Another Life

7

When we got home I didn't say anything to Jay, other than informing him I was going to have a shower.

The rest of the day had been slow, picking up leads few and far between. Most cases were like this in the beginning though, when we had nothing to go on. They often switched when we had something, one solved in a record of two hours after we got the first lead that tied the whole case together. We just needed that big break first before it would go anywhere.

I had felt quite bad leaving earlier, everyone else had stayed behind for overtime, but Will has an early shift at the hospital tomorrow so he had to go back home, and the exhaustion from the day was starting to really wash over me by the time we got around to having something for dinner from the vending machine around six. It was now seven-fifteen.

Macie's door was still wide open, so she obviously wasn't in bed, but her towel was being hung up to dry, because she only uses one towel and if it's not that towel it ends in a very not happy toddler (who ever said going through the terrible twos was fun? Exactly. No one) so she had already had her bath.

I grabbed a towel from the rack and headed into the bathroom, allowing the door to slam slightly as I closed it.

************

By the time I got out, the entire house had fallen silent. There was no evidence of life downstairs and Macie's door was pulled shut, left open ajar like normal so I made sure to be quiet until I reached the second floor.

Despite the lack of noise coming from the ground floor, I was still surprised to find Jay already in the bedroom, sitting on his side of the bed scrolling through his phone.

He doesn't look up when I enter the room so rather than trying to engage in a conversation that was clearly going to be one sided I head over to the dresser and get myself changed for bed. Once I had the sweats on and shirt over my head I unwrap the towel, bringing it with me as I approach the door to hang it up beside Macie's. Before I can get out the room again though, Jay's voice stops me in my tracks, making me turn around and face him with an unimpressed stare as I watch him climb off the bed and trek over to where I was now stood.

He sighs. "Look Hailey, I'm sorry for being a complete ass."

I raise my eyebrows to him, going to cut in but he had other plans, having evidently planned out what he was to say first in his head.

Jay holds his hand out, as if trying to shush me quiet to allow him to continue. "I just freaked out this morning, when you said you were going back to work. It just made me think about that day at the district and I know I shouldn't have been surprised by you wanting to go back to work though, because of course you wanted to go back, but I think I just got scared and I've clearly got some rooted fear that I've got to deal with on my own. But I want you to know that I support you, one hundred percent, so if you wanna stay on duty then you do it, for as long as you want. And you don't have to tell Voight, not yet at least, we can just keep this news to ourselves for a bit longer."

I pause for a beat, just to ensure he was done speaking, before I nod slowly, keeping my face straight. "Thank you." I whisper.

Jay tilts his head to one side, sending me a quizzical look. "We good?"

I can't help the smile that gradually appears on my lips. "We're good," I reassure and I see an opportunity that I immediately take before Jay could jump in. "We're always gonna be good."

The look on Jay's face tells me everything, that he knows where I had gotten that line from, that I had repeated what he had told me nearer the beginning of our partnership. He opens his arms and hesitantly takes me into his embrace, only sinking into it fully when I start hugging him back. I feel his lips peck against the top of my head and it makes me smile a little more into the hug.