Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
A/N: Sequel to When the Truth Comes Out
Prompt: Sharon/Andy - First Date
Sharon Raydor had two hours. In two hours Andy Flynn would be ringing her doorbell, all grins and confident, warm brown eyes. He would be taking her out for dinner, a Thai restaurant they had both liked the last time they went there. In two hours they were going on a date, a real date, where she didn't have to pretend she didn't notice the way he smiled way too much or laughed far too hard when she said something. In two hours Andy would be there, yet Sharon couldn't even keep her hand steady enough to get her key in the door.
The door opened with a whoosh, making her nearly drop her keys as her eyes looked up to see Rusty.
"What are you doing home?" he asked, leaving out the other question she knew he was thinking. And what the hell is wrong with you? "You said you were going to be staying late today."
Sharon stepped in and quickly, uncharacteristically, dropped her things down on the sofa and rushed off down the hall to her room, her heels clicking loudly with her hard steps. "My plans for the evening have changed," she called out from her bedroom, even her tone sounding odd. Everything came out in a rush.
She exhaled deeply; she'd been taking a lot of deep breaths since the word 'date' actually registered earlier. She went to her closet, stepping out of her heels as she started moving through her clothes, trying to decide what she would wear.
When she usually went out with Andy, there was none of this pressure she was currently experiencing. Once they agreed they weren't going on dates, just spending time together as two friends, it made things easy. She didn't wonder if a dress would look better than something a little more casual, but now that was something she was trying to figure out - a dress was always better, she concluded. As two friends going out, Sharon didn't think about if Andy would kiss her at the end of the night. Before, Sharon had no reason to think he would. She knew he wanted to on many occasions, and she admittedly wanted him to as well, but he respected her boundaries. Now, after knowing what it felt like to have his lips upon her own, Sharon couldn't stop herself from imagining how the night would end when he dropped her off.
Sharon jumped slightly when Rusty knocked on her bedroom door. She laughed at herself. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. She couldn't seriously be this nervous, not after everything that had already happened between her and Andy.
"So exactly where are you going?" he asked, looking over to the three dresses on her arm.
"To dinner," she answered easily, "with Andy."
Rusty seemed to lose interest and nodded, using his foot to push himself off the wall he was leaning against. It was something she'd done enough times for it to seem like no big deal to him, but she also had a feeling he could tell something was different. Her nervousness was obvious, and as he walked away he had given her that look that meant he knew something.
"You should go with the blue dress."
"What?" Sharon asked quietly, and then looked to the space where Rusty was no longer standing. He was already back in the living room. Sharon eyed the three dresses in her hand for a moment and then smiled, hanging up two and keeping out the blue one. She held it up in front of herself while she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "Good choice," she said more to herself than him.
...
All the nervousness had finally seemed to dissipate once the two of them were sitting down in the restaurant. They were deciding what to have for dinner, and Sharon could feel Andy glance her way repeatedly. She didn't look away from the menu resting on the table in front of her, but each time she smiled inwardly. Maybe Andy had been nervous as well. The change between them was something they would have to both get used to, she realized.
Finally Andy spoke. "You look incredible," he said.
Sharon looked up from her menu, through thick eyelashes. "I know," she said slowly and with amusement. "You told me."
He shrugged and dropped his eyes to his own menu. "Well you still look incredible. There's no reason why I can't tell you again."
Sharon hummed, biting back a smile. "Thank you."
...
"You know, today was the day I was going to speak to you about...us."
Sharon hummed around the food in her mouth, looking at Andy.
"But, of course, you had to beat me to it," Andy said with a laugh.
"Are you complain', Lieutenant?"
Andy grinned, brown eyes dancing over Sharon. "That I got to go out with you to dinner tonight? Not at all. I just thought it would be me that made the first move."
Sharon nodded. It had taken her weeks to be able to even bring up the topic with Andy. She had tried many times, but every time she thought she could do it, she went against it. Things were far too complicated with her personal life, and she was also his boss. In Sharon's mind, there were more reasons why they should remain friends than there were for them to explore the other possibilities. But it had reached a point where Sharon knew a friendship wasn't enough; they both wanted so much more.
"It was you who made tonight a date," she reminded him matter-of-factly. "I'd say that's important. Next time I'll have to pick what we do, though."
"Oh yeah?" Andy grinned.
"Mhm. There's somewhere I've been wanting to go with you. Perhaps next week, on Saturday, we could go there."
"Do you always plan your next date while you are currently on one?"
Sharon laughed, reaching for her glass while she answered. "Only when you're involved."
...
A resounding laugh vibrated through Sharon's bones, Andy's laughter infectious and making her laugh as well. In their corner table, leaning in to each other as they spoke, nobody would believe it if they found out this was their first date. It all looked like it flowed so easily: she laid her hand on the table and his fingers brushed against it, he made a joke and it led to her laughing behind her hand, her eyes not leaving his, and even the way they looked at each other seemed familiar, like they weren't surprised by the way the other person appeared captivated. From the outside looking in, Sharon and Andy didn't appear to be on a first date. And Sharon realized, somewhere between Andy's flirting and her own, this was not their first date. Official first date, yes, but they had been dating for months.
...
"Thank you for letting me take you to dinner, Sharon," Andy said at her door, still grinning. Had he ever stopped? She realized she too was still smiling. "We should do it again," he added, his words rushed out like he had been holding on to them for a long time and was desperate to set them free.
"Yes, we should. I had a lovely night." Sharon licked her lips and then shifted on her feet a little.
"So did I," Andy mumbled, his eyes dropping down to Sharon's lips like she predicted they would. "Uh, I guess I should..."
Sharon had waited for him to kiss her first earlier, but this time she wasn't going to wait. She stepped closer to him and craned her neck up, looking into his eyes as she pressed her lips to his. The fluttering in her belly intensified when she felt Andy's hand on the small of her back and his lips kissing hers back. Her eyelids fell shut and her lips moved across his with ease.
It was slow and gentle, his lips kissing her top lip and then her bottom, then doing it again until the soft almost-giggle that she was trying to hold in escaped. To quiet it, she pulled him closer with her arms around his neck. Even as a teenager, Sharon would have never kissed a man like this on a first date. But this was Andy, and Andy's lips tasted delicious and she had been thinking about kissing him again since they kissed in the park. Besides, Sharon reminded herself, it was their first date. So she continued to kiss him, and she would make sure to do it many times in the future.
After Sharon was inside, she heard the sound of Rusty's music turning down. Before she even made it past the foyer, she heard him speaking to her.
"How'd your date go?" he asked, and even without seeing him she knew that knowing smile was there.
She flushed, staring blankly at the wall. Then, Sharon smiled. "My date went well."
The End. Thanks for reading.