One Call Away

Chapter Nine: Nothing to Worry About

"Are you and Erin dating?" Caitlyn asked sipping on her drink, she couldn't help but feel curious especially after her conversation with Erin; they were alone now that Mouse had left and she couldn't help but be curious.

They looked close and she didn't wish to stand on anyone's toes, she was sure what Erin thought was going on; she saw Jay as nothing more than a much-needed friend right now.

"Not you as well... Voight thinks there's something there as well," Jay replied with a shake of his head, he didn't know why anyone thought that there was anything between him and Erin.

Right now, he was focused on his work and sorting out the Lonny issue that continued to plague him; he didn't need any issues especially from a man like Hank Voight.

They sat in silence for a moment just staring at one another, the silence wasn't awkward and Jay had to admit that it was a nice silence that had settled between them.

He couldn't imagine anything like this settling between him and Erin, there was always this tension and sometimes it made it hard to read her especially with all the secrets she kept.

"She approached me at work and told me to stay away from you and I figured she was just being a jealous girlfriend," Caitlyn replied with a shrug, she glanced down at her drink not wanting to cause any sort of trouble.

She was new to the unit and the last thing that she wanted was to get in the way of people who had been friends and co-workers for a while; she was easily replaced unlike any of the detectives.

"She's my partner nothing more... Voight's against in house dating and honestly sometimes I feel like she doesn't trust me," Jay murmured shaking his head, he leant back in his seat and looked at Caitlyn not sure what else to say.

He didn't see any way forward with Erin and she was dating that firefighter now, it was better that he left things as they were since it meant that Voight wasn't breathing down his neck all the time.

"How about you?" Jay asked sure that Caitlyn had someone in her life, he didn't see someone like her staying single for long; she was bound to have a boyfriend or someone back in New York.

He was sure that moving here had been a big change for her, she had left everything behind to come and live in Chicago; he was sure that hadn't been easy.

"Single... recent break up," Caitlyn replied with a shrug of her shoulders, things just hadn't worked out between her and her last boyfriend; they had grown apart and ended things on mutual terms.

Ryan had been her college boyfriend, they had met during orientation and they had dated for a few years; after college things had just changed for them.

Raising an eyebrow, Jay sipped on his beer as he took in that information that she had just shared; he had to admit that he was a little surprised about the fact that she was single.

"Bad break up?" Jay asked unable to help it, he didn't know why he was so interested but it had been nice just sitting here and talking to her; it was a refreshing change of pace.

There was no drama or secret keeping between them, they were just two friends sitting having a drink together; he was helping her find out the truth about her biological father.

"No. Mutual... we grew apart and just realised that we weren't right for each other," Caitlyn answered truthfully, she had nothing to hide and she didn't see the point in lying about it.

The two of them continued to talk, the bar was quiet and slowly started to empty as the night drew to a close; the two of them just enjoying their time together.

***

"I had a great time tonight," Caitlyn said smiling at Jay as they walked over to her car, it had been nice to get out and not spend the evening in her apartment while her room-mate was out.

She would have been stuck home alone for the evening and the fact that Jay was helping her track down her biological father was just a bonus; she couldn't remember the last time she'd just hung out at a bar like that.

"I did too," Jay replied, his hands stuffed int his pockets as they reached her car; it was cold out and it was getting late, they both had work early the next morning.

It was hard to believe that they had only really met up so he could help her track down her father; that had been hours ago and they had stayed until closing just talking.

They hadn't had much to drink since they both knew that they had to drive back home, it had been a long time since Jay had enjoyed a night like this.

"We should do it again sometime," Caitlyn mused, she flashed him a small smile not sure how he would take such a suggestion; she didn't want it to sound like she was asking him out or anything especially if he was in someway involved in Erin.

Jay paused at that, he wasn't quite sure how to reply for a moment not sure if she was asking him out or not; it was nice just chatting to her like that, he rarely got the chance to truly relax like he had done tonight.

"Sure," Jay replied after a moment, it wasn't like he was actually dating Erin and he wasn't going to deny that he did kinda like Caitlyn.

He had been on plenty of blind-dates to last him a lifetime and his last sort of serious relationship had been Gabby Dawson; but that had ended a while ago.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Caitlyn kissed his cheek before she moved to get into her car; he watched her go not sure where this was going to take them.

***

Walking towards his car, Alvin was relieved to get out of there so that he could head home to his family for the night; he had stayed back late to make sure that Erin's little investigation didn't get any further.

The last thing that he needed was her digging up something up and confronting Caitlyn with it; he had to keep a lid on this and he didn't entirely trust that Voight would be able to control Erin.

His talk with Voight made him even more aware that things could very easily fall apart and Caitlyn would be hurt in the process if he didn't plan this right.

Fishing his keys from his pocket, Alvin paused when he saw that someone was waiting for him by his car; he stared not sure if his mind was playing tricks on him or not.

"Laura? What are you doing here?" Alvin asked hurrying to her side, it was freezing out and she looked like she had been waiting for him for a while.

He didn't understand why she wouldn't have come inside and ask to see him or picked up a phone to call; he couldn't help but feel annoyed that she had turned up like this when she had been avoiding Caitlyn.

Laura looked down at her feet, she knew she should have called but she had been so worried that he would be angry with her for doing what she had done without warning him.

It had never been her intention to drop the news like that on Caitlyn, she had hoped to take the secret to her grave and she wished that it could have stayed that way but not now.

"Richard is missing," Laura whispered with tears in her eyes as she looked up at Alvin, she didn't know what had happened but when she had arrived back from her holiday, she had been greeted with the news that Richard had come to Chicago and had disappeared.