*awkward silence*

*cricket sounds*

*tumble-weed*

Let's pretend it hasn't been decades since I updated...

Anyway, I finished this chapter and since it's kind of the climax I guess, I hope you all enjoy!:)

"Well man, you sure know how to make an entrance." Adam tells Jay in a light tone as the two stand outside of the hospital building. They take shelter in the hazy light emitting from the hospital, lighting up the darkened city around them. Jay feels his arms lace in goosebumps, and realises he shouldn't have left his jacket in the car. He doesn't go to get it.

"That's not how I wanted to do this." Jay mumbles, folding his arms across his chest as he rests against the wall. "The kid just... Pushes my buttons."

"Give him a break," Adam treads carefully, but his words have a harsh twang. "His dad's in emergency surgery." The last thing Jay wants to do is give Justin Voight 'a break', and although the detective knows a fist to the face was out of line, he believes so was being backed into a corner where that was the only logical release at the time.

"So that's an excuse for-"

"You've been gone a while, man." That shuts Jay up. There's a seriousness to Ruzek's tone that unnerves him. "It'll probably be better for everyone right now if you just let it go." Jay finds himself suddenly extremely aware of the silence that engulfs them, and it sinks in how much his absense may have affected those around him.

Several minutes pass before Jay finds the courage to say anything. "Hey, I'm... I'm sorry." He doesn't specify, because he's sorry for a lot of things right now.

Adams eyes narrow in an almost challenging manner. "You're back for good?"

"I'm back for good." Jay clarifies with unwavering certainty, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth while Ruzek breaks out a grin. Adam then proceeds to haul his friend into his arms, tightly grasping him in a firm hug. In any other instance, Jay would definitely push Adam off him, laughingly punch him in the shoulder and fist bump afterwards. Instead, the pressure of his grip matches his colleague's hold, and hugs it out.

"You talked to Lindsay yet?" Adam inquires when the two finally reliquinish their hold from one another.

"Tried," Jay mumbles with a weak smile. "Things kinda got out of hand."

"You're gonna wanna fix that." Adam informs him with a knowing look. "Look, she'd never admit it... But she missed you like crazy." A slow wind swirls around them and Jay feels his heart slow slightly. He needs to talk to Erin.

Erin presses the ice pack to Justin's eye as the two sit in an empty consultant room. Blood still boiling, Justin grabs the cooling item from her grasp and presses it to his eye himself with gritted teeth. Erin takes a slow breath next to him and reaches to place a tentative hand on her arm, but he tears his arm away before her grip can tighten.

"You need to calm down, alright?" It's not her best advice, but it's all she's got right now.

His nostrils flare and his jaw tenses under her softened eyes. "I could've taken him." Erin sighs and averts her gaze. She wonders what Justin thinks he has to prove.

While the oxygen cleanses her lungs, she finally has a chance to process everything. She's exhausted, the closest person she's got to a father is lying on a surgery table somewhere, and the guy who abandoned her and his entire team six weeks ago turned up, throwing his fist into the kid's face who she's seen as her brother ever since she was taken in by his family. Oh, and the same brother-figure who'd kissed her a few days ago. Yeah, things certainly weren't simple.

Her lids sunk and her head drooped. She couldn't sleep though, not with such chaotic events occurring.

"I'm gonna go check on your dad." She says the words with little meaning or depth, without even looking at Justin while she heaves her body up and out of the room. The white walls of the hospital corridor add to her headache, and she can feel the throbbing of her brain from inside her skull. Her restless mind takes her back to the morning she awoke in Jay's bed, questioning why he'd painted the walls of his room such a bright white. She could see it all so plainly she wanted to smear the clarity of her memories.

Her feet feel heavy and every step is exhausting. She really regrets not grabbing that latte back at the cafeteria.

"Hey." The pounding in her head subsides for a brief second, until she turns around and looks at the sheepish posture of her partner. She wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all; how he can leave her world in the blink of an eye and upon his return, only mutter a scared three letters to her. "Can we talk?"

"There's nothing to say." She tells him genuinely with a sigh, turning her body. When he reaches out a hand to her arm, she freezes under his touch. He moves in closer, instantly noticing the cut by her eyebrow.

"Are you okay?" He reaches out to touch her injury, but she flinches before he can do anymore damage. Plummeting into an icy silence, Erin wonders how crazy it is that she could become so distanced from the person closest to her. How a touch of his fingertips to her forehead is something she so desperately wants to avoid.

After averting his gaze, Erin can hear nothing but Jay breathing. "Look, I don't expect you to understand, but just listen-"

"No." The single word is thrown out. "I can't. You left, Jay. You left thinking you didn't have anyone, and I get that because I've been there. But I told you to stay. I told you that I was your reason to stay. And if that wasn't enough... Then clearly I'm not enough."

"It's not like that." He tells her with an almost pleading tone.

Fragile and exhausted, Erin realises she's done. "I've got a lot to deal with right now. So please, just do what you do best. Just leave, Jay." Her tired eyes break contact with his as she turns to walk away.

"Erin," He calls her name but nothing comes afterwards. Instead he watches as she walks away, with not a step faltering and not a single second of hesitance.

Hope you guys liked it!