A/N: This story is dedicated to the lovely Captainbadassmarshmallowfluff, who needed a distraction from the pain and anxiety of getting her first tattoo. I hope this helps. ~xoxo~
Sharon didn't get to do the laundry very often. Most of her suits and blouses required dry cleaning, and since her job was very time restricting, she had very little time to attend to this particular housework. Rusty usually did it for the both of them and when the kids were younger and still lived with her, they used to do it. On the year and a half she lived on her own after her children moved out and before she took Rusty in, she usually spent every second weekend doing her laundry, and if she needed something urgent before laundry day, she would hand-wash it. With Rusty spending his Saturday with Gus, she decided to relieve him of the task and do the laundry herself.
After unloading the dryer into a laundry basket, and reloading it with the wet laundry Rusty left in the washing machine, she began separating the dark and light laundry, humming a happy tune to a song she didn't remember the lyrics to. It was a song she and Andy listened to in the car when they went out the previous evening and Andy mentioned it was one of his favorite songs. She recalled hearing it before, but God help her if she remembered the name of the band or the song. Regardless, it reminded her of the great time she spent with Andy and that made for a good memory. She was surprised to find out that most of the laundry was Rusty's and not hers, specifically, because he usually gave preferential treatment to his clothes when he filled the washing machine.
After loading the dark laundry into the washing machine, Sharon bent down and picked up the laundry basket, carrying it to her bedroom and placing it on her bed, where she usually did the folding. Folding freshly dried laundry was her favorite part of laundry day. She always enjoyed the smell of the fabric softener and the warmth of the clothes after they were taken out of the dryer.
One by one, she quickly folded the laundry, placing Rusty's clothes on one side of the bed and her clothes on the other, in order to avoid separating them later on. She reached the bottom of the laundry basket when she pulled out the last cloth - a gray cotton T-shirt that seemed too big to be Rusty's and was definitely not hers. As she turned the garment inside out, she realized it was the shirt Andy had worn several times when he stayed with them. The color was slightly faded and she the fabric was thin and soft. Sharon smiled as she recalled how attractive Andy looked when he wore it, even though it was a rather simple pajama shirt. Even though it's been a couple of weeks since he returned home and he was doing a lot better, she missed his constant presence at her home, missed having his shaving kit on her bathroom counter and his electric toothbrush next to hers. She missed sharing her morning coffee with him, leaning into him at the end of the day, as they watched TV. The thing she missed the most was catching the occasional whiff of his aftershave as she walked down the hall, or as she came out of the shower. She thought it was a little funny that he insisted of using even though he was staying home all day long, but she understood his need to feel normal, despite his condition, and she really did love the scent of his aftershave.
It was the sudden longing for him that washed over her that made her pull his shirt over her head and slide her arms into the too-long sleeves. The fabric rubbed softly against her skin and she buried her face in the sleeves and took a long sniff, hoping that the garment didn't lose the smell of Andy's aftershave. She sighed disappointedly when all she caught was the scent of the fabric softener.
Grabbing her folded clothes, she walked into her walk-in closet and placed them on the shelves and in the drawers. It was when she shut the closet door that she noticed her reflection in the mirror, and smiled. Andy's shirt was too long for her and reached the middle of her thighs, covering her white colored shorts completely. The unbuttoned neckline exposed her dark blue camisole, and she had to admit that she looked a little funny, but comfortable wearing it.
The ring of her phone startled her and she picked it up from her bedside table and let a wide smile spread across her face as she saw the caller ID.
"Andy," she said, her voice breathy.
"Hi, sweetheart," his pet name for her made her insides melt immediately. "How's your weekend?"
"Nothing special, just laundry day," she replied, shrugging even though he couldn't see her. "And yours?"
"It happens to be my laundry day too," Andy said. "I seem to be missing a particular shirt. I think I may have left it in your laundry hamper when I stayed with you. It's gray with buttons. Did you encounter it?"
"Gray with buttons, huh?" Sharon replied and Andy hummed in response. "I believe I know where it is… Hold on." She posed in front of the mirror and snapped a photo of herself, then sent it to Andy. "Is this the one?"
"Looks good on you," he chuckled.
"Are you sure it's the same shirt, though? Maybe you should come over for a line-up…" Sharon teased him. Andy's soft laughter made her skin tingle. "Although, I have to warn you. I'm holding it hostage."
"What do you want in return?" Andy asked.
"You, here, as soon as possible."
"Will I get to take it off you?" Andy teased.
"Get yourself here, and you'll find out," Sharon promised and ended the call after Andy assured her that he was already leaving the house. She stared at her phone, feeling warmth creeping up her neck and face as she imagined Andy removing the shirt from her, his palms gliding up her bare arms, and his lips covering hers. "Oh my goodness," she groaned and bit her lip, reminding herself that until Andy got there, she still had two loads of laundry to handle.
THE END
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