain about in that department." She realised what she just said and silently cursed herself. Why the hell was she discussing her sex life with practically a stranger? She had barely made these comments to Burgess or Nadia yet.

"Yeah, Jay is pretty amazing in bed too. His touch, it burns my skins...and his lips, oh my God! " Allie purred. "It totally sucks that he happened to be my first because every guy failed in comparison after that." She noticed the look in Erin's eyes and began blushing. "I'm sorry; Jay would kill me if he knew I was talking to you like this."

"Actually, I think he would love it." Erin stated. "I'm sure every guy loves the idea of their girlfriend bragging about how great they are in bed."

"I'm sorry, it's just, I can't talk to my girlfriends about Jay." Allie said. "They're convinced I'll end up hurt. They think I'm crazy for even considering moving back."

"Jay would never dream of hurting you, at least not intentionally." Erin reasoned. Allie nodded her head and then focused on her reflection. Erin turned herself around and leaned against the sink. "Allie, tell me I'm out of line if you want but if Jay is your dream guy, why did you break up? Was it because of Ben's death?"

"No...Ben's murder happened a long time after that." Allie replied. "We broke up because after high school, Jay enlisted."

"And you didn't want that?" Erin tried to guess.

"No, I always knew that was going to be his plan." Allie replied, looking directly at Erin. "Jay just didn't see me as part of that plan. He knew if we stayed together, we'd marry before he was deployed, because Jay would want to make sure I was looked after if he didn't make it back. He thought I deserved better than being an army wife. In his eyes, I worked hard enough to get into college on a full scholarship; he didn't want to spoil things. I thought I could go to college and be his wife, he thought differently."

"I'm sorry." Erin stated.

"That's Jay, always doing what he thinks is best for everyone." Allie sighed. "But I'm still here and so is he, single and desperately wanting to know what this all means."

"I'm beginning to think we've been blown off," Jay joked as he stood at the bar with Severide. The girls had been gone at least ten minutes. "But I guess that's girls and bathrooms."

"Allie seems like a very special girl." Kelly stated, looking directly at Jay. "It's a shame she's only visiting."

"She'll be back in a few weeks." Jay replied, focusing on getting Hermann's attention.

"Yeah Erin mentioned she may be moving back to Chicago." Kelly said.

"Yeah, it's an idea she's toying with." Jay stated.

"But it would be great if she did move back, for you I mean." Kelly said. "You'd probably like to have her here."

Jay looked at Kelly. "Allie knows who wants her here." Jay stated firmly. "So why don't you just say what you're hinting at?"

"I'm serious about Erin." Kelly stressed.

"If this is where you warn me off Erin then don't worry, she was off limits before you even came on the scene and she's still off limits now." Jay retorted.

"I'm not warning you, I'm just talking to you...man to man." Kelly stated.

"You don't want me to hang out with her, do you?" Jay asked.

"I never said that." Kelly retorted.

"Yeah but it's what you're implying." Jay observed. "And I can stop calling her up to hang out but you can't stop Erin. She's her own person."

"I know that." Kelly replied.

"Well as long as you know, I'm not the problem here." Jay retorted, just as he spotted Erin and Allie approaching.

"What? You guys haven't even been served yet?" Erin exclaimed, slipping in beside Kelly and wrapping her arm around him.

"Maybe it's a sign that we should hit the road." Jay replied, talking Allie's hand in his. "You do have an early flight tomorrow."

Allie looked at Jay and Kelly. She could sense the tension between them. "You're right!" She stated, wrapping herself against Jay. "Thanks for tonight. It was great to meet you both."

"You too Allie...Jay." Kelly retorted.

"Oh, well, safe journey." Erin replied, trying to read her partner but failing miserably.

"See you tomorrow partner." Jay replied, his poker face telling nothing.

They left the bar. Erin turned to Kelly, completely confused. However, Kelly had already turned away, focused on getting Hermann's attention.

To be continued...