Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own words and surely the mistakes. These two characters were created by James Duff for The Closer/Major Crimes, I just borrowed them for my story.
It's a fictional story that possibly violates all reasonable concepts of what these two would actually do, but that's the fun of writing a fanfiction.

December 24, 2008 – Park City

It was rainining in Park City when Sharon landed. She ran onto the bus that took her from the plane to inside the airport, where she knew Ricky had been waiting to pick her up. Waiting for the bus to start, she thought it was probably the best moment to tell Andy she had landed; at first she thought about sending him a message, to avoid any awkwardness of their previous intimate moment, but knowing Andy he would have called right away. After all, he had sent her a message when she was getting on the plane and he seemed to have, once again, took both of them out of the embarassement of the situation.

She let it rang for a couple of rings before to hang up. Maybe he was taking a nap, or maybe heading to work or maybe just ignoring her because that kiss had indeed been very awkward.

This thought started haunting her mind. The bus started to move and it was now a matter of minutes before she would have needed to suck it up inside and put that thought away, to enjoy a wonderful week with her children. Maybe this vacation came at the right time for Sharon to analyze a few things of these past years.

She found her son holding a sign on which was written Captain Mom of LAPD.

"What is this sign?" Sharon literally threw her arms around her son's shoulders smiling.

"I thought that, if anyone wanted to rob me, it's important that they know my mom is a captain of the LAPD," he smiled too and in response Sharon gave him a slap on his left shoulder.

It was at that moment she heard her phone ringing. She gestured her son to wait a minute and moved away from his hearing. "Andy, I thought you…"

Andy interrupted her immediately, "I'm sorry I didn't pick up," he was whispering. "We caught a sensitive case now and I couldn't answer."

They talked for a few minutes before Sharon could hear Provenza calling Andy back to work. It had been a weird conversation, he seemed cold and distant, much different from the man who wrote her "Miss you already" in the last message, but she imagined it could have been also because he was on site, at work, and their relationship didn't have to be noticed by others.

"Who was it?" Ricky appeared behind her.

"Oh just a friend. He drove me to the airport in LA and wanted to know if I landed," as soon as she said it she realized she had just said he and made it clear a man had driven her to the airport in LA, where she lived now alone, without her kids supervision and free to date anyone she wanted to.

"Oh Gavin drove you? Didn't know he does things for anyone who's not himself!"

Sharon let go of a breath when her son said Gavin's name. He and Sharon had met in law school, before she left it to enter the academy and making the money to pay Jack's studies. Gavin had finished it and graduated and Sharon had become a Captain of the LAPD, but they had been friends for a very long time now, and everyone in her family knew that he wasn't interested in Sharon… or women at all!

"Believe it or not but Gavin can be a very good and caring friend," she said while grabbing her son by his arm and starting to walk with him. "You just have to take him on his very good days!" She then finished.

December 24, 2008 – Los Angeles

The day had seemed never ending to Andy. All he had wanted to do was to finishing writing those papers, drive home and lay on the sofa waiting for midnight to open Sharon's present. He thought many times about opening it as soon as she gave it to him, but she made him promise and he kept his promises.

And he was also sure she had some sort of super powers for which she would have known he had opened it before, and she would have been pissed at him for it.

"Flynn," Provenza went close to his partner's desk. "We are all wrapping up and going home, are you coming?" He watched as Andy shrugged and went back reading what he had written in his report. "You know, I don't always give love advices," he started.

"Then please don't start now," Andy interrupted him immediately.

"But," Provenza couldn't mark his annoyance in being interrupted more than he did in that single word, "I think you should call her and see if you can meet her,"

Andy looked at him puzzled, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Yeah sure. You have been going around with the face of a sad puppy for the whole day, we had to draw back your attention on the case every minute and you have been looking at this stupid box the whole day," Provenza got irritated, "ah whatever! Don't show up at my place, let's say at 8.30, I won't open the door."

"See ya," Andy greeted his partner with a nod of the head and went back to finish his work.

As always he was going to be at his place after dinner, to watch a match with him and then leave a little before midnight, to an empty house and once again alone. If he hadn't been an alcoholic and taking his path to rehab seriously, that would have been the perfect moment to fall into the bottle and never come out.

Provenza was right, he had to be with her and not alone at home. He had wanted to be with her, but things were complicated and different than any common relationship; they were just friends and she would have never wanted him there.

Andy signed his report and left it on Chief Johnson's desk, he turned off the lamp on his desk and walked out of the murder room. Unless a serious case came in, he didn't have to step in there again for two days.

Walking to his parking lot he stopped a moment in front of an empty one with CAPTAIN RAYDOR written on it. He didn't hear the step approaching from behind.

"What a sense of freedom," the man went closer and smacked his shoulder. "A whole week without that witch. She is impossible to work with," he recognized the man in Sergeant Wallace, who worked in the FID under Sharon's command. He was irritated by hearing him calling her a witch. Andy found himself holding a fist with his right hand, and the temptation to punch the jerk was a strong one in him.

In the meantime, Provenza and the team had approached seeing Andy there. "I heard the husband left her multiple times, I bet he did, if she's the same at home as she is at work." The Sergeant laughed, "even her children ran away as soon as they could." It was the right time for Andy to release that anger against his face, and he would have had to face charges for it but he didn't care. Thankfully Provenza got close enough at the right moment, for once.

"Wallace. What the hell are you doing?"

"Good evening, Sir. I was chatting with Lieutenant Flynn about Captain Raydor. Finally she left for a week," the Sergeant replied, laughing again.

"And we should care because?" Provenza stated. The old man had a precise idea of the respect of his rank, and as they saw from afar that smack on Andy's shoulder, that was for his standards a violation of that respect. The Sergeant was of a lower rank than a Lieutenant and he also had no connection of friendship to any of them.

"I just thought…" the Sergeant stopped. "My apologies, Sir. Have a good night and merry Christmas, Sir." He left and Andy was still holding that fist, his hand had become red and he slowly released the clasp feeling sensitivity in his fingers again.

"Idiot," Provenza murmured. "On one thing he's right though, we can breath for a week without her presence stiring among us,"

"She is just doing her job," Andy had calmed down and his voice was quiet.

"So are we, and she is a bother with her rules," Provenza watched as his partner left without saying a word and screamed his name, "Flynn!" Then he said to the rest of the group, "That man is seriously an idiot!"

Andy walked to his car angry and mad at all the bad he had to hear about Sharon. If anyone had known they had been seeing each other, nobody would have ever said anything about her in his presence. But that was a fact, they weren't seeing each other, they weren't dating and she had been categoric about not revealing they were more than just collegues. She had even asked him to never defend her or compliment her in group, but to act just as he always had done before, with the jokes and the subtle talking. He had refused but she had assured him she knew it was just pretending in front of the others, and that she never would have believed a bad or mean comment of his.

Once he entered his car, he had already decided to skip the traditional evening with Provenza watching TV. This day needed to be over right now. Not only had it been a difficult and terrible case, but he also missed Sharon and had to listen to a series of bad comments on her that he couldn't avoid. He wanted it to be night already, or better the day after, or even better the new year, because that meant she would have been back in LA.

Truth to be told, Andy knew he was in love with Sharon. He also knew that she wasn't in love with him, and having her as a friend was everything he would have had, and so he had decided it was enough for him. Just to be around her. In that moment, his phone rang and a smile spread on his face when he saw the name on the display.

He picked up, "I thought I would have never heard from you again!" The voice on the other side seemed concerned and sincerely worried.

"I am sorry, the case was pretty intense. I didn't even have lunch," he replied and he was still smiling.

"They left you unfed? Oh my… that must have been terrible," she seemed more relaxed now.

"How are the kids?"

"They are good. We are all good. I am taking a moment from cooking and sitting down. It's been crazy here since I arrived," she laughed.

"I would pay good money to see you cooking," he paused a moment waiting for a reply but she was silent. "Hey I got your gift here with me, can I open it now, mommy?"

"No. We said midnight," her tone changed from funny to serious, but he could perceive that she was still smiling. They didn't spend much time on the phone, as Sharon had been called back to cooking several times by her children and siblings, but she had had enough time to tell him what they were cooking and asking him to let her know what he thought of her gift.

Before she ended the call, Sharon lowered her voice almost in a whisper, not to be heard from others he imagined. "Andy?" he hummed, "I miss you too!"

Andy smiled in the darkness of his car in the parking lot, "Well of course you do! I am such a handsome guy, who wouldn't miss me?" He had decided to break the embarassment and the silence with a joke, as he was used to doing so often with her. He could imagine her getting that look of annoyance that made him go crazy and then laugh. And she did laugh.

At the strike of midnight, Andy was sitting on his sofa, with her gift in his hands. It was small and he could hold it on his palm trying to imagine what it could possibly contain. He had stuck to the rules and waited for the midnight and now he could finally open it.

Inside the small box there was a piece of paper that had been folded in many ways to fit its container. He opened the paper and read:

Dear Andy,
you surely don't need me to praise your ego, but I thought you may like this silly small gift. Maybe next time you won't lose your keys, anyway. Merry Christmas!
Much Love, Sharon

Much Love was all he focused on at first. Moving the paper he discovered what she was talking about in it. Holding her gift in his hands made him laugh. She had got him a key-ring with a ferrari crest and the writing best driver ever.

He was still laughing when he picked up his phone to message her: My ego is very happy and thankful for your thought! He typed and sent waiting for an answer, which didn't come in too late.

I am pleased that your ego is happy. But don't take advantage of this now, Lieutenant.

All he had wanted was to call her and spend the rest of the night talking and joking, but she was with her family and he had to respect it and give her the time with them. He replied with an emoji of a smile and wished her a merry Christmas, but from there he didn't have any other answer.

It was only when he closed the chat tab, that he noticed the 12 calls from Provenza. The next day, he had to be prepared to be a really intense one, with his partner calling him an idiot and yelling at him for not showing up and not even picking up to his calls. But for this small time frame he had Sharon again, and he was happy and looking forward to hear from her again.

Andy went to bed with this thought. He went to bed with Sharon in his thoughts.