A/N: These two as friends are great, but I might be inclined to write a romance somewhere down the line. I mean c'mon they both want the same thing and it seems like they keep getting screwed by the people they are with because they don't. Argh. Hah.
Title: Andy's Other Break-Up Buddy
Summary: Post 3x11, Andy is walking home and upon seeing her Chris pulls over and offers a ride. Nick might've offered to be her break-up buddy, but as the night goes on Chris finds himself taking on the role as well and fulfilling the last graduation requirement.
Rated: PG-13 for lang
Genre: Friendship/Comfort
Dis: I don't own Rookie Blue
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The air of Toronto was crisp and cool, the slight breeze ruffling the leaves that still refused to fall from the trees. It had snowed earlier in the day but the ground was still warm enough to make the snow melt into puddles, giving the rouse of rain showers. Walking down the sidewalk with her hands deep in her pockets was Officer Andy McNally. They had just snagged a key player in the drug industry of Toronto and made eight solid arrests after. She had worked that case, was involved in a few of the arrests as well, and so she should be happy. However, there was an invisible cloud over her head that matched the ominous ones in the sky that was threatening to sprinkle more snow atop Toronto.
The cloud's name? Sam Swarek.
Andy had given him time. Hell, they all needed time after Jerry's death but she'd been waiting for the moment he came up to her, eyes on the ground, begging her to come back. She thought today had been that day. That he'd tell her he'd been acting like an idiot and wanted her back. She knew, in her heart, that she'd take him back too because she loved him. Instead, she got asked for a spare set of keys to his truck.
Keys!
Hands tightened in the depths of her jacket, fingers crinkling the certificate Nick had just given her for "graduating" in her break-up with Sam. Truly, in her heart, she knew she'd never get over him. Even if she did find someone else her heart would be slightly shadowed due to the betrayal she felt from Sam dumping her like that.
Tears threatened to fall and she blinked rapidly. Nick had asked if she needed to cry and she had said she was good. She wasn't good. She was ready to bawl her eyes out. She had hoped the walk would clear her head but the solitude only led to her thinking amongst herself on how miserable her life was.
"And it's snowing," she muttered, head turning up as tiny flakes caressed her nose and cheeks before evaporating from her skin's warmth. "Great. Just great!"
Andy stilled as a familiar Jeep Wagoneer pulled to the side of the road. She heard the transmission click into park and the driver side door opened and soon, peeking over the top of his vehicle was Chris Diaz. He had a look of worry on his face when he saw her but soon he forced a smile.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Hey."
"Need a lift?"
"I…" She was about to say she wanted to be alone but remembered where her thoughts had been before. He had helped her the night before, why not now? "Sure, but don't tell Nick, I told him no earlier."
"Nick offered you a ride?" he asked, curious.
"With Gail. I decided to let them be alone." Andy made a face. "I don't want to be around that stuff right now."
"Amen, sister," said Chris and Andy saw a flash of hurt. He was totally not over Gail, like she wasn't totally over Sam. "Hop in."
They entered the much warmer car and after she tossed her bag in back they were soon driving down the streets of Toronto toward Andy's apartment. Chris turned the radio down to the point Andy could barely hear the song that was playing. The song was something unfamiliar but relaxing and she was almost melting into the seat as sleepiness made her eyes heavy.
"Long day," sighed Chris, shifting in his seat slightly, hands readjusting on the wheel.
"Yep."
"Work tomorrow?" he asked, quickly glancing her way before returning his eyes on the road.
"Yeah, you?"
"Yeah. Late shift."
"Me too."
More quiet.
"Wanna get something to eat?"
"Sure," said Andy. "Not really in the mood to cook."
"I know a place. Gail and I used to go there. They got great burgers."
"Actually," said Andy. "Let's go somewhere we haven't been before. Somewhere that won't remind us of our exes. Something… different."
"All right, I'm game," said Chris.
It took them a while and after a few veto's they found a small diner. A neon sign flashed a logo of a burger and below it was the name: "Gretchen's". After insisting that she didn't have to pay since he invited her to dinner and with a promise that she'd get the tab next time they exited the car and quickly headed inside. The smell of grease instantly hit their noses and a jukebox in the corner was playing an Elvis song. Andy's boots clicked against the linoleum floor as they found a red booth and slid in on their respective sides.
"It's… Nice," said Andy, looking around the place to see 50's memorabilia decorating every inch of the walls.
"Yeah. It has character," said Chris just as their waitress came up wearing a poodle skirt, blouse, sandal shoes, and a red scarf around her neck. Her ponytail bobbed as she announced the specials but they both ended up ordering cheeseburger baskets with a Coke.
"So," said Andy, shrugging out of her jacket and re-rolling the sleeves of her red and black checkered shirt back up to her elbows. "I have to ask. You ok? With the whole Gail and Nick thing?"
"I don't really want to talk about that," mumbled Chris as their drinks arrived. "You want to talk about Swarek?"
"Touché," said Andy, jabbing her straw against the table until it poked out of its paper wrapping. Plopping it into her soda she took a long drink before continuing. "Noelle's baby is cute."
"Yeah she is, but Noelle didn't tell me her name."
"Me neither. I think it's her still trying to torture us without even being there," said Andy. "At least we know it's a girl."
"Seeing Traci today, it made me think of Jerry."
"Yeah," said Andy sadly, a small frown forming on her face. "Me too. Traci seemed ok, got to work with that girl I heard that threw a slushie in Gail's face."
"Yeah," said Chris with a chuckle, playing with his silverware on the napkin. "I can't imagine losing someone I love so suddenly after that. Poor Traci…"
"Argh! This is crazy," said Andy, running her hands through her hair. "We need to stop moping. We… We need to talk about something else."
"Right, you're right, sorry," said Chris.
Their food came and soon they were digging in. They bit into their burgers and chewed vigorously, trying to think of their next topic, trying to stop the onslaught of negative emotions from losing friends and loved ones. Suddenly they stopped chewing, looked at each other, and then swallowed almost painfully. Andy had tears in her eyes and Chris looked like he was about to throw up.
"Oh my God this is awful," whispered Andy, dropping her burger onto her plate.
"I've never eaten anything so nasty in my life," answered Chris, taking a long drink of soda. "Ever!"
"This has to be a threat to public safety," said Andy breathlessly.
"We're reporting this place tomorrow."
"Look at us, saving lives one burger joint at a time," said Andy and soon the both of them cracked up laughing. However, Andy's laughter transitioned into hysterical sobbing and seeing the change a slightly panicked Chris sat frozen in his spot as she ranted. "I mean, hell if I can't keep a guy from cheating on me or leaving me for no apparent reason. I mean it must be me, right? If a girl has a guy cheat on her, and then another guy leave her within the same year…." She shook her head then brought her hands up to her face, fingertips pressing against her closed eyes to help stop the tears. "What's wrong with me, Chris? I give and give and end up with nothing in the end."
"Hey, hey, listen, there's nothing wrong with you," said Chris sternly, quickly transitioning from one side of the booth to the other. Going into friend mode he pulled her against his chest and ran soothing circles against her back. "Hell Andy I know how you feel. I went through the same doubts with Gail. It's not you, it's them. Gail and Sam are a lot alike. Stubborn, hard to love because they have these walls, and as soon as they start coming down they get scared and defensive and want to back out…You should have seen Sam today. He was a mess on the job and I think it's 'cause he's starting to regret what he did."
"Yeah?" she asked, sniffling while taking comfort from a friend.
"Yeah."
"It's funny. Because I was doing this plan with Nick and he was my break-up buddy."
"Break-up buddy?"
"Yes. Shut up. It was working. Really. Well, the last step is to have a good cry and I told him I was good when I wasn't, but now, here with you? You helped tonight, Chris. You… You helped me say good riddance, sort of, you know what I mean? I just… It's a door that I can close, not to say that if he were to come barging in here right now and ask for me back that I wouldn't be tempted to say yes but…" She sighed long and deep. "Thanks for being such a good friend."
"I'll always be here for you, Andy. No matter how small the issue you think it might be, if you have a problem, let me know."
"Gail was dumb, you didn't deserve that. Any girl would be lucky to have you."
"And Sam equally dumb for breaking it off with you."
A pause.
"I still think this place sucks," said Andy, making Chris laugh.
"Me, too. Wanna get outta here? Dov and I have frozen pizzas in the freezer. Come over, I'm sure Dov won't mind the company."
"I think I should just go home."
"You sure?" he asked as she pulled back, straightened, and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"No," she said with a sad smile.
"We're sad," said Chris, signaling the waitress for a check.
"Yeah, we are."
They paid, left, and were soon heading to Andy's apartment. Parking on the street Andy noticed her lights were off. A quick text to Gail and Andy knew her other friend was staying somewhere else. Biting her bottom lip she looked at Chris.
"Wanna come up? Gail isn't around. I think I have pizzas too. We can watch a movie, eat pizza, get drunk, then go to work in the morning hung over."
Chris seemed to debate the idea. He loved hanging out with Andy, and really? He hadn't been spending as much time with her as he should be to help her out with the break up. With a nod he killed the engine to his Jeep then followed her up to her apartment. Funny enough, neither of them thought of Gail or Sam as they enjoyed an Adam Sandler classic, beer, and pizza. They sat on opposite sides of the couch and as the coffee table's surface grew more crowded with empty beer bottles their laughter increased and by the time the credits were rolling they were sound asleep.
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Andy and Chris were startled awake with a slamming of the door. Andy sat up quickly as did Chris and they looked over the back of the couch to see Gail, glaring an icy glare directed to them both.
"Gail!" said Chris, quickly standing from the couch. His knee hit the coffee table and bottles scattered and he reached down frantically to pick them up.
"How cute," she said crisply. "You two had a sleepover."
"We fell asleep watching a movie," said Andy, rolling her eyes. "Don't be a diva about it."
"Whatever do you mean?" asked Gail. "I had one too. At Nick's." Her eyes fell upon Chris, narrowing. "It was fun."
"I better go," said Chris, exiting the apartment in time to hear Andy ask Gail if it had really been necessary to talk to him like that.
Chris was just now reminded of the coldness of Gail and maybe, maybe them breaking up wasn't such a bad thing. Yeah, he loved her, always would, but he just had to get over the fact that he wanted her back. How messed up was he? He wanted someone who kissed his best friend back.
"I'm an idiot," he muttered as he ventured back into his Jeep and headed to his place. He entered then stilled when seeing Dov holding a frozen bag of peas over his face while trying to drink a cup of coffee. Chris saw how swollen his face was and was instantly at his friends side. "What the hell happened?!"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Dov-"
"I don't want to talk about it!" he shouted, making Chris hold up his hands in surrender. "Where have you been all night?"
"Andy's."
"Wait, what?" asked Dov, straightening in his seat, as anxious as ever to hear gossip. "All night? What's that about?"
"We fell asleep watching a movie. It was nothing like what you're thinking. She just got out of a relationship!"
"And what better way to get over a guy then to screw another," said Dov, wagging his eyebrows then wincing because apparently that hurt.
"No, we went out to eat at a crappy restaurant, she invited me up for some beers and a movie, and that was that. Speaking of, I'm thinking my hangover is starting to kick in."
"Sounds like a first date to me."
"IT WASN'T A DATE!"
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"Gail was all over me this morning about you," said Andy, leaning against the wall at 15 with Chris standing beside her. They were assigned as partners for their late shift. Both had large coffees in their hands and both had taken the precautions to not feel too hung-over for their shift. Andy had put her hair up in a sloppy bun because she hadn't wanted to bother with her hair but managed some make-up to cover the dark circles under her eyes.
"Dov too when he realized I came from your place."
"Great, with those two, they'll start rumors and everyone will be saying we're sleeping together by the end of the week," muttered Andy, taking a sip of her large coffee.
Chris had a coffee as well and the two make quite the picture for Oliver, who had heard Dov and Gail whispering about the two of them in the break room. Oh, Oliver was smart, he could tell the two of them were friends and nothing more, though, a little teasing wouldn't hurt. And who was that coming down the hall? Sam! Hell, Oliver's love life was in the toilet, he was still feeling the sting of losing one of his best friends, and wasn't happy to be witnessing the spiral of another. So he spoke as loudly as he could.
"Well, well, well if it isn't the golden couple!"
"What?" asked Andy, shifting from foot to foot in an almost nervous way.
"Oliver, it isn't like that," insisted Chris.
"I heard you two spent the night together," said Oliver, pouring his coffee, and from the corner of his eye he saw Sam stop dead in his tracks.
"We were watching a movie, as FRIENDS, and we fell asleep, ugh, I don't have to explain myself to you," said Andy. "C'mon, Chris, we gotta go!"
"Right behind you," said Chris, but Chris being Chris he stalled in front of Oliver to offer a nod. "Excuse us, Sir."
Andy breezed right past a still frozen Sam, Chris nodded almost nervously at Sam, worried he would do something. Oliver? He finished getting his coffee ready, snagged a bagel off the tray, and then started whistling cheerily on his way down the hall. Passing Sam, he put his bagel in his mouth and, holding it there, gave his friend a hearty slap on the back. Pulling the bagel out of his mouth he spoke around his mouthful of food.
"Have a good night, Buddy!"
"What the hell?" asked Sam, now alone in the hall, the scene before him as well as Chris and Luke's warnings the night before reverberating in his head, making him wonder if maybe he was too late to fix the mess he made.
END!