A/N: Wanted to get this out before tonight's episode so it's completely unedited. Apologies for any mistakes.
Rusty was quiet as he let himself into the condo. It was only just after six and he wasn't sure if his Mom and Andy would be awake yet. The squad were off today, barring no major incidents, following the all-nighter and extra hours they'd put in solving their previous murder. He pocketed his keys and dropped his bag just inside the door.
He spotted Sharon as he rounded the corner. She was stood at the balcony door staring out over the city, a mug of steaming coffee in her hands. His gaze swept the room, looking for some indication of what had transpired after he had left the previous evening. But there was nothing. No sign of the roses or the dozens of candles he'd spent yesterday buying and placing around the condo and balcony, trying to set the perfect scene for Andy's proposal. He didn't know what to make of that.
"Mom?"
Her head turned at the sound of voice. "Good morning honey. Did you have a good evening?"
Was she seriously asking him about his night? Surely her evening warranted the attention here. "Um, yeah it was good."
"Did you do anything nice?"
Her attention was back on the scenic view but Rusty knew she was still listening. He wondered if this was some kind of diversionary tactic – perhaps she didn't want to talk about last night. "Yeah, I met him from work and we caught a late showing of Kong. Gus says it wasn't as good as the original. I wouldn't know."
As he busied himself in the kitchen, pouring a glass of orange juice and preparing a bowl of cereal for himself, Sharon moved to the dining table so they could continue their conversation.
"Have you eaten?" Rusty asked.
"No, but I'm not really hungry at the moment. I'll wait for Andy."
"Oh, so he's still here then?"
"He is." Relief flooded through him at his Mom's words. Surprising really given the fuss he'd made about their relationship since it started. He'd got used to it though. He'd always liked Andy – it had just taken him a while to get used to idea of Andy as his Mom's boyfriend rather than one of the Lieutenants. And he wanted his Mom to be happy.
"So…" Rusty drawled, his impatience clearly growing. Sharon was surprised he'd lasted this long and merely raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh come on Mom, I'm dying here!"
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her son's dramatics. "Andy and I had a wonderful evening…"
After sending one final text to Rusty, Andy pocketed his phone before stepping into the elevator behind Sharon.
'We're on our way up now'
The kid had sent him a picture of the decorated condo a few minutes earlier. Andy had to hand it to him, he'd done good. He'd taken Andy's vision and turned it into a far better reality than he could have imagined. It was actually happening; he was finally going to ask Sharon to marry him. He
"I'm pleased for him," Sharon was saying as the door opened onto their floor., "But we may have to cut him a little slack over the next few weeks."
"I'm sorry, what? Who do we have to cut some slack?" He fell into step beside her as they made their way down the hall.
"Julio," Sharon repeated. "Honestly Andy, what is the matter with you? You've been acting strangely all day." Actually he'd been acting oddly all weekend. The last time he'd behaved like this was before asking her to the ballet using the ridiculous excuse of needing an expert opinion. She'd seen through him then and she could see through him now. The only thing she couldn't see in wither situation was why. But she was determined to get to the bottom of it tonight.
"Well," he chivalrously opened the door for her. "I understand you don't like surprises, but…"
"Surprises, wha-" She gasped as she took in the scene. The room was dim, light by the flickering candles that adorned almost every available surface interspersed by bouquets of red roses. On the balcony, the small metal table was draped with a white cloth and set for a candlelight dinner for two
"Ignore me," Rusty said, grabbing his bag from the floor beside her. "I'm just on my way out."
"Rusty, what is all this?"
"This?" He smiled. "This is all Andy Flynn."
Tears pooled in Sharon's eyes at her son's words. She couldn't believe that he had gone to all this trouble for her.
Once Rusty had left, wishing him luck as he did so, Andy joined Sharon, his hand finding the small of her back as the moved further into the condo. "Well, since we couldn't go out to dinner the other night, I thought that I would bring dinner to you."
She couldn't help but lean into him as they walked. "Oh."
"It's from Serve."
"Serve. Oh Andy, where we had our first date." She stepped over the threshold onto the balcony. "Oh that is so thoughtful."
"Erm, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately."
Sharon reached out and drew her hand down his tie. "Okay."
"About you, about me and how living together could be only the beginning." His voice falters a little with the weight of emotion.
Sharon's happiness at Andy's romantic gesture gave way to puzzlement at his words. Of course living together was just the beginning, they were building a life together. The two of them along with their respective families. What more could he…? Oh. Was he really going to…?
She pulled from her introspection by the sound of the balcony door sliding closed and spun round to face Andy. She heard his deep intake of breath and for a split second she feared he was experiencing another heart attack - her hands rose instinctively to steady him for a fall - but it was her heart that skipped a beat when he dropped to one knee before her. He was really doing this.
She stared at the ring - a white gold band with an emerald cut diamond in a pavé setting – classic, elegant, exactly what she'd have picked herself. She looked back to his eyes, watching his mouth move, and tried to get past the buzzing in her head long enough to focus on what he was saying.
"Sharon, will you marry me?"
Her jaw dropped as the words left his mouth. When he'd started talking about their current situation being 'only the beginning' she'd begun to suspect what he was going to do and then of course when he'd gotten down on one knee it had been pretty obvious she'd been right, but until he'd actually said the words, she couldn't bring herself to believe that it was real. That she wasn't dreaming.
Her heart was beating a hundred times a minute as she brought a shaky hand up to her mouth.
"Andy…" All of the air left her lungs in a rush as she struggled to find the words to answer him. She glanced from the ring to his face then back to the ring again. "I…"
Andy's face fell, certain that he'd screwed things up. He was just so sure that this was the woman he was to spend the rest of his life with. "It's okay Sharon. I understand." His voice was flat, devoid of emotion which was strange considering the tumult of feelings he was experiencing.
"That's… that's not…" She took a breath to steady her nerves. "I'm just a little surprised. I wasn't expecting this."
His brows furrowed in confusion. "You had to know when I looked into the future I saw you, us."
"Oh I did. I just wasn't sure if your vision of our future included marriage." There hadn't been any discussion of marriage between them, not unless you counted the conversations when Rusty had been panicking about maybe receiving a proposal from Gus. Her face broke into a nervous smile "I guess now I know."
Her words were a glimmer of hope and buoyed him slightly. "So it's just me still in the dark then," he quipped.
"Oh!" Sharon realised that she hadn't yet given him an answer and that the poor man was still kneeling in front of her. "Yes." She dropped to her knees then, joining him on the balcony floor - not caring a jot about her Donna Karen trousers and snaked her arms around her neck. She breathed deeply, closing her eyes and whispering by his ear, "Andy, my answer is yes." There would be uncertainty about the logistics; when, where and how – especially given her faith, but she was certain that she wanted it to happen however it could.
He was elated. She'd said yes! He took her left hand and slid the cool metal band onto her finger, staring deeply into his eyes as he did so. "I love you..." he whispered, before capturing her in a deep kiss. "...I always will."
A/N2: There may be more, depending on how AU this is shown to be after tonight's episode.
