A/N: First I want to thank you all for the wonderful reviews, alerts and favorites :)
As for Sam in this story, then I see their break-up from both POV's, and I will continue to do so throughout the story, because that's how I see them. Just to clarify why Sam said / did what he did in the first chapter.
I'm planning on writing about the epic truck scene in the next chapter, so if you have any ideas, please let me know - either through reviewing or PM'ing me.
Thanks for the continued support :)
But on to the second chapter now ...
[II]
"You coming?" Traci asks Sam a week later, as she's about to take off.
"Where?" Sam asks pretending to be occupied with his work, but Traci knows better.
"You know where!" she admonishes him. He's known for the past couple of days, that Andy's having a get-together at her condo.
"I don't think I'll be able to make it, Nash," Sam tries to cover. He's been acting like an ass to Andy for the past week, looking himself in the mirror is becoming harder and harder by now.
"Don't do that!" Traci snaps at him growing tired of this mouse-and-cat game between him and Andy.
"What?" he asks surprised by her outburst throwing the pen he was making notes with on the table in frustration.
"I get that you're mad at her, alright?" she tells him. "I was too, but she's back now. She's here, Sam," Traci adds hoping to get through to him.
"I'm not mad at her," Sam tries to explain earning him a raised eyebrow from Nash. "I'm mad at myself, alright?!" Sam regretfully snaps at her. "I'm sorry," he apologizes closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with a guttural sigh.
"It's okay," she tries to placate him.
"No, it's not," Sam leans back in his chair looking up at her. "It's nowhere close to being okay, Nash. I don't even know who the hell I am anymore," he sighs getting up from the chair and leaving the room.
"Here we go!" Claire exclaims unpacking the shopping bags containing food for the party tonight. Since the taskforce, their relationship has started from square one again. Helping out with parties seems to be a natural thing for Claire McNally.
"Thanks, mom," Andy tells her mother gratefully, as they unpack the groceries.
Claire is taken aback by Andy's attitude though. She had thought that going on that taskforce would've been good for her, to get her mind off of Sam, and to focus on just her. But the Andy standing beside her wasn't the one that had left Toronto six months ago. Somehow she had ended up worse than when she had left.
"Andy," she starts turning to face her daughter.
"What?" Andy quickly looks at her before unpacking more bags. It isn't until Claire places a hand on her arm that she stops her motions.
"What is wrong?" she asks.
"Nothing," Andy denies shaking her head. Getting into her failed relationship with Sam isn't really something she feels up to right now. Especially considering what she had witnessed going down earlier today between Sam and Marlo.
"It hurts, eh? Losing a bet," Marlo teased Sam as he entered the viewing room. They had bet $100 whether the perpetrator in the interrogation room was guilty or not. Marlo thought he was, but Sam didn't. Just five minutes ago, Sam had gotten him to confess, so it was pay-up time.
"Stow it, Cruz!" he snapped playfully at her, his eyes twinkling. Grabbing his wallet from his back pocket, he playfully added, "you take Visa?"
"No," Marlo tapped her finger against her cheek contemplating an idea. "But Pizza Liberetto does," she told him smiling. "I'm free tonight incidentally," Marlo added watching as Sam's facial expression changed from being relaxed, to panicked to sad, as the door to the interrogation room opened, and they both came face to face with Andy and Traci.
"What's going on in here?" Traci voiced both of their thoughts, as Andy remained silent, her brown eyes boring into Sam's – the hurt evident in them.
"Oh, just congratulating Swarek here on a job well-done," Marlo told them. "You needed something, McNally?!" she curtly asked Andy, who she'd been riding with today.
"Not a thing," Andy softly replied before practically tearing out of the interrogation room.
"Excuse me?" Sam told Marlo and Traci, as he scurried after Andy.
"What are you doing?" Traci asked Marlo accusingly.
"Conversing with a colleague," she simply replied.
"They love each other," Traci told her.
"I know Sam loves her, but if the feelings mutual then she's got one hell of a way to show it," Marlo replied as she left Traci alone in the viewing room.
"Is this about Sam?" Claire asks knowing instantly that she's right.
"Why would you say that?" Andy asks closing the fridge after having put the groceries away.
"Honey, please," she implores her placing her hands on Andy's slumped shoulders. "I'm a great listener," Claire tells her daughter.
"There's nothing to tell," Andy says shrugging her shoulders.
"There's always something to tell."
Sam found her by the coffee machine, hitting the thing when it wouldn't work and give her what she wanted. He took a deep breath before nearing her.
"Need some help?" he asked her causing Andy to twirl around towards him with stormy eyes.
"Sam, I'm fine," she drawled out the word, clearly agitated.
"Clearly," he replied cockily, while reaching over to get her her usual mug of coffee. His musky scent, his bulging biceps in the red shirt he was wearing today along with the tight jeans he was sporting was making him close to irresistible to Andy. But the realization of what was undoubtedly happening between him and Cruz pulled her out of her reverie.
"I'm not that thirsty after all!" Andy snapped stopping Sam in mid-motion holding the mug of coffee in his hand.
"McNally?!" he yelled after her, as she made her way to a desk to finish up her report. He looked at the mug of coffee in his hand with disdain before pouring it down the drain.
"Any words of wisdom?" Andy asks her mother with a certain amount of disdain apparent in her tone of voice.
"There's no need to get nasty about it," Claire retorts. "I'm not the one who broke up with you in a parking lot, nor did I give you back the keys to my truck on a whim or push you away when I needed you most, that was him, honey," she adds.
"I know, I'm sorry," Andy immediately apologizes realizing that taking it out on her mother isn't the answer to anything.
"It's okay," she says.
"Thanks for all your help, mom," Andy tells Claire giving her an awkward hug.
"It was my pleasure, honey," Claire envelops Andy in her arms, wishing she could take away her daughter's pain, but sadly realizing that it isn't her battle to fight.
Later that evening, the party is in full swing. The music is cranked up on the roof top, the drinks are going around as well as the food and people are enjoying themselves.
"Hey," Traci hollers at her, as she and Leo arrives.
"Hey, you guys hungry?" Andy asks after having hugged both of them. "There are hotdogs and burgers on the grill courtesy of Chris and Dov."
"Honey, you go ahead and get something to eat, we'll be right inside," Traci tells her son, as Andy senses there's something her best friend needs to discuss with her.
"What is it, Trace?" Andy asks, as they walk into the condo to get away from the loud music.
"What's going on with you and Sam? I thought coming back home meant you were going to make it work with him?" Traci asks impatiently.
"I am, I was…" Andy corrects herself and is also taken aback by Traci's attitude.
"Meaning?" Traci asks.
"Trace, it's pretty obvious that Sam isn't interested," she tells her.
"Where did you get that from?" Traci asks baffled.
"Does the name Marlo Cruz ring a bell?" Andy sarcastically responds.
"Marlo? They're just friends, Andy. Nothing more," she tells her.
"How do you know that? Because there sure as hell wasn't a friendly vibe in the viewing room earlier today," she fiddles with her fingers trying to occupy herself from her dark thoughts.
"Because he told me," Traci replies causing Andy to look her in the eyes - a look of pure shock on her face. "When Marlo first started working at 15, Sam told me they'd been involved at the academy, but that it had been over for years, and that he wasn't the least bit interested in her that way."
"You sure?" Andy asks feeling a ray of hope shining in the pit of her stomach.
"I am," Traci tells her nodding her head. "But the more important question is - are you sure? About you and Sam?" she asks.
"Pizza Liberetto seems like a better idea than this…" Marlo comments as she and Sam are making their way to Andy's condo in the elevator.
"I need to make sure she's okay, besides, there's food here too," Sam tells her, as they get off the elevator and make their way to the condo.
"Hey," she grabs his arm making him look her in the eyes. "Just don't go in there selling your soul, alright? She left you, you don't owe her anything."
"That's where you're wrong," Sam clarifies, as he turns out of her grasp to open the front door. When they enter the condo, the music is still booming from the roof top, a few people are in the living room talking, while the door to Andy's bedroom is slightly ajar, a small light illuminating the doorway. "You go ahead, and I'll be right behind you," he tells Marlo, as he makes his way to the bedroom door.
"You think you and Uncle Sammy will ever get back together again?" Leo asks cradled in Andy's arms, as they're sitting on her bed watching a game on the TV.
"I don't know, Dude, I really don't know," Andy places a soft kiss on Leo's forehead as she closes her eyes shut.
Sam is taken aback by the sight in the bedroom, he stays out of sight, so they won't see him, but it hurts him that they're both hurting because of him.
"I miss Jerry," Leo suddenly says, as Andy gathers him closer to her.
"I know, sweetie, we all do."
"Uncle Sammy misses him too, but not like he misses you. Mommy says that Jerry being gone is like a part of her heart's missing. Is it like that for you too?" Leo asks.
"Pretty much, yeah. It's a good thing you and your mom still talk about Jerry, he loved you very much, Leo," Andy tells him, as she tightens her hold on him.
Sam makes his way to the couch area, where he catches a glimpse of a framed photograph in a frame that used to hold a picture of just him and Andy. The frame is white with small stars attached to it. Himself, Andy, Jerry and Traci are in the photograph smiling back at him. The photograph had been taken a few weeks prior to Jerry's death, when they'd been at Jerry and Traci's for dinner discussing their wedding.
"Here's to us," Jerry said holding up a glass of champagne as he first clinked glasses with Traci and then adding Sam and Andy to the mix.
"So, have you decided on where to have the wedding?" Andy asked, as she felt Sam's hand playing with the path of skin left bare on her lower back by her black top. The tantalizing feeling of his warm fingers on her sensitive skin was driving her mad.
"Nothing definite yet, but we're working on it," Traci told her before looking at Jerry giving him a small peck on the lips. "I love you."
"I love you too," Jerry responded right away, no hesitation.
Andy was jealous of the sentiment. A couple of days ago she had said those three little words to Sam, and still no reply. True, she had told him that she didn't need him to say it back, but truthfully? She did. She wanted to hear those words, she needed to hear them.
"Hey," Sam whispered against her temple making Andy turn her head towards him. "I'm glad you're here," he said before pressing a soft kiss against her lips.
"Enough of this!" Jerry exclaimed standing up abruptly, fetching his camera before setting it up to take a photograph of the four of them.
"Come on Jerry," Sam groaned frustrated, as Andy and Traci shared a knowingly look.
"Shut it, Swarek," Jerry shot right back, as he and Traci joined them on the couch, each couple sitting next to each other, the men's arms slung across the women's shoulders, smiling big at the camera as it flashed capturing this particular moment in time.
"Uncle Sammy!" Leo exclaims upon finding Sam standing in the living room, as he and Andy have exited the bedroom.
"Hey there, Buddy," Sam puts on his best smile squatting down, so he's in the same eye level as Leo. When he looks up, he notices Andy looking down at him, smiling.
"I didn't know you were coming tonight?" Leo tells him.
"Is it a problem, Buddy? Maybe you want your Auntie Andy all to yourself, eh?" Sam smiles at Leo, as Andy looks at him confused.
"Nope," he pipes up, as he heads to the roof top leaving them alone in the living room.
"We need to talk," Sam tells Andy.
"You're probably right," she tells him chewing on her bottom lip.
"Andy, I want to…" Sam starts to speak, but is cut off by the clattering of dishes and Marlo and Traci entering the condo from the roof top.
"Sam, you have to taste this," she gushes.
It's in this moment that she realizes that it's by no slump that Marlo is at her condo and eating her food – he invited her! Andy's thoughts are all jumbled together in a dangerous mess. She takes one wary look at Sam's face, and then bolts from the room and onto the roof top.
"Was it something I said?" Marlo asks confused, as Traci follows in Andy's footsteps.
"Do you believe this?!" Andy whispers furiously when Traci catches up with her outside.
"Andy, just try and calm down, alright?" she tries to calm her best friend down.
"Calm down? He's been playing me hot and cold all week, and now he invites that woman to my condo? How can I be calm about that, Trace?"
"They're just friends, Andy," she repeats the sentiment once again.
"I wonder what's going on over there," Gail nods her head in Andy and Traci's direction standing next to Nick getting a beer.
"Dunno," Nick answers shrugging his shoulders. He has finally gotten Gail to talk to him again, and somehow he has a feeling that if he goes over all concerned about Andy, he'll halt whatever process he's been making with her. Despite how much he wants to protect Andy, he can't right now.
"How am I supposed to deal with the fact that when whenever I see him, he seems to be attached at the hip with her? How am I supposed to trust him?" There was that word again; trust – something that was unbelievable hard for Andy to do, and as far as Sam is concerned, she had to begin trusting him again after he had broken her trust in him.
"Why don't you go back inside and ask him that?" Traci asks.
"I'm sorry if I made things worse for you tonight, Sam," Marlo tells him on the ride down in the elevator.
"It's not your fault, if anything, it's mine," he takes on the blame, as the elevator pings, announcing that they've arrived on the ground floor.
"Hang on for a second," Marlo grabs him by the arm for the second time that evening. "You're being entirely too hard on yourself, Sam," she tells him.
"I messed up, Marlo," he replies walking towards the spot where they parked their cars.
"Yeah, well, you're human, deal with it," Marlo scoffs causing Sam to smile slightly at the sentiment.
"You're a good friend, Marlo," he tells her when they arrive at her car.
"So, are you, Swarek," she replies.
"Hey, Dov, have you seen Sam?" Andy asks when she re-enters the living room to find it devoid of the man she's looking for.
"Yeah, he left a couple of minutes ago," Dov tells her his fingers fiddling with the label on the beer bottle he's holding in his right hand.
"What?" Andy asks fearing what he's about to tell her.
"Great party!" Chris exclaims giving Andy a peck on the cheek as he and Denise are about to leave. "We only have the sitter for another thirty minutes, so…" he adds. Chris being a dad is still an image Andy can't really fathom. But seeing him with Denise is the happiest Andy has seen him, well, since the academy really.
"It's nice to have met you, Andy," Denise holds out her hand as a gesture.
"Thanks, you too," she shakes Denise' hand. As they make their way to the front door, Chris turns around to her and Dov.
"You want a ride, man?"
"That'd be…" Dov starts, but as Andy grabs his arm and her short fingernails dig into the flesh, he pipes up a different answer, "nah, I'm good, man," he whimpers as he watches Chris and Denise leave.
"Spill!" Andy exclaims angrily, losing what little she has left of her self-control.
"He left with Cruz," Dov finally reveals causing Andy's entire body to become rigid.
"Just try and get along with her, alright?" Sam asks of Marlo, as he opens the door for her. "She's been through enough as it is," he tells her.
"Is that what you really want?" she asks him.
"It is, I don't want Andy to be hurt any more than she already has," Sam replies.
"Okay, I will," Marlo promises. When Sam arches an eyebrow at her answer she adds an, "I'll try."
"That will have to do," he nods his head.
Staring at Dov, she can't figure out what to do. Should she try and catch up with him? Stay here, and accept that it is over or fight for him?
She chooses the latter.
The laughter belonging to Sam and Marlo reach her ears, before she even makes it out the door of her apartment building. A green bush hides her from view, and gives her a perfect outlook of the parking lot. She can see them standing by Marlo's car, her leaning her back against it, as Sam stands opposite her, showing off his dimpled grin. The grin that used to be reserved for her only.
"I needed that," Sam says getting a hold of his laughter.
"Me too, it's been a weird couple of weeks," Marlo agrees with him.
"That it has, you get home safe, alright?" he tells her, as Andy watches their every move very closely.
"I will," Marlo winks at him. "You too, and I'll see you in the morning?" she asks.
"Of course," he maintains as he watches her drive away.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he unlocks his truck before hoisting himself into it, turning on the ignition and driving in the opposite direction than Marlo – headed home.
So, once again Andy is left alone in a dark parking lot watching the man she loves driving away.