fic: the goosebumps start to raise (an Upstead one-shot)
For the first day of the Upstead Christmas prompt challenge -- SNOW.
Rated T | 1005 words | Title from Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood
For the first time in a long time, Jay wakes up on his own -- before his alarm, without his phone ringing, without Hailey's lips pressing against his skin, drawing him eagerly from sleep.
He's cold, even though her body is pressed against his chest, and it takes him a moment to realize why.
The curtains are pulled back just slightly, and he can see snow falling outside the window, heavy enough he knows it'll still coat the ground when they finally have to get up.
Hailey moves against his chest, her back stretching against him, her bare legs tangling with his under the covers.
“Cold,” she mumbles, her voice sleepy.
“Yeah, so are your feet, good lord,” he teases, but he pulls her closer against his chest and lets her tuck her feet under him.
“Were you already awake?” She's slightly less mumbly as she pulls his arm tighter around her chest.
“Yeah,” he whispers, brushing his lips over the shell of her ear. “It's snowing.”
“Mmm,” she murmurs. “You hate snow.”
He laughs softly and presses his hand up under the hem of her shirt. She gasps as his fingers settle on her hip, still cold even with the body heat.
“I don't hate snow,” he tells her.
“Oh? So it's not you I've heard complain for the last few years about how people are idiots on the roads and the streets turn the snow dingy too quick, and--”
“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters, pressing his hand higher up her waist, grinning when she shivers. “That's months into winter, no one likes that. But the first snow is good.”
“Yeah?” She burrows back against him, shifting so she can see the snow fall too.
“Mhmm.”
“Happy childhood memories in the snow?” Her voice is quiet. It's the first snow they've woken up to together, and it feels like they're both trying to keep the quiet, sleepy feeling as long as possible.
He breathes out a sigh, maybe a laugh, against her skin. “God, no.”
“What?” She laughs, her fingers drifting over his on her waist. “You and Will didn't bundle up and get in snowball fights for hours? Cute little Halstead brothers?”
He laughs. “Sure, but that was to torture each other, not to play. Ask him about the time he tried to bury me alive the week before Christmas so he could keep my gifts.”
She laughs, her shoulders shaking against his chest. “I'm sure you all remember that story exactly the same. No good childhood memories in the snow?”
“I dunno, some, I guess. But those aren't why the first snow is so good.”
“It's me, isn't it? You hated the snow until five minutes ago, and now it's your favorite because I'm here.” Her tone is playful, teasing, but he brushes his lips against her neck slowly, grinning as she arches to give him a better angle.
It might be the first snow they've seen from bed together, but he's already well-versed in all the ways he can quiet her down and rile her up with just his lips.
He bites at her neck lightly, chuckling into her skin as she sighs.
“Cute,” he whispers, pulling back. “But no,”
“Rude,” she grumbles, but it's half-hearted. “So what’s so good about the first snowfall?”
Her fingers tangle with his on her waist, and he runs his thumb over her skin, warming her cold hands.
“When I came back from my last tour,” he starts, quietly, and her fingers grip his tighter, a reflex that makes him smile. “It was summer, and hot, and I was so messed up, I didn't know what way was up for months. There wasn't sand under my feet anymore, but… everything else felt the same.”
He doesn't have to say more, she knows enough about how he spent those first few months. They don't need to relive it.
“But the snow came early and fast that year and I woke up one morning and everything was just covered in snow, and it was so different from how I'd spent the last few years...” He trails off, and her voice fades in.
“It was like a reset,” she fills in, and he nods.
“Yeah, kinda. I mean, it didn't fix everything. But it finally made me feel like I'd come home. Which helped.”
“So familiar you didn't even realize you needed it,” she says quietly.
“Yeah,” he whispers.
“I get that,” she says, shifting and rolling over to face him. She smiles. “I like the first snow too.”
His arm wraps around her waist, pulling her against him. “It's me, isn't it? I made you like the snow,” he mimics, teasing, and she rolls her eyes.
“You can keep thinking that,” she says, but she's still smiling. “You're just here to keep me warm.”
“Oh? I mean, I can leave. You can put on pants, you know. Normally, people wear them when it snows.”
“It wasn't snowing last night, and you weren't protesting when I was taking them off,” she says, her cold feet sliding under his again.
He smirks. “Yeah, well. No pants are the best pants. But it was still 20°, Hailey.”
“I told you, that's why you're here. But wanna know why I really like the snow?”
Her voice is low, teasing enough he's prepared when she tosses a leg over him and straddles him, grinning down at him.
“I might have an idea.”
She leans in, her hair falling in his face, building a quiet little cocoon around them in the dark room. “Sometimes, you get snowed in, and you have to stay in bed all day.”
“Yeah, your answer is much better. Can I change my answer to that?”
She laughs as her lips find his.
Her feet are still cold, and they probably won't end up snowed in. But he kisses her back and pulls the covers up over their heads, keeping the room quiet and warming them up.
He's pretty sure she's given him a new reason to love the first snowfall.
A little something for the Christmas prompt challenge by @upsteadofficial
Hope you like it :)
Presents
It's Christmas morning, the couple are laying in bed. Hailey is curled into Jay's side and has her head on his chest, still asleep. Jay is awake and is stroking Hailey's blonde hair gently. He kisses her temple and she stirs.
"Merry Christmas Hails" Jay whispers in her ear and he watches her smile with with her eyes still closed.
"Merry Christmas" Hailey replies and leans up to kiss him sweetly.
Hailey suddenly rolls off Jay and goes into the walk-in closet of her and Jay's shared room and pulls out a small gift bag.
Jay looks at her questioningly with a look that says "for me?" and Hailey gives her reply in the form of a love-sick gaze and a dazzling smile.
She hands him the bag and he starts opening it. She plays with her fingers and bites her bottom lip in anticipation.
He pulls out a stick.
"Hails..."
"Merry Christmas Daddy Halstead" she says softly and sits back in the bed.
Jay engulfs her in a tight hug and pulls back just enough to kiss her. A kiss so gentle and loving yet so passionate.
"Merry Christmas Mommy Halstead" he wished his wife. Hailey takes the bag and hands Jay a piece of paper.
"10 weeks" Hailey tells her husband. Jay looks at her, his eyes a deep green.
"I love you" he pauses and placed his hand on her lower abdominal area "and our baby"
Hailey smiles and the both of them snuggle back into bed.
What a Christmas to remember for the Halsteads :)
I hope you enjoyed this! It's my first time writing for upstead and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
For the 6th day of the @upsteadofficial Christmas word prompt--Mistletoe. (Rated T)
Note: Started this for the Presents prompt but didn’t finish it in time so used it for part of the 6th day instead. Hopefully it’s not too clunky.
“Upton. This has gotta stop.” Trudy Platt all but stomped over to Hailey’s desk. She unceremoniously dropped a small package on her desk. “See this?” She pivoted a bit to show her shoulder badge to Hailey. “Does this say ‘Postal Service’? No. It doesn’t. So stop having these delivered here.”
“Sorry, Sarge.” Hailey replied. Again she offered no explanation. The season would be over in another day and then this would all be over. She slid the package to the far side of her desk without looking at it and got back to work as Trudy moved in to Hank’s office.
“You serious?” Jay asked over his computer. “That’s like the fourth one. Who’s sending them?” He got up to round the corner to her desk but Hailey was faster. Barely looking, she palmed the package and slid it inside her desk drawer.
“It’s nothing, Jay. Really.” She tried for a smile but knew it fell flat. Just one more day. “It’s not important.”
“C’mon, you’re not even a little bit curious?” His brow furrowed. God knows he was. First came flowers. He’d made note of her face as she read the card, (It wasn’t a happy one) and later when he’d gone in to the break room for a bottle of water he saw them crammed in to the small trash can back by the couch. The next day there was a package. She’d checked the return address and slid it in to her bag underneath her desk. If Jay hadn’t been coming from the hallway after finishing up an interview with a suspect he wouldn’t have seen it happen. The next day there had been another package and now today.
“You have a secret admirer?” He asked, half teasing. For the first time since knowing Hailey he’d gotten her a gift. He hadn’t meant to, he told himself. He’d been with Will, killing time while he shopped for Hannah before they went for dinner and drinks, when he saw it. A simple necklace. A leather band with a small gold circle. He’d had it embossed with her initial and did his best to ignore his brother’s smirk as he joined him to pay. Now the thought that maybe there was someone else in her life, someone he wasn’t aware of, crossed his mind for the first time. He tried to tell himself that it was fine, she wasn’t his. But the only thing that gave him any solace was remembering her face at reading the card that came with the flowers. No eye roll—but a deep sigh and a scowl. If there was someone, it wasn’t someone she felt anything good for. That kept him going. Though he still wanted to know what was going on.
“You have a secret admirer?” He’d asked the question and she wasn’t sure how to take it. Was there some jealousy in that question? Concern? She shook it off on the inside. She’d rather not think about it let alone answer it.
“I wish,” she’d joked back and purposely got back to work.
Jay watched her for a moment. She was avoiding the question…and him. Rather than push him away, it only made him more curious, more prone to dig in and find out what was going on with her. He only wanted to help. She should have known better.
The next day brought no new case and one new package. Another slide in to the drawer as Hailey smiled in apology at Platt’s latest delivery. Hailey hoped that the gift card to her favorite coffee spot would soften her up a bit. She traded the envelope for the package and Hailey watched as Trudy peeked inside the card to see what was inside. “Well…” was all she offered before she walked away. But Hailey took it as a win and smiled at her back. She was still grinning as she turned back to her computer.
“Ah, there it is.” Adam clapped once and pointed at her. “Smile’s back, people!”
She rolled her eyes before looking up to see Jay watching her.
“It is nice to see again.”
She could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks so she ducked her head and tried to get back to focusing on finishing the paperwork she swore to herself she’d have done before clocking out for the night. Before she could just have the next 4 days to not think about the worst that Chicago had to offer, the innocent victims, the scenes she was called upon to see how the two factions met. She wanted to block it all out and just ‘be’ at home. Bad tv, sleeping in , a few late nights, these were the things she was looking forward to.
She didn’t mean to be a hard-ass lately but she knew she had been. This time of year, for as much as she enjoyed the majority of it, it was also a time that she dreaded. Knew the push that always came and this year had been no different.
“So tomorrow’s Christmas Eve.” Jay’s voice filtered through her thoughts as it always could. She looked up to him. “Got any plans?”
“Nope.” Her answer was cavalier as she closed a file. “You?”
“Well,” he rubbed at his chin, not nearly as invested as she was in finishing his paperwork before their shift ended. “Will’s working and…..no.” He smiled. “Soooo, would it totally kill your holiday vibe if I stopped over for a drink?”
“My holiday vibe?” she laughed. “Come over anytime, Jay. I’ll be home.”
He grinned and for the first time in a few years, realized he was actually looking forward to the holiday.
The next afternoon found Jay at Hailey’s door. When she answered he found himself having to remember to breathe. She looked like herself, casual and relaxed, but at home that version was so much more her and it took his breath away for just a moment. It was happening to him more often and no matter how he tried to talk himself out of it, give justification to it, he knew he was simply lost in her. He’d finally realized his feelings but couldn’t quite figure out what to do about them.
“You okay?” She was staring at him, running their dynamic over in her head for the millionth time. There were times she thought they were both in sync, that he wanted what she did, to try and take the next step, to see if they could have something good past partners and friends. And then there were others where she was left feeling insecure and wrong and like she was spinning her wheels. She’d had offers of drinks, dinners…..of more, from other men. But none of the guys were Jay. None of them left her feeling like he did when he looked at her like he was right now.
“Yeah….yeah. Merry Christmas.” He offered a half smile as he walked in.
“You too.”
She’d already started on the tequila and had thrown some beers in the fridge. She offered him his choice, and they settled in her living room, and sipped their drinks in an easy silence.
Jay ran a finger around the rim of his glass and looked over to her. “Not too Christmasy around here.” He glanced around the room.
She huffed out a small chuckled and smiled in agreement. “Not usually around.” At his look she explained. “I may have been known to pick up an extra shift here or there if the OT was available….or if not,” she smiled and inhaled deeply. “rent a place in Indiana or Michigan…some place on a lake. Quiet. Remote.” She shrugged a bit.
He looked at her nearly incredulous. “I really don’t know you at all, do I?” He meant it as a joke but shook his head at the information.
“You know me better than anyone Jay.” It had slipped out, immediate, quiet and earnest.
He nodded at her, solemn, quiet. Pleased at the comment.
“Okay then,” he breathed out. “Then what was the deal with those packages?”
He didn’t miss the small lip twitch, the flash of a dark look cross her face. When she didn’t respond, he tried again. “Hailey?”
Finally she spoke. She shrugged lightly. “I thought maybe…when I moved to this place….but my mom is smart.” She chuckled. “No address to send them to so she sent them to the district. They’re just…she never stops trying.”
“What do you do with them?” He probed.
“Donate them.”
“Do you know what they are? What they send?”
“Nope.” She shifted on the couch. “It’s easier not to.”
Jay nodded, trying to understand. “Sooo, nothing to open for Christmas then?”
She smiled a bit. “I don’t need presents, Jay.”
“Okay, that’s a lie.” He teased, reaching for his jacket and rummaging in a pocket. He pulled a small square box, neatly wrapped from it and passed it over to her.
Hailey swallowed hard. “Jay,” she whispered. “You didn’t have to….I didn’t…..”
“No, no, no. It’s not a big deal.” He chuckled and tried to play it down, now questioning his decision to give it.
“Can I…?” She glanced at the package.
“Yeah, of course. Go ahead.”
Hailey deftly unwrapped the paper neatly and Jay saw her eyes widen as she took the white top off the box.The dark band lay against the white cotton bed, the small gold circle shining in the living room light.
Jay found it necessary to start talking. “I just….you used to wear one like it and I saw it and just thought….”
“It’s beautiful.” She whispered, looking from it to him. “Thank you so much.” Her old one had broken off, she assumed, during a scuffle with an offender as she’d tackled him. When she’d gotten back to the district that day she’d noticed it was gone.
Hailey put the necklace on and Jay smiled, proud of being the reason she looked so happy in this moment. They sat and drank a bit for a while before Jay voiced an idea.
“Okay, so we’ve gotta get some Christmas spirit going.” He put down his glass and rubbed his hands together.
Hailey laughed. “I’m not getting a tree on Christmas Eve,” she laughed lightly. “so what are you thinking?”
“Molly’s. It looks like Christmas threw up in there. Like it should.” He grabbed for his jacket. “Whaddya say?”
The bar was packed. Locals having a few beers before going home to be with families, a few cops and fire fighters having a drink between ending shift and heading home, and a bunch of college kids home for break getting together with friends before being held captive by well-meaning family members wanting to know how school was and if they’ve met anybody special.
One of those kids stopped on his way back from the bathroom to do a double take at Jay and Hailey—and ogle Hailey.
“Bruh, you see where you are?” the kid asked. Jay didn’t and gave a mild one shoulder shrug, hoping if he ignored him he’d just move on. But he didn’t. “Better make your move dude, or I’m happy to step.in. Won’t have to tell me twice…though she may want to.” He smirked and grabbed suggestively and crudely at the front of his jeans.
Hailey grabbed Jay’s arm as he went to step up. The kid just smirked again and moved on.
“Let it go, Jay. He’s stupid and drunk.”
He was breathing heavier than normal with the adrenaline that pushed through his veins. “Asshole,” he muttered, looking down the bar to where the kid had joined his friends.
He tried to focus back on Hailey and took a sip of his beer, calming down very little by very little. He took a deep breath and offered Hailey an apologetic smile that she returned with a ‘don’t worry about it’ one of her own. He was feeling better and glanced around the bar again, tipping his head up a bit as he drained the last of his beer. He choked.
“Shit….Jay, you okay?” Hailey was up off her stool and standing close to him, patting him on the back instinctively.
“Yeah….yeah,” he rasped. ”Just went down the wrong way.” He wiped at his mouth, and made a decision, quickly reaching for her hand. Feeling the warm skin and surprising softness of her hand under his, he dragged a quick thumb over her wrist. Hailey froze. She’d been about to sit back down when he’d touched her. She didn’t know what to do or say so waited him out, holding her breath.
He gestured upward, calling Hailey’s attention to the ceiling. When she saw it, she rolled her eyes with a grin and groaned lightly. But she didn’t move.
“Ohhh, you gotta be kidding me.” Her laugh and smile faded as she caught Jay’s eye. His own had faded before hers and now he was just looking at her. Looking at her in that way that she never could name but that sent shivers down her spine nonetheless.
“Jay?” She whispered it softly.
“It’s tradition Hailey.” His voice was low.
She nodded slowly. “Yeah. It is.”
Jay was still seated. He parted his knees a bit and took hold of Hailey’s waist, pulling her gently toward him. Her eyes never left his as she shuffled forward.
He pulled a hand from her waist to the back of her neck and she placed hers on his shoulders.
“We doing this?”
“I think it’s about time. So—yeah.” He huffed out a sly smile, genuinely happy. She leaned in to him just as he gave her neck a gentle pull. The first kiss was soft, quick, and tentative. The second and third were soft and meaningful. Purposeful. The fourth was leading toward hungry.
When Jay pulled back slightly it was to find Hailey looking at him, her eyes bright as he thumbed circles at her waist. Neither said anything with both just enjoying the moment.
“Merry Christmas, Jay.” She smiled.
He chuckled lowly. “Merry Christmas, Hailey.”
She was knocked a bit closer to him by the group moving from down the bar past them, as they headed toward the exit.
Jay held on to Hailey tight as she was jostled in to him. The drunk kid from earlier threw them a look and Jay took advantage of it. “Hey bruh…..thanks!” Jay grinned before sliding a hand to Hailey’s jaw and pulling her in for another kiss under the mistletoe.
fic: a little mystery to figure out (an Upstead one-shot)
For the seventh day of the @upsteadofficial Christmas prompt challenge -- MISTLETOE.
Rated T | 2544 words | Title from Something To Talk About by Bonnie Raitt
“Hey, so, just so you’re aware, someone hung mistletoe all over the district,” her voice greets him over the phone as he’s pulling into the parking lot.
“Ooh, okay,” he says. “Why, you scared you’re gonna have to kiss me?”
“Ha,” she fake laughs, and he smiles. “Just, you know. If we’re still not telling people at work, it might be best to try to avoid it.”
“You’re just worried you won’t be able to control yourself,” he says, and it’s her turn to laugh.
Her voice lowers to a whisper, and he can picture the smile perfectly. “Mmm, maybe, but better safe than sorry.”
“Okay,” he says. “I’m headed in now. I’ll try to restrain myself.”
Her back is to him as he walks up the stairs, but he’s pretty sure he can still see the eye roll as he pockets his phone and holds a cup of coffee out in front of her.
“Quick, while no one’s here, any mistletoe around?” He whispers, her lips quirking into a smile around the rim of the cup.
“Thanks,” she says.
“Thank Will,” he tells her, dropping his bag by his desk. “He bought this morning.”
“Cool, let me just head over to Med and find some mistletoe there,” she says, and he groans.
“That’s rude. But, seriously,” he says, glancing around quickly before leaning in to give her a quick kiss, black coffee somehow sweet on her lips. “Morning.”
“Morning,” she whispers. “Even though I saw you an hour ago,” she says.
He perches on the edge of her desk, his thigh an inch from her mouse, watching her sip the coffee. “Oh, I remember.”
She smirks, setting down the coffee and pushing his thigh away as footsteps fall on the stairs. “Don’t worry,” he whispers, standing up. “I can be stealthy, no worries about the mistletoe.”
——————————
Except, of course, for someone she’s literally watched dodge bullets, he’s so unstealthy she’s pretty sure he’s actively trying to find all the mistletoe.
The first time, as she’s walking out of the breakroom and he’s walking in, Kim stops them.
“Oh, you guys. Look up.”
Hailey glances up and rolls her eyes, but she’s cursing herself a little too. She knew it was there, she just hadn’t been paying attention.
She shakes her head. “Guys. We’re at work, this isn’t really the place.”
Kim shakes her head. “Come on, it’s tradition. It’s just in good fun. Besides, Kev and Adam already took one for the team, can’t let them suffer alone.”
Jay smirks, and behind them, she hears Kevin groan.
“We said we were never talking about that again,” he says, and Adam laughs.
“Aww, man, can’t stop thinking about it, can you? Your cheek is very soft,” he says, reaching out his fingers to pinch Kevin’s cheek. Kevin stops him, holding up a hand.
“I love you man, but I will taze you.”
Kim shushes them, turning back expectantly to Hailey and Jay in the breakroom doorway. “Let’s see it.”
Hailey groans and Jay raises an eyebrow at her.
Maybe she’s overselling it.
“Yes, this is torture for you, I know,” he laughs, leaning in to press a kiss to her temple. ”There. We good?”
She smiles, just a tiny flash of the curve of her lips.
“Boring!” Adam yells, and Kim just rolls her eyes at them before turning back to her desk.
Crisis averted.
——————————
Except, of course. The crisis is not averted.
Platt stops them for a mail call on their way back inside after a call, and maybe it’s because they’ve already kissed once, but his guard is down.
“Hey, dummies,” Platt calls, right as they’re about to head upstairs.
They turn back, and she points up, raising her eyebrows.
“Seriously?” He watches Hailey’s face twist in annoyance.
“Did you know that one was there?” She asks, her whisper pointed.
“No,” he mutters. “Come on, let’s get it over with.”
She raises an eyebrow at him, like really? and he shrugs, trying not to grin.
Footsteps on the stairs distract him for a moment, and he turns to find Kim, Adam, and Kevin traipsing down the stairs toward them.
“Oh, did you all get caught again? Bad luck,” Kevin says.
Hailey rolls her eyes, and Jay takes the opportunity to lean in and press a kiss against her cheek, and it’s just like every kiss he’s pressed to her cheek in the kitchen, on his way out the door, or at night, in bed, before she rolls over.
“Happy?” he asks, and he doesn’t let himself look at Hailey, because if she smiles, he’ll smile. When he risks a glance at Platt, she’s smirking, but he just chalks it up to Platt being Platt.
He’s pretty sure he hears Kim sigh, though, and he files that away to discuss with Hailey later.
——————————
Honestly, she and Jay should’ve just stayed home in bed today, she’s pretty sure.
The whole team is headed downstairs to the motor pool, she and Jay leading the way when Adam’s voice stops them.
“Oh, I think the third kiss is required to be on the lips,” he says, pointing up.
“I'm pretty sure this is rigged,” she mutters. “Kim hasn't had to kiss anybody.”
“Kim is observant,” Kim says, laughing. “I mean, if you want me to kiss you, Hailey, we can do that. But the guys would all die, do you really wanna have to train new partners?”
“No, yeah, we can handle that,” Jay says, grinning down at her. “You and Kim feel free to kiss, right guys?”
The other two idiots nod, and Kim and Hailey just roll their eyes.
“Let's just get this show on the road,” she says, leaning up to press her lips to Jay’s. It's easy, natural, and she has to remind herself to pull back before she lets herself fall into it, into him, like she so easily could.
“Better?” She asks, and she tries not to let them see her flushed cheeks in the dim light of the stairwell.
Jay shrugs, and she's gonna remember that later tonight.
“Adequate,” Kim says, and it sounds like a critique. She sounds a little disappointed.
“You all suck,” she mutters, heading out the door.
——————————
He's pretty sure they've made it through the day without anyone finding out, and he risks following Hailey out to the parking lot to debrief before heading home.
“A shrug, really?” She smirks, and yeah, he's gonna pay for that one.
“Just keeping up appearances,” he grins, leaning into her. “Try again tonight and I’ll give you my honest review.”
She rolls her eyes, pushing him away right as Kim, Adam, and Kev exit the building toward them.
“Molly’s?” Kim calls, and Hailey glances at him. He shrugs again, and she nods.
“Sure. See you there.”
Hailey’s headlights follow him out of the parking lot, and he tries to remind himself they’ll still be in public, around coworkers, for another couple hours.
——————————
Molly’s is quieter than usual, and by the time they’ve all gotten drinks and settled at a table, he’s feeling more relaxed with Hailey next to him. There doesn’t appear to be any mistletoe in sight, so it feels pretty status quo, keeping his hands to himself in public.
Except, of course.
Kim, Adam, and Kevin drain their beers like they’ve been parched for thirst, and he eyes them all critically. It’s his night to buy the second round, and they seem determined to make him ante up.
“Hailey, go help him,” Kevin says, and he watches Hailey shoot him an excuse me? look. Off her look, Kevin laughs. “Dude, Kim ordered the biggest drink the bar sells, he’s gonna need an extra hand, and you’re closest.”
It’s true, and he gestures over his shoulder to the bar.
In retrospect, they both let their guard down way too easily.
“Are they being a little weird?” Hailey asks as they wait for their drinks a couple minutes later. He nods, glancing over his shoulder. For a table full of cops, none of them is being very stealth, and he’s felt three pairs of eyes on his back for the last couple minutes.
“Hey, is it a little weird that there was mistletoe literally all over the district today and besides Kev and Adam, you and I are the only ones who kissed?” He asks, playing the day over in his mind. He’d watched patrolmen walk right under mistletoe in front of Platt, and he’d been the one to call out Adam and Kevin this morning.
She raises an eyebrow, and he can see the wheels turning in her head.
“Jesus, you’re right,” she whispers. “Do you think they know? Are they testing us?”
He shrugs, watching Kim’s eyes track their every movement. “What if they do know?”
She glances away, and he watches a small smile quirk the corner of her lips. “I mean, we’re gonna tell them eventually, right?”
He nods and lets his fingers brush hers on the edge of the bar. “Eventually could be today, if you were ready.”
She bites her lip, and he prepares for her to say no. They haven’t fought about it, but there have been discussions. It’s been months since she came home from New York and they let themselves slowly fall into this, and he knows initially they were both nervous about anyone else finding out. Workplace relationships have been notoriously faulty for both of them, and honestly? Keeping it a secret, having to keep his hands to himself for hours on end, has been both harder and hotter than he’d anticipated, and he knows, from the way her lips find his the second they’re alone at the end of a long day, that she agrees.
But being able to hug her on a hard day, or reach over and kiss her in the locker room just because, or in the stairwell or doorway or lobby without mistletoe? He knows that would be better than any secret, if she’s ready.
Her nails trace over the back of his hand, and she smiles slowly. She’s about to say something when Hermann comes over with their drinks, a suspicious looking twinkle in his eye.
“Don’t shoot the messenger,” he says, before setting their drinks down and holding up a sprig of mistletoe above their heads.
Jay grins, shaking his head, and lets himself lean over the bar like he’s gonna kiss Hermann.
“I will end you, son,” he says, and Jay holds up his hands, leaning back.
“Unless Hailey over here secretly wants to kiss me, I’m assuming this isn’t for me,” he says.
He watches Hailey smile, glancing at Hermann. “Sorry,” she whispers. “Not gonna happen.”
Hailey glances back to look at him. “Hey, Hermann,” she says, and something about the way she’s grinning makes Jay’s stomach twist. “Thanks, but we don’t need the mistletoe.”
Hermann shrugs, dropping the mistletoe on the bar and walking away, and Jay grins down at her as she lifts up on her tiptoes and presses her lips to his. He pulls her in, his arm around her waist, and lets himself kiss her like they’re not in public, like he can’t hear chairs scraping over at their table, like he’s been wanting to ever since he forced himself out of her warm embrace in bed this morning.
Her mouth opens under his and he feels her smile into the kiss as her nails trail up the back of his neck. She arches into him, and she feels as good against him as she always does, but maybe better, because it’s not hidden anymore.
She pulls back slowly, and he chases her down for one more quick kiss, and it’s only then that he realizes Kim, Adam, and Kevin are beside them.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Adam says, holding up his hands. “You guys have clearly done that before.”
“Yeah, dude,” Jay says, his hands still holding Hailey close. “You were there for three of them today.”
“No, no,” Kim says, a faster pace and higher pitch than Jay’s ever heard from her. “We saw three boring, annoyed kisses. This was none of those things.”
Hailey shrugs, her shoulder against his chest. “Guess we just learn fast.” He’s happy she picked up on his silent desire to mess with them all a little. It only seems fair.
Kevin shakes his head. “Nope. Not buying it.”
He glances at Hailey. It’s her call.
“What was the goal here, guys? We’ve figured out we were the only ones unknowingly participating in this mistletoe extravaganza today, minus Kevin and Adam.”
“That was a mistake,” Kevin says, and beside him, Adam grins.
“Was it though?” Adam asks, shit-stirring grin firmly in place.
Kim just rolls her eyes, turning the attention back to him and Hailey. “We thought we’d just… nudge you all in the right direction, make you realize you wanted to kiss each other. The tension has been unbearable these last few months. Blame Platt, she was the mastermind.”
He glances at Hailey and nods. “Well, shocker.”
Hailey’s fingers drag down his back and he watches Kim put two and two together.
“We were trying to nudge you together and you’re already together,” she says, shoving Adam’s shoulder roughly.
“What the hell, Kim?” He mutters, but Jay watches him exchange glances with Kevin.
“Dude,” Kevin says, smiling, and Adam grins.
Kim recovers and sighs. “Oh, thank god. We thought you guys were just bad at this. You were just playing us right back, you didn’t want us to know. I was worried I’d called it wrong.”
He smiles, pressing his lips to the top of Hailey’s head as she leans further against him.
“The tension was unbearable, because we’ve been keeping our hands to ourselves for months at work,” he says. “Honestly, I can kinda see why none of you have made detective yet. We barely tried to hide it.”
“They tried to do something nice,” Hailey says, pressing her lips to his chin. “Stupid, but nice.”
He nods, his hand finding her back pocket and pulling her closer.
Kim glances between them. “No, you know what? You two are way more grossly affectionate than I counted on. Kinda at my limit already.”
He laughs and feels Hailey’s shoulders shake against him. “I feel like you asked for this though.”
Kim shakes her head. “Nope.” Kevin and Adam trail her back to the table, and Hailey pulls back just slightly to look up at him.
“I think that went as well as could be expected,” she says.
He nods. “Agreed. Can we get outta here, though? It’s cool we can be us around them now, but right now, I just wanna be us alone.”
“Mhmm,” she whispers, leaning into kiss him once more. “But if you ever shrug after I kiss you again, I’ll end you.”
He laughs, tugging lightly at her ponytail. “Somehow, I’m more scared of that threat from you than from Hermann.”
“Yeah, and don’t forget it.”
He grins, reaching over to grab the mistletoe Hermann left on the bar. She rolls her eyes, but he just shrugs, following her toward the door. “Just in case.”
“Better safe than sorry,” she says, tossing a wave toward their table and leading him out of the bar.
For the fifth day of the @upsteadofficial Christmas prompt challenge -- HOLIDAY TRADITIONS.
Rated T | 2860 words | Title from Offering by The Avett Brothers.
“So what's the plan for next week?”
She pauses, her fork halfway to her mouth. “Um. Work? I don't know?”
He shakes his head. “I mean for Christmas, Hailey. I know it'll look different this year, but what do you normally do?”
She shrugs and sets down her fork. “Pre-pandemic? I dunno. Work, usually? Some years I’d get Chinese food on Christmas Eve, hang out with friends who weren't spending the year with their family.”
“Okay,” he says. “Chinese food is good.”
“We don't have to-- we can do something else.”
It's their first Christmas together, and he knows it's a weird year to start spending holidays together. Huge parties are a no-go, and besides their coworkers, they haven't spent much time outside the house as a couple.
(Being cooped up inside the majority of the time has its benefits, and he's not ever gonna complain about it, but.)
But he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about Christmas with Hailey, waking up in the morning with her, snow covering the windows, exchanging gifts over Christmas breakfast in bed.
“I love Chinese food,” he tells her, grinning. “I've just gotta FaceTime Will after we eat, and I'll be good.”
“Now?” She asks, and he laughs.
“No, on Christmas Eve. It's a thing. No matter where we both were or how much we might have not liked each other all the time, we've always found a way to talk. It's a tradition, or whatever.”
She glances down at her plate for a moment, and when she looks back up, he catches just a hint of sadness she couldn’t quite cover in time. “That’s nice,” is all she says, but the look sticks with him.
——————————
He doesn’t bring it up again until later in the week, when her legs are still tangled with his and their breathing is coming back to normal, early in the morning.
He runs a hand up and down her arm gently. “You really don’t go home for Christmas?”
“I am home,” she says quietly.
“No, I know.” He presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I mean, you don’t go see your parents, your brothers?”
Her hair tickles his chest as she shakes her head. “No. By the time I was old enough to realize Santa was just my mom, up late at night alone, wrapping gifts after my dad passed out, I had a hard time getting in the family spirit. And my brothers have their own things going on now,” she says. “Normally I’d see them later in the week. I guess I’ll just call them this year.”
He nods.
“What about you?”
He laughs softly. The holidays were never the same after his mom passed away, after he and Will got busy with their own lives. “Will and I would go see my dad every year we could, he’d give us a six-pack of beer to split, we’d eat some steak, call it a day. We didn’t do gifts after my mom.”
Her arm wraps around his chest and her lips press against his skin, but she doesn’t say anything.
——————————
“Do you have any good memories from when you were little, things you did on Christmas that you loved?”
They’re in his truck, surveilling a suspect a couple of days before Christmas Eve. The sun is setting, and when she glances over at him, there’s a halo of light framing her face.
“What’s with you and Christmas this year? We’ve never talked about it this much.”
He shrugs.
She side-eyes him for a moment, but relents. “On Christmas Eve, my mom would bake cookies. You know, like for Santa. She and my dad would drink eggnog and we’d all eat cookies and read ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas in front of the fire. I think I fell asleep in front of the fire most years. I guess that’s the best memory.”
“That’s nice,” he whispers.
She nods, smiling. “It was. What about you?”
He thinks back to being little, trying to quietly creep down the stairs after his mom had put him and Will to bed, anticipation aching in his chest for the next morning.
“Will and I used to try to see who could stay up the latest and wait for Santa,” he laughs. “Will always swore he heard sleigh bells or whatever, and we could never agree on who fell asleep first, but it was totally always him.”
“Little Halstead brothers competing against each other, I’m shocked,” she says, her smile bright.
He leans over and presses a kiss to her cheek quickly, something they don’t usually let themselves do in public while working.
“What was that for?” She asks, but her fingers drag over his knee slowly, and she smiles.
“Just ‘cause,” he says. “I’m just excited for Christmas for the first time in a long time.”
Her smile this time is slow, and it really feels like he earned it. “Yeah, me too.”
——————————
She wasn’t lying. She’s excited for Christmas in a way she hasn’t been since maybe those nights around the fire with her family as a young kid, and Jay is the biggest part of that. She wants to eat Chinese food in front of a cheesy Christmas movie with him and fall asleep only after they’re both exhausted.
Except, of course, because it’s 2020, things don’t go as planned at all.
The suspect they were surveilling ends up being a bigger piece of the puzzle than anyone thought, and by the time Christmas Eve rolls around, their investigation has turned into a Title 3 wire that has to start immediately.
Kevin and Adam spend the morning getting everything in place, setting surveillance, and she, Jay, and Kim get everything in place in the tech room.
By late afternoon, Voight tells them he’ll need two of them to stay overnight and cover the wire, he doesn’t care which two, but it’s Christmas, don’t fight.
When Voight leaves, she looks over at Jay and nods toward the break room. When he meets her in front of the sink, she sighs.
“I know,” is all he says.
“It’s just… Kevin’s sister quarantined for two weeks so she could come to spend Christmas with him, and Kim is going to her sister’s, and Adam dresses up as Santa for his nephew every year,” she says.
His fingers find hers at the edge of the counter. “Hailey, it’s fine. I just wanted to spend Christmas with you. If it’s gotta be like this, we’ll make do.”
“Yeah?”
He nods. “Yeah, come on.”
Kim hugs her, quick and tight when they tell them all to leave, and Jay grins before calling goodbye to “Santa” as Adam gathers his stuff.
“Dude, Hailey,” Adam groans. “Just because you saw the Santa suit in my closet one time doesn’t mean you can tell everyone that story.”
“Bro, you own the suit? That’s so much better, thanks for that detail,” Jay calls, and laughter follows Adam, Kim, and Kevin down the stairs.
Voight leaves a while later, with a promise to be back in the morning to check-in. By the time they’re settling into the tech room, it’s almost 7, and her stomach is rumbling.
“Hey,” she says, leaning back in her chair. “I know this isn’t the Christmas we planned on, but can we still get Chinese? My treat. I’m hungry.”
“Read my mind,” he says, handing over his phone for her to order, the website of their favorite place already open.
——————————
By the time the food gets there and they eat, they’re a couple of hours into the wire. His phone beeps as they’re cleaning up their food, and he glances down to see a text from Will.
“Hey, are you good here for a few minutes? Will’s got a couple of free minutes now.”
She nods, and he leans over to press a kiss to her temple. “Back soon.”
“Tell Best Halstead hi,” she calls over her shoulder to him, grinning.
He settles down onto the couch in the breakroom and dials Will’s number, his brother’s stupid red hair the first thing he sees in the low light of the doctor’s lounge.
“Hey,” Will says. “Where is your significantly better better-half?”
He rolls his eyes. “If you couldn’t tell by the breakroom, we’re still at work. We caught a pretty big case, so she and I are working the night shift. She says hey.”
“Dude, that sucks.”
He shrugs. “At least we’re together,” he says. “Plans changed, but… 2020, right?”
Will nods. “What were your plans?”
He glares at the screen, raising an eyebrow. “Bro.”
Will laughs. “Ugh, never mind.”
Jay shrugs. “Hey, you asked. But we had some Chinese food, and we’ll just postpone the other plans.”
“That beats my granola bar and Red Eye.”
“Glad to see some things never change, even this year. Hey, I should get back. You okay over there?”
He watches Will’s face crease with stress. “No, but. You know. We’re all trying.”
“Merry Christmas, bro. Tell Hailey your face is no match for hers. Thanks for keeping the tradition alive this year.”
“Same, bro.” He waves and reaches out to end the call, grateful for a tiny piece of normalcy, a little tradition in a weird, scary year, and on a holiday that isn’t going how he planned. He glances around the room, to the sink where he’d told Hailey he just wanted to spend Christmas with her, where he’d almost told her everything a couple of years prior. He thinks about her face in the truck the other day, her smile as she’d told him about her favorite childhood Christmas tradition.
His eyes fall on a box in the corner of the room, supplies from when the city went through a run of rolling blackouts in the heat of summer. He knows there are candles in there still, and his mind sets to work.
——————————
“How’s Will?” She asks, stretching her arms up over her head as he comes back in the room a while later.
“He’s going through it still, but he’s good. Apparently, he thinks you’re prettier than I am,” he tells her, and she laughs.
“Told you he was the best Halstead.”
“I’ll admit he’s not wrong about that, but I dunno about best Halstead,” he says, coming to stand behind her. His fingers dig into tense muscle in her shoulders, and she sighs, taking her hand off the mouse and relaxing under his touch. His left thumb digs into a knot at the base of her neck, and she closes her eyes.
“Did I miss anything?” He asks quietly.
“No,” she whispers. “This guy is boring. Maybe it’s the holiday, I don’t know. But it’s gonna be a long night, I think.”
His breath on her neck makes her open her eyes. His lips press just below her ear, and more tension eases out of her from beneath his fingers.
“Wanna go knockout for a couple of hours? Relax?”
She shakes her head. “No, you go first. I’m still wired. I just need to stretch a little. You know I wouldn’t sleep anyway.”
“Okay,” he says. “Come get me if you want me.”
She grins, and he rolls his eyes. “Fine. Come get me if you need me.”
She winks, and he presses his lips to her neck slowly for a moment before backing away and heading out the door.
She stands and stretches slowly, breathing in and counting out breaths slowly as her muscles start to relax. She settles back in front of the computer and loses herself in watching the wire, copying video files, and organizing files. She’s not sure how much time has passed before Jay peeks his head back in the room, but she knows it hasn't been any more than an hour at most.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“Nah,” he says. “Hey, come take a quick break with me.”
She glances at the screens in front of her, at the clock above her.
“C’mon,” he says, gesturing out the door. “You said yourself he’s boring. Set all the videos to autosave. Just 15 minutes. We’ll go back through it later.”
She considers for a moment and nods, clicking a few buttons and following him out the door.
——————————
“You were supposed to be sleeping,” she says, walking into the breakroom and turning quickly to face him.
He shrugs. “Figured maybe we’d try to have some new kind of Christmas tradition tonight.”
“Jay…” He waits for her to say more, but she trails off, and he nudges her hip toward the couch.
The candles had been easy to pull out of the box and set up on the table, and he’d stolen matches from the box, lighting them before he’d left the room.
The cookies had proven more difficult, but he figures Oreos from the vending machine in the lobby are better than none.
They obviously didn’t have a copy of ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas hanging around, but he’d Googled and printed off the poem, and that would have to do.
She just watches him as she sits, and he lifts the corner of his mouth in a smile. “I know holiday traditions can be hard as you get older, and some have to change, but some are worth bringing back.”
She just nods as he comes to sit next to her, and he watches her take in the flicker of the flames from the candles.
“It’s not a fireplace, and if anyone ever asks, I definitely did not burn the emergency preparedness candles. And there’s no eggnog, but Kim does have a half-empty bottle of eggnog flavored coffee creamer in the fridge if you’re feeling brave.” He hands her the Oreos, and she laughs. “They’re not homemade, but they’re better than I could make. And, here,” he says, pulling the poem out of his back pocket and handing it to her.
She bites her lip as she unfolds it, reading the first few lines aloud.
“‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;”
“I love you for doing this,” she says quietly, her lips finding his in the dark of the room.
He presses his thumb against her jaw and kisses her back slowly.
She pulls back and smiles, leaning into him. “Thank you.”
“We need our own traditions,” he says. “Hopefully, they won’t always include Christmas in this breakroom, but I think I’d be okay if they did.”
She nods. “Me too.”
He wants to spend the rest of the night like this, but he knows they have to get back to work eventually.
“Come on,” he says, pulling her against his chest. “Finish the poem.”
The candlelight bounces off the page as her quiet voice fills the room again and his lips find her neck.
(Her voice is fading in and out as she reaches the final lines, and he presses his lips to her temple as he eases her down onto the couch, blowing out the candles and pulling the door shut quietly behind him.
She’ll wake up soon, and come find her spot next to him, working beside him easily, and that’ll always be his favorite tradition of theirs.)
fic: all i want for christmas is you (two Upstead drabbles)
For the sixth day of the @upsteadofficial Christmas prompt challenge -- PRESENTS.
Rated T | 200 words | Title from All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey
“Hailey, we said we weren’t exchanging gifts,” he says, eyeing her closely.
“Well, I changed my mind.”
“You can’t just--” he starts, but she glares at him, pushing the small gift bag across the couch toward him.
“Just open it.” Something about the way she bites her lip makes him smile.
She’s nervous.
“Yeah, okay.” He digs through the gold tissue paper, and it takes a moment before he feels something small and cool, metal, at the bottom of the bag.
A key.
“Move in with me. Officially,” she whispers.
She’s smiling into the kiss as his lips find hers.
——————————
“Dude, you can’t propose on Christmas,” Will groans, but he spots a vintage solitaire on a thin gold band and stops listening.
It’s perfect.
“I’m not,” he says. “I’m proposing after Christmas.”
Except, by Christmas morning, Hailey’s already been eyeing him for weeks, picking up on his nerves.
“We aren’t exchanging gifts this year,” she says suspiciously. He just rolls his eyes.
“Says the woman who broke the rule last year.”
He slips the box out of his bedside drawer.
“What if it’s not a gift? What if it’s just a question?”
