Affection was something Adalind had always lacked in her life.
Oh, sex she knew, she had two kids to prove that.
But affection, real intimacy and tender touches were things Adalind had never really known.
Her mother had pretty much treated her like some fashion accessory, only to display when entertaining the right people. In order to look like the devoted mother. But most of the time, Catherine Schade had pretty much ignored her only child.
Her father had left when she was four, she could barely remember him. There were no hugs and no kisses from him either. No signs that he ever even cared about her.
As she got older, Adalind had gotten a lot of attention, especially from the opposite sex. But it was all lust, none of it was real love, real affection.
She used her looks to her advantage, her mother taught her well, but she still hoped that there would be one person to see past her appearance, see her.
She thought Sean Renard had seen her, the real her. Saw that she was more than a pretty girl, that she could be the best person to have by his side.
But he had used her and then had cast her aside when she no longer had her powers and was therefore of no use to him.
Adalind was then determined to never give her heart again, lessened learned. If people were just going to use her, then she would use them. She built her walls high, got mad, and took what she wanted
Which worked just fine until she got herself nearly killed, and had to turn to the one person she had the most conflict with.
Once she placed herself in the grimms hands, Adalind always anticipated he would finale end her. But not only did that not happen, he actually seemed to take great pains to ensure her comfort and safety, and not just for the sake of their son.
It seems she had been at war with the wrong person. Nick Burkhardt was a good man who cared about people and looked out for others, even at his own expense.
And there was something else that surprised her, Nick Burkhardt liked to touch.
He had grown up with as much pain and loneliness as she did, but while she had tried to be cold and distant, Nick tried the opposite.
Adalind would be standing at the sink and Nick would come up, sometimes touching the small of her back, sometimes her shoulder, if she were doing dishes, her would bump her gently take a towel and start drying. She never had to ask, he just did.
She would be holding Kelly, soothing him for sleep and Nick would enter, smiling at the sight before him, and put one arm around her while the other hand touched their sons head. So much love and affection in his eyes, Adalind had to look away, fearing she would start to cry at how happy it made her.
Nick had initiated their first hug.
They were both responsible for their first real kiss.
But Nick was responsible for most of the physical contact between them.
She wasn't complaining, she was thrilled. For the first time in her life Adalind felt affection.
Who would have thought it would be from a Grimm.