This is just something light and fluffy and totally unlikely, but I needed my McSwarek fix and I didn't get it Thursday night.
So I had to take a break from my other story to lighten up a little and get these two together. Timing would likely be before Luke had the chance to actually cheat.
Disclaimer: I own nothing Rookie Blue.
There was something there; it was obvious to anyone with a set of eyes ...at least Andy thought so.
But when she shared her thoughts with Traci, all she got was a muttered reply about irony and looking in a mirror.
Whatever...She knew she was right...there was still something between Luke and Jo. Luke was stubborn though and he continued to deny that there were any residual feelings. Then again, Andy found that the more she talked to Luke about his regrets, the more she realized she had just as many of her own.
Luke may have been willing to remain in denial...at least for now, but Andy just couldn't stay there with him. She knew it was inevitable, so she broke it off and moved out.
It had been just over a week since the breakup and both Andy and Luke agreed not to make a big deal out of it. They weren't angry and no one was hurt so it was easy to act politely; they didn't dislike each other and no one was really to blame. They just weren't meant for each other.
Luke kept it to himself, trying to decide if and when to tell Jo; if he wanted anyone to know, it would be her. Andy though had told Traci, Gail and Sam, which meant that Jerry, Chris and Dov, and Oliver were also aware, but as far as she knew that was as far as it went. It wasn't like anyone was sworn to secrecy but it was more of a 'don't offer if no one asks' kind of thing. Surprisingly, even Dov had kept it under wraps.
Traci, Gail and Andy exited the locker room headed to parade when they noticed Boyd talking to Sam...again. It seemed like he was in there every second day to see if Sam had made up his mind about the task force. They had one spot open and were currently holding it for Sam; time had to be running out though which was probably why Boyd had been stepping it up.
When the girls walked by, they caught the eyes of both men who smiled and nodded.
"Was Boyd actually civil to you again?" Traci asked in disbelief.
"Seriously, I never thought I'd see the day." Gail claimed.
"I don't know how it happened." Andy replied, still somewhat shocked herself. "At first I wondered if Sam talked to him and told him to suck it up because one day he just started talking to me. It was when I was in booking last week; I was on my lunch when he sat down and just started in. I was waiting for him to yell or make some smart ass remark about the Bergen/Landry op, but he never did. It didn't take me long to figure out why he was being so nice though."
The girls both looked at her curiously urging her to continue.
"He wanted me to talk Sam into going to Guns and Gangs." She explained, as if it should have been obvious.
"What did you say?"
"Basically I told him I didn't think anyone could talk Sam into doing something he didn't want to do, including me. I have no idea what made him think I had any influence on him."
Both girls scoffed, before Traci spoke up. "I don't know, Andy. We all know the kind of 'influence' you have over Swarek. You could probably get that man to do just about anything for you if you put your mind to it."
Andy's cheeks reddened as she tried to hide the smile. "Yeah, well if I ever work up the guts to use that kind of influence on Sam, he definitely won't be getting far."
"I don't know Andy." Gail teased. "Smart money says you'd let him get plenty far."
Andy's blush deepened, but she wasn't comfortable with the way the conversation was headed so she steered it back to Boyd. "Anyway...after that, I figured he would storm off and start ignoring me again. But we actually kept talking, and before he left, I almost got him to admit that Chris and I weren't in the wrong when we brought in Lessing. He's actually loosened up quite a bit about the whole thing; he even made a joke about it the other day. Who knows? Maybe he might even be able tolerate me sometime in the future."
"Well, he seemed pretty happy with you now." Gail noted. "I think that future might be sooner than you think."
Gail recognized the look on Boyd's face even if Andy didn't, and she couldn't help but wonder if Andy was going to be adding another admirer to her list...if she hadn't already.
"Gail's right." Traci confirmed. "He actually brought us both coffees the other morning when we were on desk, and didn't he..."
"I know." Andy interrupted. "He called that day to make sure Best was in, said he was stopping on the way and did we want anything. I just about choked on the coffee I already had."
Gail just nodded in understanding. Oh yeah.
After acknowledging the girls, Boyd turned back to Sam and tried to act indifferent. "So Callahan and McNally huh? Have they set a date yet?"
Sam tried to hide his surprise at the abrupt change in topic; Boyd was the last person he thought he would be having this conversation with. He wasn't really comfortable talking about it, but he also wasn't about to lie. "Actually they've decided to call it quits."
Boyd was pleasantly surprised, but he tried not to show it. "Seriously? I hadn't heard."
"It's not really common knowledge so just keep it under your hat alright?"
"Sure, sure." Boyd readily agreed. McNally was back on the market and the fewer people, well men that knew about it, the better...less competition.
Later that week, Sam and Jerry headed over to the Penny together after shift. They were expecting Oliver to join them so when they heard the door, they both looked up expectantly. They were mildly shocked to see that it was Boyd. Both men raised their eyebrows and they were obviously not the only ones that were caught off guard; the room went almost completely silent as everyone watched him scan the room.
As the conversations slowly started back up, they heard someone laugh from a nearby table. "Boyd's on the prowl again."
"How can you tell? The man just walked in, and he's rarely here to begin with."
"That's how I know. He only comes in here when he's wants something or more often than not someone."
Jerry and Sam snickered finding it hard to believe that they hadn't picked up on that before. The smile quickly slipped off of Jerry's face though as he watched Boyd approach the rookie table. "It better not be Traci." He warned rising up from his seat.
Sam put his hand on Jerry's shoulder, to calm his friend and stop him from doing anything rash. "Why would you think it's Nash?" Everyone knew she and Jerry were together.
"Traci said he's been hanging around and talking to her and McNally a lot lately; he even brought them coffee the other morning. She said that every time they've turned around these last few days he's been there. She said that McNally thinks he's still hoping to convince her to talk to you about joining the task force."
Sam didn't even hear Jerry's last comment about Guns and Gangs; he was stuck on the fact that Boyd had been spending time talking to Traci and Andy. As he watched Boyd's approach, he knew it wasn't Traci that caught his eye...it was Andy. And Sam's spot in Guns and Gangs was the furthest thing from his mind.
Sam couldn't help the grimace that took over his face. He was pretty certain that Andy didn't have any interest in Boyd whatsoever, but he really didn't like the idea of anyone, including Boyd, thinking of her like that.
He continued to watch as Don laughed and joked with the group of rookies for the next hour. His suspicions were completely confirmed when Andy left shortly after.
It looked like Boyd had offered her a ride home, but he could see that she had declined. If he hadn't already been able to tell by the way Boyd had been looking at her, he knew for certain when Boyd left not five minutes after Andy had.
The next day, Sam decided he should probably give Andy a fair warning. If he knew her, and he was sure he did, she likely had no clue about Boyd and his 'crush'.
The morning had been fairly busy, and so when they finally had a break in the action, Sam thought he'd better take the chance while he could so he pulled over. Never one to mince words, he just blurted it out. "So I saw Boyd making the moves on you last night; did you let him down easy or..."
"What? No!" She disputed.
"Yeah, McNally...he was." Just like I thought.
"Come on, Sam, the man barely tolerates me. He might talk to me now, but it's going to take a lot more than that to get him to forgive me for screwing up his op."
"How far are you willing to go to make that happen?" Sam asked with a smirk.
Andy just shuddered. "I think I'd rather have him hate me. But thanks for that."
Sam chuckled. "So I take it you're not interested?"
"No…I can't even imagine…I mean if he…oh, boy!"
Sam laughed even louder before putting on his best bedroom voice. "Don't you mean Oh, Boyd!"
Andy was not amused, and the death glare she shot Sam told him he best not be either.
He swallowed his laughter quickly. "You have to tell him you're not interested."
"That's kind of harsh isn't it? What if you're wrong? Then I'll just look like an idiot."
Sam raised his eyebrows and she shot him a warning. "Don't even go there."
"Fine." He relented. "But I'm not wrong."
"And I don't want to be mean."
"Tell him you're taken then."
"But he knows I'm not with Luke anymore; he told me so the other day. I just wish I knew who the hell told him though..."
Andy stopped cold when she saw Sam look immediately away. "No...tell me you didn't."
"Well, how the hell was I supposed to know he had the hots for you? Like you said the man hated you."
Andy just shook her head trying to figure out how she could get out of this mess with the least amount of damage. She didn't have long to consider it though as the radio quickly confirmed that their 'break' was over.
The minute Boyd walked into the Penny that night, he quickly scanned the room. Once he spotted his target, he headed to the bar to order a drink.
Andy looked at Traci; they had both watched him come in and were starting to panic. Andy had spent the better part of the last hour explaining her predicament; it took that long because Traci couldn't stop laughing.
"Shit...there he is. Hide me."
"Too late."
"What am I going to do?"
"How the hell should I know?"
"Kiss me."
"What?" I must have heard her wrong.
"Kiss me."
"Are you kidding me?"
"No, I'm completely serious."
Traci laughed. "It won't work Andy; he knows I'm with Jerry. Besides, with your luck he'd probably just get turned on."
"So not funny, Trace."
Traci completely disagreed with her on that point, and she continued to snicker under her breath.
When they looked back over, they saw that Boyd had two drinks in his hands and was making his way across the Penny clearly moving in their direction.
When he was sidetracked by one of the detectives, Andy turned back to Traci in sheer terror. "We don't have much time; what am I going to do?"
A noise from the door signaled some new arrivals and their gaze was automatically drawn away from each other and over to the entrance. They saw Sam, Noelle and Oliver enter. "Well there's the man that got you into this..."
She was about to tell Andy to ask him what to do when Andy shot out of her seat and took the words right out of her mouth. "And he's going to get me out of it. Thanks, Trace."
Traci had no idea what she had actually suggested but she was happy to take the credit. "Anytime."
Andy walked straight over to Sam without looking in Boyd's direction, but she could tell his eyes were following her every move.
She started talking as soon as she got to Sam. "There you are. What took you so long?" She said, hoping it was loud enough for Boyd to hear.
Sam looked at her confusion clear on his face. Although it was assumed they would probably see each other there, they hadn't made any sort of arrangement to meet. He looked at his friends to see if she might be talking to one of them, but they too were at a loss.
He wasn't sure why, but Sam felt like he should be explaining himself. "I told you we had that meeting with Best; but I didn't..."
The rest of his answer died on his lips...well actually it died on her lips as she pressed them against his and wrapped her arms around his neck.
His arms snaked around her waist of their own accord, and he found himself tugging her closer and deepening the kiss.
She didn't pull back until she felt the waft of air as Boyd slid quickly past them and straight out the door leaving both his drinks untouched on the bar.
Andy completely missed the amused expressions of Oliver and Noelle as she watched Boyd exit. "Thank you!" She offered to Sam, the relief apparent in her voice.
Turning her face back to Sam, she found him completely speechless, his eyes a little glassy. In the back of his mind, he was completely aware of everything that had just gone on and the reason behind it, but he was still having trouble believing it.
"Sam." She tried, moving her head to see if she could catch his attention. Then it suddenly dawned on her exactly what she had done. "Oh."
She glared at Oliver and Noelle's amused chuckles. Sam had told them what happened and they could tell what Andy was trying to accomplish, but what she hadn't taken into account were Sam's feelings for her.
He finally snapped out of his McNally induced haze when she mumbled a quiet apology and tried to move away from his embrace. "Where do you think you're going?" He demanded, pulling her back in.
"Well...I probably shouldn't have...I mean you really...I didn't mean to...I'm sorry."
"I'm not."
"You're not?"
"I didn't mind."
"You didn't?"
"Definitely not."
"So if I wanted to do it again sometime..." She offered suggestively.
He grinned, unable to contain the dimples any longer. "I'm free right now."
"You may be cheap," Oliver interrupted. "But I wouldn't exactly say you're free. Aren't you forgetting something Sammy?" He continued, motioning between himself and Noelle.
Dammit! He had promised them the first round. Were they really going to hold him to that...now?
Sam's eyes asked the silent question, and Oliver just smirked back. He really wasn't about to stand in the way of these two; this had been a long time coming. But he loved seeing Sam squirm.
And Sam knew it, so he wasn't about to give him the satisfaction. He quickly grabbed the drinks Boyd had abandoned on the bar and handed them to his two friends before putting his arm around Andy and leading her towards the door. "First round's on Boyd."
He turned back to Andy. "Now I'm free."
She flashed him her million dollar smile. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
