AN: Hey guys! This is just a story that has been in my head for a little while. Its slightly AU, but not totally. I really hope you guys like it. Please review to let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

Erin was extremely excited about her first day of police academy and couldn't even believe that she was here. She had to pinch herself to make sure this was not a dream. The changes that had occurred in her life in the last five or so years were something that people in her old crowd would never believe. She had made it out. Not by herself, but with the help of a man that she thought of as a father figure.

She walked into the classroom with her new uniform that they made everyone wear. It wasn't very flattering she thought, but they were supposed to be. She took a seat in the back row where a folder with her name on it was. It was in the back of the class and she was totally okay with not being right in front of the commanding officer.

The class was pretty empty, but she was almost 30 minutes early. Hank Voight had taught her well. She was looking over her course schedule while she waited and she heard someone sit down next to her. She waited a second before she glanced over to see who was sitting next to her. She knew it was a boy immediately because of the extremely good smelling cologne.

When she got the guts to look over to her classmate she was surprised at what she saw. He didn't look like a normal cop. He had an athletic body type, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes that she couldn't take her eyes off of. Just as she was staring at the stranger's eyes he turned towards her.

"Hi. My name is Jay Halstead." Jay said holding out his hand to shake his new classmate.

Jay was surprised at the beauty of this girl he had just met. Even though she was wearing a uniform, she wore it well. When he was looking for his seat he was hoping it was going to be next the beautiful girl in the back.

It took Erin a second to respond. "Oh hi. I'm Erin Lindsey."

"It's nice to meet you Erin. Where are you from?"

"I'm from Chicago. Are you not from around here?" Erin asked her new classmate.

"My parents live here, but I have been out of the country for the last couple years." Jay responded.

"Oh yeah? What were you doing out of the country?" Erin asked hoping he would continue to talk to her so she could keep looking at those piercing blue eyes.

"Oh I was in the Army and I did a tour over there. I just returned about 4 months ago and I felt like being a cop would be a great fit for me. What brought you here?"

"I am pretty good friends with a cop here in Chicago and he would tell stories about his job and ever since I just felt like it was for me." Erin responded. She didn't want to get into her past and she was hoping Jay wouldn't ask about Voight or how she met him.

Just as Jay was about to ask her something else the teacher walked in and introduced himself and the class began. Jay and Erin didn't even notice the classroom filling with other students during their talk. The class ran for about an hour and a half and then they were split up into partners for the next part of the course.

Erin was expecting the commanding officer to pick the duos, but he was allowing the class to pick their own. Erin was a little nervous about asking Jay to be her partner and she didn't even know if he would want to be hers.

She turned to Jay after the Commander told them to pick their partners and report to a station. "So Army boy, you wanna be my partner?" Erin asked trying to mask the nervousness with a nickname for Jay.

"I don't know Erin…" Jay responded sounding like he was about to decline the offer. "But I guess I can put up with you for a semester." He finally responded with a grin.

Erin was relieved that Jay agreed and they both made their way to their station. The first one was learning the proper way to put on a bulletproof vest. Erin's hands started to get a little sweaty when she thought of being so close to Jay. He was going to have to help her with putting the vest on and she was worried… really worried.

Jay grabbed the vest and offered to help Erin with it. Erin was facing she held the front and back pieces on her body while Jay used the Velcro to attach the front and back. They didn't notice how close their faces were to each other until they both looked up.

Their eyes locked and it was like the whole world paused. They stood there for a couple of seconds and then they both heard coughing sounds. It was clearly a get your attention cough, and it worked. Erin and Jay snapped out of the trance that they felt like they were in.

"There you go." Jay responded

"Thanks Jay. " Erin answered with a smile.

"I just knew you couldn't do put it on right without my help. I am kind of a natural at this." He answered jokingly.

Erin couldn't help feeling something for this boy she just met a little over a couple of hours ago. She was so comfortable with him and that was a big deal for Erin. She had only had a couple relationships with boys and they always ended up badly so she had to be cautious.

After class had finished Erin was grabbing her bag and turned to leave when she heard her name.

"Erin! Hey some of my friends are going to go to get some drinks tonight, you want to join us? I would love it if you came." Jay asked.

Erin just wanted to yell yes to Jay, but she composed herself and tried to sound like she was not so desperate to hang out with him.

"Yeah sure. That sounds like fun. " She responded trying not to be too interested.

Jay smiled back to her happy with her response. He just felt like she was someone he had to get to know. She was just someone he wanted to be around.

"Great! We are going around 8. See ya later Erin." He responded walking out of the door of the classroom. He was pumped that he could spend more time with the gorgeous dirty blonde girl he had just met.

Erin was trying on everything in her closet. She didn't know what to wear to this meet up with Jay. She wanted to impress him, but she couldn't find anything that just screamed hot. She finally chose a white v-neck shirt with her favorite black leather jacket, jeans and her boots. She did her hair and applied a little more makeup than she would normally and made sure she put some perfume on.

Erin walked into the bar and she was surprised at the amount of people that were there. It must have been half off drinks night she thought. She was scanning the room for Jay, but she couldn't seem to find him. She was about to text him when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

She turned toward where she felt the tap on her shoulder and saw Jay smiling at her. It made her heart flutter a little. She was glad that he was so happy to see her. She did a once over of Jay. He was wearing a black t-shirt with some jean and boots. She thought it looked good in a uniform, but he looked even better in these clothes.

"I'm so glad that you made it!" Jay said kind of loud because of the volume of the bar.

Jay was beyond happy that Erin had showed. He was kind of worried that she wouldn't show up. He saw her walk through the door and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She looked so beautiful and he b-lined his way to her. She was looking all around for him and he tried to come up behind her and tap her on the shoulder. He was immediately hit with an amazing smell and he thought he could get used to that smell.

"Yeah, I almost had to text you to find you. This is a really popular place I guess." She told him trying not to sound nervous that he was standing so close to her.

"We have a table over that way. First drink is on me." Jay said as he led Erin through the bar with his hand on the small of her back.

Once they got to the table Jay introduced Erin to his brother and two of his friends. She instantly gelled with the group. The conversation was a good one and she was surprised at how easily she could talk to these strangers. I guess Jay just made it easy for her to be comfortable.

Jay would look at Erin during some of the conversation and would think how easily she was getting along with some of the most important people in his life. He liked where this was going and he hoped that she was feeling the same way.

After a couple hours of good conversation and a lot of drinks Erin leaned over to Jay to tell him that she had to leave. While she was leaning to talk into his ear because of the loudness of the bar, she put her hand on his thigh to keep her balance. She didn't even know what she was doing at first, but it was just a reflex.

"Hey Jay I think I should be getting home now."

Jay froze when he felt her hand on his leg and when she leaned her head towards him. She loved the way it felt to be close to her.

"Yeah it's getting late. Let me walk you out." He responded to her trying not to sound nervous that she was so close to him.

They both got up from their chairs and Erin said goodbye to all of Jay's friends. He led her out of the bar just like he led her in, with is hand firmly on the small of her back.

When the got to her car in the parking lot they both stopped by her door. "Thank you for inviting me tonight. I had so much fun with your brother and friends. They were such good company, and you weren't so bad to hang out with either." She told him smiling.

"Yeah I think they seemed to like you and I am the most fun person to hang out with, you don't have to lie to me." Jay said with sarcasm.

Erin laughed and hit Jay on the arm. "Yeah, but we should do this again."

"Absolutely. I will see you in class Ms. Lindsey." Jay said as he opened the door for her.

"Goodnight Army-boy." Erin got in her car and let him shut the door. She waved at him and drove off.

Jay just watched as she drove away. He liked where this was going and for once in his life he was so excited to go to class.