AN: This is the sequel to Just Say Yes, my Sam/Andy fanfic filling in the blanks from the last three episodes of season two. I am so sorry it took longer than intended for me to get this first part up. I was kind of obsessing and rewriting. Anyway, this picks up from where JSY left off. Well, from the next morning. For the most part, you don't have to have read JSY to understand this. It may make it more enjoyable, however. If you haven't read it, just so you know, this fic begins with the day after the finale. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed JSY. It is because you all were so supportive that what I intended on being a three parter, ended up being ten, and now has this sequel. I am not going to guess how many chapters this will be. We'll just see how we go! Please, please review. The last chapter of JSY prompted many author alerts, story faves etc, but many less reviews. I really hope you like this first chapter! Oh, and once again the title is a song by Snow Patrol. Mara x
Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.
Grazed Knees
I.
Andy awoke to a room bright with morning light. She squinted blearily, confusion settling in as she realized she was not snuggled down into the old couch at Traci's that she'd become so used to. As the brief morning fogginess left her, she happily realised she was in a bed she'd met briefly once before.
Sam, however, was not. Her brow furrowed, but before panic could set in, she spotted a scrap of paper on his pillow. She raised herself up on her right elbow, her left hand reaching for the paper, feeling the warmth of his pillow as her hand brushed it. 'Just taking a shower' she read, the words easy to read despite their typical, scrawled nature.
As the words of his note settled in her mind, she suddenly felt silly; needy, even. He'd barely left the room, yet still left her a note. Clearly he'd been worried that she would worry. If she was being honest, she probably would have. Just a little. She knew it was ironic considering her traditional disappearing act. Or maybe not so traditional anymore, she thought contentedly.
She flopped back down into the warmth of the bed, throwing an arm over her head and studying the imprints the sheet had left on the soft underside of her other arm. It was quiet, a change both pleasant and disconcerting. She had become accustomed to the morning hustle and bustle of mornings at Traci's. Leo chattering, Traci cursing with child-friend substitutes as she tried to find the lost item of the morning. Traci's mother offering repetitive commentary on Traci's disorganisation.
In the silence, it suddenly occurred to Andy that could not hear the cascading water sounds of Sam's shower. Either he had the world's most silent shower, or he was no longer in the shower at all. She pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes, giving herself a moment to properly wake up. She pushed off the blankets and let her bare feet drop to the floor. She smoothed down the bunched up t-shirt that she wore. and pulled Sam's boxer shorts back into place. The too-big shorts had twisted around on her body at some point during the night, the drawstring knot having ended up on her right hipbone. She looked down and observed how Sam's t-shirt was so big on her that it almost covered the boxer shorts, a strip of the navy hem the only indication of their presence.
She padded into the hallway and stopped at the cream bathroom door. It was not fully shut and steam spilled through the reasonable gap. Deciding against barging in, she knocked lightly with the knuckles of an open fist.
'Sam?' she called softly.
'Yeah,' he answered. He sounded a little distracted.
When the door did not open, he realized he needed to say something more.
'You can come in, McNally,' he said with a slight laugh.
She pushed the door open slowly, being careful not to open it into him. Sam was standing by the vanity, pulling a shirt on. It was a dark shade of green and Andy couldn't help but notice that the colour looked ridiculously good on him. But the girly swooning was fleeting, as her eyes fell to his upper stomach. It was tightly embraced by bandages, covering a good few inches of skin. No sooner than she had seen them were they covered by the falling green fabric of his shirt. But the image lingered, a bitter glimpse into the full extent of what had happened just the day before.
'You should've got me to do that,' she said, gesturing to his stomach with a raised hand. She knew it would have been difficult, especially with an injured wrist. Not to mention uncomfortable.
'Nah, I managed,' he said casually, glancing down to avoid her eyes, wishing he'd been speedier in putting his shirt on. He hadn't wanted her to see his bandaged torso. He hadn't wanted her guilt of yesterday creeping to the surface once again.
'Morning,' he said suddenly, walking the small distance between them and pressing a kiss to her lips, effectively pulling her from her troubled thoughts.
'Morning,' she echoed in reply, a smile stealing her lips as he broke the kiss.
She was suddenly aware of how disheveled she looked in comparison to his fresh from the shower neatness. She ran a hand through her hair.
'I didn't mean to sleep so late. You should've woken me up,' she said, leaning against the vanity.
'Nah, you looked like you needed it,' he said.
'Gee, thanks,' she said sarcastically as she raised a brow, a smile remaining on her lips.
Sam shook his head a little as he smiled back at her. He knew that she knew what he had meant.
'You know, J.D. would never have said that,' she teased.
'Yeah well, J.D's boring,' he said.
She 'pfft' her lips disbelievingly. 'Jamie told me J.D. had been in prison,' she said, her tone like that of a schoolgirl impressed by her date's bad-boy motorbike. 'Hardly sounds like a boring Mr Ordinary.'
'Damn, so I gotta serve time to keep you happy, McNally?' he asked as he nodded to the doorway and nudged her toward it. Andy moved out of the bathroom with Sam close behind.
She flicked her head around. 'Nah, I think I'd miss you,' she said.
'You think?' he teased.
'Okay, fine,' she said quickly. 'I know I'd miss you,' she amended.
He gave a smug grin. 'Breakfast?' he asked, moving towards the kitchen.
'You gonna cook for me?' she asked hopefully.
'We didn't exactly buy cooking ingredients,' he drawled as he reached for the loaf of bread on the counter. 'Next time.'
'Promise?' she asked with a head tilt and raised brow, leaning back against the kitchen counter just like she'd lent against his bathroom vanity. Sam liked it.
'I promise, McNally.'
Andy stepped out of the shower, which, incidentally, had indeed been pretty quiet. Especially considering the power of the spray. Her shoulders had adored the strong bullets of water that seemed to shoot from all angles. Andy had concluded that the shower had likely been the most expensive purchase in the house. It was understandable. With a job like theirs, a long, hot shower was often not only necessary at the end of the day, but also the best way to unwind. Especially if the shower was as amazing as Sam's. Andy made a mental note to save up for a shower like that for her new place.
She promptly reminded herself that she hadn't even moved in yet. Hell, her mortgage wasn't even finalised. She'd reschedule that meeting today. At least there was one advantage of this suspension. A lot of spare time.
She reached for the fluffy white towel hanging on one of the metal hooks on the back of the door, wrapping it around her body and finding that is was generously sized, hanging well past her knees. As she'd wandered towards the bathroom, Sam had casually called out that the white towel was a spare one he'd put out for her. Tucking under a corner of the towel to secure it in place at her chest, she hoped it was now hers rather than just a spare.
She bent over and lifted one end of the towel, using it to squeeze the water out of her wet, but unwashed hair. She usually let her hair get wet, never having felt properly refreshed if she ended a shower with it still dry. It was a habit she'd picked up many years ago, after her father had one night been a particularly sentimental drunk. He'd hugged her tightly and rambled drunken compliments into her hair. The smell of alcohol had lingered on her hair, bothering her as she tried to sleep that night. She had taken a one AM shower and let the water wash the scent away.
As she smoothed her hair back and pushed the ends behind her wet shoulders, Andy heard Sam's voice from the other room. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but the mellow tones of his voice were familiar. They'd long ago become comforting.
She flicked off the bathroom light and pulled open the door, steam escaping around her.
'That was Frank,' Sam said as she came into view, gesturing to the phone that rest on the table, rocking back and forth on it's curved back. His eyes took in her towel-clad form, but lingered on her eyes.
She nodded a little. 'What did he want?' she asked, awkwardly standing a little distance from the bathroom door. She felt a little weird, having a serious conversation while she was in a towel and leaving wet footprints on the hardwood floor.
'We have to go in later,' Sam said. 'Fill in some suspension forms, review our statements. All that.'
'Okay,' she said, her voice quiet but neutral. Steady, even. Her eyes were wide and seemed to pull him closer with a gravity-like force.
'He said that after that, no contact 'til our suspensions are over,' Sam said, cutting to the chase, biting the bullet and ripping off the band aid. He moved closer to her.
'With each other?' she asked automatically, asking the obvious in the way she sometimes did when she was nervous. Her hands fidgeted with her towel.
'Yeah,' he said, meeting her eyes as he stopped just a short distance in front of her.
'Right, yeah,' she said with a faux casual attitude. 'Frank said something about that,' she added. Truth was, she had not fully registered any of Frank's words beyond 'suspended'. Even that had taken long moments to sink in, with thoughts of Sam dominating her mind.
'Hey,' he said when he noticed her fidgeting. 'It doesn't change anything.'
'What?' she snipped. 'Of course it does.' Sadness-driven frustration crept through in her tone.
'Not the important stuff,' he amended, hoping she understood what he meant. His feelings weren't going to change. Two years on from that - in retrospect, quite amusing - first meeting, that was the one thing he was absolutely sure of.
Her features seemed to droop with bittersweet sadness, the frustration giving way. 'Sam, we don't need to make any promises.'
'Hey, I'm not,' he said simply. 'Stating a fact McNally.'
She smiled weakly. Sam wondered if she had always been insecure in relationships; skittish and skeptical. With the wound of her mother's leaving and the unreliability of a drunken father, he thought it was likely. He imagined Luke had only made it worse.
'Well we've got today,' he said. 'So, we gonna make it count?'
Instant realization fell over her, bringing with it a slight reddening of her face. 'You heard my message?'
'Yeah. Just this morning,' he replied.
'What did you...,' she paused and let out a breath. 'I mean, what did you think?' she asked, strangely nervous considering she was pretty sure she had the answer.
'I think, McNally,' he began, squinting as if in thought, head cocked a little. 'I think that three weeks would've been damngood.'
She smiled as his lips pressed against hers. When their lips parted, she trailed a finger down his jaw, resting it against his chin. He saw sober thoughts swim in her eyes. 'Yeah, well I guess we've kind of got them now,' she said with a bitter laugh.
Their was a sadness in her eyes that he sought to steal away. 'Not quite how I was imagining them,' he drawled, making no secret of just how he had imagined them.
'You were imagining them, huh?' she teased, letting her hand fall and tilting her head to the side.
'Yeah well, someone slept late. Nothing better to do.' he said casually, with that trademark smug grin.
He mouth dropped open, but he continued before words could leave it. 'So,' he began. 'Are we gonna make today count or what?'
She knew what he was thinking, but she wasn't going to make it easy for him. 'How we going to do that?' she asked, using her words from the night before to play dumb.
He leant down to press his lips to her neck, gently kissing the water droplets that rose and fell with the pulse under her skin. He lifted his lips to whisper a reply, his breath tickling her skin.
'That, McNally, I do know,' he said with the subtlety of a foghorn.
'Sam…' she protested. He was still hurt, after all.
His lips whispered her name into the soft skin below her chin.
'Should you be doing this?' she asked, remembering that glimpse of his bandaged torso.
'Probably not,' he admitted, his words not matching his actions. His lips continued to collect droplets as he kissed her skin with care and attention like that of a fine craftsman.
'Are you gonna stop?' Andy questioned, her eyes falling closed as she struggled not to surrender.
'Nope,' Sam said softly, chin brushing the edge of the towel as his lips moved lower. 'You going to stop me?' he challenged.
'No,' she said, powerless and fluttery.
So he didn't.