Always Here: A Jay Halstead fanfic

Chapter Twenty Five

Warning(s):mentions of sexual assault, may be triggering to some readers

It was 9'o'clock on a Wednesday night and Harper was sitting alone, worried, in the apartment she and Jay shared. The team had finally solved a case and Harper was getting a break. Jay was working his shift at the marijuana plant and Harper was so worried that all she could do was keep playing bad scenarios of what could go wrong over and over in head.

Could she really trust Terry? Harper knew Jay trusted him and that meant something but she could never not worry whenever she didn't have Jay's back. Jay unlocked the door, stepping into their apartment.

"Hey, it's kind of late, what are you doing up?" Jay said slightly concerned for his partner when he noticed her sitting at the table staring blankly. Harper was startled, she grabbed her phone and checked the time, it was 10:45, she had been worrying for almost two hours, that wasn't healthy.

"Couldn't sleep" Harper lied, offering Jay a reassuring smile. "Don't tell me you're losing sleep without my wonderful presence" Jay joked as Harper shook her head, rolling her eyes. She knew it was true but she also knew agreeing to that would boost his already over inflated ego. "Come on, let's go to bed" Jay said softly gesturing over to their rooms as Harper nodded. "How was work?" Harper asked. "It was fine, we basically do the same thing everyday" Jay said as Harper nodded.

"I'm working the night shift tomorrow, so I'll be home really late" Jay said as they walked towards their respective rooms. "Okay" Harper said. "This Saturday, we're doing a bank run, just like today, so I probably won't be here when you wake up" Jay said as Harper nodded, taking all the information in. Harper was scared, terrified, he was doing a bank run again, those could easily end up going south.

"Hey do you want dinner or did you already have it?" Harper asked Jay. "No...I had dinner with Terry during my work," Jay said as Harper nodded. "Did you have dinner?" Jay asked Harper, knowing that the first thing to go when she was worried or upset was her appetite. "Yeah" Harper said nonchalantly, lying through her teeth. "Goodnight" Jay said as Harper reciprocated his words before walking into her room.

Jay couldn't go to sleep from all the adrenaline from his job, it reminded him of the recon missions he used to do when he was serving. He wanted to talk to Harper, he still had so many questions about her past and he still had so much to tell her. He could practically hear her tossing and turning so he knocked on her door, "Come in" Harper said softly.

"Hey" Jay said, opening the door, the lights in Harper's room were off but she was sitting on her bed with her head between her hands. It was obvious that he had at least made an attempt at falling asleep, he was shirtless, in nothing but a pair of sweatpants. Harper, on the other hand, was still in her jeans and a top. "I can't really sleep, I don't..." Harper said, trying to explain why she couldn't fall asleep. "I can't either, all the adrenaline, it reminded me of when I was over there, now I can't sleep" Harper nodded thinking about his words, when I was over there, he was referring to his time in Afghanistan.

Jay sat down next to her, "Can I ask you something totally random?" Jay asked Harper as she looked up from her hands, "Sure?" she said confused as to what he was getting at. "Why did Hank take you in?" Jay asked Harper as she looked at him, confused as to what he was getting at. "I just--I want to know where you came from" Jay said and it was true, he wanted to know where someone as amazing as Harper came from.

"He responded to a call at a club somewhere, my little sister called the cops, he didn't take her in because she ran away, scared," Harper explained as Jay waited for her to continue. "So one of the guys Savannah was involved with was trying to get money from Savannah to pay for the drugs she got from him, but she wasn't there...he was going get what she owed him some way so he tackled me to the ground, I couldn't put up a good fight, I was barely sober, he ripped up my shirt and as he was unbuttoning his pants he just stopped and fell on me, there was blood everywhere...Hank shot him...Hank and Camille stayed with me in the hospital, they were great people, better than my parents ever were" Harper explained.