My eyes meet Nash's in the crowd, our friends and their families sitting next to him while I listen to the speech that's currently ongoing with other officers sitting next to me. I'm still questioning how I even ended up here, I'm still processing how this all happened. 

《 Flashback

"Do you want to repeat what you just said?" I ask Jason as I stare at him dumbfounded. All of us here at work today were called by Jason to our conference room because he had an important announcement to make. He started off by thanking us for our hard work for the first quarter of the year, we've solved various cases that were affecting the city and was thankful for our work ethic. He then continued to announce that some officers throughout the province were going to be rewarded for exemplary work this year and bravery when it came to dealing with dangerous situations. And now here is my dilemma. 

"You heard me just fine, I nominated you as well as another four officers from different precincts for the award. You're one of the two that was selected," he repeats while I'm still dumbfounded. "I'm the Chief of police for our city so it's obvious that I know everything that's happening in the city. I believe with the situation that we had with the unknown drugs and you being at the forefront of this investigation, you should be recognized for your work. And besides, I'm not part of the final selection anyways so there's no bias in you being chosen."

"But-"

"Just accept it Natalia," a woman says from across the room. "I'm pretty sure you don't know who I am and it's fine considering we've never worked together but I think you deserve it. We read the report of the investigation once it came and I can for sure say that most of us wouldn't have been able to do what you did."

"She's right, the way you handled everything from the beginning to end just goes to show the high standard you set as an officer," Jax adds as he nods his head in agreement with the woman.

"You were pivotal in the investigation Natalia, if it wasn't for you we wouldn't have found out how deep in crimes Felix was in. He would have gotten away again and taken part in something illegal again," Jason adds and when he says that it feels like it's just sealing the deal.

"When is the ceremony then?" I ask him since there's no point in dragging this out.

"June, by that time you'll still be in rehab so you should be in good standing by then," he explains. "With that everyone is dismissed, get back to work." When he says that everyone disperses back to their areas of work, Jax gives me a nod in acknowledgement while Jason pats my shoulder before they walk out of the room. I'm left with Nash sitting next to me while I'm still taking in everything.

"You feel like you don't deserve this don't you," Nash says and my head whips to the side to look at him. 

"Obviously," I say in disbelief. "Everything we did was a team effort, it wasn't just me alone."

"But they were right in what they said, most officers wouldn't have had the mental strength to do what you did not to mention be prepared like that, do you keep a knife in your bra all the time?" he asks as his eyes move downwards to my chest.

"Wouldn't you like to find out," I tease while he rolls his eyes with a smile. 

"I think out of everyone here you deserve it and I'm not just saying that because I'm a bit biased since I'm your boyfriend," he laughs while I smile. Now that the whole case is done and my work has changed to desk duty for now, we've been taking the time to get to know each other more. When we're not busy with work we go on dates, have nights in at home, meet our friends and spend time with Jade who is always checking up on me to make sure I'm okay. 

I've moved back to my apartment since Jade is now back with her mom and although I do miss living together it's nice to get my own space back. But at the same time with how many nights we frequently stay at each other's homes, you might as well say we're still living together. Our sex life is still pretty active, I even admitted to Nash I have a bit of an addiction to his body one night but all he did was make me orgasm multiple times until I was out of it before telling me he's addicted to my body too. I mentally shake my head from the thoughts as I get back to the matter at hand.

"If everyone is that insistent then I guess I'll just accept it with a  smile," I say admitting my defeat as Nash wraps an arm around my shoulder and I curl my body into his side.

"That's all we want," he says as he kisses my forehead. 

End of Flashback 》

"We want you all to applaud our brave officers as we present them their medals," the mayor of our city says before stepping back and a woman steps up to the podium. I've never been to one of these awards before but I should have known it would be a big deal with the amount of government officials here plus news outlets as well. At least I made sure my face looked decent before coming here or more like I was reminded to make sure I did some makeup to cover my eyebags before coming here courtesy of Camryn.

It takes some time until we reach my last name but when they call it I stride confidently toward the mayor, my knee no longer gives me problems as it did months earlier but it's still in the healing stage so I'm not out of the woods yet. It took a lot of tears, work, and more tears to finally reach here. I don't miss the loud cheers and whistles when my name is called, my cheeks are rosy from the attention but I hold back the smile that wants to come out.

"Thank you for all your hard work Officer Sanchez, I hope recovery is going well for you," the mayor says as she places the medal around my neck and we shake hands.

"It's been going well though I'm impatient to get back in the field," I say with a chuckle. 

"Yes, well we have high expectations for you Natalia so make sure you're back at one hundred percent before resuming your usual work," she tells me.

"I will, thank you," I say as I let go of her hand and go back to my seat. I look at the medal, reading the words printed on it along with my name.  I look back at the audience, my eyes looking over the proud faces of my friends, the kids clapping for me in excitement before my eyes lock on with Nash's. 

I still think that I don't deserve this, when it comes to work I'm not looking for recognition at what I do. But I guess in this instance I don't have a choice on the matter so just like Nash wants  I'll accept this award with a smile.

✘✘
"

"Today has been such a long day and I'm so tired," I say as I sink down into my sofa.

"You can't blame the fact everyone wanted to celebrate you," Nash comments as he comes to sit next to me before pulling me across his lap. I lean forward, the two of us sharing a brief kiss before I move to lay my head on his shoulder.

"I appreciate it, I'm just not used to being the center of attention," I reply with a yawn.

"I know," he murmurs as he turns to kiss my forehead before resting his head against mine. "You know I wanted to bring something up the last couple of days."

"What'd you want to ask?" I question as I mindlessly trace patterns on his arm.

"You've been living back here at your place the last couple of months, I know you weren't ready to move in together which I understand but I was thinking," he says as his voice trails off and I move to look at him as his eyes meet mine. "We spend enough time at each other's place so I was thinking maybe we should find a place together, a two or three-bedroom apartment."

"Two or three bedrooms?" I ask in confusion.

"One room for me, one for you, and a third as an office space for you in case you bring work home," he lists off. "We don't have to spend every waking minute together, you can have your space and I have mine but it'd be nice that the first face I see every day is yours."

My heart melts from his words, he's still upholding his promise to treat me right. Of course there are times that we do have disagreements, which couple wouldn't, but we always talk it out and forgive one another. I mull over the thought, considering the pros and cons but with everything he listed out, I already know my decision.

"Let's do it, we'll move in together," I say earnestly and his eyes light up from my words.

"I can't wait beautiful, fucking love you so much," he says as he pulls me into a hug while I laugh. I know life will get busy again and I'll probably end up in another mess again but with this man next to me, a man I'm starting to fall in love with I know everything will be okay.

But the secret of me telling him that I'm starting to fall in love with him is something I'll save for another day.

✘✘

A/N And we have reached the end of The Detective!! Natalia got an award, Nash and her are in the future going to move in together officially very soon in the future and she's falling in love with him. I feel like this was a perfect way to tie together the story. Thank you all for supporting the story, I hope you all enjoyed reading it! Continue on to the next chapters for my for announcements and my final authors note!

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