Hey everyone, happy Tuesday!

Well, I'm not sure what we're getting tomorrow, so I decided to leave you one step closer to having Kim and Adam together in this universe...

Thanks for your lovely comments and for taking the time to read and review!

Hope you like it!

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

He was sitting in his truck, his fingers impatiently drumming against the steering wheel.

It wasn't too hard to find his address, all it took was a text message and he got all the information he needed.

A few minutes later he saw exactly what he was waiting for, Ian coming out of his building.

Adam opened the door and jumped right out, he wasn't waiting any longer.

"Hey, you." Adam roared, making the gym teacher turn around. That tone of voice could terrify anyone. "Just what exactly do you think you're doing?" He spoke getting closer to Ian, trapping him between his car and his body, leaving the teacher no way out.

"I figured I was gonna hear from you sooner or later."

"That didn't answer my question."

"What do you want me to tell you?" Ian answered with an arrogant smile. "Because I think I'm doing much more than you, if you know what I mean." His words both infuriated and disgusted Adam.

He didn't think. He just pressed his forearm against Ian's chest and shoved him against his car as hard as he could.

"I always thought you were an asshole, but you just took it to another level. This is too low, even for an idiot like you. Don't you realize what she's going through?"

His face was inches away from Ian's, but he didn't seem to care, he just laughed at Adam's words.

"I'm the idiot? Look at you, putting on an alpha male show for a girl who doesn't even remember you." Ian was playing with fire and he had no idea. "You're just pissed because I kissed her already and I'm this close to getting her to sleep with me." He said putting his index finger and thumb very close together and showing Adam the distance between them. "Turns out you weren't that special bro. It's kind of easy jumping into bed with her. A few right words and ta-dah! That's what you did, right?" Ian laughed for a tenth of a second before Adam's fist connected with his jaw, zoning him out completely and knocking him down.

"Get up!" Adam yelled at him. "Get up and say that again!"

Ian wasn't moving. Adam grabbed him by the collar of his shirt lifting him up from the floor and punched his face one more time. "I've been wanting to do this since the day I met you, and it was Kim the one who told me not to because it wasn't worth it. That same girl you're talking trash about. That girl you're taking advantage of because you only care about yourself and not about how she might be feeling." He stopped talking for a second and hit him again, only this time it was a left hook to his stomach leaving Ian gasping for air. "You're not man enough. You are a low life piece of shit."

"Stop." Ian pleaded, coughing. "Stop or I'll file a complaint."

"Oh really? Go ahead, and I'll do the same after talking to your boss. I'll make sure your shitty career is over before it even starts." Adam shoved him against the door of his car again. "You stay away from Kim, or I swear I will end you. Do you understand?" Ian just stared at him and said nothing. "I didn't hear you. Did you understand?" He was so loud, so mad and so close that he probably even spit on his face.

"Yes."

Adam let go of him and walked away. "I'm going to be watching you."

His fist was red and throbbing, he couldn't wait to get home and put some ice on it, but it had been totally worth it.

He went through his freezer and grabbed a bag of frozen peas, which was the first thing he found.

Sitting on his couch, he just took a deep breath and let all the thoughts run through his head. He was stressed and worried and he couldn't wait until the following day. Work used to have a soothing effect before Kim came along and became his balm; so he was hoping that, once again, work would bring him the peace of mind he was desperate to have.

The sound of his doorbell told him that peace of mind was something he wasn't going to get today.

He walked to the door and left the bag of peas back in the freezer on his way there.

The view he found when he opened the door though, that brought him all the peace he needed.

"I'm sorry Uncle Adam." She stood in front of her parents holding out a container filled with cookies.

"Come here, muffin." He crouched down to pick her up from the ground and blow a raspberry on her chubby cheek, just like he always did. "Are those for me?"

"Mm hmm. All of them!"

"That's great! I was craving for something sweet." He touched the tip of her nose with his free hand and moved away from the door. Kit saw his brother's swollen knuckles but ignored them for the moment. "Come in you guys."

They all went to the living room while Adam got coffee ready for the adults and some warm chocolate milk for Gracie.

"Sorry to come without calling, but Gracie really wanted to come to give you this and there was something else she wanted to say, right sweety pie?" Anne explained.

"I didn't mean it when I said I hate you. I was angry." Her sweet little voice apologizing was the cutest thing ever.

"I know, muffin. I understand, I do some pretty crazy things when I'm angry too. But what I really want you to know is that I love you to the moon and back and that is never, ever going to change or go away."

"How about Mars? Do you love me all the way to Mars? Because Aunt Kim taught us that Mars is farther away from the Earth than the moon."

All three adults laughed and Gracie didn't understand what was so funny.

"She's right and yes. I love you all the way to Mars and back 100 times."

"Wow, that's a lot!" She giggled showing her lovely smile and the first bit of her new tooth. "I love you, too."

She went to hug him and he immediately wrapped her in his arms. "Can I go get my coloring book?"

"Sure, go ahead. We'll wait for you to start eating those cookies." Grace smiled and ran to her room to get her book and markers.

"Those crazy things you just mentioned. Any chance your swollen hand has anything to do with that?" Kit asked as soon as Gracie left.

"Maybe a little."

"What did you do?" His brother was worried about him. That's what being a Ruzek was all about, looking out for your family; and when it came with Adam dealing with his anger issues, Kit had a lot of experience.

"Don't worry about it." He scoffed arrogantly. "You can worry about the other guy though."

"I just hope you didn't do anything too crazy."

"Nah. Just something I needed to solve before leaving."

"You're leaving again?" Gracie asked right after she ran back to the room with all her belongings in her hands. Detachment was something she wasn't really good at, and every time she heard someone she cared about was going away, her little heart shrunk a little.

"Yes, kiddo. But it's only for a couple of days and this time you get to stay with mommy and daddy."

"Why are you going?"

"For work, Muffin."

"Oh, like last time?"

"Exactly. I'll be back before you know it. Now, how about we try those cookies?"

Gracie nodded smiling. Spending some time with his family gave him comfort and the steadiness he needed to go off to work.

Adam wasn't the only one to get unexpected visitors.

Kim was sitting on her couch cursing herself for keeping all her pictures in the cloud and not on her desktop like every other normal human being. She had already tried every possible password she could think of but none of them worked.

If only she remembered what she had changed it to, or where she had written it down. It had to be there somewhere. She was going crazy, she needed answers, she needed to know.

She left her laptop on her coffee table and emptied every single drawer trying to find a notebook or something containing the info she needed.

"Fuck!" She yelled out and pressed her temple hard with her thumb and index finger.

The knocking on her door made her jump, she didn't want to see anyone, especially right now. As she walked to the door she hoped it wouldn't be Ian the one standing on the other side because of it was she had no problem calling the cops on him and if it was Sylvie, then she better had something to say to her.

She checked the peephole, she wasn't risking opening the door to Ian, and found the back of a blonde head standing there.

"Listen, I get it, I get everything. But if you're not going to tell me the truth, then. Today is not a good day." Kim blurted out as soon as she opened the door.

"Um. I have no idea what you're talking about, but let me know if I can help you with anything."

"Oh. Sorry. I thought it was somebody else." The brunette looked as embarrassed as ever. She was so stressed she didn't pay attention to the details and didn't realize that it wasn't Sylvie the one waitingfor her to open the door.

"Do you want to come in? My place is a mess right now, but I can make you a cup of coffee."

"Sure, I'm not going to take long though."

"Come in." Kim walked away from the door and the blonde stepped in. "How can I help you, Hailey?"

"This is going to sound weird."

Kim laughed at Upton's comment. "Pfff, believe me. I've heard nothing but weird in the past few days. Take a seat and let me get us some coffee. Again, please excuse the mess."

"Please, don't worry about it Kim." Hailey took a seat and waited while Kim moved around the kitchen and finally came back with two cups in her hands.

"Ok, I'm all ears."

"I know it's strange and you're going to think it's completely random, but it was really fun last night."

"Yeah, totally."

"Jay and I, um we're together."

"Umm, ok." Kim had no idea where Hailey wanted to get to. Had she behaved in the wrong way? Had she said or done something wrong?

"We're getting married in fact."

"Wow, that's great!"

"You have no idea where I'm getting to, do you?" Hailey asked, scrunching up her nose. She was going to get in some much trouble for this, but she needed to try.

"I'm sorry, but I do not." Kim confessed with a fun chuckle. "To be completely honest with you, being able to understand what people try to tell me hasn't really been my strength lately."

Hailey smiled and laughed lightly when Kim did. It amazed her how Kim still tried to be optimistic through it all. "Ok, so here's the thing, some family and friends are throwing us an engagement party. Nothing crazy, just a night to have some fun with friends, dance, drink a little or a lot." Both girls laughed. "I'd love it if you could make it. Jay would too." Hailey was nervous, and Kim's puzzled expression didn't help. "I know it sounds totally crazy, but I don't know." The blonde shrugged trying to explain to Kim why she was doing this. "Plus, Sylvie, Matt and a few others from firehouse 51 will be there too. I know you get along with them." Kim looked down trying to find the right words.

"Phew, for a second I thought you were here to yell at me for hitting on Jay or something." They both laughed again, which was a much needed tension relief. "I don't know what to say. First of all, thank you." Kim sighed. "It does sound a little crazy, but there's only one thing that would make this, make sense." The brunette shrugged and Hailey just sat there waiting for Kim to say the rest of her utterance. "We used to hang out, right?"

"Kim, I…"

"Yes, I know. I know everything, I understand you can't tell me a word. But look around, I'm desperate trying to find answers and here you are, sitting in my living room with a huge piece to this puzzle, so please help me find where it fits. Were we friends? Did I forget you?" Hailey was frozen, she didn't know what she was supposed to answer and she knew that Adam was going to be pissed at her once again. Why couldn't she just stay still and do nothing? Kim looked at her, and even though she wanted an answer, she understood she had just placed Hailey in a difficult position. "Ok, this is what I know." She figured that by giving some kind of light to Hailey, then maybe the blonde detective would tell her something more. "Syl told me that I have been to Molly's a few times and I also know that Adam's niece goes to the same school I worked at, so I must have seen you before at least. I don't know Hailey, but after last night, I felt so comfortable with you guys it was so natural. How off am I? Please, just tell me that."

"We did hang out, yeah." Hailey finally let out. "We met some months before the accident."

"Were we close?"

"Well, we weren't best friends, but we got along pretty well." The blonde told her and Kim smiled.

"Thank you. Ok, this makes sense. It feels right."

"I'm super glad you think that."

"I do have one loose string, maybe you can help me with." Kim asked, scrunching up her nose, she knew she was pushing but she wanted to try.

"I can't promise you anything, but tell me."

"Adam."

"What about him?"

"How well do you know him?"

"He's one of my best friends. Why?" The blonde had learned from her past experiences and this time she wasn't going to mention that time Ruzek and her dated.

Kim entered a very dangerous territory, she had a million questions she needed answers to, but at the same time she was just talking to Hailey now, how much could she actually open up to her without looking completely insane? "Were we friends too?"

"Well, we all hung out together." The blonde felt like that was the safest answer she could give right now. But Kim's disappointed face made her doubt her decision. If there was a tiny little spark of hope that maybe Adam was the guy that she was dating, it was put out by Hailey's words. They used to hang out together and if the nature of their bond was just like hers with Hailey, then it wasn't anything too deep. "Why the face?" The blonde asked again.

"I don't know. I guess I had other expectations."

Hailey's eyes opened wide to Kim's confession.

"Like what?"

"Nothing, forget it. I guess I'm just confused." The brunette sipped on her coffee trying to put all these new pieces together. "It makes sense. You're both in the CPD, we're all part of the same group of friends. It's only natural for Adam to be there at the hospital when I woke up."

"Kim, Adam is a great guy." She said leaning closer to her and placed a hand on her knee. She wanted Kim to feel some kind of support.

"He is, isn't he?"

"Yes. The best."

Kim reached to hug Hailey, feeling some shy tears roll down her cheeks. "Thank you for this, it means a lot to me."

"Don't even mention it." Hailey pulled out her wallet looking for something. "Here's my card. Call me whenever you want, maybe we can go out for drinks or something."

"Yeah. I'd really like that." Kim answered, taking the card from her hand.

"Me too." Hailey stood up, leaving her empty cup on the coffee table. "I have to go, but I loved talking to you today."

"It was great. Thanks again, Hailey." Kim walked her to the door and spoke once again before opening it. "I'll definitely be at your party."

"Good, because it wouldn't be the same without you."

They both smiled and hugged each other.

Kim went back to her computer feeling like she was one step closer to getting her life back together.