A Family Affair

13

Hailey couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with Jay. He claimed to be fine, telling her that fact over and over again in the last few days - sometimes giving her the answer before she even got the chance to ask him the question - and she believed him, for the most part.

He had been acting off since last week, since he had gone over to Will's to talk with Olivia following her attempts to get into contact with him over the phone. When she had gotten home from work they had talked about how that conversation went and he shrugged it off.

"It went fine, better than I was expecting. I was so sure she'd walk off halfway through. She listened, she asked questions, she didn't forgive me but I'm not gonna force her. It may take time, I know that, but this was a start." Had been his somewhat smiled response to her queries about how it went.

But despite the fact he said he was fine, that the conversation went great, she couldn't shed the idea that maybe he wasn't telling the full truth about his feelings on the matter. Every time she'd bring that up though he'd get all Jay Halstead and deny it, leaving before she could say anything else, which only made her think that more and it usually became this whole big repeated cycle.

He seemed especially off this morning. He had gotten up and out of bed without a word shared between them quite early this morning, which was odd because normally they would try and include as much of an adult conversation before waking their daughter up.

He barely spoke throughout the rest of the morning, giving a small greeting to Macie when she met up with him in the kitchen and wishing her a good day when she left the house to catch the bus for school. Even when they set off for work Hailey noticed he was still very quiet.

They were now halfway to work and he hadn't said a word. She understands he's trying to concentrate on driving, but he would usually break the silence with a terrible joke or a complaint about traffic or packed streets.

She had kept to herself during the drive too, looking out the passenger side window and not saying anything. If he was mad at something it was probably best to stay quiet and bring it up when he was not behind the wheel.

She sees him inhale a sharp breath from the corner of her eye and tilt his head to one side quickly before putting it up straight again, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"Have you eaten this morning?" He asks, unconsciously keeping his voice quiet as if not trying to shatter the silence so suddenly.

Hailey turns her head to face him, pausing to think about her answer despite knowing it from the start. She slowly shakes her head. "No."

Jay shrugs, briefly turning to meet his gaze with hers before planting his eyes back on the road. "I was thinking we could stop off for some breakfast or something, we've still got like another hour till our shift officially starts. Otherwise we're just gonna be sat around for an hour waiting for everyone else."

She nods, giving him a small smile. "Okay, yeah, sure."

Then the truck goes silent again as Jay drives them off their normal route to work and around a corner, looking out for a place they could stop off for breakfast.

They're driving around aimlessly for a minute, Jay keeping an eye out on the buildings on either side of the road. By some luck, or some crazy coincidence, they end up parked in the lot of the old diner they would go to a few times a week before their shift in the earlier stages of their relationship.

It looked pretty much the same, a new layer of coat painted around the place and newer stools at the bar being the only differences they could see.