Drifted Apart 5

*Natara's P.O.V.*

"So, are you going to tell me what's been happening these past 5 years or not?" Mal asked, breaking the silence.

I glanced over at the driver's seat, raising an eyebrow.

"I told you... I'll tell you at the restaurant," I repeated for the 7th time today, smiling a little.

"But, I can't wait that long!" he complained, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout. It's been five years and he's still as impatient as ever.

I rolled my eyes and responded with, "Yes, you can. It's only a few minutes until we reach the restaurant anyways."

"You're mean," he stuck his tongue out at me.

"Good," I grinned at him. He furrowed his eyebrows.

"…Got any pets?"

"I'm not telling you!"

"…Got a big, glorious house?"

"Not telling."

"…Met any famous lawyers?"

"I'm keeping my mouth shut for the rest of the ride."

"…Got any new scars?"

"..."

"…Talked to Neha?"

"…"

"…To Amy?"

"…"

"…Any new jobs?"

"…"

"…Any new friends?"

"…"

"Ya killin' me, smalls!"

"…"

"Ugh, fine," he sighed, flipping on the radio.

I smiled widely in victory. He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes, facing the steering wheel, and rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep the ends of his mouth from turning up in amusement.

"So, Amy is back?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not telling!" he mimicked, smirking.

I huffed and crossed my arms, faking like I was mad.

He looked over at me, nervously, gulping, looked back at the road, then glanced towards me again. He bit his lip, a worried expression on his face.

"Okay, I'm sorry! Yes, she came back a couple of years ago!" he exclaimed in one breath.

He let out a huge exhale and glanced at me. I smirked at him in victory. His cheeks became a slight reddish color.

"Shut up. That was mean…"

I giggled at his embarrassed expression.

"You're just so easy…"

"Hush."

It was silent for a few minutes. I thought back to what happened at the precinct.

"Thanks for doing that for me by the way…" I murmured under my breath. He raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"You know. Sticking up for me. Helping me get my job back. Saying that you were going to quit if he wouldn't rehire me. I really appreciate it," I said, smiling at him.

He smiled back. "No problem. It was the least I could do. He'd be a complete idiot not to hire you again."

I smiled at the floorboard, hair covering my blushing face.

"Plus, he's not going to want to lose his best detective anyways," he said, smirking cockily.

I swiftly punched him in the arm and rolled my eyes. Trust him to say something like that after complementing me…

"Hey, hey now! No abusing the driver!" he tried to say seriously, but ended up laughing.

I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless.

A few minutes later, he pulled up to Sean's restaurant, parking the car. We hopped out and started walking up the sandy path towards the old, paint-chipped building.

I inhaled the salty air through my nostrils. My heart sunk a little. God, I've missed San Francisco. It's felt like forever that I was out here, breathing in the salty air, catching criminals, talking to my friends, joking with Mal…

We walked in and waited behind the 'Please Wait to Be Seated.' sign.

An unfamiliar waiter strode up to us and said in a heavy Italian accent, "Hello, welcome to Sean's, the most famous seafood restaurant in all of-" He started, but Mal cut him off.

"Antonio… It's just me. You don't have to go on with all that 'most famous food in the world' crap," Mal muttered, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"Oh, it's you! Welcome back, Mr. Fallon! How have you been?"

"Better if we could get some food," Mal hinted, nodding his head towards the table.

"Forgive me, Mr. Fallon! Is this date night?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows, and nudging Mal with his elbow.

"No, she's-" he started but the young waiter cut him off.

"Is she… What do you Americans call it? …Your boo thing?" He asked.

"My what?!"

"Your boo thing. You know. Girlfriend. Sweetie Pie. Honey Boo. Cupcake. Tunnel-o-Love. Love Muffin. The one you are courting, yes?"

"No, nothing like that," he said, sighing tiredly.

"Mmmmhm. I'll believe you for now," he said, eyeing him skeptically.

Mal just rolled his eyes.

"Here! Look at me, standing here, being all distracted! Let me seat you!" he exclaimed suddenly. He quickly walked to a small table for two.

"Will this be okay?" he asked.

Mal walked up to him, whispered something in his ear, and nodded towards the back of the restaurant.

The young waiter's eyes lit up in amusement.

"Well, of course. Anything for the new couple!" he exclaimed, walking towards the back of the restaurant where the balcony was.

I gave Mal a curious look, as if to ask if he was doing what I think he was doing.

The waiter 'secretively' mouthed to Mal, as soon as we got to the back, "Is this the table?"

Mal mouthed back, "No." then he nodded towards a specific, familiar booth.

"Why, of course!" he exclaimed, while speed-walking towards the booth.

"Will this be alright?" he asked.

Mal nodded silently at him. I smiled in amusement and sat down at our 'usual' booth that we had sat in every time we came in here so many years ago.

The waiter laid down our menus and silverware, took our drink orders, and excused himself to go wait on some other tables.

I grinned at Mal, who was looking at the front of the menu with a frown. His eyes slowly slid up to meet my gaze.

"What?" he asked, curiously.

"Did you really just do all of that to get us our old table?"

"Well, it is our table," he said, grinning widely.

I grinned back and looked at the menu, even though I already knew what we were going to order.

"You want to split the-?" Mal started before I interrupted him with a, "Yep."

He grinned amusedly at me. "What if I was going to say the Octopus dish?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Then never mind," I teased, lifting up my menu once again and 'observing' it.

"I was just kidding!" he exclaimed, reaching over the table to lower my menu.

The young, peppy waiter came to our table once again.

After placing down our drinks and taking our food order, he replied with a, "Anything for you, Mr. Fallon!" before happily skipping away towards the kitchen.

I looked back to Mal after the waiter was gone.

"Do you know him?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, sipping my drink.

"Who, Antonio?"

"Yeah. The peppy waiter dude."

"Yeah, he just started working here last month. He gets a little…overexcited at times," he responded, rolling his eyes, and taking a sip of his drink.

"Well, you seem to like him," I said, jokingly.

"He talks way too much. He could talk a person's head off. Literally. He's just… He's so annoying!" he exclaimed, making me laugh.

"Worse than Kai?"

"Eh… I don't know about that… Kai is pretty awful himself."

I giggled, not noticing the man come up behind me.

"Well if it isn't my two favorite customers! And look who it is! Agent Foxy is back in town!" Sean greeted us, coming to stand in front of our table.

I looked up and smiled at his excited expression.

"Hi Sean. How've you been?" I asked politely.

What I didn't see was Mal, with a loving, adoring, small smile plastered on his face aimed towards me, electric blue eyes staring into mine. I looked out of the corner of my eye at him and mouthed, "What?" while Sean was talking.

"Nothing… Nothing at all," he mouthed back, a dreamy smile still on his face. I shrugged and turned my attention back to Sean.

"So, why are you back in San Francisco? What happened? Mal finally confess about how he feels towards you so you came back to marry him? Are you two finally together?" he asked.

Mal, who had been sipping some of his drink, immediately began to choke. He held his neck as he began to cough violently.

Sean and I looked at him worriedly.

"Wh…What?" he asked hoarsely, clearing his throat.

"Did you tell her how you felt? Turn on the Fallon charm? Finally get your groove on with her?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I blushed darkly.

"No!" Mal exclaimed loudly and defensively, blushing, also.

"No need to get embarrassed, little lady. He's a charmer," Sean added, patting me on the shoulder, making me blush even darker.

"Sean! No! We're not… I didn't… We… I… Uh…" he stammered, unsure of what to say, blush darkening.

Sean grinned at him knowingly. "Look at him stammering. Isn't he just the cutest thing alive?" he asked me, placing a hand over his heart, hinting to me that I should follow along.

I let out a nervous laugh. "Sure is…" I said, looking over at Mal, whose cheeks were now a rosy red.

"Can… Can we just get our food now?" Mal muttered, ducking his head away. I giggled at his reaction.

Sean let out a hearty laugh.

"Aw, c'mon Mal! You know I was just-a kidding! You're girlfriend seems to think it was funny," he said, nodding at me. Mal looked back to see me smiling brightly.

"She's… She's not my girlfriend," Mal mumbled, looking at the table.

"And why not? I mean, come on! Look at his wittle handsome face! What's not to like?" Sean asked, grabbing Mal's face and aiming it towards me.

Mal scowled, eyebrows furrowing, and jerked away from Sean's grasp. Sean just laughed at his reaction while I blushed and looked at the table.

"Wow, you two are hilarious! I haven't had this much fun in a month! Sadly though, I've got to go boss people around. See you two love birds later!" he exclaimed, walking off towards the front of the restaurant.

"Thank God…." Mal muttered, looking up at the ceiling.

I giggled. "What? You didn't think that was funny?"

He just glared at me. "You… You're just…You're horrible sometimes, you know that?"

I burst out laughing just as Antonio came up to our table with our food.

"Ah, you have made her laugh! Romance is blooming in the air, yes?" he asked, setting down our food.

Mal just rolled his eyes while I laughed nervously.

"Heh heh…"

A few seconds later, I looked down into my steaming bowl and silently inhaled it.

"God, I've missed this so much. I haven't eaten this stuff in forever! I feel as if I had forgotten what it tastes like!" I exclaimed.

Mal just smiled at me.

I dipped my spoon in and mentally melted. It tasted even better than it had 5 years ago.

"Oh my God. This stuff is still amazing!" I exclaimed through a mouthful of food.

Mal just laughed at my expression.

"I haven't eaten this in forever!"

"Oh my God!"

"I'm in love with this food!"

"I want to marry it!"

"Holy crap!" –were my comments while eating.

Mal laughed and butt in, "Before you marry your food, let's talk."

"Okay," I said, nervously. Oh gosh.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Talk!"

"You're the one who suggested talking!"

"You go first."

"No, you go first."

"Natara, you said you'd tell me when we got to the restaurant."

"I didn't say the exact moment that we got here."

"I want to know what has happened to you in the past 5 years."

"You go first. I wanna know what has happened to San Francisco."

"Are you really going to make me go first?"

"I sure am," I said, smiling brightly at him.

He sighed before saying, "Fine. But after this, you promise to tell me?"

"Promise."

"Alright… What would you like to know?"

"….Everything."

"Well…I guess I'll start with the people at the station."

I nodded my head, urging him to continue.

"Well…Um. Jeremy and Blaise are a couple now," he started.

My face rearranged into shock.

"Yeah, none of us saw that one coming. No one knew they were a couple until about a year ago. They're engaged but still haven't decided on a date yet. They're holding it off right now because Blaise's mother has been real sick lately…"

"Oh…" I drift off, unsure of what to say.

"And yes, Amy came back a little while after you left. She got tired of running away all the time and just decided to come back," he shrugged, eating some of his food.

"Hmmm."

"Believe it or not, Kai has actually gotten no better. If anything, he's gotten worse," he said, shaking his head. I giggled. Totally expected that.

"So Anders's is the permanent captain?" I asked, changing the subject, and raising an eyebrow.

"So far… No one else has come up to take his place so he currently resides as captain…For now."

"Well, he seemed really nice to you. Nicer than he's ever been."

"It's probably because you were there," he said, smiling widely at me. I giggled and responded with, "Yeah right."

"Hey, you never know. He might've missed you too."

I rolled my eyes playfully and dipped my spoon in the bowl.

"So…What's with you and that Special Agent?" I asked, raising my eyebrows amusingly.

"We're engaged."

I choked on my soup.

"What?!"

"Yep."

"Mal… I… I didn't know that you were…" I trailed off, blushing.

All of a sudden he burst out laughing.

"What?" I asked, cheeks red.

"I can't believe you actually believed that!" he said, holding his stomach and bending over the table laughing.

"But, you… And I… And you said!" I stammered, cheeks heating up even more.

"Oh that was priceless!"

"Wait, you're not…?"

"Natara, let me reassure you. I'm not gay," he said, grinning widely.

I picked up my napkin and threw it at his face. He swiftly caught it right before it touched him.

I furrowed my eyebrows, "That wasn't funny."

"I thought it was."

"Go die."

"Ouch, that's harsh."

"You're mean."

"And you're gullible."

After I had calmed down, I asked, "So, what's really up with you and Winters?"

"Oh, he hates me," he shrugged, nonchalantly.

"Why?"

"Cause I can never get his damn name right." He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head.

"Why would he hate you for that?"

"I don't know? Cause he's an asshole!"

I shook my head, giggling. Of course…

He continued telling me all what happened in San Francisco in the past few years as we ate. Some stories made me laugh, some made me want to cry and some had me just plain speechless.

Soon, we were done eating and Sean had come up to our table.

"Did you two enjoy?"

"Yes," we both replied, grinning at each other.

"Good, because this one is on the house!" he exclaimed. We both grinned wider.

"….except for yours. You still have to pay, my friend," Sean added, nodding at Mal.

Mal furrowed his eyebrows and grumbled something incoherent under his breath.

Sean chuckled and replied with, "I'm just kidding! Calm down, you cheapskate! Both meals are on the house just for the foxy agent returning to the beautiful city of San Francisco!"

I blushed a little and looked down. I looked through my hair to see Mal looking at me with the same dreamy face that he had on before.

Sean chuckled, said, "Adios amigos. Have a wonderful night," before walking towards the front of the restaurant.

As soon as he was out of sight, Mal gently grabbed my hand and led me towards the balcony, overlooking the beach.

I sighed and leant against the railing, enjoying the view of the sun sinking below the water as it set. Orange and pink colors streaked in the sky, creating a colorful glow.

I felt Mal come up beside me and copy my actions, his shoulder barely touching mine.

After a few calm seconds, I felt his shoulder brush mine as he turned to face me.

"So…What happened? Why'd you decide to come back?" he asked, slowly.

Here comes the moment of truth. I sighed and closed my eyes as I explained what had happened.

"Well, I guess it all happened 5 years ago. Oscar and I moved to Monterey a few months after we were married, as you already know. We moved into this huge house and were happily married. And then the phone calls started. At first, I thought that they were business calls, but they were arriving in the middle of the night, sometimes at 2 or 3 in the morning and Oscar would run to get them. He started acting... Weird. But I never said a word about it to anyone. I know that you tried to call , Amy, even Blaise kept calling. But I didn't answer. Partly because Oscar didn't allow me to. Other part was because I…I was scared. I was scared that if I talked to one of you or even thought about San Francisco, I'd go running back. I felt so homesick, it was crazy. So I never answered your phone calls, or your text messages, or your emails. Oscar convinced me that I had to forget about San Francisco in order to move on. And then, I…" I exhaled. Here we go. "I got pregnant." I peeked an eye slightly open to see Mal's reaction. He had a shocked look on his face as he was staring at me. I opened both eyes and looked towards the sunset, continuing my story.

"I was terrified because Oscar had never been a big fan of children. When I finally racked up the courage and told him, he didn't say anything. Literally. He was just…emotionless. He didn't act happy, sad, excited, or angry. I had to go to all of the doctor appointments by myself because he was supposedly 'working.' He wasn't even there when I was in labor." I sighed, looking down at the sand below my feet.

"I had a girl, by the way. During those 5 years, I stayed home to raise our child, while Oscar worked from early morning to late at night, all the while the phone calls began to get even more suspicious. I basically watched our daughter grow up on my own, while Oscar was at work more than half of the time. He was never there. So one night, about a year ago, while Oscar was asleep, his phone started ringing. It was an unknown number so I answered it, thinking it would be something but work. A woman was on the phone," my voice cracked on the last word. Mal, who I kept my gaze away from, tenderly placed his hand on top of mine in a comforting way. I cleared my throat and continued.

"She asked me if I had seen Oscar. I asked her who she was and she told me her name was Janelle. Then she asked me who I was, so naturally I told her that I was Oscar's wife. She didn't believe me, saying that she was his…" I choked up a little, feeling tears come to my eyes. I quickly wiped them away with the hand that wasn't under Mal's.

"That she was his girlfriend. I told her that I really was his wife and after a while, she believed me and told me that she had no idea that he was married. She said he never had on a wedding ring. She apologized over and over again. The next day, I confronted Oscar about it, but of course he denied it, saying I was crazy and didn't know what I was talking about. I informed him of Janelle and he froze, knowing that I had caught him. He begged over and over to forgive him. I guess I always suspected that he was cheating, but just didn't want it to be true. I didn't want to be with a cheater. But where would I live? I didn't want our child to grow up with divorced parents, so I forgave him. But the thing is, he never promised not to cheat again. So the suspicious phone calls continued and I knew who they were. Sometimes during dinner, Oscar would get a text and just walk out, not even trying to hide it anymore. I knew that he was going over to some other woman's house but I didn't do anything about it…I was too scared. I didn't want to leave or I'd have nowhere else to go. I know I should've come back sooner but I…I don't know why I didn't. I just figured since I hadn't had any contact with any of you for 4 years, that you'd want nothing to do with me. So I stayed with Oscar." I sighed. I felt Mal squeeze my hand tighter as he sucked in a sharp breath through his nose.

"A couple of months ago, I came home from picking my daughter up at daycare. I went into our room and saw that Oscar had left a note saying that he needed 'space' and that he was leaving. I thought he meant only for a couple of days, but after a few months, I began to get worried. I called him, texted him, emailed him, left voicemail after voicemail, but he never did answer. A few weeks ago, I received the divorce papers in the mail. I knew that I had to have some way to support my daughter and myself, so I packed up everything and moved back here, hoping to get my job back." I finished, wiping a few tears away.

I finally looked up at Mal. He was faced towards the ocean, looking extremely pissed.

"So, Mr. Perfect… He cheated on you, then just up and left?!" he asked, slowly, through his teeth, using Oscar's old nickname.

"Turns out he wasn't so perfect, after all." I said, shrugging. His eyes hardened.

"I'll kill him. I'll hunt him down and make him beg for forgiveness. I swear if I ever get my hands on that Son-of-a-" He started but I interrupted him.

"Mal, calm down. I'm better off without him," I said, smiling sadly.

His face visibly saddened as everything processed in his brain.

"Nat, I'm so sorry," he quickly enveloped me in a tight embrace. His arms snaked around my waist and shoulder blades. I hugged him back, enjoying the feeling of his strong arms around me.

"Don't worry about it. I'm happy," I murmured against his shoulder. He pulled back and locked gazes with me, his sparkling cerulean eyes burning into my soft hazel ones.

"If you ever need any help at all, whatsoever-" he started.

"Thanks Mal," I said, smiling at his kindness.

"I was about to say call Amy, but yeah, I guess I could help too…" he smirked.

I busted out laughing and smacked him in the chest.

"Always the charmer," I said, an amused smile on my lips.

"Only for you," he replied, smiling brightly at me.

I smiled back and looked out towards the ocean, leaning against the railing.

"Just always remember, Nat," he started, coming up close beside me and putting his hand over mine. "I'm here for you. No matter what." He turned his head slightly to look at me and flashed me the trademark Fallon-grin.

I grinned slightly back and replied, "Thanks Mal. I know I can count on you."

After a few silent moments, he cleared his throat and broke the silence.

"Soooo, now that I've told you my life story, it's your turn, bud. What's happened to you in the past 5 years?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugged easily. "Nothing much."

"Nothing much? Are you sure? Nothing has happened in 5 years?!"

"Nope."

"Ugh! Mal!" I whined. He smirked at me.

"I'm telling you, Natara. Nothing exciting has gone on for the past 5 years."

"Well, how are you and Selene doing?" I asked curiously.

"We aren't."

I raised my eyebrow at him.

"We broke up a long time ago."

"Well, who's the lucky Mrs. Fallon?"

"Doesn't exist yet." He answered boredly, as if this was a casual conversation.

"Who are you dating?"

"No one."

"What about in the past 5 years?"

"….nope."

"You've got to be kidding. You haven't had a girlfriend in 5 years?"

"Nope. Well, not technically a girlfriend. None have been too serious. Only a few dates here and there. "

"Come on. Guy as handsome as you? You can't tell me that you haven't found one girl in 5 years."

"It's not that I couldn't get one, it's just that I always turned them down."

"Why?"

"…I had my sights set on someone else."

"Who is it?"

"Can't tell."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"You might know them."

"So? Malllll please?!"

"….no."

"Well, do they like you?"

"I dunno."

"You should make a move on her!"

"I can't…It's complicated," he ran a hand threw his hair, frustratingly.

"It shouldn't be that hard. Any girl would be lucky to have a man like you to be crushing on her. She'd have to be an idiot not to like you!" I cried, desperately.

He smiled bitterly. "You have no idea."

"Why don't you make a move on her?"

"I can't. She…just got out of a bad relationship.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. Good luck with her, Mal! I hope she'll come to her senses and realize that you're the right man for her."

"So do I…" he said, almost sarcastically.

After a few minutes of silence, he interrupted it.

"Didn't you say that you got pregnant? I mean, like, five years ago?" Mal asked, a bright twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes?"

"Well….Can I, um. If it's not a bother…. May I-?"

"Spit it out, Mal."

"Can I meet your daughter?"

I mentally gasped. He wanted to see my daughter? Seriously?

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I mean, if it isn't too much to ask or anything." He looked at the ground, shyly for a second.

"No, no, no. It's… It's fine. Sure, you can meet her," I asked, a smile tugging its way onto my face.

He grinned widely at my approval.

"Awesome! Thank you thank you thank you! I can't wait! I bet she looks just like you, Natara! Like a mini-Natara! I bet she's beautiful!" he blabbered on to himself. I laughed in spite of myself.

Twenty minutes later, we were back at the station, waiting for Neha's arrival.

Mal paced back and forth in the front of the bullpen, anxiously awaiting the arrival of my daughter. Truth be told, I was a little nervous. I wanted Mal to still think that I was the same 'me' from 5 years ago and I hadn't changed into some snobby woman. I didn't want to lose him as a best friend just because I had a child now. But, if he didn't approve, then he didn't approve. I wasn't going to pick him over my own daughter. What kind of a mother would that make me?! An awful one, that's for sure. And yet, I didn't want to lose Mal right when I just got him back. So, hopefully, he'll approve.

Two minutes later, the doors swung open and in bounded a very energetic five year old.

"Mommie, mommie, mommie!" she squealed adorably. My heart instantly melted at the sound. As soon as she spotted me, she ran towards me and jumped into my waiting arms. I spun her around a couple of times, hugging her tightly.

"Mommie missed you today! Did you have fun with Aunt Neha?" I asked her.

"Yes I did! Did you make up with Mr. Mal?" she asked skeptically, eyeing me. I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless. This child forgets nothing.

"Yes I did. Thanks to you." I replied, tickling her ribs. She giggled and lightly swatted my hand away.

"Mommie please! People are watching!" she exclaimed, dramatically.

I laughed, but set her down anyways.

"Here, I want to introduce you to someone important, okay?" I asked, taking her by the hand and leading her to the frozen person at the front of the bullpen.

Mal stood there in shock, surprise written across his face. His mouth was slightly ajar as he watched me coming towards him. I stopped a few feet away from him and brought her out from hiding behind my back.

"Mal, I want to introduce you to someone important, okay?" I asked, nervousness building inside of me again.

All he could do was nod, shock still written across his handsome features.

"Mal….This is Bella, my daughter."

Ooooh! Cliffhanger!
Well, you finally learned Natara's daughter's name! It's Bella, because I LOVE that name! So, So much! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and who is being amazingly patient waiting on me to upload. I love you all! I would respond to each of the reviews, but it's really late at night and I'm sick with a cold so I feel like crap. Thanks for reading!

Until next time! L8r G8rs!