A Different Life, The Same Love
This multi-chapter story is partly due to a prompt I got about wanting to see an AU story with Sam and Andy, and because I've really wanted to explore more about how Sam knew J.T., a character we saw pop up in 3x02. For the purpose of this story neither Sam nor Andy are cops, and Tommy McNally is still working as a detective at 15 Division. Hope you enjoy! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.
Chapter 1
Andy slammed her hands on the steering wheel and cursed. She was sick of this car. She'd bought it used eight months ago, determined to be independent and not beg rides off friends or try to count on her unreliable father. But the car had been more trouble than it had been worth and she was pretty sure she'd put as much money into constantly getting it fixed as she had to purchase it.
She turned the key in the ignition, praying it would start up again, but it simply sputtered. She looked around and realized in her attempt to take a shortcut she'd been driving through a less than ideal section of the city. Probably not the best place to be stranded alone. She remembered passing a garage a couple blocks back and figured going there beat waiting around, for a tow truck to come. She got out of the car and headed toward the garage, quickening her steps even though it was the middle of the afternoon.
Approaching the parking lot of the business, Alvarez Auto Body, she could see a bustle of activity inside the building, but two men were working under the hood of an old sports car out front. As she walked toward them, she couldn't help but think how attractive they both were. She was used to the mechanics at the garage she usually went to - these old straggly men who looked like they were in desperate need of a shower. But these two men were definitely different; wearing jeans that showed off their assets very well as they leaned over the car, and short sleeved shirts tight enough for her to clearly see the definition of their muscles. The one could use a clean shave, she thought, but the stubble was actually pretty hot.
She was only a couple feet away from them when they turned around. "Can we help you?" one of them asked. She found amazingly dark brown eyes complimented the unshaved look.
"Um, yeah, I hope. Look, my car broke down, down the road and it's like the third time in as many weeks, but this time it won't start up again. I saw this place and thought you might be able to take a look at it." She twisted her hands nervously as they both stared at her.
The guy with the eyes she wanted to get lost in glanced over at his friend, who looked less than pleased. Unfortunately, the friend was one who spoke. "Sorry, miss, we're really busy today."
"C'mon, J.T. We can at least look at it," the guy with the beautiful eyes said.
"Sammy, we got that shipment."
"Which the guys have under control," Sam said, looking over at Andy. The moment he'd turned around, he'd been in awe of her beauty. Her chestnut brown hair hanging like silk around her shoulders, the color of her eyes matching her hair and complimenting her tanned skin, these legs that seemed to go on forever. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, but when he finally looked back at J.T, his friend gave a shrug of his shoulders, telling him to do whatever he wanted.
"I'll come take a look at it," Sam told Andy. He wiped his hand on a rag and held it out to her. "Sam Swarek, and you are?"
"Thank you so much! I really appreciate this," she replied, shaking his hand. "It's Andy...Andy McNally."
"McNally?" J.T. shot a look of warning at Sam and shook his head. "This is all you, Sammy. All you, if Bobby asks."
They were both familiar with a Detective Tommy McNally, who had tried on numerous occasions to shut down their operations - both legal and illegal. They could only assume she was related and not some random person with the same name.
Andy's eyes bounced between the two men, wondering who Bobby was, but didn't think she was going to get an answer to that as they appeared to have a silent debate. Assuming it might be their boss, she didn't want to get them in trouble. "Look, if this'll cause any trouble for you - "
"No, no, it's fine," Sam said, looking at her again. "Why don't you show me where your car is." He tossed the rag he'd been holding at J.T. before following Andy.
Sam had Andy try and start the car while he looked under the hood to see what was going on. He could hear it fighting to start, but it wouldn't turn over, so he waved a hand indicating she could stop. He fidgeted with a couple things as Andy got out and stood next to him.
He wiped his hand against his jeans as he stared at the engine. "Well, it's not the battery, which would've been the easy fix, but it seems that..." His words sounded like another language to Andy after that point.
She simply nodded her head as if she understood what he was talking about. "Is there anything you can do?"
It was her doe eyes that were doing him in. He was finding it hard to say no, even though he knew he should call her a tow truck and a cab right now. Wash his hands of her here and now in case she really was the daughter of that McNally. But somehow, she'd gotten under his skin and he couldn't shake her. "We don't stock the part you need, so it'll take us a few days to get it, but I can call a friend of mine who owns a tow company. He'll bring your car to the garage no charge," he told her.
"That would...that would be really great," she said, with a sigh of relief.
Sam called his friend while they walked back to the garage. Once they got back, he ushered her into his office so he could fill out some paperwork. She signed a couple of forms and thanked him profusely for giving her such a good price on the repair.
"Well, you're all set for now. I'll call you when the part comes in," he said.
"Thanks again." She looked down at her phone and realized her battery was dead. Just great. "Hey, can I use the phone to call a cab? My cell died," she said, waving her phone around like he'd need proof.
Sam started to pull his cell phone out of his pocket, but stopped and glanced at his watch. This was wrong, beyond wrong. J.T. was going to kill him for getting even more involved. But there was something drawing him to her. "Look, if you can wait about 10 minutes, I can drive you home."
Andy worried her bottom lip as a debate waged within her. She'd only just met this guy. He could be a serial killer for all she knew, and of course she knew better than to put so much trust into a stranger. But he'd been so nice and seemed innocent enough. Plus, he was smokin' hot and no serial killer would look that good, she reasoned with herself.
"Okay, um, thanks," she said, nodding her head.
About 15 minutes later they were on the way to her apartment and making small talk. "So, what do you do?" Sam asked, curious how this woman landed on his doorstep today.
"I'm a social worker, down at the East End Community Center," she replied.
"Ah, so that's what brought you near the garage." Sam was relieved. There was a small part of him that thought she might have followed in her father's footsteps and become a cop, which would've been disastrous for him.
"Yup, I'd just left work and was trying a shortcut I heard about it."
"Do you like it, your work?"
"It's rewarding, getting to help people. I love the center, but I'm trying to go back to school to get my master's degree and move up in the world," she said, a hopeful smile on her face.
"Trying to?"
Andy sighed and looked out the window. "Can't afford it right now. I have some money saved up, but still a ways to go."
Sam heard the sadness in her voice and decided to put an end to the questions. While he hadn't grown up rich, his makeshift family would have helped him further his education if he'd wanted to. But community college had been sufficient for what he wanted to do with his life.
After a few minutes of silence, Andy spoke up. "How about you? Always worked at Alvarez Auto Body?"
"Pretty much my whole life. I love working on cars. Take that old sports car you saw us working on. J.T. and I have been rebuilding that car piece by piece to bring it back to its original glory," he told her.
"Wow, that's amazing." She saw the glow in his eyes as he spoke and she could tell it was something he really enjoyed. She figured working on a special car like that was its own art form. Glancing out the window, Andy realized they were almost at her apartment. "It's up here on the right, the brick building," she said pointing. Sam pulled his truck up to the curb. "Uh, thanks for the ride, Sam."
"No problem. It's gonna take a few days to get the part we need for your car, but I'll call you when it's ready," he said, watching her get out of his truck.
"Sounds good." She was about to shut the door, but stopped. "Hey, um, you wanna come in for a drink?"
"Um, yeah, sure."
He followed her into the building and up to her apartment, shutting the door behind him as they entered. He took a look around the studio apartment as she headed into the small kitchen. "Nice place," he commented.
"Thanks," she said, grabbing a couple beers and walking over to the couch, where Sam had taken a seat.
"It's nice for now." She passed a beer over to him and took a swig of her own. "But I've been eyeing these new condos going up on Carlisle. I'd love to get into one of those when they're finished."
"Oh, the old toilet factory?" he asked before taking a swig of his beer.
She let out a chuckle, her friends already teased her about that fact. "Yes, but it's a perfectly nice building."
"You got any problems, just take the back off and rattle the chain," he teased, dimples on full display as he grinned over at her.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Hey, you hungry? I have this ridiculous craving for pizza."
"Sure, yeah, I could eat," he said.
She grabbed the phone from the table next to the couch. "Okay, good. Anything you don't like on your pizza?" she asked, hitting a number in the speed dial.
"Uh, pineapple, that's about it."
"Ewww," she said scrunching up her nose. "No arguments there. Who wants fruit on their pizza?"
He chuckled and listened to her place an order for an everything pizza, warning them "not to go skimpy on the toppings."
More than an hour later, they were stuffing their faces with pizza and beer, the buzz from the alcohol leading them into an energetic debate about their poker skills.
"No way! I'd totally be taking all your money, not the other way around," she claimed, tossing the rest of the pizza she held onto the paper plate on her coffee table, sending crumbs flying.
"We'll just have to see about that, won't we," he said, smirking.
"Invite me to one of your precious poker nights and I'll show you what I can do," she replied, cockily.
"Next one's at my place. Consider this your invite," he said, without even thinking about what he was doing. J.T. was going to kill him when he found out he was bringing a cop's daughter to the next poker night. Crap, he was gonna have to find a way to keep her last name out of the conversation.
Sam glanced at his watch and, realizing how late it had gotten, decided it was time for him to leave. "Well, I, uh, should get going," he said standing up.
She grabbed her cell phone, which she'd been charging since they arrived, off the table to look at the time before pocketing it. "Yeah, yeah, of course," she replied, walking him to the door. "Thanks for fixing my car."
"Thanks for the pizza," he said turning around to face her.
He leaned in slowly, seeking her permission, and when she didn't slap him or back away, he closed the distance and brought his lips to hers. He rested his hands on her hips, his thumbs brushing against the small strip of bare skin between her shirt and her jeans. Her hands found their way to his shoulders before sliding up to play with the hair at the nape of his neck.
He backed her up against the door, pressing himself into her. She moaned into his mouth as his hands traveled up her sides and grazed her breasts.
"This isn't...I don't normally..." she mumbled into his skin.
"Me neither." He continued the assault on her neck.
"Maybe...we should..."
"Mmhmm, totally." But neither made any move to stop their hands or mouths.
She fisted his shirt in her hands and pushed them away from the wall before pulling him toward her bed until the backs of her legs hit the mattress. Her fingers found the hem of his shirt and their lips broke apart only long enough for her to pull the shirt over his head. He quickly removed her shirt and as one hand slid up and down the skin of her back, a shrill ringing startled them. They stared at each other for a moment until they realized it was Andy's phone. His hand moved down her back and into her pocket, pulling it out.
Breathing heavily, she took the phone from his hand and looked at him with apologetic eyes. "Hello?" She scrunched her nose up, wishing she'd looked at the caller ID before answering. "Hi dad."
Sam took several steps back and picked his shirt up off the floor where it had landed when Andy tossed it. He pulled it on as she continued her conversation.
"Yeah, I know...I told you I'd help...Okay, I'll see you then." She had no sooner hung up the call than felt her shirt being tossed at her. She looked over at Sam, his lips pressed together and staring at her. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine. I should..." He glanced over at the door and back to her. "I should go."
"Yeah, okay." She put her shirt on as she walked him to the door.
"I'll call you about your car."
Two days later, Andy ushered a client out of her office, hoping her talk had done some good for the young mother who was having trouble adjusting to life as a new and single parent. She was sitting back down at her desk when her cell phone rang. She couldn't stop the grin from breaking out on her face when she saw who it was. "Hi Sam."
"Hi, Andy, I, uh...How are you?"
"Good, just taking a break between meetings with clients. You?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm good. Well, I don't want to keep you from your work – "
"You're not," she replied quickly, embarrassed when she realized she'd interrupted him in her excitement.
Sam couldn't help the grin that exploded on his face at how eager she sounded to talk to him. "I, uh, wanted to let you know the part for your car came in. I should be able to work on it today."
"Oh, that's great. Thanks for the update."
"Yeah, and uh, I was wondering...There's this amazing pub, has the best burgers in Toronto. Do you want to check it out sometime?" he asked, nervously.
"I'd like that."
"Okay, great. Friday night?"
"Sounds great," she replied, pretty sure he could hear her grin through the phone.
"Great, Friday night. I'll talk to you later, then."
They said their goodbyes and Sam sat back in his chair. What about this girl made him more nervous than he'd ever been? He just couldn't get her off his mind…and didn't want to.
Friday came quickly and Andy got dressed for her date. She was extremely nervous, having to stop her shaking hands at one point. She kept telling herself to get a grip, that this was just another first date. But that's the thing, it wasn't. There was something about Sam that made a simple date not so simple. She instantly felt a connection with him, like they were magnets drawn to each other. And they talked and laughed so easily when they shared a pizza the day they met.
She tried on three different outfits before settling on her sexy jeans and silky purple one-shoulder blouse. She was looking in the mirror for the hundredth time and tucking some stray hairs into place when there was a knock at the door. When she opened it, she took in the sight in front of her. Behind a small bouquet of tulips was Sam, wearing a blue button-down shirt under a leather jacket, and jeans, which she decided she'd never get tired of seeing him in.
"Hi," she said, as their eyes steadily took in every inch of each other.
"These are for you," Sam said, holding the flowers out to her.
"They're beautiful. Thank you." She backed up to invite him in before heading to the kitchen for a vase.
"You are too," he said, his smile meeting hers as she glanced back at him and blushed. He saw her jacket lying on the couch, so he picked it up and helped her into it when she walked back over. "Ready to go?" he asked.
"Absolutely."
Sam placed his hand at the small of her back as they walked out to his truck, and he could feel the heat of her body through the layers of clothing. It stirred something inside him, a mixture of excitement and nerves. He wasn't used to the nerves. He'd had his share of women, but none had ever caused the fire inside him like Andy did the moment she locked eyes with him. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of it.
As they headed to the restaurant, they made small talk that succeeded in calming them both down. By the time they sat down at a corner booth Sam had reserved, they were laughing and teasing each other like they'd been lifelong friends.
"So, the car's working okay for you?" Sam asked while they waited for their waitress. He'd been running an errand for his boss when she'd come to pick it up two days earlier. He hated that he missed her, but she'd called him later, thanking him for everything he'd done. They may have talked for half an hour, just wanting to hear the other's voice.
"It's great. Runs better than it ever has. Guess you have the magic touch," she said, a twinkle in her eye.
"I, uh, may have given it the once over, tweaked a few things, while I was replacing the part. You know, just to make sure there wasn't anything else wrong with it," he admitted.
She swore she saw a light blush wash over his face, but it was quickly gone. "That was sweet. Thank you."
Once they placed their orders, Andy took a look around the bar. She glanced at the memorabilia and old photos hung on the wall when one item caught her eye. "Oh look, Karaoke Wednesday's," she commented, reading a chalkboard with the announcement. "Tell me, what would you sing?"
"'Stuck in the Middle with You,'" he deadpanned.
"'Stuck in the Middle with You,' that's nice," she said, smirking.
"No, no. Love, uh, 'Love the One Your With,'" he teased. He loved the look in her eye when he teased her. It was like her eyes were laughing back at him. And he couldn't get enough of it.
"No, this, definitely this," she said, grinning and pointing to the ceiling where the speakers were now playing 'I'm too Sexy.'
He chuckled and shook his head at her. "I'm kidding. I wouldn't sing," he said, taking a swig of beer.
"I know you wouldn't. You're too cool," she replied, smiling.
"Hey, I do a lot of things, alright. I cook, I clean. I'm good with tools. I'm an excellent driver. But karaoke? Nope, not ever. Why, you wanna be on the next 'Canada's Got Talent?'"
Andy rolled her eyes as she sipped her beer. "Nooo. But, if I've had enough to drink, I can be easily swayed to get up and sing horribly along with a karaoke machine," she said, laughing.
"I'll have to keep that in mind," he replied, dimples staring back at her like another set of eyes.
They continued talking as their waitress brought out their food and long after she'd come back to take away their empty plates. Andy's cheeks hurt from laughing so hard and smiling so much. She couldn't remember when she'd had such a good time. "I've had a lot of fun tonight. Thank you," she told him.
"I'm glad you've had a good time. I have too," he said, smiling. Sam had noticed the waitress eyeing their table on and off for the last hour and realized how long they'd been sitting there after finishing their meals. "So, um, you ready to get out of here?" he asked.
"Sure," Andy replied, glancing down at her watch. "Oh my god, we've been here five hours." She looked up at Sam to see his worried expression at her sudden realization. "I mean, it just didn't feel like that long. The waitress must want to kill us." When she smiled, his insecurities washed away.
Helping her on with her jacket, his knuckles brushed along her bare shoulder and a sudden warmth traveled through his fingers, up his arm and straight to his heart. When her head quickly turned toward him, the look in her eyes told him she felt it too. As they left the restaurant, his hand casually found hers and their fingers linked together.
The drive back to her apartment was quick and he walked her up to her door, releasing her hand only when she needed it to unlock her door. "C'mon in," she said, walking in and toeing her shoes off near the door. Sam followed, shutting the door behind him.
"Do you want – " She was cut off when Sam gently grabbed her arm and tugged her toward him until he could do what he'd wanted to do all night. He crushed his lips to hers and she eagerly responded. When his fingers released her arm, her hands flew up to cup the back of his neck, while his circled around her back and pulled her even closer until their chests bumped each other.
His hands skimmed under her jacket and blouse so he could feel her skin under his fingertips. The brush against her shoulder earlier just wasn't enough for him. He wanted more. But he also wanted to go slow with her. Treat her right, woo her, make sure she knew this was something special, that she was something special.
So, when the need for air became too great, he forced himself to be a gentleman. He brushed his nose against hers before pulling back, putting almost an arm's length between them. Andy was confused and furrowed her eyebrows as she breathed heavily and stared at him.
"I…you…I didn't take you out just to get you into bed," he said cautiously, afraid she'd misunderstand his actions. "So, I'm going to be a gentleman and bid you goodnight."
Andy tried to form a response, but was having trouble, trying to decide if he was being noble or just driving her crazy. "You don't have to leave," she managed to force out in a whisper.
He pressed his lips to hers briefly. "Yes. I do. On one condition though. You agree to let me take you out again."
She slid her palms down his chest, her lips curving up in a smile when she felt his heartbeat racing just as much as hers. She kind of hated that he was trying to be such a gentleman, but she kind of adored it as well. "How can I say no to that?" she asked, smiling up at him.
"Ok then. I'll call you," he said, backing up toward the door. After opening it, he glanced back at her. "Sweet dreams Andy."
"Goodnight Sam."
When the door was closed, Andy walked over and locked it before shrugging out of her jacket. She then headed to her bathroom and stripped out of her clothes before turning on the cold water in the shower. She got in and let the ice cold water pound down on her skin. This was ridiculous she thought, as her fingers brushed away the hair matted to her face. She'd just met this man, how could he invoke all these feelings in her? Her entire body had gone warm from the simple touch of his hand. And then when she was ready to tear his clothes off and take him to bed - god, she really should be ashamed about wanting to do that twice in the short time she'd known him - he had to be the gentleman and bid her goodbye.
She shut the shower off with more force than was necessary, as the cold water had done nothing to deter her thoughts. As she dried off, she just hoped he was feeling as tortured as she was right now.