~Perfect~
Disclaimer: I own nothin' of Major Crimes, nothin'!
After they finished eating, Andy stacked up their dinner dishes. As he picked up the pile of plates and bowls, a fork tipped off balance. He tried to catch it, but it slid off with a clang as it struck the floor. He let out a huff in frustration. He set down the tower of dirty dishware back on the table. Bending down to find it, he noticed the handle of the rogue utensil was stuck under a doorway. Standing fully now, he tried to turn the doorknob, as he twisted it the hinges creaked.
Suddenly, Sharon, who had been at the sink cleaning up the pots and pans, was right beside him saying, "I'll get it." She interjected her body between Andy and the door, leaning back against the cool wood closing it with a thud.
He looked from the kitchen and back to her, he was surprised she had moved that fast. He asked confused. "What is behind this door? As many times as I've been over, I've wondered to where it leads?"
"Oh, it's nothing." Sharon tried to sound nonchalant. "How about you help me finish in the kitchen? I know you cook I clean but it will get done faster with both of us. Then we can head out to that movie you wanted to see."
Andy knew she was trying to distract him and he would let her think that it worked for now. He watched as she reached down to yank the wayward silverware but it was wedged in there rather well. After a few more pulls with no success, Andy leaned over her to put his hand on the knob. He suggested, "it would be easier if you just opened the door."
"Don't!" Sharon exclaimed as she tugged harder one more time. The fork came free but sent her teetering backward to land in a graceful thump on her rear. After a second of recovery time, she blew the hair out of her eyes and held up the now bent pronged cutlery in a proud victory. Smiling at Andy, she triumphantly said, "there see, I got it."
He rolled his eyes and held out a hand to help her up. Sharon Raydor sitting rumbled on the floor was a sight he thought he'd never see, but would be happy to see again. With a loud laugh, he agreed, "that was quite an achievement, though I kind of have a feeling the fork won that battle."
She stood up, fixed her hair, straightened her shirt, and still holding the offensive flatware, she patted his arm before pushing him toward the kitchen.
After the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher, the leftover food was put away, and the kitchen was spotless, Andy took a chance. With another glance over to the dining area he turned to question her, "Why does that mystery door have a deadbolt on it, but wasn't locked?"
"I happened to be in there last night, guess I forgot." She added sarcastically, "Don't worry I won't forget again."
Andy couldn't resist a little teasing. "Ohhh, does it hide a deep dark secret of yours?" Sharon looked at him for a beat, then shook her head. Since she didn't give him the Raydor glare, he dared to attempt again. With a lopsided smile, he asked, "hiding skeletons in your closet?" When she rolled her eyes at him he continued to guess. "Hmmm, maybe forbidden unhealthy snacks?" At that, she scrunched up her nose. He laughed at her reaction before saying, "Shocking I know, you would never sneak a Ding Dong. How about piles of dirty laundry?"
She shook her head no. She knew his inquisitive nature wouldn't let him stop investigating, it was what made him a great detective. Sharon took his hand in hers and said, "I'll say good try, now let's get going. You know I like get the comfortable seats with the legroom," and she started to pull him to the front door.
He dug his heels in, "Wait, wait, wait a minute. Is that where the Wicked Witch keeps her flying monkeys? I've got it, it's the secret doorway to the yellow brick road to see the great and powerful OZ?" That earned him a glare, so Andy conceded and headed over to gather their coats. He knew how stubborn Sharon could be and he knew he wouldn't be able to get any information out of her unless she wanted to confess it to him. He reluctantly let go of her hand to help her slip on her coat, waiting for her to get her purse and keys, he held the door open for her.
As Sharon walked by Andy to leave, she gave him a smirk of her own. She too could play along. "Now, you tell me. If I'm supposed to be the horrible Wicked Witch, why would I want anyone to go see the Wizard and get a chance to escape Munchkin Land or Emerald City for that matter?"
He smiled that she was going along with his odd sense of humor. He liked that lately, he got to see her lighter side more and more. Andy gave her a head nod in acceptance as he commended her, "Yes, very true, that could be why you are the boss." He frowned then admitted, "You know, we were all wrong about that. You were more like Dorothy, coming into our dysfunctional world to save the day. You were innocent in your own way, just doing what came naturally to you, to lead and help us find the right road. Only to get waylaid at every path you tried to follow."
She leaned into his side and sighed happily, just to be where she was. As they walked down the corridor she softly said, "Nice save there, Andy. I will admit when I stepped into the Murder Room all those years ago I did immediately think I wasn't in Kansas anymore. I was surrounded by lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!" Her tone was light. "Luckily I don't scare easily." Laying her head on his shoulder she contemplated out loud," Hmmm, I wonder who you are in this little scenario of yours? The Scarecrow or the Tinman, maybe the Lion or possibly Toto?" She held back a snort laugh.
He instead freely laughed at her come back and held her closer to him. Andy couldn't help but to smile as she took his hand back into hers and intertwined their fingers. "Um, let's see, I have the brains to smartly not give up on you. I can't be the Cowardly Lion 'cause I was brave enough to ask the terrifying Captain Raydor out on a real date." When they stopped to wait for the elevator Andy slowly slid his hands to her hips and pulled her to him. In a low unwavering voice, he said, "Sharon, I can guarantee you I am no little puppy dog, but I am loyal to you and would follow you anywhere. Now," his tone lightened but was still serious, "as for my heart, well that's easy, you own that. You helped get it going again, so it will always be yours."
Sharon sighed and as they stepped into the open elevator, she smiled saying, "Andy Flynn, you are always the charmer."
As life went on the "door" was forgotten, or more accurately, Andy made sure not to bring it up again until his curiosity got the best of him. It was as if it was forbidden and that just made him want to know more. It was a space that he wasn't allowed to see. When they sat at the dining room table, it was looming right behind him or he sat in the chair across from the door staring at it. He was sure his imagination was making more of what the large white portal was hiding. Once the thought got stuck in his mind, it became something of a force, always in the forefront of his brain. It was becoming an ominous inanimate object, a distraction, and now he just had to know, but he also knew from the last time, he had to ease into asking her about the door that must not be named. So, as they were finishing up their dinner Andy cleared his throat and started his defense. "You know Sharon, back when I had my dust-up then the blood clot, I'm very grateful that you let me stay here. It couldn't have been easy for you."
"Andy, you know it was never an imposition to have you here." She said, wondering where this was going.
They looked at each other, he knew she was suspicious already, but he needed to stay brave. "Sharon, I thank you for everything you've done, but I do have a question." He continued by asking, "if I am your boyfriend and we are now living together, shouldn't we know each other's deep dark secrets?" He waited to see if she agreed. Getting no response, he kept going, "You know everything about me. Every mistake I ever made is either in my file or been gossiped about throughout the entire LAPD."
Sharon tilted her head down laughing. Catching her breath before she snorted a laugh she said, "well, that is true."
"Hey!" Andy tried to act shocked.
She stood up and walked to stand in front of him. "Well, you did say it first and you do, or should I say you did have quite a ladies man reputation. I'm surprised I agreed to a real date with you at all, though you can be rather charming when you want to be…" she ran her hand along Andy's shirt, letting her fingers play with the buttons, "hmmm and that smile of yours is irresistible."
He held onto her hand and looked her in the eye. He hadn't gotten to his point yet. "Sharon, just like last time this subject was brought up you are trying to change the subject by distracting me."
It was her turn to act shocked, but when she saw Andy wasn't falling for it, she rolled her eyes and said, "Fine." She saw him glancing at the door all night, actually she noticed him looking at it all the time and knew he would bring it up sooner or later, so she didn't bother to make him ask. She pulled her hand away from his and just stated, "here have a look for yourself!" Sharon lifted the decorative flower pot on the island in the kitchen and grabbed a hidden key. Using more force than necessary she jammed it into the lock, flung the door open, and walked away. It wasn't that she was embarrassed about what was behind the door, it was more that she didn't know how to explain.
Andy worried that if it was going to upset her so much, he wouldn't have pushed and teased her about the mystery room. However, now with the door wide open, he couldn't contain his curiosity. He reached over along the wall, feeling for the light switch and flip it up. As the small area became illuminated all he could say was, "Wow!" With a few steps forward, he took a moment to take it all in. He spun in a slow circle with his mouth open in amazement. When Andy turned to the doorway, he realized she wasn't behind him. He went in search of her.
Sharon was in the living room fiddling with the stereo. She needed to keep her hands busy to ease her nervousness. She heard Andy approach, without moving she started rambling in her defense, "Alright, alright, so now you know and if you haven't guessed yet, I have a bit of an obsession. It's my addiction, I can explain..."
He noticed she wouldn't look at him and was fidgeting with the radio knobs. He stopped her mid-word by softly saying, "Sharon, there's no need to explain anything. Anyway, it's a much better and healthier addiction than I ever had, and I had a few bad ones." He reached out to still her fingers. "I was a bit surprised to see that there are shelves and shelves, though."
She shrugged. "There are other things in there too. My mom's china, my father's hand-carved centerpiece I use on special occasions. There's Emily and Ricky's handmade pottery from elementary school. Behind that door, I keep things I want close by and safe, and that I don't want way down in my main storage area. I like to have them on hand to switch them out for certain holidays. Sometimes, I change them to go with my moods."
When she used her free hand to finally settle on a station, he took her hands in his and turned her to face him as soft music wafted around them. He smiled at her song choice as he pulled her close to him and swayed to the soothing rhythm. The lyrics always made him think of Sharon and how he felt about her. It somehow captured their relationship. Andy was still a bit bewildered at what he had seen behind the door, so he asked, "how? Will you tell me, how did it all start? I'll understand if it's too personal."
She was humming along to what lately was one of her favorite songs. She let Andy hold her a few beats then looked up at him as she tried to explain, "I don't mind telling you. I think you'll understand my sentimentality of how it all started. The first was from my grandmother on my sixth birthday and it kind of grew from there." Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. "You're aren't going to make a joke about what you saw?"
"No, never. It's nothing to be embarrassed about and thank you for trusting me enough to show me." He leaned down and kissed her. When they took a breath he said, "I saw the one I gave you for a Christmas present, but I do have one more question. So many angels… I knew you liked them, but how many angels do you really have?"
Sharon's eyes lit up and she beamed radiantly at him and shrugged, "Oh, you can never have too many angels."
He held her tighter, then after a tender kiss Andy whispered in her ear, "That can be true but all I need is one very special angel in my life."
As the music played through the room, Sharon contently laid her head on his shoulder and snuggled in closer to him. She hummed along with the song still playing. It was the perfect song for a perfect moment. With a smile, she said, "See, it was meant to be."
He held her tighter as they danced to the slow tempo. "Yes, it is meant to be." When the end of the song drew near, Andy softly repeated the lyrics, "Now, I know I have met an angel in person and she looks perfect." He leaned back and looked her in the eye, "I don't deserve this... you look perfect tonight."
Sharon fought the urge to roll her eyes. From anyone else that would sound like a cheesy line but from Andy she knew he was just speaking from his heart. She stepped in closer to feel his body's warmth. "Hmmm, there's that Flynn charm I can't resist." On her tip-toes, she placed a quick kiss on his lips only to deepen it, to express without words how much she had no desire to ever push him away again. Finally stepping back, after taking in a long-needed breath of air she slowly let it out and whispered, "this is absolutely angelically perfect."
~The End~
A/N: I used lyrics from the song "Perfect," written and sung by fellow ginger ;) Ed Sheeran. With a mix of some lines from the Wizard of Oz, credit goes to the original writer L. Frank Baum and the screenplay writer.
A heartfelt thank you to lissianne for betaing for me and trying to catch my mistakes, though I tweaked it afterward. I'm also grateful to her for giving up her time to go over my crazy Shandy ideas and for brainstorming with me.
