Prompt: she swears the moon don't hang quite as high as it used to

(written for earnmysong)


She has nightmares.

It's something they both don't see coming until she's knocking on his door at three am, hair plastered to her forehead and bruise like shadows beneath her eyes, a puddle of water collecting at her feet.

"Andy?" Nick rubs the sleep out of his eyes, his body immediately going into protective mode when it comes to her; remnants of being undercover and having to watch each other's backs constantly.

"I can't sleep." She says after a deep breath. "I know it's late, and I know we aren't responsible for each other anymore but I can't sleep. When I close my eyes, all I see is that gun in your hand."

Nick, stomach churning with guilt, opens his mouth to apologize but Andy stops him with a raised hand.

"I'm not angry with you," Andy reassures him. She then tilts her, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "Well I'm more pissed than angry, but mostly at the sucky situation. I know you did what you had to do, and despite how I reacted, I do trust you." Her eyes bore into his, making sure he gets how sincere she's being. He hates how it feels like being let off the hook.

"Well for whatever it's worth, I am really sorry Andy." He takes another look at her dripping wet clothes, and a corner of his mouth rises. "But you didn't have to come all the way over here, in the pouring rain, to tell me that. Do I have to worry about you holding up a stereo to my window?" Joking is easy with her. It's where they lived for seven months in order to keep themselves from going nuts with the isolation.

It's when her eyes start watering, face scrunching up pitifully, that he knows the nightmares aren't solely about the gun in her face.

"He moved on." Andy sobs heartbreakingly, and Nick immediately pulls her in for a hug. In the past couple months, he's come to see her as a sister, as well as a serious candidate for best friend, and he hates seeing her in such pain.

"I'm really sorry but I had nowhere else to go." She mumbles into his t-shirt, fingers digging into his shoulder blades.

"Andy, you don't have to apologize," he chuckles in disbelief. "You never have to apologize. Not to me."

Hand on her lower back, he steers her into the living room, her body shivering beneath his fingertips. A gear bag and six months worth of unopened mail are already on the couch, and Nick shoves them onto the floor. Depositing Andy in the empty spot left behind, he removes her soaking jacket and shoes. Leaving her for a moment, he quietly goes to close the door to his bedroom, praying it's one of those nights when Gail sleeps like a rock for thirteen hours straight.

When he returns, he sees she's still shivering and he wraps her in a towel he swiped from the hallway closet. Lightly rubbing her shoulders, he tells her "I'll go make you some tea."

Andy's face brightens a bit. "Your special tea?"

Nick nods, happy to make her feel better, even if for shallow reasons. "Yeah, my special tea."


When Nick returns, a striped blue mug filled with steaming tea, he finds Andy asleep on the couch, a growing wet patch on the couch beneath her.

Nick smiles, softly touching her cheek with his fingertips. He feels like kissing her forehead, and ends up succumbing to the urge. Andy sighs in contentment beneath him and he covers her with the blanket hanging over the back of the couch.

"Goodnight Andy." He whispers, before going back to his room.


Nick doesn't notice a pair of suspicious blue eyes peering at him from behind the bedroom door, but that's a problem for another day.