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Hailey has never minded flying, preferred it even. It's quick and easy, and luckily enough for her, efficient; she hasn't lost her luggage yet.
She glances down at the phone she holds tightly in her hand and lets out a sigh as she lifts her head again. They'll be landing soon.
A flight attendant comes over the intercom minutes later confirming just that and announcing their descent, and Hailey turns her head to look out the window. Her face breaks out into a small, dimpled smile at the sunset view of Chicago's skyline from forty thousand feet in the air, and it makes her lean back and relax in her seat.
She's home.
She had screwed up with the Darius Walker case, crossed lines when she knew it was wrong, and became a version of herself she no longer recognized, one she didn't want to be. And because of that she was sent away as a means of penance for her wrongdoings.
It was a punishment she hadn't taken lightly, and being shipped off to New York, miles away from everything she knew and loved, hadn't been an easy adjustment by any means, but she did it. She held her head high and paid her dues, even though she was stubborn at first with a razor edge chip on her shoulder.
As she stares out the window at the only city she will ever call home, she realizes the worst part of it all hadn't been getting yelled at by her Sergeant or having everyone around her analyzing her every move for the last eight weeks. It was the fact that she didn't have her partner with her through any of it.
Jay wasn't there to have her back and she wasn't home to have his in the way they'd grown accustomed to since becoming partners, and it gnawed away at her the entire time she was gone. But it was done now, and she was finally home, back to Chicago, back to Intelligence, soon to be side-by-side with her partner again.
Her smile stretches wider across her face, thinking back to the last time she saw him and the rumbling of emotions she'd been left with when she had to walk away from him to catch a flight.
"Not to make your ego any bigger than it already is sometimes, but it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder to leave if you drop me off," Hailey said.
But Jay could be just as stubborn as her and wouldn't take no for an answer. He picked her up from her place the morning of her flight with coffee waiting for her in a cup holder in the front seat, and shot her that charming smile of his that had her insides flipping over and upside down.
They didn't talk much on the way to the airport, as if Jay knew whatever words he said to her wouldn't provide much comfort or change the situation. Hailey was leaving Chicago, leaving him, and despite knowing that she'd return, it stirred up memories of losing another partner to the Feds and the Big Apple and it had him swallowing down the sudden need to throw up.
It was different with Hailey though, he knew that. It always had been since the day she came barreling into his life, but he also knew that somehow, without him even realizing, she had become the one person he would never get over losing, God forbid it were to happen.
He double parked the truck in front of the departures terminal of O'Hare and flashed his badge to a security guard near the doors, told him he wouldn't be long. He grabbed Hailey's duffle from the backseat and ignored the eyeroll she gave him as she threw her backpack over a shoulder, and they made their way through the sliding doors of the airport. She checked in, passed off her luggage, and then they walked side-by-side wordlessly to the security line.
They stood there for a moment, both glancing around at the bustling crowds with an awkward tension looming between them until Jay jutted out his chin toward her.
"You ever gonna tell me why Voight volunteered you for this gig in the first place?" He asked her, his eyes on hers.
The slightest inhale of breath she took made him tilt his head at her and a look of concern flashed across his face.
"Hailey — "
She shook her head, her eyes falling to the floor for a brief moment before she looked up at him again. "When I get back, okay?"
Jay nodded, and gave her that boyish charm of a smile again that made her weak in a way she was sure he wasn't even aware he was doing. Or maybe he was completely aware, and just didn't care to hide it anymore.
"See ya in two months then," Jay said. It was a feeble attempt to ease the blow they both knew would come when she inevitably walked away from him.
She didn't step away though, her feet planted on the floor, eyes locked on his, and then he tilted his head again, a look of concern taking over his face.
"You know you can't come back unless you leave, right?"
His words were quiet, his smile sad now, and all she could do was blow out a breath and nod as if she didn't already know.
She nodded again, securing her backpack over her shoulder, and then before she realized what was happening, he stepped forward, threw his arms around her shoulders, and pulled her snug against his chest.
She let out a gasp in surprise, his warmth and scent invading her senses as he kept an arm around her and cupped his other hand around the back of her neck.
Being so close to him sent her into a tailspin she hadn't been ready for, but her arms worked on their own and snaked around his waist to hug him back, and then his voice was in her ear.
"Be safe. Come back t — " he started, and then blew out a breath over the side of her head. "Come back in one piece, alright?"
He had stopped himself before he could say it, what he really wanted to tell her, but she knew. He dropped his arms from around her and pulled back to look her square in the face again, and she knew by the softness in his eyes.
They'd always been able to say more with those silent looks between them, more than they ever could with any number of words.
Come back to me.
She had done just that, and the dimpled smile on her face somehow grows even wider at the thought of him, knowing he's waiting for her somewhere in the crowds of O'Hare as the plane finally touches down on the tarmac.
She curses the Chicago police department for her seat at the back of the plane and waits her turn to make her way up the aisle, and once she finally does, there's a pep in her step as she goes.
She throws her backpack over her shoulders and shuffles through the swarm of people, moving as quickly as she can until she finally finds herself at baggage claim.
It's her height she curses then, trying to step up on her tiptoes, but unable to see past the people directly in front of her.
She pulls out her phone to find the text she'd sent of her arrival hasn't yet been answered and huffs out a breath as she stuffs the phone away again and meanders to the carousel.
She doesn't wait long until her duffle eventually appears, and as she moves toward it, an arm reaches out and grabs it. She's about to unleash an attitude on the stranger who took a bag that isn't theirs until she sees who the arm belongs to, and then she's grinning that dimpled smile again.
"It's not nice to take things that don't belong to you," Hailey throws at him the moment their eyes lock on one another.
Jay is already smiling at her, and the low rumble of laughter that leaves him makes her chest ache.
"Hello to you too," he says, closing the distance between them. "Good flight?"
"It served its purpose and got me here in one piece so yeah, I'd say so," she quips back too easily.
Jay rolls his eyes, but that smile of his is like a permanent fixture on his face now.
"Oh, that's great. New York made you even more sarcastic," he teases.
Hailey hums through her smile as they stand directly in front of the other now, nearly chest-to-chest; personal space was never really a thing when it came to the two of them.
"Hey you," she says softly, staring up at him as he stares right back at her, that weird and perfect silent communication dancing between them.
"Hey partner," he says, just as soft with his words and his eyes and his smile because she's finally home and he's sure he's has never felt happier.
All he's thought about for the last two months is her and this moment and every phone call and FaceTime they've shared since she's been gone. He thinks back to one where she said she missed the wind and him, and it stirs something inside him. He can see with his own eyes that she's really there, but it's not enough and he needs more.
He drops her duffle to the floor and reaches for her without a second thought, looping his arms around her waist and pulling her flush against him. He hangs his head over her shoulder, his nose in her hair, and it takes less than a second for her to reciprocate by throwing her arms around his shoulders.
Maybe it should feel awkward, but it doesn't. It just feels right to have her with him again. In his arms, in the same city, same time zone, and not in some hotel hundreds of miles away from him. It's as if he can finally breathe again.
"I missed you," he whispers over her ear.
His breath is warm against her skin, and she can't help the shiver that runs up her back because she's wrapped up in her partner's arms again in a way she is sure that just partners should never be.
She doesn't much care though. He holds her tight and squeezes her against him as if she might disappear and flit away right back to New York again if he doesn't. It makes her squeeze her arms tighter around him too as she leans up on her toes to press her face into his shoulder.
"I missed you too," she whispers back and his grip on her somehow tightens even more.
This is new territory for them, and they both know it, but it just feels too good and feels so damn right to finally be home and be with him again.
They untangle themselves from the other, and she immediately misses the strength of his arms and the warmth of his embrace and realizes that maybe home isn't Chicago for her anymore. Maybe it's with him instead.
He gives her another smile and scoops up her duffle and then nods to the doors, and she follows him outside where the truck is waiting. He tosses her bag into the backseat, and she climbs up in the front, and then he's driving them away from the airport.
They make small talk that isn't awkward, not needing to catch up on much because a day hasn't gone by since she left where they hadn't communicated in some way. But when he pulls off the interstate and makes a right turn instead of a left, she turns her head and quirks an eyebrow at him as he rolls to a stop at a red light.
"I haven't been gone that long, Halstead. You forget where I live?"
He looks over at her and snorts back a laugh as he shakes his head. "You're real funny, but no, I didn't forget. I'm just not taking you home."
"Excuse me?"
"I told you when you got back we're going to Bartoli's, and I intend on keeping that promise," he says. Her brow lifts higher and he finds himself raising one of his back at her. "What's with the face?"
Hailey shakes her head slowly. "I was hoping you hadn't forgotten that conversation."
"How could I? You said you missed me. I've thought about that phone call every day since it happened, Hailey. And all the others after it," Jay says, setting his eyes on the road as the light turns green.
"I've thought about you every day," he adds quietly, but she hears him just fine.
Hailey keeps her eyes on him and can't help wondering if he can hear the thump of her heart as her pulse quickens, and then she says, "I thought about you too."
The weight of their words doesn't go unnoticed, but somehow a comfortable silence falls over the cab until Jay parks the truck a few minutes later.
They climb out, and as they make their way down the sidewalk, Hailey grins at the Bartoli's sign that greets them at the corner and nudges an elbow against Jay's arm.
"Don't judge me, but I'm about to inhale some deep dish," she says, and he laughs beside her.
"I'd expect nothing less after all the paper you were forced to eat while you were gone," he says, nodding to the door as he pulls it open for her.
He follows her inside and they're soon sat across from one another at a tabletop near a window. They put their order in, and by the time a pie is placed down in front of them, Hailey is all but salivating. She makes good on her word though, shoveling down a slice and then another, and Jay just smiles at her from the other side of the table. He's missed her and these moments more than anything.
"New York is nice, but nothing beats this," Hailey says, completely unabashed when she reaches for a third slice.
Jay nods. "Can't argue with that."
There's something in the way he says it though, something in his eyes when she catches the look he gives her before he grabs another slice for himself that tells her that he maybe doesn't just mean the pizza.
That familiar and comfortable quiet settles over the table as they finish off their meal and Hailey can't help staring at him as she settles back in her seat. Everything is just the same between them as it was before she left, but it's also different, something shifted. Everything has changed too.
"I have a confession to make," Hailey says.
Jay meets her eyes, slanting his at her. He didn't notice how nervous she looked until just now and shoots her a smirk across the table.
"If you tell me you actually liked the paper-thin pizza, you will never hear the end of it," he teases.
Hailey laughs, shaking her head at him, and then her face softens and turns serious as she decides to hell with it all.
"Definitely not, but maybe…maybe I missed you more than the wind," she says.
His smirk eases into a familiar sweet smile that makes her think he only ever uses it for her, and it has her smiling back at him with a tint of pink and a dimple in her cheeks.
A line had been drawn in the sand long ago where they were just partners, just friends and that's all they'd ever be, but now it's gray and muddled, neither knowing where it ends or where it begins or if it even exists at all anymore.
Jay nods slowly, keeping his eyes on her as he leans forward and braces his arms on the table.
"I think I missed you more than I should have. More than…" he sighs, and she can't help the relief that floods through her knowing he seems just as nervous as she does.
"More than just partners," she finishes quietly and takes a deep breath. "I have another confession to make then."
He nods, encouraging her on, and she swallows hard.
"It's been a long time since I saw you as just my partner, and being gone kinda made it more real for me. Things just feel…different."
"Things do feel different," Jay says, nodding again. "But in a good way I think…I hope."
She nods back at him, reaching for the straw in the glass in front of her and swirling it around, needing something to focus on while she lays it all out there even more than she has already. She's been involved with a partner before, and knows he has too, but maybe this is the time they'll both get it right.
"These past few months," she starts, sucking in a breath and blowing it out as she meets his eyes again. "Hell, this past year…it's not all in my mind, right? We're…there's something between us, isn't there?"
He keeps his eyes on hers, nodding slowly and swallowing down a lump that builds at the back of his throat.
"There is," he says then, taking the ball she's thrown in his court and running with it.
His heart is pounding in his chest, and he can't think of any other moment in his life where he's been as nervous as he is right now. He's never been scared of anything as much as he is of losing her.
"So, what do we do about that then? I mean, we are partners. We work together, and — "
Jay shakes his head at her, and she goes quiet, following him with her eyes as he gets up from the table and moves around it until he's standing right in front of her. He reaches for one of her hands, wrapping his around her trembling fingers, and pulls her to her feet.
"I think we owe it to ourselves to see where it goes," he says, squeezing her hand in his.
She sucks in another breath, glancing down at their joined hands. That familiar warmth shoots through her as he brushes his thumb over the top of her hand and she lifts her eyes, looking back up at him.
"It's a line we can't uncross, Jay. And if you don't stop now — if we..."
Jay shakes his head. "We both know we crossed that line a long time ago, Hailey."
He lets go of her hand only to lift it to the side of her face, sets his other at her waist, and tugs her closer. Their eyes dart between the other's and their lips as they lean in, moving slowly and giving each other time and one last chance for an out that neither will take.
One last lock of their eyes seals it, and Jay moves in, pressing his lips against Hailey's in a last first kiss between two people that know they've found the person they're going to spend the rest of their life with. As if their souls are screaming out between them, finally! I found you.
His tongue meets hers and his arms go around her back, pulling her closer though there's no possible way for her to be any closer in that moment.
She lifts her hands between them, pressing one palm against his chest, fingers of her other grazing the side of his neck as she kisses him back.
It shouldn't be this easy kissing someone who is her partner and her best friend and feeling completely comfortable doing it, as if it's the thousandth time and not just the first.
"That was better than I imagined it would be," Hailey whispers, finding his eyes again as they pull away, gasping for breath. "And I really wanna do it again."
Jay grins down at her and leans in to do just that, but she shakes her head at him and presses a hand to his chest, and it has his brows knitting together.
"Preferably without an audience," Hailey says, casting a glance over his shoulder.
He follows her gaze and snorts at the several pairs of eyes on them from folks staring at them in the restaurant, and he looks back at her.
"Let's settle the bill and get the hell outta here," she says with a dimpled grin.
He lets go of her to pull his wallet from his back pocket and drops a few bills to the table that is more than enough to cover the check, and then he reaches for her hand again, wrapping it tightly with his own. The grin he gives her makes her heart seize in her chest and she can't hold back the giggle that escapes her as he leads her out of the restaurant and back to the truck.
"Your place or mine?"
"Whichever is closer," Hailey says, smiling still and leaning over to kiss him once more for the road before he drives off.