I Don't Want To/ Don't Worry I Will Help You

Based on Acting Out (Before the scene at Sharon's and then after the Nutcracker)

None of them are mine, just my thoughts on what they might have been thinking. More to come. Please read and review.

Chapter 1

"That sounds like a good idea…but"

"But, what?"
"But, I don't want to"

"Don't worry I will help you."

Her voice was flat with that last line. End of discussion. She was mad, he could tell, he just couldn't tell how mad. That was one of the things he was still trying to learn about her. Had he blown it completely? Would she be gracious about it? He wouldn't blame her if after tonight their relationship went back to strictly work but he hoped she didn't want that. He definitely didn't want that.

"But I don't want to"

If only they hadn't been standing in her office he would have told her why he didn't want to. He knew she thought it was because he didn't want to disappoint Nicole, but that wasn't all of it. He didn't want to because he wanted it to be true. He wanted to be able to think of them as a couple. Hell, he couldn't remember the last night they didn't have dinner together. The last weekend they hadn't found something to do. The lines were there. They didn't cross them, no matter how thick the tension got between them. His hand on her back or a gentle touch to his arm was as close as they got. However, their eyes often crossed lines that their bodies and words could not and in those looks he knew she wanted more too.

What he wanted was to tell Nicole that Sharon is the first thing he thought about every morning. That when a case puts her in danger it scares him to death. He want to tell Nicole that Sharon's smile makes him smile every single time and when he gets through her carefully built walls and he sees the depth of emotions she carries he knows there is no other woman that could begin to compare to her.

Truth was, it wasn't Nicole he wanted to say these things to. He wanted and was ready to say them to Sharon herself, and that something he can't depend on her to help him with.

"That sounds like a good idea…but"

"But, what?"
"But, I don't want to"

"Don't worry I will help you."

"Damn it" Sharon muttered under her breath as she finished getting ready. Why, did she react that way? Yes, she was a little unhappy at the awkwardness of the situation and no woman wants to be taken for granted, but she knew Andy hadn't done it deliberately. She knew she left him confused and wondering where they stood as she left her office. She hadn't meant for her words to sound so tense but the truth was she was trying not to say what she really wanted to say. That she had wanted for a long time to be more than his buffer. That she found herself disappointed on nights they didn't see each other after work. That sometimes standing next to him made her lose her train of thought. How when he put his hand on her back she had to fight the urge to walk closer to him. But she couldn't say any of those things to him and that's what really made her mad. So now they had this dinner to get through, an awkward conversation to have, and a ballet to see. She took a slow sip of her wine and for a second stopped to think, what if. What if, they didn't say anything to Nicole? What if they tried to figure this out? Maybe it was the wine but suddenly she felt a little brave. She picked up her phone to call him to tell him the conversation could wait, that they needed to have a conversation first. Just as she reached for her phone she heard the doorbell ring and Andy's voice talking to Rusty. She sighed there would be no time for another conversation before the one with Nicole. They would have the one they planned. "But I don't want to." Sharon said quietly into the mirror.