One Night Changes Everything

He had become a man. He still had the baby face of when he was a little boy but his body had become long and lean……and thanks to sports - muscular.

At the moment he was packing up his things with a smile at all the memories of each item. He was going to NYU…moving out of New Jersey he was going to be on his own.

It had been hell on earth when his mother discovered that he had been accepted to NYU. His mother had always been protective of him…but when the dust had settled, and she realized that he was no longer the little boy she thought he was…she had smiled at him and told him how proud of him she was.

His huge smile as he came across a picture of his mother and he with none other than Adrian Monk. Her mother never knew how much a part of his life Mr. Monk had been…until they had come back to New Jersey with his father.

The thought of his father made Benji stop smiling.

Putting away the picture he packed his things faster. Trying to block out the memories of the recent years he had experienced.

His mother had wanted a better life for them, had wanted him to spend time with his father……and things had been great…for awhile.

His father had started to drink again, not long after his parents had remarried. Things soon began to replay themselves. But he had been a little boy then...not able to do anything.

When he turned sixteen it seemed like everything hit the fan. His father was always yelling at his mother, that had always been a constant......but he was shocked when he witnessed his father hit his mother.

At sixteen he was his fathers weight and height......and it didn't take him long to push and hit his father out of the house.

Calling the police right away, he stood with the phone to his ear staring at his mother.

Her curly blonde hair had blood in it, and her mouth was filled with blood.

Until that moment he had never wished to go back to San Francisco...to go back to Mr. Monk and the life he had known. Until that moment......he had not understood how the best father he had ever known......was his mother's boss.

He was almost done packing when the phone rang. Putting down the boxes in his arms he grabbed the phone from the table.

"Hello?!"

It took the captain a second to connect the deep male voice.

"Benji?! Is that you?!"

A huge smile broke across Benji's face.

"Captain! It's been a long time."

Leland let out a huffed laugh at the realization that the deep male voice belonged to Benji.

"It sure has......listen um.....somethings......happened...and......is your mom there?"

Benji's face morphed into one of concern. Instantly he had figured out that something was very wrong. Benji had been just a child when his mother had started caring for him. He had grown up knowing Mr. Monk as the major male figure in his life...and even back then...back then when he was cata...

In the years that they had not seen Mr. Monk, not once had the captain called for his mother. It could only mean one thing.

"He's catatonic again............isn't he?" Benji asked.

Stottlemeyer let out a loud sigh. He didn't have the heart to answer.

Benji stood there with the phone in his hand as the realization of the situation hit him.

And then everything became clear. Monk needed them.

"We'll get the next flight out." Benji said with conviction.

Stottlemeyer closed his eyes and sighed out a ‘thanks’ and then heard the line close.

Flipping his phone closed Stottlemeyer let out a loud sigh as he turned and stared at the unmoving figure of one Adrian Monk.

Natalie sat in her chair in the corner of her bedroom, not moving...just staring out into the space in front of her - not really seeing anything. Flashes of what had happened continued to fill her mind.

All she could do was cry. It had happened again. And this time it was even worse than the first time. The way he had touched her...the way they had kissed. This time it all meant more. Yet here she sat...having run away again as he lost it once more.

She didn't know how long she sat there, all she knew was the ringing of her phone brought her back to the present. Grabbing her phone as she sniffled she saw who was calling. Letting out a shaky breath she wiped away a few tears before she opened the phone.

"Hello?"

"Natalie it's Leland. Umm.....I don't know how to say this...... so I'm just gonna say it..."

And that's when her world truly fell apart. As the captain spoke, fresh tears came to her eyes as grief and horror enveloped her.

The worst thing that could ever happened....had happened.

Barely getting out any words she told the captain that she would be right over. Taking a second as she put down the phone she looked up into her dresser mirror and saw how horrible she looked. She hadn't slept all night. Staying up all night had left her with red blood shot eyes and huge bags under them. Slowly she approached her image and examined herself...not just physically...but emotionally as well.

"I made this happen." She whispered to the mirror. "I did this."

It was like all those months ago when she had accidentally shot him, she knew she was to blame for him becoming this way.

Bracing her hands against the dresser she held her weight up and stared at herself long and hard. One thought among all the others rang the loudest.

I can't lose him.

Natalie realized how stupid she had been, what she might have just lost forever. Ducking her head she allowed herself a few more tears to fall.

It was like losing Mitch all over again. But this was worse.

Bringing her head back up she admitted it to herself that she had almost definitely lost the man she loved.

Pulling away from the dresser she tried to keep it together. Moving to her bathroom she tried to keep it together, tried to keep herself from falling apart. As she moved into the shower it hit her. What she had done...what had happened.

She had just lost the man she loved.

Under the shower, with the water spilling over her hair and down her face, her tears mixed with the downpour. There in the shower she crumbled, allowing her sobs to wrack her body and leave her curled in the bottom of the tub. Holding herself she slowly rocked herself back and forth, thinking how she was going to help him now......if she was the one that did this to him.

And still the images of the night before came...and every beautiful moment she relived made her pain worse. Because the knowledge of knowing him that way.....had just ruined both of them.