Hey guys! Hope you're all doing great.
Well, I'm currently a bit bummed considering the lack of Burzek we are having on the show, but here is one of my favorite chapters from this story.
Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
Happy reading!
Xo
-Nina
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.
I woke up to an empty bed. I got up to get my clothes and get ready for work hoping to find her somewhere in the apartment, instead I found a note on top of my bag.
Morning baby!
I forgot I had an early gym date with Erin. Not sure what energy I have left to punch that bag, I blame you ;)
There's fresh coffee in the pot, eat whatever you want. See you at the district and hopefully I'll get my good morning kiss there.
Ps: you looked too adorable to wake you up.
XO
-K
Staying at her place alone was a bit weird, yet natural. This relationship was getting more and more real and I loved that, I loved her and I was ready to face whatever obstacles were headed our way.
I prepared myself some breakfast and scrolled through my instagram feed, where I found a few pictures Erin had just posted and I couldn't stop the grin on my face from popping up. I was all in.
The bullpen was quiet; everything was quiet in fact, so quiet not even Platt barked at me when I walked into the district.
"Morning" I greeted everyone as I went to hang my jacket on the back of my chair. "What's wrong? The silence here is creeping me out."
"Just a quiet morning, bro. You know how winter is." Kev seemed so relaxed this morning.
"What if the bad guys actually took a day off to spend it with their families?"
"That's cute Burgess, but if they did, then that day was yesterday."
"A girl can dream, Halstead." Kim quickly shot back.
"She's trying to look for the good in the world, Jay." Erin walked over to Kim and hugged her. That was true though, she always looked for the good in everything.
"By the way, good morning Ruzek!"
"Aw, thank you Erin for being the only human being present to actually acknowledge my morning greeting." I joked.
"Someone woke up a little bit sensitive today."
"And someone woke up a bit cranky. Damn it Lindsay, what did you do to unleash this monster on us?" I was in a pretty good mood this morning and there was no way I was missing the chance of playing with Halstead.
"I did nothing wrong." Erin answered, holding her hands up as if she was pleading her innocence.
"You wanna know what she did? She woke me up at 5:00 in the morning because she couldn't find her sports bra, and it's not like she only has one. There are a million of those things at home but she wanted that particular one."
"It was the only one that matched my sneakers, Jay. I wasn't gonna leave the apartment looking like a clown."
"Honey, it messed up my whole sleeping schedule." Now he shifted his eyes to Kev and I. "I'll try to improve my mood for tonight, guys."
"What's tonight?" Kim's voice seemed a little disappointed, did she have something else in mind?
"Tonight is the ultimate boys night." Kev's voice echoed in the bullpen. "Beer, burgers, poker. You name it, we have it baby."
"Well, we're not gonna be there…" Burgess said as she waggled her index finger between her and Lindsay. "…so what you are not gonna have is an extra dose of class and fun." She finished off closing her eyes triumphantly.
"Sorry girls, not tonight." Atwater was quick to reply.
"We already got plans, Kev." Erin jumped right back in. "Kim and I are having a day spa this afternoon. We need something to relax and bring us back to our centers after spending so much time with you three. In fact, I think we should invite Rojas. What do you say?" She looked at Kim when those last words came out of her mouth.
"Of course, the more the merrier." The smile on her face was big and bright, she grabbed the mug that was on her desk and lifted it a bit. "I'm gonna get more coffee, anyone wants a refill? Speak now or forever hold your peace."
When both Erin and Jay asked for refills, I took that as my cue.
"I'll help you get that." I got up from my chair and followed her into the breakroom, carefully closing the door behind me.
"After hearing Jay's ranting, I really hope you appreciate the fact that I didn't wake you up." She aligned the mugs perfectly on the counter, while the machine was still brewing a fresh pot of our preferred hot drink.
"I do. I still wish I had the chance to kiss you good morning, though."
"Well… what are you waiting for? Time is money around here." That was one of the many things I liked so much about her, her playfulness and her sense of humor. Without really thinking about it I quickly walked towards her and held her by the hips pecking her lips with mine.
"Good morning darlin'." Our lips met again.
"Morning." Her eyes were still closed, but the smirk on her face was almost permanent. I leant in closer to kiss her again, only this time my hands went to the back of her head to make sure that it wasn't just a peck, but that I could press my lips against her with intention.
"How was your workout?"
"It was good. But I like my night instructor better." The comment left us both chuckling.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, definitely. The guy knows how to make
me sweat." Playing around we almost didn't hear when the coffee machine stopped making noises, telling us that it was time to get the mugs ready. Instead I got too distracted holding her by the waist and staring at her lips, trying to control myself and not start making out with my girlfriend in our workspace. If I was lost in her eyes, then Kim was as lost as I was. There was only an inch of space between us and some magical force that luckily held us back.
"Hey guys, can I get…" Kevin slowly stopped talking when he saw us. My hands moved away from her waist trying not to make it so obvious and Kim didn't move. But she did speak.
"Come on, Ruzek! Look better. There has to be something in there, I feel like a nail is stabbing my eye or something."
"I'm trying my best here. If only you would stop blinking, that could be helpful instead of just yelling at me." I did the best I could to play along.
"Thank god you're here, Kev. Can you check what the hell got stuck in my eye? Since Adam can't see for his life." I don't know if Kevin really bought our acting or not, but for the moment it seemed to work. He walked towards us and moved Kim closer to a source of light, tilting her head carefully looking for an inexistent piece of dust in her eye.
"Sorry, Burgess. I ain't see nothing."
Kim sighed in frustration. "Men. You know what? I'm gonna wash my eye thoroughly, hoping that whatever is in there will leave me alone. And if that doesn't work I'm gonna ask Erin for help, because obviously the manly eye will not come in handy today." She moved to the door, forgetting all about the coffee, at least that's what I thought. "Leave my mug on my desk please. 2 sugars and creamer." And that's how she made her exit.
The rest of the day went by pretty much the same way as it started, that was until Voight stepped out of his office to tell us to cut it out. We looked like a bunch of school kids who had just come back from spring break. Although he will never admit it, I saw a smile stamped on his face as he leant on the doorframe of his office. That was something that we were not used to see, as was the cheery and playful atmosphere in the district; I mean, we all tried to do our best and make the hard days a bit easier, but sometimes the cases that popped up were so tough and raw that it was nearly impossible to see a smile or to get a joke out of any of us.
Lucky for us, today was not like that.
I was walking around my place, tidying up a bit to wait for the guys. I had gotten a text message from
Kev saying that he was on his way a couple of minutes ago, so when I heard the doorbell I knew it was him.
"Come on in, Kev. It's open." I yelled from the kitchen.
"What up, bro?" His voice was full of excitement. "I've got everything in here." He said as he stepped into the kitchen and left a couple of bags on the counter top. "Two six packs, Jay's bringing more, nachos, a couple of dips. We're ordering the burgers, right?"
"Yeah, that was the plan. Wow man, you outdid yourself." I said as I peeked into the bag.
"And you haven't seen it all my friend. I brought all the Die Hard movies." I rolled my eyes, I knew they were Kevin's favorite and I liked them too, but we've seen them a million times.
"Again?"
"Yeah, come on don't look at me like that. They're perfect to leave as background while we play some poker."
"Ok, that works."
"I'm so excited about tonight. I feel like I really needed the testosterone kick."
"What's the matter, too much time with the kids?"
"I've spent the last week with Jordan, Vinessa and Rojas. Don't get me wrong, I loved every second of it, but too much girl stuff together, man." His complaining was funny, because I knew how much of a family guy he really was.
"I'm sure you're enjoying your lady friend time."
"Hell yeah. But I'm going to enjoy my bro time with you two."
"Speaking of… have you heard from Jay?"
"Yeah, he told me he was on his way here when I was parking my car."
"Cool." I grabbed some uncapped beer bottles and bowls with chips and dips to take to the coffee table, where I had set up the cards and the poker chips.
"Let me help you with that bro." Kev grabbed some bottles from my hands and when he turned around he bumped into the kitchen island, spilling some beer on his shirt. "Crap!"
"Just leave that on the table and leave your shirt in the laundry room, check if there's anything in there that you can wear. I think my black T-shirt is there." Kevin looked at me with a questioning look. "The one that fits you." We both laughed at that. I knew I was in good shape, but Kev, it was like he had a fucking exoskeleton.
"Ok, I'll call you if I can't find shit among your mess."
"You'll see it." Kev knew his way around my place. As soon as I stopped talking he disappeared into the hallway that led to the laundry room. He was quiet for a bit until his loud voice found its way back to where I was standing.
"Um, bro? When you said something about enjoying my lady friend time, were you talking about yourself?" He padded into the living room wearing the black t-shirt I had suggested, but there was something in his hands. Something that didn't quite belong to me. "What the fuck, bro? Whose is this?" He asked with Kim's lacy black thong wrapped between his index and middle finger.
I could feel the fire burn my cheeks, there was no doubt that my face was all shades of red right now.
"Well, it's not mine."
"You say?
"Kev, come on."
"Looks like your lady friend is getting comfortable around your place leaving her things around." He waved the thong around as he talked, and I felt like I was about to have a heart attack. "So, you're really not gonna say who she is."
"Is it really that important?"
"I really hope she isn't if you're hiding it from us."
"Well this is a hell of a welcome wagon." Jay's voice came from the door, I forgot to lock it after Kevin came in. I turned around to see him, but his eyes were locked on Kevin's hands. Great. All the men in intelligence with the exception of Voigh had seen Kim's underwear now, just awesome.
"Give me that." My voice sounded a little frustrated as I yanked that lacy treasure out of my friend's hand.
"Atwater, you gotta fill me in on this."
"Apparently Ruzek's been getting laid and telling us nothing."
"What can I say? Gentlemen don't kiss and tell." That was the quickest answer I could think of, but what I really needed right now was for this conversation to go away.
"He's got a point dude. Besides, it looks bad on us." Kevin looked at Jay as if he didn't get a single word of what he was saying, so he continued explaining himself. "You know? being detectives and all. Well played Ruze." Jay extended his fist for me to bump it, before he placed the stuff he brought on the kitchen island. "I only have one question, though."
"What?" I asked.
"Didn't you have a crush on Burgess or something?"
"Crush? That's a nice way to put it. He's been busting my balls about it for so long right now, but he doesn't have the decency to tell me that he's allowing himself to blow off some steam."
"To answer your question Jay; yeah, I like Burgess. It's more complicated than that, so I don't know what else to tell you guys. Now if you guys let me, I'm gonna put this away." That was the last thing I said before leaving for my bedroom and leaving the piece of lingerie in Kim's part of the drawer.
After thinking about it for a few seconds I finally pulled my phone from my back pocket.
Picture file sent
I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that, babe. I think I'm supposed to send you pictures of my underwear. hahah
Yeah, well… I haven't been getting any of those.
You get to have the live show ;)
So, you sent that to remind me I owed you?
No, I sent you that cuz Kev just found that gem in the laundry room.
But you're welcome to send me all the pictures you want...
Oh :o
I bet you're embarrassed as hell. Are your cheeks still red?
Ha ha, very funny. They are very red indeed… Jay was there, too
Lol… What did they say?
Nothing… Well yeah, Jay couldn't believe I was getting laid and Kev wants to know whose they are.
And?
And this is getting complicated as fuck, Kim. I didn't say anything, but I don't know how much of my 'cool' they actually bought.
Baby, you know what? Tell them.
???
In my head I would have wanted to do this in a different way maybe. But you're right, it is getting complicated, and if we're going with the flow… then I let's go with it.
Kim, Atwater can't be categorized as the flow, he's more of a full force current.
Lol… I know
So… should I tell them? I mean… are you really ok with that?
Yes. I am. Look, they're our friends, they will find out sooner or later, and it's not like this is gonna go away overnight so… I'm ok with it if you are.
This is not going away at all. Period.
Ok, I'll tell them… some of it, I want to keep some things just for us.
That works for me :) I'll tell Erin, then.
Wait… what should we do with Voight and the whole HR mess?
How about we enjoy tonight and talk about that tomorrow? Maybe over dinner?
And finally have our official date?
I'd really like that.
Consider it done, darlin'
Enjoy your night, boys.
Enjoy your spa day thing.
Babe, I'm at Erin's already. That ended hours ago, we're going out for drinks now.
Have fun, and don't cause too much trouble. Don't miss me too much.
That text exchange made me feel 10 times better. To know that she was ok with having us come clean was empowering and liberating. I know I told her I was willing to do whatever made her feel better, and I really meant it; I would wait as long as she needed to. But at this point, I just wanted everyone to know what was going on. This feeling is too real, too strong, too powerful to have it hidden away.
As I walked back to meet the guys I felt the grin on my face, I could tell it was pretty big because my cheeks were a bit sore already.
"What took you so long, dawg? Talking to the lady friend?" It was really hard to figure out if Kev was happy for me or if he was pissed because, in his mind, I wasn't with Kim.
"Give the guy a break, Kevin." Jay jumped in my favor.
"That's alright, Jay." I looked at Atwater and focused my eyes on his. "As matter of fact Kev, I was." My phone dinged and interrupted the little chat I was having with my friend. I pulled it out of my pocket and smiled when I saw her name flashing on the screen and her reply to my last message; 'I already do Xx'.
"This is her right now." I left the phone in the middle of the table so that both Kev and Jay could read the name that had popped up in the notification banner. They both leant closer to see who I was talking about. The surprised and shocked look in their faces was priceless. It kind of made me wish I was filming them. "She's pretty pissed you were playing around with her underwear."
"Wait, what? Burgess wears that?" Jay was really surprised and Kevin didn't even open his mouth.
"She does. But you don't see me discussing Erin's choice of lingerie with you." I was getting uncomfortable and territorial. "So, I'd really appreciate it if we could drop the subject."
"Yeah, sorry man. You're right. I just. I never thought that you two were actually together."
"How long has this been going on for?" Kev finally spoke.
"Obviously long enough for her to keep her underwear lying around his place." Jay commented.
"Dude, can you drop the underwear thing already? It's my girl you're talking about. It's kind of uncomfortable considering you work with her."
"Sorry, my bad."
I nodded and began to answer Kevin's question. "It's been going on for a while now. She wanted to take it slow, so that's what we're doing."
"Are you happy? Is she happy?" He asked again.
"I hope she is, because I know I am. I'm so fucking in love with her it's not even funny." I sat on the couch. This was the first time I was sharing this with anyone.
"Does she know that?" Now it was Jay's voice interrogating me as he sat down next to me.
"Haven't told her yet. She really wants and, I guess, needs to take this slow. I don't want to suffocate her."
"That's great, man. I'm so happy for you both." I knew that Kev's words were honest and straight from the heart.
"Yeah, this is great news. We should really get drunk tonight and celebrate." Jay also had his best interest in us and in the entire intelligence unit.
"Thanks, guys. Let's get this party started, shall we?"
