Home ~ Linstead

Pretend

Erin got out of the car once they arrived at Molly's. She was both excited and nervous. Trudy opened the door and they walked inside. Everyone was caught up in the party so they didn't pay any attention to who had come in at first.

Trudy went off to find Hank while Erin sat down at the bar and ordered a drink, which she never got, thanks to a shocked Hermann who hugged her and started making conversation.

Otis did the same once he saw her. She didn't mind, though. She'd missed everyone. After about ten minutes, Jay walked over to the bar to get a drink. He looked over at Hermann and Otis, when he saw Erin.

He stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to say, or even what to think. "Otis, can I talk to you, over there?" Hermann said, hoping Otis would take the hint to let them be alone for a moment. "Why?" Otis asked looking at him, slightly confused.

Hermann rolled his eyes and pulled him by his ear to the other side if the bar. Erin laughed slightly then looked back at Jay, who still didn't know what to say. "Jay, I... " she was about to say something, but Trudy walked over with Hank. Erin smiled and hugged him.

He hugged back grinning. "God I missed you, kid" he said. "I missed you too" she smiled "Sargent Platt called me a while ago and asked if I could come back to Chicago for your birthday." Hank grinned. "Thank you Trudy. This..." he points at Erin. "This is the best birthday present I've ever received." Erin smiled.

By this time, a very drunk Ruzek had gathered a small crowd around him, all chanting "Speech! Speech! Speech!" Hank rolled his eyes. "I guess I'm giving a speech" he said, going over and getting everyone's attention. Erin sat down while Trudy went to find Mouch. Jay walked back to Erin nervously.

"Hey..." she smiled at him. "Hey" he looked at her, both happy to see her, and sad she'd been gone. "H-How've you been?" he asked, giving her a small, slightly forced smile. "I... I've been good... I miss Chicago a lot, though." she said, trying not to let the  sadness show in her face or tone of voice. "a-and I miss you... th-the team, I miss the... team..." he smiled at her. "I missed you too" he said, trying to hide the sadness he still carried around with him.

"So... uh, how long are you back?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "A week. I had some unused vacation days, so I figured I'd stay and visit everyone for a little while." he nods. "Well I'm... I'm glad you're back." he said, smiling once again. "Me too" she says, returning the smile.

Hank wrapped up his speech and everyone got birthday cake and ice cream. Everything was free tonight since Molly's was closed to the General public for the night. Erin walked around and said hi to everyone, caught up with them, and got a lot of hugs, mostly from Kim.

Will went over to check on Jay after saying a brief hello to Erin. Jay tried to tell Will he was okay, but he wasn't. He was glad Erin was back, if inky for a short time, and he was glad he'd gotten to see her again, but he still had a lot of pent up emotions that he'd tried to keep to himself.

He'd told Will everything he'd felt back when she first left, but ever since then he hadn't talked to anyone. He kept everything inside- primarily regret. Once Jay assured him that he was okay, which was only partly true, Will went off to find Natalie.

Jay sighed sadly and pulled the small jewelry box out of his pocket and opened it. He'd bought the ring when they were still together. After she left, he kept it with him, he carried it around in his pocket.

If he'd just listened to himself back then, they could be married now, or at least he liked to think so. "What's that?" Erin said curiously, sitting down next to him. He quickly put it back in his pocket. "Oh, um..." she looks at him "Was that a ring?" she asked, despite knowing the answer.

He sighed slightly. "Uh, yeah...  i-it is..." she isn't exactly sure what to think. "Who- Who's the lucky girl?" she asked, forcing a smile, not sure she wanted an answer to that question.

He looks at her nervously. "You... I- I bought the ring a few years ago... when you and me were still together and I... I don't know, I just haven't had the heart to do anything with it..." she sighed sadly. "Jay..." she put a hand on his cheek gently. "Can I just ask you one thing?"

She nods. "If I had asked you back then... what would you have said?" he asks, looking into her eyes. She couldn't help but let a small tear from rolling down her face.

"I would've said yes..." she said in almost a whisper. He wiped the tear away with his thumb and gave her a small smile. He started to tear up as well but he looked away, not wanting her to see him cry. "Jay" she takes his hand.

He looks back at her. "Y-Yeah?" she kisses him then sighs, resting her forehead against his.  "I-I'm sorry... I-" he kisses her. Both had tears streaming down their faces by this point, but neither paid attention to them.

He pulled her into a hug and kissed her head gently. She looked up at him after a few seconds. He kissed her forehead. "Come home with me tonight... I-I know... that things can't be the way they used to be... but tonight... we could pretend they can." she nods. "Yeah... we can pretend that..." she kisses him again. "I'm gonna go say goodbye to everyone... and then we can go..." she says, wiping her tears away with her sleeve and giving goodbye hugs to everyone, even though she'd likely see them again before the week was over.

She went back over to Hank and hugged him. "I'm glad I got to come visit you" she smiled at him. "Me too, kid." he smiles back. "Goodnight" she said, about to walk back over to Jay. "Hey... " he says before she walks off. She turns and looks at him. "Breakfast tomorrow?" she smiles and nods. "Yeah... breakfast." he smiles. She goes back over to Jay and holds his hand.

She grabs her suitcase that Trudy had left by the door for her, then goes out to the car with Jay. He takes her suitcase for her once they get to the apartment. They go inside and almost instantly, they both hug each other tightly. She held onto him tightly and kissed his neck gently, resting her head on his shoulder. They eventually pull away from the hug and he carries her to the bed, where they stay for the rest of the night.