Hey guys! I'm back again. I've had this stored away for a week or two, just chomping at the bit for 3x09 to air. Anywho, please review. I love hearing from readers, it fuels my muse.

Oh! And sorry in advance for any grammar/spelling mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.

The ride home is quiet. She had no intention of going home with him tonight, but it just happened. She was walking down the hall to the exit when she felt a presence beside her. She didn't have to look over to know who it was. They walked side by side out to his truck, neither speaking nor looking at one another.

Needless to say, the tension is dense, pent up emotions and words hanging heavily in the air between them. They're both avoiding the elephant in the car, one that's been following them around since last week.

He knows he overreacted earlier, but at this point he just doesn't care. Anger and frustration boil beneath the surface of his skin as he thinks about the day's events once more, his white knuckles tightening around the steering wheel as he drives them to his house. Andy's silent the whole way, never stealing a glance at his stern profile. Sam watches her through his peripherals as she her props her elbow on the window ledge and rests her chin in her hand as she watches the city pass her by.

He pulls the truck into his driveway and brings it to a slow stop. He shuts it off and Andy starts to get out before noticing that he's making no attempt at getting out. She sits back in her seat and sighs.

They sit there in silence for seconds, minutes, what feels like hours before Andy speaks quietly.

"You were out of line today."

His brows shoot up as he looks over at her and places one of his hands on his chest. "Me? I was out of line?"

"Yeah, you were," she answers a bit defensively. Andy turns her body in the seat so she's facing him. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asks with a bit more attitude than intended.

Sam ignores her question. "What were you thinking today at the deal?"

"What do you mean? I did nothing that was out of line-"

Sam scoffs at that and rolls his eyes. He can feel his anger rise as she defends herself.

"Nothing? You don't see anything wrong with the way you acted?"

"I was doing my job, Sam. Sorry for being a good cop."

"Being a good cop doesn't mean disobeying orders and almost blowing the operation. You were supposed to stay behind the scenes, not be the one who talked down the buyer."

He's speaking loudly now, his face the utter description of pissed off.

"Hey. If it weren't for me, that operation would have been blown, and you know it. I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of this."

Sam pauses for a second before responding, a questioning look on his face. "A big deal?"

"Yeah, a big deal. And stop repeating what I say, it's annoying." She skips a beat before an idea comes to mind. "Look, is this about your manliness or something? Did I like hurt your feelings by stepping up today or…"

He cuts off her rambling, "Woah, Andy, Andy. That is not what this is about."

"Then why do you care so much?" She all but yells, wildly gesturing with her hands.

He doesn't even think before he blurts out, "Because you're reckless, Andy! You do what you want without thinking it through or considering who's gonna get hurt or killed in the process!"

Her reply is ready as soon as he finishes. "If I hadn't of gone in there Nick would probably have a lot more than just a few cuts and bruises right now and he'd be sitting in a hospital. You told me a long time ago to trust my gut, and that's what I did, Sam. In the past it's worked for me and –"

He cuts her off and speaks loudly. "Oh yeah? Is that what happened last week?"

Andy cocks her head to the side just slightly and grimaces. "What? What do you mean?"

His reply is immediate, and he barely gives a thought to what he's about to say next. "I mean that I shoulda listened to Jerry the other night and instead I listened to you."

She visibly recoils at his words, hurt and anguish filling her eyes. She breaks eye contact and looks down at her hands in her lap. The next time she speaks, she's hesitant and quiet.

"Is that what this is really about? Are you blaming me for Jerry?"

She looks up to find him looking straight ahead out the windshield, slowly shaking his head.

His voice is quiet. "No, Andy – "

"Really?" She bites out, a bit louder now, anger slowly seeping back into her voice. "Because that's what it feels like. It feels like you're saying that if I had acted differently, that he wouldn't have died."

He shakes his head. "I just didn't want anything to happen to you. I...I …" the words stick on the lump that's formed in his throat and he's unable to voice his feelings.

"You what?" She cuts him off, angry tears filling her eyes. Her bitter tone dares him to say it, to say he loves her. She's been pushing that nagging feeling to the back of her mind that Sam never returned the three-word sentiment she said weeks ago.

He looks back at her, his mouth paralyzed. He clamps it shut and shakes his head infinitesimally.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," she says.

They sit in silence for a minute while Andy's brain tries to dissect what he really means. When she thinks she has a grasp on what he's saying, she speaks again.

"So what you're saying is that you only went with me because we're together and you were worried about me because of what happened in my apartment the night before. That it had nothing to do with the facts that pointed towards the bartender; that it was just you being overprotective and fulfilling your need to constantly hover over me like I'm some helpless child."

Sam doesn't object to her theory, just sits there and digests it for what it is. And somewhere deep down, he knows that she's right. His silence is all she needs to doubt him, to doubt what they have. She's the next one to speak, but she can't even make eye contact with him at this point.

"Listen, maybe we should take some time-" she stops suddenly when she sees his head snap to the side to look at her and makes eye contact with him. The look in his eyes is so open and vulnerable it almost makes her flinch. It holds desperation, a silent plea to her to just stay and be with him. The look alone slowly alleviates the feelings of anger and frustration that were steadily building up inside her and she pushes them to the back of her mind to be dealt with another time.

It's one of the few times she's seen his face display what he's actually feeling inside, and right now he doesn't care because at this point he's so broken and exhausted inside that all he wants to do is climb in bed with her and sleep the days and stress away, forgetting the world outside in the process.

"Can," he rasps out and shuts his mouth before quickly clearing his thoat. "Can we go inside?" Sam tries again, his voice still rough with emotion.

She nods and holds his gaze for a few more seconds. "Yeah," she replies and begins to get out of the truck, her bag slung over her shoulder as she makes her way to his front door.

He lets them inside and they toe off their shoes, hang their coats and toss their bags aside in the foyer. Andy starts to trudge down the hallway in search of his bedroom when she feels a hand close around her arm and pull back. She turns around to find him standing very close. Their chests almost brush together and she can feel his breath on her face as one of his hands creeps up to cup her jaw.

He inches his face forward and brushes his nose against hers, a gesture he never really started doing until he met her. "Hey," he wispers before he moves his lips to hers.

The kiss is gentle at first, but it's like a fire spreads inside him and the kiss quickly escalates to something rushed and furious. Andy struggles a bit at first to keep up but gets in the groove of returning his demanding kisses as she slips her tongue inside his mouth. She tries not to grin as she hears a quiet moan escape the back of his throat as their tongues battle for power. Sam leans down a little and runs one of his hands down her side, over her hip and down to her leg. He grabs it and pulls it up around his waist and uses her offset of balance as a chance to back her up against the wall in the foyer.

Out of nowhere, Andy gets this feeling. It's a nagging one that starts small, telling her that they shouldn't do this, not like this anyway. There's too much that's been left unsaid. They can't just forget that Jerry died and that Sam probably blames her for it. She can't live with that. She can't live with him thinking that.

She knows it wasn't her fault, she does. Traci doesn't blame her, her coworkers don't blame her… but after what Sam said she can't help but blame herself the slightest bit. There was no way she could have known it was the cab driver. She trusted her gut and her instincts and they pointed her towards the bartender. She never could have known that Jerry would be the one to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Andy loses track of that thought as Sam's lips travel from her mouth to her jaw and down to her neck. She arcs into his chest and angles her chin up to give him better access. She lets out a moan as his lips move to that spot behind her ear. As he moves to lift her fully up around his waist, the pestering voice in the back of her mind starts screaming at her to stop this, that they need to talk.

"Sam." Andy means it as a warning but it comes out more as a gasp as he grinds his hips into hers at that exact moment, showing her just how happy he is that she's okay.

So she tries again, this time while shoving at his shoulder forcefully for good measure. "Sam, stop."

He pulls back a few inches to look at her, his questioning eyes not quite masked by the guarded expression he's attempting to put on his face. "What is it?"

Andy knows that if she's gonna say anything more, she has to be at least two feet away from him because the look in his eyes alone is all she needs right now to jump him and forget all of her doubts. So she pushes at his chest again while trying to put her legs back on the ground.

"Can you – can you please just put me on the ground?"

Sam disentangles himself from her and takes a few steps back and crosses his arms, like he honestly cannot believe she's doing this right now.

After a few seconds he asks, "So?"

She shakes her head and buries her face in her hands, breathing deeply while trying to collect her thoughts. Sam steps forward and pulls her hands away.

"Andy, we can talk about it in the morning, just come to bed with me."

She lets out a breath before shaking her head, "are you kidding me, Sam?"

"What?" His brows furrow and he's looking at her like she's lost her mind.

"I said 'are you kidding me?'. Going to bed with each other is the last thing we should be doing right now! Ten minutes ago you basically told me you blame me for what happened to Jerry. How am I supposed to forget about that and move on into bed with you?"

"Andy-" Sam tries to interrupt, but she doesn't let him. Her voice gains confidence and volume as she continues full steam ahead.

"We need to talk about this! I know you're not fine. You say you are, but guess what? I can hear you awake at night breathing next to me. I know you haven't been able to get more than two hours of uninterrupted sleep for the past couple weeks because of Jerry dying. And I ask you all the time if you're fine, but I know you're not! You're shutting me out, and it's gone on for long enough! I can't stand it!"

Andy's rant comes to an end and she stops then, breathing heavily.

"You done?" He asks.

She looks up at him and nods, eyes filled with sadness. "Yeah."

Sam looks away and the seconds tick past before he speaks again. "I think you're right. Maybe we should take some time."

She lets out a shuddering breath, "Seriously?"

"Yeah." Sam looks back at her. "I don't know if I can do this job and be with you at the same time."

Her forehead wrinkles and tears spring to her eyes. "Yeah, okay." She almost whispers.

They stand there looking at each other for a while until a neighborhood car alarm sounds and snaps Andy out of her trance. She collects her jacket and slides her shoes on and shoulders her bag before opening his front door. She looks back at Sam, still standing in the same place, not looking at her.

"Okay then, I guess I'll see you around."

And with that, Andy walks out his door and down his front walk. Tears flood her eyes as she reaches the sidewalk and starts walking in the direction of her house. She looks back at his house and sees nothing. No movement, no lights turning on or off, no signs of him running after her.

But what she can't see is Sam moving throughout his house slowly, on his way to his bedroom. She can't see him collapse onto his bed as grief overtakes his body and he shakes with sobs as he cries into his pillow, the stress finally breaking him.