Chapter Text
The next day, Karadec decided to take Morgan out for their first official date. Karadec decided to book them a table at Cecconi’s, a cozy Italian restaurant in West Hollywood, for an early dinner.
After spending the morning at Morgan’s, Karadec had gone back to his apartment to get ready for their date. Karadec decided to wear the dark blue shirt that Morgan had said brought out his eyes. Along with dark-washed jeans and black shoes. On the way to pick up Morgan, he had stopped by a floral shop and got her a bouquet of Ranunculus. This flower reminds him of the first case Morgan had worked with them. The case that would change his life, the case that would cement Morgan Gillory’s presence in his life forever.
Karadec arrived at Morgan’s house and knocked on the door with the bouquet in hand. Morgan opened the door. Morgan wore her sheer, floral purple top with her metallic pink blazer and white boots.
"Wow, you look beautiful,” Karadec says in awe.
“Thanks, Adam. You don’t look too bad yourself.” Morgan took a mental note that he wore the dark blue shirt that she likes on him.
“Here, I got these for you.”
“Aww, thank you.” Morgan placed the bouquet on the table by the door. She didn’t want to leave them in the car under the Los Angeles heat.
“Come on, we have a reservation to make,” Karadec says. Morgan locks the door, then Karadec grabs her hand and walks her to the car.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Karadec was nothing short of a gentleman. He made her feel at such ease. Morgan can’t remember the last time she had a nice meal without being interrupted by the kids. I mean, she had a couple of dates with Tom. But they were always cut short with work calling her into work on a case.
After Karadec had paid for their meal, they returned to the car. “Ok, time for our next stop,” Karadec tells her as he fastens his seat belt.
“Where are we going?” Morgan looks at him, raising her eyebrow.
“It’s a surprise. But don’t worry, if traffic cooperates with us, we’ll be there soon.”
“Okay.”
Thirty minutes later, they arrive at the Wisdom Tree at the end of Griffith Park. Karadec parked at the entry point for the hiking trail. Karadec first goes around the car to open the door for Morgan. Then, goes to the trunk of the car.
“Here, change your shoes first. There’s no way you’re going to make it through the trail in those shoes,” Karadec then hands Morgan one of the few pairs of boots that she owned that didn’t have a heel on them.
“Did you steal those from my house?”
“No, I didn’t steal them from your house. I had Ava grab them for me. The last time I came over for dinner with the kids. I keep them in the car because I don’t want a repeat of what happened at the Beverley Hills mountains, when we were working the undercover FBI hitman case. You know the time you decided to wear high-heeled Timberlands, even though I told you not to.”
“How can I forget?” Morgan takes the pair of shoes from him.
As she was changing her shoes, she couldn’t help but sneak glances at Karadec, in awe. She was trying to wrap her head around the gesture. He didn’t need to keep an extra pair of shoes for her in the car, but he did anyway because he cared. Karadec also took out a picnic blanket from the trunk.
“You ready to go?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
They arrive at the peak of the trail, as the sun had started to set. The sky was painted with a blend of purple and yellow hues.
Karadec found a flat enough surface and laid out the blanket. He sat down first, then invited Morgan to sit on his lap, and Morgan gladly took him up on his offer. Once they got themselves comfortable, Karadec wrapped his arms around her.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the sun set. Karadec looked down at Morgan and noticed she had her “something you have to say” silence written on her face.
“What are you thinking about?”
Morgan looks up at him and sighs, “I can’t hide anything from you, can I?”
“Nope.”
“When did you know you liked me?”
“I knew for sure around the time when we worked the Marvin Price case. But if I’m being honest, I probably felt something already when we were working the Lucas Philips case, and I didn’t know what it was yet. All I knew it felt weird hearing you talk about going on dates with Tom.”
Morgan smirks, “Adam Karadec, are you telling me right now that you were jealous of Tom?”
“Maybe I was. As I said, I couldn’t make sense of what I felt at the time.”
“Well, for the record, Tom and I didn’t make it far. We only had a handful of dates together. I think the universe was on your side because, coincidentally, I would always get called into work every time I was on a date with him.”
“How about you? When did you know you liked me?”
Morgan blushes, “At the police gala. When you told me that finding Roman mattered to you, because it mattered to me. That you were willing to see Gio in my place to make sure I didn’t get hurt. Soto also filled me in that you reached out to Ronnie to help us get more intel on Lila Flynn. Then, I knew I couldn’t really deny my feelings anymore when we worked the Gamemaker case. Daphne had told me that you were pulling back-to-back all-nighters by yourself to solve the case.”
Karadec chuckles at her confession, “Are you laughing at me?” Morgan asks.
“I’m not laughing at what you said. I’m laughing because I just remembered you were the one who was pushing me to give my relationship with Lucia another chance. Now I’m curious about why you would do that when you already knew you had feelings for me?”
“I wanted to keep it professional between us. I also didn’t want to lose a friend in the process by taking that chance. I chose to swallow my feelings. Instead of acting on them, if that meant keeping you around in my life.”
“Morgan, you’re not going to lose me. I’ll be here if you’ll have me. I know your mind tells you that you’re bad at relationships because you’re too much to handle. But you’re not, Morgan, and I’ll be here to remind you of that. You told me that I deserve to be happy. Now, I’m here to tell you that you deserve to be happy too.”
Morgan stares at him for a moment. Adam Karadec really did have a way to overpower the voices in her head.
“Thank you, Adam. I love you.”
“I love you too, Morgan,” Karadec responds before leaning in to kiss her softly. They then continued to watch the sunset and enjoy each other’s company.