Hey guys!

Hope you enjoy this update!

Thanks for all your support always.

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Nina

This morning was different. Nothing too revealing had happened, in fact their interaction was quite small, but for Kim it had meant the world.

Yeah, nothing was solved. Yeah, she was probably more confused than before, but she had felt it again. That feeling only he could awake in her; excitement, safety, desire, affection. That thrill you feel when you're with the one person who is capable of turning your world upside down.

Maybe she was being stupid by letting her feelings dictate her mood, by allowing them to think that maybe they had a chance after all. She was definitely being stupid by smiling every time she thought about him, or when she saw his name pop up in her phone as he made a comment in a group chat she was recently added to.

Kim decided it was time to shake all this nonsense out of her mind and finish getting ready for work. She left her phone facing down on the little island in her kitchen, where she was currently having breakfast. To be honest, that was the only table-like surface she had in her kitchen because even though the apartment was stunning it was equally small.

Once she was dressed, her hair loose and she had some mascara on, she went to grab some files she had brought home last night to get a final look at them before heading for their undercover assignment. Thinking about work always pulled her back to reality right away, something she was grateful for, but this time this moment of sanity was pretty fleeting. Her phone started to buzz and she realized it was probably the time Erin usually calls to check on her, so she picked up while her attention was still focused on gathering everything she needed to take to the district.

"Hey, good morning." She greeted cheerfully.

"Good morning to you. You sound like you're in a good mood." She froze when she heard the reply. It wasn't the voice she was expecting, it was probably ten times better than that.

"Oh. Adam. Hi." She stopped between words, trying to find something smart to say but not being able to achieve it.

He chuckled when he felt her nervousness. "I guess you don't have my contact saved in your phone." He teased.

"No, I do. I just figured it was Erin and picked up without paying much attention. How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm good, too. Getting ready to go to work."

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it? You can't make it tonight?"

"Of course I'll make it tonight. I'm very confident about it, too."

"Of course you are." She answered with a soft chuckle. "What exactly about work did you want to talk about then?"

"I was just wondering if you needed a ride to the district. I can pick you up, we can get some coffee, talk for a little while."

He shrugged at the other side of the line as if she could see him.

It took him forever to get the guts up to call her. He was nervous and terrified that she would say no, that maybe a part of her regretted the time they shared the previous night. But after what happened, after feeling so close to her again, he just couldn't let the opportunity slip out of his fingers again.

"That's really sweet of you and I'd love to, really, but Jay is picking me up. He texted me last night offering to drive me to the district and I agreed. Hopefully I won't need to bother any of you anymore when the CPD finally lends me a car." She joked, not realizing Adam was still not over Jay driving her to the 21st.

"Look at Halstead being so attentive." He said bitterly, but subtle enough for her not to realize that he was boiling in jealousy.

"He's just being nice."

"Yeah. I know. Too bad he beat me to it though."

His comment made her laugh softly, which triggered the brightest smile he could muster that early in the morning. "Anyway, I guess I'll see you at work."

"Yup."

"Can't wait."

Kim laughed again, making him speak. "What are you laughing about, Miss?"

"You shouldn't be flirting like that."

"Who said I was flirting?"

"Oh, you are not?"

"Ok, maybe a little."

"This is wrong." That was her common sense talking, but her foolish self was enjoying every second of it.

"We can definitely talk about that."

"I'm going to finish getting ready, ok?" She completely changed the topic, because she didn't know what to answer back.

"Ok, ok. I'll see you there."

"Bye, Adam." She bit her lower lip, thankful he couldn't see her. "And thanks for calling me."

"Any time."

It wasn't long until Jay texted her, letting her know that he was waiting for her downstairs.

"Good morning Halstead!" She said cheerfully once she opened the door to his RAM.

"Good morning, Burgess. You seem to be in a good mood today."

"I am."

"Can I know what that's about?" As her cheeks began to gain a reddish color he changed the task. "Wait. Let me guess instead."

"Ok."

"Ruzek?"

Kim nodded and Jay looked at her expectantly. "Ok, it's nothing really. He stayed with me last night at the district, looking through files together for tonight, brought dinner and drove me home."

"You are aware that the only reason why he did that was to spend some time with you, right?"

"He was taking notes for the event tonight."

"Kim, believe me. He knows those files by heart."

She blushed even more and looked downX trying to hide her face from his friend. "Did you get to talk about, you know, you guys?"

"Not much, but we did manage to state the fact that the both missed each other a lot during this time."

"Hmm. I find it hard to believe that that's the only reason why you look like a middle school girl who just got asked to the spring dance."

"Oh my God! Do I really look like that?"

"I hate to break it to you, but yes." He nodded with an all knowing look on his face. "So…?"

"Ok, ok. We, maybe, almost, kissed."

"Why maybe, almost?"

"My phone rang, making me jump and kill the whole mood."

Jay laughed, earning a playful slap on his forearm. "I bet Ruzek was thrilled."

"Oh, he was. Turns out it was Erin checking on some stuff about the case, but he thought it was you."

"Of course he was." Kim looked at him confused, which he noticed when he took his attention away from the road to look at her. "Between you and me, Adam isn't really fond of the fact that you and I left Molly's together the other night."

"He said that?"

"He didn't have to."

"That's stupid, Jay. It can't be."

"Ok, but don't say I didn't tell you about this." He shrugged.

"Shut up."

"Just wait to see the look on his face when he sees us walk into the bullpen together."

Kim rolled her eyes. Adam couldn't possibly be jealous about the two of them. "He knows already."

"How?"

"He called me this morning offering me a ride and I told him I was coming with you."

"Kim, you should've told me and gone with him."

"No way. We had already agreed on this, I wasn't going to cancel our plans."

"Is that really the only reason?"

"Damn, you're good at your job Halstead."

He chuckled at her comment. "I guess a part of me isn't sure about being with him for so long."

"Why?"

"Because I know what I want to do, and I also know that I can't do it."

"Whoa, Burgess, that's a picture I didn't want to have in my head."

"Well, you asked." She lifted her hands up as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll take that. But why do you think you can't do it?"

"Am I the only one who remembers about Victoria?"

"The way I look at it, Tori is the excuse you need to hide from your ghosts."

"Hey, that hurt."

"Maybe it hurt for a reason. Maybe I'm not that off."

Kim rolled her eyes at him. "You don't need to answer me right now, we can talk about that later. But next time Ruzek reaches out for you, take it. I'll back you up no matter what."

"Thanks Jay."

"Anytime. Now let's get off this truck and enjoy the effect of our entrance."

"You really are enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yup. I love playing with Ruzek." He chuckled and got off the car, walking around it to open the door for her. "Don't get me wrong, he's one of the best guys I know, but it's so fun to make him angry."

"If you say so."

They walked in together, carrying on a cheerful conversation, and despite having the heads up, just like Jay predicted, Adam's eyes were throwing laser beams at him again. Halstead totally ignored it and the both acted casual the whole morning.

It wasn't until later, when Kim walked to the staff room to get some more coffee that Adam made his move and grabbed his own mug walking right after her.

"I think I need more, too." He raised his mug. "Anyone changed their minds?" After receiving a couple of negative answers and some shaking heads he kept walking towards his destination.

"Hey you."

Kim turned around and smiled to see him there. "You should have told me you wanted coffee, I could have brought your mug as well."

"I didn't really want coffee."

"So why are you here, holding your mug?"

He opened his eyes, raising his brows almost to his hairline, looking at her like the answer to her question was an obvious one.

"I don't think I really need to answer that."

"Ok. Then don't." She kept doing her thing, waiting for him to do whatever it was he wanted to achieve.

"How was the drive here?"

Kim chuckled. "It was fun. How was yours?"

"Lonely." He shot back with that crooked grin she loved so much. He walked close to her to put some freshly brewed coffee in his mug, but mainly to get a part of that feeling he got the previous night, when he almost had a taste of those lips he adored and missed so much. "I couldn't stop thinking about you last night."

"Adam, stop." Her plea came out like a while, letting him know that she was having a hard time as well.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. I just wanted you to know that I enjoyed every second of what happened last night."

"Nothing happened last night."

"Well, almost. Or are you going to tell me that you were going to stop me? Because let me tell you that if your phone hadn't gone off I would have kissed you like I've been dreaming of ever since I saw you walk up those stairs."

He really meant to say that he had been dreaming about that since she left. That he never stopped thinking about her, but maybe it was too much for a 2 minute conversation in the staff room of their workplace. Still, the words that came out of his mouth managed to make Kim weak at the knees, forcing her to make a huge effort not to cave.

She swallowed hard and looked away, but her hand stayed firmly where it was when she felt Adam's fingers brushing against it.

"Um, maybe we should talk about this later. I have a lot going on in my head about the case and all…"

"You want us to talk about this once the case is solved?" He interrupted, a bit disappointed.

"How about after tonight?"

"Ok. Sure. After tonight." He got closer to her and placed a soft kiss on her cheek that turned her into a complete pile of mush. "I really need us to have a conversation about everything, Kim."

"Me too." She sighed. "I promise I won't leave this place without doing that."

He turned around and left her alone in the room. There, the first step was taken. Now she needed the strength to keep running.