A/N: Here's a a small one-shot post 3x12 but before our adorable Shandy episode.
A big thank you to lontanissima for her big help in writing this one.
I hope you enjoy it! :D
Lieutenant Andrew Flynn was standing in front of the coffee machine in the break room. He looked pensively at the machine wondering if he should have his third cup of the day or if he should switch to tea. A little voice in his head, that sounded a lot like Sharon's, told him to make tea instead, so he started gathering the things he needed and made tea for both Sharon and himself.
"Psss!" he suddenly heard behind him. He put the water to boil. "Hey, Flynn!" another hiss.
Andy quickly turned around and he saw his partner sneak inside the room. He rolled his eyes and went back to his task.
"Flynn!" Provenza exclaimed irritated, but still in a lower voice.
"Why are you whispering?" Flynn asked getting annoyed too.
"I need a favor."
"No." He turned around and poured the hot water into two mugs.
"You don't even know what it is!" Provenza frowned.
Andy put a bag of tea in each mug. "Every time you start a speech with "I need a favor" I always, ALWAYS, end up in trouble. Not this time." Andy shook his head.
"It's nothing big." Provenza waved his hands in the air dismissing his partner's complains. "I want to take Patrice out again for dinner, but she doesn't want it to be just the two of us and she said she wanted to meet my friends."
"Really?" Andy rose his eyebrows amused. "She's still around? Hasn't she given up yet?"
"Hey, if you don't zip it, I'll take Tao."
Andy rolled his eyes again. "When is it?"
"Tonight. So dress nice and be punctual."
The younger lieutenant shook his head as he stirred the brewing tea. "I can't tonight. I'm out with Sharon."
"Sharon? The Captain? Again?" Provenza quickly asked the questions. "Didn't you go out last week?"
"Well, we go out every week. It's now like a tradition."
"It sounds a lot like dating, if you ask me." Provenza grumbled.
"We're not dating." Andy sighed. He had lost count on how many times he had said that phrase to his friend. "We're just friends who like to spend time together."
"A few years ago you could barely stand her."
Andy shrugged. "Time passes, people change." He put some sugar in the cups. One full spoon for him and half for Sharon. "So I've got a table booked at this Italian restaurant. It has just opened and there was a long waiting list, so don't even think about me cancelling."
Then Provenza's eyes lit up. "This is perfect!" He exclaimed. "Just add two places and we'll all go. Patrice will actually have an adult person to talk to tonight even if it means I have to deal with Raydor after work." He nodded. "Yep, great idea." He smiled satisfied. "Just text me the address and time."
"What? I?" Andy stammered dump foiled, but Provenza just walked away with an extra step in his stride. Andy wondered how his evening with Sharon suddenly became a double date, but mostly he was concerned about how Sharon was going to react to the news.
He sighed and picked the two mugs and walked towards the Captain's office. When he went inside, she was sitting behind her desk, working on some files.
"Hey!" She smiled up at him.
"Hey!" He smiled back and put the cup of tea on the desk, right in front of her.
"Thanks." She gently picked it up and took a deep sip. "It's like you've read my mind."
"More like you've invaded mine." He said as he sat down on one of the chairs. "I was going to make coffee, but then my little Sharon's voice told me to make tea instead."
She laughed. "Your little Sharon's voice?"
"Hmm…" he nodded. "It's what I call the voice inside my head that tells me what to or not to do."
"So, I've became your conscience?" She looked at him amused.
"I said you were a bad influence for me."
"Sounds more like I'm a good influence. How many cups of coffee would have been today?" His glare told her everything she needed to know. "Andy, you have to watch out for your health." She started patronizing him.
"Yeah, yeah. Good job I listen to my conscience." He dismissed her concerns. "So, for tonight…" he began to say nervously.
Sharon felt her stomach drop. She hoped he wasn't going to cancel their dinner. She always looked forward to their week outings. They became a constant in her life, something she really enjoyed.
"Do you need to cancel?" She tried to hide her disappointment. "It's okay if you do. You know…"
"No, no. He stopped her. Not cancelling, but looks like our dinner got hijacked."
She looked at him confused. "Hijacked?"
"Provenza stopped me in the break room. Apparently he wants to take Patrice out tonight, but she wants to meet his friends. So he ask me, more like told me, to go with them and I said I was going out with you, how I booked a table at that Italian restaurant… well, cutting the story short, we're now having dinner with Provenza and Patrice."
Sharon thought about it and then she nodded. "Okay, it's going to be a bit awkward. It hasn't been long since you've arrested Mrs. Perry's granddaughter." She paused. "Is it serious? This thing between Provenza and Patrice?"
He shrugged. "He seems to really like her. I just hope he won't propose to her. I can't go through another Provenza's wedding… and divorce!"
She chuckled. "Andy, behave!"
"No, I'm serious. Provenza doesn't do middle ground. He either goes to casual dates or marries them."
"Well, I just hope she'll make him happy."
"Provenza? Happy? Have you met the guy?" He snorted. "At least he hasn't started wearing horrible clothes. Thinking about it, he is actually acting very normal. Usually when he falls in love with someone, he starts acting strange and goes through a mystic phase."
"Andy, he's your best friend. You should support him." She sent him a gentle glare over the rim of her cup as she finished drinking her tea.
"It's not like he supports me or my decisions. You have no idea what he thinks about our friendship." He told her getting slightly upset.
"I can only imagine."
"We could always skip the awkward dinner and I could finally cook for you that vegetarian pasta dish I've been telling you about." He eyes sparkled at the idea.
"Or we could go out with our best friend and his new…" what could she say? Girlfriend sounded a bit juvenile for people over 60. "His new lady friend and have a nice evening."
"Lady friend?" he grinned. "Seriously? You know it sounds like she's a…"
"I know." She cut him off before he could finish. "Now, Lieutenant, go and finish your work so you can't have that excuse." She smiled at him dismissing him. "7 o'clock?" She asked.
"Yep." He got up and went for the door. "Still positive you want to go?" He asked again hoping he could convince her to cancel.
She shook her head. "I'll see you later." She called him once last time. "Oh and Andy? Wear something green." She told him smirking. If she was going to accommodate Provenza, the least she could do was to annoy him… just a little.
"Yes Mad 'am!" He smirked back with a salute before leaving her office.
Later that night, Sharon found herself sitting at a table with Andy and Provenza with Patrice. The evening had started like all their dinners had. He came to pick her up at her apartment. He exchanged a few words with Rusty while he was waiting for her to finish getting ready. He smiled at her, laid a hand gently on her lower back as he guided her towards the lift, he opened the passenger door for her, they made small talk during the drive towards the restaurant. It all seemed normal, until they met with Provenza and Patrice.
From then Andy's gestures had seemed nervous, almost hesitant. When he touched her arm or hand, she thought she could feel him tremble. He even hesitated to pull the chair for her.
"Is everything okay?" she asked him in a whisper as they both looked at the menu laid between them. They were sitting at one side of the table while Provenza and Patrice were sitting at the other end. They too were looking at the menu and Sharon could hear them talking and quietly laughing.
"Hmm…" he snapped out of his trace. "Oh yeah, everything is okay." And by then Sharon could tell when he was lying to her and in that moment he was definitely doing so.
"Andy?" she tried again putting a hand over his.
He jumped in his seat and withdraw his hand from under hers. "So, what are you getting?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject.
Sharon gave him one last look, before going back to the reading the menu. Something was wrong and she wanted to find out what caused this sudden change in him.
The evening was going surprisingly well. The food was excellent and Provenza and Andy, well mostly Provenza, entertained the two women with stories about their past. Some of them she knew about, some she was glad she hadn't heard when she was still in FID.
As they waited for their desserts to arrive, Sharon and Patrice excused themselves to go to the ladies' room.
"It all seems so strange." Patrice said as they stood in front of the mirrors. "I mean… just a few weeks ago I was living the worst day of my life. I still going through a rough period, but Louie is making everything seem so easy. He's really helping me."
"He is a great man. They both are." Sharon smiled. "They put this tough front, but they both are two big teddy bears."
"Hmmm…" Patrice hummed in agreement. "And I really didn't think I would be going to a double date at this stage of my life." She chuckled as she replied her make-up.
Sharon suddenly stopped her movements. "Sorry?" She gasped turning around to face her.
"Yeah… I mean I'm in the wrong side of fifty for wanting to try dating again, but Louie caught me by surprise. I don't know how you do it."
Sharon was shocked. She didn't know what to say. A double date? "Yeah…" she whispered. Someone had a lot of explain to do.
When they go back to the table, Provenza and Flynn were hissing in conspiracy. The four desserts were already at the table, but the atmosphere had suddenly changed. Andy seemed angry and was furiously digging in his cake. Provenza was trying to distract Pratrice by making small talk and awful jokes, while Sharon was troubled by her millions thoughts and was absentmindedly playing with the food on her plate. Soon it was time to pay for the bill and the two men took care of it.
"Can I talk to you in private?" Sharon whispered to Andy when it was time to leave.
He raised his eyebrows in question. Even through his anger, he had noticed the change in her demeanor after she had got back from the bathroom. Something was bothering her.
Provenza glanced between them and nodded. "We'll wait for you outside."
Andy led Sharon to a secluded part of the restaurant so they could talk in private. "What's wrong?"
"Why does Patrice think this is a double date?" she demanded without a big preamble.
He coursed under his breath. "Provenza! Look, I don't know what he has told her. I've always thought he was joking, but he thinks that you and I have been dating for months now. That's why I've been so uncomfortable tonight. I feel like we were under the microscope or something. I keep telling him that we're just friends and there's nothing between us."
"Is there?" She was shocked by her own statement.
"I…" Andy was lost of words. "What are you saying?" He asked unsure.
"I mean…" she sighed. "Are we both deluding ourselves thinking that there's really nothing between us. I know I can feel something, like an energy of some sorts. I think you feel it too."
"I do, but I've always thought it was just me. I mean…" He stumbled through his words. "I've always found you attractive and I love spending time with you and of course I would love to see where it goes, but I never imagined you would be interested and…"
"Andy…" she stopped him smiling. "Breath!"
"Okay."
"I would love to see where this goes too."
"Okay."
"So?"
"So?"
They both chuckled nervously.
"How about well Provenza and Patrice goodnight and we can talk about this more in private? At my house?"
"I think that's a perfect plan lieutenant!" And she laced her arm through his walking out of the restaurant and to a brighter future.