-1Chapter 1

Andy woke from the passion induced haze as soon as the lights flickered on. She could feel Sam's muscles tense as he also came back down. He withdrew his lips from hers and bumped her nose softly before looking away.

" I should just turn a few things off," he said, reluctantly pulling away.

Andy sat up in bed, wondering how she had gotten to this point. She couldn't believe that she had come over to Sam's like this, how messed up was she? Running to her TO when she couldn't handle all of the emotions tearing her up inside from the day's events? He asked if she wanted to talk, not make out in the dark, even though he didn't seem to mind….

Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone chirping in her pocket. Oh, crap, it was Luke. She couldn't possibly answer the phone now, not while she was in this state of undress, sitting on Sam Swarek's bed. She thrust the phone back into her pocket and hastily pulled her shirt back on. Just then, she looked up and saw Sam step back into the room. He paused in the door frame, realized she was having second thoughts.

"Guess now everything goes back to normal." He turned and walked away, left her sitting there on the bed, an emotional mess.

Cheeks flaming from embarrassment, she made her way out of the house and started walking home.

Sam couldn't believe that she had cooled off so quickly in just a matter of minutes. Those kisses were amazing, he thought to himself. He stalked into the kitchen, opened the fridge door. He grabbed a beer, twisted off the top and drank angrily. He set the bottle down on the countertop with a bang. Damn it! Why did she have to leave like that! He had only recently begun to realize his feelings for his rookie but hadn't even started to admit them to himself yet. Being in such a close proximity with her everyday, working with her, teaching her new things, having her laugh at all of his lame jokes, that amazing vanilla smell from her shampoo, or body wash, or whatever it was, it was intoxicating. The way she smiled at him, the way she always seemed to get herself into such messes, he couldn't help but fall in love with her.

Sam realized that he couldn't just let her leave. He ran out of the house, not bothering to put his shirt back on, or to slip on shoes. He tried to guess which way she had gone, he wasn't sure where exactly she lived. He glanced to the left, saw nothing in the darkened street and then looked to the right. She was two blocks away, making pretty good time, too. Sam took off running, and yelled her name when he got a little closer so that he wouldn't scare her.

"Andy!" She stopped walking a turned around. He stopped running and walked the last few steps until he closed the distance. She kept her head down and wouldn't look him in the eye. When she spoke, the words all came out in a rush.

"What do you want, Sam? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here, but you always know what to do in every situation, and I just needed to see you, and talk to you, but mostly I just needed to forget what happened to day, and I'm not sure what happened when I saw you open that door…" she stopped talking and the words disappeared into the dark of the night.

Sam put a finger under her chin and gently lifted her head until she was looking up at him. He used the other hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. God, even with tears in her eyes, she was beautiful, he thought.

"Andy, I…" he stopped and started again, "Andy, I don't exactly know what happened back there either, but I don't want you to leave like this. Would you come back inside and then we could talk?" She started to protest and he silenced her with a swift peck on the lips. "Andy, please, I know it's been a really long day, but I have something I'd like to tell you and it would be great if you'd come back inside. If you don't want to, at least let me give you a ride home so that you don't have to walk by yourself this late at night."

Her heart was pounding under his soulful gaze and she felt her throat go dry. She swallowed and simply nodded her head in agreement. He dropped his hands from her face and she immediately missed his warmth. He instead grabbed her right hand with his left and led her back to his house.

He let go of her hand and she followed him into the dark hallway. He leaned over and flipped the switch, bathing them in the bright lights. She blinked, but couldn't help but stare at him. He realized where her gaze fell and his heart sped up a little. Now isn't the time, Sam, he told himself. He put his hand on the small of her back and pointed towards the living room. "Why don't you go sit down and I will, um, go put on a shirt okay?