Hey guys! Happy Sunday.

Ok so this week is going to be a bit hectic and I'm not sure how much time I will have to update, so here's the next chapter.

Hope you like it!

Thanks for reading and reviewing! You're amazing!!

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.

She was back at her place already settling into bed, ready to rest and start a brand new day.

As she laid there, she thought about everything that went on that day. Although everything that was coming at her was challenging and overwhelming, it was also good and she had a real good feeling about it.

Kim closed her eyes and the memories of earlier invaded her head, bringing a smile to her lips.

"She's out. Took a while, she was a bit excited. I guess it was a big day for all of us." Adam stated.

"Yeah, that and maybe all the ice cream she had."

"Hmmm, that could be it too now that you bring it up."

He handed over a mug of coffee to her. After putting Gracie to bed, he got coffee ready for them and walked to the balcony. He knew Kim would be there. Both times she was there, she eyed over to that glass window as if she was looking for something in the night sky. Spring was just beginning and the temperature was perfect for a cozy night out on the balcony with a warm cup of coffee.

"You seem to like it out here."

"I do. I'm sorry I just did my thing without asking you before."

"Please, I love that. That you feel comfortable enough to do that."

"It's beautiful out here, this view is lovely. I know I've said that before." She took a sip from her cup and Adam stood behind her and timidly wrapped his arms around her, his left hand holding his own mug.

"It's pretty breathtaking." He relaxed when he felt her body snuggle against him in the most natural way. "You were right today, when you said that it went pretty well. Grace was happy about it." Kim turned her face to the left trying to meet his eyes and he thought that her smile was shining brighter than the stars.

"She was, wasn't she?" He nodded at her question.

"I am too. I like the thought of you being around us more frequently." She smiled again at what he had just said, but this time her cheeks blushed a little.

"Hmmm, is this your way of telling me that I make you happy?" Kim had no idea how that question came out of her lips. She was never that straightforward, but with Adam it just seemed to happen.

"Yeah, I guess it is." His smile reached the corners of his eyes and he finally did what he was longing to do. He closed the distance between them and captured her lips in his. He swiftly moved to be in front of her, managing to leave his arms and mouth exactly where they were. He was lost in the moment. The only thing that reminded him that he was still awake and on earth was the tingling running down his spine when Kim's hand gripped his neck as if she was about to fall and he was the only thing holding her up.

He was careful not to invade her or to pressure her, but when he felt her tongue asking for permission to meet his, he just gave in and was once more lost in her. Neither of them wanted to, but they had to pull away for air. "Since we're confessing, any chance that maybe I make you happy too? Just a little bit?" He showed her his thumb and index finger almost touching, causing her to laugh.

"Hmm…" She looked up pretending to be thinking about her answer and Adam took the time to leave his mug on the little table and take a proper hold of her hips. "I don't know."

"You don't know. Huh." They both chuckled and he went for another kiss finding no resistance whatsoever.

"Ok, so I've been smiling a lot lately." She confessed when she pulled away from him.

"That's nice."

"Yeah… usually when you text me or something." She added nervously.

"Really?" He smiled and was dying to kiss her again, but instead he just brushed his lips against hers hoping to leave her wanting for more. Of course she wanted more. She swallowed hard and decided to keep talking.

"So I guess we could say you make me happy, too." She hooked her arm around his neck, careful not to spill any coffee on him and pulled him closer to her. She imitated his last move and slowly brushed her lips against his, the only change was her lightly biting on his lower lip and pulling on it a little. He felt like he was about to burst into flames. The best way he could, he grabbed her mug and left it somewhere near his.

Now with her free hand, she ran it down his back trying her best to feel the muscles under his clothes.

Adam's hands went a little lower and one of them found the back pocket of her jeans. He slid it in it and pulled her closer, as if that was even possible.

Kim let go of his lip and attacked his mouth with no mercy, he answered with the same intensity and they both knew they were getting into a situation that could have no return.

Adam moved his face away from her and took a deep breath.

"I need to be a responsible adult right now."

"That's a shame because that was making me real happy." Her hands on his chest were moving up to his shoulders. Kim knew they had to stop but she didn't want to let go of him.

"Please don't do this to me Ms. B." She laughed and kissed the corner of his mouth, she was teasing and was fully aware of that.

"Sorry."

"Don't be." He looked over at the mugs. "Maybe I should heat up the coffee again."

"That's a good idea." He grabbed the mugs and walked inside, Kim followed. "Do you need me to do anything for Gracie tomorrow?"

"Not so far, it's been a good week. I'll call you though if anything pops up."

"Great." He came back with the coffee and left it on the small table in the living room in front of the couch. Kim

Was picking up some of the beads that fell to the floor and Gracie missed when she put everything away. She looked as he grabbed her arm and led her towards the couch with him. "I'm not kissing you again, not here." She said signaling the piece of furniture. "This is dangerous." She said laughing. As she said that she could hear Sylvie's voice in her head talking to her about her sex life.

"We're not doing anything. Just coffee and enjoying some time together." He said that last part almost in a whisper, he was still a bit shy to admit everything that was going on inside him.

"Just coffee and then I'm going home."

"Alright."

That's just what they did, just snuggled on the couch talking about random things and taking forever to finish their coffees. Neither of them wanted the night to end. But after the last sip of the bitter hot beverage and a shy peck on her lips as he cupped her face between his hands, he said good night as he walked her to the door.

Kim felt like a teenager. Only the thought of their passionate kiss got her feeling suffocated.

It's not like Kim hadn't been with anyone since Andrew. She had, but it was always a spur of the moment, something to make her forget the pain she was going through. It was never the same person twice, at first she was afraid of getting attached, and when she realized she was never going to feel anything with any of those people, nothing close to what she felt with Andrew at least, she knew that it was stupid to go out with the same guy twice, it would be a waste of both of their time.

For the first time since she made that decision, she wasn't feeling anything anymore. And even though it was scary, she felt like she was ready to try.

She grabbed her phone to set the alarm and realized she had a message from Adam, instantly smiling when she read his name.

Home safe?

Hope this message makes you smile.

Of course it made her smile.

I am and it did. Although today it was a little hard to leave your side.

She finished that message with a blushing emoji.

It was even harder to let you go.

This is going to be complicated, isn't it?

No. This is going to be great. Don't ask me how I know that, I just do.

How do you do that?

Do what?

Make me feel like everything will be fine. That everything is fine for that matter.

Kim, that's exactly the way you've been making me feel all this time.

Kim felt her heart melt with these messages and the last one she read just made her laugh.

Well, you're making me feel other things too.

I'm not gonna comment on that.

Hahahah, yeah… let's not go there.

Very wise choice detective.

I could just keep talking with you all night, but I guess we both need to sleep.

Bummer, but agreed. I'll see you around, detective.

Talk to you tomorrow Ms. B

Tomorrow. She wanted to see him tomorrow, not only talk, but she was going to get whatever she could.

Just like he promised he texted her a couple of times during the day. Everything was quiet at the bullpen, but the kids were pretty wild at school. Kim was happy the day was over and she was about to go home.

"Hey ladies!" Gina, one of the third grade teachers approached Sylvie and Kim just as they were walking to their cars.

"What's up Gi?!" Kim answered with a chirpy voice, calling Sylvie's attention, who shot up her head and looked at her friend with a smile. Kim liked Gina, they had their own little clique at school, it mostly involved the younger teachers. They would hang and get together just to relax and have fun and take their heads off some of the stressful events that would sometimes pop up in school.

"Glad the day is over. Please don't tell me my kids were the only ones that were completely out of their minds today." Gina asked the pair.

"It must be the full moon or something, Kim and I were just talking about that a few minutes ago."

"Gosh…" Gina shook her head and went on. "Listen, some of us are going to that bar, O'Malley's tonight and we were wondering if you wanted to tag along."

"Yeah, sure." Kim looked at Sylvie, who was still smiling at her, before she continued speaking. "We'll be there. Sounds fun!"

"Great! I'll text you guys the deets later. See you later!" Gina waved and walked away, leaving the two best friends alone.

"Someone is in an excellent mood despite our students being little demons today." Sylvie commented. "What happened last night?"

"Nothing happened. Gracie was right there."

"Oh! So if Gracie hadn't been there…" she trailed off waiting for her friend to finish her sentence.

"We probably would have been less careful, but I don't think thighs would have gotten that far either."

"Ok. Not there yet?" Sylvie wasn't going to keep teasing and mocking her friend. She thought that it would be way more useful for Kim to really talk about her feelings.

"Not really." Kim shook her head as she looked for her car keys. "I mean, it's weird you know?" She stopped what she was doing and looked at the blonde standing in front of her. "Part of me doesn't feel quite there yet, and another part of me really, really wants to."

"I don't think it's weird. It actually think it's kind of normal."

"Syl, this is the first time I'm putting this much thought into sex with someone. How do you think that's normal?"

"It is also the first time it is not only a one night stand."

"Do you think I'm a horrible human being?"

"What? Why?"

"For having these thoughts or feelings about someone who's not Andrew."

"Babe, no. Not at all. You don't have to worry about anyone thinking that about you."

Kim sighed. "How about your aunt and uncle? Do you think they'd hate me?"

"Kim, they love you and I know for a fact that both of them are worried about you not moving on, getting some kind of closure, they've talked to me about it.

I think the real problem here is that you think you are a horrible person. You're not. You're a wonderful, kind and caring woman who deserves to be happy. Don't be too hard on yourself and take the time you need. I'm sure Adam will understand." Kim shyly smiled and nodded.

"I'm sorry. I'm being so annoying about this."

"You have no idea how happy it makes me that you're finally on this track. So you can annoy me all you want, because I think it's wonderful." She hugged Kim and kissed her cheek. "And as much as I love you and talking about you and the detective, I really have to go if I want to see Matt before going to O'Malley's. And I really want to see him." She raised her eyebrows. "See you tonight?"

"See you tonight."

O'Malley's was just what they needed. They were having a blast, it was the best way to recharge their batteries for another packed school day.

It was getting pretty late for a school night, so they all decided on one last round before calling it a night and Kim volunteered to go over and place the order.

"Kim." A not so familiar voice called her name as she waited for the bartender to place all the drinks on a tray so she could take over to their table. She turned around and was a bit surprised to see who it was.

"Hailey, hi."

"Hi. Didn't expect to find you here."

"Teachers night out." She said as she cocked her head toward their table. Kim was trying to be polite although she didn't really know where she was standing with Upton.

"That's cool. Jay and I had the same idea. Kevin had plans and Adam…"

"With Gracie." Kim completed her sentence without even noticing.

"Exactly." They both nodded and looked at each other and then somewhere else, anywhere really, they just wanted to avoid the awkward moment. "Hey, listen. I kind of wanted to talk to you." The blonde detective finally spoke up. "Last Friday, what I said. Wasn't really the best move."

"No, it wasn't." Lately Kim didn't recognize herself. She was being so genuine and honest, which was a great thing to be, but it surprised her because she didn't used to be like this. She used to be more of a crowd pleaser, until she realized she needed to please herself first. "I mean, I get where you were coming from. Probably I would have done the same if I felt I was looking out for my friends that way. But it really kind of threw me off. You're a girl too, you understand. It's not very pretty when the ex of the guy you're seeing just lays it out like that." Kim shut her eyes, shook her head and looked down before speaking again. "I'm sorry I'm being so explicit about this." She was still shaking her head and now her nose was scrunched up. Up to a certain point she was a bit embarrassed of her honesty.

"No, Kim. I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't mean it to come out like that I was actually trying to see..." Hailey stopped and shook her head. She wanted to explain what had gone through her head but didn't know how to put it into words without sounding like she was out of her mind. "Gosh it's so stupid now that I think about it." Kim smiled and Hailey felt much more relaxed. "The only thing I can do right now is apologize."

"It's alright. Adam told me about it and he placed all responsibility on himself. And, apology accepted."

"He told you about it?"

"Yeah. He really cares about you and I guess I didn't make it any easier on either of you by just disappearing. So, sorry about that."

"I would have done the same." They both chuckled. "I'd really like to make it up to you and maybe start fresh?"

"Sure. Sounds good."

"Great."

"I have to get back to my friends, they're all waiting for their drinks."

"And I have to order before Jay comes here and does it himself."

"Hailey, just one thing. If you want to know something just ask me, ok? For a moment I kind of felt like one of your suspects. I'm not, and life is not an interrogation room."

"Noted."

"Hope to see each other soon."

"Me too." Hailey was shocked, nobody had ever stood up to her with such respect and class. Kim was also shocked, she could believe just how confident she felt. That conversation with Adam was really all she needed.

"Did she just schooled you?" Jay's voice pulled her right out of her thoughts. Just as she had predicted he was coming over to check in their drinks when he overheard his fiancée and Kim talking.

"I think she did, and I'm still deciding if I hated or if I loved it."

"You know you loved it. The same way you know you really like her for Ruz." Hailey never answered him, but she didn't have to. He knew he was right.