Designed as a missing scene in episode 4x17, Penalty Phase, taking place on the night in between the start and finish of the investigation, this fic is based off a prompt from otpprompts on Tumblr:

Person A is decorating the Christmas tree. They go to put the star on top, but they are too short. Person B, the taller, takes the star and places it on top, and then gives Person A a kiss on the head. Whether Person A is annoyed or giddy is up to you.

Sorry this is a little bit late for the festive season - but I loved this prompt and I couldn't see it going to waste. This one is dedicated to coffeeinanebula because she has made me laugh and cry so many times with her fics. :D

Christmas had always been Sharon's favourite time of the year.

She watched the lights on the balcony of her condo shimmer and blink incessantly, red and green and yellow and blue - a stark contrast to the darkness of the streets below, the echo of car horns and engines far in the distance. It was Rusty's idea to add the splash of colour. Her decorations in storage were primarily matched to her collection of angels, white and gold dresses against creamy porcelain skin.

It was still true - you could never have too many angels. The last few years of living with the young man proved it; she was, more often than not, finding herself in awe of his progress as a human being since they had first met in that interview room. Sitting on the couch, she pulled her legs up to meet her chest, contemplating the potential outcome of his latest… "development" with Gus. Emotionally, she thought, he might not be ready, but in true Rusty fashion he seemed to have made up his mind rather quickly.

Sharon heard the front door unlock behind her, the footsteps and jingling keys unmistakeably Andy's. The smell of takeaway Indian food met her senses, the waft of butter chicken and warm garlic naan mixing pleasantly with the remnants of cinnamon and sugar from her earlier holiday baking.

A warm hand meets her shoulder, drawing her eyes up to meet his. He looked slightly concerned - he seemed to know that she hadn't slept since they caught their latest case. Bending to kiss her, the satisfying tingle of their meeting lips blew him away. He could spend a lifetime kissing this woman.

"Hi," she said softly. He noticed how her eyes had perked up when he entered.

He moved to grab some plates from the kitchen, noticing the stepladder by the tree out of the corner of his eye. Andy instantly knew why it was there.

"You do know that Christmas is this Friday, right?" he quipped, catching the amusement in her eyes as she looked at him with indignation.

"I'm fairly sure that after three children, two of which I raised from birth," she laughs, humour trickling into her tone, "that I know when Santa is supposed to come."

They both chuckled, thankful for a bit of light after so many days of darkness. The serial killer on the loose, filming his victims before shooting them, had not afforded the Major Crimes Division much of a break leading into the festive season. So, instead of tiring everyone out, Sharon had opted to send them all home (except Julio, who had insisted on staying in case any new leads came in).

Setting down their food on the coffee table, Andy glances again at the stepladder – she had clearly been attempting to decorate the lone pine tree with garlands of silver and gold. The ornaments were sparse, indicating that she had only begun the task recently – he knew that she liked to match her entire holiday aesthetic to whatever colour baubles she was using that year. It was abundantly clear that this year's theme was purple, shades of lilac fitting in between the angels perfectly.

He looked back at his bashful girlfriend with contentment. The tree was so very Sharon, so much so that he felt like his heart was going to burst. How he had come to love the former Witch of Internal Affairs, he had no idea. But to see the smile on her face and the colour back in her cheeks after so many tough days as of late – it was well worth it.

"What do you say to finishing it off?" he asks, nudging his head in the tree's general direction.

It wasn't that she didn't want to finish it off before, she simply hadn't had time between work and his recovery. His surgery on Thanksgiving had thrown off her equilibrium. He could easily have died on that operating table.

Watching the movement of his hands as they fastened decorations to the tree, however, was a source of comfort. He was still here. Still alive. And still with her. Working in tandem, they quickly reached their endgame; the angel tree-topper, quickly losing metallic glitter in its box, laid on the stepladder's shelf.

As she stepped up to place it, however, she felt his hand on her back, radiating warmth to every part of her body. Their eyes met and he shook his head slightly, gesturing for her to pass him the box.

He removed the angel from its confinement and reached up with ease; the topper slid onto the peak with grace, his hands ready to catch it if it fell. After ensuring it was settled, he found Sharon staring at him, nothing but affection permeating her gaze. He brought his right hand up to cup her cheek and placed a kiss on her forehead, her closed-lip smile widening at the contact.

He hugged her to him, burying his nose in her hair; her arms came to rest around his middle, taking fistfuls of his shirt as she finally, blissfully relaxed against his chest. The past few weeks had been horrific for her; almost losing him twice, not to mention the puddle of blood in her bathroom from the second time, was enough to unnerve her to the point of tears as she spent every waking hour worrying about him.

So she let the tears fall.

Andy rubbed her back as she cried, pulling her to sit on the couch and smoothing her hair down. He moved back slightly to remove her glasses; he met her tired eyes with a supportive look, and she marvelled at her luck. Andy Flynn, the hothead of Robbery/Homicide and Major Crimes, was somehow, simultaneously, a giant teddy bear.

Her teddy bear. Her rock. And she hadn't told him just how much he meant to her.

"Andy, I…" she began, her voice rather croaky, "I love you, I want you to know that. I should have told you befo-"

"Sharon, Sharon," he stopped her, "do you know how long I've been waiting for you to say those words? Sweetheart, I love you too. I just didn't want to scare you off."

Giving him a watery smile, she kissed him firmly, her lips trembling against the solid presence of his. She settled her head in the crook of his neck, content to sit in the warmth of his arms and the strength of his embrace.

Until death do them part.