Sam was so angry he couldn't see straight, couldn't think straight. He had waited eight months, eight achingly long, seemingly endless months, waiting, hoping, that Andy McNally would come around to the idea of him as something more than her partner. And now Luke Callaghan, of all people, had just waltzed in and taken his Andy away from him. Looking at the situation objectively, though, he wasn't surprised at all that Luke would be interested in McNally. She was beautiful, smart, and sexy as hell (even in that police uniform) and a damn good cop. Who wouldn't want her? He hadn't asked for McNally to become his permanent partner. After three months of the rookies shifting from one vet to another, assignments had been made, and though he had been secretly thrilled at finding out he was going to get to be with Andy every day, he was also filled with dread. He could barely focus on the daily briefings when he was in the same room as her, so how was he supposed to deal with having her so very close to him all the time? Eight months of working the street, eight months of admiring her, watching her, and falling in love with her. He had refused to admit his feelings for her when he first noticed them, but he had long ago given up trying to fight with his heart. He was a cop, a passionate cop no less, and more often than not his heart ruled over his head, no matter how hard the teachers at the Academy had tried to beat that vice out of him. And right now, his heart was certainly taking over. He was off-duty, at the local cops' bar, with most everyone else from the Fifteenth Division, furiously watching Callaghan shamelessly flirt with Andy. A touch on the arm here, a well executed sweep of the eyes there; he knew exactly what Callaghan wanted to do to his Andy. It was a funny sort of cold irony that he wanted to do the exact same things to Andy that Callaghan clearly wanted to do. Callaghan's phone rang, and thirty seconds later, he kissed Andy on the cheek and hurried out of the bar. Some late-night homicide to investigate, no doubt, Sam thought to himself. His blood had boiled at the sight of Callaghan's lips against her porcelain skin. She twirled her glass around on the table for a few minutes, lost in thought, before heading out the door herself. He couldn't stand it any longer, he had to get near her and be close to her right now. He needed to talk to her, to tell her how he felt, before it was really too late and she and Callaghan became an actual couple, which was no doubt where this scenario was headed in Callaghan's mind. He followed her out the door and called out to her. She twirled around, car keys in hand, and the moonlight caught her hair and cast her in an otherworldly, angelic glow.
"Officer Swarek," she said teasingly. "Need a ride home?" They had grown close over the past eight months of working side-by-side together, and often drove each other home after a night of one too many drinks for the other.
"Getting quite friendly with Callaghan, weren't you?" the question came out more like an accusation, and he cursed himself inwardly as her expression grew colder.
"What is it to you if I was?" she asked warily. "I'm not your type anyways, remember?" That statement made him angry, and he wasn't quite sure if he was mad at himself or at Andy. Probably a little bit of both.
"Damn it Andy!" he growled, quickly covering the ground between them until he had caught her between himself and her car. "You could do so much better than him, you know that?"
"What right do you have to tell me who I can or cannot date? You have no claim on me!" The look on Andy's face was defiant as she challenged him. She turned away and began walking around the front of the car to get to the driver's side. He grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. Her face was tilted up towards his, and he couldn't help himself. He leaned down and kissed her, releasing all the passion and fire he had felt for the last eight months. She initially stood still, then relaxed into him, kissing back with equal passion. He caressed her cheek and pulled her closer to him, wanting to touch every part of her body, to feel her skin against his. She dug her fingers into his back and the sensation was both pain and pleasure, the pleasure part overriding the pain. Her lips felt like rose petals and tasted like strawberries and whiskey. She moaned softly into his mouth as his hand traveled down her body, sending shivers down his spine. He pushed her against her car and kissed her more deeply. He was dangerously on the edge of losing control.
"Come back to my place," he whispered in her ear. She pulled back and stared at him. He saw the various emotions expressed in her face – shock, lust, and…regret?
"No, no Sam, I can't…we can't…what are we even doing?" she protested, running her hands through her hair in frustration.
"What do you mean? I thought you wanted this. I want you Andy, I…I need you," he stammered through the last sentence, surprised at himself that he had told her his most private thoughts.
"Sam…" Andy murmured, running her hands down the sides of his legs almost unconsciously. She pulled her hands away when she realized what she was doing (much to Sam's chagrin, as he quite enjoyed the feeling). "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I just…can't," she said quietly, not meeting Sam's eyes. She practically ran to the driver's side and opened the car door. He stepped back away from the car, not believing what had just happened. He was in complete, total anguish as she drove off.
Sam grabbed a beer from his fridge and sprawled across the couch, half-watching a rerun of 'That 70s Show', desperately trying to keep his mind off of the horrible situation that had just happened. He didn't want to think about it. The rejection hurt too much. He focused all of his attention on the hilarious exploits of Kelso, Eric, Hyde, and Fez but couldn't even muster a chuckle at the comedic scenarios. He heard a knock at his front door. He didn't want to deal with anyone right now. The doorbell rang next, and he heaved himself off of the couch in a hot bother. He practically threw open the door, and his heart stopped at the sight of Andy McNally on his doorstep. She looked frazzled, uneasy, and extremely beautiful. Then he remembered her rejection and his heart clenched.
"Officer McNally, what are you doing here?" he said in the best indifferent tone he could muster. She looked at him for a long time, than finally spoke.
"Um, well, you see, what happened at the bar got me thinking, and I…I um, didn't really want it to end like that, and then I couldn't stop thinking of you, and what you said about coming back to your place, and I realized that I wanted to, but that was after I had driven away, and…" she was cut off by Sam's lips crushed against hers. He practically pulled her into the house and slammed her against the wall, kicking the door shut with his foot. He could feel Andy smiling into his lips as he lifted her up to have her legs wrapped around his hips. It was shaping up to be a very good night indeed.