Another story, you ask? Yes. This is what quarantine life has reduced me to so I hope you guys join me as I try to flood this site with many Linstead stories as I could.

Part I

Jay ran down the alley, panting hard. The perp was right in front of him and Jay could almost reach out to grab him. He ignored the burning in his legs and willed them to go faster even more. Just a little bit faster then the perp would be right in Jay's hands.

"Stop! Chicago P.D!" Jay shouted, although he had no idea why. It wasn't as though any perps ever stopped just because a cop told them to but at this point in his career, it was practically ingrained in him already. His boots sloshed through the puddles on the dirty ground and he cringed when water got inside and his socks got wet. It slowed him down for just a millisecond but it was enough time for the guy he was chasing to find an open door and made his way inside the unknown room.

"Location, Halstead!" Jay heard his Sergeant demand information over his radio.

"Northwest on Cermak, in the Alley," Jay supplied, words breaking with his pants. "Suspect is inside the warehouse. I'll make entry."

"No!" Voight shouted over the radio. "Not without backup. Wait for backup, Halstead!"

Jay stood with his back against the wall, his gun in his hand, and he leaned to the side slowly to get a visual inside the dark room. He cussed to himself when the suspect was nowhere to be seen. Jay knew the area fairly well and knew that there were exits that could easily lead to sewers underground. The possibility of the suspect getting away if Jay wait for backup was high and he knew he couldn't afford to wait. Not if he wanted to bring the perp in. There were a lot of families waiting for justice for their murdered loved ones and Jay knew he wouldn't be able to look any of them in the eyes if he let this guy get away.

"Can't do Serg!" Jay whispered harshly into his radio. "He'll get away. I'm going in!"

"Halstead!" Voight was screaming from the other side now. "That was an order. Stay down until back up get there! Ruzek and Atwater are on their way."

Jay grunted and tore off his earpiece that was connecting him with his team. He had already made his decision and it was easier to get the guy if he didn't have to hear Voight screaming in his ears. He held his gun in a tight grip and made his way inside, his pupils dilating to adjust to the dark. He blinked several times to get his bearings inside the room and made his way further inside the warehouse. He almost knocked over some barrels but managed to side-stepped them at the last second, still keeping his presence in the warehouse a secret. He slowly made his way in, his eyes scanning the room for the suspect. He saw a dim light coming a few feet away and he headed towards it. The light gave way to the moving shadow and Jay had found out the suspect's location.

As quietly as he could, he headed towards where the perp was and found the guy trying to open the door that would lead him outside. The guy was desperately pulling on the handle that he didn't notice Jay coming up from behind him. Jay holstered his gun and grabbed the guy from behind, slamming him into the wall.

"Stop!" Jay grunted as he struggled to hold onto the guy who was thrashing as much as he could. He elbowed Jay in his stomach causing Jay to let loose on the guy before he quickly recovered and grabbed onto him again. They remained locked in battle, trying to gain the upper hand on each other. There were punches thrown, elbows shoved in faces and Jay had enough. The suspect managed to get loose but before he made it far, Jay just tackled him from behind, throwing his whole weight onto him. The suspect fell over with Jay on top of him and finally Jay was enough to hold the guy down enough to subdue him. He took out of his gun and pointed it to the suspect's back. "If you want to die here right now, keep on moving!" Jay warned, pressing the gun into the guys' back. "Or be smart and stop fucking moving!"

Finally the suspect knew he was outpowered and he just put his hands up, surrendering. Jay grabbed the two hands and brought them down to cuff him. At that moment, Adam and Kevin came running in, albeit too late. Jay stood up and let the two bring the guy up to take him back to the station.

"You alright, Halstead?" Kevin asked. Jay worked his jaw, opening it and moving it side to side. It felt tender and he knew it would bruise but he just nodded. He was still walking and sometimes, that was enough of a win in his profession.

"Just dump the guy in the hole," Jay remarked and Kevin patted his back before he and Adam left with the suspect in tow.

"Halstead! Get in my office now!" All eyes in the bullpen fell on Jay after hearing Voight's bark. They all knew that he was pretty much in the dog house and tried to give him smiles of consolation as he slowly stood up and made his way inside the office.

"Serge," Jay greeted as he saw a fuming Voight waiting inside. "Should I close the door?"

The glare that Voight gave him made it clear that he wasn't in the mood for one of Jay's smartass remarks. Jay just shut the door and took the seat across from his Sergeant, waiting to be pretty much raked over the coals.

"I think I must've missed something here, Halstead," Voight began, his gravelly voice sounding low. Voight usually had two modes— barking out orders or speaking real low, leading people into a false sense of security. But Jay had been around the guy enough to know that the real scary Voight was when his voice got real low like it was right now. But Jay held his ground. He was an Army Ranger for god's sake. He'd seen much scarier things during his tour than his Sergeant getting angry.

"What did you miss, Serge?"

"I must've missed the part when you passed the Sergeant exam and somehow kicked me out of my job to become the Sergeant of Intelligence," Voight sneered. "I mean, what else could explain why you thought you had the right to disobey my order to wait for backup and go after Dunham alone?!" Voight banged his hands on the table, expecting Jay to flinch.

"We got him didn't we?" Jay returned back, unflinching. "If I had waited for backup, he would've gotten away."

Jay didn't think it was possible for the anger on Voight's face to grow even more. "So that gave you the right to not listen to me?"

Jay shrugged. "We're a team, right? I respect you, Serg but I have to follow my instincts."

"That's funny, Halstead. You say you respect me. You say we're a team but your actions prove otherwise. It's like you think you're a one-man team here and the rest of the team is useless to you because you know best right? You know better than everyone else."

"That's not fair and you know it's not true!" Jay respected his team and liked them. Sure he had the tendency to go half-cocked but it wasn't because he didn't trust his team.

"The only thing I do know is that I'm tired of your bullshit here," Voight shot back. "I'm tired of you thinking you know better than everyone else. Disobeying orders whenever you damn please. I've let you off the hook many times before but no more."

"You're firing me?" Jay asked, incredulously. He gave his all to the job. It was his life. He didn't even want to think about losing his badge.

"You're a good detective but you need to learn that you don't run the show here. I do." Voight stood up and walked over to his side, staring Jay down. "You want to keep this job? You want to stay in my unit?"

Jay nodded and immediately felt like he made a mistake when Voight smirked. It was like he just made a deal with the devil.

"The Ivory Tower is looking for a detective to be a technical consultant for the new movie they're shooting downtown. And guess who I just volunteered for the the job?"

Jay stood up and cocked his hands on his hips. "You can't be serious Serg!" There was no way Voight was punishing him by making him do this. Jay having to be around stuck-up actors and teach police procedurals to a bunch of airheads? "Come on!"

Voight grinned devilishly, enjoying Jay's reaction to the punishment. "You start tomorrow. You have a choice here. Either do the job and stay in Intelligence or go back on patrol."

Jay's jaw clenched in anger, Voight looking expectantly at him. "Fine," Jay grunted as he pulled the door open. He knew there was nothing he could do when Voight had made up his mind and it was apparent that Voight had made up his mind to make Jay's life as miserable as he could. Jay stormed out of the office.

"Don't worry, Halstead!" Voight shouted after him, amusement coloring his voice. "It's only for five months!" Jay ignored the amused chuckles of his sadistic Sergeant as he ran down the steps of the bullpen, needing a hard drink.

Jay had never been on a movie set before. Hell, he had never been on anything that came close to anything like a movie set. The only similar thing he could recall was when he went on a family vacation to California and they had visited Universal Studios and had gone on one of those cheesy backlot tour. But this wasn't anything like that, at all.

For one thing, the movie was being filmed on location so the downtown of Chicago was closed off for the production, barricades keeping people out. There were trailers parked down the street, some of them bigger than Jay's own apartment. Tons of people were running around, some of them looking like they were in a frenzy while others sat in those director chairs, reading over the scripts. Jay made his way over to where the cameras and other equipments were kept and he let out a whistle at how fancy they looked. Not to mention, expensive.

"Hey be careful!" Jay turned around and found a guy around his age making his way over. Jay took a step back from the equipments.

"I was just looking."

"Yeah?" The guy surveyed the equipments as if Jay had somehow damaged them just by looking. "Sorry," the guy offered. "It's just these things are expensive and worth more than my life. Literally."

Jay just nodded, understandingly. He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets and looked around. The guy scanned him up and down, Jay feeling uncomfortable under his beady stare.

"So what are you?" Jay frowned at the question, wondering what he meant. "Are you an actor? An extra? An intern?"

"Oh, Jay Halstead. I'm supposed to be the police consultant for this." Jay introduced himself.

"Ah right. Right. I'm Greg but you can call me Mouse. Everyone does." Jay just lifted his brow at the nickname but shrugged it off. He had heard far worse nicknames before. "So you're the police consultant huh?" He chuckled. "So you're here to teach everyone what to do to make the scenes more realistic?"

"I guess," Jay shrugged. "I mean, I'm not really sure? It's my first time doing this."

"I sort of guessed," Mouse replied with a laugh. "Don't worry. Most of the people are nice. And just stay away from the assholes and don't worry, you'll know who they are because they usually show themselves."

"Got it." Jay glanced over at the guy and confirmed that he wasn't one of the assholes he mentioned. "So what do you do here?"

"Pretty much anything and everything. I go where I need to."

"Is that why your name is Mouse?"

Mouse laughed. "No. I guess that fit too but nah. I got that name back when I served."

Jay's eyebrows rose in surprise. If he had a million guesses, he'd never would've guessed that Mouse was a soldier. He looked nothing like the guys that Jay had served with. "You were in the military?"

"Yeah. Don't look so surprised." Jay opened his mouth to apologize but Mouse cut him off. "Don't worry. You're not the first to think that. I was a Ranger and worked on communications."

"What? I was a Ranger!" Jay exclaimed, suddenly feeling kinship with the guy. "3rd Battalion."

"Me too!" They shared another handshake, a commiseration of what they went through. "This is cool. So you're a cop now?"

"Detective, actually." He scratched the back of his neck. "At least, I'll still be a detective if I do this thing."

"So this wasn't your choice was it?" Jay shook his head, making a face. "Yeah me either. I never thought I'd work in this industry but you got to go where life takes you." He patted Jay's back. "Come on, I'll take you over to the producers and they'll take over."

After Mouse had made the introduction, Jay had been whisked away by the executives to the meeting room set up in one of the trailers that were parked. He sat down as they pretty much bombarded him with information, his mind running trying to catch everything they were saying.

So far his mind had catalogued the facts that the movie was called Chicago P.D— 'real creative', Jay scoffed to himself— and the movie starred Landon Vanack who was apparently the hottest actor currently and Erin Lindsay, a longtime television darling who was making the transition into blockbuster movies. The producers wanted a real life police officer on set to consult with to make the scenes more realistic and captivating and that was where Jay came in. He was to train and offer suggestions and advice while they shot the movie and Jay tried not to show in his face just how much he didn't want to be there. He was supposed to be a detective in a specialized unit, not some rent-a-cop on a movie set. But five months. Five months. He kept repeating that in his head. Just five months to get Voight off his back and he was considering himself to be lucky that Voight was allowing him to do his actual job and this punishment simultaneously. At least he was getting paid handsomely for it.

"So if you don't have any questions…" the procedure said, concluding their meeting.

"I do have one." Jay raised his finger. "Why aren't these actors prepped before the shooting begins? You said they don't have any experience on how a cop does his job right? Then they should have gone through a training regime or something before the filming starts."

The procedure gave him a condescending smile, one that was meant to come off as patient to a pair of less scrutinizing eyes. "Jay, I know this is your first time doing this so you are a little green on how everything works. But usually the shooting moves fast and unfortunately, training regimes aren't fitted in the schedule." Jay just shot them an umimpressed look back. The producer sighed. "Okay, how about a compromise? We start shooting in two days so you have the two days to train the actors however you like?"

"Fine." Jay accepted, knowing that it was as good of an offer than he was going to get.

"Wonderful!" The producer cheered. "So now should we go meet the actors?"

The first person that Jay met was Landon and he was just as Jay had expected actors to be. Rude, arrogant and dismissive. He barely glanced at Jay before turning back to his phone and his cigarettes.

"Okay," Mouse, who had been assigned to take Jay around, just smiled uncomfortably and took Jay out of the trailer.

"Nice dude," Jay commented flatly as they made their way over to the next trailer.

"Yeah. That's considered his good mood." Mouse revealed. "Wait til he comes to work drunk and you'll see why people around the set call him 'prick Vanak'". They reached the next trailer and Mouse knocked, a woman's voice telling them to come in from the inside. "This is Erin Lindsay's trailer."

"Is she as friendly as that prick?"

"She's nice enough," Mouse replied. "But her manager is the one you have to look out for. Bunny is her name and trust me, there's nothing bunny-like about her. More like a bloodsucking leech." Jay just took in what Mouse told him and followed him inside the trailer. Inside, it was way bigger than Jay had expected, even with the group of women sitting around inside. Unlike Landon who was alone, Erin apparently had an entourage to accompany her.

"Erin," Mouse called to the woman whose back was to them, her face hidden from view. At the call of her name, she turned around and Jay saw her for the first time. As soon as he met her eyes, he understood why she was in this industry. She certainly had the looks for it, that was for sure. Jay tried not to stare at her too much, lest she think he was checking her out, even though if Jay had really thought about it, then he'd realized that she was probably used to it.

"Mouse." Jay was surprised to hear her voice— raspy and unlike anything he was expecting. She was smiling at them, her dimples showing, and Jay tried to smile back. She wasn't rude like Landon and actually knew Mouse's name without him having to say, unlike Landon who kept on calling Mouse a different name every five seconds and not bothering to learn his name.

"Mouse, why did you bring a stranger into the trailer?" the woman who Jay guessed was Bunny stepped forward, a scowl on her face, as she regarded Jay. The expression on her face made it clear that she didn't find Jay and his casual outfit completed with his usual leather jacket all that impressive.

"Bunny, this is Jay Halstead. He's the police consultant for the movie." Jay tried to shake Bunny's hands but she just gave him a tight smile. "He's going to be working with Erin and Landon."

"Nice to meet you, Jay." Erin stepped forward and offered her hand. Jay was about to take it for a handshake but Bunny stepped in between, blocking them. Jay wondered just what her problem was.

"Mouse," Bunny called again, not addressing Jay. "Is there a reason why brought hired help to the trailer?" Jay bit his tongue, not wanting to let this woman know what he was really thinking inside. Mouse stammered, trying to play peacemaker.

"Mom!" Erin called out, admonishing the woman. Bunny turned to look at Erin and they walked back a few feet and started whispering harshly to each other.

"Mom?" Jay asked with a quirk of his eyebrows. Mouse just mumbled back how Bunny was Erin's mom— an overprotective stage mom— under his breath. They waited awkwardly until Erin and Bunny got finished with their argument and Bunny just gave Jay an apologetic smile, fake as the blonde on her head. Jay just brushed it off. He wasn't here to make friends with anyone or be chummy with these people. He just wanted to do his job and go home.

"Sorry about that," Erin offered as she came to stand in front of them, giving Jay a closer look at the famous woman. Her hazel eyes were big and sparkly and her smile was beautiful and captivating. Jay shook himself out of his thoughts and tried to retain his professionalism. Really, he wasn't a fanboy. Just because he came close to a celebrity didn't mean his brain had to turn into mush. Even if the said celebrity was extremely beautiful. The most beautiful woman Jay had ever seen.

"That's okay." Jay smiled back. He looked over to the two other women in the room, whose eyes hadn't left him ever since he entered.

"Oh." Erin followed his eyesight. "These are my friends. This is Annie." Erin pointed to a woman with blonde curls.

"Friend and make-up artist," Annie added, giving Jay a warm smile.

"And this is Caitlin. She's in the movie with me."

"Just a small part," Caitlin said, coming up to shake Jay's hands. "Erin's the star here." An uncomfortable smile came on Erin's face at what Caitlin said. Before Jay could scrutinize the tension that filled the room, the trailer door busted open and a frantic looking girl came running in.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She rushed in, carrying a tray full of drinks. "But the cateres didn't have anything and the line at the smoothie place was too long."

"It's okay, Nadia," Erin reassured the girl as she helped take the tray from her. "Which one is mine?"

"Uh, this one." Nadia handed Erin her drink. "No peanut butter in the protein shake. I made double sure." Erin gave her a thank you smile and started sipping on her shake. Nadia passed around the drinks until she finally noticed Jay and Mouse in the room. "Uh sorry. I don't have any drinks left. I didn't know.."

"It's okay," Jay waved the girl's apology off. "We're good."

"Who are you?" Nadia asked Jay after she greeted Mouse, indicating that she was already familiar with the latter.

"This is Jay. He's the guy who's gonna make me look good," Erin said. "This is Nadia, she's my friend."

"And assistant!" Bunny added. "Jeez, you got to stop treating your employees like friends," Bunny muttered under her breath. "Now are we done with the introductions? Because we have a lot of prep work to do before the shooting starts and we need privacy."

Jay just nodded. "Yeah, we'll get out of your hair. But I just came by to let you know that we're having a training session tomorrow."

"Training session?" Bunny frowned. "It's not in the schedule."

"That's because I just scheduled it," Jay told her, crossing his arms. "We need to get at least a few sessions in before the shooting starts if you want to play a cop somewhat realistically."

"My daughter can do her job just fine, thank you very much!" Bunny bit back. "Who made you in charge?"

"I'm just doing my job!" Jay shot back, trying to sound calm despite his anger growing inside. "Take it up with the producers if you have a problem. Otherwise, I'll see you Erin at five in the morning in the lot."

He ignored Bunny sputtering in his face and just met Erin's eyes. She gave him a nod, telling him that she would be there. Satisfied with her answer, he left the trailer.

"Celebrities, huh?" Mouse chuckled knowingly, hitting Jay's shoulder. Jay could only scoff in return.

"Really man? The sun's not even out yet!" Landon whined as the group gathered in the empty lot for their training session. Erin just rolled her eyes at her co-stars while she shivered in the cold. She really hated the weather here, being a California girl all of her life. She wondered why she even took on this movie that apparently had to shoot in the winter to make it more authentic and to show the real grittiness of Chicago. At least that was the spiel the producers had given her and her mom. Erin was just glad that she had even gotten a leading role and hadn't thought about what the role actually entailed as much.

To say her career had been rocky of late would be an understatement. She spent too much of her twenties playing a teenager on a television series that had given her the big breakthrough that she and her mom had been waiting for. She was grateful for what One Tree Hill did for her but she just didn't want to play the same role for all of her life. So after nine long years on the show, she wanted to leave and since she was the lead, no Erin pretty much equaled no more show. Her co-stars weren't pleased to say the least, having their jobs cut by her departure and they had cut her off, sending fake information to gossip magazines about her to tarnish her reputation for revenge and the backlash had sent Erin down a deep spiral and eventually into rehab.

Not that anyone outside of her circle knew, thanks to Bunny's ruthless way of handling Erin's career. Sure there were rumors and speculations of her spiral and a few broken contracts that had been rescinded because of it but no one really had any confirmation of what happened to Erin nine months prior. Now she was sober and clean and she felt like she was finally on stable ground. She had learned a few lessons from her spiral— like not trust anyone and keep things to herself as much as she could. That was why her only friends were friends she grew up with before she became famous. She had known Annie forever, they grew up next door to each other in the trailer park in Los Angeles. When Erin had hit big time, she made sure to bring Annie along for the ride as her make-up artist and took Annie away from the trailer park. Caitlin, she met a few years after her first role. Caitlin was an aspiring child actor like Erin and they had even auditioned for the same roles a few time. But they had became close and had been friends ever since. Erin had even gotten her a small role in this movie. Nadia was the latest to join her circle but the younger girl had looked up to Erin and Erin had a soft spot for the girl, taking her under her wings.

She buried her hands in her jacket in a sad attempt to keep warm. Her castmates were grumbling unhappily about having to get up at such an early time for a training session they deemed unnecessary. But a stern look from their trainer, Jay, had shut them up quickly. Erin studied the detective as he stood in front of the group, his arms pulled across his chest, the bulging muscles seen even through the dark henley he was wearing. She had no idea how he wasn't freezing but he seemed perfectly comfortable in his thin shirt and sweatpants that outlined his muscular thighs perfectly. So Erin was checking her instructor out. Can anyone blame her? Erin wasn't blind to see that Jay was hot— perfectly built with killer eyes and a smile to match. Not that he ever showed his smile. That scowl was practically a permanent fixture on his face ever since she met him yesterday. It was clear that Jay wasn't a big fan of being around them and she'd bet all of her money in her bank account that he wasn't here voluntarily.

"Today I'm going to showing you how to get out of the car properly after a car chase!" Jay started, his biceps jumping with every movement. Erin tried to pay attention to what he was saying and not how he looked like.

"Uh I'm pretty sure we all know how to get out a fucking car! Not like it's rocket science!" Landon joked, looking around his castmates and waiting for them to laugh at his poor attempt at humor. Erin grumbled underneath her breath about being stuck with the dumbass and having to film romantic scenes with him. He was as insufferable as they came and fitted every stereotype of a Hollywood trainwreck to a tee.

Jay sucked in his cheeks and tossed Landon the car keys, pointing to a beat up Supra parked a few feet away. "Let's see your skills then!" Jay challenged. And that was how Erin found herself in the car with Landon.

"Man, can you believe this guy?" Landon complained when they were in the car, waiting for Jay to give the go-ahead to start driving. "It's fucking driving and parking. How hard can it be? He got a stick up his ass."

Erin rolled her eyes. "Just do it then Landon."

"What's wrong with you?" Landon asked her, side eyeing her. "Hungover?"

"No, I'm not you." Erin shot back. "I'm tired and cold and the faster we get done with this, the faster I can go inside where it's warm. You want to talk big? Then show him." Landon just scoffed and turned his eyes back outside the window. As soon as Jay gave them the signal to start driving, Landon floored the gas pedal and the car screeched as it peeled from its parked position. Erin held onto the side of the car and almost banged her head in the dashboard when Landon slammed on the brakes suddenly.

"What the fuck?" Erin cussed. She would've cussed him out more but she didn't have time to as Jay was signaling them to get out of the car and get into position to stop the suspect. She pushed her annoyance aside and get out of the car, leaning on the door with her arms held out, an imaginary gun in her hand and shouted 'Police! Stop!'

Erin didn't even have time to debate whether she did a good job or not when she suddenly felt Jay's arms around her and lifted her up and away from the car. She held onto his strong shoulders at the sudden movement, feeling his hard body pressed against her. Only when he set her down on the ground a few feet away that she realized that the car was still rolling, Landon chasing after it because he forgot to set the gear in parked.

Jay ran around to the other side, Landon smartly getting out of the way, and Jay managed to get inside the car and stepped on the brake and shifted the car into the parked position before it hit the barricade just a few feet ahead of it.

"Rocket science huh?" Jay glared at Landon who had the decency to look embarrassed at his mistake. Jay just shook his head in annoyance before turning to the rest of the group. "That's why we need the training session! Are you guys ready now?"

No one dared to refuse him.

After the morning training session, Jay headed into work, ready to shed off his jacket and do some actual police work. Make an actual difference in the world. He was the first to arrive as always, even with the extra morning task and he busied himself, getting the coffee machine started for everyone.

He was about to serve himself a second cup of coffee when Adam and Kevin made a beeline straight into the break room for him, idiotic grins on their faces. Jay knew without them having said anything that they wanted details because for some reason, they thought he was lucky to work on the movie set and be around movie stars. If Jay could trade places with either of them, he totally would.

"So?" Adam asked, rubbing his hands together. "How was it?"

Jay just shrugged. "Fine."

"Oh come on!" Adam shouted. "You lucky bastard! You get to hang out with Erin Lindsay and you don't even appreciate it."

"First of all, it's not hanging out. It's work. Extra work that I don't want to be doing." Jay corrected.

"Even if it means being around Erin Lindsay?" Kevin questioned.

Jay just rolled his eyes. "Are you two going to say her full name every time?"

"No!" Adam protested. "Not every time. But come on dog, it's Erin Lindsay!"

"Okay, that's starting to get really annoying." Jay grumbled, walking out of the break room to get away from them and headed to his desk. But he should've known that they would follow.

"Just tell us." Kevin begged. "Is she as hot as she looked on t.v? Is she nice or is she one of those stuck-up actresses?'

"Does she smell good?" Adam added, earning strange looks from both Jay and Kevin. "What? I just always wondered how she'd smell like." Adam defended himself. "Well?"

"She's nice, I guess." Jay replied, if not just to get them off his back.

"Just nice?"

"Nicer than that ass Landon Vanak or whatever his name is," Jay revealed. "Yeah she's nice. And she's pretty."

"And how did she smell like?" Adam asked again, not dropping the question. Jay just shrugged.

"Nice? I don't know. I'm not sniffing her like a dog!"

Adam just shook his head, like he was disappointed in Jay. "That's a real shame, Halstead." He tsked at him. "Tomorrow, I expect a full report on it." Jay just kicked Adam on the butt, shoving him away from his desk. Kevin just laughed, pulling Adam away in a headlock, muttering about getting away from Jay before Adam got kicked in more vulnerable spot on his body.

Jay was pulling double duty— his usual job in Intelligence by day and running back to the set to consult and prepare for the movie shooting whenever he got a break from Intelligence. That was why he was back on the set later that day, to help the assistant director with the first scene they'd be shooting in a couple of days. The A.D listened as Jay described how a car chase in real life worked, what it entailed and the two went back and forth on the logistics of it. Dare he say it, it was almost fun for him. He was passionate about his work and the A.D was passionate about his and the two meshed well, trading and bouncing ideas off of each other.

"You look like you're in a good mood," he heard the raspy voice addressing him as he was making himself a plate from the caterer table. He turned around and found Erin making her way over to him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You don't have that usual scowl on your face," she explained. She thanked him with a smile when he handed her an empty plate and she began filling it with fruits and a few sticks of celery and carrots, forgoing the more delicious looking pastries on the table.

"I don't have a scowl!" Jay defended himself as he helped himself to a scrumptious looking chocolate croissant complete with almond shavings on top. Erin just gave him a look at his denial. "Maybe I do," he gave in.

"Hey, I get it. If I have to be around the people I don't want to be, I'd have a scowl on my face too." Jay turned his head to look at her and she just smiled back, preempting his half-hearted denial about not wanting to be around them. He just didn't want to be around idiots like Landon. Erin wasn't Landon. "It's okay," Erin reassured him, nudging him a little bit with her shoulders. "My guess is this wasn't your first choice to be here, was it?"

Jay shook his head. "Not really." He watched silently as she finished topping her plate with a few cherry tomatoes. "Is that all you're going to eat?" he asked her, looking at her meager snack plate while his was filled with croissant, a few pieces of brownies and more unhealthy things.

Erin nodded, munching on a piece of celery. "Have to watch my figure. We can't all eat what we want and still look like you."

Jay eyed her, wondering if she was flirting with him. But he quickly shoved the idea out of his head. She was a famous celebrity. Not to mention, she was drop dead gorgeous and could pretty much have any guy she wanted. There was no way she would be flirting with him. He picked up a croissant with the tong and waved it in front of her face.

"You sure? This looks really good." He tried to tempt her with the pastry.

"No," Erin frowned, taking a step back. "Not just because I'm afraid of gaining weight but because I don't want to end up in the hospital or die." Jay looked confused. "I'm allergic to nuts."

"Oh!" Jay quickly dropped the croissant back onto the tray. "Sorry!" Erin just waved his apology off and she turned back to the table, her hair whipping around and giving Jay a slight whiff of a sweet fragrance. Jay thought back to his earlier conversation with Adam and he felt like a creep, memorizing how good Erin smelled. He cursed his friend for even putting the idea in his head. 'Freaking Ruzek!'

Erin turned back around and her eyes slightly narrowed at the inner turmoil that Jay was having with himself. Jay just schooled his face into neutral so she wouldn't ask any questions. He'd imagine she was used to creepy fans but he didn't want to come across as one. He wasn't.

"So what are we going to learn about tomorrow?" Erin asked him. "How to cuff a guy? Make the hideous police uniform look decent?"

Jay didn't think Erin had any troubles looking good in a police uniform but he kept his thoughts to himself. "A few more basic things that every halfway decent cop should know. Like how to shoot a gun properly."

The expression on Erin's face at the mention of a gun made it apparent that she had never fired a gun before. Oh, this was going to be fun.

"At least the sun's out!" Erin said with a shrug of her shoulders as they started their second training the next day. This time it was only Erin and a couple of other people in the cast. Landon had demanded to be trained by someone else after what had happened yesterday so he wasn't present, much to everyone's enjoyment. At least they didn't have to put up with him.

Jay had set up tables a few meters away with glass milk bottles stacked up on top of one another, the targets for their shooting lesson today. And somehow, the black henley that he was sporting today was even tighter than the one yesterday and he had rolled his sleeves up a third way, giving her a full view of the veins that ran up and down his forearms. Erin tried to keep her focus on what he was telling them as Mouse, Jay's helper for the day, demonstrated what to do. She didn't even realize that Mouse knew how to shoot a gun but apparently, there was more than meets the eye to the guy.

"Any questions?" Jay asked her as he came over to her while Mouse went over to the other castmates to help. Erin just shook her head. "Okay, why don't we try a few shots then?" He handed her the airsoft gun that they'd be using today in place of the prop gun they'd actually use for the movie. Erin held the gun in her hands, the object feeling foreign even though it wasn't a real gun that could do far more damage.

She tried to follow what Jay said to do earlier, holding the gun with both hands firmly and aimed it at the table a few meters away. She fired the gun with her index finger, feeling a bit of the blowback that Jay warned about. Her aim was off and the rubber bullets completely missing the glass bottles that Jay had set up. She frowned at her miss but Jay was there to reassure her.

"It's okay. That was your first time." He encouraged her to try again and helped correct her stance and aim a little. She fired again and this time, she managed to hit one of the bottles. She still wasn't satisfied and she made it known.

"I suck at this!" she whined, always hard on herself. She dropped the gun back on the table, unhappy.

"Hey, try again!" Jay told her. "You can do this. All you need is practice." Erin just scoffed at his words. "I'm serious. You think I was a good shooter when I first started? I missed nearly everything but I didn't give up. I practiced and practiced and practiced some more until I was the best shot in my battalion and became the sniper."

"I didn't know you were in the Army." She gave him a strange look. "Hmm, that explains a lot." He frowned at her words and she saw the question on his lips, wanting her to elaborate what she meant. "So just practice huh?" He nodded, his question falling off.

"Yeah. Who knows? You might become half as good as me," he said, a cocky grin on his lips. She quirked her eyebrow as if to challenge him and show her just how good he was. He picked up the gun from the table and set his eyes on her, blue on hazel. Then without taking his eyes off of her, locking her in his gaze, he extended his right arm and fired a few rounds, hitting all of the bottles right on target, shattering them. He smirked, knowing that his shots were right on target, not even needing to check and just held Erin's eyes. She glanced over at the targets and saw that all of the bottles were now broken and Jay had hit them all without even looking at them. She took a step closer to him and leaned in until their faces were just inches part.

"Show-off," she whispered, his smirk widening into a grin at her word.

It was a couple of days into filming and Jay was getting more and more used to being on set, supervising and advising on the scenes. Shooting a movie was nothing like Jay had expected, even action filled blockbuster films like this one. There were a lot of waiting around, nothing to do but eat and sit around as the crew set up different scenes. He had gotten closer with Mouse, the two chatting away in between the lull times. He had tried to approach Erin a couple of times but she was always surrounded by her mother and her friends. Jay hadn't wanted to approach when Bunny was around. Besides, it wasn't as though he and Erin were friends. Sure, she was probably the most down-to-earth and friendly actress out of the whole cast but that just seemed to be her personality. She treated everyone around her well, addressing each crew member by their names— something that other cast members of hers didn't bother doing.

And another thing that Jay had found out about Erin was that she was a perfectionist. Erin was taking the role seriously and had listened intently to what he had to say, followed his instructions as best she could. And whenever she was unsatisfied with a scene, she wanted to re-do them until it was perfect and met her standards.

"And cut!" the director shouted through the microphone as Erin and Landon finished a scene where they were interrogating a suspect. "Okay, that's good."

"Are you sure?" Erin asked from the set. "I think we should do the last couple of lines again! I don't think the back and forth was impactful enough."

Landon groaned, whining about having to re-do the scene again. "Oh come on, it's already midnight. I'm not re-doing the scene!"

Erin ignored him and looked at the director who just pinched the bridge of his nose. He was debating whether or not to reshoot the scene. It was getting late and everyone on set and off the set looked exhausted, aside from Erin.

"How about we just call it a night?" the director suggested, signaling his crew to start wrapping up with his finger, much to Erin's dismay. "I'll look at the footage tomorrow morning and if it's not good, then we can re-shoot it."

Landon made a fist-bump, happy that he could leave while Erin just nodded and walked off the set. She looked upset at not being able to redo the scene and she was in a deep conversation with Bunny before Bunny left, shaking her head. Jay wondered if he should try to talk to Erin but she made his decision up for him by coming over to him.

"Hey." He gave her a smile when she began talking to him. "So I was wondering if you don't mind, can you help me go over these lines tomorrow? It's just I've obviously never interrogated a guy before in real life so I'm not exactly sure how to get the tone just right. I know it's not really your job to help out with lines but I was just hoping…"

"Hey, how about tomorrow morning at 7 before I have to go into the station?" Jay asked, cutting her off. He didn't mind helping Erin out.

"My trailer?" she hedged, smiling when Jay nodded, agreeing to meet her there. "I'll see you then."

"Bye, Erin." Jay watched as she left the set, all the while telling himself that no, he wasn't excited to be spending time with Erin. That he was just doing his job.

Jay wondered just how Erin could look so good so early in the morning with no make-up. He had seen her all dolled up while shooting and he had seen her without an ounce of make-up during their morning training sessions. And she was just beautiful either way. He'd guess that was what being a natural beauty meant. She smiled when she saw him and let him into her trailer, just the two of them.

"Where's your entourage?" he asked her as they sat on the small sofa in the trailer.

Erin frowned. "Don't call them that," she told him. "They're not my entourage. They're my family." Jay just nodded, his way of apologizing, but she just shook her head as if to tell him it wasn't a big deal. A mischievous grin came over her face as she stood up from the sofa, telling him that she prepared something for him. He watched her curiously as she walked over to the small 'kitchen' and took out a donut and handed it to him, grinning cheekily.

"A donut?" he asked flatly, giving her an unimpressed look. "Is this supposed to be funny?" Most people usually cowered under his stare but she wasn't one of them. The grin remained on her face as she sat down next to him again.

"It was supposed to be sort of an ice-breaker," Erin supplied. "Oh come on," she pouted. "Yes, it was supposed to be funny. I'm sure you've heard a million of cops and donut jokes before but I haven't."

He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to stay annoyed at the cliche joke but seeing the amusement on her face got his icy demeanor melting away. "Just so you know I'm a detective so I like to think I've evolved," he said, trying to keep his face stern. "It's all croissant or nothing for me."

The glint in his eyes told her that he was joking, his earlier annoyance gone, and she nodded, laughing. "I'll keep that in mind for next time." He just hummed out an agreement before diving into his donut. After quickly polishing off the donut, he wiped his hands on the napkin that she had given him and took a sip of the coffee that she made. He was quite surprised that she didn't have Nadia go and buy her coffee from Starbucks a few blocks away, instead opting to utilize the Keurig in her trailer. He was finding more and more about Erin and how different she was than he had expected her to be.

"So let's get started," he said as she got up to grab her script from the counter. He cleared the table in front of him, pushing aside the stacks of envelopes, letters and magazines that were on the table. He read the headlines of the gossip magazines, Erin's pictures plastered on some of them with headlines like 'T.V darling making her comeback' and 'could Erin Lindsay make the jump from televison to blockbusters?'. He wondered how she felt about seeing herself on these magazines and reading things about herself, both good and bad things people have to say. He'd imagine she needed to have tough skin to put up with it and realized that fame was something that he'd never want.

Erin noticed his eyes on the magazine. "Yeah, it comes with the territory," she said with a shrug, like she was used to it. She probably was used to it at this point, he realized. He knew from Adam and Kevin fanboying over her that she had been in the industry for quite some time now and that she was the lead of a super popular television show that he had never seen.

"Must feel weird when you first started right?" he asked her.

"Well, I started when I was 11 so I didn't really know much," she replied. "It's all I really know." Jay nodded, suddenly feeling sad for her that she never got a normal childhood. She picked up the few letters that were on the table. "Gossip magazines aren't my favorite but they keep my name in public. It's these," she held up the letters. "They're what motivate me."

"What is it?" he asked her.

"Fan letters." She smiled as she flipped through the letters.

"I didn't know that celebrities actually read them," Jay said. He had always thought that people were wasting their time writing to their favorite stars like the stars would actually take the time to read them. But it seemed as though Erin took the time to read what her fans had to tell her.

"Not everyone does," she said. "But I love reading them. I mean, someone took the time to write me a letter, especially these days when everyone is on social media and it's way easier to shoot me a DM or a tweet. Reading them is the least I could do."

He nodded, taking in her word. It was clear that she loved and appreciated her fans. His eyes fell on a letter that he pushed to the side, noticing that it was addressed to 'fucking bitch'. That certainly didn't seem like it came from a fan and he picked it up, holding it up.

"Yeah, those come with the territory too," Erin said, recognizing what Jay was holding up. He frowned, asking her permission to open it and read what was inside. Erin nodded and he pulled the letter out and began reading the letter, his frown deepening with every nasty and angry word that was written inside.

"Do you get these a lot?" he asked, his concern growing at how angry the person who wrote Erin the letter had sounded. Even just with the words, he could feel the hatred and animosity this stranger had towards her.

Erin just nodded and shrugged it off. "Yeah, it's no big deal. It's just a hate letter."

"Erin, it doesn't sound like just a hate letter," he argued. "This person, whoever he or she is, sounds dangerous. There are threats in here. Aren't you worried?"

Erin shrugged again. "Not really. It's not like they're going to do anything. I have security around me." She refuted, sounding nonchalant but Jay had picked up on her wanting to drop the subject and change it to something else. He didn't want to stop talking about it and trying to convince her to take the threats more seriously but he just relented, noticing her growing uncomfortableness.

"Okay," he put the letter down. "So let's go over the lines." She gave him a grateful smile when he changed the topic and the two dove into going over the lines.

Jay admired just how much Erin was dedicated to her craft and how seriously she took her role. She wanted to get the tone just right, wanting to come off as intimidating as a real detective would be in a real interrogation. He coached her, pulling on his experience as a detective and the countless interrogations he had done.

"Has anyone just started spilling everything in real life?" she asked him. "I mean, i assume most do to save their own ass, right?"

Jay nodded. "Yeah, most do. Some have this misplaced sense of loyalty and would keep their mouth shut to save the members of their gangs. But they usually start talking when they realize that the other option is to go to prison for a long time."

Erin chuckled at his explanation. "Are you sure it's not because you're intimidating and they're scared of you?"

"I'm intimidating?" Jay asked her with a lift of his eyebrow. She gave him a look like it was an obvious fact.

"I mean why do you think Landon pretty much demanded another consultant? He was scared of you." Jay frowned, not thinking he was that scary.

"But you're not scared of me."

Erin smirked. "I don't scare easily."

Jay gulped, the atmosphere in the trailer shifting at her reply. He shifted in his seat, feeling like he was getting too close to her and needing to back up a little. She just watched him as he leaned back further away and he tried not to blush, not wanting her to think that he was scared of her. He had a reputation as a Chicago police officer to protect after all. With the amused look in her eyes told him that she knew just what kind of effect she had on him.

Jay cleared his throat and shifted his eyes back on the script. "We should finish this. I have to go into work soon." Erin just nodded, agreeing.

"So what's your station like?" Erin asked after they finished running the lines.

"What do you mean?"

"I meant, is it like what you see on t.v and movies? Like the one we have on set?"

Jay thought his answer over, not really knowing how to explain in words. It was just an ordinary station, nothing out of this world. It was just his second home at this point. "It's just normal, I guess."

"I'm curious about it," Erin added. "Maybe I should swing by one day and check it out myself. Are you willing to give me a tour?"

He felt his throat dried at her question and he stuttered. "S..sure," he finally managed to reply back at the thought of seeing Erin outside of the movie set. "I got to warn you though, my co-workers are pretty big fans of yours so they might make fools of themselves if they see you."

Erin laughed. "I think I can handle it."

"Oh I'm sure you can. I'm just not sure if they could." He looked at her. "Or if I could. You might run screaming for the hills afterwards. Might never want to see me again."

"I don't think that's possible," Erin replied coolly. Once again, Jay was left speechless, wondering if she was flirting with him. And once again, he chided himself for thinking that someone like her would be interested in him. She was just being nice, he reasoned to himself. Just like she was to everyone else.

"Here's the keys, Halstead. Just remember to lock up when you're done." Jay took the keys from his friend and thanked him for letting him use the shooting range after hours. Erin lingered behind him, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Jay's friend just gave Jay a questioning look, wondering just how Jay happened to know a famous person like Erin and why she was with him at the shooting range at night, just the two of them. Jay just shot his friend a look, telling him to keep quiet and not ask any questions. His friend relented but returned a look that said that he was going to get the full story from Jay at a later time before leaving the two alone together.

"Your friend seems nice," Erin commented as they were left alone in the shooting range. "He's really okay with us being here?"

"Yeah," Jay replied. "We just need to lock up after we're done." He walked closer to Erin and handed her the earmuff and the safety goggles they'd need.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Erin muttered as she put on the earmuff and glasses. "I look like a dork."

"You look beautiful," Jay reassured her, thinking how it was possible for her to look utterly adorable even with the noise cancelling earmuff on and the safety goggles when he looked like a nerd with dumbo ears when he had the safety items on. She just rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah, that sweet talking mouth is why I'm even here in the first place," Erin grumbled. Jay laughed.

It was two months into the filming and he and Erin had gotten close. They had spent a lot of time on set together but never off the set, Jay not knowing how to approach the topic of doing something outside of the movie set together. He didn't want her to think it was a date, not wanting to push her away and make their friendship awkward. He enjoyed being around her and talking to her. And he didn't want to ruin it. He had seen what happened when Landon had asked her out after shooting one day and Erin had turned him down and just how awkward it was on set between the two leads was now. He didn't want that for him and Erin.

But during one of their conversations, Erin had made an off-handed remark about being interested in shooting a real gun and one thing lead to another and the next thing he knew, he was offering to take her to a real shooting range and teach her how to shoot a real gun. He had been surprised when she had accepted his offer and here they were, Jay's cashing in his favor from one of his friends to get him to open up the range so he and Erin could come after hours without other people clamoring over Erin.

"Okay," Erin's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. She was standing at the counter, a small pistol resting on the it and she turned to catch Jay's eyes. "So you gonna stand there all night or are you going to teach me how to shoot a real gun?"

He walked over to her and handed her the gun. "Okay, so it's almost like shooting the prop gun that you use on set."

"Only this one has the ability to kill?" she quipped.

"Pretty much." He stepped closer into her space. "So set your legs apart and extend your arms,' he instructed her and she followed as he said. "Since this is a real gun, the recoil is going to be stronger so you want to make sure you're holding onto the gun firmly." She gripped the gun with her hands, her knuckles turning white. "Not too tight," he corrected her as he held her hand to loosen her grip a little bit. "Okay, legs apart and shoulders strong."

"Like this?" she asked, shifting her stance.

"Um…" he looked at the way she stood, not quite to his standard. He stood behind her closely and fixed her shoulders so they were squared and he lifted her arms and extended them in front of her. They were pressed up against each other, her back to his chest, and he tried not to focus on the closeness of their bodies. "Okay…" his voice sounded strange to him and he wondered if she noticed the nervousness in his voice. She wasn't moving away from him, instead he felt her lean into him even more. His hands were now on hers and he helped adjust the gun in her hand, his head leaning in close to her. He felt her shiver in his arms and she turned her head around slightly to catch his eyes.

"Like this?" she whispered, keeping her eyes on him. He couldn't move away from her, it was like her eyes were trapping him in that spot, keeping him there. He couldn't breath, like the way she was pressed up against him took away the air from his lung. All he could see was her, all he could feel was her. His eyes traveled to her lips when he saw her bite her bottom lip.

"Yeah," he finally managed to reply, his voice still sounding broken and breathless. He needed to step away from her before he did something stupid and idiotic like actually kiss her. He just swallowed and stepped away. "Okay, try it."

He thought he saw a flash of disappointment cross her face at him backing away but it went as fast as it came that he couldn't even be sure it was ever there in the first place. She just returned her eyes straight ahead and fired, the bullet hitting the sheet of paper on the other side.

"Good," he told her, her first shot hitting one of the circles in the target. "Try it again."

He watched as she emptied the clip, managing to hit the target every time. She even hit the bullseye a few times. He gave her an impressed look when he unclipped the paper from its holder and she just grinned proudly at how well she did.

"Are you sure you've never shot a gun before?" he asked her.

"Guess I'm a natural," she shot back, holding up the paper proudly. "What do you think? Do I have a career as a cop if the whole acting thing doesn't pan out?"

"Oh yeah," he replied. "You're already a better shot than Ruzek and he's been a cop for like five years already." She just laughed at his joke, adding her own about feeling unsafe with cops like Ruzek out there. "Why are you worried? You have me to look out for you and you know what a good shot I am." He winked at her, feeling brave. He found it adorable when she actually blushed at his words and he laughed.

"Shut up!' she told him, trying to look annoyed at him laughing but they were both unable to stop the smiles on their faces. "Now let me get back to this."

"I think I've created a monster," he mumbled as Erin focused her attention on shooting some more, totally into the activity now.

"What do you say?" Erin asked him, lifting her eyebrows. "Want to place a wager? That I'll hit more bullseyes with this clip than you?"

Jay returned his own eyebrow lift. "Seriously?" She was awfully confident about her skills even thought it was her first time. Sure she was good. Better than she should've been for her first time but Jay was every bit as confident in his own skills. "You're on."

"Loser buys dinner?" Jay nodded, agreeing to the terms and the two got into the stance, ready to start their competition.

"Dinner, courtesy of me. As per our agreement," Jay said as he handed a paper plate of street tacos to Erin who took the food gleefully. So he had lost. It wasn't as though he had kept distracted by her whenever he got a glimpse of her from the side of his eyes. She was just a better shot, for tonight anyways.

They had decided on the taco truck that was usually parked by the lake. It was away from the crowd and gave them the privacy they needed to enjoy the dinner without people finding out just that Erin was there. She was wearing a baseball cap, Jay's cap to be more precise, to hide who she was but it wasn't as though the disguise was fool proof. But it was past midnight and the place was deserted so they were free to enjoy the good food in peace.

"So what do you think?" he asked her as he watched her finish the tacos off quickly.

"Good," she answered, swallowing the tacos. "And I'm from California so I know what a good taco is. I thought you were going to choose something cliche like a hot dog or something."

"Says the person who gave me a donut," Jay retorted, grinning. "Nah, give me more credit than that." He took a bite, still working on his tacos. Erin had only asked for two while Jay had gotten five for himself. He wondered if she was even full. "Are you sure you don't want any more? I can go buy some more?"

Erin shook her head. "I'm alright. Two is plenty for me before I have to start working it off." He frowned at her words. She was fit and skinny enough. She looked beautiful and she didn't need to starve herself or convince herself that she was full with just two small tacos.

"Here," he held his plate out in front of her. "Just have one more." She looked torn, wanting the food. "You look beautiful, Erin. And I promise one taco isn't going to change that."

"Bunny is going to kill me if she sees me," Erin said. Jay frowned at hearing her mother's name. Bunny wasn't a fan of his friendship with Erin, that was for damn sure. She was always lurking around in the back, glaring at him whenever he talked to Erin. She was always pulling Erin away from him, trying to get her daughter away from him. It was almost as if she was worried that there was something more going on between him and Erin, which was a notion that was near impossible for Jay.

In the end, Erin was unable to resist the temptation and she took a taco, biting into it happily. He smiled, happy to see her enjoy herself.

After they both finished the food, Erin decided that they should work it off by taking a walk around the empty park, taking the opportunity where they were alone to enjoy the night.

"So what made you get into acting?" he asked her, wanting to know more about her than he already had. He was finding more and more about Erin with each passing day and every little thing he had found about her, he liked.

"Uh, I was always into it, I guess. As far as I could remember, Bunny was always taking me to auditions. I booked a few commercials as a child, less as a teenager. I almost gave up acting but I got the role as Brooke and it changed my life."

"Yeah? You were on that show for a long time right?" Erin nodded. "Why did you want to leave?"

"It was time. I played the same role for nine years and I was done, I guess." He nodded, understanding. Sure, he knew he wanted to be a detective for the rest of his life but he wasn't playing a role. It was him, it was in his blood so he understood why playing a role that wasn't herself would get old for Erin.

"So you left the show and you took a break for a year?" he asked her, knowing that there was a gap year in between her leaving the show and her taking this role. He didn't know much about it, Adam filling him in on the rumors and theories that flew around regarding her absence in the industry.

"Yeah," Erin replied, sounding unsure. She stopped walking and turned to face him. "I kinda went down a hole." She sounded uncomfortable so he stopped her.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," he reassured her. He didn't want to push her or have her open up if she didn't want to.

"No, it's okay," she interjected but she paused, thinking over what to tell him. "I had a hard time after leaving the show. Most of the people on the cast weren't happy that the show ended because of my departure. Some of them lashed out, tried to get revenge and the guilt I was feeling was too much so I started trying to make myself forget. Any way I can." She took a breath. "I..no one knows this besides me and my mom and Annie. I… I overdosed on pills and Annie found me in the bathtub." Jay's eyes widened at her confession, hearing what she had been through. He reached out to hold her hands when he saw that she was having a hard time with telling her story.

"It's okay, Erin." He softly stroked her hand with his, comforting her.

"My mom got me into this private facility and I got back on my feet." Jay kept silent, listening to her. "She paid the doctors and nurses off to be quiet. I mean sure there's the whole HIPAA code but you never know who you can trust. So no one knows aside from the three of us. And now you."

Jay held her hands and looked at her in the eyes. "I'm not going to say anything to anyone."

Erin nodded. "I know. That's why I told you. I trust you." He squeezed her hands at her words, his chest warming at being trusted with her deepest secret. "I wouldn't have told you otherwise."

"So you're okay now?"

Erin shrugged. "The thing with addictions is that it never really goes away. It's hard some days and easy others. It's something I have to work on for the rest of my life. Anyway, there were rumors and speculations of where I was but no one really knows for sure. That's why this role is so important to me."

"I get it."

"It's not only my first role since everything went down but it's my first chance to find out if people will take me seriously as an actor or if I'm always going to Brooke Davis to them," she voiced, shrugging. He saw the self doubt and uncertainty in her eyes and his heart ached, seeing them there. He knew just how talented she was and how hard she worked every day. She had so much talent.

"You're killing the role," he told her, his hands coming to hold her on the shoulders. "I know because I get the privilege of seeing you every day." She smiled, blushing. "And you know that if you're ever having a hard day, you can call me. I'll do everything I can to make them a little easier."

She didn't say anything back but instead she reached up to where his hands laid on her shoulders and she held it, lacing their fingers together. She held his hands tightly in hers, letting him know that she appreciated his offer and thanking him for being there.

"Guess who is here!" Jay's head snapped up when he heard Platt's voice, sounding unusually upbeat from her usual demeanor. She was practically bouncing on her feet, looking completely different than her usual self. But what had caught his eyes even more was Erin standing behind her, holding a box in her hands.

"Erin!" Jay called out, immediately standing up and making his way over to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just thought it was finally time to see where you worked," she replied, grinning. "You promised me a tour, remember?" He nodded, trying not to smile too much. He certainly didn't need his co-workers to see him grinning like a fool at Erin being there.

"Isn't she the sweetest?" Platt interrupted them. "She even brought us food!" Adam and Kevin were crowding around them now, stars in their eyes at seeing Erin up-close. She handed them the box she was holding, the two taking them eagerly.

"Don't you have to get back to your desk Serg?" Jay asked Platt who just nodded. Before she made her way down, she took out her phone and pulled Erin into a hug, taking her by surprise.

"Say cheese!" Platt said as she snapped a selfie of the two, Jay's closing his eyes in embarrassment at how they were acting around her. Erin, to her credit, kept a smile on her face, not letting her uncomfortableness show. Now that Platt was gone, Adam and Kevin took the chance to crowd around her.

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm a huge fan!" Kevin said. "I'm Kevin."

"I'm Adam and I'm an even bigger fan!" Adam chimed in, pushing Kevin away. "Wow, you do smell good!" Erin let out an uncomfortable chuckle.

"Thank you?" she said, unsurely. Kim was looking at her from a distance, her mouth wide opened but Jay was most surprised by quiet Al approaching Erin with a piece of paper in his hand.

"My daughter is a big fan of yours. She watches One Tree Hill every night. Can I get an autograph for her?" Erin smiled and nodded.

"What's her name?"

"Lexie." Erin signed the paper for Lexie, writing a sweet message on it. Before Adam and Kevin decided to crowd around Erin some more, Jay stepped in to rescue her, deciding she had enough of being pawed by his co-workers.

He brought her to the safety of the break room and closed the door. He also closed the blinds when he saw Adam trying to peek through the slits. He groaned, wondering why they were so embarrassing before he turned around to face Erin.

"Sorry about them," he said as he poured her a cup of coffee.

"It's no problem. They're cute." He let out a disbelief chuckle. "They are."

"Yeah try being around them for hours." He placed the cup on the table. "Sorry, all we have are crappy coffee."

Erin took it the same, letting him know that she appreciated it. "They took my macarons," Erin said, pointing outside. "I wanted to bring something to eat and don't worry, it's not donuts this time." The two shared a soft laugh, thinking back to her old joke. "You should get some before it's all gone."

"It's okay," Jay said, not wanting to leave her side. "I'll just grab them later."

"So this is where you work huh?" Erin said, glancing around the small room. Jay nodded, wondering what she thought of it and finding himself wanting her to like it. The bullpen and the station was a big part of his life and he wanted her to approve of it.

"Yeah. What do you think?" he asked, biting his lips as he waited for her answer.

"I like it," she replied, smiling. "It's very you."

"You mean old and stuffy?" he asked, frowning.

"No," she protested. "I meant straight to the point. There's no fancy facade, no bullshit you have to get through. What you see is what you get."

"Is that a good thing?" he asked her.

She met his eyes. "It is in my books."

After Erin's visit, it was like it was the greenlight the guys had been waiting for to start teasing him about her and as true to their nature as detectives, they started grilling him about her. Jay had tried to deny their claims of having feelings for Erin, had tried to look as neutral as possible when he brought her name up. He knew he couldn't start blushing at just the mention of her name. They'd never let him live it down.

"So you're telling me that you have no feelings for her whatsoever?" Adam asked for the umptheenth time. Jay just gave him a glower as a reply. "Because I'm pretty sure she likes you."

Jay scoffed, the notion of Erin liking him too out of the realms of possibility. "She's a movie star. I'm just a cop. That's impossible."

"Don't think so lowly of yourself, Halstead." Adam said, patting his friend's back. "Just think, why would she even come here if she didn't like you? It's not like our station is some tourist destination."

"She was just curious," Jay argued. "She's dedicated to her role so it's not really surprising that she'd want to see how a real police station is."

"Uh huh," Adam just replied, not really buying Jay's explanation. "I still think she likes you. And what's even more? I think you like her too." Adam chortled loudly when Jay tossed his napkins at him and ran out of the room, leaving Jay with his thoughts.

Was it even possible? Could Erin even have feelings for him?

"Jay, what are you doing here?" He wasn't expecting to Bunny when he knocked on the trailer door. Usually Erin's mother was on her phone and away from the set, working on securing more deals for Erin. Usually Erin liked being alone in her trailer, using the space to destress before she filmed more scenes.

"Bunny," he greeted her all the same. "Is Erin here?"

"No." Bunny replied, not telling him where she was. Jay just nodded and turned to leave but Bunny called his name. Jay debated whether to actually stop and listen to what she had to say, knowing that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"Yeah?" he replied, knowing that there was no way he could just walk away.

"I noticed you and my daughter getting real close lately."

"We're friends."

Bunny frowned, like the idea of Jay and Erin being friends was undesirable for her. "I don't think it's such a good idea for you two to be friends. Caitlin tells me that Erin is blowing off plans with her real friends to hang out with you."

"That's Erin's decision."

"Do you really think it's good for her image to hang around with someone like you?" Jay frowned at her words. "Imagine if someone catches you together. If paparazzis did. The rumors and speculations that would start at people thinking Erin is dating a cop."

"My life doesn't revolve around paparazzis and I don't think Erin's does either."

Bunny scoffed. "Yes, my daughter is still naive in certain aspects. She wants to pretend to be a normal person but she isn't. She's not just some regular girl that could go and do as she pleases. She has eyes on her and I'm worried that those eyes would catch her in an unflattering relationship with someone below her level."

"Like me?"

Bunny chuckled and held up a magazine in her hands with the headline 'A new romance brewing between heartthrob Kelly Severide and darling Erin Lindsay?' with the picture of Erin and some actor Jay didn't know on the cover. Jay tried not to feel jealous after reading the caption. He didn't know whether it was true or not. Erin had certainly never mentioned being in a relationship or this Kelly guy to him before.

"This is who she should be with. Someone famous and whose career is only getting hotter. He is going to be in the new Marvel movie you know? And that's practically hitting the jackpot these days in Hollywood. He's only going to bring Erin up, not down."

Jay just held his tongue, biting back the words he wanted to throw in Bunny's face.

"I don't know what Erin has told you but this movie is very important for her. This is her chance to stop being the television star and become a movie star. The movie needs to succeed and any publicity and public intrigue is only going to help her."

Jay remained silent, knowing just how the role was to Erin. She had told him as much. She had been through a lot and this was her chance to prove to herself that she could be more than just a role that she played for nine years.

"So if you care about her then let her be. Let her have this relationship with Severide."

"Fake relationship!" They both turned around to find Erin coming back, annoyance on her face. "Mom, I already told you that I wasn't interested in starting this fake P.R relationship with Kelly."

"Erin," Bunny said tiredly, rolling her eyes. "And I told you, this could do wonders for your career."

"If my career depends on some fake relationship then maybe I don't deserve to have a career," Erin argued back. "I'm not interested."

"Oh would you please get your mind out of the damn clouds for once Erin?" Bunny yelled. "This is your one chance. You want to be known as Brooke Davis for the rest of your life? No matter how many roles you get? Or you want to be stuck doing Lifetime movies and late night infomercials? After everything we worked for?"

Erin sucked in her cheeks, her anger growing. "I'm not going along with your plans, mom." She said with finality and she pulled Jay's arm and walked off, leaving a fuming Bunny behind.

"Sorry about her," Erin offered as Jay drove them to the spot by the lake. "She just doesn't get it. She doesn't get me."

"It's okay." Jay returned.

"I told her what I want but she never listens to me. Ever," Erin said, shaking her head. "Did she tell you to stay away from me?" Erin asked, watching him for his reaction. Jay tried to deny it but she saw it on his face. "I can't believe her!" she fumed. "Maybe I can actually. She never gives a crap about what I want. I told her just how important you are to me. I told her to leave you alone but she couldn't."

"Maybe she has a point, ERrin." He felt the heat of her eyes at his words.

"What?"

"Your career is important and this is your chance. I don't want to be the guy that gets in the way of that."

Erin frowned, shaking her head. "I told you, I don't want to be in some fake P.R relationship." Jay remained silent, Erin studying his profile. "Don't...you care about me?"

Jay's mouth dried at her question and he wanted to tell her that of course he cared about her. That was why he knew he needed to back off. He didn't want to be the guy that stood in her way. He'd never forgive himself. Not when he knew just how important it was to her.

"I just don't want to get involved in this whole thing," Jay told her, lying. "This whole P.R relationship, your lifestyle, it's too much for me."

"It's simple to me," Erin returned. She held his hands. "I like you Jay. As more than friends. How do you feel? It's simple as that."

He pulled his hand out of her hold, schooling his face to remain uncaring and cold. "I think you should listen to your mom. I'm sorry if somehow you got confused but I just see you as a friend."

Erin let out a derisive laugh. "I can't believe this." she shook her head. "You're not an actor Jay and it shows. But it doesn't matter. I'm tired of people around me thinking they know better for me. I thought you were different than that. But I guess not." She opened the car door and exited.

"Erin," he called her, not wanting to leave her there.

"Just go, Jay!" she ordered. "I'll call Annie to pick me up. I can't be around you right now."

He looked at her, Erin not meeting his eyes. He just nodded, knowing that was the best thing for her and he drove away, feeling like he left his heart behind.