"You sure you didn't want to ice your back longer?" Nash questions as his fingers brush my skin. I shake my head as I move back to lean against him, the water from the tub caressing my skin. After taking a quick shower to get clean, not to mention making sure I'm scrubbed clean after getting kissed at the club, Nash made good on his deal in drawing up a warm bath for me.

"I iced it enough and I just want to warm up some more before passing out later," I answer as he wraps his arms around me.

"If you say so, but if you're feeling any type of pain later make sure to tell me," he instructs as his nose brushes the back of my neck.

"Fine fine, though I'm pretty sure I'll be okay," I chuckle.

"Whatever you say beautiful. So what did you need to talk to me about, it sounded pretty serious," he questions and I gaze at my knees barely poking out of the water as I contemplate on how to start.

"You asked me if we could become exclusive remember and I told you no," I start off.

"How could I forget but even though you said no, I'd still wait for you. I've gotten to know you ever since I transferred here and I know you're worth the wait," he answers as he kisses my neck.

"I never told you why though. I do feel something for you, I won't deny that and not to mention I haven't liked how Aurora has been hanging off of you ever since she came here. Victoria said I've got a bad case of jealousy," I tell him as I chuckle.

"You made it pretty clear you didn't like her, it wasn't obvious but I know your body language by now," he replies and I can hear the smirk in his voice.

"Agree to disagree," I answer. "Anyways, I was hesitant because the last time I was in a relationship was back in Vancouver and I was just finishing up school so that was seven years ago; that relationship landed me in the hospital. The only other person who knows what happened to me is Jason and that's only because he had to take over as chief and he was doing background checks on all of us after that whole mafia shit, but you're the first person I'm really talking to about this."

"What the fuck happened, who hurt you?" he snaps, his arms tightening around my midsection. My fingertips graze the water as I remember that horrifying week of my life.

"I had a boyfriend back then, I met him in my second last year of school and we were dating for a couple of months, almost eight I think. It was the end of the first semester I realized he was acting different," I start off.

"We were both studying to become police officers but he all of a sudden started to skip class or he would blow me off when we were supposed to go out. At first, I wasn't too worried about it, I figured he had something more important going on but over time it got worse and I wasn't seeing my boyfriend anymore."

"Whenever I saw him, the smell of beer and smoke was always clinging onto him, hell, he even came to campus one time drunk and it was so embarrassing having to get him away from there while he was intoxicated. I got so fucking pissed with him yet I stayed patient, waited for him to change but at that point, enough was enough. I was stressed between him and school, I wasn't even focusing on myself anymore. I knew I had to drop one of them."

"And you choose him?" he concludes.

"Damn right I did. One Friday after class, I went to the bar he told me he usually hangs at. He was surrounded by his group of friends, women, he even had one in his fucking lap he was kissing. He was surprised to see me there and tried to play it off casually, that it wasn't serious even though he was cheating in front of me. I just told him straight up, no bullshit I was breaking up with his sorry ass and let me tell you, he did not take that shit well," I chuckle.

"I left the bar so I didn't hear until Monday how he trashed the place and how he was so humiliated I dumped him in front of all his alcoholic buddies. I stayed away from him for the next couple of weeks after that, thought it'd be best we both have our own space."

"But he wasn't happy with that," he voices and I turn in his arms to look at him as I nod my head.

"It was someday in February, I left the campus around eight at night, not too bad but since it was winter, it was already pretty dark. I was going to grab the bus when I was dragged off the sidewalk and thrown into a van. It was my ex and he had two of his friends with him; I remembered seeing them at the bar the night I dumped him," I tell him as I turn back around and pull my knees closer to my chest.

"I was livid he was trying to kidnap me but that was just the beginning. They took me to one of his friend's apartments, threw me in a small room and my ex drugged me, assaulted me. It's like he was taking his frustrations out on me, the fact I was gone and things in his life were going down. I was so out of it, pumped with so many drugs that I couldn't remember what was happening and I didn't know how many days passed with me stuck in that apartment. It was just a haze for me, at some point I just didn't know if I was even alive anymore, if it was just a dream I was living and I couldn't wake up from. When I was finally coherent, I was waking up in a hospital room with a whole bunch of wires on me," I tell him, my voice shaking. 

"The doctors there told me they had to flush a variety of drugs out of my system and if the person next door didn't hear them talking about me in the elevators, if the police didn't get to me in time I would have died from an overdose or the assault. Fuck, they told me they busted into the apartment in time to stop him from raping me." I feel tears trail down my cheek and lips press against my temple.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that beautiful. Nobody should ever have to experience something like that," he tells me as he turns me to face him, his hands wiping my face. "Did you have your family with you?"

"No, the only family I had was my dad but he passed away in his sleep when I was nineteen and as for my mom, she left when I was three, I don't really have memories of her. Some people from my class visited me but at the same time, life was moving on. I went to rehab for a year because my body got addicted to whatever I was given and I had to re-do my last semester plus attend court for my ex and his friends," I answer as I sigh.

"How long many years of jail time were they given?" he questions.

"My ex was given fifteen for the kidnapping, another eleven for assault and then five for drug possession. The other two both got nine for kidnapping and five for the drug possession," I tell him. "While the trials were going on I finished school and then applied to work here in Toronto. The day they got their sentencing I was on the last flight out of Vancouver that night and I haven't looked back since."

"I didn't want to be with you because I was scared of the intimacy but it was more emotional. I've had one-night stands once in a while but you were the only one that really stayed you know. I know I can trust you but it's just somewhere in the back of my mind I'm afraid of something like that happening again," I tell him, my eyes averting from his.

"Natalia, I swear to you that something like that will never happen. I would never put my hands to hurt you, I'm getting sick just thinking of that," he says harshly. "You know what I'm going to do, or what we're going to do. I'm going to show you that I do care for you deeply and I'm just not here for sex," he says with a smirk.

"You'll prove it, will you," I chuckle as I lean my head against his collarbone. I'm teasing him sure, but I know he wouldn't lie about something like this.

"I won't give up on you just because of what you told me, I'm telling you here and now I'm here for the long-haul," he says brushing my hair. "Besides, you told me you were jealous of Aurora, I know where your feelings are. And those bastards are lucky they're in jail otherwise I'd be in Vancouver right now putting them in a hospital myself." 

"I'll tell you this much, I don't plan on seeing anyone else just like you're not," I tell him as I kiss his cheek.

"So I'm your boyfriend without you saying I'm your boyfriend," he teases as he chuckles and his arms wrap around my midsection and presses me to his chest. My eyes flutter close at the sensation and a soft laugh escapes my lips. I won't say I'm not relieved to hear Nash is still willing to wait until my emotions catch up to me. And he is right, right now emotionally I'm not that far from wholeheartedly falling for him, my brain and heart just need to catch up with one another.

"Okay, we've been in here long enough and I want to go lie in bed," he tells me as he stands up stepping out of the tub. My eyes sweep over his body, every droplet of water rolling down his skin. I look up at him when I hear laughter and he holds out a hand for me to pull me out. "You like what you see?" he asks with a smirk.

"Always," I reply as my hands brush his abs, he lets out another bark of laughter. He grabs two towels, wrapping one around his waist, and the other he uses to dry me.

"You don't have to," I protest as he moves to my legs.

"Let me cherish you," is all he says as he moves to the other leg. I keep silent as he wraps the towel around my body before picking me up and I can't stop laughing as he gently throws me on the bed before turning towards his closet. I sit up slipping on my underwear I left out earlier as he tosses me a long sleeve shirt. I put it on as he puts on boxers before taking the towels back to the bathroom.

I move under the blankets as he walks back in the room turning off the lights, watching his figure move to the bed, and the first thing he does is pull me into his arms once he's under the blankets. I feel him press a kiss to my forehead, both of my cheeks, before moving to softly kiss my lips. His lips detach from mine as his hand grazes my cheek and I feel my cheeks heat up from the quiet intimacy.

"Thank you for giving me a chance and trusting to tell me what happened in the past, I won't go back on my word beautiful," he whispers before pulling back. I keep quiet but move closer to him closing my eyes and the last thought that crosses my mind is don't hurt me Nash.

✘✘ 

I wake up to my phone vibrating, my eyes opening to see the sun peeking through the curtains. I look at the bedside table beside Nash to see my phone lighting up and I quickly lean over him grabbing it before the line cuts. The time shows it's only half-past eight and it's a number I don't recognize but who knows who it could be.

"Hello?" I ask, my voice still layered with sleep.

"Natalia, hi, this is Julia speaking, Jade's mom. Jade wanted to know if she could stop by the station today and I was hoping she could stop by also," Jade's mom tells me.

"Oh, hi Julia and I wouldn't have minded her coming by but I have a day off today so I won't be at the station," I tell her as I lie back down.

"I'm so sorry for calling you on your day off, Jade can stop by another day," she says to me. 

"Did you need someone to watch over Jade today? If you're okay with it, I can do it," I suggest as I process the last bit of her question.

"But it's your day off, I can't do that to you," she disapproves.

"True, but most days off I just end up catching up on t.v shows and movies. I'm perfectly okay with watching her for the day while you take care of your business," I tell her.

"If your sure then I'll happily take you up on your offer," she replies and I can hear the relief in her voice. "I forgot I had an appointment today later in the afternoon, it should take me a maximum of two hours."

"That's fine, I can come by for her around noon if that's okay with you," I say to her as Nash starts to wake up.

"That's perfect, thank you so much, Natalia," she tells me. "I'll text you our address."

"Don't worry about it, I'll see you later," I say to her before hanging up.

"Who was that?" I hear Nash question as I turn my phone back off.

"You remember that girl we met at the precinct a couple of days ago? Well, I met her mom and I told her that her daughter was free to stop by at the precinct whenever she wanted so long as she called ahead to make sure I was there. If that ever happened I just planned to take my break early," I explain to him.

"And what did she want?" he asks as he curls an arm around me, his eyes closing again.

"She wanted to know if Jade could come by in the afternoon but I told her I was off today and offered to watch her while she finished her business. She said okay so I'll be doing that during the afternoon," I tell him.

"Alright, I guess that's our plans for the day," he replies as his arm tightens around me. 

"Hey you don't have to come, I'm the one that agreed to it," I tell him as I let out a yawn.

"I want to spend the day with you and I don't mind if doing that while watching the kid we met," he answers. "I'm pretty sure it's still fucking early, I'm going back to sleep for the next couple of hours," he says as he kisses my temple before drifting back to sleep. I let out a quiet chuckle before setting an alarm to wake up later in the morning.  I'll be honest, letting Nash know why I was holding back on being with him is like a weight has just been lifted off my shoulders. Now I can just focus on him, or in his words, him cherishing me.

✘✘ 

A/N Double updates!!! How exciting right! We finally hear why Natalia put Nash on the rocks, and Nash, don't we love Nash. And Natalia, it's so heartbreaking what happened to her but Nash says he's here to stay and he's not leaving her *swoon*

Be sure to leave your thoughts of the chapter in the comments!