The Other Way Round

Prologue

He needed the drink. After the day he had had downing his feelings in alcohol was exactly what the doctor ordered, kind of. If his brother saw him doing this rather than talking it out it would have become a lecture, which was the exact reason he had skipped Molly's, that and his attempt of avoiding the problem. Well, one of the problems.

Jay spun the bottom of the half-empty tumbler in circles on the wood of the bar, watching the liquid inside slosh from side to side before taking another swig of it, finishing it off and flagging the bartender down for a repeat.

With the whole ordeal with Abby and Erin he found the excuse that another drink wouldn't hurt. A second glass was put in front of him and it's not there a second before the rim of the glass meets his lips. The whiskey burns on the way down, it was meant to be sipped, but he just clears his throat and puts the glass back down, now a significant decrease in the amount inside.

He takes in the décor of the bar - it was really different to Molly's. Molly's had the fairy lights hanging across the entire bar's ceiling, was lit like a fourth of July firework show, but this place was different; no pixie lights, no warm greeting from fellow officers or firefighters on his entrance. It was moody, dark and in his current mindset he was thankful. It was exactly what he wanted. He'd usually be at their regular place with the guys, celebrating after a long case or distracting after a difficult one. Tonight though, he didn't feel like being around them, with the jokes or remarks. He just needed to be alone.

As his eyes shift around the room they meet those of a girl sitting a few seats away, who looks away after a beat of them staring at each other. He didn't get a great look of her, she was just far enough away that the light didn't hit her. Despite her moving her gaze back down on to the bar, Jay just continues to look, curious as to why she was acting the same as him, tapping the glass in her hand against the placemat.

Clearly she can sense him still looking in her direction so she glances back and tilts her head to once side. "Did your mother ever tell you it's rude to stare?" She asks, an invisible hook pulling at her eyebrow.

Jay doesn't move his eyes when she catches him, only after she had made her comment. He drops his attention back to his glass and takes a second swig, and that's when she makes her voice heard again.

"You know you are supposed to sip that."

He nods, sending a glance in her direction before looking forward. "You only live once, can't live it following rules."

In the corner of his eye he can see her pick up her glass and scoot over a couple seats so she was now sat beside him. Now she was closer Jay was able to see her better. She had soft blonde curls that fell on to and over her shoulders with lively and bright blue eyes. She wasn't dressed like she was going out or living the life of the party, it was only a casual, bordering on slightly formal, blouse tucked into dark jeans and suddenly Jay's head is agreeing how it suited her well.

He looks her with furrowed eyebrows, pushing himself into the present and not his thoughts.

"You wanna talk about what's got you so rebellious?" She asks.

Jay shakes his head. "No offense, but I'm not revealing my deepest darkest secrets to a stranger I just met in a bar."

She leans against the wood. "I'm Hailey." She introduces herself, a small extend of her hand as a gesture to shake his.

He ignores her hand but returns the introduction. "Jay."

Hailey nods. "Now we're not strangers." She cuts in with a playful smile pulling at the corners of her lips and he spots the dimples on her cheeks, making a quick remark in his head about how he though they were cute before he pushes it away. It wasn't the time.