Sharon Raydor glanced out of the passenger side window of the car and watched the passing Los Angeles scenery. He was taking her to a baseball game, an activity that she was, in all honesty, completely surprised she had agreed to. It was no secret that Andy Flynn was a baseball fan; in fact it had become a well-known fact throughout the LAPD after certain events had transpired with his partner-in-crime, Louie Provenza. For herself, however, baseball was a practically nonexistent part of her life.
"You're gonna love it, Sharon, trust me." She turned to see him with a boyish grin on his face as he quickly took his eyes off the road to look at her.
She hummed and pursed her lips lightly, still finding it difficult to imagine what was so interesting about watching a group of men whack a ball with a stick. "I'm sure I will." She replied glibly, noting the way the corner of Flynn's lips that she was able to see twitched upwards in response to her enthusiasm.
"I can't believe you've never been to a game before." He commented as he pulled into the entrance to the stadium parking lot and joined the queue for spaces.
"I didn't have much exposure to it growing up. My father was always on one business trip or another and my sister wasn't a fan of sports." Sharon shrugged lazily and ran her fingers through her hair. "Jack enjoyed baseball, he would promise to take Ricky and me to games." She snorted humourlessly. "You know how Jack's promises always turn out."
Andy reached across the centre console and took her hand in his, giving her fingers a comforting squeeze. "Yeah, I do."
Sharon smiled at their joined hands, avoiding his gaze. Of course he knew, he had been Jack at one point in time, the difference being he had realised that his family and career were more important than the drink and done something about it.
Their hands stayed entwined in Sharon's lap as they sat in a comfortable silence, patiently waiting for the sluggish traffic to move enough for Flynn to be able to park. He finally manoeuvred the vehicle into a free space, but found himself reluctant to release his hold on Sharon, who was absentmindedly moving her thumb in small circles across the top of his hand as she took in the initial sights of her first baseball game.
"So, are you ready for your first game?" Flynn asked, reaching across his body with his free hand to unclip his seatbelt. Sharon beamed at him and allowed herself one last fleeting caress of his hand before she let go to eagerly unclasp her own belt and open the car door. Andy laughed at her sudden show of excitement and followed her example. "I'll take that as a yes."
After twenty minutes of pushing through crowds, they finally claimed their seats and relished the fact that they were no longer stuck in the tidal wave of human bodies. The arduous trip to their seats wasn't enough to curb Sharon's newfound interest, however, and Flynn thought that just maybe, this would be an experience that could be repeated in the future.
Flynn took off his baseball jacket and laid it over his chair while Sharon settled herself into hers. "Do you want a drink or anything? A hotdog? Pretzels?" he asked her.
Sharon bit her lower lip delicately as she pondered the idea of eating a hotdog of all things. "Okay," she replied hesitantly, unsure of what exactly to expect.
Flynn nodded and gestured for her not to get up. "You keep our seats and I'll go get us some snacks." Sharon watched as he turned away and disappeared into the crowd. She kept her eyes trained on the place she had last seen him for a few minutes longer, a small smile on her lips, before reaching into her bag and pulling out her phone.
She quickly sent a message to Rusty to inform him that they had arrived safely and there was money on the kitchen counter for him to order pizza before she turned off the device and shoved it to the bottom. Today was going to be a Major Crimes free day. No murders, no callouts, no drama of any kind. She hoped.
She was thoroughly distracted watching other members of the exhibition game crowd when Flynn returned, expertly balancing a tray of snacks and drinks in one hand and a plastic bag in the other.
"I hope you're not looking for people to arrest, Captain." He said with a smirk, dropping the bag carelessly to the ground in front of his seat.
Sharon laughed and held her hands out to relieve him of the tray. "Of course not, I'm off duty today, Lieutenant." Flynn shot her a look that said he didn't completely believe her but said nothing and lowered himself into his seat.
"I got you something." At Sharon's curious look, he leaned forward and retrieved the plastic bag from the floor. He reached inside and pulled out a bright blue baseball cap. "Hey, it's your first game, you need to look the part." He grinned at her slightly stunned expression and leaned forward to slip the cap on to her head, playfully pulling the peak down so it covered her eyes.
Sharon laughed and swatted gently at him, being careful not to tip the tray that was sat in her lap. She pushed the cap away from her eyes and looked at him. There was a twinkle in his eyes that she was sure was matched in her own and it was enough send a light flush to her cheeks.
"It's wonderful, Andy, thank you." He smiled self-consciously and pulled a second cap out of the bag. He slipped it on his own head and reached to relieve her of the tray.
"You're welcome, Sharon." He handed her a large bag of pretzels and placed the tray at his feet. Yeah, they could do this again.