(thanks to the release of the Season 8 DVD, we now know that their suspension was reduced from 30 days to 3 days; I am going to use 3 days suspension followed by a week of desk duty as the punishment now as a compromise for this story)

Their Wednesday lunch break

As they rise from their desk chairs, Jamie catches Eddie off guard with his plain suggestion of grabbing lunch at the diner down the street from the precinct. Happy to hear him willfully use his words again, she simply presses her lips together and nods; she knows he's up to something but can't put her finger on it.

When they enter the diner, Jamie scans the room for an empty booth along with any familiar faces that they should avoid. As he spots a suitable table, Eddie taps him on the shoulder to tell him she's going to use the ladies' room; he acknowledges her comment, then they turn toward their separate destinations.

With a heavy exhale, Jamie sinks into the cushy booth seat. With his partner still in the restroom, he pulls the application from his pocket and scraps his original plan; he lifts the cover of the menu set across from him and sticks it inside. Considering their history, he decides to approach this subject with her directly, unlike how his father did with him. They understand and respect each other's career aspirations; if either one of them is going to jump at the opportunity for a promotion, it would be Janko.

Eddie slides in across from Jamie as he is studying the sheet of daily specials; their server had already brought them two glasses of water with lemon wedges. She already has her order in mind: a Philly cheesesteak sandwich with french fries. It brings back fond memories of eating dinner with her grandparents after Philadelphia Flyers games when she was younger.

As their waiter returns to take their orders, Jamie realizes he was so engrossed in choosing his meal that he hadn't noticed that Eddie never opened her menu. The waiter addresses him first; Jamie stutters but eventually articulates his order, some salad wrap option off the specials menu. He hands his menu to the server as they both turn their attention to Eddie.

As the waiter asks if she had any questions about the menu, Jamie feels his jaw clench; he can't believe that he didn't consider the possibility that Eddie wouldn't touch the menu because she just wanted one of her usual picks. He's about to reach over and reveal the damn envelope for her when she hands her menu to the waiter and the application falls to his feet. The waiter picks it up and quickly hands it to Eddie. Jamie's plan backfired and now he's left to clean up the mess.

Eddie does not know what to say as she looks over the envelope in front of her. By the time she raises her gaze to face her partner, the waiter is long gone. She's pretty sure she knows what the envelope contains, but she wants Jamie to explain himself as well.

"What's up with this?" Eddie prods, pointing the envelope in Jamie's direction.

Jamie gulps before replying coolly, "I wanted to give you my sergeant exam application and didn't know how to, so I stuck it in your menu and hoped for the best."

Eddie chuckles, "Well, you have to explain yourself anyways."

"Yeah, I know. I was hoping that it would go better than whatever just happened," Jamie says through gritted teeth.

"How the hell did you get this though?" Eddie redirects.

Even though Jamie had planned this out, he freezes. "Um… I just found it in my bag this morning." He could live with that because it wasn't a total lie.

"Someone just left it in your bag and you don't know who it was?" Eddie was suspicious.

"Yup. And you know how I feel about exams and promotions, so I didn't want it to go to waste." Jamie tries to keep his cool and not crack.

Eddie knows she's going to push him further eventually, but she sees their waiter carrying food toward their table. "Mhm. Well, thanks. I appreciate it."

Jamie has a feeling that he's not out of the woods yet, but he's grateful their food arrives so they can eat in peace before getting back to desk duty.

Friday night at bar after Eddie meets with Frank at 1PP earlier that day:

Leaving a table of coworkers, Jamie and Eddie make their way toward the bar in stride to get another round after another long day of desk duty.

"So I may or may not have spilled the beans to your dad today about you giving me the application," Eddie says hesitantly.

"Seriously?" Jamie retorts.

"Yeah, he grilled me about it and I can't lie to the Commissioner," Eddie said, knowing she could've gotten away with it if she had left a little sooner.

"I get it. Well, I didn't tell you the whole truth either… He's also the one who gave me the application," Jamie admits.

"Really?" Eddie acts surprised but isn't shocked by this revelation. She knows his family thinks as high of him as she does, and everyone that's worked with Jamie realizes that he shouldn't still be a beat cop.

As they reach the bar, Jamie quips, "I can't believe my 'smart and beautiful' partner betrayed me. I think that means you owe me a drink, loose lips!"

"Well, you're lucky that I didn't explode on you after you got off that bus with Tariq, so I think we can call it even now. Plus, you aren't blameless with your little white lie," Eddie hisses.

Jamie replies in disbelief, "Come on. First of all, my lie was nothing compared to you telling my father. And secondly, you still feel that way after I saved your ass in the trial room… like a good 'work husband'?"

A harsh staring contest ensues as they lean against the bar waiting for the bartender to come over to refill their glasses. Eddie feels the guilt wash over her and surrenders to his deep, longing hazel eyes. "Fine, Harvard! But only because I spilled the beans, and I know it's gonna cause you more discomfort."

Jamie gives her a confused look before Eddie gives his side a hard but playful pinch. He mocks serious hurt, knowing he won this battle.

Eddie buys Jamie a drink to level the score after all their banter and actions that led to mixed signals and reactions between them over the crazy last few weeks. Eddie thinks to herself, 'I mean, he did save my career in the best and most Jamie Reagan way possible.'

Jamie wanted to discuss her relationship with Barry and confess his true feelings for her after she got shot, but he felt that he could not in the middle of the precinct or with their mutual survivor's guilt. This still wasn't the place or time to do so, but he hoped the opportunity would come sooner rather than later.

Eddie knew that no guy could ever compare to her 'brave and handsome' partner, but she couldn't wait forever for him to get his head out of his ass. She did have a feeling that Jamie was starting to break from his steadfast objection of exploring their mutual feelings, and she hoped that he would communicate that to her in some fashion.

Eddie leaves with Kara because she told Jamie that she needs to pick something up from her co-worker's apartment. Jamie bids farewell for the evening, knowing he had agreed to help her study at his apartment this weekend (including tomorrow before watching her favorite hockey team in the playoffs together and then again on Sunday before family dinner).

Eddie gets an extra application for Jamie from Kara on the car ride home. She had asked Kara if she was planning on taking the exam yesterday; she admitted that she was a terrible test-taker, so she didn't want the humiliation of getting a terrible score. Eddie awkwardly continued the conversation by inquiring if Kara had received an application from anyone; she confessed that Sergeant Renzulli gave her one the day before because he fought highly of her after how she handled the character-testing incidents a few years back. Kara kindly offered to give hers to Eddie if she hadn't received one; Eddie jumped at the opportunity to get another application after Jamie had given his to her. Kara told Eddie she could pick up the application from her apartment whenever she wanted, but Eddie didn't tell Kara that the application was actually for Jamie.