Hi fellow Rookie Blue fans, thanks for reading my story. This is my first attempt at a fan fic since The X-Files (though I have been writing a few regular stories), and my first English one. I've been reading a lot of stories here, and I felt inspired.

I'm not a native English speaker, so i hope you'll forgive me if my spell-check and I missed some spelling errors. I would love to hear what you think, and if I should continue.

Sam Swarek tapped his fingers rhythmically against the hood of his truck, while he blankly stared at the screen of his phone in his other hand. There was nothing on there, really, but he didn't want to raise questions among his colleagues as to why he was waiting (or who he was waiting for) in the parking lot after work, so he tried looking busy when he was really keeping watch on the door of the precinct.

He was more than a little pissed. He was actually flat-out angry if he thought about it, but he tried to tame himself, for now. He had to get the facts straight first. He had lost too many battles by going out with guns blazing when a careful approach would have suited much, much better. And this situation required the utmost delicacy.

But did she really think she could lie to him? That he wouldn't just know right away? Now, that was just insulting. He didn't survive the streets for all that time by not being able to tell when people were lying. And she was a terrible liar anyway. She was good at a lot of things, she had great instincts and he would trust her with his life any day of the week, but lying was definitely not one of her strong points.

Wasn't that one of the reasons he was so crazy about her? Her blatant honesty? He remembered how endearing she was on her first undercover op. Total bust. But she had learned to use her strengths, and to tell the truth as much as possible. When they went undercover together, she had totally sold her character. Not only that, but she had saved his butt. But that still didn't mean he couldn't see right through her lies.

He quickly turned his gaze upward as the door creaked. Nash came walking out with a big smirk on her face, followed by a laughing Epstein and a confused looking Diaz. "What? I really thought that was pretty informative. Dunno why that's so funny!" The statement prompted another laugh outburst from Epstein. Nash seemed to take pity on Diaz, and she leaned over to explain him something in a hush tone. He responded by quickly turning red as a tomato. "Oh. Did I really say that?" The trio walked on, as the laughter grew louder. They didn't even notice Sam.

Sam waved goodbye to a few officers that passed him. Normally Sam would love to chat a bit with his colleagues from 15th division, or join them for a drink at the Penny, but today his mind was grim and he was in no mood for idle talk.

Where was she? She never took that long to change after shift. Was she avoiding her friends, just as she was avoiding him? Totally possible. He had been on the look-out all day, waiting for her to come into the station during shift, if only just once. But she never showed. When today's shift had ended, she was late coming back as well.

Finally, after a few more minutes waiting, he saw her coming out. His doe-eyed rookie; Andy McNally. Stubborn. Naïve in her belief in humanity. Too many times she spoke without thinking (which truthfully he had to admit, he absolutely adored about her). But also absolutely capable at her job. Instinctive. Loyal to the bone. And, of course, stunningly beautiful.

She didn't see him, even when she almost passed by him, her thoughts seemed almost a mile away. But he wasn't about to let her go. "McNally." She stopped in her tracks, and turned towards him. "Sam? What are you still doing here?" She avoided eye contact with him, just as she had been doing all week long. That alone should have been enough to arouse suspicions. Why didn't he confront her sooner? He had known right away something was wrong, not just the whole Luke fiasco (which she clearly wasn't completely over yet), but he was too afraid to stifle her, to invade her personal space. So he just waited for her to come to him. Which she didn't, of course. She never was one to admit she needed help. Idiot. I should have never waited to find out what was up with her. I should have pulled her in an empty interview room, and made her tell me everything.

Sam put his phone away and took his keys. He motioned to his truck.

"Get in. I'll give you a ride home." She didn't move, but shifted her bag nervously to the other shoulder, still looking everywhere and anywhere but at him.

"That's okay. I'll walk, it's a nice day." She put an effort in keeping her voice light. No way, Sam thought. Not this time. She wasn't getting off that easy.

"McNally, get in the truck." He used his sternest TO voice, leaving no room for discussion. He did not await her response, but just got behind the wheel of his truck. 1…2…3…4… He counted the seconds.A smile crept on his lips for a split second when he heard her open his passenger door, and Andy got in his truck.

They had gotten a few blocks away from the precinct when Sam broke the silence. She sat beside him, pretending to stare out the window, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

"So…" He began, "A candlestick?" His question (not really a question) filled the air. She nodded softly. "Yeah." Her voice broke something inside Sam. She sounded so fragile, so sad, so… defeated. He really hated seeing her this way. He just wanted to fix it, make it all better for her. Hold her close until the world was right again. But what could he do when she wouldn't let him in?

"Andy, please tell me what's going on." He quickly glanced over to her. She was fidgeting with a loose thread from her blouse.

"Nothing's going on. I'm fine." Okay, now she was getting him upset again. Why did she keep insisting she was 'fine', when she so clearly wasn't? Why wouldn't she let him help her?

He drummed his fingers on the wheel, contemplating how he would proceed. He decided he had had enough. He sped up, and then threw his wheel to the right just in time to reach the exit. She looked over to him when he parked at an empty spot, but didn't dare to ask. No other cars in sight, good.He turned off the gas and rested his arms on the wheel before leaning over to her. "Let me see." Not a question, but an order. She knew better than to resist. He cupped her chin, and gently turned her head a little so he could clearly see the bruise on her cheekbone. He carefully traced the edge of the bruise with his thumb, studying it. Then he turned her again, so she could look her in the eyes. She stared back at him, pleading almost. "Sam…" It was almost a whisper. But she had to know it was futile to fight him any longer.

"Andy, who hit you?"

Andy should have known better. Why, oh why didn't she just call in sick today? With most people at work, she knew a little fib would do the trick. Chris and Dov she could fool. Even Gail was easy to handle if you knew how to approach her. Traci was a bit harder, but she wouldn't pressure the issue at work, even if she suspected anything. But then there was Sam. Somehow his eyes always seemed to pierce right through her. How could she have thought, even for a second, that he wouldn't just see it right away?

She was never one to be overly punctual, but she had made an effort to come in extra late today, to avoid any questions in the locker room. She had made it into parade just in time, hiding in the back while still fastening her belt. After Best had announced the assignments and the pairings for today (Sam was assigned to the detectives on an old case today just like yesterday, thank god for small favors…), she quickly made it to the coffee counter and started pouring. Chris, her partner for today, was the first to ask. "Hey, what happened to you?" He pointed to her bruise. She had splashed all the concealer on it she could find this morning, but it was still visible, especially up close. She tried to shrug it off. "Stupid accident. I was reaching for something in my bookcase, and I dropped a candlestick on my face." The words sounded even more stupid then when she had practiced them this morning in the mirror, but Chris seemed to buy it. "Yikes. Looks painful."

A voice came from behind them. "It does. Some nasty candlesticks you have." She had not heard him coming. Almost spilling her coffee, Andy turned to him, carefully choosing which side of her face to show him. He looked at her inquisitively, awaiting her response. "Ah, yeah. I should have known better than to stash heavy objects on high shelves." She gave him her best smile before turning back to Chris. "Wanna head out? Don't want to get stuck in traffic on the bridge." She handed him the extra coffee she had poured. He nodded, and they started towards the door. She could almost feel Sam's eyes prying on her back. They had to get out of here, fast, before the rest of the gang would be asking questions, or worse, if she allowed herself to look Sam in the eye and the whole plan would come crumbling down. "Good luck with the paper-pushers today." And she sped out the door.

The whole day went by fast. A few routine calls, but nothing special she hadn't done before, so she could pretty much stay on auto-pilot the whole day while trying to collect her thoughts. Being partnered with Chris today turned out to be a blessing. Her good-natured friend was totally oblivious to her state of mind. He chattered the day away, talking about his night out with Dov last night, the conversations he had had with some drunken nurses, and whatnot. She was grateful for his enthusiastic talk, even if she only heard half of what he said.

It wasn't hard to convince him to eat their lunch outside, so they managed to avoid the station almost all day, only turning back once to deliver a suspect of a robbery. They rapidly booked him, handled the paperwork, and got on their way.

Andy left nothing to chance. She made sure they were also late to arrive back at the end of their shift, where she jumped in the shower and let the hot water pour over her, until she heard no more voices coming from the locker room.

This was stupid. She knew that. She couldn't avoid them forever. They were her colleagues, her friends… To be honest, they felt like family to her (but then again, her idea of a family might be a little crooked). But was it so wrong to postpone the inevitable conversations until another day?

And then there was Sam. Her partner. Funny, she liked to work with almost everybody at 15th, but he had always felt like her one and only real partner. Patrolling with Sam was different. Somehow he challenged her more, and she trusted him completely. With him, she just felt so… capable. He put his complete trust in her too, and that somehow made her trust herself more. There was no one she rather worked with; he had the ability to make any situation workable. But there was also a flip side. When he looked at her, his eyes seemed to go right through her. All her defenses, which she had worked years to build op, came crumbling down. There was no hiding from him; she had known that from the start.

The first time she drowned in his gaze, after their first case together (not counting the time she arrested him and blew his undercover operation, no that didn't count at all…), she had almost caved in. She wanted to let him take her home so badly… And do everything else the suggestion he had made entailed.

But she had made a promise to herself. No more bad choices. No more giving in when she had too much at stake. Even though she craved to feel the passion she instinctively knew he possessed and could awaken in her, she had to do the right thing. Too many disappointments, too much heartache. She had gone down that route before, giving over completely to one person, only to have her heart crushed. It always turned out the same way. She tried to give everything she could, only to find out it still wasn't enough. It seemed the pattern started with her mother leaving her when she was only twelve years old, was bound to repeat itself. But no more. Starting at the academy, she vowed to herself not to go down that route. Stable, dependable, that was going to be the new Andy. Playing by the rules, and being the best cop she could be, that was the goal. And hooking up with your training officer on your second day of the job didn't really fit that goal. So she resisted.

But the attraction she had felt for him from the beginning only grew stronger, as she gained respect for him and his methods. She loved working with him. His lame jokes that always brightened the mood, his rough-boy act, the way he taught her the finesses of the job without being condescending. He looked out for her, and somehow always knew the right things to say.

Still, she kept the promise to herself. She found a nice, stable guy. Luke genuinely seemed to care for her, and she developed feelings for him, too. Maybe not strong, all-consuming feelings of passion, but he treated her well and she enjoyed his company. Andy had thought this would be it. Surely he would never hurt her, like she had been hurt before. But he did.

When she found out he had cheated on her, she was devastated. Not so much about the wedding that would never be, but the betrayal stung her. So playing it safe was no longer an option; it didn't exist. Not where love was involved. Maybe she needed to focus on her screwed-up life before attempting to share it with someone. Maybe she needed to be a lone wolf for a while. No one to care for but herself, not even her alcoholic father anymore. He was finally sober now, and this time it seemed to last, although she kept it in her mind that you could never know for sure. So what was stopping her from being a single girl (woman), and enjoy life like this for a while?

But the universe had other plans. It seemed intent to throw all kinds of misery her way, even if it seemed too much to handle. She couldn't shake the past, it just caught up to her every time. And now all she could do was put on her happy face on, and avoid the people that she cared about, to keep from breaking down. And she almost succeeded today, too. She was almost out the door.

But then there was the matter of Sam, waiting for her in the parking lot, demanding to know the truth.