Note: I got this prompt on tumblr chicagounivers-linstead.

Here you go Anon, I hope I did it justice.

Prompt:

Hey I was reading some of your fanfics on ao3 and I was wondering if you take requests? If you do I would love if you could write a linstead high school au where jay gets bullied a lot (by like other characters in the show) and Erin is like popular and really nice so one day she kind of like sees him getting bullied and helps him and overtime she sort of protects him in a way and they start to fall in love haha again sorry if you don't take fic requests! Thanks!

Highschool Story

Hiding under an arcade, Jay was waiting for classes to start, so he'd make it safely to his. Ever since this morning, he was hiding. He accidentally bumped into the most popular girl in school, and as he was about to apologize, her gorilla boyfriend had gripped him by his collar and pushed him into the nearest wall. He had gotten lucky, because one of the teachers was walking the halls, so Kelly had to let go of him, but with the promise to find him again when nobody was around.

So, literally, worst day ever.

"You're late, Mr. Halstead." Mrs. Platt gave him a look before she continued. "Two pages on why that was the case, due tomorrow." She finished her sentence before she continued writing something down on the board in front of the class. He kept his head down, knowing Kelly was watching him from behind him. He knew this was going to be a long, long day.

"What happened, honey?" Jay's mom came running out of the kitchen as she saw her son approach. Jay's shirt was torn, and his knee was bleeding, as was his lip. "Was it the Severide kid again?"

She grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

"It's ok, Mom, you should see the other guy." Jay tried to hide that he was hurt, but knew that he couldn't fool his mom.

She took a step back to look at Jay. "That's it! I'm gonna call the school."

"Please don't. You'd only make it worse. I can handle it, I promise," Jay pleaded.

She laid her hand on his cheek, tilting her head to the side. "Ok. But if this doesn't stop soon, I'll call."

"What's for dinner, Mom?" Jay asked, hoping she'd drop the difficult topic.

"Lasagna."

"My favorite."

She ran her fingers through her son's short hair. "I know."

He'd be lying if he said he hadn't noticed how beautiful Kelly's girlfriend was. She was the most beautiful girl in school. And that meant she was way out of his league, the unpopular league, the duff league, the getting beaten up every day league. But there he was anyway, hiding in his spot again, his heavy backpack between his feet on ground.

Jay was waiting under the arcade for class to start. He'd probably be late again, but this time, it wasn't so bad. Mr. Boden, the science teacher, liked him, because he knew about his situation at home. Jay didn't like that part so much, but Mr. Boden always treated him with respect and not pity, so that made it less painful. Jay appreciated that, and was glad to at least have someone on his side in this hell-hole of a school.

Her brown hair was hanging in waves over her shoulders. She was sitting between Kelly's legs, leaning against him but talking to another girl. Jay assumed it was her best friend Kim. He'd seen them together before, talking and laughing. Her pure skin, her beautiful laugh, her raspy voice, made her look like an angel. So near, but yet so unreachable. Jay caught himself staring once again. He grabbed his stuff and turned around, crashing into someone.

'Not again,' he thought, while preparing to get beaten up again.

Nothing happened. Instead, he heard a voice. Jay opened his eyes - he hadn't noticed he had closed them - and was now facing a skinny guy with dark blond hair.

"H- Hi," he managed to say. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...you know, crash into you."

The boy grinned sheepishly and extended his hand to Jay. "Hi, I'm Greg. But my friends call me Mouse."

Jay took the hint and shook Greg's hand. "Nice to meet you, Greg," he said shyly.

"You can call me Mouse."

"But I thought only your friends call you Mouse?"

"You are my friend," Mouse said, slapping Jay on the shoulder.

"I'm Jay."

Mouse smiled. "Nice to meet you, Jay." Noticing Jay looking over his shoulder, he followed his gaze. "Erin Lindsay, huh?"

"W-What?" Jay's eyes shot back to Mouse's face.

He slapped Jay on the shoulder again. "I don't blame you, she's a bombshell."

"No, you got it all wrong." Not sure if he was trying to convince Mouse or himself, he started walking to class.

Mouse caught up with him. "Wait for me, you gotta show me the way to science class."

"When did you move here?" Jay heard himself ask as they walked the halls side by side.

"A week ago. This is my first day in school, actually."

"How come you already know Erin?"

"C'mon! Is that really a question?"

Jay grinned. "True!"

"There you are, Halstead."

Severide and his bunch of idiots were surrounding him again. Which wouldn't be so bad if he was alone, except now Mouse was standing next to him.

"Go away, Severide."

"Woohoo, JJ seems to have eaten some bravery for breakfast!"

Laughter filled the air, and before Jay could react, Kelly's fist hit him in the face. He hit the ground, smelling the blood that was now running down his chin from the open wound on his lip.

"Stop it, Kelly. That's enough."

Jay looked up and saw Erin pulling on Kelly's sleeve.

"Stop it," she repeated, this time with force. Kelly looked at her, and without another look to the ground, grabbed her hand and pulled her out of there.

Mouse held out his hand. "C'mon, I'll help you up."

"Thanks." Jay reached for him and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"Does that happen a lot?"

"What do you think?" Jay's anger came through in his voice. Even though he knew it wasn't Mouse's fault, he felt anger towards him. "You shouldn't hang around with me," he added, regretting the words the moment they had left him.

"But I want to."

"You get beaten up if you hang with me."

"Then I'll hit back."

Jay's eyes went big. "Are you insane?" he asked in disbelief.

"No, why? I'm not afraid of these scumbags, and you shouldn't be either."

"You're crazy."

"No, I just refuse to be afraid."

"That's stupid."

"Maybe."

Three weeks and twelve bruises later.

Jay's back hurt as he was pressed against his locker by none other than Kelly Severide. "Stop talking to my girl. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." Kelly loosened his grip on Jay. "If you talk to her one more time, you're dead." With that, Severide let go of him.

Jay was watching him walk away when he felt Mouse's presence next to him.

"Everything ok?"

Jay nodded, keeping his eyes on his foe.

"You really need to start defending yourself."

"I know."

"You just say that to make me shut up."

"No, I would never."

"Shut up!"

Laughing, they changed subject.

"I need to go straight home after school, to study for the next science test." They started walking to class together.

"You don't need to study more, Mr. Boden will give you an A anyway."

"He gives me As because I deserve them," Jay said indignantly. Mouse started to laugh, and soon they both were.

"Jay?"

The voice he heard behind him belonged to Erin. And that couldn't mean anything good. Jay refused to look back, and instead increased his speed, walking the last few feet to the exit and out to the street.

"Jay, wait a second." Her raspy voice filled his mind, making him stop. Deep inside, he knew it was a bad idea. His brain told him to run, but something made him stop anyway. He turned around abruptly, causing her to walk right into him. Steadying her, Jay held on until he was sure she wouldn't fall.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." He looked around, expecting Kelly to punch him.

Erin smiled. "Kelly isn't here."

"How did you...?" He looked at her, confused.

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's obvious."

"What do you want?"

"I need your help." She paused, and Jay noticed her taking a deep breath before she continued. "I couldn't help but notice that you are good in science. And I wanted to ask you if you could help me get my grades up."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because you're a good guy."

"Says who?"

"Me."

"You don't know me."

"That may be true, but you're my only hope. So, will you help me?"

Jay studied her for a moment. Their eyes locked, and he could tell that she was sincere.

"Tomorrow after school. Bring your books."

He didn't wait for an answer, leaving her standing there instead. While his stomach was full of butterflies, his mind was slapping him. He knew he'd regret his decision to tutor her.

"Good day at school, hon?"

Jay, smiling like a kid that just got the car he had always wanted, sat down at the dining table waiting for his mom to serve dinner. "The best, Mom. The best."

The fact that he'd be studying with Erin tomorrow after school kept him from sleeping. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and switched it on.

"... over," Jay whispered.

"I'm here. over."

"What are ya doing?"

"Trying to sleep?! What are you doing?"

"Can't sleep." Rattled by the noise he heard from downstairs, he pulled the sheets over his head.

"Could that have anything to do with you talking to Erin this afternoon? Over."

"How?" Jay carefully checked to make sure he still was alone in his room as Mouse answered.

"I saw you two talking. You know he will find out, right? I am so proud of you."

"She wants my help."

"Doing what?"

"Getting her through science class."

"That's your chance."

"My chance for what?"

"To get her to fall in love with you, of course. What did you think?"

"You're insane. I'd be happy if I just made it through this semester. If Kelly finds out, I am a dead man, and you can come visit me at the cemetery."

"Take the chance." There was a pause. "My mom woke up. Got to go. See ya tomorrow. Over." And with that the line went dead. Jay lifted the sheets off his head and let himself fall back against the soft pillow. Carefully, he put the device into the drawer of his nightstand, and crossed his arms behind his head.

He hadn't seen Kelly the whole day. Even though he was careful, he'd usually run into him at least twice a day. But today, the guy seemed to have disappeared. Jay kept looking over his shoulder anyway, afraid he may walk into a trap like a few weeks ago, when Severide and his gang had suddenly had appeared behind him and forced his head into the toilet while one of them flushed it. Mouse had been home sick, so he had been all alone, and couldn't do anything about it. The only thing that had made them stop was Erin's voice calling them outside because another guy was hitting on a friend of hers.

Everybody had left for the day, and the school was quiet. Jay was waiting for Erin. She was late already, and he was starting to think that it had all been a joke. He was about to leave when he saw her walking around the corner.

She wore black skinny jeans and a yellow blouse than hung loosely over her hips. Her hair was pulled into a tight pony tail and was kept together by what looked like a red pencil. His eyes roamed over her body. She was smiling, and he could swear she was swinging her hips more than necessary. He tried to play it cool, but he wasn't sure if he was doing a good job. Probably not, by the way her smile was growing with every step she took to close the distance between them. She came to a halt in front of him, not invading his personal space but close enough that he smelled her perfume.

"Where to?" she asked curiously.

"The library."

"Wow, you really are bad at this stuff."

Jay was explaining something for the third time, when he noticed her staring at him. He laid his pen down on the table next to his textbook. "What is it?" he asked cautiously.

Her shoulders hung as if she was carrying the weight of the world on them. "Why are you helping me?"

"What do you mean?"

She didn't answer, the silence between them growing heavy.

"I'm helping you because you asked me," he finally said.

"As simple as that?" Her big brown eyes scrutinized him, awaiting an answer.

"As simple as that, yes. And because you're really bad at this stuff."

Erin slapped his upper arm "Hey..." she joked, and they both started to laugh.

The time went by way too fast for Jay's liking, but eventually he had to head home. It was already early evening when they left the school, walking home together. The silence this time around wasn't heavy or difficult. It felt good.

Erin was the first to break it. "Thanks for helping me today."

"You're welcome."

"Can we do it again the day after tomorrow?"

Jay stopped walking and looked at her, surprise written all over his face. "You want me to help you study again?"

"Yes. You know, for a genius you sure seem stupid," she joked.

"But..."

"But what?" Erin asked fiercely.

"Won't Kelly mind?" Jay almost whispered.

"I don't care what Kelly says. I don't want to fail this class. My dad's going to kill me if I do."

The look on her face made it very hard for Jay to say no. So he just said yes.

Erin was so happy that she hugged him tight. He walked her home even though she said she would be fine going home alone.

She talked the whole way, telling him about stuff that happened in her life. Jay walked beside her, listening, nodding from time to time but never interrupting. He was interested in what she had to say, and he felt comfortable around her.

She stopped in front of a townhouse not far from where he lived.

"That's me. Thanks for walking me home." She brushed her hand over his arm before she headed up the driveway that lead to her house.

He watched her until she was inside before continuing on to his place.

Sometime during the night, Mouse's voice filled his bedroom. "Dude, how was it? Over."

"Good. Over."

"Good? Is that all? Over."

Jay smiled into the darkness before answering his best friend. "It was nice."

"Tomorrow I want some details. Over and out."

"Night," Jay replied, but the line was already dead.

It had been two weeks since Jay started helping Erin, and up until today, he hadn't had any regrets.

His day had started normally, and he was looking forward to spending the afternoon at his house with her. He'd been through the same old awful and painful torture that he went through every day, but knowing he was going to get to spend some time with the girl he had a crush on made it so much better.

Jay went to school like he did every day. He didn't know what to expect, so he tried his best not to act any differently than he normally would. He was standing under the arcade like he always did, waiting for Mouse to join him. He used that time to search the crowd for Erin.

He found her sitting next to her friends. She was wearing her hair down today. With her long brown locks gleaming in the sunlight, she looked like an angel.

"What are you looking at?"

Kelly Severide stood in front of him, all tall and dangerous. Why he hadn't noticed him approaching was a mystery to him.

Kelly pushed him away. "Get lost!"

Jay stumbled backwards into the lockers. He hurt his shoulder, but didn't pay it any attention. "Or what?" he said, starting to get pissed. He knew he had to control himself at some point, because he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against the best Lacrosse player the school had ever had.

"Or I'll punch your teeth so hard they'll play Piano in your ass!" he hissed, so dangerously close to Jay that the latter could feel the spit out of Kelly's mouth.

"Enough!" Erin's voice broke the tension that hung over them like a cloud.

Severide turned around.

"What?" Disbelief was written all over his face as he watched his girlfriend stand in front of him, defending the loser. "Are you serious?"

She stood her ground. "Let him be, Kelly. He's done nothing to you."

They weren't alone anymore. A crowd had gathered, and a group of students was caging them in, hoping to get a glimpse of the action. Videos were made, but it was quiet otherwise, except for the sound of Erin's voice.

"I said let. Him. Go." She walked around Kelly until she was standing next to Jay. Taking her hand into his, she pulled him away, through the circle of students into an empty hallway, not even stopping once to look over her shoulder.

Jay had let it happen. He had let her stand in for him. Him, the biggest loser in school. How could he do that? Now she was on the blacklist as well. Because of him, she'd be an outsider just like he was. She'd be doomed to sit with the geeks and duffs, and whatever other strange students this school had to offer. And all because he couldn't take his eyes off her. Because he'd been so in his thoughts about her, he had blocked out everything else around her.

"You need to go back to them." Jay stopped, as did she.

"What?" She turned around and watched him carefully, trying to figure out what he meant.

"You need to get back to them. Tell them you punched me for looking at you, tell them that it was all just a game," Jay said, his eyes on the floor beneath his feet.

"You were watching me?"

"Out of everything I just said, that's what you remember?"

She smiled.

He looked even more confused.

"Do you think I'm beautiful?"

He noticed the sparkle in her eyes as she asked him that question.

"Yes," he whispered. Then, a little louder, "is that a trick question?" As he looked up at her, he found her smiling. And not just any smile, no, a smile so beautiful he was sure it was not of this world.

"God, you are breathtaking," he mumbled.

"You're not so bad yourself, Jay Halstead."

Laughter filled the hallway. Closing the gap between them, she invaded his personal space.

"I'm serious. Please believe me. I don't care what others say. I got to know you these past few weeks, and from what I can tell...you are one of the nicest, cutest guys I know." Her lips brushed over his cheek where she placed a gentle kiss onto his skin.

Jay took her hand in his. "God, I really like you."

Smiling she looked at their combined hands and back into his eyes. "I like you too."

End