Author's Note: Sorry it has taken so long to get out this short chapter. Life has been very busy and there have been many distractions. Just a few more chapters to go though. Thank you all for your patience and faithfulness. You'll soon find out how things end up for our gang. Just a few chapters more. Many thanks to Alex, LJD, Country, Alkibiades and the others for your feedback and encouragement!

The alarm on Adrian Monk's clock being slapped quiet was followed by an eerie silence throughout his apartment. There was no sound of movement outside his bedroom door, no Richard Simmons, no blaring television, not even the sound of the coffee pot marred the stillness of the morning – and, to Monk, this was worrisome. Adrian laid awake for hours the prior evening waiting for Randy to come 'home' but ultimately found himself falling asleep. But now, at a time where Disher should definitely be bounding around the apartment getting ready for work, it appeared that his friend never came back after his walk. Concerned, Monk slipped on his robe and slippers and apprehensively stepped out of his bedroom to go investigate.

The morning light was coming through the slats in the blinds and already, Adrian could tell that it was going to be a dreary day. But the dismal scene outside was nothing to match the dismal scene that he encountered when he flicked on the light and saw his friend curled up in fetal position on the floor.

Monk rushed over to his side, concerned that he was injured.

"Randy! Randy! Speak to me! Are you okay?" he exclaimed as Disher stirred awake then grabbed the blanket from off of the mattress and pulled it over top of his head.

"Go away." The younger man bellowed. "Leave me alone."

Monk sighed, half relieved and half exacerbated and leaned down to grab hold of the blanket and get his friend off of the floor. "I can't go away, you're in my apartment." He said, shaking his head. "And, no. I'm not leaving you alone."

Adrian began to reach down his hand to help Randy up, but looked down at his friend and then at his fingers and chose to 'glove' his hands in the blanket before pulling Randy up from the floor.

"I said I wanted to be left alone!" Randy moaned, as he tumbled into the bed knocking Adrian over with him. Monk stiffened under Randy's weight and tried quickly to right himself.

"She's gone, Monk!" Randy cried. "I've lost her. Sharona's left me!"

Adrian twisted his body away from Randy and pushed himself away. Sniffing the air, he smelled the distinct odor of whiskey.

"Are you drunk?!" he asked, accusingly as Randy rubbed his nose against his shirt sleeve. Monk looked disgusted and rolled his shoulder. "Well? Are you?"

Randy squinted and looked at Monk with a scowl. "No. Are you?"

Adrian sighed then stood up, walking towards the kitchen. "No. I'm not. And don't be so sardonic. I was only making sure you were okay."

Randy rubbed his forehead even as Adrian reached into the refrigerator, searching for something to help his friend. Looking over at Monk he felt ashamed, knowing instinctively how uncomfortable the entire situation must be making him. Taking a deep breath, he apologized.

"Hey. I'm sorry I'm was being such a smart ass. To answer your question, no. I'm not okay."

Monk returned to his side with a glass of tomato juice in hand, bidding him to take it. "Well it sounds like to me you're being more of a dumb ass than a smart ass, in that drowning your sorrows in alcohol is not the answer. Ask Leland. He knows. Here. Take this and drink it down. It'll reduce your blood alcohol levels."

Randy looked between the juice and Monk and eventually reached up and took it. "I get it. I get it now." He said before taking a swig then setting the juice down on the end table. Monk quickly got up and grabbed a coaster while Randy continued. "The commander was so upset when Karen left him. He only wanted to talk about business and was really short tempered."

"I remember." Adrian replied. "Is that how you're feeling?"

Randy mused on that for a moment and then shook his head. "No. Man, I mean, it's so hard but all I want to do right now is figure out how I can win her back. But somehow, I know that's impossible. Sharona was always too good for a guy like me. She's gone. She's gone forever." He said before leaning over and beginning to cry into Adrian's sleeve. Once again Monk stiffened as he felt moisture going through the fabric. He had a hard-enough time dealing with these kinds of emotions when Natalie cried. Having to deal with it with Randy was quickly becoming too much. But, he knew he needed to try.

"Um…I…I think you're giving up too early." Monk suggested. "Sharona…she…she told me that she left me several times. She always came back."

Randy sat up and sniffled. "Do you really think so?"

Adrian stood and took a seat on the arm of the chair across from Randy. "Yeah. Sure. I mean, whatever it is you did…you just need to apologize and work it out. Sharona is reasonable…eventually…most of the time…"

"That's just it!" Randy said standing up. "I didn't do anything. Sharona thinks I had an affair with Jessica because I had to work the night of her sister's birthday. She came by the station and I wasn't there and she just assumes…since she's been jealous of this Jessica girl for weeks, that I was with her."

"And you weren't?" Adrian asked.

Randy looked offended. "No! Heck no! Jessica isn't even my type…"

Monk tilted his head and Randy quickly covered.

"N-Not that I have any kind of type since I married Sharona. Sharona is my only type."

Monk said nothing.

"Monk. I swear to you! I never did a thing with this Jessica girl – not that night nor ever!"

"Okay. " Adrian nodded his head. "But, where were you the night Sharona stopped by?"

Randy sat back down and sighed. "I'll tell you…but you can't tell her. Promise me."

Adrian lowered his head.

"PROMISE ME!" he said, almost in a shout.

"Alright, alright. I promise. I won't tell Sharona."

"Or Natalie!" Randy replied.

Monk shook his head. "No. I don't promise I won't tell Natalie. You're the one with lady problems. I'm not going to create them for myself. But, Natalie won't tell. She can be trusted."

Randy thought for a moment and then nodded. "Okay…I…I went to go see the Warriors."

"Warriors?" Monk asked.

"Yeah. You know. The basketball team." He explained. "Sharona had been on me for weeks that I spend too much time glued to the TV set watching sports and I had promised her that I would back away from it. I was doing pretty well, but then Sergeant Curtis had tickets to the big game and it was all sold out."

"And so, you went?"

"Yeah. But just to the 2nd half."

"And skipped Gail's birthday party?" Adrian asked.

Randy twisted his mouth. "Yeah…well…"

"And this is the reason you've been bunked out in my living room for weeks?!" Adrian said, standing.

"Yeah, well…"

"Of all of the stupid….!" Monk grabbed Randy by the arm and forcefully pulled him towards the phone. "You're going to get on the phone right now and you're going to call Sharona and you're going to tell her…."

Randy stopped and pulled back. "I can't! Monk, don't you understand? I lied to her!"

"About going to a game?" Adrian said. "Randy! She thinks you were having a sex affair!"

"I know! I know! But…you don't know how mad she was…I can't admit that I skipped her sister's birthday party to go to the basketball game, she'll kill me!"

"Not my problem!" Monk said, walking towards the phone again. "If you're not going to tell her, then I'm going to…"

"NO! You promised!" Randy replied grabbing the phone. "Don't tell her! Please! Help me instead."

"Help you?" Monk asked, quizzically. "How am I supposed to do that?"

Randy hung the phone back on the receiver and began to walk Adrian back towards his living room. "Use your brain! You're the smartest guy around. Find out a way to show Sharona that I wasn't catting around with Jessica. You know…convince her."

"Randy, it isn't my job to convince Sharona of your fidelity. You need to call her."

"I can't. Not right now. I mean, I could woo her, but I don't think she would go for it. She'll listen to you. She trusts you. She knows you'd never lie."

Monk raised his eyebrows. "Well, all I have is your story."

"What? You don't believe me?" he asked.

Monk paused. "I would like to, Randy. I really would. Stepping out on Sharona…it doesn't seem like you. But…"

Randy stopped for a minute than ran to where he put his wallet, opening it up and pulling out a ticket stub then rushing it back to Monk. "Here! There's my ticket. That proves I was where I said I was."

Monk looked at it and pursed his lips looking at the ticket then nodded. "Good. I believe you. But, I still don't know what I'm supposed to do about proving to your wife that you weren't with Jessica if we can't show her you were at the game instead."

Randy patted Monk on the shoulder. "You'll figure it out! You always do."

"I…I don't know." Monk said skeptically.

"It'll get you your apartment back quicker." Randy countered.

Monk stopped and looked at him, then sighed. "Fine. I'll see what I can do."

"Great!"

"Meanwhile, you need to try to make up with her. Try to talk with her. There are clearly some issues here that need to be resolved and you need to work on them!"

"Okay. Sure. I mean…I'll try. I'll do what I can do." Randy said quickly, then reached forward and hugged Monk, even as Adrian once again bristled at the closeness. "I'll never forget this, man! Really! You're not defective at all. Just a really great friend!"

Monk sighed again, raising his eyebrows in resignation that he had a new task ahead of him and knowing if he was ever going to be free and happy again, and if he and Natalie were ever going to be able to spend a moment alone before their wedding, it was something he needed to do. And so, he considered his next steps.


"Me? Me convince Sharona?! How on earth am I supposed to do that?!" Natalie exclaimed as Adrian explained to her Randy's plight.

"I don't know. You'll think of something! You're the master… mistress…uh…expert."

"Expert at…what?"

"Persuasion. You have to admit, you can get me to pretty much do anything you ask." He replied.

"Oh, really?" she asked incredulously.

"Sure!" Monk replied. "You are a great read of people and know exactly how to whittle them down."

"Are you suggesting that I'm manipulative?" she asked, crossing her arms. Monk walked up to her and took her by the hands.

"No, no, no. Not at all." He replied. "You just have this…I don't know, this innate ability to help others see what they normally won't see because of their own misconceptions…and stubbornness."

Natalie grinned, slightly. "So, you're admitting you're stubborn?"

Monk frowned. "No…people. People are stubborn, like Sharona. Sharona can be very stubborn and I…I, um…" Natalie tilted her head so Monk dropped his eyes. "Okay, for the purposes of this discussion…yes…sometimes…I may be a tad bit stubborn…just a wee bit. And, when I am, you have a way of talking to me and getting me to see past…you know…me."

She snickered. "He told you that if you can convince Sharona to take him back then you can have your apartment back, didn't he?"

Monk feigned shock. "Natalie Jane! The idea that you would suggest that I would only be helping Randy because of…"

A withering raise of Natalie's eyebrow cast aside all pretense. "Alright! Yes!"

"Uh-huh." She smirked.

"Well you don't have to live with him, Natalie! He's taken over the whole house! My bathroom is a mess 98% of the time and he wants to rearrange everything the way he wants it. I mean, can you imagine someone being so particular about everything?!"

"Oh…it must be terrible." She said, furrowing her brow and trying to keep from laughing.

"It is! And he's…he's taken over my refrigerator and never puts things back the way I have laid them out…you know the system…he completely ignores the system, Natalie! And a lot of the time I say something to him and it's like I'm not even there. Just ignores me. Can walk right past me because he's all fixated on whatever it is he's fixated on.

I mean, really sweetheart, as you know, I'm a most reasonable man and hardly ever get upset over anything, but if things don't change soon, I think I'm gonna…"

Natalie quickly walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a soothing hug. "It's alright, sweetheart. It's alright. I know having Randy move in with you has been really hard, but you've been doing it for a friend and…well, I'm proud of you."

Monk shuffled back and forth with his head lowered. "Well…thank…thank you. That means a lot to me that you feel that way."

"I do." She said, running her fingers through his hair.

"But he really needs to move back home!" Adrian replied, once again pushing away. "Natalie, he and Sharona just need to work it out! And, they aren't going to do anything unless we somehow get her to see that he wasn't having a suh-sex affair with that…that…Jessica woman!"

"I understand that. But what are we supposed to do?" she asked.

Monk sat down on her couch and rubbed the back of his neck and Natalie sat lovingly beside him. "I don't know. We need to come up with a plan. Someway, we need to get her to listen."