"What're you doing out here?"

At the words, said to her by someone standing behind her, Kim's shoulders tense, the hair on the back of her neck standing on a edge. It's only Adam, she knows that. Knows his voice, his soft, gentle, affectionate voice. One never filled with judgement, or dismissiveness.

But her eyelids flutter shut slightly, the warmth of the autumn sun beaming onto her face, and all she can remember is all the times before, of people—of them—not being even a touch as understanding as Adam, of them coming into her peaceful bubble, and popping it without a care in the world.

Kim opens her eyes only a few seconds later, turning slightly so that the sun shines on the side of her face, instead, and she smiles at her boyfriend. They're at work, everything is so new, and it's a secret, so she can't step towards him, or invite him into her bubble, but she can smile and watch as he smiles back.

"Nothing. Just getting some peace before my lunch ends," Kim answers his question.

"I wanted to kiss you, earlier," Adam tells her later that day, when she's snuggled up against his side, his arms around her. He noses her, nudging her affectionately. Kim lightly laughs, stealing a quick kiss before teasing him.

"You always want to kiss me," At that, Adam chuckles, a throaty deep kind of laugh that shoots shivers down her spine and makes her ache with a need, a desire for him.

"That I do." His voice is warm, warmer at how fast they are learning each other, how quick they are to etch these details into their souls. "You looked so peaceful, I just wanted to wrap my arms around you and cuddle you,"

Adam says those words, and Kim tilts her head more so she could look up at him. She chews her lip for a second, debating something that isn't much of a debate, not with Adam, and she speaks again.

"Do you want to know why?"

Kim comes through her apartment door, hands full of her shopping. It's still early, really, still plenty of day left. Kim has been up for a few hours, but the day, really, has only just begun. There's a peace in her body; she is ready for the hours left.

"Where did you go?" Adam is on her couch, still in his pyjamas, lounging as he watches the tv. He mutes it, sitting up straighter as he asks her, his eyes following her as she walks in. She holds up her shopping.

"You're a smart man," She says, smiling at him as she does. Adam hums, looking at her curiously, like he's trying to solve a puzzle. Kim feels oddly seen, like she's transparent to his eyes.

"Don't lie, Kimberly. You went to sit on a park bench and read, didn't you?" Adam fishes at her half-read, semi-battered book from one of her bags.

Perhaps she is transparent to him. And perhaps she doesn't mind, Adam not looking upon her with judgment or derision, just looking at her with care and love in his eyes.

He remembered that Kim's favourite kind of days was those on sunny autumn days, when the leaves are deep terracotta earthy tones and falling, and everything is on that edge of winter, yet still looks so beautiful and magical. And he remembered not to mock her for being so caught up in it, but just because—just because he knows her.

Kim stares at the leaves laying on the ground, crumpled and stepped on. The shades are so pretty, deep reds and oranges, a sight that comes around only once a year, yet they're discarded and forgotten by everyone who walks past them.

The trees are dying, shedding their unnecessary leaves, needing to preserve that strength. The air is getting colder, this last middling warmth of the sun will be gone soon. It will be snowy and cold, and everything will be dead.

Not yet, time is still caught in this magical time of being alive—of looking alive—and being dead—of looking dead.

Kim can relate to that, hoping that next year, next year will be different.

"Why did you want coffee here?"

Kim turns her head to look at her mentor, at Al. Antonio is her main partner, now, Al being assigned to whoever. But he's still her mentor, even if Antonio believes in her all the same. Al is a special man, a force that everyone needs in their life.

"Sit." Kim pats the space on the bench next to her and Al obliges, handing her over her coffee as he does so.

"Look—everything looks so pretty," She indicates at the park land that lays before them, smiling at his beautiful everything looks. From the corner of her eye, Kim sees Al smiling that half smile of his.

"Hm." Al is a man of very little words, and Kim will never know if he gets she wanted to bring some light in his life as Lexi's birthday approaches, but she thinks he does, and she knows he appreciates it, knows that she's sharing a part with herself with him.

"Sorry, is this space taken? I just need to rest for a moment—not as young as I used to be, me."

Kim looks up from the fallen brown leaf she is aggressively staring at, the lead she's been staring at for god knows how long. It's an older man who's asked, probably not too much older than Al would've been. He's got a kind face, and she can tell the moment he sees the tears in her eyes, the utter distraught on her face.

"Are you okay, dear?" The man gently rests a hand on her shoulder, full of concern. Kim forces herself to nod, giving him a weak, watery smile.

"Here," she stands up, making the bench available for him. He goes to protest, but Kim shakes her head. "I've got to go to work,"

She does, and it is good that the man came along, otherwise she would've been late, caught up in her memories, of how she'll never drink coffee, silently, side by side with Al ever again as the autumn leaves fell around them.

"Tomorrow is meant to be a warm day, for October, that is,"

Kim looks at Adam, pausing in her task of grabbing her things from her locker. She frowns at him, unsure to as why he's telling her—hoping he's not planning on asking her out on a date. They're spending time together, but that's not for them, not yet, anyway.

"I was gonna go to Al's grave—if you want to come with me? It'll be the kind of autumn day you like." Adam doesn't leave her unsure for long. There's a tightness in her chest, a constricting in her heart, at his words.

She tells herself it's because of the thought of Al, not because Adam remembered her favourite kind of day.

"Kim? Are you asleep?"

Kim opens up one of her shut eyes, looking at Adam, who's peering at her, a hand resting gently on her shoulder before shutting the eye again.

"If I was, I wouldn't be now." She replies, dryly, but with affection.

"Alright, smartass. I was just coming to ask if you want some lunch. But I'll leave you to your 'reading', although I'd like to point out reading usually, you know, dictates reading that book beside you," Adam's words are said without malice, and Kim opens her eye again just in time to see Adam going to retreat away.

She catches his hand, halting his movements. She smiles up at him.

"Lunch sounds wonderful."

"Kim! Look!"

Makayla's smile is wide, her daughter beaming, as she jumps into a big pile of leaves that she had just constructed. Kim can't help the equally big smile, affectionate and loving, which takes over her face at that, not that she'd want too.

Her daughter is laughing, a joyous sound, and she plays and messes around. Her excitement and happiness is infectious, and Kim finds herself feeling a new kind of peace watching her. It's her now seven year old's birthday, and there's something oddly beautiful, Kim think, for Makayla to be born in late September, to be born on one of her favourite kinds of days.

It's a low key birthday, but it's perfect for her daughter, and so it's perfect for Kim.

And as she plays, Kim thinks that one year she should take Makayla to see where she grew up, so that Makayla could play in the same place Kim did, the same place Kim fell in love with this type of day.

"Bet you're happy these days are finally here,"

Kim's head is resting on her fiancé's shoulder, their hands entwined, but she tilts her head up slightly so she could look at Adam.

"Oh, don't think I don't know why you decided that we should go for a stroll in the park today. The sun is out, it's autumn, you've got that peaceful look on your face. I bet you're glad Ally was born in the spring so that she's old enough now to be able to go out for longer," Adam's ability to see Kim as transparent has never faded over the years.

"Hm. You see right through me," she says, her other hand gently moving Ally's pram, turning her eyes back to watching Makayla play a little away from them.

"I wish you didn't have to wait all year for these days," Adam says a few moments later. "You deserve to be this peaceful all year."

"Adam, I am." Kim pulls away from him at that, her hand still attached to his, however. She moves so she's looking at him more front on.

"This," Kim indicates around them. "is beautiful and pretty. But I don't need it anymore, not for that peaceful feeling."

"Oh. Makes sense, kids do give that feeling, too," Adam interrupts her before she's finished, not quite understanding.

"It's not because of them—well, not quite. They're the bonus. But Adam, I could go forever without ever seeing a day like this again, because I have you. You are these days for me, every day with you is like this in my heart." Kim tells him, earnestly, before cuddling back into him.

"I love you, darlin'," he says not a second later, his voice breaking slightly.

"I love you, too."