Here's number two! Originally, I had this whole story planned out. But then I wrote this, and the characters kind of took over. Think, less Andy and more of a mysterious stranger.

Enjoy!

Taking The First Step

Andy sat opposite Dov on the couch, her legs together and hands folded in her lap.

"What is it?" Her eyes refused to meet his.

"I'm sorry." He pulled his knees to his chest and rubbed his eyes. He was too damn hung over to care about his image.

"Yeah, Dov, I know you're sorry. What else is new?" She mumbled.

"I let you down." He whispered. She turned to him.

"Yeah, you know what, you did." The anger in her voice was overwhelming. "You pushed me away and dug your own grave, here. And then you wouldn't let me help."

"You don't think I wanted to? I didn't realize how hard it was to start living again, Andy." He was too ashamed to look at her.

"You could have tried harder." She breathed, a tinge of sadness ringing in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Andy. I don't know what else to say. I'm an idiot, I failed you. I turned to alcohol even when you were right there to help me. I'm sorry." Dov's voice was still groggy.

"You make me so angry." She clenched her fists and spoke through her teeth. "I just wanted to fix you, and you wouldn't let me. Why don't you trust me?"

"I do, Andy. I do. I just couldn't… deal with everything." He trailed off.

"I wanted to help you." She sniffed. "I just wanted to save you. You're this close, to losing yourself Dov. You might have already." She touched his knee.

"Andy, do you think I want this? I just want to be back to normal." His voice was filled with hurt.

"I'm so sorry that you had to kill that man, Dov. I'm so, so sorry." Tears welled up in Andy's eyes for the umpteenth time that week.

"It's a part of the job; I did what I had to do." He shrugged, fighting tears himself.

"That doesn't make it any easier to accept." She whispered. Dov let his legs relax in front of him, and Andy rubbed his shins.

"I should be okay by now." He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It's hard to be okay when you're too numb to feel anything." She raised her eye brows.

"I'm so miserable, Andy. You have no idea how terrible I feel all the time. From the second I wake up to the second I go to sleep, I drown myself in that damn bottle. I hate myself." He tilted his head backward and sniffed, blinking back tears. Andy whimpered a little bit.

"You're me." She smiled pathetically, tears trickling down her cheeks. "You're just like me." She crawled forward and rested her head on his chest. She wasn't angry anymore; she just wanted to hold him until he was better.

"I haven't gone a day without wishing that I was strong enough to do this." He whispered.

"You're going to be okay, Dov. You are." Her eyelashes skimmed his shirt.

"I don't think I will be." He exhaled sharply, a tear escaping his eye.

"Stop it." She lifted her head. She saw the tear track and crumbled into pieces. "You're going to be fine, just like me. I'm better, you will be too." She cried, tears spilling onto his shirt.

"But what if I'm not? You don't know, Andy. You don't know. You can't know." He rubbed his eyes profusely.

"I'll go to meetings with you every week." She placed her head back on his chest, and squeezed his hand. "Every single week. You'll get better." She tried to convince him.

"I want to believe you." He whispered.

"We need a plan." She patted his chest and sat up. She rolled off the couch and crawled to the liquor cabinet. Taking out as many bottles as she could fit in her arms, she walked into the kitchen. "Come on." Her voice was weak.

She met him in the doorway and took his hand, and led him over to the sink.

"Do it." She handed him the first bottle.

"I can't." He whispered. She walked over to his other side and placed her hand on his.

"You're going to though." She gently tipped the neck of the bottle down and Dov's hand shook as the clear liquid disappeared down the drain.

"You don't know how many times I've had to do this." She whispered as she reached for another bottle. "I did it for my Dad, because I thought that was what he needed. But it hurt me more than I realized." She placed her other hand on his shoulder. "I can only do this once with you. If you go out and buy more, I can't help you anymore."

He nodded. "I understand." She helped him empty another bottle. "It'll be fine." He emptied the next one alone.

"What do we do after this?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Her head was resting on his shoulder.

"The plan?" He emptied another.

"Oh, yeah. Let's build another tent. We were happy in the tent." She sighed and smiled at him.

"Good plan." He said, gaining self respect with every drop that disappeared down the drain.

Four more bottles and they were done, hopefully forever.

"I've just gotta call Sam and let him know, okay?" She stepped out of the room and dialled. "Hey, I'll be home in a few hours okay? Yeah he's fine, I think. We're going to build a tent." She laughed. "If you want, feel free. Bring food. Now that it's just Dov here, he's got a whopping jar of pickles and half a bottle of mustard occupying his fridge." She smiled as she said goodbye and returned to the kitchen.

"Sam might stop by, is that okay?" She sat down at the table opposite him. The morning light bounced off the stray strands of hair that was thrown around haphazardly.

"Yeah, for sure. Will he be down for our tent?" He tilted his head and smiled his crooked smile.

"He'd better be!" She laughed. "Ready?" He nodded and the two began to deconstruct the couch, gathering all of the pillows necessary to act as a wall. They walked into his bedroom and carefully crafted a new and improved version of the tent they'd slept in for days a few weeks before.

Fifteen minutes or so later, they lay on their backs staring at the roof of their fortress.

"I love tents." He smiled.

"Me too. They're one of my favourite places to be, honestly. I feel safe." She rolled onto her stomach and snuggled up to the pillow beneath her. There was a knock on the door, and Andy smiled, knowing who it was.

"Come in!" Dov called. "Time to find out if your fiancé is a tent person."

"As long as it's not outside, I'm sure he'll be fine." The two shared a laugh as footsteps sounded down the hall.

Sam laughed when he entered the room. "How old are you two?" He asked, leaning down to look at them through their makeshift door. Andy rolled onto her side to face him and winked.

"Room for one more." She sang and patted the bed beside her. Sighing, Sam got down onto his knees and crawled in next to her.

"Hey Dov." He smiled. Dov waved back, and a lull fell over the three. "I come bearing gifts." Sam reached out of the tent and pulled back a plastic bag. "Chips, anyone?" Dov flipped over and extended his hands.

"Oh dear lord, yes. I haven't eaten real food in weeks." Sam and Andy laughed as Dov hungrily devoured a handful of chips.

"You comin' back to work soon, buddy?" Sam lay on his side next to Andy, his hand on her stomach.

"Yeah, I hope so. God knows with this one around, it'll be sooner than later." He laughed and poked Andy in the side.

"She is good for some things." He smiled and kissed her nose. She giggled and swatted him on the arm.

"We should do this more often. Both my favourite people in the world, chips, a tent, it's a dream come true." She stretched her arms out and smiled.

"I'm totally good with that. Free food man, bring it on." Dov laughed, his mouth full.

"We have been over this, Dov Epstein! Chew, swallow, then speak!" She and Sam laughed. Dov tried to chew while laughing, and finally succeeded.

They lay on Dov's bed for hours, just chatting and making fun of each other. It was the first good day that he'd had in months.

"So, Dov. I know this guy; I think he could help you out." Sam tapped Dov's arm.

"Yeah?" Dov inquired, still eating.

"Yeah. See, my old man…" He looked down to ensure that a now sleeping Andy hadn't woken up. She was curled up on his chest, her hair tickling his neck. "He drank. A lot. All the time." He grimaced as memories flashed behind his eyes. "So me and my mom, we found a guy. He helped him out, or he tried at least." He stroked Andy's back gently.

"And? Is your dad better now?" Dov rolled onto his side.

"Don't know. He relapsed a few months after and we kicked him out." Sam sighed.

"I'm sorry, man." Dov furrowed his brows.

"It's nothing. But Dov, this guy was good. He made everything seem worth working for. He gave me the determination to get through the Academy. He was like a second father. I think he could help you out." Sam shrugged his shoulders.

"That sounds good, man. Thanks." Dov smiled.

"Bubble bath." Andy said, asleep. The two men exchanged bewildered looks before bursting out in a fit of laughter. "What happened?" Andy lifted her head and steadied herself, startled.

"Nothing, babe." Sam kissed her forehead.

"Look, it's getting a little late. Why don't you guys go home? There's clearly something else on her mind." Dov gestured to a tired looking Andy. Sam chuckled.

"That's probably a good idea." He jostled Andy a bit. "We'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure." He crawled out of his side of the tent and jogged around the bed, so Sam could pass Andy to him.

"She sure does sleep a lot." He laughed once she was in his arms.

"It's because she never sleeps at night." Sam raised an eyebrow and took her back. "Later, Epstein!" He called as he walked down the hallway.

"Bye, guys." He laughed as he watched Sam try to convince Andy to unwrap her arms from around his neck. Feeling good, he closed the door and flipped open his laptop. It took all of five minutes for him to find a meeting to attend that evening, and with that, he left.

The meeting didn't start for another three hours, but Dov knew that if he was left to his own devices, nothing good would come of it. After some time killing, he'd successfully hit two coffee shops, bought more chips and taken his trusty, and very dusty, grey Mazda through the car wash. Seven PM brought cold winds and moonlit streets; the eeriness was not lost on Dov. He jogged for about a block to the front door of the local community center before pausing a few feet from the door.

He hadn't really thought about it, but what was going to happen when he got better? Was he even ready to get better? The hair on his arms stood up.

"Fuck, I can't do this. Bad idea, bad idea." He whispered to himself. He turned to leave, but was blind sided when another person tried to walk around him. The clatter of objects could be heard as the woman's purse fell to the ground.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry." The dark figure said as she bent down and started gathering her things. Dov knelt down in front of her.

"No, no. That was my fault, I'm sorry." He said, helping her with her purse. The two stood, the moonlight their only audience. She smiled gratefully at him.

"Thanks." Her straight, white teeth were the first things to catch his attention. The second was the light dusting of freckles that covered her fair skin.

"Anytime." He smiled and held out his hand. "I'm Dov, Epstein." Gently, timidly, she took it.

"Megan Hayes." She smiled back. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, really." He realized he was still holding her hand. "Oh, sorry." He breathed, loosening his grip.

"Oh, don't worry." She giggled and a slight tinge of pink rose up her neck. A lull fell over them before he spoke again.

"So, what brings you out here?" He said, trying to make conversation. She smiled a little and nodded her head in the direction behind him.

"The uh, meetings." She smiled demurely while Dov mentally kicked himself.

"Oh, I – that would make sense." He stuttered, laughing a little.

"Yeah. You?" She tilted her head a little, a lock of her dark brown hair falling into her face.

"I was going to go to the meeting, but when I ran into you I was kind of in the midst of chickening out." He ran his hand through his hair.

"Why?" She asked, her voice small.

"I don't know. I don't know anything." His smile faded and it was clear that his mind was somewhere else. She curled her hair behind her ears and touched his arm, snapping him out of his trance.

"You don't know if you never try." Her eyes rose from her feet to meet his gaze.

"You know, you're right." He smiled and turned around to face the building. He stepped back so he was next to her. "You long have you been going?"

"This is my third week." She exhaled sharply.

"Oh, so you're still pretty new to this too then." He looked at her.

"Well, it's my third week of my fourth try." She bit her lip. "I always manage to lose it." Her voice faded and she began to rub her thumb across the back of her other hand, which Dov recognized as an unconscious attempt at calming oneself.

"Hey." He reached over and put his hand on hers. "You're gonna be fine." A small smile curled up the corners of her mouth.

"Here's to hoping, right?" She yawned and Dov checked his watch.

"Well, it's 7:05. You wanna go in?" He faced her once more.

"You've decided against chickening out?" His hand still held hers.

"Well, I've gotta make sure that you succeed this time." His eyes twinkled in the darkness.

"My hero." She giggled. A pain echoed through Dov's chest as he remembered the last woman to say that to him.

"Hardly." He smiled as best he could. "After you." He held the door open for her. She flashed another smile at him as he returned to walk beside her.

Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.