Natalie hurried up the stairs to Adrian's apartment. She always called him when she was on her way over, but today, he hadn't answered. She had called several times, with no response. It was very unlike him to not answer his phone, and with the way Adrian seemed to attract murderers like a magnet, Natalie couldn't help but expect the worst. She reached the door and put her key in the lock. This had become their usual routine. Natalie would let herself in, Adrian would be sitting at his kitchen table eating his breakfast, they would read the paper together and then start their day.

Natalie entered his apartment, heading for the kitchen table. Adrian wasn't there. She looked around the apartment, heading towards his bedroom after seeing that the front of the apartment was empty. As Natalie reached Adrian's bedroom door, she froze in her tracks. Adrian was standing there, shirtless, fastening his belt buckle. Natalie scolded herself, but she couldn't help but stare. Adrian wasn't a bodybuilder, by any means, but he had certainly been working on toning up recently. He had been sticking to a daily exercise regimen as part of his new therapy program and, Natalie could see, his work was paying off. She swallowed hard, unable to pull her eyes away. Adrian reached over and slipped his undershirt on. He then put his shirt on and began buttoning it up. As he had gotten about halfway through the buttons, he noticed Natalie in his peripheral vision and his eyes shot up.

"Oh - God!" He shouted, backing away and over to the side out of Natalie's view. "Natalie! W - W - What are you doing here?"

"I always get here at this time, Mr. Monk. I tried to call. You didn't answer, and you weren't at the kitchen table like you usually are. I was worried, so I..."

"Natalie, you saw me naked! Oh, dear God."

"Mr. Monk, you were not naked. I didn't see anything." She couldn't help but smile, amused by his modesty.

He came back around into view, his shirt now buttoned up. He pushed past her, walking into the living room.

"Y - Yes you did. You saw my...naked body. Natalie, g - go...wash your eyes."

"Mr. Monk, I am not going to wash my eyes," she said, following him into the living room. "It's really okay. You shouldn't be ashamed, you have a great body!" Natalie winced, realizing her misstep. She shouldn't have said that.

"Oh, for the love of God," he cried, whipping around. "So you did see me naked?"

"No, no, no, Mr. Monk, I just saw you without your shirt on, it's not the end of the world."

"It is! Natalie, that is actually the definition of the end of the world."

She rolled her eyes, stepping forward. He jerked backwards as if he'd been shot.

"Don't come any closer!" He yelled, holding both hands up.

"Oh, come on, Mr. Monk," Natalie sighed, growing frustrated, "You're being ridiculous. It's really not a big deal."

"Y - You should leave."

"What?" She asked, shocked.

"Yes, Natalie, just leave. You don't want to be with me after you've witnessed such an obscenity."

"Mr. Monk," she rolled her eyes. "I am not going to leave you."

"You have no choice, you've seen the worst possible thing, you-"

"Are you being serious right now? You really are telling me to leave?" Natalie huffed, feeling more and more frustrated.

"Natalie, just leave me. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, you're probably going to, anyway. How much longer will this job really fulfill you, right? Why put it off any longer? Just lea-"

"No!" she screamed. "I will never, ever, EVER leave you!" Her voice echoed off the walls of the otherwise silent apartment. Surprised by her passion, Adrian blinked several times, his eyes wide.

"But...why?" He muttered, barely audible, glancing down at his feet.

Natalie felt a shiver crawl down her spine. She had never been this close to just spilling her guts out to him. Part of her was scared, part of her was hopeful, but mostly, she was incredibly frustrated.

"Why?" she asked incredulously, her voice still loud. "Seriously? You really don't know? I mean, after nine years together, you really have no clue just why on earth I might want to stick around?"

Adrian shook his head, his face filled with innocent confusion. Natalie's expression morphed from one of frustration to one of sympathy. He really didn't know. She shook her head softly, rubbing her face with her hands. Of course. She should've known.

"What, Natalie?"

She shook her head, dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

"It's nothing, Mr. Monk."

He frowned, crossing his arms in frustration. "It's not 'nothing', Natalie. If it were nothing, you wouldn't have said it in the first place."

Natalie bit her lip, studying Adrian's face carefully. She desperately wanted to pour her heart out and finally be free of what she'd been holding inside for so long, but she knew once that line had been crossed, there would be no turning back. She didn't want to hurt him. And for god's sake, she definitely didn't want to lose him. But how long was she willing to let this go on? When would enough be enough? No, this situation wasn't a big deal, but it had brought her touchy feelings to the surface and she was feeling vulnerable now.

She sighed, shaking her head. "It's nothing, Mr. Monk. I'll be fine. I don't want to make you uncomfortab-"

"No!" He raised his voice, stepping forward.

Natalie stumbled backwards slightly, shocked by his sudden outburst. He had forgotten about the shirt - he knew something was up and he wasn't going to let it rest. There was no more than six inches of space between them now, causing Natalie to back closer towards the wall. Her breath hitched in her throat, unsettled by Adrian's proximity and the intensity in his eyes. He continued on, his voice lower now, but still firm.

"Stop treating me like a child. I'm not a child, Natalie, I am a man. And I am asking you, why? Why shouldn't I expect you to leave me just like everyone else has?"

"Because I love you!" she exploded, slapping her hands on his chest repeatedly. "I'm in love with you, damn it! Happy now?" Her slaps grew weaker, until she dissolved into tears, collapsing against his chest. Adrian, stunned, wrapped his arms around her weakly.

Suddenly, realizing she had just actually said the words out loud, Natalie panicked. She pulled back, in attempt to leave, but Adrian grabbed her forearm. Natalie looked up at him, caught off guard by this gesture. She was still trapped between him and the wall, his hand in a firm grip on her forearm. They were so close to each other now that she could feel the warmth radiating off of his body. She glanced up, and was unsettled by the look in his eyes. She had never seen an expression quite like that from him. She didn't know what it meant. But suddenly there was a tension in the room, so heavy it felt like she was breathing molasses. Still gripping her forearm, Adrian spoke softly.

"You're in love with me?"

Natalie hesitated, trying to think if there was any last reason why she should back out. She searched his eyes, looking for any sign of fear, disgust, or discomfort, but she saw none of that. Adrian's fingers were still wrapped firmly around her arm. Her body was alive with energy, heightening the feel of his smooth skin against hers. Her eyes traveled down slightly, catching sight of Adrian's mouth. His lips were slightly parted, and she swallowed hard as she felt that familiar flip-flop in her stomach. She looked back up to his eyes, and the intensity of his gaze shook her to the core. And was that look she saw there, was that...hope?

Natalie couldn't hold herself back any longer. Every rational thought inside her head screamed at her to stop but, at this point, she didn't care. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned in, closing the space between them and pressing her lips to his. Both of their bodies came alive with electricity. Adrian released her arm and grabbed her by the waist with both hands, pushing her against the wall. Natalie gasped, surprised by his roughness. And it was him that continued the kiss this time. She moaned softly, opening her mouth and allowing him to deepen the kiss. The kiss continued on for several minutes, until Natalie finally pulled back. The intense pleasure that had flooded her entire body was getting to her head. Quite literally. She felt incredibly dizzy. She rested her head on Adrian's chest, listening for a few moments to his racing heartbeat. Suddenly she gasped, pulling away from his embrace and running to her purse. She rummaged through it frantically until she pulled out a wipe, then rushed back over to him.

"Oh, god, Mr. Monk, I - I am s - so sorry," she stammered, extending the wipe out towards him. He shook his head distractedly, gently pushing away the wipe. She raised her eyebrows, her mouth falling slightly open. "You don't need a wipe?"

He shook his head no, plopping down into his chair. She hurried over to him, sitting on the ottoman and facing him. She took his hand in hers, squeezing it softly.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"Y - Yes," he murmured, taking his fingers up to his lips and touching them softly. "I am...very...okay." He smiled slightly.

Natalie blushed, reminded of the feeling of his lips on hers. She looked down at her hands, laughing softly.

"Mr. Monk, I am so sorry. I shouldn't hav-"

"Natalie," he said quietly, reaching out and grabbing her hand. She flinched, surprised by his initiation of contact. "Please, just stop apologizing. It's okay." She raised her eyebrows, genuinely surprised by his reaction.

"You do know what just happened, right? I kissed you."

Adrian blushed. "Yes," he said shyly, "and then I kissed you."

Natalie smiled, looking down at her hands.

"So," Adrian continued, "when did you know?"

"Know, what?" She asked.

"You know, that you were... in love with me," he replied quietly.

Natalie blushed. In all the excitement of the kiss, she had forgotten... She just confessed to Adrian Monk that she was in love with him. Her heart began racing again, and she had to clasp her hands together in an attempt to calm herself.

"I - I, well," she began, fumbling over her words, "I guess..." She thought for a minute, really considering the question. "I guess it was when I thought you were...dead," she murmured, not wanting to even speak the words out loud. "I just couldn't believe it. I cried and cried until I had no tears left. I was physically in pain. It felt like I couldn't breathe. I hadn't felt like that about anyone since..."

"Mitch," Adrian said quietly, finishing her sentence.

She nodded, continuing. "And then, when I found out it wasn't true, that you were really alive, I became a woman possessed. I didn't care about the risk or the danger, I just knew I needed to be with you right then. And then I saw you and..." she stopped momentarily, a sob catching in her throat. "I just never wanted to let you out of my sight again." She sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Adrian sat back in his chair, taking a moment to let everything she'd just said sink in.

"But...Natalie, that was seven years ago. Why didn't you say anything before now?"

"You were preoccupied with Trudy's case. I couldn't be selfish and give you something else to cloud your mind when you needed to focus on that."

"But I solved Trudy's case five years ago."

She sighed. He had a point.

"Yes, but...honestly, I was just scared. I didn't want to lose you. I was worried if you found out how I felt you'd want to get as far away from me as possible."

Adrian furrowed his brow. "Why would I want to get away from you?"

"I just thought...I thought you were a one man woman. That Trudy would always have your heart. I figured I never stood a chance."

Natalie swallowed hard, realizing that she had really just poured her heart out to Adrian. It was all in the open now, and she was feeling extremely vulnerable.

"Mr. Monk," she began, standing up and walking over to collect her things, "I think maybe I should give you a little time. Just, you know, to take in everything I said."

"Nat-"

"No, Mr. Monk, I think I should just let you have some time." Noticing the fear in his eyes, she walked back over to him.

"Don't worry," she continued, reaching out and patting his arm gently. "I'm not leaving you. I just want you to be able to think about what I've said in private, without me here."

Adrian looked down at her hand, still resting on his arm. He nodded, trying to gain the resolve to speak.

"You're probably right," he said softly. "But, Natalie?"

"Hmm?"

"You will come back, right?"

She smiled. "I promise, Mr. Monk."

She bent down and kissed him gently on the cheek before turning and exiting the apartment.