A/N: So, I found another quick second to jot this down. I've noticed this place is getting a little cobwebby, so I'm trying to come up with random things to write and hopefully we can pick it back up again! So if you review this, please write a story! If you read this, please write a story! If you get halfway through and decide you don't like it and go back, write a story! Even if you don't read this, exercise your powers of mind-reading and write a story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

NORMAL

She stared at her hands as she sat on the bench in the women's locker room. She shouldn't feel bad, but she did; that's how it always goes. He always messes up and she always apologizes, except this time, no apology was forthcoming. It took all of her willpower not to look back or pick up the phone. It was such a deeply ingrained habit by now that she had a hard time breaking it. But no, she was done with her father, at least until he cleaned himself up.

She stayed for another few minutes before finally exiting the room, tossing her wallet between her hands as she walked, still lost in thought. This wasn't normal. Normal people didn't go through stuff like this.

She could have lost her father today; she also could have lost any respect she held from anyone. Although she didn't know who exactly would respect her; she was the biggest screw-up of the bunch, even counting Dov and Chris's mishap with 'The Guardian'. No one had been expecting much from her to begin with, what with the way her father was forced into retirement, but she'd somehow managed to disappoint. Maybe it wasn't worth the possibility of getting Sam in hot water today just to keep her name clear. If she was honest, her name was already pretty muddy. But the gesture had been nice. In truth, Andy found herself just a little giddy that he would put himself on the line to keep her name clear, although it wasn't entirely appropriate. Luke wouldn't have hesitated to throw her father into the line of fire; she knew that. He'd been about ready to throw her right in there with him.

Speaking of Sam –or not really speaking, because then that would mean she was crazy- she spotted him exiting the locker room in front of her. Despite the voice in her head telling her she really shouldn't, she quickened her pace just a little to fall into step with him.

"Hey," She greeted quietly.

He glanced over at her, "Hey. Your father get back okay?"

"Y-Yeah," She replied, her voice catching on the word. 'Okay' wasn't the best way to describe it; more like abandoned and alone.

He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She knew he was waiting her out, and sighed.

"I, uh, I told him I couldn't… I told him I couldn't be around him anymore, after this."

"That's understandable," He nodded.

Her eyes widened at his agreement, "It is?"

He shrugged, "If it wasn't, would you have said it?"

She remained silent, contemplating his words. It was true; if there wasn't cause for telling her father she was done, she wouldn't have done it. It took enough effort to stick to it as was.

"Thank you," She finally spoke, quietly.

"For what?" He questioned, stopping as they neared his truck. Andy hadn't even noticed that they'd left the building.

"For today. For helping me and my father," She replied, not really looking at him, "You're always there when…"

"When what?"

She looked up at the sky to gather her courage to say what she'd stopped herself from voicing before. "When I need you."

A heavy silence settled between them as they both processed the meaning of her words. She hadn't said it, but they both heard the unspoken words; the sentence that would cross the line they couldn't. Sam was there for her when she needed him, no one else. She hadn't needed Luke today, although she should have; she hadn't needed her father today, although she should have; she'd needed Sam, although she shouldn't have, and that choice was one that both frightened and warmed her, because he was there. He was the one she'd placed her trust in today; he was the one she'd counted on to make everything alright, and he'd come through.

She knew it wasn't right to trust her training officer before her own boyfriend… But she couldn't help it. Luke hadn't been concerned in the least that her father might be a murder suspect; he only cared about the fact that she knew, and kept it from him. He had every right to be angry, since she was asking him to trust her, but still; it bothered her that he wasn't the teeniest bit concerned about how this would look once it came out.

There was a part of her that thought maybe it was better this way, neither of them trusting the other. It was far safer not to have any emotional roots in this, in case it didn't work out.

"How did you know?" She finally asked, breaking the tension developing.

"Know what?" He asked, confused.

"That it was the wife."

He shrugged, "I knew from the second I saw her. The way she was looking at those pictures, she was hiding something."

Andy tilted her head slightly to the side. "Why didn't you ever go for Detective?"

His mouth lifted in a half-grin and he chuckled softly. "Too much deskwork; not enough action for me."

Andy nodded in understanding. She couldn't really see Sam behind a desk all day like Luke.

"And besides," He continued, backing away from her towards the driver's door, "I don't look good in a suit."

She laughed then, very much doubting the honesty of that statement. She would bet money that Sam looked very good in a suit. Not that she should be thinking about that. She was with Luke. Luke, who put his career before her.

"Night, Sam," She said instead of what she really wanted to. She waved, and headed off in the other direction.

"Night, Andy."

She smiled to herself as she walked down the street. Today had been hell, but those last few minutes had almost made her feel like everything was normal. She could pretend that nothing was amiss in her life, that it was just another day; a day where her father wasn't a murder suspect and her boyfriend hadn't been prepared to throw her and Sam to the wolves for the sake of his case. She could pretend that she hadn't just severed ties with the only family member she had left.

She liked that about Sam; he could make her forget anything was wrong in the world. She knew it shouldn't be that way, just as so many things in her life shouldn't be how they were, but it was. She knew it was wrong, preferring Sam's company to Luke's, but she couldn't change how she felt. Looking back on their conversation, she also knew she didn't want to, because no one could make her feel as normal as Sam did, and she needed a little normalcy in her messed up life.

A/N: So… I don't particularly like the ending… but I didn't know what else to do. Please review! I've been writing this over the course of a few days and during that time more stories have popped up! Guess your psychic abilities are working!