Note: Visit my profile for more extensive notes on this story. Parts 3, 4, and 5 are all going to be posted on the same day, because I've been working extremely hard revising them, and I just need to let go already.
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The next month passed uneventfully for Andy, at least for the most part. She sublet her apartment to a girl going to a part-time college student, part-time waitress. Work stayed pretty much the same. She and Swarek had a couple of good high profile busts, more than a few routine traffic stops, domestic abuse calls, and plenty of car accidents and bar fights.
Their runs continued. They'd leveled out at a steady five miles. At this point, they ran mostly together, mostly out of routine, but sometimes Andy would sneak in a short one at night, just for herself. Over the last several weeks, the trees had colored and then browned and then even the bright red maple outside her place with Luke had lost most of its leaves. Instead of just grabbing a bite and running out the door, she'd bought a lightweight jacket, and underneath wore layers. She started out each morning with mittens and a headband, shoving them in the zippered pocket of the jacket when she started getting warm. Her breath was exhaled in tiny white puffs, and her runs were dark now from start to finish, in the mornings and at night.
She and Luke were spending more time together. His caseload was lighter than it had been in months and he was home more often, another reason why she started doing double runs. She was grateful for the time together, especially after he had been absent on so many occasions previously. However, some days, after having criminals and witnesses in her face all day, the last thing she wanted was to have to make conversation with one more person, even if that person was her boyfriend. But they began going out to dinner more often, going out on the weekends. She was heading over to the Black Penny less and less, and the times she did spend there, she only stayed a little while, hardly an hour. She found that the mornings after she stayed out drinking, her runs were less enjoyable, and because she was more dehydrated, her endurance suffered.
She never expected the running to affect her the way it had. Though always athletic, she felt stronger than ever. There was something powerful about knowing that your body was capable of running comfortably up to 8 miles a day. But mentally, it cleared her out. She didn't have to think when she ran, especially when she ran alone, and it lowered her stress, helping her to make it through the hours of a very exhausting job. She'd come to think of it as a necessity. Her morning runs were no longer an option, and she found she had trouble sitting still on her rest days.
The month was mostly uneventful. The one thing that had changed was that she was seeing less and less of Swarek. They ran in the mornings, but their conversation was brief and stilted. At work, everything was business as usual, but she almost never saw him afterwards at the Penny (partly because she hardly ever went), and they never went to breakfast anymore. Twice, she'd stopped and picked up something at the 24 hour grocery store before she got to his house, and after their runs, they'd sit at his table and drink coffee and shoot the shit. However, Sam no longer seemed at ease with her digging in his fridge, walking around freely and looking at the pictures on his walls. He could barely sit still when they were simply sitting at the table in his softly lit kitchen. And the more uncomfortable he acted, the less willing she was to make another effort. A few times, she'd tried to draw him out verbally, but he'd been standoffish, and she started getting used to it. Andy knew that if he wanted to talk about something, he would. But, the longer they went without a real conversation, the more the chances of one declined. And she still hadn't met his new girlfriend.
One very early morning, Andy jogged down the alley and let herself into Swarek's yard. She ran lightly up the steps and banged on his door with a mittened fist and then bounded back down. She ran in place as she looked at the sky. It was still black around her, wouldn't lighten up for a couple of hours, but a small amount of snow was falling gently, melting before it hit the ground. In a no time at all, the ice would make running outside tricky. She may have to think about kicking Luke off the treadmill, or maybe get a gym membership.
After a few moments, she ran up the steps again and pounded louder. As she walked down the steps, she rolled her shoulders, checked her iPod. She was planning on an extra mile this morning, and so she was at his house maybe fifteen minutes earlier than usual. But he was always up and moving around by the time she got there. The door swung open loudly and her head snapped up, words dying on her lips.
Swarek walked out; sleep was still clouding his face, his body was wrapped in a soft blue sheet.
"God McNally, it's the middle of the night. And it's freezing."
"Come on, get dressed. It's Wednesday. I want to do 6 today." He rubbed his hand over his face and then over his head, making his hair stand upon end. He blinked a few times and then nodded.
"Shit," he smiled sleepily. "I forgot. Give me a few minutes."
"Sam?" A voice came from somewhere in the dark house. He looked over his shoulder at the blond woman who appeared in the doorway. She was wearing only a black T-shirt that hung loose on her small frame, and her she rubbed her hands over her arms, warming them in the chilled air. Spotting Andy, she lifted a hand in a tired wave.
As Andy stared at her, she felt the blood drain from her face and her feet began moving of their own free will. She backed away to the gate, and then turned, fingers fumbling inside her mittens and she struggled with the latch on his gate.
"Andy?" he called. Her hands were shaking as she finally ripped her mittens off and opened the gate. "Andy just wait."
"Take your time," she yelled over her shoulder. "Or just forget it. I'll see you later." And she set off for the trail at a sprint.
She commanded her spinning brain to shut up as her foot hit the trail. She turned up the volume on her iPod and listened to the voice on the recording telling her to begin her run. The jog to Swarek's was always her warm-up, so when she got to the park, she could just go. The music helped. She could sing along in her head and force out everything else. Mindless.
Since she was going to tack on an extra mile, she needed to change up her route a little bit to avoid running over the same stretch too many times. The longer her runs got, the harder it became and she started thinking if maybe it was time to find a new route. Andy did the first three miles at quicker pace than usual, giving into the almost animal need to just run. Her muscles screamed for the first little bit, and then quieted down after a while. She slowed to a comfortable jog as she approached the water fountain and bent down, taking just a few sips. She reached up to tuck a few stray hairs back into the ponytail when someone grabbed her arm and spun her around.
"McNally. Jesus, I've been looking for you everywhere." Swarek stood there with his hands on his hips, looking exasperated.
"Well, I'm here. I had to make some route changes to fit in the extra mile."
"You didn't have to leave, you know. You could have waited."
"Yeah, well, I'm on a schedule today. I didn't have time to wait." He raised an eyebrow and she turned away from the slight concern in his expression.
"Well, how much do you have left? I'll do the last part with you."
"You don't have too. I'm just about done anyway." He reached out to her waist and tapped the power button on her iPod, checking her distance tracker.
"Your chip says you still have three miles to go." Andy looked down at the traitorous gizmo lodged in the laces of her running shoe. "C'mon, Mcnally. Let's get moving."
She rolled her eyes and put her ear buds back in. Her slow jog quickly became faster the more irritated she became, until she was sure her heart was going to fly right out of her chest. She glanced to her left and saw that Swarek was keeping up, but sweat already beading up and running down the side of his face after a few minutes. Even though she was matching her earlier pace, time seemed to stretch out ahead of her. Those last three miles lasted forever and as she rounded the last corner, she saw the first spray of pink lighten the eastern sky, even though the sun was still a long time coming. To her side, Sam was breathing heavily beside her, and she slowed her pace for the last half mile. When they finally exited the path, they dropped to a fast walk, and after a block or so of silence, Sam put his hand on her shoulder. The look she gave him made him think better of it, and her removed it and cleared his throat.
"Listen, I'm sorry, okay?"
She shrugged. "For what? Everything's fine." He reached across like her was going to put his hand on her shoulder and instead, snapped her ear buds out of her ears.
"Is that why you just tried to lose me back there?" She remained silent, unwilling to admit that she'd been hoping to. "Look, I'm sorry I forgot. And I'm sorry if you were embarrassed or something. But you didn't have to leave." She stopped abruptly, facing him.
"Sam, shit happens. You forgot. It's not the end of the world. I overreacted. Just call me next time so I don't waste part of my run coming to get you."
"Really nice."
"And I wasn't embarrassed. Surprised, but not embarrassed."
"Fine, you weren't embarrassed." His brow furrowed as she turned away and they started walking again.
Andy hadn't been embarrassed then, but she was now. But, it was more at her overreaction than finding Sam and his female friend fresh out of bed. She had completely frozen up and then she'd heard the blood pumping in her ears and had to get out of there. She knew she had acted ridiculous, and in this second, she was mortified. And now that her music was turned off and her legs had slowed down, other words and feeling were sneaking in. Number one was shock. A little anger and resentment. And though she would never admit it, in that moment, way down deep, she felt the tiniest burning spark of jealousy.
A month ago, at the corner they would have automatically turned left and gone to Swarek's, and he would have driven her back after picking up coffee. More recently, there would have been some discussion of breakfast, even if it was in vain. But this time without any warning, Andy turned right. He stopped when she didn't follow him, and turned, watching her walk away. He called after her, "McNally, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she said over her shoulder without looking back. He stood there a few moments and then backed away, turning on the third step and jogging the last block home.
That day, she had desk duty with Traci again. The other rookies were working with Shaw and Williams doing something that had to be far more interested than pushing paper all day. She had given up on the concept of normalcy about twenty minutes into her shift, when Swarek had sidled up to the counter, with that all too familiar inquisitive look on his face. Before he could get the words out, she held up a hand and said, "We're fine. Don't make a big deal out of it." He held up his hands in front of him in defeat and turned on his heel and left the station.
"And what the hell was that about?" Andy looked over at Traci.
"Believe it or not, I don't want to talk about it."
"I don't care if you want to talk about it. I want to know." Traci raised her eyebrows when Andy hesitated. "You might as well tell me, since you know I'll find out eventually."
Andy rolled her eyes and slumped back in her chair, twisting a pen between her fingers. "I went over to Swarek's this morning, and he apparently was too busy last night to remember to set an alarm."
"You mean…?"
"I mean he answered the door wearing a sheet, and his girlfriend came out in nothing but his T-shirt."
Traci laughed. "That's great. Was the look on your face then the same as the look on your face now?" Andy threw the pen at her. "Well? What was she like?"
"I didn't exactly stick around to chat, Trace. It was kind of an awkward situation."
"What did she look like?" Andy crossed her arms on the desk and laid her head on them.
"Blonde, shorter than him, pretty."
"Really pretty?"
Andy sat up again and started sorting the piles of paperwork in front of her. "Yes."
Traci looked at Andy's stiff posture and raised an eyebrow. She turned to the desk, opening a file. "So what happened?"
Andy shrugged. "I left. Went running on the trail. I did 6 miles today." She grinned proudly.
"Yeah, I don't care about that."
"Nothing happened. Swarek found me after I'd finished half my run and we talked for a while. He probably thinks I'm a crazy person."
"Because you freaked out?"
"I wouldn't call it freaking out, exactly." Traci snorted.
"You did. You freaked out."
They stayed busy during the day, which is why Andy didn't immediately recognize her when she walked up to the counter. She stood up and walked around the desk to the counter to greet her.
"Can I help you?" The woman was an inch or two shorter than her, with thick blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back in tangled waves. Her eyes were the brightest green Andy had ever seen, and her skin was peppered with a light spattering of freckles. She was wearing a thigh-length jacket of the softest looking leather Andy had ever seen and she smelled of coffee and vanilla.
"Hi, we almost met earlier this morning? I'm Kate Reynolds. Remember? Partially clothed on the porch?" She held out her hand and Andy reached for it automatically. As the words came together in her head, she froze, a look of shock on her face.
"Yeah, uh nice to meet you. Um, Sam isn't here. I think he's out on patrol." She pulled her hand back quickly and crossed her arms tight over her chest. She looked at Traci who was doing her best to look uninterested while eavesdropping.
"Actually, I came to talk to you." Kate folded her arms on top of the counter and smiled.
"Did you want to report a crime, or file a restraining order or something?"
Kate laughed, her smile wide and natural. "Actually I was going to invite you to dinner. At Sam's. Tonight, if you're free." Andy's mouth dropped open and she instinctively took half a step back.
"Actually I think Traci and I…" She looked at Traci who was leaning back in her chair trying not to smile. "I think we have plans."
"No we don't." Traci smiled and Andy gave her an irritated look.
"I thought you needed help with that thing." Andy widened her eyes, trying to get Traci to take the hint.
"No, I took care of it."
"Andy listen," Kate began. "I think you'll find that I can be very persistent. I know you and Sam are good friends and what happened this morning was…awkward. But I think if we just sit down, get to know each other, then there won't be this thing hanging over us, and I'm a good cook. Great baker, but only a good cook. At the very least, you could walk away hating me, but be extremely well fed."
"Does he know you're here?"
"Yes he does. And he looked as on edge as you do right now when I suggested it to him." She gestured at Traci. "You can bring your friend if you think you'll be more comfortable."
Andy looked over at Traci. "I think she's busy."
"No I'm not." Traci practically leaped out of her chair and reached out to shake Kate's hand. "Traci Nash. Nice to meet you." Kate shook her hand and smiled again.
"So I'll see you guys tonight. Sam said you get off around 7 today if you don't get pulled into something, right? So we'll see you two at his place sometime between 7 and 8." She fished her keys out of her pocket and waved, turning around and leaving the station as quickly as she arrived.
"Wow," Traci said as she fell back into her chair.
"Yeah." Andy exhaled audibly, and sank slowly into her chair. "She was…."
"Gorgeous?"
Andy turned to look at her, eyes narrowed. "Thanks, by the way, for helping me out there. I really appreciate it," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Traci gave a satisfied smile and picked up the phone. "Anytime."