I know some of you are thinking 'another story really?' But again this idea wouldn't leave my head and somehow this whole thing have written itself. It was supposed to be an one-shot-supposed to be-but it just grew out of control and it became way way way longer than intended so I had to break it up into parts. But I hope you guys enjoy this anyways.

"Erin, table 7 needs the check."

"Okay, thanks Kim." Erin wiped her hands on her apron and reached into the pocket to pull out the tab. She made her way over to table 7, just eager to get the table the bill so they could leave already. The table was occupied by a group of twenty-somethings, obvious hipsters, judging by the clothes and the fake reading glasses they had on their faces and Erin wanted to do nothing more than wipe those smug smiles off of their faces. They had been a nightmare to serve, thinking it was a Starbucks with unlimited wi-fi instead of a run-down diner.

"Here you go," she put on her best fake smile, hoping for a tip. She had put up with them enough, she deserved a tip. She needed it, if she was going to get any closer to actually starting that nursing course. Otherwise, she'd be rotting away the rest of her life at this diner. And there was no way that was happening, not if she could help it. The girl that seemed to be the leader of the little friend group took out her credit card. "Oh sorry, cash only."

The girl scoffed, as if it was unfathomable. "Seriously? What kind of place is this anyway? No wi-fi, no credit card. You guys need to get out of the 20th century and get into the 21st."

Erin bit her tongue. "I'll suggest that to the manager." The girl just rolled her eyes, plopping down $100 bill on the tray. "I'll be back with your change."

"No need. Keep it," the girl told her. "Maybe put it towards getting wi-fi. Or maybe a better looking uniform." The group giggled as they left. Erin wanted to throttle them and if it was years ago, she would've. Instead she just gritted her teeth and thanked the god that they were gone. At least she got a good tip out of the ordeal.

She stalked over to the cashier. "God, I hate people," she whined. "This diner used to be all Veterans and old people. The worst people we had to deal were grumpy old men. Now it's all filled with hipster kids who suddenly think it's cool to hang out in old diners then bitching when they find out we don't have internet here."

"Now you sound like an old man," Kim teased, laughing at Erin's rant. "Hipsters may be annoying and pretentious and all in all, just big assholes but at least they tip well. The best tip we've ever got from the older crowd was rolled up quarters or handful of lint and pennies."

Erin shrugged, conceding to Kim's point. "You're right about that."

Kim paused, looking like she wanted to ask Erin something. Erin's eyebrow rose, recognizing what was about to come. "Yes?"

Kim gave her a sheepish smile. "It's just that Adam got tickets to this show that had been sold out for ages. And it's for tonight and it just happened to be the one night where I got scheduled the graveyard shift."

"And you want to me cover for you."

"Please?!" Kim begged, pouting her lips. "You know graveyard shifts pay double. And I will owe you big time."

Erin stayed quiet, like she was thinking it over, wanting to see Kim sweat for a bit. "Okay fine," she agreed, finding herself being engulfed in a huge hug by her friend. "But you owe me!"

"Totally. Thank you!" Kim squealed and Erin just chuckled. At least one of them would be having fun. It wasn't as though Erin had a boyfriend or money to spare on concert tickets. Besides working double shift meant that she was one step closer to saving up enough money. She couldn't wait to get out of this grimy diner.

"Big plan for the rest of the night?" The cook, Marty, asked her as she wiped the last table. It was past two in the morning and it was finally the end of her shift. All she wanted to do was to soak her feet and just plant herself in front of her television and just pass out.

"Oh yeah," Erin replied. "Leftover and Netflix. My version of Netflix and Chill."

The older man looked confused. "Netflix and what?"

Erin laughed. "You don't want to know, Marty. How about you? Big plans?"

"Just my big old bed waiting for me. Like every night." Marty put on his jacket and approached Erin. "You know Erin. My plan is the same every night and it's fine for me because I'm an old man now. But you? You're a young woman. You should be getting out on town, having fun. Maybe even have a gentleman caller or two."

"Gentleman caller?" Erin chuckled. "Thanks Marty but there are no more gentlemen these days. Besides, I like being alone. Less problem this way." Marty just shook his head, his umpteenth lecture on Erin needing to find someone and have more fun in her life falling on deaf ears, once again. "Have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye sweetheart." Erin led him out the door. Now she was the last one left. She put away the trays, made sure all the stoves and ovens were turned off for the night and turned off the lights. She locked the front door of the diner and made sure the sign was flipped over to "Closed".

Her feet were aching now. She really needed to get more supportive shoes, even if she was going to doing more of these double shifts and judging by how serious Kim's relationship with Adam had gotten over the past few weeks, Erin had a feeling that double shifts were going to be more of a common occurrence.

She put on her jacket and gloves and slung her purse over her shoulder and made to exit through the back door. Autumn was just about over and winter was fast approaching, which meant that the deadline to save enough money was even closer. She tried to push away that thought, she really didn't want to be focused on her money problems every chance she got. Marty was right, she really needed to have more fun in her life.

She made sure the door was locked and started to walk to her car, parked a few feet away from the alley. Perhaps she should have been more scared, walking through the alley in Chicago's Southside at two in the morning all by herself. And if she didn't grow up in Southside or had lived there for her whole life, she would've. But her upbringing had readied her for situations like this and she was used to it by now. Even the occasional drunkard stumbling through the alley or the few losers that liked to hang out in the back alleys cat-calling her wasn't enough to shake her.

But just because she wasn't scared didn't mean she was stupid. She held her keys in between her fingers, pointed and ready to be used as a weapon if she needed to. Luckily, so far she hadn't needed to. But as she heard shouts and what sounded like shoves being thrown coming from a few feet away, maybe it'd be the night she might needed to.

She paused in her tracks, debating whether she should go back inside the diner until the two drunk guys finished whatever they were fighting about or just run as fast as she could to her car, hoping they didn't see her. She knew the smarter option was to go back inside the diner where it was safe but as she checked her watch, it was already past two thirty in the morning and she had an early shift the next day. She really wanted—no, needed—to be home so she decided to make a run for it.

She clutched her purse to her chest, picking up her pace, trying her best not to make eye contact with the two guys. She rolled her eyes at the two guys, obviously drunk out of their minds, acting like asses. Didn't they have better things to do with their lives than get in sloppy fights in back alleys? Apparently not as she saw the fight getting more intense, shoves being turned to actual punches being thrown now.

"Fuck you! Just because your daddy's rich you think you can do anything?! Not here, not in South side." She overheard one of the guys shouted, throwing the first punch, landing it square on the other guys' jaw. The other guy was obviously the more drunker of the two, his eyes were glazed over like he didn't even know where or who he was, just wildly swinging his arms in retaliation, punches not even being landed on his opponent. Erin wanted to laugh but she didn't have a death wish so she just continued walking, hoping that they wouldn't notice her.

"Go back to your side of the town Halstead!" the first guy continued his rant. "Go back to your high rise tower condo and your mansion and leave my girlfriend alone." Erin rolled her eyes. Of course, they were fighting over a girl.

"I don't even want your girl," the guy apparently named Halstead slurred. "She came onto me! Can you blame her though? Look at me." He smirked before receiving another punch on his face. Whatever pretty face he might have had wouldn't be there tomorrow, Erin thought. "I have it all!" Halstead continued. "Money, looks, everything. If I want your girl, I'll get your girl. She'll come begging for me, begging me to fuck her." That was enough to completely set the other guy off and he charged at Halstead, knocking him straight on the ground. The guy straddled him, throwing punches everywhere, Halstead shielding himself as best he could in his state. Then the guy got off and stood up, pulling Halstead with him and pushing Halstead against the wall.

"Want to run your fucking mouth again?" the guy asked him and Halstead just smirked.

"Just one more thing to say," Halstead replied, leaning his head forward like he was about to divulge a secret. "Your girl said I was the best fuck she'd ever had."

Erin figured this Halstead guy had a death wish or something, saying something like that to who was obviously part of a gang. Although in this part of the town, who wasn't affiliated with a gang? But Halstead was obviously wasn't from this part of town, judging by the expensive looking watch and clothes he was wearing. Erin quickened her pace, ready to make a run for it when she suddenly saw the first guy pull out a gun from the back of his pocket. Her eyes widened and she just quickly hid behind a couple of crates to her left, hoping they wouldn't notice her. Getting caught in the crossfire and getting shot wasn't in her plans for the night. She remained silent, peeking out to see what was happening.

The guy had his gun pointed at Halstead and cocked it. Now Halstead finally seemed to sober up a bit, staring down at the barrel of a gun. 'Finally!' Erin thought to herself. Halstead reached out and tried to grab the gun and the two men fell to the ground, both shuffling for it. She covered her mouth, not knowing what to do, just praying that she'd make it out of this alive and no one got hurt.

The struggle on the ground continued between the two guys, Halstead on the ground as the other guy was on top of him, trying to aim his gun at the defenseless guy.

"Come on, don't do this!" Halstead shouted, trying to fight him off.

"Now you're fucking scared, rich guy? You're going to learn your lesson today to not come to the South side, thinking you own it." The other guy yelled, ready to shoot. Erin saw Halstead trying to dodge the gun, all while trying to get the other guy to release it. They grappled on the ground and the next thing Erin knew, a shot went off. Erin gasped then quickly covered her mouth, praying that they didn't hear her.

They didn't, too engrossed in what just happened to notice her presence there. Erin peeked back out, seeing the guy on the ground, bleeding from his arm and Halstead hovering over her, face frantic and panicked.

"Shit!" she heard Halstead shout, taking off his jacket to put pressure on the wound. "Fuck!" The other guy was writhing in pain, crying out. "What the hell do I do?" Halstead was mumbling to himself. He pulled out his phone to call someone. "Mouse! I need your help! I don't know what to do man! Just get here!" he shouted into the phone and threw it to the side. "Come on, don't die on me!" Halstead said to the guy on the ground, pressing more pressure on it.

Erin didn't know how long it took—felt like just seconds to her—but a new guy ran onto the scene.

"Mouse!" she heard Halstead called the new guy over. "I need your help!"

Mouse's eyes widened, seeing the wounded guy on the ground. "Fuck Jay! What the hell happened?!"

"I don't….I don't know," Jay stammered. "He followed me from the bar and cornered me here. We were fighting and he pulled out a gun man!" The guy, Jay, explained to his friend. "He tried to kill me so I kept dodging his gun and I don't know, the next thing I know he fired a shot! He accidentally shot himself!"

"Okay okay, just calm down a bit," Mouse said, trying to calm his friend down. "We got to call the cops man. Get him to the hospital."

"I'm gonna be in so much shit," Jay muttered.

"It's going to be fine Jay," Mouse returned. "Let me call Will okay? I'll get him here." Jay just nodded as Mouse took out his phone and called whoever this Will was. "Will, it's Mouse. You got to help man. It's Jay and it's bad."

Erin wanted to get out of there right away, before she got caught up further and the police arrived. She definitely didn't want to be here for that. She took a deep breath and stood up, coming out of hiding.

Mouse and Jay immediately went on the alert, noticing her presence. "Who's there?" Mouse shouted. Erin slowly showed herself. "Come out! Show yourself!"

Erin held her hand up, hoping to show that she wasn't a threat to them. "Who are you?" Mouse questioned, standing in front of Jay like he was protecting him from her.

"I'm no one," Erin replied. "I just want to get home. Okay?"

"Where'd you come from? Why were you hiding behind there?"

"I'm just a waitress that works in that diner. I was just trying to go home. I'm not involved in this okay? Just let me go home."

"How much did you see?" Mouse questioned, eyes studying her like she was on trial.

"Dude!" Erin shouted. "I promise you, I don't want to get involve here. I just want to get home. So let me go and pretend I was never here. Alright?" He didn't reply, looking like he was debating on what to do. "I'm going to just go, alright." Erin tried, slowly walking past until she got past them and she just ran off, leaving whatever mess she just witnessed behind her.

Why did she always seem to get herself in these things?

"What the fuck happened Mouse?" Will arrived breathless, worry mounting at finding a disheveled Jay leaning on the wall, hands gripping his hairs tightly and Mouse hovering over a guy on the ground, putting pressure on what looked like a gunshot wound.

"Jay got in a fight with this guy and this guy got a gun and accidentally shot himself. I was going to call the cops but I figured I needed to call you first and see how you want to handle this."

Will rubbed his face, frustrated at the mess Jay had gotten himself into again this time. He paced back and forth, weighing his option. "We got to call the medic. So at least this guy doesn't bleed out to death and bring murder charge to us. Let the police handle it."

Mouse agreed, letting Will take control of the situation. He knew that Will would do whatever it took to protect his little brother, even if Jay didn't appreciate it at times. "Do your thing man."

Half an hour later, the scene was cleaned up and the guy was put on the ambulance, ready to be taken to the hospital. The police that answered the call was still there, questioning Jay on what happened.

"So you're telling me he accidentally shot himself Mr. Halstead?" The officer sounded skeptical.

"Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you for the last thirty minutes!" Jay shouted, frustrated with the repeated questions. "We were arguing and he pulled a gun on me. I didn't want to get shot so I dodged his gun and we fell on the ground. He was on top of me and…"

"Okay okay Jay," Will interrupted, stopping Jay from answering any more questions. "My brother's not answering any more questions without his lawyer." Will told the cop.

"You know asking for a lawyer just makes your brother look more guilty right?" The officer replied. Will crossed his arms, straightening up.

"I don't think having an officer who wants to continue questioning a victim without a lawyer present is the type of officer I want for my brother," Will returned. "Now are we done here? My brother needs to be checked out by the medics. See if he got hurt when the other guy pulled a gun on him." The officer relented, demanding that Jay had to answer questions later. "Absolutely. We'll come by the station later with our lawyer and answer any questions." The officer gave in, nodding before leaving.

"Everything's okay?" Mouse walked over and asked.

Will sighed, getting a headache at the situation. "Let's hope so. I got to make some calls. Get Rosenblatt on retainer for Jay and make sure Antonio can get himself on the case for this. Thanks, Mouse. For calling me."

Mouse waved it off. "Of course. Anything for Jay." He made to leave. "Hey do me a favor? Keep me in the loop?" Will nodded. "Thanks man. Call me if you need anything."

Will watched Mouse leave and turned to Jay who was sitting on the edge of the ambulance. Will had never felt like both punching someone and hugging them all at the same time before. "Come on, get in the ambulance," Will called. "Maybe they can do a head scan at the hospital too after they check you out. Find out why you're missing so many brain cells recently."

"Hey Mouse," Will said into his phone, surprised that Mouse had managed to wait a few hours before calling for an update. "Yeah he's fine, physically. Sleeping off his hangover like usual."

"That's good," Mouse said on the other end of the phone. "What about everything else? With the police?"

"Antonio came through," Will said. "Apparently he said since it's pretty much Jay's words against the gangbanger's and the gun obviously belonging to the other guy, it looks good for Jay. There were no security cameras in the alley and no witness so it's pretty much a straightforward case. They'll try to bring charge against Jay for the fight but the lawyer said it's pretty much open and shut and Jay will get off scot free, maybe a fine but that's pretty much it. And the other guy is going to be fine. Doctor said he'll make a full recovery. I'm going to cover his medical expenses and just hope everything can be left behind."

Mouse remained quiet on the other side, causing Will to frown. "Mouse? You there?"

"Um yeah," Mouse finally replied, a strange tone coloring his voice. "Yeah. Listen, what's going to happen if there was a witness?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hypothetically, if a witness saw the fight go down between Jay and that guy, what would happen?"

Will chuckled. "You mean you? In that case, I'm hoping you keep that fact to yourself. The lack of witness and evidence is just going to make this case finish faster and if there was a witness, it might complicate things. Might even drag out the case, especially if they ask the witness to testify."

"Oh shit," Will's frown appeared again at hearing Mouse's curse.

"Mouse, what's going on?"

Mouse cleared his throat. "It's just…there was a witness last night. Not me, someone else."

Will's frown deepened at the new information. "Who?"

"I don't know her. She said she was a waitress that worked at the diner of that alley. She was on her way home when she saw the fight and she was hiding."

"Shit!" Will cursed. "If the cops find out that she was there and saw the fight, they might bring her in to the case and make her testify."

"She said she didn't want any trouble though. That she just wanted to get home."

Will sighed, rubbing his face in frustration. "I can't take the chance that a random stranger will keep her mouth shut. I got….I got to do something. You said she was a waitress at the diner?"

"Yeah."

"Describe how she looks to me." Will demanded.

"Um, petite, brunette, white. Oh and she had dimples."

"Alright, thanks again Mouse. I'll take care of it."

"Wait," Mouse called. "What are you going to do?"

Will sighed. "Shut her up. Anyway I can."

Erin yawned for the third time in the past ten minutes, eyes drooping with sleepiness. But she had just started her shift a couple of hours ago and she still had a long way to go. After what happened last night, she had a hard time falling asleep, her heart racing too fast for a restful slumber, and she was certainly paying for it today.

"Rough night?" Kim asked, noticing the state she was in. Erin just nodded, not really having energy to do much else. "What'd you do?"

"Nothing," Erin quickly replied. "I mean…it's just the double shift. It got me."

An apologetic look came over Kim's face. "Sorry, Erin," Kim offered. "But really thanks again for covering for me." Erin waved her thank off, happy to cover for her friend. Besides she thought it was better that it was her that ran into what happened last night instead of Kim. Kim wasn't Erin, Kim was sheltered and grew up in the good part of town. The only reason why she was even working at the same diner as Erin was so she could have flexible hours and the diner was far from where she lived. According to Kim, there was no way she'd be caught in that outfit anywhere close to where she lived, where her friends could see her. Kim was about to say something else but her eyes caught on someone else. "Wow," she said, almost in awe. "Look at that guy who just walked in. He must be lost."

Erin turned to see who Kim was talking about, her eyes landing on a tall guy walking in, looking around the diner like it was something he had never seen before. He seemed handsome enough, although not really Erin's type, and he just reeked of money, the way he carried himself like he could buy everyone and everything in that diner. He sat down at an empty booth and glanced around, eyes landing on her and Kim.

"That's you," Kim said, shoving a menu in Erin's hands. "I already have Adam so that tall, ginger and handsome have to be for you." Erin rolled her eyes, Kim always ready to set Erin up with someone, and made her way over to the newcomer.

"Here you go," she smiled, showing her dimples. People always tended to tip bigger when she smiled wide enough for her dimples to appear. "Can I get you started with something to drink?"

"Um," the guy replied, studying her closely. She frowned, irritation building inside of her at the way this guy was openly gawking at her. She gave him a glare and it snapped him out of his upclose study of her. "Oh sorry," he said, sheepishly. "Just water for now, please."

Erin walked away, grabbing an empty glass for the weirdo. She filled up the glass and made her way back, placing the glass gently on the countertop table. "Are you ready to order?"

The guy scanned the menu quickly, like he knew what he was looking for. But Erin knew for a fact that he didn't, that it was his first time there. He stood out in a diner like this and she just knew for sure that he had never been there before. "Actually," he said, closing the menu and placing it down on the table. "I didn't come here for the food. I came here to talk to you."

"Me?"

"Yes you," he replied, smoothly. He gestured over to the empty side of the booth. "Can you sit down for a minute?" She looked hesitant. "Please just a minute."

She reluctantly sat on the empty booth, wondering just what this man wanted with them. He finally spoke. "Erin," he said, reading her name tag. "Pretty name."

Erin rolled her eyes. "Just cut the crap and tell me what you want."

"My friend told me that you were in the alley last night when that fight happened." Erin's eye widened, wondering how the hell he knew that she was there.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she quickly denied.

"Erin, relax. My name is Will Halstead and that was my brother that was involved in the fight." Erin recalled the name Halstead and studied the guy sitting across from her. From what she remembered about the drunk guy last night, she could see the family resemblance between the two brothers.

"Listen, like I told that guy, Mouse? Is that really his name?" Will chuckled, shaking his head. "Anyway like I told him, I don't want to get involve. I was never there and we'll just leave it at that." She made to get up and Will stopped her.

"I wish it was that easy," Will quickly replied. "But my connection at the police station told me that they're bringing charges to Jay for drunk and disorderly. They're also investigating about the gun and how the other guy got shot."

"Your brother didn't shoot him. It wasn't his gun. The other guy shot himself."

"Yes but I'm hoping to avoid any trouble or delay with the case and if they find out that there was a witness, it could complicate what is now an open and shut case. Not to mention, they will come after you, maybe even make you testify."

"I don't want to get dragged into this. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Will nodded. "I understand. Erin, I'm going to be straight with you here. My family's business, Halstead Enterprises, we're about to sign a major deal and the last thing we need is bad press about anyone in the family, especially Jay. I just want to make sure everything about this case go as smoothly as possible."

"What? You guys are famous or something? Like Paris Hilton?"

Will laughed. "No. No," he quickly denied. "We're not famous. At least not like that. But because of our business holdings, we do run in a pretty small exclusive circle."

Erin nodded. "All the millionaires and billionaires of Chicago hang out together?"

"Only for business," Will replied. "As I was saying, I just want this thing to close with no problem."

"Okay, can't you just pay off someone in the police department or the judge like I'm sure you usually do?"

Will chuckled uncomfortably. "I guess it's a fair assumption to make. And I won't lie. That's usually how I would handle this."

"But?"

"But there's this new A.D.A and he's bloodthirsty. Believe me I've tried but he's straight as they come. Won't accept a dime."

Erin sighed. "Will, while it's nice to hear that there is actually a person working for the government that isn't dirty, I know you didn't come here to tell me that. And I have to get back to work so just tell me, why are you here?"

"You ever heard of something called spousal privilege?" Will asked. Erin shook her head. "It's this great law that this country have where spouses can't testify against each other."

"Okay?" Erin replied, wondering why this guy was giving her a lesson in law. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Simple, really. You marry my brother so you don't have to testify against him and I'll write you a check for $50,000. How about it?"

Erin sat down on her couch, her hand holding the business card Will handed to her earlier in the day. His offer was weighing on her mind, despite how out of blue it was. She knew that the guy from the fight last night was rich but she had no idea that he was this loaded. Loaded enough to throw $50,000 at a random stranger so they wouldn't testify in their case.

To say she was taken aback by the sudden offer was an understatement. She was offended at first, ready to tell this guy off for thinking that he could just throw money at her and she'd do whatever he'd say. But he had calmed her down, explaining that he just wanted to protect his brother and didn't mean to offend her. She had regained her breath more at that and really began to consider his offer. It wasn't the worst offer in the world, she thought. She didn't want to be involved with the case at all but she knew that it'd be easy to link her back to the case if the cops looked hard enough. Hell, all they'd have to do was question the manager who was working that night and who had the closing shift and it'd lead to her. And what was she supposed to do if the cops came knocking on her door? Lie? Say she wasn't there and she had no idea what they were talking about? She couldn't so she'd eventually be roped into the case anyway.

If she accepted Will's offer, it wouldn't matter that she was a witness, that she saw the whole fight. They wouldn't make her sit through the court proceedings, wouldn't make her testify. She wouldn't be able to. Not if this Jay was her husband. Besides it wasn't as though he was guilty. She saw the fight. She saw the other guy pull a gun on Jay when he was drunk and defenseless. She saw them toppled onto the ground and she saw the other guy accidentally shoot himself. Jay was innocent so it wasn't as though she'd be protecting a criminal.

And there was no way she could ignore the $50,000. That might have been just a couple of loose change to Will but it would be life changing money for her. She'd finally have enough to pay for the nursing courses that she'd been trying to save up for forever and actually start on a path of a career, a real career and start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel that she could get out of South side and not be a waitress at a crappy diner for the rest of her life.

But of course, the downside was that she'd be marrying a stranger. A strange man whom by the looks of last night was pretty messed up. A stereotypical rich boy. Good looking, womanizer, reckless. Could she really deal with that?" Deal with him daily for at least six months to make the marriage look legitimate? Questions ran through her mind but she had to admit to herself that she was at least curious to hear Will out so she picked up her phone and dialed Will's number, taking up on his offer to go more in depth of the situation.

"Thanks again for meeting with me, Erin," Will smiled at her as she sat down in his office, Jay sitting next to her. "Jay, this is Erin. Erin, this is my brother Jay. You two have already met, sort of." Erin just gave Jay a tight smile, not really knowing how to interact with a stranger that she might marry. Jay just returned a half nod at her, like he couldn't bother to be there and had a better place to be. "I'm hoping that since you called, you've thought about my offer and want to take me up on it?"

"Wait? What offer?" Jay asked, frowning. Erin just looked at Will, unable to believe that he hadn't told his brother about the offer. He was blindsiding his brother and she was a part of it.

"Jay, Erin was a witness to the fight."

Jay narrowed his eyes, staring at her. Then his eyes widened like a light bulb went off in his head. "Oh yeah, I knew I've seen you before. I sort of remember you being there."

Erin wanted to roll her eyes. Of course, he only sort of remembered her. He was drunk out of his ass and was acting like an idiot. But she bit her tongue, having second thoughts about being there. The money sounded nice but could she put up with being married to him for six whole months? She had barely been in the room with him for six minutes and she was already annoyed by his everything.

"Anyway Jay, we know we have to make sure the case is closed before we can close the deal with the Applegates. And the fastest way to make sure the case is closed is to make sure that there are no witnesses or testimony that could drag the case out. So I've offered Erin here $50,000."

"$50,000 for what?" Jay frowned. "To keep her mouth shut?"

"No, I wish it was that easy." Will sighed. "It's so she would marry you and won't have to testify against you when the police finds out that she was a witness to the fight."

Jay scoffed incredulously. "You're kidding me right? You want me to marry her? A stranger? You serious?"

"Hey it won't be a walk in the park for me either," Erin shot back, anger growing.

"Yeah but I'm sure 50k would make it nicer."

Erin pursed her lips, shaking her head. "You know what Will? I've changed my mind. $50,000 isn't enough money to put up with this ass for six months. I'm out of here! If the police comes calling, I'll just tell them what I saw." She stood up, ready to stalk out of the room. But Will quickly stood up too, coming around the table to stop her.

"Wait wait Erin," he pleaded. "Just please wait." She paused in her track. "I'm sorry for my brother here. But please reconsider." He gently led Erin back to the chair and sat her back down. "I know $50,000 isn't a lot of money for what we're asking you so we can add more to the deal. How about full expense paid for the nursing course?"

Erin glared at Will. "How do you about the nursing course?" she huffed. "Have you been stalking me or something?" she asked angrily.

"I'm a businessman Erin," Will replied. "I do my research before I do business with someone. And we will be entering into a mutually beneficial business relationship should you agree."

Erin remained silent, thinking to herself. "What would be the terms?"

Will let out a breath of relief. "Six months of marriage. You two can sign the marriage license and I know someone that can backdate the license, make it look like you got married a couple of months ago so your marriage took place before the fight. And of course, you'd have to make the marriage believable, just in case so no one finds out that it's a sham. That means you would have to live together at Jay's place." Erin groaned. "I promise it's just for six months. The case will close fast and so will the business deal. And for your trouble, you'll receive $50,000 at the end of the six months and all expenses paid for the nursing course. What do you say?"

Erin bit her lip, thinking over the offer. It sounded simple enough. Married the jackass next to her, live with him for six months and she'd get enough money to not only get into the nursing course that she had been dreaming off but actually having enough money to move out of her crappy apartment in the crappy part of town. "Fine," Erin agreed. "You got yourself a deal."

"Wait, I've never agreed to this!" Jay spoke up, waving his hands around.

Will shot him daggers. "Jay, unless you want to explain to dad about how you lost him the Applegate deal and got in trouble with the law again, I don't need your damn agreement. You're doing this and that's that."

Jay sighed, tilting his head backward dramatically. "Fine," he gave in. He turned to Erin and gave her what he'd probably considered his charming smile. "Let's get married, wife."

"There's no way in hell I'm sleeping the same bed as you," Erin stated, crossing her arms.

"Hmm sounds like we're actually married," Jay smirked, plopping himself down on his couch as she stood awkwardly in the living room, her suitcases next to her feet. Jay's condo was massive. Just the living room alone could've fit three of her studio in it. But no matter the size, she didn't think it'd be enough space for his ego.

"You are actually married," Will corrected. "According to this, you've been married for exactly one month and sixteen days, Mr. and Mrs. Halstead," Will said, holding up their marriage license that Will paid off to have backdated. "And sorry Erin but you two have to make it look like it's a real marriage just in case there's a surprise check in. The A.D.A was already suspicious when he found out that not only there was actually a witness to the fight, but that it was Jay's wife. I wouldn't put it past him to dig in and make sure that the marriage is legit so let's not give him any ammo to use against you guys."

"Fine," Erin grumbled. "Six months!" She repeated to herself. "Just six months of this."

"Instead of mumbling to yourself like an idiot, why don't you make yourself useful and bring your husband a beer, wife?" Erin felt the rush of anger in her body, her face heating up, ready to throttle her husband.

"Jay be nice," Will chided, sending Erin an apologetic smile. "Try not to kill him," he said before smartly making his exit, leaving the newlyweds alone.

"Where's my beer?" Jay questioned as he leaned back on the couch.

"Get it your damn self!" Erin snapped. "Now which one is your bedroom?"

Jay sat up. "Why?"

Erin rolled her eyes. "So I can unpack my things, genius!" She snapped, her anger getting the best of her again. How could his brother be so nice and accommodating but this one turned out to be a huge jackass—cocky and annoying?

"You're not staying in my room!" Jay shot back. "What if I want to bring a girl over? You're going to watch in the same bed?"

Erin mumbled angrily to herself. "If you bring a girl over while I'm in the same bed, I promise you, you won't have anything left to stick in her."

Jay held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, so I married a violent woman. I'm going to sleep with one eye open," he joked, watching Erin's reaction. He sighed. "Come on, that was funny. Laugh. Smile. Any other expression beside that scowl that has been on your face since I've met you." Erin obliged, throwing him her fakest smile. The one she had perfected from years of working at the diner and dealing with annoying customers. He laughed, seeing her expression. "That's a start."

She sighed, approaching him. "Look, we're in this for six months. You don't like it, I don't like it but we're stuck together so why don't we just try to make things as pleasant as possible? Make the time go faster."

Jay shrugged. "Fine by me. How are we going to do that?"

Erin sat down next to him on the couch. "How about some ground rules? I know this is your place but if I'm going to be here for the next six months, we should set up some rules."

"Like what kind of rules?"

She pursed her lips, thinking. "Okay I know Will said that we have to make our marriage look legitimate and stay in the same room but I think I can get away with sleeping in the guestroom. I'll just keep my things in your room so if anyone checks, they'll think we share a room."

Jay nodded, agreeing. "What else?"

"I may be your wife but I'm not your maid. That little joke earlier about getting you a beer? Not funny. Clean up after yourself." Jay nodded again, conceding to her. "And if you meet a girl, then bang her somewhere else. Don't bring her here, not when I'm living here and make sure to keep it discreet. We might not be in a real marriage but if this is going to be my home for the next six months, I still don't want random women coming in and out. Deal?"

"I can do that," Jay replied. "Okay deal."

"Then let's just try to stay out of each other's way and the next six months should fly by really quickly." Erin said, hoping what she was saying was true. She couldn't wait until it was over and she could get her real life started again—this time with a brighter future.

It had been two weeks and surprisingly the past two weeks had moved pretty quickly for Erin. Jay had stayed out of her way, both of them not really seeing each other. She slept in the guest room every night and snuck into his room in the morning to change her clothes while he was still passed out from going out all night. She didn't know if he was meeting other women while he was out and she didn't care. As long as he wasn't bringing them back here, he could do whatever and whoever he wanted. She was no longer working at the diner—Will had made her quit, stating that a Halstead wife wouldn't be working as a waitress—so she had nothing but time. So she spent that time hitting the books, preparing herself for the courses she'd be taking in the future. She had never been good at school—too busy worrying about where her next meal was coming from, if the heat was on or where her mother was to really care about hitting the books. But she was older now and she valued education more. She didn't want to be another sob story of a poor girl stuck in Chicago South Side. She wanted more for herself and her enrolling in the nursing course and hopefully getting a real career was her way out.

"You're studying?" She looked up from her books as Jay entered the kitchen, looking at the stacks of books she had on the kitchen island. "That's a lot of books."

"Yeah," Erin replied, jotting down a couple of notes in her book. "I'm trying to get a head start. Or catching up. Not really sure yet."

He nodded, picking up a book that was by him and thumbing through it. She looked at him curiously, wondering why he was standing there interacting with her. They usually left each other alone, barely seeing each other the last two weeks. They certainly never had a conversation that lasted longer than two words. But here he was, acting like he was actually interested in what she was doing.

"Biology," he frowned, leafing through the old textbook she had gotten from an old bookstore. "Man, I hated biology. I remember paying some nerd to do my homework when I had to take it in college." He laughed like it was something to be proud of.

"You went to college?"

"Of course," he replied back. "It's a Halstead's tradition to go to Brown. No matter what. It's high school then Brown. Man, I hated it."

Erin scoffed. "Yeah it must have been terrible to be practically guaranteed admission to an Ivy League school just because of your last name and getting a prestigious degree. I mean how awful right?"

He glared at her outburst, putting down her book back on the counter. "I get it," he started. "You think of me as some spoiled rich brat who got by with his last name his whole life."

Erin crossed her arms. "I mean, I'm not wrong am I? You tell me that it's "tradition" for your family to go to Brown which is basically code for your family money guaranteeing you admission. Then you bragged about paying some kid to do your work in college because why? You were too lazy to? Or too dumb to?"

That glare on his face intensified. "And what? You're smart? I don't know many smart kids ending up working as a waitress in some run down diner or studying basic biology when they're 30 years old."

Erin shook her head, anger and embarrassment consuming her. "Yeah I'm just a waitress. I didn't go to a fancy school. I didn't even go to college. I barely got passed high school if I'm completely honest but it's not because I wasn't smart enough. I didn't get the same opportunities as you. I don't have a fancy last name to open doors for me. I had to survive before I could even think about school or getting a decent education. So don't stand there and judge me. Not when you don't even know me."

Jay let out an empty chuckle. "That's a pot calling the kettle black. You don't want me to judge you but you're fine with judging me?" He shook his head. "You think you got me all figured out, don't you?"

Erin shrugged. "Not a lot of mystery there. You're about as deep as a puddle."

He licked his lips and shook his head. "You don't know me. Not even a little bit," he muttered. "Forget it. This was a mistake," he mumbled to himself and quickly walked out of the kitchen.

"You're here to check up on us?" Erin opened the door and let Will in, the man giving her a sheepish smile, knowing she had caught him.

"I'm just making sure both of you are still alive and haven't killed each other." Erin chuckled, knowing they had came close. "You're cooking?" He asked, smelling the aroma coming from the kitchen.

"Yeah," Erin looked at him strangely, wondering why he looked so surprised at that. "I'm about to eat dinner. Why?"

Will gave her a small shake of the head. "It's just weird, I guess. I don't think I've even seen Jay use his kitchen before. You like cooking?"

Erin shrugged. "Not like it's a hobby or anything. But a girl's gotta eat right?"

He hummed an agreement. "Why don't you just order something? Get it delivered?"

Erin's eyebrows rose. "You're kidding right? I can't afford to eat out every night. Besides it's not that hard to whip up something for dinner."

"What do you mean you can't afford it?" Will looked confused. "Just use Jay's account. You're his wife."

She scoffed. "That wasn't a part of the deal." She walked back over to the stove to check on her sauce. "The deal was 50k and the nursing course. I'm not going to spend his money. I've saved enough to last me for the next six months without working."

"Erin," Will joined her next to the stove. "It's really no big deal. While you're living here and you're married to him, just let us cover your expenses. I really should've made it clear in the first place. I don't want you spending your money, not when I made you quit your job. Besides I think Jay probably spends more money in a night going out than you would for the next six months."

Erin laughed, agreeing with Will's last statement. She turned off the stove and wiped her hand on the tea towel, turning to Will. "Thanks Will. I appreciate that, really but I don't really feel comfortable doing that. Besides like you said, I'm not really a big spender or anything so I can get by with my own money."

Will just nodded, knowing he wouldn't be winning the argument. "But seriously though, if you need anything let me or Jay knows. You might have to smack him upside the head to get his attention but do it anyways."

"Sounds like a plan," she grinned. "Now do you want some of my dinner? It's just spaghetti but Marty, the cook at the diner, taught me this secret trick and it's to die for." Will leaned in close to the pot and sniffed it, giving her a hum of approval.

"Smells good. Okay, I guess I have some time before my meeting. You don't mind?" Erin rolled her eyes, reaching for a plate to serve Will. "Thanks."

She placed the plate on the counter and joined Will at the kitchen island. "Mmmm, this is so good," Will closed his eyes, enjoying the food. "What's the secret?"

"No way," she shook her head. "I promised Marty that I'd take it to the grave. Not sharing." He gave her a fake pout, causing her to laugh at how ridiculous he looked. "I didn't think you'd like something plain like this."

"Oh I totally do," he said, mid-bite. "It reminds me of our mother. She was this second generation Italian and she had all these really great pasta recipes passed down from her grandma but our favorite was always her spaghetti and meatballs. It was simple but it always tasted like home."

She just nodded, listening to Will. "Italian? Where did the whole red hair and freckles come from then?"

He chuckled. "That'd be our father and his Irish blood. Jay just got his freckles and as you can see, I won the jackpot and got both the red hair and freckles." She laughed at Will puffing his chest out. "Seriously though, Jay would love this."

Her expression became tight at the mention of Jay. "I don't know about that."

"No, really. That was always his favorite. Would never touch anyone else's spaghetti but mom's. I mean, that wasn't really that surprising. He had always been a mama's boy."

Safe to say she was surprised by that. He didn't seem like it. Jay didn't look like the type that was close to his family. "Really?"

Will let out a soft laugh, lost in his memories. "Yeah, he was her favorite too. I know, I know. Parents always say they love all their children equally but mom and Jay, they had this special bond. She was always the one he turned to, especially when he and our father clashed, which was often."

"Was?"

Will nodded sadly. "She passed away about four years ago. Cancer. It happened so fast and Jay took it the hardest. It was like he lost both his mom and his best friend all at the same time. To be honest, I don't think he had ever fully gotten over it."

Erin took in the information about the man she married, her heart aching at what Will was telling her. She would've never pegged Jay as that type. Maybe Jay was right when he told her that she didn't know him, not even a little bit. Will's words revealed a whole new side of Jay that she didn't know existed. Maybe she had judged him too quickly. Her thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the door and in came her husband, his eyes narrowing at seeing her and Will eating side by side in the kitchen.

"What's going on? What are you doing here Will?" Jay questioned, coming closer to them.

Will finished his bite and swallowed. "I just came by to make sure you both were doing okay. And I came at the right time because Erin made this awesome dinner. You should try some."

Jay wrinkled his nose. "No thanks. I'm going out to dinner with Mouse." Erin bit her lips, not exactly surprised that Jay would reject eating dinner with them. He was looking at her food like it was disgusting. It was no wonder that she was so surprised by what Will told her and she wasn't even sure if she believed Will's story about Jay. Maybe Will was just too close to his brother and saw him in a more pleasant light.

"Are you sure man?" Will called out. "Just try a bite here," Will held out a forkful of pasta, waiting for Jay to eat it. "It tastes like mom's."

Jay scoffed. "No way."

"I'm serious!" Will tried again. "Just one bite." Jay sighed and gave in, leaning it to take the bite that Will was offering him. He chewed on it, the look in his eyes changing as the food made its way to his taste buds. "See, I told you." Will grinned smugly. "Now you want more huh?"

"It tastes like mom's," was Jay's soft reply, his whole demeanor softening at the realization. Despite not wanting to, Erin's own heart softened, seeing the expression on his face. She stood up without a word and made a plate for Jay. She gave him a smile as she placed the plate on the counter, Jay returning a genuine smile at her action. He dug into the food, eyes closing at the taste. "Thank you," he told her, smiling. "It's delicious."

"You're welcome," she replied softly, returning a smile of her own. "I'm glad you like it." He held her gaze so intensely that she felt her face heat up, blushing under his stare.

"Look at this," Will shouted gleefully, breaking the moment between her and Jay. "Our first family dinner!"

Jay groaned. "Don't tell me you coming over for dinner is going to become a common occurrence." Jay was obviously kidding but it didn't stop Will for sending him a glare. Erin found the interaction between the two brothers amusing and she chuckled to herself. It was actually nice, she thought to herself—eyes shifting between the two brothers—to have a so-called "family dinner".

After the three of them finished their dinner and Erin did the dishes—despite protests from Will and surprisingly Jay—they were still seated around the island, with a cup of coffee for each of them.

"I did actually come for a reason," Will started. "besides making sure both of you were still alive." Erin placed her coffee cup down, waiting for Will to elaborate. Will turned to Jay, a serious look on his face. "I heard from Dad today. Said he's coming back into town in a couple of weeks. Just wanted to give you a heads up."

The look that came over Jay's face at the mention of his father made it clear to Erin that they didn't have the best relationship. Will had hinted as much before but seeing the disdain on Jay's face in person made it even clearer that Jay didn't get along with his father.

"So what?" Jay almost spat out. "What does it have to do with me?"

Will sighed. "Jay. You know he's going to want to see you. And eventually he's going to find out about this," Will pointed between Jay and Erin. "We need to figure out what we're going to tell him."

"Tell him whatever you want. I doubt he'd even care, just as long as his precious business merge goes through."

"That's not fair," Will argued. "I know you don't think he cares about you but he does. And he's going to find out about Erin and he's going to want to meet her."

"No way!" Jay immediately protested, slamming his coffee cup down. "There's no way in hell that he's meeting Erin." Erin didn't know whether to feel offended or not, seeing such a visceral reaction from Jay at the thought of her meeting his dad. "I'm not going to put her through that." He added, making it clear that he was doing it for her sakes.

"It is going to happen whether you like it or not Jay," Will reasoned, "so if you really want to protect Erin then I suggest you two come up with a good story so he doesn't find out why you guys really got married."

Erin sat up in her bed, hearing some crashing sounds coming from outside of her bedroom. She grabbed the nearest object she could which just happened to be her slippers and she slowly got up and exited her room, quietly tip-toeing to find out just where the noise was coming from. She saw a small light coming from the kitchen and she heard a harsh "fuck!" coming from there. She knew it couldn't be Jay. After Will had dropped the bomb that their father was coming back in a couple of weeks, Jay had stormed off and made his exit. She headed toward the kitchen, still holding up her slipper like it was going to protect her from a potential intruder.

"Who's there?!" she demanded, quickly opening up the kitchen lights and holding out her slipper like it was a weapon. The intruder was being hidden by the refrigerator door and her sudden appearance seemed to frighten whoever it was enough that he hit his head on the fridge door.

"What the?! Fuck!" Jay groaned, coming from behind the fridge door, rubbing the spot on his head that hit the fridge. "What the hell?"

Erin deflated, her heart calming down. "Jay?"

He was still rubbing his head, looking at her like she lost her damn mind. "Yeah? Who else would it be? Are you…..is that your slipper?" he asked incredulously, face splitting into a smile before full on laughing at her. She dropped her slipper on the floor, feeling embarrassed. He did have a point. Who in their right mind would use a freaking slipper to fend off an intruder.

"It was the first thing I grabbed," she offered lamely, Jay still laughing at her, holding his sides. "Alright, I get it. It was dumb."

"No no," he said in between laughter. "Everyone knows that slippers are the new guns."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, you done now?" He nodded, still amused at her but he took a deep breath to control his laughter. "What are you doing here anyway?"

He shot his eyebrows up. "I live here. It's kind of my place? Did you accidentally hit your head with your slipper and got amnesia or something?"

"Haha very funny," she shot back. "I thought you left earlier. I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

His face sobered up a bit. "Yeah," he said softly. "I wasn't really feeling being out tonight. So I came back early. Sorry if I woke you up."

She nodded, accepting his answer. "It's okay. Are you looking for something?" He bit his lips, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly like he had been caught. Her curiosity peaked at the way he was acting. Then understanding dawned on her and she found herself smiling. She walked over where he was standing by the fridge, pushing him slightly out of the way, and found what he was looking for earlier. Without another word, she grabbed a empty plate out of the cabinet and scooped out the leftover spaghetti she made earlier and put it in the microwave.

She turned back to him and gestured for him to sit on the stool. He complied easily enough, leaning his elbow on the kitchen island, giving her a grateful smile.

"Really, you don't have to do this," he told her when she got the plate out of the microwave and placed it in front of him. "Thank you." She shrugged his thank off, like it wasn't a big deal. "I'm serious. I want to follow the rules we set and you were right, you're not my maid."

"Jay," she interrupted him, bending down on her elbows so she was face to face with him. "You didn't ask me. I did it because I wanted to. Besides it's not going to happen often so when I'm in the nice mood, take advantage of it." He grinned, accepting her explanation. She just watched him as he took a bite, the same happy expression from earlier coming over his face again. It sent a surge of happiness to her chest, seeing him enjoy something that she made. "Mind if I join you?"

He shook his head, patting the open stool next to her. She made herself a cup of tea and sat down next to him, side by side. "I really am sorry that I woke you up." She waved his apology off again. "I just really wanted more of your spaghetti before I went to bed."

"I'm glad you like it," she said, giving him a smile. "I didn't think you would."

"No, it's really good," he reassured her. "Where'd you learn how to cook?"

She chuckled to herself. "I taught myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she nodded, laughing. "It's not that hard. I mean I'm not a fancy chef by any means but I get by. I had to." He looked at her, eyes looking like they were interested in hearing more so she continued. "I mean, I had to learn or I would've starved. So I just started cooking by myself when I was 12."

His eyes widened. "12? That's young. Your parents didn't cook for you?"

She shook her head, exhaling. "No, um…," she paused, not really sure whether she wanted to continue but she had learned something about him tonight and for some reason, she wanted him to know something about her too. "I've never met my father and my mother was pretty much never around."

"Oh," was his reply and she almost regretted telling him that. The last thing she wanted was his pity.

"It's not a big deal," she said, not wanting him to feel sorry for her. "I managed."

"Erin, you shouldn't have had to," he asserted, like he was angry on her behalf. "Your parents, they should've been there for you. It's their job, their responsibility. So you've been on your own since then?"

"Yeah pretty much," she replied. "I mean, maybe even earlier than that. My mom, she was in and out of my life when I was younger. She was an addict and loved coke more than her daughter. There'd be days when she'd be like a normal mom, making me lunch for school, had dinner on the table. Then whenever she relapsed, she was too busy looking for her next fix than to be a mother. Then one day, she just never came home and I haven't seen her since."

"I'm sorry," he told her, sounding sincere.

"Don't be," she replied, "It was probably for the best."

He just looked at her, a look she couldn't decipher in his eyes. It unnerved her, making her feel like she was completely exposed under his gaze. It made her feel vulnerable and she was never comfortable with that. Her immediate reaction was to build her walls back up, the ones she had perfected over the years. But it seemed as though he wouldn't let her. "Take it from me Erin. It's not always a good thing having parents in your life. Just look at me and my dad."

She was surprised that he even brought up his dad but she was definitely interested in hearing more about it. "I take it you two aren't close either?"

He scoffed. "Let's put it this way. There had never been or will never be father-son fishing trips," he quipped. "No, we're not close. Never have been. He was always too busy with his business and work to be an actual father. And after my mom…." he took a deep breath at the mention of his mother. "After she passed, my relationship with my dad went from bad to worse."

"Why?" she braved the question, not completely sure if he would even continue.

"He wanted both me and Will to follow in his footsteps, take over the family business. But it was never our dreams. Will, he always wanted to be a doctor and I wanted to do anything else beside take over his business. My mom, she always played buffer between us, always made me and Will try to see the good side of him. I mean, he treated my mom like shit when they were married. I'm pretty sure he cheated on her like so many times but she still loved him, too much for her own good." Erin saw that he was getting angry, clenching his fists, while recalling the past. "My mom, she was a freaking saint. Even when he was screwing his secretary when she was going through chemo by herself, she would defend him. But all it did was made me hate him more." Her heart went out to him. He was clearly in pain. Will was right. Jay wasn't over his mother's death and he was holding onto the anger and hatred towards his dad as a result.

She took a chance and reached out to his clenched fists that were on the kitchen island and she slowly pried his fists open and held his hand. There was nothing but anguish in his eyes, thinking of his mom and Erin felt terrible for bringing up the topic.

"I'm sorry," was all she could say to him. He just nodded, his glistening eyes holding unshed tears in. "Parents right?" she said, trying to lighten the mood up a little bit, wanting to make him feel better. He just gave her a small chuckle for her effort.

"Parents," he repeated.

She stepped into his bedroom as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake him up. Ever since the night they shared stories about their parents a week ago, there seemed to be this new understanding between them. They certainly weren't friends, not yet anyways, but she appreciated him opening up to her and letting her see a different side of him beside the snarky jerk act he usually put up. But despite the small subtle change in their relationship, she still didn't feel comfortable entering his bedroom while he was in it. But she really needed a thicker jacket, the autumn had ended and opened up the way for winter and its colder temperature.

She was expecting to find him still sleeping, knowing that he usually slept in but he wasn't in bed. She heard the water running in the bathroom, indicating that he was taking a shower, giving her the perfect opportunity to get in and get her jacket without facing him. She opened up the closet room where she stored her things and got on her tippy toes so she could reach the jacket she wanted from the top shelf. She reached and pulled the jacket down, accidentally pulling down a box along with it.

"Shit!" she cursed to herself, crouching down to pick up the things that fell from the box and quickly put it back before he came out. She was on her knees, her hands working fast to pick up the pictures and papers that were on the ground. She flipped the pictures around, her mouth opening in surprise at seeing them.

"You snooping through my things?" She jerked around, his sudden appearance from the bathroom catching her by surprise. She looked up and found him just standing in his towel, another towel running through his hair to dry. Her mouth dried at seeing his toned body, chest dripping wet with drops of water. She blushed, her face heating up, when a smirk came over his face, knowing that she was caught checking him out. She shook her head slightly, focusing back on the pictures she was holding in her hand.

"I wasn't snooping!" she defended herself. "I just wanted to get my jacket and I accidentally pulled down the box." He gave her a look like he didn't believe her. "I promise!" she vowed, not wanting him to think she had a habit of going through his things when he wasn't around. She wasn't a snoop. But his laugh told her that he was just teasing her so she just shot him an eye roll. "I didn't know you were a cop." She held up the picture of him from her hand, Jay in his police blues by his patrol car, a wide smile on his face.

His smile fell off at seeing the picture and he turned away from her, hands resuming to dry his hair. "Yeah, that was a while ago."

"What happened?" she asked anyway, knowing that he probably wouldn't answer her. But she was curious, that this heir to a multi-millionaire company was a public servant but she was even more curious at what happened to make him stop being a cop. He looked happy in the pictures that she found, smiling widely in all of them.

He shrugged, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Nothing. Just decided that I didn't want to be a cop anymore." There was obviously more to the story but it looked like he wasn't in the mood to elaborate today. She quickly put the pictures back in the box and returned it to its place. She just grabbed her jacket and was about to leave but when she turned back, he was still sitting on the edge of bed, lost in his thoughts.

There was just this aura of sadness around him now, obviously something about those pictures of him triggered something in him. She didn't want to leave him like this, not when she was the one who found those pictures and brought up whatever memories that he associated those pictures with. So she walked over to him and sat down gently next to him.

"Is this your mom?" she asked, holding up a picture of Jay in his uniform, arms around a middle aged woman, and they were both grinning at the camera. He nodded, grabbing the picture from her to look at it closer. "She was beautiful." Jay obviously got the good looks from his mother, they had the blue eyes and their smiles were identical, right down to the crinkles by their eyes.

"She was," Jay replied quietly, a fond smile coming over his face. "She was the only one who came to my Academy graduation. The only one who didn't disapprove me becoming a cop."

"You looked happy in those pictures," she voiced quietly. "I don't think I've seen a smile like that on your face since I've been here."

"I was happy," he echoed. "I loved being a cop."

"Then why did you stop?" He remained silent at her question. She nudged him gently with her shoulders to get his attention. "Jay?" He still remained silent. "Hey," she reached out to him, "it's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm sorry that I brought it up."

"No," he shrugged her apology off. "Don't be." He sighed, rubbing his face. "It's just something I don't really like to talk about, with anyone."

"Hey it's okay," Erin reassured him again. "I understand. I mean we're not exactly friends so you don't have to open up to me."

"Hey," he interjected, getting her attention firmly. "We're friends," he corrected. "I mean, I consider us friends. Don't you?"

She grinned. "I do," she replied, surprising herself that she really meant it. She wasn't sure how or when it happened but over the month that she had been living there and that night of them opening up to each other, she began to consider him as a friend. "And while you don't have to talk to me about this, you know that you could if you wanted to right? I'm here to listen."

The light in his eyes returned at her words and he slowly reached out to hold her hands, nodding. "I know. Thank you." She just nodded, breaking his hold on her to get up and made her exit, feeling his eyes on her back the entire time.

She wanted to rip her hairs out in frustration, flipping through her books harshly. The words in her books were in English but as far as she was concerned, they could've been in gibberish judging by how difficult of a time she was having getting them in her head. She knew she was never good in school and it had been years since she had to study, but who knew it'd be this difficult? She let out a groan in frustration.

"Studying is going that well huh?" Jay teased as he came into the kitchen, standing next to her on the kitchen island.

"I must be crazy for thinking that I could actually do this," Erin whined, dropping her head into her hand. "I can't even get this basic biology material so how am I supposed to get through the nursing course."

"Hey," Jay cut her off. "You're not crazy! And you can do this." He got her a glass of water. "You just need to stop pushing yourself too much."

"What?" she asked, her head popping back up to look at him.

"I'm serious. You're pushing yourself too hard. Every time I've seen you these past few weeks, you got your head stuck in these books. You need to relax. Take it easy."

"I can't take it easy!" Erin argued. "The courses I want to take starts in a couple of months and I have been out of school for way too long. I'm going be taking these courses with people that either just got out of high school or people who already took the basic courses in college. Either way the materials will be fresh on their mind while I won't know the difference between mitosis and meiosis. I don't want to look like a complete idiot on my first day or caught being so behind from everyone else." He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, rubbing it softly trying to comfort her. "I can't do this."

"You can do this!" Jay protested. He squeezed her shoulder to get her attention, his eyes looking straight into hers. "Erin, you got this! You just need to stop putting so much pressure on yourself. The courses are not for a couple of months right? Then you have the time. Just take it slowly. You don't need to walk into the classroom an expert on the topic. Take it from someone that slacked all the way through college, everyone is equally clueless too." He joked, pleased with himself when she laughed at it.

She side-eyed him, although it was more for effect than any actual annoyance. "Only you would think that slacking off in college is a badge of honor or something."

"What can I say? One of my proudest achievement," he gave her a grin, a proud look on his face. She could roll her eyes at him, amused at his antics.

Erin slammed the cabinet door in anger, muttering curses to herself. She was having a crappy day and the cabinet doors were facing the brunt of it. She got a cup and poured some coffee in it, going to the fridge to get some cream. Then she slammed the fridge door.

"Whoa, what did the doors ever do to you?" Jay came into the kitchen, sniggering at her little anger outburst.

"Not in the mood, Jay." She sat down on the stool and dropped her head in her hands. All she wanted to do was to sit in the kitchen and stew in her anger. She didn't want him here, trying to make conversations. But apparently he didn't get the hint because instead of hightailing it out of there, he came closer to her.

"Hey what's wrong?" He sounded concerned, like he actually cared. But Erin wasn't in the right headspace to talk to him right now. She was feeling like every time she was about to move one step forward, life wanted to knock her two steps back. Nothing could ever be smooth sailing for her. "Hey." Jay touched her arm softly to get her attention but she shrugged him off, not wanting to be touched right now.

"Nothing," she gritted, not even looking at him. "Just leave me alone."

"Well, I'm not going to leave my wife when she's looking this upset all alone," Jay joked, trying to lift her spirits but all he got was a glare in return. "Erin," he bent his head down so he can see her face that was hidden by her hands, "what's going on?"

She grunted, anger surging, and popped her head up. "Nothing!" she shouted, taking out her anger on him. "I said just leave me alone! We may be married but we're not a couple, we're barely friends so just go out like you always do, go bang another woman and just leave me alone!"

Jay looked like he got slapped in the face, her outburst taking him by surprise. He recoiled from her side, his own anger forming at being shot down by her. "Fine!" he shouted back, straightening up and made to leave the kitchen and leave her in her misery.

"Go then!" she yelled, anger matching anger. He began to stalk out of the kitchen, but not before she caught a look of hurt on his face. Guilt rose inside her, making her feel like shit for the way she treated him. He was just trying to be nice to her, to show her that he cared. How many people can she say that about in her life? Not many and here she was, pushing him away because she couldn't process her anger in a healthy way. She ran her hands through her hair, about to stop him from leaving so she could apologize. But she didn't need to because he was still in the kitchen, a few feet away from her, stopped in his own trek. She watched him nervously, wondering what had stopped him.

He turned around and walked back to her, meeting her eyes that were watching his every move curiously. "I am going to leave you alone like you want," he started, "but not before I say this."

She kept quiet, waiting to hear what he wanted to tell her. "I'm not…I'm…" she watched him carefully, wondering what had him stammering. He took a deep breath and clenched the kitchen island, staring at her so she was looking at him. "You're right. We're not a couple but we're still married. And I'm not my father."

Confusion made its way on her face, wondering what he was getting at. "What?"

"My parents got married because their parents wanted to merge their companies and my father used that as an excuse to cheat on my mother. We may have gotten married for other reasons besides love and we don't owe each other fidelity. But I'm not going to do what my father did to my mother. I'm not him. I haven't slept with anyone else since we got married. I just….I just wanted you to know that." She didn't reply, she didn't know what to say, his confession taking her by surprise. She had thought that all those nights he had been out and came home in the morning that he had been out with other women, sleeping around. He had never brought a woman over but she had assumed that it was because she had made it clear that she didn't want him bringing women back home. But she had never asked him to not sleep with anyone else, it wasn't her place to. After all, they weren't a normal married couple. They didn't meet, dated, fell in love then got married. They got married because he needed her to keep quiet and she needed money. But still, she couldn't deny the lightness in her chest at his revelation that he hadn't been with other women since they got married. She was surprised—but pleasantly so.

He saw her still silent and instead of pushing her for a reply, he just turned to leave. "Jay!" she called him, stopping him. She stood up and walked over to him so she was facing him. "I'm sorry," she began, feeling the need to apologize. "I didn't mean to take my anger out on you. I was just having a crappy day and you didn't deserve that."

He just gave her a small nod, accepting her apology. He wasn't pushing her to open up, letting her off the hook but she felt the need to explain further. She sighed, dropping her eyes to the ground. "I went to register for the courses today," she began explaining. "But apparently I need a high school diploma so I went to my high school to get a copy and it turned out that I didn't finish high school so I don't have a diploma."

His eyes narrowed. "What? You didn't know that you didn't finish high school?"

She shook her head. "I…I was a mess back then," she crossed her arms, almost as if she was protecting herself as she was about to tell him about a part of her life that she wasn't proud of, the past that she had tried to keep it in the past. "I fell in the with the wrong crowd, ditching class, doing god knows what. I put in minimal effort in my classes and I just thought I passed, didn't bother going to the graduation ceremony because who cares right? No one was waiting to watch me walk across the stage to get my diploma so I just dipped. Then I went back to high school today and the secretary there told me that I didn't pass a couple of classes so I'm not a high school graduate and I can't take the nursing courses." She rubbed her face, sighing. "I'm such a loser."

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely. "That sucks." She let out an empty laugh, agreeing with him. "Anything I can do?" She shook her head.

"It's just life right?" she replied. "Thank you for asking. I really am sorry that I took my anger out of you. And," she leaned in closer to him, looking up at his face. "Thank you." She didn't need to elaborate. He understood what the second thank-you was for. It was a thank you for respecting her, for respecting their marriage, for treating her well without her needing to ask and thank you for being her friend.

Now that she wasn't going to be taking the courses in the near future and she didn't need to hit the books, her day was completely wide opened. And she was completely bored. Jay was off to work and she was all by herself in the large condo. For the past couple of days, she had done nothing but mindlessly binged on shows, trying to distract her mind from having to think about what she was going to do with her life now that her plan A had been shot to hell. She didn't want to go back to being a waitress in that diner but she didn't have much options. She could use the $50,000 to tide her over for a couple of months while she looked for a better job but the thought of not having a job to fall back on scared the shit out of her. So she just tried to bury her mind in T.V, she would rather focus on the problems of the t.v characters' than her own.

She heard the doorbell rang so she paused her show and stood up to open the door. On the other side was a strange man, probably in his mid-twenties, smiling at her, carrying a large backpack.

"Can I help you?" she asked, wondering who this was. Another Halstead brother she didn't know about?"

"I'm Jake," the guy introduced himself. "I'm here for Erin."

"I'm Erin," she replied cautiously. "I'm sorry but do I know you?"

"Oh," Jake smiled nervously, holding out his hand for her to shake. "I'm sorry, I should've made it clearer. I'm Jake and I'm the tutor that Jay hired."

"What?" she was confused, Jay had hired a tutor? For her? "Um, come in, I guess." She let him in and took him over to the living room. "I'm sorry but you said Jay hired you?"

Jake nodded, sitting down and placing his heavy looking backpack on the ground, unzipping it to take out his books. "Yeah, he told me that you wanted to get into this nursing course? But that you didn't have your high school diploma. He found out that you can enroll anyway if you have a G.E.D so he hired me to help you study for the G.E.D test. So I'm here."

"Really?" she asked, in awe. "He did that? For me?"

Jake nodded. "He is your husband right? It's nice to see spouses help make each other's dreams come true. So ready to hit the books? We should get started soon if you want to get your G.E.D before the nursing course begins." She shook herself out of her stupor and nodded, her heart beating fast at the thought of Jay's thoughtful gesture. She couldn't believe that he had done this for her, even after she had treated him so terribly. She hated to admit it to herself but she was beginning to see her husband in a whole new light.

She put on her jacket and closed her purse, ready to head out. Jay had done this amazing thing for her—getting her a tutor and found a way to revive her dream—and she wanted to thank him. She had been wracking her brain all week, trying to think of a way to thank him but she couldn't think of anything—at least anything that said just how grateful she was towards him. Then finally today as she was thinking about what to make for dinner, her mind went to the spaghetti she made last month—one that he loved so much and she found her answer. It was a simple dish—especially compared to what he did for her—but she knew that it was more about the sentimentality of the dish instead of the cost. So she was about to head to the grocery store to buy what she needed to surprise him tonight.

She was just about to leave when he returned home, both of them almost colliding in the door way. They awkwardly side-stepped around each other, their bodies in close proximity with each other.

"Sorry," he said, stepping to the side to give her room. "You heading out?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I was about to head to the grocery store." He just nodded and their eyes met. Ever since that night when he had told her that he hadn't slept with anyone else since they got married, there had been a shift in the air between them. It wasn't the animosity that was between them when they first got married or the easiness of the friendship they had forged in the weeks after when they had gotten to know each other better. This air that lingered between them now was charged and it was tense. The look in his eyes had changed when he looked at her and Erin was too afraid to voice the change out loud—she wasn't ready.

"What do you need at the store?"

"Um," she paused, thinking if she wanted to tell him. But she didn't want him to go out for dinner because he didn't know that she was planning on cooking for him. "I needed a few things." He just nodded, accepting her answer and was about to walk away. "I wanted to make you the spaghetti and I don't have all the ingredients so I was about to go buy them."

A small smile took over his face. "You're going to cook for me?"

She nodded, almost embarrassed under his stare. "Yeah, I wanted to thank you for what you did for me. Hiring Jake to help me. I really appreciate it."

"It's nothing," he said, waving her thank you off. "I'm just glad I can help."

"No, it's not nothing. You have no idea how much it means to me," Erin said, grabbing his arms to get his full attention. "It's more than just getting me a tutor or me getting my G.E.D. You gave me back a dream that I thought was dead. That's big." The smile he gave her in return was blinding and she couldn't help but smile back, her heart skipping at seeing the crinkles in the corner of his eyes. "I'll be back soon and we can eat dinner together."

She turned to leave but he called her name and she turned back to look at him, seeing him scratch the back of his neck. "You want company?" he asked her, almost like he was nervous to even ask. She grinned, nodding her head and the nervous look on his face relaxed and he opened the door for her and the two of them headed out to the grocery store.

"I don't think I've been in a grocery store in years," he muttered as he pushed the cart along the aisle. She gave him an incredulous look at his confession.

"Seriously?" she scoffed. "How did you even get by?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just order whatever I need online and it comes to my door. And you've seen my kitchen and you know I don't cook. Just never had a need to come, I guess."

She shook her head at his answer, directing her attention back to the different options of pastas the store offered. She picked up two boxes and held them up to Jay. "Angel hair or you feeling more adventurous and go for the penne?"

He reached over for the box of Angel hair pasta and dropped it in the cart. "Angel hair definitely. Classic all the way." She chuckled at him and followed him as they continued down the aisle. "What else do you need to get?"

"Um, garlic and I think that should be it," she said, scanning the cart to make sure they had everything they needed.

"Okay but first, the important thing." He pushed the cart along, spotting something with his eyes, and she just followed him until they arrived at the freezer aisle and found themselves in rows of ice-cream. His eyes filled with glee like he was literally a kid in the ice-cream store and he began scanning all the options of ice-cream the store offered. "Why haven't I come here more often?" he asked to himself as he pulled off a couple of cartons of ice-cream and placed them in the cart. She laughed at his actions, seeing this whole different side to him. "What's your favorite flavor?"

"Vanilla, definitely." He frowned at her reply. "What?"

"That's a boring flavor," he retorted.

"It's classic," she shot back, using his words from before, pushing him slightly to the side so she coud grab a carton of vanilla ice-cream and placed in the cart, giving him a smug smile. He just rolled his eyes at her, mouthing 'boring' at her.

"Why don't you go grab the garlic and I'll meet you at the check-out line?" Jay suggested. Erin shook her head.

"No," she rejected. "There's no way you're paying for this. Not when I'm supposed to be the one making you dinner as a thank you." He just rolled his eyes at her again, pushing the cart to his side and away from her.

"Erin," he protested. "I got this. Really."

"I can pay for this Jay," she shot back, feeling a bit angry and hurt as if he thought she couldn't afford to pay for the grocery.

"I know you can," he said, defending himself. "But I want to pay for this, especially when I'm the one that got all these ice-cream." He walked around the cart and placed his hand on her shoulders. "Erin, you cooking is enough of a thank you. So just go and get the garlic and meet me back at the cashier." He pushed her slightly so she gave in and headed to go grab the last ingredient they needed for dinner tonight.

She held the garlic in her hand and made her way back to Jay. She spotted him standing a few feet away, leaning on the cart, waiting in line to pay. She felt herself smile at seeing him. She had to admit to herself that he was a good looking man, even under the harsh fluorescent lights of the store. He was tall and handsome and the coat he was wearing just made him stand out even more. But as she had learned over the past month, he was genuinely a good guy. She didn't think that upon first meeting him but as she began to learn more and more about him, it was becoming clearer to her that underneath the snarky and cocky surface that he liked to hide behind, he was considerate, caring and thoughtful. And he was funny, always cracking jokes and making her laugh even if she had tried her hardest not to a lot of the times. She was really beginning to enjoy his presence in her life.

"Jay?" Erin stopped in her steps, when she heard another woman called out her husband's name. Jay turned around and saw who was calling him. Erin watched a few feet away as the woman approached Jay and held out her arms, hugging him. Jay returned her hug for a quick second before pulling away but the woman's hand remained on his arm, touching him. Erin bit her lips as she studied the woman from a few feet away. She was certainly beautiful, Erin observed, and it seemed as though she knew Jay very well, if the wide smile on her face was any indication. Erin debated to herself on whether or not she should join them, not knowing who this woman was. But she chided herself, for thinking that she needed to stay away. He was her husband, she didn't need to hide herself. So she walked over to them.

"I got the garlic," she said, making her way back over to Jay and the woman. She dropped the garlic in the cart and gave Jay a smile, waiting for him to make the introduction.

"Erin," Jay said, stepping closer to her. "This is Ally," he said, introducing Erin to the woman, whose smile had immediately fallen at Erin's sudden appearance. "Ally, this is Erin, my wife," Jay said, smiling at Erin at the label. Ally's jaw dropped.

"Your wife?" Ally stuttered. "Really?" Erin's eyes narrowed at her reply, feeling Ally's eyes scan her up and down. The expression on her face made it clear that she clearly thought of Erin as beneath her, her eyes judging everything Erin had on. Erin tried not to feel small under the scrutinizing stare of the other woman but as Erin took in Ally's own perfectly curled hair, glossy skin, well manicured nails and perfectly coordinated outfit, she couldn't help but feel underdressed in her own large sweatshirt and well-worn leggings. Ally's shirt alone probably cost more than what Erin had in her whole bank account. "I didn't know you got married," Ally challenged.

"Yeah, it happened kind of fast," Jay explained. His arms came around Erin's shoulder and he held her close. "We just kind of met and fell in love and knew that we belong together so we didn't want to wait to get married." That was the story they had agreed upon, to explain their sudden marriage. Despite it being all for show, Erin hated herself for feeling her heart skipped at hearing the story and the way Jay was holding her right now.

Ally's face soured. "Jay, this isn't like you." Erin wanted to slap the lipstick off of Ally's face, like she knew Jay better than his wife. "Daddy has said that you haven't been around in recent years but he didn't tell me why. But I guess now I know."

Jay's face dropped. "Yeah, I haven't been around not because I got married but because," he trailed off, not explaining further. "Tell him I'm sorry."

Ally nodded, grabbing Jay's arms. "I understand." Her eyes glanced over at Erin before turning back to Jay. "This certainly is a surprise but we should catch up anyway. We have a lot to catch up on."

Jay just gave a half hearted nod. "We should go," he said, turning to Erin to change the subject. "It was nice to see you Ally." Ally looked like she wanted to hug him again but he didn't release his hold on Erin so Ally just nodded, waving at them before walking away. Jay turned back to the cashier and began placing the items on the belt.

"Ex-girlfriend?" Erin asked him, although she already knew. He just nodded. "She's pretty." He shot her an exasperated look. "What? She is and she looked like she swallowed a lemon when I came."

"You jealous?" he teased her, earning an eye roll. "You were, weren't you?"

"Please," she immediately denied, although if she was being honest with herself, maybe there was a small part of her that felt jealous. His ex-girlfriend was the polar opposite from her. She was beautiful, well put together and it was obvious that she came from money. She probably had a fancy degree from a fancy college and a good career. And here was Erin, in her sweat and old leggings, hair tied up in a bun. Not to mention, she didn't even have a high school diploma and her career history included nothing but one dead end job after another. They weren't even comparable; it was blatantly obvious just what kind of woman a guy like Jay belonged with and it wasn't her.

"Hey," Jay called, getting her attention. "You have nothing to be jealous of. Me and Ally, that's all the way in the past and too much stuff happened since then and I'm never going there again." She was left wondering just what the hell happened between them.

Jay frowned, not seeing Erin in her usual spot in the kitchen at this time. Ever since he had hired Jake to tutor her, Erin had been putting in extra hours hitting the books and Jay would always see her in the kitchen island at night, studying. He really admired her and the determination she had towards her dreams.

He was about to leave for the night, heading to Ally's house for a party. She had been calling him the past few days, inviting him to her housewarming party since she was moving back to Chicago. He just gave her a non-committal answer but she was insistent. So much so that Will had called him to make sure that he would be attending, not wanting to make waves with the Corsons and the business dealings between them. So Jay had to suck it up and go, despite not wanting to. He would've asked Erin to go but he didn't want to put her through it, knowing that Erin would be uncomfortable at a party at his ex-girlfriend's house. Hell, he didn't even want to be there but he had to, for the business.

Still, he couldn't shake off the feeling of worry in chest at not seeing Erin in the kitchen. He hadn't seen her since he had gotten back from the office today and usually as of late, she'd be waiting for him either in the living room or in the kitchen and they would have a cup of coffee and jus talk. They had definitely grown closer in the two months that they had been married and Jay knew his feelings toward her was growing. He had to stop himself from just reaching over and kissing her several times already. But he always held himself back, knowing that she didn't see him like that. For her, it was strictly business.

"Erin?" He knocked her on her door and slowly opening it when he didn't get a reply. He was getting more and more worried and wanted to make sure she was okay. He found her sleeping on the bed and he released a sigh of relief and was about to walk back out. But he heard whimpers coming from her and he stopped, turning around and walking back to her. She was whimpering in her sleep, tossing in bed. He reached his hand down to check on her forehead, pulling it back immediately when he felt how hot it was. She was sick and had a fever.

Frowning—his chest filled with concern—he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Erin? You alright?" She didn't reply, just continued tossing in bed. She had cold sweats and she was completely knocked out, not responding to him. He got out of his phone and called his doctor immediately, his hand resting on her forehead again.

"She has a high fever but it's really nothing much to be concerned about." The doctor rewound his stethoscope and put it back in his case. "I'm going to give her something to help her break the fever and she should be just fine."

Jay stood by Erin's side as he watched the doctor examined Erin, who was completely out of it, not even realizing that she was being checked over. "She'll be okay?"

"Yes," the doctor stood up. "It's probably going to be a rough night ahead for her until her fever breaks. She's probably going to be cold with chills one minute then sweating the next. But it's all just signs that her body is fighting to break the fever. She'll be alright."

Jay crossed his arms, still worried. "Anything I can do for her?"

"Just keep watch over her," the doctor replied. "You can apply cold towel on her forehead, keep her cool and help break the fever. But the medicine will do its job."

"Thank you," Jay said, shaking the doctor's hands. "Thank you for getting here so quickly."

The doctor chuckled. "With what you're paying me Jay, it's no problem. You know when you called me in such a panic, I thought there was something worse happened. Thank god right."

"Right," Jay agreed, walking the doctor out the door and immediately returning back to Erin's side. He had already taken off his jacket and was now in his white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, ready to watch over and take care of Erin through the night. He walked into her bedroom and ran a towel under cold water and walked back to her side. He gently sat down on the bed next to her and placed the cold towel on her forehead. Erin groaned at the cold sensation and he shushed her gently.

"It's going to make you feel better Erin," he said, almost cooing to comfort her. She shifted her head around a bit before settling back down and let him place the towel on her head. "You're going to be alright."

That was how Jay spent the night, getting up every so often to rewet the towel and made it cold again for her and placing it back on her forehead. The doctor was right, Erin had tossed and turned all night, in a restless sleep. She muttered incoherently in her sleep about being cold so he had tucked the blanket around her tightly then she was hot the next minute, pushing the blanket aside in a fit.

There was a moment in the middle of the night where Erin had opened her eyes and was lucid enough to notice him there. "Jay? What are you doing here?"

He ran his fingers tenderly on her forehead. "You have a fever Erin. I'm taking care of you." She had tried to push him away then, muttering in her sleep about how she was fine and how she could take care of herself. He shot her an exasperated look even though she couldn't see him.

"I'm your husband. It's my job to take care of you." She grunted, muttering some incoherent words to herself before falling back asleep and he just chuckled at her, feeling this rush of affection for her. "You're not really good at letting other people take care of you huh?" he said, more so into the night as she was deep in her sleep, unable to hear his thoughts. "I guess you didn't really have anyone to take care of you." He ran his finger down her cheeks, feeling the heat underneath his fingers. "That's okay. I'm here now. I'll take care of you."

It was as if she had heard him in her sleep and she burrowed closer to him in her sleep, catching him by surprise. He smiled at her scooting closer and closer unconsciously, mumbling about being cold in her sleep. He smiled, bringing her into his arms and kissed the top of her head, smoothing the soft strands until she felt more comfortable.

The doctor was right and the medicine that he gave her did its job and by the morning, Erin's fever broke. Her eyes fluttered opened and for the first time since last night, she was feeling human again. She looked up and saw Jay's soft eyes looking down at her, giving her a small smile.

"Jay?" she asked confused, wondering what was going on.

He just placed his hand on her forehead and tested the skin. "Hmm, you're feeling cooler than before. I think your fever finally broke."

"Fever?" she asked, still feeling confused.

"Yeah, you got sick last night and the doctor said you had a fever." She must have been completely knocked out because she wasn't even aware of a doctor being there. She looked at him again, confusion in her eyes.

"You took care of me?" she asked, like she was completely surprised. "You were here?"

"Of course, I'm your husband. Where else would I be?" he said it as if there was nowhere else he'd rather be. She let his words wash over her and she smiled.

Perhaps if she was stronger, she would've held back her tongue but she was weak and she couldn't stop the words that came out of her mouth. "I'm glad you're my husband Jay. I'm glad you're here." she whispered into his chest. And he smiled, dropping a kiss on her head and clutched her closer to his chest.