"I just got a message from Jason right now and he said to check your phone," Nash tells me as he walks past me to grab his coffee, stopping to hand me my phone. I unlock my phone while drinking my own cup of coffee and open the chat I have with Jason finding a link. I open it and I'm taken to a website and the face on the website is the same person I saw just hours ago.

"Well, well, well. Felix sure works fast, did he even fucking sleep?" I mutter to myself as Nash walks behind me leaning over my shoulder.

"That's the guy you went upstairs with?" he questions as I scroll the screen. 

"That's him," I answer as I go through the different tabs. Turns out he's an online fitness instructor and it seems like he's a pretty popular one too. I go back to Jason's message reading what he wrote after the link. He has social media, find his friend. "But I don't have any social media," I mutter to myself.

" You don't have any?" he questions as he sits beside me.

"No, I never saw the need to have one. Why would I go advertising my life to random strangers and my friend's circle is a limited amount of people," I reply as I turn off the screen.

"Why don't you just use mine?" he tells me as he unlocks his phone and opens an app showing it to me. "I could give you the login and you can just search for him from here." I take it from him and I look through the photos he's posted, the thousands of likes he has on his pictures, specifically the ones where he's shirtless.

"You must think you're hot stuff," I chuckle as I press a video of him working out shirtless and glancing at the comments from different women who watched it, a lot of hearts or heart eyes.

"That was more than a year ago and I haven't posted anything since," he counters and I laugh at his facial expression. "Besides, all of my pictures and videos with me shirtless I'm going to take them down."

"Why would you do that?" I ask in confusion as I pass back his phone.

"Why let thousands of women see something that only belongs to your eyes now," he says with a smirk as he leans closer to me and moves in quickly to kiss me before moving back to stand. "We should probably get going to go pick up Jade," he says to me as he walks out of the kitchen.

My hands go up to my cheek and I feel the heat emitting from it, Nash has never acted like that before. I close my eyes taking a deep breath in before letting it out, any feelings can wait until later. I drain the last of my coffee and place the mug in the sink before walking to Nash's room.

"I'm going to borrow something of yours," I call out to him as I go to his closet.

"Even if I said no I doubt you'd listen," he chuckles from the bathroom.  

"It's good you know me so well," I reply as I pull a bright blue hoodie off the hanger and tug it over my grey t-shirt, the hoodie falling past my black leggings. I feel arms wrap around my waist, hands going under the sweater.

"There's just something I like seeing you in my clothes," he says kissing my temple. 

"We have to get going," I say turning around in his arms and kissing him at the corner of his lips. "We have a long day ahead of us."

"I won't be letting you out of my arms tonight beautiful," he chuckles as he drops his arms and lets me walk past him. Well, I already know what it feels like to be in your arms so I'm not complaining. I grab my jacket putting it on before going towards the door, my combat boots in hand. I make quick work of tying the laces as Nash puts on his shoes.

"Did her mom text you their address?" he questions as he locks the door.

"Yeah, it's close to the precinct," I answer as we get into the elevator. "Here it is," I say showing him the screen.

"I guess that's why Jade's mom doesn't mind her coming to the precinct, it's close to their home," he muses as we get out of the elevator.

"Yeah, and I don't see anything wrong with her stopping by unless some real bad shit is going down there," I point out as he unlocks his car while I quickly text Julia.

"It might make things more interesting at work," he chuckles as he pulls out of the parking lot. It's quiet as we drive but the silence is broken when his phone starts beeping. "Check who's messaging for me?" he questions as he passes it to me. I look at the screen and my face turns blank.

"It's Aurora," I answer as he drives past the precinct. 

"And what does she want?" he questions as he glances over at me.

"She says, even though I know you have plans, I hope we can meet later today. Even if it's in the evening or before going back to work tomorrow, maybe we can meet later tonight," I say reading the message aloud. He keeps silent for a moment and keeps driving before slowing down in front of a three-story building. 

"Pass it back to me," he says holding out his hand when we're at a red light. I give it back to him and watch him type out a reply before handing it back to me. "You can check to see if that guy's Instagram is private or public. Later tonight you can start looking through his pictures." I take it from him and my eyes fall on his message to Aurora. When I said I had plans I meant I had plans, specifically with Natalia. I'll see you for work tomorrow.

I turn to look at him, his gaze focused outside aimlessly tapping against the steering wheel. Even though he didn't say we were together, it's obvious he's heavily implying to her he has no time for her. He's setting clear boundaries with her and if she doesn't get what he's saying by now about not being interested in her, I'm pretty sure she's going to start drama up at work. It takes us ten minutes to drive to where Jade lives, just like me, Nash got an apartment not too far from the precinct. 

"There's Jade and her mom," I tell him as he drives closer to the front entrance. I step out of the car to meet them, Jade and her mom waving to me as Jade runs up to where I'm standing.

"I'm so sorry I'm inconveniencing you again," Julia says apologetically. She looks at the car and her eyes widen when she sees Nash in the driver's seat. "You were meeting with your boyfriend too? I'm so sorry if I'm bothering him too."

"You don't have to apologize, I wanted to give a helping hand and he's not, we're not, well we're working on that but he's met Jade before and he said he said he would help me with watching over Jade," I tell her. "You remember Nash right Jade?" 

"I remember, he played in the snow with us," she says nodding her head as he smiles at her and then says hello to Julia. 

"Then give him my thanks too," Julia says with a small smile.

"What time do you want us to bring her back?" I ask her. 

"I should be home around four so you can bring her then," she replies.

"Perfect, then we're going to get going," I say looking at the two of them. Jade gives her mom a quick hug before moving into the backseat. "We'll see you later," I tell Julia as I open my door.

"Have fun you guys," she says with a smile before turning to walk back into the building. 

"Where do you want to go today Jade?" I ask turning to look at her as Nash pulls out of the building.  She's silent for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Okay, how about we go to an arcade, have you ever been to one of those?"

"No, what is that?" she asks looking at me curiously.

"Jade, we're going to have a lot of fun," Nash chuckles. "Natalia, can you look up the closest arcade from here?" I search a couple of places and they look decent but the last one I look at looks to be the best, four and a half stars though it's a little far from here. 

"Well there's one that looks really good but it's a little far from here," I tell him.

"Show me the address," he tells me and I turn my phone towards him. His eyes scan the screen before moving back. "We can go there." I can't remember the last time I went to the arcade, maybe with my dad years back so even I'm secretly looking forward to this.

✘✘

"Natalia, let's go try this game," Jade exclaims as she pulls onto my arm.  From the time we reached the arcade, her eyes have been wide open in awe, amazed at the bright lights, the sounds, and the many types of games here. It was a mission to get her to understand we need to take a break and have lunch, the excitement of being here still buzzing inside of her. 

"The one for dancing?" I question as I go along with her.

"Yes!" she cheers as she leads us past people to the game she has her eyes set on. I turn to look at Nash who's a step behind us holding onto our jackets and Jade's winter gear. 

"You want to do this one?" I ask Nash raising my voice over the loud game music. "Wait, I think it was your turn anyway, I'll sit this one out."

"You're sure?" he asks as we wait for two other kids to finish their turn.

"Definitely, I need a breather for a moment. There's a bench right behind the game so I'll sit there while I watch the two of you," I tell him.

"Alright, let me pass you these then," he says passing the jackets into my arms and I go sit down watching as the two of them put their tokens in the slot and wait for the music to start. I pull out my phone and start recording them, no doubt Julia is going to love seeing her daughter like this. And seeing this side of Nash is new to me.

I've only gotten to know the work Nash and the sexy Nash but not this gentle version of him; it's nice. For once I'm seeing him without his smirk, not that he doesn't look good when he does that, but instead he's been smiling the whole time. From a soft smile to a wide grin; seeing this side of him is making me have butterflies. 

"Go Jade, make sure you win," I shout cheering her on. A couple of people stop to watch the two of them, a grown man and a child dance it out. The last beat goes off and the people standing around start cheering, me included. Nash takes one of her arms holding it up in the air to show she's the victor and I stop the video, slipping my phone back into the hoodie pocket.

"You did amazing Jade," I exclaim holding my hands out to high-five her. 

"It was so much fun and I beat Nash and the dancing was so much fun," she says in one breath.

"I know, I know but you need to take a moment to breathe," I chuckle as she quickly takes in gulps of air. 

"Natalia, Jade, we should get going. It's almost four and her mom should be home soon," Nash tells us. Immediately Jade frowns, disappointed at the fact we have to leave and I feel sad with her. "Jade, how about you go pick out something over there and I'll buy it for you, a good memory from today," he suggests with a soft smile. She nods her head while grinning and then runs off to the counter looking at the different toys and stuffed animals.

"You did good out there though I expected Jade to win from the beginning," I tease Nash as he sits down beside me taking my hand in his.

"And here I was hoping you'd cheer for me," he says with a mock frown before the smile returns to his face. "Today was a good day. A fun babysitting experience, spending the day with the woman I'm currently pursuing," he says with a smirk.

"I'm glad to hear you're day was enjoyable," I say dodging his last comment while keeping my face straight. He lets out soft laughter before moving to kiss my temple.

"Your face says it all beautiful even though those words aren't coming out of your mouth," he tells me before dropping me hand and walking over to Jade. I shake my head laughing before standing up and putting on my jacket and go to the counter where the two of them are currently debating on two stuffed animals.

"I like this but also this one," Jade tells him looking at a stuffed shark and a panda.

"Why don't we get both, a present from Nash and me," I tell them. 

"Really? Thank you so much, Natalia," she squeals as she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. Nash pays for the bear and I pay for the shark and we walk out of the arcade, a happy Jade holding onto the both of them tightly.

"Alright, time to go home," I announce as the three of us get in the car. Nash drives out of the lot and the whole drive is spent listening to Jade tell us her favourite parts of the day, which games she liked the most and which she didn't like. 

"We're here," Nash tells us, breaking our conversation on the race car games. He stops in front of the entrance and I take off my belt so I can take Jade upstairs.

"Nash, Natalia, can we go there again together? And with mom too?" Jade asks us.

"Of course, on our next day off we can plan with your mom we'll do something even more fun," Nash says turning around to give her a wide smile.

"Okay, I had so much fun today. Bye Nash," she tells him as she quickly stands up to awkwardly hug him before getting out of the car.

"I'll be back," I tell him as I step out and close the door behind me. "I bet your mom can't wait to hear your stories from today," I tell her as she pulls out a card key for the lobby. She holds it in front of the sensor for a couple of seconds before the door automatically opens.

"I can't wait to tell mom everything," she says in excitement. 

"I have pictures and videos I took from today so I'll send them to her later," I tell her as we get into the elevator. She presses the second number and it's less than ten seconds later we're walking down the hall. As we're walking I hear loud yells coming from one of the apartments, maybe someone is having a really bad disagreement in there. The yells get louder and louder until we stop outside a door and I turn to look down at Jade who's starting to look scared. Shit, this is her apartment I one-hundred percent know that someone is in there with Julia. 

"Jade, why don't you step back for a second, maybe your mom is watching a movie really loud," I tell her softly. She nods her head and she backtracks towards the elevator and I turn to face the door, my hand poised to knock on it when I hear a gut-wrenching scream of pain and fright. There's no doubt now, someone is inside there and whoever it is just hurt Julia.

"Jade, listen to me very carefully okay. I need you to go back downstairs to Nash for me and tell him what you heard," I tell her as I turn her towards the elevator. She hesitates for a moment looking at me and at her door before running down the corridor back to the elevator. I quickly unlock my phone shooting a text to Nash, only five words on the screen, Jade is coming back down. I go back to the door and take in a deep breath, I don't know what I'll find in there but I pray I find Julia alive.

✘✘  

A/N I know, I know. You guys weren't expecting this ending or some of you most probably thought I have something up my sleeve, 'she can't just end it on a good note, something is going to happen' Yeah, something did happen. What do you think happened to Julia?

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