Barky and Thunderstorms
Summary: The one thing Andy McNally hated was thunderstorms. The one thing she didn't know is that Sam Swarek shared her hatred for that.
Words: 2,329
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue. If I did Sam and Andy would be much more than good ole pals.
A/N: I'm not sure where this came from, but a part of this story I've always wanted to see in a story, so I tried to take it on. *crosses fingers* I hope everyone enjoys this and please review. Reviews literally make my day! :)
If you have love in your life it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don't have it, no matter what else there is, it's not enough.
-Ann Landers
As Andy McNally looked outside her window she couldn't help but sigh. She was trying to decide if she would call this torrential rain or a massive down pour.
It had been raining for three hours straight and the lightening and thunder were not helping her like the rain. To make her enjoy it even more she looked at the clock. Three a.m. Lovely.
She wouldn't have minded the rain as much if she knew she could sleep in the next morning. Unfortunately for her she had to go to the barn. With that thought another sigh was let out.
Another clap of thunder sounded and to add to this already sleepless night the power suddenly went out. It took all of Andy's restraint to keep her calm.
As a child she was never one to really enjoy storms. Her best friend, Chrissy Peckerman used to love storms. When they would play together at the age of six and a rainstorm would come, Chrissy lived for it. Andy, on the other hand would go back to her house and wait with her dad until the storm past.
Growing up storms became an even bigger issue. Once she was out of her house and on her own she decided that she hated, maybe even loathed storms more than anything. Not only did she find them not appealing, she also found them to be quite the hassle. Your power could go out (like right now) or they would keep you awake if they occurred at night (like right now).
She decided her best bet was to go back to bed. Maybe if she lay there and tried to close her eyes sleep would finally come. One sheep. Two sheep. She tried this several times before stopping every time at ten sheep.
She reached for her phone, she first thought to call Luke, her supposed to be boyfriend. For some reason though, she ended up dialing a completely different number.
"McNally this better be good." Sam said groggily.
Letting out a sigh of relief she didn't even realize she had. "Sam, what's up?"
She thought maybe if she kept this normal he wouldn't say anything to sarcastic or mean if she told him the real truth to why she was calling.
"Please tell me you did not call me at three in the morning to say what's up."
Sam hated storms. He'd never liked them and the one outside his window at the moment was one he didn't want to come back. When the power went out he became very annoyed.
He had heard his cell phone ringing in the other room and knew it could only be one person. His gut was right.
"I thought I would just call you to…" She thought about her next words wisely before Sam beat her to it.
"You scared of storms McNally?" He decided he was going to eat this up.
Pssh she thought to herself. Good one Sam. "No, the thunder is just keeping me up and I thought who better to call than my training officer Sam Swarek?"
He laughed. "Where's Callaghan?"
He really didn't know why he asked because just thinking about her with him made him want to punch a wall out. Luke Callaghan always seemed to win over the "rookie" ladies. Sam wondered how every one of them fell for it. Usually he would call them idiotic, but for some reason he couldn't say one bad word about Andy, even if he tried.
She took in a breath. "I don't know probably working on a case or something."
It was masked sadness, he could tell that much from her voice. "Well I'm glad you called me Andy." He truly was glad that she picked him over Callaghan. It felt good finally to be first in her eyes.
She smiled despite not wanting to. "Anyways," she tried to gain some composure back, "I really was seeing what you were doing."
He smirked. "Truthfully I was up, the thunder was loud and it was keeping Barky up."
Andy thought for a second. "Barky?" What the hell?
He had never told her about Barky, not many people knew he kept a dog around the house.
"Barky he's my dog."
Andy tried to suppress her laughter, but failed miserably. The thought of Sam Swarek with a dog; was odd to say the least.
"Why didn't you tell me you had a dog?"
"It never really came up."
Sam sat on the couch with Barky right by his side. Around two years ago he was called to a scene with a young girl and her dog. The mother of the girl had been abusing the child and the dog. While Sam couldn't take in the child (even though the thought crossed his mind) he did take in the dog. Thus, became Barky, his loyal black labrador retriever, a good solid dog and not to bad with the ladies.
She was definitely going to ask the background on how Sam became a pet owner at a later date.
"Why name a dog Barky?" She asked sort of perplexed.
He patted the dog on the head. "Because he likes to bark all the time." He said this to her very seriously, of course McNally never took much seriously.
She thought it was cute, she wouldn't admit that to him though. "Well I have to admit, I never saw you as the dog type."
He mocked hurt. "Why's that?"
She gripped the phone tighter and lay back against her headboard. "I don't know, I just can't picture you playing with a dog."
He nodded and quickly got off the couch, followed by Barky, to go back in the bedroom. He crawled into bed making sure Barky was in the same room as him. He thought about his reply before answering.
"Well McNally there's a lot you don't know about me."
He didn't mean it to sound harsh, but somehow it came out that way.
The first day he was tackled by her he saw amazing potential in her. He would never tell her how much of her he saw in himself when he was at her level. She was learning and picking up on things day by day. He was glad to call her his rookie.
As much as he was glad she was his rookie, he could never get the feeling out of him that he wanted her to be more than just his rookie. He knew the stakes of her being with him, but he wasn't one for rules. He also knew that him being her training officer, she would learn there are no rules when it came to their job.
Every time he had to see her with Callaghan he felt loss. He greatly wished every day would stay between the times of seven in the morning to seven at night because that was when they were on duty. Just for those hours she was his and Callaghan didn't belong in her world. He envied the times he wasn't the one with her. He somehow learned to burry his feelings, he was glad he was so good at it because every time she went with Callaghan a piece from him faltered.
She winced because even she knew he was right. She wanted to know the depths that were Sam Swarek. There was something always holding her back though. She was happy with Luke, but she knew she could be happy (maybe happier) with Sam.
The night she went to his house she regretted not being with him, fully being with him. In her mind she kept telling herself that it was the right thing, to disregard it, but the words 'it was what it was' still struck a chord with her.
She knew the silence over the phone was becoming unbearable so she said the only thing she was thinking. "I know there is."
In truth, finding out more about Sam is what she thrived on most days. Even if it was just a single new thing she learned, she was opened to it.
"Truthfully, I'm terrified of storms."
It came out of nowhere, but it was all she could think of.
He was thankful the silence was somewhat broken.
She told him so it was only fair he told her. "Me too Andy."
Surprised by his answer, "really?"
"Don't sound so surprised. What normal human being would be up at three twenty-seven in the morning if they weren't scared of thunderstorms?"
He was calm when he said it, but in Andy's mind it was just something she could add to her list of their similarities.
Both scared of storms. Check.
"I can't believe the great Swarek is scared of storms. I didn't think you were scared of anything,"
Besides you.
"Well McNally some things, like being scared of a storm, grown men don't like to admit. Luckily, I am comfortable in my own skin and don't mind."
She laughed. "I'm glad you told me."
"Well you wouldn't of known if you hadn't of called, so I'm really glad you did." He said sincerely.
She let out a yawn. She was becoming increasingly tired. She was more than thankful that Sam had taken the storm off her mind. When she looked out the window she noticed the rain had died down some, she was more than thankful.
He beat her to the punch line. "Looks like the rain died down." He looked down at the side of his bed to see that Barky was close to being asleep.
"Yea thankfully, I was thinking that I would have to rent a boat to get to work tomorrow."
"I'll come and pick you up. The least you could do is keep me company on my drive to work, since you have managed to keep me up for quite some time."
It was more of request than him offering. "I guess I can keep you company. I mean I am going to have to make fun of you for life after this."
He shook his head at her antics. "Okay whatever you say."
She knew the conversation was ending, but she was more than happy that he would be driving her to work tomorrow.
"Thank you, Sam."
"For what?"
"You know, for talking to me."
He smiled not really wanting the conversation to end, but knew if he kept going he would be completely worthless at work tomorrow.
"No problem. I'll pick you up tomorrow, okay?"
"I'll be ready."
"Night Andy."
"Night Sam."
She heard the dial tone and smiled to herself.
The next morning Andy and Sam made their way into the barn. They were both feeling drowsy and hoped they didn't have too big of a task in front of them.
Andy was teasing him about Barky and the storm situation, before Luke interrupted them. Sam immediately saw Andy tense up. Well that's a first.
"Hey Andy." Luke looked from Andy to Sam, all of them staring at one another.
"Hey Luke." Andy greeted.
This was becoming more and more awkward by the minute. Sam for one was loving this lovers spat.
"Callaghan, late night?" Sam smirked.
Luke didn't catch on. "Yea, Jerry and I were working on a case all night, we finished up just a couple of minutes a go."
"Detectives always working late."
Andy shot Sam a look, while Luke agreed with him.
"Did you hear that storm though last night?" Luke thought casual conversation was the way to approach the duo.
Andy finally stepped into the conversation. "Yea it was pretty bad. Kept me up forever."
Luke nodded. "I know all that thunder. I've always loved thunderstorms though, so it didn't bother me too much."
Andy looked at Sam, who was already looking at her,
In that moment she knew.
Reviews are always appreciated! :)