This is one of my 'newer' work, but I still wrote the first chapter when Rusty was still in school and not university and I am just too lazy to rewrite it, so this story takes place somewehre around that time.

I will try giving you a new chapter every day, though I will not make any promises.

Please keep in mind, that english is not my first language and I have no beta reader, so all mistakes made here are mine and mine alone.

And last, I sadly do not own Major Crimes or any of it's characters

Chapter I - Rusty

It is incredibly late for a teenager that is supposed to be in school bright and early tomorrow and if Sharon ever finds out about this, she is probably going to kill him. His mother isn't home thought, and won't be until after midnight and that's why he has double the amount of security than normally watching the condo. He makes a metal note to himself, to subtly slip to Sharon, that the detail is complete crap, as he, still unfollowed, rounds the corner of the street and walks up Lieutenant Flynn's driveway.

So, yea, he admits, if he doesn't want Sharon to get wind of this he should not have decided on asking Flynn for advice. But given the very strange and totally obvious to anyone but them situation the adults are currently in, the Lieutenant is without a doubt the right person to talk to with this problem he's having.

He has to ring the bell three times and he starts to think, that Lt. Flynn isn't there, is probably at the same function his mother has to attend. Just when is ready to turn back, drive home and pretend this never happened, he hears noises coming towards the door. It sounds like talking and suddenly Rusty feels guilty for interrupting the Lts evening. He never even considered that he might be busy, because really, with, Sharon and Provenza both boring themselves to death at some police event with the mayor and the Chief of police there is no one else Rusty thinks Andy would spend his Thursday evening with. Apparently, he was wrong.

When the door finally opens, it is hard to say who looks more surprised or uncomfortable. Sharon's hands shoot down to the hem of his shirt immediately, trying to pull it down to a more respectable length. Failing miserably and sliding the not fully buttoned shirt over her shoulder and down her arm in the process, Rusty shuts his eyes and lets out a sound of discomfort because he has just seen more of their (non) relationship (and of his mother) than he ever wanted to.

"Rusty, what are you doing here?" In her embarrassed state, she even forgets that she is supposed to berate him for being out at this hour, seemingly without his protective detail.

"Yea" he answers, eyes still closed " I was kinda just asking the same thing" Again, she should be angry with him, but a voice back in her mind reminds her, that she is still standing in her boyfriend' s doorway, wearing his shirt and decidedly nothing else, staring at her son. "Ah, could you, maybe, like… you know" he gestures blindly in her direction. Great, he is still aware of that fact, too.

It is a rare occurrence, that Sharon Raidor doesn't know what to say, but the moment she hears Andy call out to her why she is taking so long with the take-out, she shuts her mouth again, resigning herself to the fact, that there is just no graceful way out of this. They might as well make the best of the situation at hand without flushing even more of her dignity down the drain. A cough makes her aware, that her son is still waiting for her to put on something and this time, she gets the words out she should have said minutes ago.

"Honey, could you put on some clothes and bring that throw blanket from the couch over here?" She hears a groan and she realizes, that she could have phrased that differently, too. He is not wearing nothing, but she still thinks Rusty'd appreciate him not showing up in only his boxers. Andy's laugh reaches her just before his voice does, and yea, she would be laughing, too, if she thinks the delivery boy is hitting on her.

"I swear, if he…" he trails off when he rounds the corner, his eyes falling on his girlfriend's son. He hands over the blanket wordlessly and steps up behind her after she's wrapped herself in it. He greets the kid with a nod of his head. Rusty's eyes have opened back up the moment he was sure she was not standing almost naked in front of him.

There is a long minute of silence before either of them gets that the door is still wide open, so Andy moves to the side, taking a motionless Sharon with him and gestures for Rusty to enter. They might as well have this conversation now, instead of preferably much, much later. The kid hesitates, searching his mother's eyes, but after a nod of approval, steps through and closes the door behind him.

"Police function my ass" he mumbles as he passes them, earning him a glare from Sharon.

"Language, young man"

"Sorry" he says even quieter.

While Andy and Rusty make their way to the living room, Sharon heads to the back of the house to retrieve her clothes. There is just no way she is having a conversation with her son wrapped up in nothing more than a blanket – she thinks he won't be that fond of that either. When she finally returns, Rusty is sitting on the couch, studying the floor and his shoes in turns, looking almost as uncomfortable as when she'd opened the door earlier. Andy is nowhere to be seen, but she is sure she hears him rummaging through the kitchen. She takes a seat on the couch beside Rusty and studies him, until he finds the courage to look at her.

"Dinner arrived while you were getting dressed" He never wants to say those words in that same context again. Sharon only acknowledges him with a hum and a nod of her head. She hopes Andy reappears soon but it occurs to her, that he is probably stalling, so she decides to start the conversation without him anyway.

"We were at that event I told you about" She starts off with and she doesn't even blame him for the disbelieving glare he sends in her direction. "We might have cleared out as soon as it was acceptable" Sharon adds a little sheepish, and before he can send more admonishing looks at her, she continues "And yes, I was planning on coming home tonight. I was actually leaving after dinner"

He just shrugs as his only reply. It isn't really the fact that he found out about them like he did, or that there even is a them – because really, he knew that before they did – but rather the fact, that she did not tell him. There are supposed to be no secrets between them and granted she always told him everything important when it was time and she had the opportunity to fully comprehend the consequences, but all of those situations involved only either one of them. This concerned both of them equally.

It may be her personal relationship but he has, even three years and an adoption later, this nagging thought in the back of his mind, that this is all too good to be true and is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Is this it?! He likes the Lt. and he encouraged their dating before it started but what if she doesn't want him anymore, now that she has Andy. Fidgeting with the seam of his jeans, he tries to put all of his thoughts into words – ones that won't hurt her feelings because he knows this is important to her – but as always, she knows what is going through his head. One of her hands reaches out and she puts it upon his, stilling his movement. She finds Andy's eyes over her son's head when he comes back into the living room with their dinner and settles in the armchair close to his girlfriend.

"Rusty, honey, nothing is going to change between us. Andy's and my relationship means, that he will be around more, maybe staying at the condo from time to time and I really hope that this is okay for you - or at least will be. But my children will always come first, and that includes you, too. This will not change that, I promise" His eyes travelled from her to him to his shoes and back again during her speech. They finally settled on Sharon, trying to find the sliver of dishonesty he comes to expect when hearing words like this – his other mother never meant them – but he doesn't see what he's looking for. He never has with Sharon, but that doesn't stop him from thinking she one day might. It is ridiculous, he knows but with the past he's had, he also knows that his mother does not blame him for it.

"But what if…"

"No, kid, no what if" It's Andy who cuts him off. "Your mother loves you and she will never abandon any of you. There is no way she will let this – us – get in the way of being your mother and being there for you whenever you need her. If you are not comfortable with our dating, then we'll stop, we'll go back to being very good friends because you kids are the most important thing for the both of us" It would be incredibly hard to get back to the way they used to be, but they discussed this. Their children came first and when one of them is not comfortable with their relationship, it had to end.

"No, god, please… no. Don't do that." Rusty stammers out immediately. "Look, I know all that. I do know that this arrangement is permanent, I know she's my mother and she loves me and she will never want to get rid of me. But I just…" This time he trails off, not knowing how to express what he is feeling. But again, Sharon gets him.

"I know honey. All I need is that you don't forget that" She squeezes his hand lightly, before pulling it back over to herself.

"Yea, I can do that" He sends both of them a smile.

"So you're okay with this?" Andy is the one to ask, though Sharon is not far behind.

"Yea… I'm okay"

They spend the rest of the evening eating dinner on Andy's couch. When they finally get to the point in their conversation, where Sharon can't just ignore the fact any longer that he is not even supposed to be out of the condo at this hour their talking takes on another interesting turn. And yes, she admits, she never thought Rusty would ever actually discuss his own love life with her. When they leave, he is the first to bid the Lt good-bye and heads to his car and drives home before her, because there is just no way he needs to see his mother and her boyfriend parting ways for the night.