explosion (jay halstead / one chicago)

chapter 6

jay's pov

"So, what's going on with you and Kelly Severide's sister?"

"Her name's Liz."

"Yeah, Kelly Severide's sister."

I rolled my eyes at Antonio and glanced over at him suspiciously before putting in the code and pressing my fingers on the scanner for the door to open so we could walk upstairs.

"Since when do you give a damn about people's private life?"

I knew that both firehouse 51 and intelligence weren't a good place to keep secrets, but in all the years I knew Antonio, my friend had never been one to gossip much.

"I don't" he sighed. "Kelly asked me what's going on between you two and I promised to keep an eye on it."

"Keep an eye on what?" Adam chimed in.

"Nothing." I quickly walked past him to get myself some coffee from the back room, hoping the two guys would change the subject before I got back.

"How did it go with Liz?" Erin asked, following me.

"Good, I guess" I answered. "I'm seeing her tomorrow."

A smile erupted on my friend's face and she gave me a high five.

"Told you it was a good idea!"

*-*

Molly's North was packed with people when I arrived in the early evening. I found Liz sitting at the bar and she waved as her eyes landed on me. She was wearing black skinny jeans with a white band shirt tucked in loosely and her hazel eyes showed an excited glimmer that contrasted the slightly dark room.

"Hey, how's it going?"

"A lot better now that I'm not sitting alone at the bar like an idiot anymore."

I chuckled. After taking a seat next to her, I ordered myself a drink.

Liz asked how the case was going and I asked how bad the damage at Molly's was. According to her, with the help of all the experienced firefighters, it wouldn't take much longer than a week until they could re-open. Apparently, the fire had not come to damage much, most problems were caused by the extinguishing water. Nothing some men couldn't fix in a few days of work.

I was happy Liz was back to normal. Whatever issue it was she had with the police, it didn't seem to bother her now and we could just chat about anything that came to our minds.

liz's pov

To be honest, I hadn't been sure how this evening would go. Sylvie had kept telling me that I should just forget about my past and have fun, but it felt like my mind was torn between two things: on one hand wanting to trust Jay and give him a chance; on the other hand wanting to listen to the warning signals and alarms that went off considering my past, telling me to never see him again.

I had spent the whole day one minute looking forward to seeing Jay, just to feel like cancelling our evening together the next. Luckily, Sylvie had kept me sane through all of it, and despite me pleading her not to do so, she had dragged me home to our new apartment earlier than necessary so we could pick the perfect outfit, which, in the end, was just clothes I felt comfortable in and that Sylvie claimed were cute.

Now, having drinks with Jay and talking to him, I was glad I didn't cancel. Every doubt and worry that had occupied my mind faded away, although I wasn't sure whether it was entirely due to his presence or maybe also because of the drinks I had already consumed before he arrived.

Jay seemed relieved I wasn't stressed about meeting him anymore, and we had a lot of fun getting to know each other better. I felt comfortable, so comfortable I didn't even have issues talking about his job.

"What made you become police officer?" I asked at some point.

For a moment, he seemed surprised, just to chuckle slightly afterwards.

"I needed to do something with my life. And I wanted to help people. Make Chicago a safer place, just a little, if I could in any way, you know. It was never really a question to be honest."

I nodded. He sounded sincere. Jay was nothing like Alejandro. I couldn't help but wonder how Alejandro would have responded to such a question, however. I mean every police officer was supposed to think like Jay, right? Alejandro surely wouldn't have told anyone he wanted to be a policeman so he could take advantage of underage girls.

I emptied my drink in one go and ordered another.

"Wanna tell me anything about your badass criminal past?" Jay seemed truly interested but I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wouldn't pressure anything. "Only if you want to though."

"I'd prefer to leave that for another time."

I had grown up hiding my feelings and opinions, carefully considering every word I spoke, and rarely ever voicing what I really thought. Therefore, it startled me how trustful I was towards Jay. When speaking to him, I was completely open and honest. I simply told him that I didn't want to talk about it because that was how I felt. But at the same time, I had no doubt I would tell him the truth about these things one day, which was even more confusing, considering that I had never planned on telling anyone at all.

"Sure" he smiled. "Whenever you feel like it."

I must admit, I was happy with how my evening with Jay went, with how our evening went. Sure, I had thoughts of Alejandro from time to time, moments when I remembered my past, doubts every now and then. But Jay was a lovely guy and he was considerate. He could always lighten the mood with a joke, but he could also be sensitive whenever it was needed.

We understood each other. And although it was the first evening we properly spent together, it felt like I had known him for ages.

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i gotta admit i'm really not happy with this chapter and it's more a filler than anything else... i just have this issue with every story i write that i'm cool with how they meet and i know exactly how i want them to be/act around each other as the storyline evolves, but i find it hard to write out how they get there, like this first date kinda stuff  o.O

hope you all like the chapter anyway, thanks for reading <3 and well i can tell the next chapter for tuesday is already written and A LOT better than this in my opinion now that we're done with the first date xD