Hey guys! Hope you're all doing great!

Here's a little update I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. It means so much.

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

Waiting for Adam to go car shopping with him and her dad felt like a lifetime.

She was someone who loved to be active and had plans all the time, so she struggled a bit having so much free time in her hands. She entertained herself with everything she could think of. She went to the gym, she called her mom and sister to see how they were doing and to try to find a possible date to host a family dinner for both families. The idea freaked her out, but she knew it was time to do it. Things with Adam were not going to slow down, if anything they were getting more and more serious by the second and she loved to know that they were both on the same page in regards to their relationship.

When the time finally arrived she was more than ready. She even had everything for dinner prepared so when they got home all they needed to do was put the food in the oven. This time she really made a point by telling Adam to let her know when he was downstairs and she would go to meet him and although he wasn't very fond of the idea, he knew she would go on and on for hours about it, so he figured humoring her with that wasn't going to hurt him.

"Hey handsome." She said as she climbed into his truck. "How was work?"

"Good. I was anxiously waiting to see you, though." He leant forward to kiss her. "I stopped by my place." He said naturally.

"Ok." To be honest she didn't find that at all surprising and didn't think much of that fact.

"Yeah. I, um, went to get some things." Her head shot towards him, waiting to get that full sentence. "To keep at your place." Kim was only able to smile and nod getting a smile back from him. "Are you ready to find your car?"

"I'm ready to find it, not to drive it." She laughed nervously and it broke his heart a bit. The damage that the accident had done to her, not only physically but emotionally, was something that he was having a hard time forgiving himself for.

"You'll get there." It was all he said, because speaking more would show her how affected he was and he didn't want to add any more pressure to the situation.

"I know, slowly, a step at a time and together." Her hand found his knee and it stayed there comfortably for the rest of the drive.

"Yeah, exactly."

Turns out that once in the dealership her nerves slowly faded away. Both Phill's and Adam's excitement to be around cars stuck to her and she was beginning to enjoy the process of looking at them and finding the best match for her.

"This right here is my favorite." Adam declared when they reached his preferred choice.

The salesman was telling them all the wonderful characteristics and functions this car had to offer and while her dad was paying attention to all the details, Kim was just looking at it, holding Adam's hand and thinking about their earlier conversation.

He caught her looking at the back seat, and slightly nudged her shoulder broadening his smile when she turned to look at him.

"What do you think Kimmie?" Her dad's voice pulled her down form her daydreaming. "I think Adam might be right. It's the safest one. Do you want to go for a test drive?"

She had to take a deep breath, because she was about to face something that she didn't really want to. "Yeah. Let's do it."

"Ok." The salesman opened the door for her to get in and she did, while Phill looked at Adam, nodding his head signaling him to get in the front with his daughter as he took the back seat.

Kim turned on the engine, the vibrations of the car startled her a bit. Her hands were tight around the steering wheel and her eyes were instantly shut. She took a couple of deep breaths and kept mumbling something that neither Adam nor her father could decipher.

"Belle?" He spoke softly as his hand found her thigh. "You don't have to do this right now. We can come again next week."

"I can do this." Her mumbling was more audible now.

"Yeah?"

She opened her eyes and turned around to look at him. "Yes." Another deep breath came along. "I can do this. I have to do this."

"Ok. I'm right here."

She looked at him with kind eyes and nodded, only to begin her very own test.

During the first few blocks, the tension and stress took over her body, but Kim was determined to overcome it. Little by little she started to feel more comfortable, she had to consciously push the few memories from the car crash away every time they popped up, but in the end she was happy she was able to do it. To face her fear and to feel that she had leveled up.

Back in the dealership her decision was easy.

"Ok. I'm taking this one."

"Are you sure honey?"

"Yes dad. It felt comfortable."

"Did you feel safe?" Adam couldn't hide his concern even if he wanted to.

"Yes." She nodded with confidence. "This is the one. I mean, I might need to drive with someone for a little while, but besides that everything was fine."

"That settles it then." Said the salesman, happy to have closed the deal.

Just before leaving to her place, Kim stopped to look at the two most important men in her life. "Thank you both so much for being here."

"Honey, I'm your father. I'm always going to be there for you. Whenever you need me and even when you don't. You, your sister and you mom, of course, are the most important things in the world to me."

"Don't forget Zoey, she'll unleash all her teenage fury on you if she knows you forgot her." Kim joked in an attempt not to get emotional and both Adam and Phill picked that up.

"Zoey too." The older Burgess smiled. "I'm going to head home. I'm not even going to offer you a ride because I assume both of you have plans already." Adam smiled shyly and looked to the floor.

"Yes, sir."

"You two take care. And stop calling me sir." With a hug each, Phill walked away and disappeared in his car as he began to drive in the direction of his home.

"You are a whole different person when my dad is around." Kim had been waiting to be alone with him to mock him about his behavior. "Where's the tough guy when Mr. Burgess is around?" She said jokingly.

"The tough guy is for the district. I need to be good Adam around Mr. Burgess so your dad can approve." He kept dropping things that kept her mind constantly active trying to figure out his riddles, but at the same time she was perfectly happy the way she was, so just going with the flow and leaving his comments as just comments was exactly what she was into lately.

"I like the tough guy, though. He's invited to make an appearance tonight if he wants to." The brunette wiggled her eyebrows, making Adam tingle in the inside.

"I'll let him know, but I can't promise you anything." He joked as his arm enveloped her shoulders guiding her to his truck. "Let's go."

Kim was grateful she had left everything ready for dinner, because she honestly didn't feel like cooking and after turning on the oven she went to the living room, where Adam was waiting for her.

"You can do this on your own, you don't need my permission to do it."

"I know, but it's something I want us to do together. Besides, we both know you can be an organization freak sometimes and I'm sure you'll flip out if I put something in the wrong place."

"I am not!" She protested and only got a serious look from her boyfriend. "Ok, maybe just a little."

"If you wanna put it that way." He rolled his eyes and instantly laughed at the look on her face.

"Let's just go put your stuff away." She said grabbing his hand to drag him down the hallway in the direction of her bedroom.

"You know, I didn't tell you today." His words came out as they were naturally arranging a few of his things in her closet. "How proud I am of you."

"I haven't done anything heroic for you to feel that way."

"I strongly disagree, and you know that, seeing you today facing your fears and struggles. The bravery in your eyes even though you were shaking. Damn, sometimes I think you would make a great cop, like you would literally kick ass." Kim let go a little chuckle. "You're one amazing woman, and I couldn't be more proud of you." He bunched up a t-shirt that was on his hands and left it on top of her dresser as he kept talking. "Today when you thanked us…" He sighed. "Belle, I should be the one thanking you. You protected my niece's life with your own, you're there for me all the time, you let me be a part of your life, you still trust me even after everything that happened."

"Of course I trust you. Adam, what happened was an accident, and I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. We talked about this. It's not your fault nor mine it just happened. And now we're here and we're good." She stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his chest that slowly traveled upwards to reach his shoulder. "We're happy. In love. What more could we ask for?"

His mind was a mess, if he could he would ask to go back in time and avoid all the suffering that she had to go through.

"Hey, look at me." Her hands were now in the back of his head. "Let those crazy thoughts go away. Enjoy this." Her lips pressed to his were the balm that his soul needed. "I said it once and I'll say it again. Adam, I would do everything over if I had to. I don't have any regrets or resentment. Well maybe one thing."

He knew it, there was something and he didn't know if he was prepared to hear it. "I should have flirted with you earlier."

"That's the only thing?"

"Yup." She said giggling with her arms hugging his neck. "I love you, detective."

"I know you do. I just can't help but feeling that you are too good for me. That I don't deserve all this."

"Adam. Shut up." He started laughing at her simplicity to make him stop spinning out. "You're perfect for me. Is that clear?"

"Mm hmm." He nodded and dipped his lips on hers.

"Good, because I have to go and make sure our food is not burning. You finish unpacking, ok?"

"Yeah." With another quick peck she left for the kitchen where the smell of the food was calling her name.

Dinner was simple, yet very good tasting. Adam mentioned that more than enough times and Kim was already convinced that, more than the food itself, he enjoyed the whole experience. She loved that about him, how simple and sweet he was even when he didn't realize it himself.

It was hard for her to see Adam beat himself up so much for everything that happened, but she also understood that this was another part of their healing process and that they were going to get through it together.

"So, I called Nicole today." Kim told him as they were both about to finish eating dinner.

"Cool. How is she?"

"She's good. She told me they are going to be in town next weekend."

"That's nice. You guys don't get to see each other thy often."

"We don't. After they moved it was hard to keep that up. Especially with Zoey. I feel like it missed out on so much, and now that she's a teenager the last thing she wants is to spend time with her aunt."

"She has no idea what she's missing." Adam replied wiggling his brows changing the tone of the comment completely, causing Kim to shake her head.

"Is that all you think about?"

"No, sometimes I have other thoughts in my head." He joked. "So, back to Nicole." Kim looked at him waiting to see what was going to come out of his mouth. "Do you want me to ask Kit, Anne and Pops if they are down for dinner next weekend? Or would you rather just see your sister and her family?"

"Actually I was going to ask you exactly the same. Do you think it's would be too much?"

"Not at all. I think it would be fun. We can host at my place if you want. I know you like the balcony, maybe we could do a little cookout, set up a few chairs there."

"I'd love that."

"Great. I text them when we finish eating to see if they can make it." She smiled and just looked at him, admiring the man she had sitting in front of her. "What are you looking at?" He asked with his typical lopsided grin.

"You." He raised his eyebrows and looked a little shy, while Kim was over the moon realizing that she had gotten him to blush. "You're nice to look at."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. And you're nice company, too."

"So are you, Belle."

"You know? It's the moments like these that make you so tailor made for me."

"I did nothing."

"No, you did. You do so much every day, you just don't realize how important each one of your actions are." She shrugged and left the comment hanging there. She wanted to reassure him but she didn't want to be a pain either, but he didn't say anything, he was just thinking and that called her attention a bit.

They finished their food in silence. He was the first to stand up taking the dishes to the kitchen and cleaning everything up as Kim observed him from her chair.

She just hadn't seen him like that since she didn't remember about them and she wasn't really used to seeing the quiet pensive version of him. When the Adam full of energy and life turned off she couldn't help but worry.

Kim left her chair and walked over to him, hugging his waist and leaving a kiss between his shoulder blades.

"Talk to me baby. What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Adam. Come on." Her voice was sweet and warm, inviting him to open up.

"I don't know." He turned around to face her but never lost the contact their bodies were having. "I guess I still haven't forgiven myself." Being that honest was hard, especially when he knew that Kim out of all people had gotten the worst part out of the whole situation. He felt ridiculous telling her his problems. "And I'm scared that maybe you haven't yet realized how this was all my fault and when you do, you will not want to be in this relationship." Her eyes were big, full of understanding. She was hugging him so hard right now, trying to ease his pain. "And now I feel more like an ass because I'm the one who should be comforting you, not the other way around."

"Adam, you're entitled to suffer just as much as I am. Just because I was the one in the car doesn't mean that I'm the only one who needs support and comfort." Her eyes were locked on his because she really wanted him to understand what she was saying. "You are right, what happened absolutely sucked. And even though at the beginning for me it hurt like hell physically, for you it hurt like hell emotionally. I would probably feel like my heart is tearing apart if I wake up one day and you forgot about me. That is cruel shit, baby. And you went through it."

He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "And don't you dare say you were the one who caused it, because it wasn't you the one who crashed into my car, and it wasn't you the one who decided to play hero and go against CPD orders. Adam, if anything, we all have a part in this." She rubbed his back trying to relax his muscles. "And I'm more than ok with that. Do you think you'll ever be ok with it?" He nodded.

"Yeah, yeah I can." His voice was still full of doubt, but he was willing to do his part. "I'm gonna keep working on that, I promise."

"You don't have to promise me anything." She closed her eyes, reaching for his lips. "And for the record, I would have to be delusional if I ever consider not being in this relationship we have going on. I love it."

"I love you."

"Yeah, that too." She giggled when his playful smile came to life and his lips found her neck, contact which she easily gave in to.

His hands travelled down her back to the back of her legs and in one swift movement he was able to pull her up, allowing her to snake his hips with her legs. "What's this about?"

"I think tough guy decided to accept your invitation."

They both laughed as they maxed their way into her bedroom, finding out that making love was the best medicine they could use right now.