Another one-shot. Not my best but the Oliver separation story-line I just find fascinating. That they're finally doing something with him is awesome however sad it may be.
Same disclaimers apply. I own nothing etc.
The side-door crashing closed barely registered to Sam as he slowly stirred the vegetables sautéing in the pan. The arms wrapping around his middle however had a much more immediate effect. He smiled and put down the spoon, turning to wrap his own arms around his girlfriend's body. "How was the yoga class?" he asked her curiously as she burrowed her face in his shoulder.
She leaned back and met his eyes. "Good. Tiring though," she said moving her head back into his shoulder.
"Not that tiring I hope, he said reaching around and flipping off the stove top before spinning her around and lifting her onto the counter-top.
She giggled hiding her face in his neck as his hands lifted her shirt up and over her back. "What about dinner?" she asked him looking over at the vegetables.
"There's plenty of time for that later," he said attaching his mouth to her neck as he started fiddling with the back clasp of her sports bra.
"I'm sure that can be arranged," she told him reaching for the hem of his black t-shirt.
Yoga pants, a bra, a t-shirt an undone zipper and some slightly overdone veggies later the loud clearly of a throat had Andy, squeaking and Sam moving around to block the previously unobstructed view of their pre-dinner activities.
"So I'm guessing dinner isn't done yet," Oliver said looking pointedly at the tank top hanging precariously on the corner of the island.
Sam shot him a dirty look. "Do you mind?"
"Oh no, be my guest," Oliver said waving his hands vaguely
A few more hand gestures, most rude and Oliver wandered out muttering to himself about horny teenagers.
Andy wasted no time in hopping off the counter, skirting Sam's grabby hands and snatching her clothes from the various appliances and dressing in record time.
"McNally…" Sam said still trailing her around the kitchen but getting no closer than a hand-slap.
"Oliver just walked in on us, on me, doing… that!" Andy said backing away from him.
"We weren't doing…that," Sam said with a smirk.
"Close enough!"
"Somehow I don't think it is," he said. "It's not like you've got anything he hasn't seen, Andy," Sam said trying to placate her.
Unsurprisingly that tack was unsuccessful.
"He hasn't seen mine!" she shrieked at him, looking through the kitchen for any leftover clothing.
"Andy, come on. Where are you going?" he asked her seeing the train of her thoughts.
"I'm going home," she told him trying to remember where she put her shoes.
"Andy…," Sam sighed. "Andy look, why don't you just go upstairs and take a shower?" Sam asked her. "Dinner is almost done and it's Pad Thai. You love Pad Thai," he tried bribing.
Andy remained unmoved.
"Okay. I'll do all the paperwork myself for a shift," he tried again.
"A week of shifts," Andy hedged.
"Three, and if you try to make me do more you know they'll just get sent back to you when no one can read my writing," Sam called.
"Deal," she said reaching out to shake on it.
Sam grabbed her hand and quickly tugged her into his arms. "Deal," he said bending slightly to kiss her.
Cheekily Andy stuffed her hand in his face and pushed him backwards. "Hold that thought, loverboy. I'm hungry. Get cooking, she said practically prancing out of his grasp.
Sam shook his head and smiled grabbing the dish towel nearest to his hand. "Hey McNally, you forgot something"
"What?" she asked peeking back in the room narrowly missing being snapped by the towel. "Jerk!" she swore before running up the stairs.
Sam just laughed before heading back to his stir frying duties adding the chicken and mixing together the sauce over the amalgam.
"Three shifts of paperwork buddy? You're getting soft," Oliver's voice chirped out from the hallway. "Or maybe you're just in L-O-V-E" he sing-songed practically dancing into the room.
Sam just shook his head. "Yeah, thanks for that buddy. I so need you to butt into my personal life at work and at home."
"Sure I see. Blame me. It's not like I've been here for the past week or anything. Please have sex on the countertops just a few dozen steps from the door to my room. It's not like I'm not embracing my fresh separation from my wife," he told Sam.
Sam just sighed, "Ollie…"
Oliver raised his hand, "No, forget I said that. I'm sorry. This is your house and I know you're in that teenager-stage of love."
Sam nearly choked. "We aren't… I mean we haven't."
Oliver just raised his eyebrows.
"I mean… I don't even know what I mean," Sam said returning to stirring.
"Don't kid yourself brother," Oliver told him simply. "You've been knocked on your ass in love with her since she knocked you on your ass."
Sam gave a short laugh. "Not quite, Ollie."
"Close enough," Oliver said with a shrug. "The sooner you admit it to yourself the sooner you stop moping around and the sooner you two crazy kids get married so Sarah can stop sending me Christmas cards with full on interrogations on your love life."
"She did what?"
"Every year since we were rookies, buddy."
"Damn it!"
"Don't worry about it. Zoe normally answered them as well as she could. I think McNally has featured a starring role in the last two," he told his friend.
Sam still looked less than amused.
"Look, without getting into a Degrassi moment here, what's happening in my marriage isn't some Magic Eight Ball to your future. Andy isn't Zoe and you, despite your rugged good looks, cannot possibly be me. If you try to equivocate the two you're always going to wind up second guessing yourself."
Sam, moved the wok off the stove before getting down some plates.
"And that kid last week wasn't you either," Oliver said with a serious look.
"He could have been," Sam slipped out.
"But he wasn't and looking back like that, when you've got something good in front of you is just stupid. You know that. I shouldn't need to tell you not to look for problems where there are none. You're not McNally," Oliver said pointedly.
Sam handed him three plates and cutlery, pointing at the table. "Set that. We might as well make this as awkward as possible."
"I know you're not deaf but you need to give me some sign that you heard me," Oliver said setting the stuff down on the island.
"I hear you," Sam sighed opening the refrigerator and pulling out three beers.
"Good," Oliver said with a happy clap to the countertop. "On that note, I'm going to go wash my hands. You seem to have this under control," he said motioning at the dinnerware before marching out into the hallway and nearly running over Andy in the process. Before she could speak he pushed her further back away from the door. "You're welcome McNally."
"What?" she asked him completely confused.
"I know your ears were burning. Hopefully my little chat with him will have made a difference. Consider that my apology for seeing you…" he motioned awkwardly at his upper chest and began to mime before Andy grabbed his hands.
Blushing furiously she thanked him, "but never ever mime that ever again," Andy told him cringing.
"Deal," he told her with a nod. "Now, I'll be gone for exactly four minutes, so no funny business kid."
Andy turned a deeper shade of red before nodding and wandering leisurely into the kitchen. Unable to help himself Oliver doubled-back and peered in, smiling at what he saw. Sam smiling like a fool as he held Andy back from the pan of fresh faux-Thai food. He spun her not once, but twice before setting her in front of the pile Oliver had left and pointing at the table. Unable to help herself she must have sassed him because before he even saw it coming, Sam had towel snapped her again which soon began the war again.
His happiness for his friends was soon changed to a bittersweet thing. The deep sense of regret and melancholy overwhelmed Oliver quickly then, like a tidal wave. He remembered that stage of his life with Zoe. Heck that had been his whole relationship until the past year or so. Kids, the mortgage, the stress, his hours and the job in general had changed things and until just now he hadn't realized how much. He missed her like he'd never missed anything in his life and more importantly he missed what he had been peering in on just moments before. When had they lost the sense of play in their relationship? How had they let it get this far away from them? He'd ask her that tonight during his nightly phone-call. She didn't always want to talk about them (her favorite topic recently had been Sam's recently more active love life of all things), and he was less and less okay with that fact but maybe tonight he could convince her that what they had was worth saving; that the fun they always had was worth it.
Sam wandering into the hallway startled him out of his reverie.
"Do I need to worry about having to arrest my best friend for being a peeping tom now too?" he asked him with a smirk.
"Says the man who spied on his neighbor," Oliver countered.
"I was 13, and she was 16," Sam defended. "And keep it down, that's one thing Andy certainly doesn't need to hear."
"Andy already heard it," she spoke loudly from the kitchen.
Sam just pinched the bridge of his nose while Oliver chuckled.
"Thanks for that brother. I appreciate it," Sam said muttering about never living it down.
Oliver slapped his friend's shoulder. "You're welcome." He paused for a moment before turning, "And in case I haven't said it, thanks for letting me stay here. I know I'm cramping your style but you've been a good friend, scratch that, the best friend I needed, so thanks."
Sam nodded, "It's nothing you wouldn't do for me or that you haven't done for me."
"I know."
"You'll get her back, you know. You and Zoe are practically an institution. You'll figure it out," Sam said with a certainty that Oliver hadn't been able to feel.
"I'm beginning to believe that brother," Oliver said turning and walking up the stairs. "If anything else we're getting to know each other again."
"There is that," Sam replied turning back to the kitchen.
"Oh, and Sam?" Oliver questioned.
"Yes," Sam said with a resigned sigh.
"I'm just going to wash my hands. See if you can keep it in your pants for two minutes."
Sam just grinned ruefully, "Whatever asshole, you're just jealous."
"Never, brother. I know the single ladies love a moody bastard but I've got something better." Oliver said with a smirk.
"And that is?" Sam questioned curiously.
"You'll get it soon enough Sammy… soon enough." Oliver said knowingly, his eyes smiling.
"Not to break up your man-conference or anything but I'm starving and the food is getting cold," Andy said from behind them before walking back into the kitchen.
Sam nodded back at his friend. "Sooner than you'd think," Sam said quietly to his friend before following his girlfriend back into the kitchen.
Oliver chuckled before continuing up to his temporary accommodations to wash his hands. Zoe would like this little plot twist. Hopefully he'd get to tell her about it in person shortly but until then he'd make due with their phone-chats. He had some thinking to do but first was dinner with the lovebirds. He might as well have some fun before the deep emotional stuff came back at him again. Embarrassing Sam was no easy task but someone had to try and it would be one more thing to tell Zoe; One more thing to keep her on the phone just a bit longer, one more time to make her laugh and one more piece of common ground. One day at a time and they'd get there. They all would.