Hey guys, hope you're all doing great!

I'm sick and not feeling very well, so I couldn't post earlier, I apologize.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, I'll do my best to post the next update sooner because I hate to keep you waiting.

Thanks for your comments, likes and follows. I know I say this all the time but you really are the best!

To the guest that asked about the sequel for 180, yes I'm still planning on writing it. Haven't started yet, but I'm definitely doing it, I just need to organize the ideas a little better. I'll keep you posted!

Happy reading and thank you for everything!!

Xoxo,

Nina

He woke up to an empty bed once more and yes, he was pissed, not with her but with himself. Did he really expect things to change overnight? She clearly wasn't ready for this, and it was ok. Adam knew that she was doing her best, that didn't mean it would hurt him any less to be away from her, or at least not as close as he wanted.

He grabbed his phone from his nightstand before attempting to leave his bed. This time she was gone but no message or note, at least he was still on time to go get Grace and drive her to school. He ran his hand through his face in total frustration and as if everything wasn't already enough, moving his body hurt like the living hell, making him groan.

Adam bit his lip as he sat on the edge of his bed, trying to hold in the pain. He really needed his medicine, but wasn't going to take anything after getting back from driving Gracie.

As he walked over to the kitchen he felt even more like crap. He was a moron.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Her sweet voice calmed all the discomfort he was feeling. She was there, she hadn't left and it meant so much to him.

"Good morning, Ms. B." He said with a charming smile, making her do the same.

"Sorry, good morning." She looked at the pan making sure that nothing was burning. "Did you sleep ok?"

"I did. Did you?"

She nodded timidly before looking at him. "Yeah. You were right, much better than the couch." Especially the part in which she woke up tucked to his side, the not bruised one, and with his hand snaking her waist, but he didn't need to know that right now.

"I'm glad. This smells really good by the way."

"Hopefully it tastes good, too."

"I'm sure it will. I'm gonna get dressed and when I'm back I'll help you set the table."

"Just go. I'll take care of it." He winked at her involuntarily and walked away. There was no way to hide the smile on his face. He loved waking up to her, he loved the fact that she was there, pampering him even when she was battling her own ghosts.

He was back in just a few minutes and helped her get breakfast ready. "Adam, are you sure you don't want me to get Grace. You look like that hurts, why don't you just take your pill and rest a little?" He couldn't help but smile again.

"It sounds tempting, but I want to see her and to let her know I'm ok."

"Ok."

"But maybe, would you be ok dropping her off here?"

"Sure. How about I take her to my place and then I'll bring her here for dinner? So you can have a few extra hours."

"That would be great." He took a bite of his pancakes before looking at her again. "This is delicious!"

"You're just hungry."

"I am, but this is good." He took his cup of coffee and planned the words that he wanted to say very carefully. "Kim, you have no idea how much I like having you here, but you really didn't have to do this. I don't want you to feel like you have to prove anything to me."

"It's not like that." She sighed. "I wanted to stay, I wanted to be here with you. Gosh, Adam I want to be with you. I know this whole thing is hurting you, but I need you to know that it's hurting me too." She reached for his hand and entwing her fingers with his, she was relieved when she felt him giving in to her. "I've missed you so much these past days. You have no idea."

"I've missed you, too."

"I'm not going to step away from this. I don't want that and I hope you're ok with it."

"I'm not backing away either, I'm just waiting. And I'm more than ok with you being around, I don't want you anywhere else."

"Good." She was determined not to lose him, she knew what she wanted and she was really working hard towards that. Her face was completely puzzled when she saw Adam getting up with some difficulty and walking towards her. He bent down as he could, trying to disguise the painful expression on his face and gently pressed his lips to hers.

"Good. You're worth waiting every second." His words were all the reassurance she needed at that moment. Her hands immediately cupped his cheeks, making the kiss a little deeper to which he didn't protest at all. Kim felt like she could stay there forever, but her responsibilities were calling and she needed to leave in order to get to work.

"I need to go now." She said as her eyes were closed and her forehead was leaning into his. "You text me if you need anything."

"You sound like my mom." He chuckled. "I'll be fine. See you tonight."

"Mm hmm. Take care." She said softly as she lightly scratched the stubble on his cheek. He loved it when she did that.

Kim felt like her phone was glued to her hand the whole day, something that Sylvie mocked her for during recess and their lunch break, yet Adam hadn't written to her all morning.

Despite her high levels of worry and stress, the excitement Gracie was showing about leaving home with her was calming Kim down a bit. Well that plus the fact that she finally received a text from him.

Is pizza good for dinner?

You're eating with us, right?

If you want to

I do. So, pizza?

Pizza is perfect. How are you feeling?

Much better. Slept through the whole morning after leaving Grace there. I think that helped.

Resting and seeing Gracie. The best medicine.

And having you around. Thank you for that.

You know, I like to play tough guy… but I'm a sucker for the little things like you did last night.

Too much for a text message? Lol

I love that about you, and I loved being there for you.

The kids are coming back from art. I'll call you when we get home so you can talk to Gracie.

Sounds great. I'll be waiting for you with the pizza.

There were no longer any doubts in her head. Maybe there really never were any, but the level of confusion she had was blurring all that up.

She wanted this with all her heart. She felt incredibly good being with him and after their night together she couldn't deny how strong their connection was.

She needed to take the leap.

Gracie really liked going to Kim's. She enjoyed the extra time and attention from her teacher, who was the closest she had to a mother figure at the moment, but she also loved all the art supplies and books she could find in Ms. B's house. Of course they spent most of their time together working on the scrapbook, which was looking really good so far, but Grace also asked Kim if they could make a card for Adam.

After getting everything ready for the next day, both ladies headed over to the Ruzek household. They took a little bit longer than planned because Kim wanted to make sure all of Gracie's things were sorted out so as to not add more things to Adam's current situation.

"Uncle Adam!" As soon as he opened the door Grace ran to his uncle hugging him up to where she could reach.

"Hey muffin! That was the best hug I've received in a while." He was still in pain, so he had to fight the urge to crouch down and lift her up to blow a raspberry on her cheek like he always did when she came back from school.

"Look! We made this to make you feel better." She handed him the glittering card over to him. "Ms. B. helped me."

"I didn't do anything. I just gave you the supplies you wanted." Kim said with a sweet smile while Adam was curiously inspecting the card trying to figure out Gracie's taste in aesthetics. She pasted every shiny thing she found on that piece of construction paper, she even threw in some feathers. Why the hell did Kim own feathers? He remembered the first time he'd seen her craft room and the quizzical look he had given her. 'You'd be surprised if you knew all the things a teacher can keep stored.' She told him with a light chuckle.

"You helped me write the words, too."

"That I did." Kim answered and blushed a little when her eyes met his. She decided to hide in the kitchen and put Gracie's lunchbox away, because she knew that standing there watching their interaction was going to turn her into a pile of mush.

"In that case, thanks to both of you. I love it, kiddo." He said with a huge smile after he read the 'I love you to the moon and back. Feel better soon! -Gracie' in little squiggly handwriting. "I love you to the moon and back, too!" He tickled her side, making her laugh and finally kissing the top of her head. "Why don't you go leave your things in your room and then wash your hands? I ordered your favorite." He said in the sweetest voice.

"Pineapple?" He nodded and Gracie giggled in delight. "But you hate it, uncle."

"But you love it." The bright smile on the girl's face was all he needed to feel better. "Go get ready." She nodded and left running to her room.

Turns out hearing the interaction also made Kim melt.

"Pineapple, huh?" She said when she felt his presence standing behind her in the kitchen.

"She likes it." He shrugged trying to defend himself.

"And you like spoiling her." She said in a fun tone.

"It's not spoiling. It's pampering." Kim laughed at what she just heard, but mostly at his facial expression. "I could pamper you, too." He said charmingly as he walked one step closer and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing her blushed cheeks as he did. "In fact, I'd like to properly thank you for everything you've done for me. My pop is going over to my aunt's house for a family gathering and wants to take Gracie to see her cousins. So, I'm free on Friday." He scratched the back of his head nervously. He desperately wanted to be close to her and felt like this was the perfect excuse to do so. Adam wasn't really sure how to behave anymore. He wanted her to know that he cared, that he was there waiting for her to give him the green light, but he didn't know whether he was pushing her or not. He really hoped he wasn't. "Do you maybe want to have dinner with me? I can cook." Kim smiled and that filled his soul for a bit. When she opened her mouth to answer, Grace came running into the kitchen, jumping around excited about her pineapple pizza and completely changing the subject.

Dinner went great. The mood was light, relaxed and fun. Well at least all three of them seemed to be having a great time, Gracie more than the rest. Tonight it was impossible to get her to bed before Kim left, giving both adults no space to finish their conversation, face to face at least. Not only that, but that moment when they say goodbye, that moment both of them usually take advantage of to get a little more intimate with each other didn't exist tonight.

The whole drive to her house Kim debated with herself if she should bring up the Friday dinner topic again or not. But if she wanted to do this she needed to be honest. She wasn't making that mistake again, that was for sure.

As soon as she got home, she left her things and made herself a cup of tea, taking it over to her couch once it was ready. She grabbed her phone and was ready to call him, but she didn't have to.

"Hey." Her voice sounded happy even over the phone and he picked that up in no time.

"Hi. I wasn't sure whether to call you or not. I don't want you to think I'm stalking you." He chuckled a little. "But I also feel like I didn't properly say goodbye either. I know we're standing in a different place now, but a hug would've been nice, don't you think ?"

"It would have. Yes." She took a deep breath and that scared him. "Funny you called, because I actually had my phone in my hand about to do the same."

"Maybe, unconsciously, we're looking to get back to each other."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I was very conscious about it." They both laughed, but at this point it was more of a nervous reflex than a reaction to a funny comment. "Listen, I wanted to talk about dinner." His end of the line went completely silent and for a second Kim thought that he had hung up. "I'd really love to, but I can't this Friday. I could just avoid the topic at all, but I want to be totally honest with you, I don't want to leave you in the dark or for you to feel like I am doing that." The breath she took was deeper than last time and that was when he knew that whatever was coming out of her mouth next, was going to be big.

"Ok. I'm listening."

"Um…" She was nervous, bad sign. "It's Andrew's birthday this Friday. The third one since he passed away. His parents and I do this thing every year where we get together and celebrate his life. It's stupid, I know, but it has helped in the past. You know? To make that day not as painful."

"It's not stupid, Kim. Not at all." He meant it, but he also felt shattered, not because his plans were ruined but because he know how tough that was for her. "You do that. We'll see what we can do later. No problem."

"Adam, I need you to know that I'd really love to see you, just you."

"Hey, you don't need to explain anything. I get it. I really do. And I really appreciate you telling me."

"Well, there are some mistakes I'm not planning on making again and this is one of them."

"You have to do what makes you happy."

"Being with you makes me happy, and even though I'm well aware I have a bunch of issues I have to work on, I don't want to jeopardize what we had going on."

"Gosh, woman. How do you do it?"

"What?"

"That. Being your amazing self."

She blushed and sighed. It was a pity he couldn't see her face right now because it showed just how in love she was.

"Oh, shut up." She just said trying to lighten things up.

"Why? I truly think you're amazing."

Could this guy be any sweeter? She put a lot of thought into her reply. She thought about telling him just how incredible he was, but she knew he wasn't fishing for compliments when he said it. Also, saying something nice back was the typical answer, the easy way out, what you say when you have no idea what to say. He deserved more than that from her.

"Thank you for seeing that and saying it." Her answer was simple, honest and heartfelt, but she wanted to give him a little more. "Umm, I'd still like to see you though." He smiled.

"Me too, and we will. I'm just thinking now, that maybe I'll go with my pops and Grace to this family gathering. It'll be good for me, you know? Calm down, reconnect."

"Yeah, of course."

How could she ever think that he was just gonna wait there for her. He needed to live a life too, a life he was willing to share with her, but she wasn't completely ready for.

"But we'll definitely talk."

"Yeah." She couldn't say anything else because the knot in her stomach was way too big and tight, but she didn't want to hang up either. After what felt like an hour of silence he finally spoke.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ms. B."

"See ya."

And with that they went to bed, trying their best to fall asleep.