My first O/S! And first Rookie Blue FanFic but after 4x09, I couldn't get this out of my head! It just begged to be written! Long A/N afterwards. I own nothing. ;)

Nick Collins woke with a smile on his face. It was early, way early. One of many disgusting habits he'd picked up from the Army. However, today it wasn't something he particularly minded. He was wrapped in the warmth that was his partner, now in more ways than one. Andy McNally. Brushing a kiss over the top of her head, he eased out from under her careful not to wake her. She stirred momentarily but he knew from their undercover experience together that she didn't wake easily. He took a minute to appreciate the sight of her curled up in bed, the innocence of her face and how peaceful she looked. He wasn't going to wake her, especially not after the day she'd had yesterday. He'd make her breakfast and if the smell of eggs and coffee didn't wake her, well then he'd just have to improvise. The thought put a stupid grin on his face.

He slipped out of her bedroom silently, closing the door behind him softly. The search for his boxers was his first priority. He found them a few minutes later, underneath the coffee table. His second order of business? Cleaning up the mess they had made the night before. This wasn't his first visit to her apartment. He knew where her broom and dustpan were kept. He swept up the remnants of her lamp, already planning on buying her a new one. Though technically, she'd been the one to throw his jacket at it, knocking it off of the side table. He grinned again. It was something he couldn't seem to stop doing; smiling, grinning. It had everything to do with the woman curled up in bed in the room just behind that door. He used to think that he had a problem with commitment and now he wasn't so sure. It might have just been the woman he was with, because the more time he spent with Andy the more he could picture forever. With her.

After folding her clothes neatly in a pile and placing them on the couch, he made his way into the kitchen. He opened her refrigerator and groaned at the empty shelves. No milk, no eggs, no tomatoes. Well, there went cooking her breakfast. He'd really been looking forward to cooking her the omelets he'd gotten so good at making while undercover. After only a few tries he'd perfected them and she'd loved them. He shut the refrigerator and opened her cupboard where she kept the coffee. She did have that at least. He turned, leaning against the counter.

He had three options. One, he could make coffee, wake her up. The smell always worked. He'd learned that trick for their early morning runs undercover. But coffee and no breakfast made for a grumpy McNally. He'd learned that the hard way. Two, he could leave her a note, run out and get breakfast and coffee. There was a bakery right around the corner. She'd never even know he was gone. He knew exactly what she liked from there; she talked about it all the time. And he was a good listener. Three, he could go in there, wake her up the fun way and then they could go get breakfast.

He really liked option three. Problem was he also knew his partner. And Andy McNally needed breakfast in order to be a nice, productive citizen. Plus, if he brought her coffee and food, it left plenty of time for other activities until their next meal. He was grinning again while he got dressed, pulling on yesterday's jeans and shirt. He found a notepad sitting on top of her desk and a pen. He wrote her a quick note, left it by her pillow.

You won't even read this because you sleep like the dead. Ran out to grab breakfast. I'll be right back.

-N

He locked up using the spare key she had given him a while back when they had been undercover. They had made a pact. If anything had happened to either of them while undercover they didn't want a stranger cleaning out the other's apartment. And while yes, they both had friends in the department they had both grown closer in the six months undercover than they had thought possible. They had thought it better that way. The pact had scared him then and it scared him even more now.

He couldn't lose her. Though nothing had been as scary as that final day of undercover, that day in the warehouse, when Von had ordered him to shoot her and pressed the gun into his hand. He closed his eyes, forced it out of his head, compartmentalized. It wasn't something he liked to think about. It still gave him nightmares.

Thirty minutes later, he was whistling a happy little tune on his way back up to her apartment, bag from the bakery in his hand, coffee cup holder dangling from his fingers with both of their coffees and digging in his jacket pocket for her keys when he spotted the man standing in front of her door, hand raised to knock. His heart stopped as he recognized him.

"Swarek." Nick said gruffly.

Sam turned around, mid knock to see Nick standing behind him. Sam's eyes turned cold, as the cop in him took in Nick's appearance. The day old scruff on his face, though not altogether uncommon, but the jeans, the shirt and sweatshirt however were all the same. And though Sam had been a detective for six months now, it didn't take a detective to put two and two together. Nick raised his chin, knew he was being assessed, instantly falling into a militant stance. Habit. This was quickly becoming a pissing match, though he didn't want it to be. Sam Swarek had had his chance. He had blown it. He'd even when they got back from their undercover op had the opportunity for a second. He'd blown that too. Andy had thought he'd wait, though Nick had done his best to try to get her to move past it, move past him. But she hadn't. Not then. But she had now.

"Collins." Sam sneered. Sam looked down at the bag in Nick's hand, appraising the coffee and the bakery bag. He nodded, clenching his jaw. "I just wanted to check on her. After yesterday…" He dropped off. Sam must have swallowed his pride. Nick recognized it. Too little too late, he thought.

"She's fine." Nick said.

Sam said nothing for a moment, taking in the situation as only an ex could. He rolled his eyes at Nick, "You see Collins, when she says she's fine what she really means is…"

Nick cut him off, knowing what he was trying to do. "I know what she really means. She's my partner, Sam. I know her very well. She hasn't said she was fine. She's okay. She's dealing." Nick replied. When Sam continued to stare at him the wind knocked out of his sails a bit, Nick offered, "I'll tell her you stopped by." And he would. Nick cared about her that much, he loved her. It would be awkward as hell, but when had that ever stopped him from having a conversation with her?

Finally pulling his keys out of his jacket pocket, Nick filtered them through his fingers until he settled on her key. He watched the light in Sam's eyes fade even more as Sam recognized that Nick had his own key and if Nick hadn't been Andy's break up buddy, if he hadn't gotten into the car that fateful day and watched her wipe away tears, if he hadn't listened to story after story after story of how Sam never told her how he felt until she was holding a grenade in her hands, if he hadn't overheard her cry in their poor little excuse of an undercover apartment when she thought he couldn't hear her he'd almost feel sorry for the guy. But he didn't. And Sam had a girlfriend. He needed to go home to her, to Marlo.

Nick stepped around Sam, inserted his key into the lock and stepped inside. "Coffee's getting cold." He said politely. "See you tomorrow, Swarek." He shut the door behind him.

The apartment was quiet when he entered, but he wasn't surprised. McNally was still asleep. He pulled off his boots, took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack that didn't quite stand up straight anymore though he'd tried his damnedest to fix it. He slipped into her bedroom, coffee and beignets in hand. Perching on the side of the bed, he set the bag of beignets on her nightstand and took her coffee out of the cup holder. Taking the top off, he waved the cup in front of her face a few times.

She stirred slowly, stretched and let out a low moan. He grinned, worked every time. She opened one eye tentatively first. "Morning." She whispered with a soft smile.

"Good morning, gorgeous." He whispered back.

She closed her eyes and snuggled back into her pillow. "Do I smell breakfast?"

"You do. You're lucky I like you, McNally." He brushed a strand of hair off of her face, tucked it behind her ear. "Your fridge is empty, so I ran down to the bakery. Got you a beignet." Both eyes opened this time. They flew to his.

"You went down to the bakery for me?" She sounded incredulous. He'd told her twice how he'd felt about her. She still didn't realize that he listened to everything she said? That he was crazy about her?

"I did. Feel free to show me your appreciation." She laughed and sat up, tugging the sheet with her to cover herself.

She smacked him lightly in the chest. "Shut up, Collins."

"Well, I'm glad to see nothing's changed." He laughed as he handed her the cup of coffee. Two creams, two sugars. She took it gracefully and scooted over so he could slide in next to her. She sipped it delicately.

"Mmm. Perfect." She moaned.

He chuckled. "I can't help it. Good genes." She smacked him again.

They reclined against the headboard and ate their beignets together laughing as the powdered sugar got everywhere. When they were finished he took her empty coffee cup from her, placed it on her nightstand.

Nick watched her face carefully. "So I promised I'd tell you," he began, "when I got back from the bakery, Swarek was here to see you. Said he stopped by to see if you were okay after yesterday."

Andy kept her eyes on his, watching him too. She nodded.

"What did you say?" She asked her voice surprisingly neutral.

"I told him that you were okay." Nick replied. "And that I'd tell you he stopped by."

Andy nodded again. "I am okay." She took a second, smiled. "I think that has a lot to do with you. You kind of snuck up on me, Collins." She leaned forward. She brushed her powdered lips over his slowly, taking him by surprise as she dropped the bed sheet. It was much easier to get his shirt off this time, there was less awkwardness. Though even last night, with the awkwardness, it was still just right. Still perfect. They knew each other intimately now though. He deepened the kiss quickly, sliding down the headboard and pulling her with him. She smiled wickedly at him as she slid her leg over his and laughed when he grinned back at her. She framed his face with her hands.

Nipping his bottom lip with her teeth she placed kisses along his jaw, until she got to his ear. She whispered teasingly in it. "In case you were wondering, this is my way of showing you my appreciation for breakfast." He chuckled for a moment until she found the spot just below his ear that she'd discovered last night. It drove him absolutely crazy. He couldn't take it anymore. He flipped her onto her back, taking over. She reached down to unbutton his jeans; unzipping them quickly and helping him shuck them, pushing them over his hips. Soon there was no more laughing, no more giggling but plenty of whispers, sighs and throaty moans.

Afterwards, she lay snuggled up to him, as close as possible. He played with the strands of her hair that teased her back. She shivered in his arms. "It tickles." She murmured against his chest. He kissed her forehead and rubbed her back instead, wanting and needing the contact. She sighed contentedly.

"What would you like to do today?" He asked. She shrugged, tracing her finger over the ridges of his abs. She had secretly always liked when Von had his famous pool parties. It meant they wore bathing suits and though Nick rarely went in the pool, he had occasionally taken off his shirt and she could covertly admire his muscles from behind her sunglasses. Nick tipped her chin with his finger. "You're blushing." He said with a small smile. "What is it?" He asked.

She shook her head, way too embarrassed to share. "It's nothing."

"Andy." He whispered. "You can tell me."

She laughed. "I really can't."

He forced her to meet his eyes. "I told you I thought you were magical, McNally."

She bit her lip. "I used to like Von's pool parties." She said in such a rush it came out sounding like one word. Nick nodded, holding back his smile. Though he couldn't say he wasn't confused. He knew there was more to this story.

"Because…" He said, determined to drag it out of her.

She covered her face with her hands. He reached out to gently pull them away. She closed her eyes. "Because sometimes…." She dropped her voice low. "You'd take your shirt off." His grin took up his whole face. If he thought she was blushing before, it was nothing compared to the shade her face was now. She cracked an eye open to peek at his face. He wiped the grin off of his face immediately. She closed her eyes again. "Oh my God. I can't believe I just…"

"McNally." She tried to get out of bed.

"Nick. Shut up…. just forget I said anything." She muttered.

"McNally." He reached for her hands. He couldn't laugh at her right now. He wouldn't. No matter how cute it was that she was embarrassed.

"You don't have to…."

"Andy!" She turned to face him. "Look at me." She opened her eyes, her face still bright red. "Those pool parties." He said, his face completely composed. "You wore bikinis." She stared at him. Okay, so she didn't get it. "I can describe each one." Still staring. "In detail." Her eyes softened. "Explicit detail."

"You're a cop. You're supposed to notice details." He fought to not roll his eyes. Jesus, she was stubborn and thick headed.

He smiled softly at her, leaned in to kiss her soundly and also to shut her up. When he finally pulled back, he leaned his forehead against hers, opened his eyes. "I do notice details because I'm a cop. But when it comes to you? I tend to notice a lot more." It took a few seconds, but then her eyes finally widened.

There it was. She got it. "So why didn't you say something then?" She asked.

"Why didn't you?" He asked.

"Gail." She whispered.

"She was my reason too. Even though I thought she'd left for Europe, we left things unresolved. I didn't want to taint a relationship with you with an unfinished relationship with someone else." She nodded.

"That's a pretty good reason there, Collins."

"There's more to me than just my good looks, McNally." He laughed.

"You don't say." She replied. He kissed her softly, his lips lingering. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. He stretched his arm, reaching out to hand it to her. "It's from Chris." She said, swiping her finger across the screen. "He wants to know if he can come over with Christian. He wants to apologize." She turned to look at Nick. The look of indecision was clear in her eyes. She wasn't sure what to do. She was glad that Christian had been found but she clearly still felt guilty about yesterday. Nick took the phone from her, set it down on the bed. He cupped her face in his hands.

"Andy. If Gene Mackenzie wouldn't have kidnapped Christian when he did yesterday he would have found another opportunity when someone else was watching him. There was an emergency. We're cops. You locked him in the car; you were only gone for a minute. You weren't negligent. Chris has calmed down, he's realized that. You don't have to have them over if you don't want to. But I think you should." She nodded, and he could tell that she still didn't believe what he was saying. But she wanted to apologize, too, now that emotions and tempers weren't running so high. And so she would invite them over.

Her voice was small when she asked, "Will you stay with me?"

He nodded. "Of course I will." He pointed at her phone. "Make sure it's okay with Chris, though." He stood as she quickly sent a reply text. He put his hands on his hips and smirked when she looked up and grinned at him. "Want to join me in the shower?" Her answer was a crooked smirk. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "Water conservation." He said with a shrug. She giggled, both of them carefree as they cleaned up.

As they were getting dressed a good hour later to go shopping for food, he looked down at his clothes. "We might need to swing by my apartment first. Diaz is a cop. He'll notice. And he'll tell Gail."

She nodded. "That might be a good idea. Gail needs to be the first to know." Nick sat on the edge of her bed to pull on his boots. Andy stood in front of him, hands on her hips. "I want to be the one to tell her."

Nick inhaled sharply, made a face. "We can do it together."

"I need to be the one to tell her, Nick."

"Andy, she thinks something happened with us undercover. She knows that I…its best if we both… It's why she slept…" Hell. He hadn't told anybody that. And he certainly didn't want Andy to know. He sighed.

"She cheated on you?"

"Yes." He said softly. "I didn't want you to find out. It's not relevant. It is what it is."

"It is relevant. I can't believe she did that to you."

"I haven't been in love with Gail in a long time. I moved on a while ago." He admitted sadly. "I was in the relationship for the wrong reasons, she sensed my distance and I should have broken it off when we came back. It was my fault for not doing exactly that." He shook his head at Andy, who stepped up to him and squatted between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her. "But I really don't want to talk about Gail and me. If you want to tell her by yourself, then God be with you." He sighed, then chuckled. "Just make sure she's not armed when you tell her. And even if she's not that you're wearing your bulletproof vest in case she's got a backup. Please? For me?"

Andy laughed, and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll be sure to do that. C'mon. Chris said they'll be here around noon." Nick glanced over his shoulder at her alarm clock. It was already ten thirty and they still had to swing by his place and then go by the store. Andy stood up and tugged on his hand.

Sure they still had a lot of things to work out, still had people to tell, and Andy hadn't really told him how she felt yet. But she'd showed him. He knew she cared. And for right now? That was enough. She wasn't going to rush in. She'd been burned too many times. With Luke. With Sam. She wasn't going to do it again. And that was okay with him. Because he wasn't going anywhere. He was in this. For the long haul. Yep, Andy McNally was it for him.

"Hey soldier boy! You coming or what?" He snapped out of it with a grin and hurried after her.

"Don't get your panties in a wad, McNally. I'm coming!"

She turned, threw out her arms in a challenge, and nodded her head. "What makes you think you know anything about my panties, Collins?"

He winked. "I know more than you think, McNally. More than you think." He laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulders as they locked up and strolled out of the apartment together.

God, I love them. I have watched the ending scene to 4x09 an embarrassing amount of times. Honestly, I couldn't even begin to tell you how many b/c I've lost count. It's sad. Pathetic, even. Also, if you haven't already. TheJovanaJ on YouTube has some AMAZING videos that get me from episode to episode every week. The latest one is Come and Get it (my FAVORITE). LOVE it. And then there's Soldier and Until I Met You…they're all amazing. Seriously. Check them out.

I doubt seriously that this will be my only Rookie Blue FanFic. Unless you guys hate this, of course. But….I am currently waist deep in another FanFic for The Vampire Diaries, so….I doubt that it'll be an all the time thing….maybe the occasional one shot, especially if things keep going my way this season….though based on the Season 4 Sneak Peek I'm not sure how things are going to go. Feel free to let me know if you liked this and if you're like me and have devoted a ridiculous amount of time to YouTube and have rewatched their scenes over and over and OVER. My husband thinks I'm insane. (But I'm okay with that…he knew when he married me!)

Also…it's okay if you're a McSwarek fan…I still like Sam, believe it or not. (I'm a recent convert…somewhere around 3x11 is when I started shipping McCollins!) I just think Sam had his chance. Now it's Nick's turn. Andy and Nick are just so easy. And that's how relationships should be. Things with Sam were always like pulling teeth. And Nick is so honest and open with her. Nick is what she needs….for right now at least. It could change…we'll see. Plus…all those muscles?! Gah!

Leave me your thoughts! I reply to all reviews…except to guest ones…obviously!