Montserrat couldn't think of a better way to wake up today. She was on such a comfortable bed under the softest blanket and with the best man she'd ever known. Sure someone might say that she was exaggerating, but she really wasn't. She gave the softest yawn and shifted on the bed to face Rafael who was responsible for her comfortable wake. To her surprise, he was already awake.

"You really aren't a morning person, huh?" Rafael was struggling not to laugh at her. He'd been awake for a while and somehow Montserrat continued to sleep right through the morning. He didn't complain, though. He'd gotten to watch her sleep and even hold her when she wasn't shifting around. He discovered that she shifted a lot. It was amusing.

Montserrat's face went flat, a new record time since she'd woken up only minutes ago. She waved him off with a lazy hand. "I hate mornings." Her curls fell over her face.

"And here I thought maybe today's morning would be a little more pleasant," Rafael reached over to take apart the curtain of hair over her face.

"Why would you be stupid enough to think that?" She muttered and purposely buried her face into her pillow.

"Oh, so you're rude in the mornings too?"

"Shut up."

Rafael had to laugh. It was probably the first time he ever laughed that early in the day. Things were usually quiet at home but today was different. He wasn't alone today. "Montserrat, you can't go back to sleep anymore," he snaked an arm over her waist and yanked her towards him. His heart skipped a beat when she was right next to him, dressed in an old shirt of his, head tilting up to face his. It was a sight he could never forget, and he wouldn't dare to.

"Watch me," she groaned with the challenge. She tried hiding her face against his chest.

He laughed again. "How do you ever wake up for work?"

"With three alarm clocks."

"Three!?"

"Keep laughing and I will be smacking you."

"You're incredibly amusing," he dropped a kiss to her messy hair. "And a shifty sleeper," he added in a low voice.

She peeked from under her hair, one eye open and the other closed. "You noticed?"

"Just a bit…"

Both her eyes opened when she scrunched her face. "Sorry. I've had some exes comment on that. Apparently, it's something I needed to work on."

"Not in my home you don't," he assured her. "It means I get to hold you even tighter now."

It was her turn to laugh then. "Aw, and you're cliche in the mornings!"

"Don't ruin it, Montserrat." But it just made her laugh even more when she felt his arms around her tighten their grip. "It's been such a good morning."

"Oh, I know," she sighed contently. "I don't think I've slept this nicely since...last year." She met his gaze with a lazy type of smile. "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome here anytime," he promised.

"I have some conditions…"

Rafael deadpanned her. She simply couldn't resist sometimes, could she? He ducked his head to steal a kiss from her. "We'll have to discuss them," he said afterwards.

"I'm prepared to make my argument but watch out..." she let her fingers tap against his chest, "I might just leave you without a job."

"I might be a little nervous. Your mouth can go for hours." Montserrat rolled her eyes. He always had to have the last word. "Let's get some breakfast or you won't be able to put up much of an argument. Yeah right!"

That was the last straw. Montserrat shoved him away from her while he broke into a fit of laughter. "I seriously hate you!" She huffed and got up from bed, smoothing out his old shirt around her body.

"I seriously doubt that's always the sentiment." Rafael shot her a smirk when he managed to claim some seriousness, and it only happened because of her current appearance. If he was once enthralled by the sight of her legs, now he was completely enamored. Today he was awarded with a clear view of them accompanied by her morning state. Untamed curls hung loosely over her shoulders and part of her face and the simple casualty in her movements. She didn't look the least bit uncomfortable, not even if she was trying to hide it. She was at her most natural and he loved it.

Montserrat soon caught onto his stare and blushed. It was odd to say she hadn't been self-conscious about her lack of clothing or the fact that she was wearing his shirt as a dress. She never thought she would get to this point in her life again. "So...breakfast?"

"I thought you hated me…"

"Shut up!"

Rafael rolled his eyes at her, setting aside the argument for another time. He was midway across the room when they both heard a knock. They didn't move until they heard it again.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Montserrat cast a nervous look at the closed bedroom door as if the mysterious knocker would somehow make their way into the apartment and into the room.

"No…" Rafael was racking his head for any forgotten memo that he would be having someone over. "I don't...I don't think so…"

"Well, they keep knocking so go answer it!"

"Yeah, yeah," Rafael mumbled on his way out.

Montserrat thought it would be wise to put on some actual clothes while he attended to the door. She discarded his shirt and slipped her dress on again then hurried to the closest mirror to fix her hair. Without a brush, it was even more challenging.

Meanwhile, Rafael had gone to get the door as quickly as possible since the knocking had been relentless. Who could be in such a hurry to—

"Finally! Aren't you usually awake by this hour!?" Rafael was left dumbfounded at the door when his mother strolled into the apartment. Lucia was on a mission and he was about to find out what it was. "Your grandmother is driving me insane! I'm trying to make do but I can't keep it up for longer. We need to have a serious discussion about her and her living situation."

Rafael could barely blink at the moment. His hand just barely found the door to push shut. "Ma…"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lucia then started to notice the state of the living room. There were half eaten desserts and a nearly empty scotch bottle on the table. "¿Pero qué es esto? What is this?" Her eyes flickered once to the hallway before asking. "Is there someone here?"

That pulled Rafael out of his trance. "What? No! Of course not!"

"So then was there someone here last night?"

"No—Mami, what did you need?" Rafael was quick to get into business mode. He needed to be smart about it because if he was right - and usually he was - then Montserrat was freaking out in his bedroom. On some level, it was actually hilarious but he would never be stupid enough to say that to her face.

But he was right.

Montserrat has heard perfectly from the bedroom. Instead of hiding or something, she pressed her ear to the door. You're being nosy! She really was but she was also curious to know more about Rafael's mother. It was nitty gritty things but things she wanted to learn about nonetheless. Was her voice like her son's? Was her attitude where Rafael got his from? Get closer! If she was brave enough she might even crack the door open a bit.

With the question that Rafael asked, Lucia forgot all about the mess in the living room. "It's your grandmother!"

"Is she alright?"

"Yes, well...the apartment, it's not working for her anymore. She can barely walk the steps."

"Right," Rafael nodded. This wasn't the first time his mother mentioned something about his grandmother having trouble at home. He'd just been so busy lately. "I-I'll come around later in the week to talk about it."

"Are you busy right now? Cleaning?" Lucia made a gesture towards the coffee table. "Because I did not teach you to live like this!"

Rafael rolled his eyes. If Montserrat was listening, then she was laughing for sure. "Sí, I have a lot of work to do today but I promise I'll stop by later in the week."

"You promise?"

"Yes."

"Fine." Lucia headed for the door but stopped in front of her son. "But seriously, what is this mess?"

Rafael fought the urge to roll his eyes again. If he did so, it would keep her around and that's not what he wanted right now. "I will get to it, I promise."

"Espero que si," Lucia's pointed look made it incredibly hard for Rafael to stay still. "Your grandmother would be appalled."

"Ya sé!" Rafael reached for the door to open it. "Bye!"

"We'll talk," Lucia said as a warning. She gave him a quick hug and kiss then left.

Rafael barely had the time to breathe afterwards before Montserrat emerged from the hallway. "Oh my God, that would've been terrible!" She came up to him in a sprint, throwing her arms around him. "Imagine if she would've caught us?"

Rafael hugged her tighter, but she felt the rumble of laughter under his chest. "You make us sound like teenagers."

"You ever did something like that?" She tilted her head up at him, leaving her chin to rest against his chest.

"Absolutely not! What about you?" Montserrat didn't answer and instead pulled away from him, leaving Rafael quite stunned. "Montserrat, you didn't!"

The woman spun around with a wide smile, a proud one too. "Nothing like that but I did do some sneaking around. I liked the thrill."

"Was this thrill good enough for you, then?"

Montserrat brought her hand to her chest, still feeling the lingering hammering of her heartbeats. "Honestly, she sounds kind of scary. I'm assuming this is where you get it from. I would've died if she found us right here. That's not how I want to meet her."

"Yeah, me neither," Rafael shrugged. "We can make different plans for that later."

"She did sound upset, though," Montserrat started going around the coffee table collecting the leftovers they'd left last night. "Is everything alright?"

Rafael had to shrug again. He walked over to help her put the trash into the bag. "She said something about my grandmother. I'm assuming it's getting difficult for her to keep living where she is right now."

"Maybe you should've let your mother stay and I should've left," Montserrat gave him a look, a rather guilty one too.

"No, no, I'll go see them later in the week. Today is our day off, after all." Montserrat's lips curled into a warm smile. He took the bag from her hand and set it on the table. His arms slid around her waist before gently tugging her to him. "We still have breakfast to make too."

"I know but I don't want you to get into problems with your mother."

"I won't," he gave her a kiss on the lips. "Breakfast?"

She saw no point in wasting breath with the smart mouth ADA she has for a boyfriend. "I'm in the mood for a yogurt parfait."

"I like it," he turned her around, moving his hands to rest on her hips. Together they swayed their way into the kitchen.

"You have enough fruit around? Yogurt?"

"Are you saying my fridge is empty?"

"I'm saying I'm going to start grocery shopping for you and leave some of my favorites in here...if that's alright…"

"I would honestly love nothing more than that."

Montserrat turned around and set her hands over his arms. Her lips were struggling not to smile so blatantly but all that morning it seemed like an impossible thing to hold back. "You mean that?"

"Of course," Rafael nodded at her. He grazed her cheek with his knuckles. "You can bring anything here."

"Would that include...you know...clothes? Pajamas, extra changes…" Montserrat felt an insane heat rush up to her face. It was childish yet she couldn't find one piece of her that hated it. She hadn't felt this good in a long, long time.

"What, you didn't like wearing my shirt?" The smirk that crossed Rafael's face quenched some of her nerves. "Because I sure did."

"Nice try," she patted his cheek. "But I really would like to bring some things over if that's okay with you. I really liked spending the night over, consciously you know. The last time it happened I fell asleep on your couch and I woke up alone on your bed. I was just in a bad place too, thinking of...everything."

"That'll never happen again," he promised with a kiss on her lips.

Montserrat wanted to smile but there was one thing holding her back and she knew that if she didn't get it off her chest, none of their sweet words to each other would mean anything if she was lying. "Raf, there's um...there's one more thing I need to tell you."

"About?" He noticed the quick way her features fell with nerves.

"It's just that we're being honest and I probably should've told you this yesterday but I-"

"You're rambling, dear…"

"Yes, I am. Um, you said you-you looked into my case… and I know that took a lot of courage to tell me because you knew how I would react so now I have to tell you something about that case. It's a new detail that came up a whole ago."

"What?" The first thing that popped into Rafael's mind was that somehow that scumbag met with her. scumbag had found a way to meet with her. "What happened?"

Montserrat could feel him tense under her hands. For a second she debated whether this was a good idea or not. You'll feel worse if it comes up later and you didn't tell him. That was right. She didn't want to risk another argument with him and much less over the likes of Daniel. "Remember that sniper that killed Angel?"

"Yeah, there were no leads on who was behind it…" Rafael watched her slowly, hoping to reach the conclusion before she would tell him.

"I know who it was - or rather I'm pretty sure I know who it was," Montserrat's voice had fallen a couple notches. "I think...I think Daniel made the order." Because if she was thinking logically, she knew that Daniel would never risk showing his face for something that could easily be done for him and still carry the same weight if he'd been the one to pull the trigger.

"What? Why would you think that?"

"Because little Tino told me that he - Daniel - took over D'Amico's drug empire and he runs that while Tino's boss works the girls in the city. He made a rule…" Montserrat's face scrunched in disgust. The next words she needed to say became a true struggle, "'No one hurts the pretty Slovakian detective named Novak or they answer to him.' He's out there and in his twisted mind, he's protecting me."

The cogs were already working in Rafael's mind. His stomach churned with the same disgust. "So when the drive-by shooting happened…"

"Daniel gave the order to shoot Angel in retaliation."

There were so many things Rafael felt in that moment that he couldn't decide which one was heavier. After what that man did to Montserrat, he had the audacity to want to 'protect her'? In a few seconds, the rage started up and pushed all the other feelings away. "Montserrat, we have to do something," he said quietly.

Montserrat would be a fool not to see the quiet anger that was bubbling inside him. "No, no—"

"Yes! That man's still out there and he thinks he has a claim over you—"

"It wouldn't matter! He's not coming after me—"

"That doesn't matter!" Rafael's voice had risen enough to silence Montserrat. "He's out there, thinking that he has some claim to you! And more than that, he's watching you. From wherever the hell he is, he's watching you! I don't like that and I know that you sure don't either. We need to do something, please." More than his anger, he was afraid of what could happen to her if Daniel got brave again. He didn't want anything to happen to her, not when they could stop it.

But Montserrat didn't see it that way. She couldn't fathom opening up any case against that man that would eventually lead to her seeing him again. "I can't—"

"Montserrat, please—"

"Don't make me, please," Montserrat screwed her eyes shut, actually whimpering as a few tears rolled down her face.

It was what made Rafael stop on the spot. Right now, he was hurting her. He couldn't do that to her no matter what he thought. She just wasn't ready to face the man. He needed to respect that. "Okay," he backed down.

Montserrat didn't hear him the first time around. She shook her head. "Please, I don't want…"

"Shh," Rafael cleared the tears off her face. "It's okay, I won't...you don't have to." She slowly opened her eyes slowly, initially doubting that he'd give up so easily. "We can go when you're ready, but please promise me that you'll tell me if something else happens with this. Promise me that, Montserrat." He met her gaze seriously. This was the one thing he needed her to do for him and she knew it.

She gave a small nod of her head. "I promise," she whispered. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Relief came to her as soon he wrapped his arms around her body, holding her as tightly as possible. "Thank you…" She felt like a broken record using the same words over and over but there was nothing else to say.

Rafael understood the heavy meaning of those words each time she said them. He pulled away slightly and cupped her face gently. "You don't have to say anything, Montserrat. I want you to know, to understand, that I will always be here to protect you." His hands tilted her head slightly to meet her eyes. A warm smile came to Montserrat's lips as he kept going on, like she didn't already know the facts. "I may not be a cop, I may not carry a gun, but I will protect you. I always will." He knew it in his gut that he would do anything to see it through. It should've been alarming that he was up and ready to give himself up like that, but it was actually the opposite. It felt right. It was what he wanted. And seeing Montserrat's smile grow wider made it all feel even more right.

"You don't have to carry any weapon to protect me," she whispered, her tears brimming in her eyes. "I know that if the moment ever called for it, you'd be my hero."

A light chuckle slipped through Rafael's lips. "Well, I don't know about that…"

"Yes, you would be," Montserrat nodded at him. A few seconds of silence passed by as they stared at each other. "You've been there with me for a long time now...let's forget about the yogurt parfait. Let me make something for you."

A bemused expression settled on Rafael's face. "Really?"

"Yup, nothing Slovakian of course because I need my special ingredients but...something delicious I promise."

"Are you sure? Because I could easily help out—"

"Nope! I want to do it this time. You made dinner, breakfast is all mine!"

"Alright then," he agreed mostly because he was curious to see how well Montserrat's cooking skills were, though he was pretty bummed that it wouldn't be anything Slovakian. He was mighty curious to see what dishes her hands could cook up for him.

"Go sit," she instructed him. She moved to head for the fridge but he grabbed her tightly again and yanked her back. His lips met hers for a sweet, long kiss. She could get lost in it for hours, but their stomachs wouldn't let them. "Okay," she said breathlessly. "Point made."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm…"

"You know what? I think I'll follow you around just to make sure I see what you're doing is right…" Rafael didn't wait for her answer before turning her body around. She laughed when he slipped his arms under hers and moved them towards the fridge. For the moment, and perhaps the rest of the day, he didn't want to let her go for anything.

Author's Note:

I went back and forth with this chapter because I wanted to get it right sooo...I hope it came out okay? They've never really been casual like this! But yall catch the next arc coming? ;)

P.S I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

For the review:

SkiJager12th: Thanks so much! I won't be stopping anytime soon! If there's a lag in updates it's because I'm drafting other stories and then future chapters for this one ;)