Chapter 9

I would like to warn and apologize to you beforehand that I do not, I repeat do not know anything about laws and what punishments can be expected for what crimes. Therefore I have no idea if this is anything close to the truth. For this story it is truth, I suppose. I don't really know what kept this story so long, the start of it was written a month ago… I just didn't come around to finishing it, with school being incredibly busy. I did manage now, so ENJOY!

...

She rushed into the bar, not noticing the sea of blue that swarmed the crowded room.

'Dad!' she shrieked as she spotted him, sitting on a bar stool at the bar/ medics were helping him with his head wound that was gushing blood/. 'What were you thinking?'

'I am so sorry, Andy, he just came at me all of a sudden and I didn't know what I had to do..., I just acted on instinct.' He sounded as though he had had a few too many. She looked around trying to find the source of the fight. She spotted him at the other end of the bar, Frank standing by his side taking his statement. Andy couldn't wait to hear him talk his way out of this one. She stamped towards him, hardly noticing Sam trying to hold her back. He was probably right; one confrontation with him in her family was probably more than enough for one night.

'What were you thinking, Luke? Attacking my dad like that? What even gives you the right to as much as come up to him and talk to him?'

If she had thought him to be sorrowful as soon as she got all of that off her chest, she was sadly mistaken. If anything, the rage in his eyes seemed to become even more fiercely.

'What gives me the right? What gives you the right to come up to me like that and say those things to me in front of Jo? You ruined me!'

The anger was splattering of his face and this time she was glad she felt Sam's strong arms come up around her holding her back.

'You used me to cheat on your wife! Ruined is just what you deserve!'

'Ok, ok, calm down!' Best intervened. 'I know a lot has happened, but right now is neither the time nor place.'

Andy felt her breathing calm down. She was aware that Sam's arms were still wrapped around her, pulling her back to where her father still was sitting. It appeared as though he hadn't noticed much of what was going on.

'Alright, Mr. McNally. You're all cleaned up,' the medic said, gathering up her belongings.

'Dad,' Andy said, taking his attention away from the bottles that were placed neatly on the shelves behind the bar. 'Tell me what happened.'

'I was just sitting here, you know, having a drink.' It was remarkable how sober he suddenly seemed, Andy thought. 'All of a sudden that boyfriend of yours comes in and starts to yell at me. He hit me.' He pointed at the wound on his face and then shrugged his shoulders. 'I hit him back.'

'He's not my boyfriend, dad, not anymore,' Andy muttered.

'Oh, well, that explains a lot, I guess,' Tommy said eyeing the way she and Sam stood in front of him. Andy realised that it might be a bit too much and quickly worked her way out of Sam's embrace, walking up to her dad.

'Dad,' Andy tried, but he cut her off.

'Don't worry, Andy, I never liked the guy much to begin with.' Andy was shocked to hear this. She had thought they'd gotten along when they worked together. Behind her she felt Sam smile and she was pleased by it. 'He was too taken by his work and I was sure he would have followed that woman, but I guess he didn't. That never sat right with me.'

Andy threw a quick look over her shoulder at Sam. She wondered if anyone had known about the marriage at all, with the surprise people seemed to be showing.

'Tommy, do you have a moment?' Best suddenly interrupted. As Andy looked back to see him standing there, she noticed Luke was being led away outside. It seemed as Best was really keen on getting to the bottom of this. It probably meant she would have to give some sort of statement as well. Just great.

'Andy, feel free to go home, we can take your dad home later. I just wanted you to know what was going on. And would you be so kind as to come by my office before your shift starts? I want to ask you some questions, clear a few things up.' Well, there it was, just as she had expected.

'Sure. Thanks.'

'Come on I'll drive you home,' Sam said as he placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her out of the bar.

She looked back for one moment. Her dad had settled in a normal chair with frank in the one beside him. The situation must be something rare. A detective and an ex detective, getting into a fight. It couldn't be a situation that had happened on many an occasion in the past. There probably weren't any handbook guidelines or rules that could be of help. Luke would most likely be suspended, but it really was the question what would happen to her dad. It all depended on whether Luke would be pressing charges or not. How did she get from that mess into this one? It almost seemed as if she really was cursed, as Oliver had said that day of the black out.

Sam held the door open so she could get into his truck. Ok, so maybe the whole 'cursed' thing was a little too much. After all, she did end up where she wanted to be to begin with, with Sam. Have him be the one to drive her home and make her feel wanted and safe, something he did so fantastically.

She barely noticed the ride over to her house. It wasn't until Sam had opened her door and was softly nudging her shoulder that she realised where she was.

She got out and walked up to her apartment, opening the door mechanically. She sank down to the couch and pulled up her legs after dumping her shoes underneath the coffee table. Sam slit down beside her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close to his chest.

'Don't worry, Andy, you're dad will be fine,' Sam said before kissing her temple.

'You don't know that,' she disagreed. 'If Luke presses charges…'

'He won't. He knows how bad things look for him, he'll be lucky to still be working at fifteenth. If I know frank he'll politely ask him to relocate to twenty seventh or something. Word was Jo was working there too anyway… should be an interesting thing to see considering their situation, that is if she'll locate back there.'

Andy had to fight to keep the smile that was starting to spread from her face. 'But what id something does happen and he will be in trouble? It will be my fault!'

'Andy, none of this is your fault! Nothing at all! You didn't send Luke over to your dad, you didn't tell your dad to hit him back. They were just two drunken people who got into a fight. You couldn't have done anything about it.'

Andy sighed. She supposed what he was saying was right. Luke was just crazy. She should not have gotten involved with him, but who knew what might have happened than? It wouldn't have been a guaranty that nothing would have happened tonight. She closed her eyes a moment. She didn't want to think about it anymore. It was over and done with and right now all she wanted was to be alone with Sam, no thoughts of the events of the night or past couple of weeks as distraction. Just her and Sam.

...

He knew it had been a crazy night. It was a crazy situation. Luke had really gone nuts now and he had definitely crossed a line. Though he was quite sure that there would be no problem for Tommy, he couldn't help but worry for Andy's sake. What if something did go wrong? How broken would she be?

She seemed to have calmed down as he felt her body relax to his. Her head turned slightly and her eyes met his. He raised his hand to her face and brushed some lost strays of hair away before leaning closer and kissing her softly.

He felt her hands go up and her fingers traced his face before she placed her hands behind his head to pull him closer and deepen the kiss as he did the same. As their lips moved in perfect harmony with each other he moved his hands down to her bottom earning himself a soft moan as he lifted her and pulled her fully on his lap. Bracing himself momentarily he got up and with Andy in his arms walked over to her bedroom.

...

She was running late, really late. Sam had left earlier to run some errands and get changed. He would soon swing by to pick her up for her meeting with Frank Best before her shift started. She was dreading the meeting, not quite sure what was expected from her, what she was supposed to say. She rushed out of the shower and quickly threw on a pair of jeans and a sweater when she suddenly heard the doorbell ring. Putting the rest of the things she would need in her bag, she got to the door.

'Ready to go?' Sam said, smile in place.

She smiled at him before giving him a quick kiss and pulling the door closed behind her. 'All set.'

Throughout the drive they talked about little things they would probably encounter on a night shift. It was all superficial ramble on her side, too nervous to be able to focus on anything solid.

'All you have to do is go in there and answer some questions. When you come out, I'll be waiting for you,' Sam encouraged her, softly pinching her shoulder. They had decided that they should keep the contact at a minimum while they were at work. It was a simple gesture of encouragement and yet it sent shivers down her spine.

She went to get changed quickly before making her way over to Best's office. She saw someone sitting there so she waited outside pacing the small hallway in front of the office. After what seemed like hours the door finally opened and a detective she recognised all to well from her very first day made his exit.

He glared at her and she could almost hear him wonder about what mistake she'd surely had made this time. He walked on however and Best called her into his office.

'Andy, please take a seat,' he said as he closed the door. She sat down as he took place in his own chair.

'I'm afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to what happened exactly between you and detective Callaghan. Just start from the beginning.'

Andy took a breath and started off, stating they had been in a relationship and that she had wanted to break it off when his alleged wife suddenly showed up. She decided it was best to share it all and told him about the break up as well as the several encounters she'd had afterwards. She did however keep her mouth shut about the reasons why she had decided to break up with Luke. It was probably for the best if she wanted to have a chance with Sam.

'Thank you Andy. And did you told your father about the break up with detective Callaghan?'

'No, it had only happened a couple of days before and I hadn't really spoken to him in that time.'

'I feel I should be honest with you here. Luke was planning on charging you for ruining his marriage, but since everyone here thought he was with you and no one here knew he was even married he won't get very far with that. Besides, he is the one that made a mistake, not you.' He smiled at her softly. 'You're dad won't be charged, neither will Luke though I did have to suspend him. He will be back in two weeks, just so you know. Don't worry about him, he knows he won't come back here if he makes another mistake.'

Best got up. 'Alright, if you don't have any questions, I think it is time to get to parade.'

Andy got up from her chair and looked up at Best gratefully. 'Thank you,' she said before she left the room and went in search of her friends. However, she was called back.

'Andy?' He waited until she was close enough so no one else would here them speak. 'Why was Sam there last night? Nobody called him.'

Crap, crap, crap! Out of all the questions she had been prepared for, this was not one of them. 'I have been having some problems, since the blackout. Sam's been helping me, talking me through the worst of it.' She prayed to all that was possibly there that she would not be called out on her lie.

'Are you holding up?' he asked, concern on his face.

'I'm doing alright.' With that she turned and walked over to the parade room, throwing Sam a 'that was a close call' look. She would have to explain it to him later.

Somehow all of her friends had heard about the events of the previous night and were bursting with questions. Andy was very grateful for Best starting parade right away, leaving no time to answer questions.

After learning she was paired with Sam, something that made her have to fight the happiness from showing too much, she made her way out of the room. She followed Sam out to the cruiser and remained silent as he started the car. They had been driving for nearly ten minutes before she finally spoke.

'Sam?' She was aware of just how small her voice sounded.

'Yeah?' he asked as he looked over at her with a concerned look on his face.

'Thank you for being right.'

...

I hope you enjoyed it. I will explorer more about Andy and Sam's situation and all in the next chapter, since most of you seemed very keen on finding out how that would go. I also hope this was what you hoped it would be, got a little soft on the end and I'm not really fond of consequences... Anyway, please take a minute to give me some feedback, it really is greatly appreciated.