Neither one of them said a thing. Amanda was driving back to her place, feeling like her plans were disintegrating, she wasn't going to move in with Nick, wasn't going to have a normal life, wasn't going to be happy. She spotted the vehicle that was tailing them, this wasn't going to end.
Worst of all, she could see Nick, the way he tried to hide his disappointment, the way he had no idea what to say to her.
She parked the car and they silently walked upstairs. He entwined his fingers with hers, Nick had no words to make her feel better, there were none. But he needed her to know it changed nothing about how he felt.
"I'm going to bed" she mumbled once they were inside and didn't wait for his response.
Nick checked his phone, the captain let him know she gave the coroner's report to the medical examiner and will keep him informed.
"Hey" Nick walked to the bedroom to share the information with Amanda, it was something, Nick couldn't just accept the fact nothing mattered.
She was lying in bed, facing the wall "hey"
"Can I get you something?" he asked.
"I'm gonna try to sleep" she whispered.
"Ok, I'm gonna give you some time alone" he could feel she needed it and walked back to the other room. But Nick had to do something, he couldn't just sit and wait. Someone had to know something. He left her a note saying he'd be back soon and left. The officers parked outside noticed him but since he was alone they didn't follow him. He wanted to go over there and give them a piece of his mind, why were they doing this?
Nick took a taxi to the station. He wasn't going to cause a scene but looking at it made him feel like he wasn't just waiting. A few minutes later he noticed someone he recognized walking out, detective Bates. He seemed to care about Amanda, when they all worked on that case. Bates told the lieutenant that maybe they shouldn't call Amanda because her sister just died.
Nick followed him for some time, he had to make sure no one would see them.
"Bates!" Nick called when he felt they were safe.
The man turned around but wasn't too happy to see Nick.
"I think you remember me" Nick walked towards him.
"What do you want?" Bates looked around a bit.
"I want you to tell me what the hell is going on? We both know Amanda didn't kill anyone, but it seems like your department wants nothing more than to pin it on her"
"I don't know what you're talking about Amaro" the man said.
"When her sister died you cared, do you really think she's guilty?"
"When you were here I didn't know you two had a thing" Bates was about to turn away.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Nick asked "she's your partner! How can you just let them do this?"
"You have no idea what you're talking about, ok? You better let it go"
"Let it go? She didn't do it! Why is she being punished?" Nick shouted.
"I have to go…"
"I was wrong about you" Nick shook his head "I thought you're a good guy, but maybe you're the worst. You'll just watch, maybe get a promotion, what kind of a man are you?"
"I'm leaving" Bates didn't answer Nick's question.
"Tell that guy who came to see me last night that I am not leaving"
Amanda didn't have anyone in the department. She's been working there for a few years and still…but she had him.
It was time for Nick to return to her, they will figure it out together. He was about to get a cab when he noticed a coffee shop with tasty looking doughnuts. Amanda loved those so he decided to buy a box, sugar makes people happy even when they don't have much to be happy about.
He was standing in line when he noticed something on the wall, a real blast from the past.
"Sir?" the woman at the counter asked.
"Yes, I'd like a box of doughnuts" he said "and do you maybe have another flyer?" he pointed at it.
"Yeah, I think we have a few more in the back, I'll go get you one" she seemed surprised but gladly handed him a flyer and a box full of doughnuts.
Amanda was still in bed when he returned. He placed the box on the counter and crawled to bed next to her, spooning her and waking her up.
"Nick?" she mumbled.
"You were expecting anyone else?" he joked "I have something for you"
"Really?" she turned around and Nick felt bad, maybe she thought he had something about the case.
"Look at this" he took the flyer from his pocket.
"What is it?"
"Check it out" he handed it to her and watched as she read.
"The Dancing Kites?" Amanda looked at him.
"Live in Atlanta" he smiled. When he saw it on the wall Nick had to show it to her. After all, they missed their concert once "it's tonight, how about we go?"
"Nick…" she wanted to protest.
"Come on" he caressed her cheek "we already missed them once, let's not do that again"
"Fine" she said and Nick gave her a quick kiss.
"And I also brought you doughnuts" he let her know.
"You're too good to me"
It's not that he was very happy to see this band, they weren't too good in 99. But what he wanted was to go out with Amanda, distract her, let her think about something else for a while.
"You look great" Nick smiled when she walked to the living room and kissed her.
"I always do" she grinned and reaches for her car keys "or maybe we should ask my chaperones for a ride?"
"We are not thinking about them tonight" he shook his head and opened the door.
As they drove off the other vehicle followed them but they ignored it, tried to remember the lyrics of the one song they did hear that night.
"It was something with being right and wrong…" she laughed.
"I hope they sing it tonight" he looked at her.
"Me too"
Lucky was on their side for this one - that was the first song of the night.
"And if you think you're right – you are not – you're wrong" Amanda sang with them.
Nick wasn't surprised the place wasn't packed, they weren't good back then and not much has changed. But they didn't care, for a while it felt like they traveled back in time, they were in Miami again. Nick's arms were around her and they swayed to the rhythm until they started playing a slow song and he turned her around so she faced him.
"Can I have this dance?" he didn't give her a chance to decline and pressed her body to his, her cheek was against his chest and he kissed the top of her head.
The show ended too soon and they drove back to her place "I had fun" she kicked her shoes off when they walked inside the apartment.
"Me too" Nick's hand grazed her lower back "you know, this band brought us together"
Amanda turned to him "I guess they kinda did…we can't tell anyone about it!"
"But what if Alberta asks?"
Amanda was confused for a moment, who was this Alberta and why would she care? But Nick chuckled and then she remembered their conversation a few months ago "I though you didn't want to call your daughter Alberta"
Nick placed his hands on her waist "if you really love that name" he kissed her lips "we will call our daughter Alberta and we can call the others Albert, Albertina, Alberto…" he wanted to plant kisses down her neck but wasn't sure she wanted him to.
"That sounds like a lot of children Nick" she was breathing a little heavier and Nick caressed her cheek.
"We can have as many as you want" he was looking straight into her eyes, the most beautiful shade of blue he's ever seen.
Amanda's eyes traveled to his lips and she felt entranced by him, he was looking at her with so much love it was making her feel a strange sense of warmth, as if she was surrounded by an invisible halo, keeping her safe.
She wondered if he felt the same. Yes, he loved her but did he feel safe with her? Did he feel like when he was next to her things were a little better, or that they will get better? She really hoped he did.
Amanda grabbed his hand and pulled him after her to the bedroom. Once they were inside she gave him a tiny smile and started unbuttoning his shirt. He thought about helping her but Nick felt like she wanted to do this, he kept his eyes on her as she worked on the buttons. She looked at him almost as if this was their first time, as if she's never seen him naked before. She took the shirt off and pulled the undershirt off of him. Her lips caught his skin, tasting it, nibbling on it. Her hands were on his back, holding him closer.
Nick just watched her, enjoyed the way she was treating him, the way her tongue and lips felt against him. He wanted more but at the same time he wanted this to continue just the same, to feel her touch him, kiss him forever.
She was taking her time, giving every part of his upper body her attention, her love. Amanda looked up at him and unzipped his jeans, her hand getting inside his boxers, feeling him grow under her touch.
"Amanda" he called her name and pulled her in for a fervent kiss. Her hand was still on him but the fire in her core forced her to stop moving, she had to get rid of her clothes and pulled away so she could take the dress off.
She took his right hand and placed it over her breast so he could cup it.
"I love it when you touch me" she whimpered.
"I love touching you" Nick moved his hand to the bare back and kissed her deeply, not being able to take it slow.
He was dying to feel her lips, her tongue "Lie down" he forced himself to pull away, his voice sounded like it was made of pure desire.
Amanda wanted his hands on her again and did what he asked, Nick's lips went straight to her breasts, kissing the skin and nibbling on the nipples.
Amanda let out a sigh, allowing herself to get a little vocal, Nick always had an incredible effect on her, she knew how much he enjoyed hearing it.
Nick quickly discarded his boxers and removed her underwear too. He grabbed her foot, planting soft kisses all over it while his fingers moved on her calf, his touch was so light it was barely there. He placed her foot on the mattress and she spread her legs, dying for him to get his mouth and tongue between them.
Nick looked at her, needing a moment to collect his thoughts, not that he was going to think about anything, all he wanted was to get as much of her as possible. Make her call his name over and over again.
With that picture in mind Nick dove in between her thighs, his tongue plunging into her wetness, eliciting a cry from her. He was almost intoxicated by her, moved his tongue to her clit, making her gasp. He placed two fingers right by her opening and slowly thrust them into her. He moved the fingers in and out slowly for a while, all of his senses taking part of the experience, his saw her shut eyes, heard her moans, touched her body, smelled her, tasted her.
"Oh Nick…thisfeelssogood, please" he thought he heard her mutter something else and decided to give her what she wanted and curled his fingers inside of her, reaching a spot he knew very well will make her lose control. Just like Nick predicted, Amanda's back arched and his name was heard clearly in the room. He kept going, his fingers inside of her, his tongue on her. He could feel her climax, her fingers clenched around the sheet, pulling it off the mattress, her body shook under him and he slowed down, but didn't let her go, needing to make her come again.
This time Nick didn't start slowly, he was teasing her clit with his teeth and tongue while thrusting his fingers harder and harder. She wasn't even able to catch her breath before another orgasm took over her.
Now Nick allowed her to calm down, he kissed her abdomen, her breasts, her neck until he got to her mouth.
He gave her a few soft kisses "turn around"
The command got Amanda so much more excited and she did as he ordered, getting on her knees. Nick knew he won't be able to take it slow so he didn't bother, he pushed into her, grunting as he felt how wet she was, how her muscles clenched around him. His thrusts were quick and deep, he felt her move against him, felt his orgasm building up.
The sheet was moving with them, uncovering the mattress underneath. But they couldn't care less, focused only on the pleasure that was about to tear through them.
Amanda was so sensitive she was the first one there, the climax washed all over her and she could barely hold herself up.
Nick caught her with one arm, pressing her into him even more, he was right on the edge and wanted to come inside of her. He gave her another thrust and fell over the edge, letting Amanda's body fall on the bed with him on top of her.
Nick felt a bit dizzy and it took him a moment to see straight. He rolled on his back and looked at her.
"Nick…" she laid her head on the pillow, coming down of this mind blowing experience "you're freaking amazing"
"Thank you" he smiled and placed his palm on her stomach "any time"
"You're not ready now" she squeezed his balls playfully and he grunted.
"Damn Amanda I…have a feeling you could use a few minutes" he grabbed her hand and kissed it, turning his body to her, capturing her lips for another kiss, a slow one this time. They took their time, caressing each other's body, their tongues softly teasing one another. It felt like as long as they stayed like this, time would not move, everything would stay the same, no complications, just their love.
"I feel like having another doughnut" she said in between pecks "want me to get you one?"
"Yeah" he nodded and followed her with his eyes as she walked out of the room. She was back quickly, a doughnut in each hand.
"I was kinda hoping this was a sex thing" he sat up and took one from her "do you want a doughnut?" tried to use a sexy tone, but it only made her giggle.
"Sorry" she sat down in front of him and took a bite of the sweet dough. They finished the doughnuts and Nick lay back down, watching her. Amanda licked her fingers and rested her head by Nicks feet, laying hers by his.
Nick noticed she was staring at the ceiling and tickled her toes "what are you thinking about?" he asked.
"Just…what jail's like" she replied quietly, she knew enough to know it wasn't something she wanted to experience.
"Hey" he planted a kiss on her foot "don't think about that"
"I can't help it, I'm just scared, what if…"
"Amanda" Nick moved to her, kissing her lips and looked into her eyes "you're not going to jail, I promise"
"You can't promise that" she said.
"I can promise that I will do whatever I can to make sure you don't spend a day behind bars, and if, somehow, it happens, I will find a way to get you out of there"
"I will miss this" she touched his back.
"We'll have conjugal visits" he offered.
"We're not married"
"Then we will get married"
"That must be the saddest proposal ever" Amanda said quietly, but Nick could think of a sadder one he made years ago "they don't allow them in Georgia anyway so…let's not talk about that anymore, ok?"
Nick nodded "no matter what happens, I love you"
She smiled and brushed her lips against his, she didn't want more than this slight touch "I love you too"
"How about we go to sleep?" Amanda nodded and covered them with the blanket, she kissed Nick's back and moved her chest closer, clinging to his body.
They were woken up by Nick's phone, and he was glad to have Amanda's arms around him
"I better take it" he said.
"Put some pants on" she said "I don't want you to talk to anyone but me when you're naked"
"You're the jealous type, ha?" he gave her a quick kiss, put on pants like she asked and rushed to the living room.
"Good morning Amaro" it was the captain "I have some news for you"
"I hope it's better than the news we got yesterday, the DNA, the hair, it was planted"
"So she's out of the woods?" Berg asked.
"Even deeper" he chuckled "the lawyer wanted them to disqualify it, because it's clearly from now and not from 2000, but they argued it was a typo in the report, the judge sided with that"
"You have got to be kidding me"
"I wish, do you have anything?" he hoped she did.
"I spoke to the coroner, Dr. Melinda Warner, she looked at it and she thinks something's off. She couldn't be sure without examining the body herself, but she doesn't thinks he was beaten to death. It seems like he was ran over by a car"
"Why lie about it?" Nick asked, Amanda owned a car, a crappy one.
"She thinks it could have been a pickup truck, but again, can't prove it"
Now it made sense, they didn't want to say he was ran over by a truck when Amanda didn't have one.
"There's something else I need to tell you, more like ask you" Berg continued.
"What is it?"
Nick walked back to the bedroom after he hung up. Amanda was getting dressed and she smiled at him. The gesture could easily make Nick forget everything, he'd love to spent his entire life just staring at her smile, he didn't care if it would be creepy.
"Who was it?" she asked.
"The captain" he let her know and took a few steps towards her "Amanda, why didn't you tell me?"