Drop it, Rich!

Chapter 1

(Between the episodes 4x18 and 4x19)

Tasha woke up with a delicious coffee smell. She opened her eyes and looked at the direction of the kitchen. Reade noticed she was awake and came next to her.

R: Good morning, sleeping beauty.

T: Ugh! What time is it?

R: Only 10 a.m.

T: wow! I slept for 12 hours?! How long have you been awake?

R: 3 hours.

T: Why didn't you wake me?

R: You needed it. Besides today is saturday.

T: Thanks! So you're making coffee? Who are you and what did you do to Reade.

R: Shut up. I am trying to be nice here.

T: Thanks!

They laughed and had breakfast together. They went on a jog and walked.

They were in a good mood having fun till they arrived home. A not very pleasant surprise was waiting for them. Rich was waiting in front of the apartment with a smirk on his face.

T: What is it Rich.

ER: Did you and Patterson find something? Why didn't you just call?!

RDC: No we didn't find anything. And no I am not here because of work. I was just here to see how you two lovebirds were doing.

T: We are not dating Rich!

Tasha said it with a slight, unnoticeable pain in her voice. Only she heard it cause she was feeling it. She thought their relationship or whatever it was, was getting better. But it was a long time ago when she had given up on hoping to feel the warmth and the feeling of safety of his arms around her. She was still crazily in love with Reade. But she thought that what she had done, destroyed all chances of them being together again. She wasn't even sure if his offer to stay at his place as long as she wanted was sincere. She knew that Reade was nice and they were better together. But she felt like there was still a part of him that didn't want her around. She thought "Yes he cares about me. And he is nice. But does he really want me around? Or is this just him trying to make up the things he said in the interrogation. But he knows that I know it was just his anger, right?"

On Reade's side, he really loved Tasha. He was completely in love with her. It was painful when she left but he just wanted to be close to her. It destroyed him, not knowing if she was angry at him for the interrogation or not. He knew she had feelings for him. And he thought she knew about his feelings too. But he needed to be sure. So he decided to talk to her that night.

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That night

Reade had prepared a nice dinner and was waiting for Tasha to arrive from her second jog of the day.

Tasha opened the door and saw that the room was dim and there were candles around the room and on the table. Saw and smelled the delicious meal. And lastly saw Reade in a suit waiting for her.

R: Hey.

T: H- Hi. What's all this. Is there special occasion I don't know about?

R: No- Actually yeah, kinda.

T: Ok. Let me take short shower and get dressed I will be quick.

Tasha headed to the bathroom. She was a little confused. But also happy about having a ,hopefully romantic, dinner with Reade. She took a shower and decided to wear a tight black dress that was a few inches above her knees.

Reade was speechless when she walked into the room. He was stunned by how breathtaking Tasha looked. He could barely say a few complements before he got over the shock.

R: I- You- You look ummm- breathtakingly beautiful. Actually that's an understatement for how gorgeous you look.

Tasha blushed. Her whole face turned bright red. And she wanted to hide herself. But instead she lifted up her head and said

T: You look great too. But I think I am used to seeing you well dressed.

R: Yeah- Umn- Thanks. So shall we begin.

T: Yeah I would like that. But I didn't know that you could cook. I just thought you lived on take-out food.

R: Come on Tasha! I can cook!

T: Ok. It looks delicious by the way.

They sat down to eat. Tasha complemented his cooking but after that there was a weird silence between the two. Till Reade talked.

R: Tasha, actually the special occasion is that I wanted to talk to you.

T: About what?

Tasha was confused.

R: Us... Our- ummmmm- Relationship.

T: Oh... Okay then. What did you want to say?

R: Look Tasha, I love you with all my heart! You are the love of my life. My other half. And I can't bear thinking that you are angry at me because of the interrogation. I swear I regret everything I said every second of every day. I wish I could've controlled my hurt and anger in there but I couldn't. And I hurt you. I understand if you don't have any feelings for me after that... But you are my whole world. And I would do anything it takes to deserve your trust, your friendship and maybe even you love. But if you don't want me anymore, I get it. But just know that you are the love of my life! Tasha Zapata, I love you!

Tasha was crying now. Reade reached and wiped her tears softly.

T: Of course I know that you didn't mean those. And I love you too. With everthing I am, and everything I have. I hurt you and then you hurt me but I hope we can leave those bad memories in the past and make some better memories instead.

Reade smiled at her. Then he got up and aproached her. He took her face in his hands and wiped away her tears. Then he aproached his face to her face and stopped only inches away, asking for her consent. She found it really sweet that he was asking for her permission to kiss her. She smiled slowly as an approval. Then he kissed her gently. He smelled the scent of her shampoo. Felt her hands go up to the nape of his neck and pull him closer like it was possible. His hands went to her hips and he felt her shiver as he put his hands in her hips. He smiled at the effect he had on her. They separated to catch their breaths.

They were both smiling. And Reade broke the silence.

R: I know that it is best if we take things slow but since we are dating and honest with each other now, I think it is better for you to sleep next to me in my bed than to sleep on the couch. It is more comfortable.

T: I would like that.

The couple slept easily for the forst time in a really long time with the feeling of having each other i  their arms.