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Chapter 10- Alone Time.

Andy spent a bit more time upstairs before going back down to Sam's room.

Yup, it was suddenly Sam's room. Not the their room, or their bathroom she had been using in her mind.

She was mad, and she had no idea why, so therefore, it was his- and his alone.

She had lost the feeling of wanting to hear anymore about Sam or the fact that they were going to pack up and leave her here soon, so retreating and hiding out alone was all there was to do.

They were leaving her right?

From Bobby asking her if she would tag along if Sam asked her too, she guessed that they were going to leave her behind.

Then there was the other option.

The knowledge caused more confused and worried feelings to run through Andy. She shouldn't be feeling them, so the guilt at actually feeling them unraveled her as the first signs of weakness began to show as she crumbled.

The first tears streaked down her face since she had been... Since she left home.

She wasn't taken, she volunteered to be here, so saying she was taken just didn't fit. At all.

Sam found Andy asleep when they made it home, Bobby telling him that he should go and talk to her the minute he set foot back in the door, arm's laden with bags full of groceries.

"What did you do?". Was his immediate response when he saw that Bobby wasn't looking like her usual bubbly self.

"Nothing. She's just sad. She likes you, you know".

Sam rolled his eyes before setting the bag down and making his way downstairs. The guys would have to finish up alone.

Andy knew when he came into the room, she just had a creepy way of knowing when he was there. Whenever he had been out, or just upstairs and she had fallen asleep, she would wake up no matter how quietly he came into the room.

She held her pose, and tried to keep her breathing paced, while she pretended to still be asleep.

She felt him sit down on the end of the bed, the mattress shifting under his weight as he perched himself next to her feet.

Sam kept his head down, he knew that she was awake, he could always tell when she was.

She just had an inability to lie, and pretend.

Maybe it was best to say this when she thought he thought she was sleeping.

But nothing seemed too want to come out of his mouth.

So he just sat there.

And she lay waiting.

"We're leaving in a couple weeks" he finally mumbled, Andy doing her best not to cringe when he finally admitted it.

"I'll be leaving you here, and I'll leave my phone, so you can call... Whoever you need to call to come get you".

Who would she call? A friend? 911? A husband, or sibling? Or another relative.

"But you need to wait a few hours".

He heard Andy try and keep her breathing calm, but she was failing miserably. She was still scared, she hadn't quite been able to build up the trust that he wanted her to have in him.

Like the trust he found himself unwillingly extending to her.

"You'll be going home

soon, so you should be happy". Sam stood up off the bed but still hovered.

Andy rolled over and looked at Sam like she was miserable about what she had just heard.

She shouldn't look like that, all 'I just lost my puppy' like.

"Were you going to tell me, or just leave me here?". She finally asked, her voice betraying her as it cracked a little under the pressure.

"Andy...".

What was he supposed to say?

That he didn't want to leave her? That he wanted to take her with him? Because he honestly did.

But he couldn't.

"It's complicated". Yeah, that was a great way for him to finish that sentence.

But Andy just rolled over and pulled the covers up over her head, mumbling "Go away Sam" as she did.

When Sam made it back upstairs, he found Bobby looking disheveled and like she had been crying as she slammed the groceries into the kitchen cupboards.

"He told you?".

Bobby nodded, but didn't answer.

"Dam told me that you asked". She said as she suddenly froze after slamming a can of coffee down onto the wooden shelf so hard that everything else on it shook.

"Bobby.."

"You're right. He has a chance to get out and stay a good kid Sam".

She had been a good mother figure for Lars since he had been here.

They found out that he was living on the street, his mother was a junkie and he had no idea who his father was.

They had a close bond, and even though Lars had only been here for a year, Sam could tell that Bobby felt like she was letting her only child go.

"I asked him if he wanted to go, and you know what he said? He said that if you and I give our approval, he'll go. When I asked about the girl he said he would ask her but if she said no, he was leaving anyway if we let him go".

"But he wants her to say yes". Bobby carried on pulling items out the bag and stuffing them into the cupboard.

"I asked him what he wanted her to say, and he said he wants a yes Sam. And that she's got a kid? He's just a kid. He's not ready for life on his own".

"Bobby, it's time to let him go. He's eighteen, he's not a kid anymore. He knows how tough life is, and if he's willing to take a woman with a kid and give them a better life, let him try. He looks at her like Damian looks at you".

Sam knew that she would have a tough time letting go, but he never figured on her giving this much of a fight.

But she wasn't a selfish person.

"He wants to leave tonight".

"Then go with him when he goes to get the girl. He's not like us, he's going to ask her, not take her. See for yourself".

Damian had obviously told Lars that he had the option to walk away, and that it had to be before things got worse, so he was opting for now, before he changed his mind. The weather wasn't that great either, with more snowfall predicted, it was best to leave before they got snowed in.

"Think he'll be okay?".

"Yeah, I do".

Looking at movement that caught the corner of his eye, Sam noticed Lars lingering just outside the doorway.

"Got a minute?". The kid looked so nervous asking that.

"I get what you're doing, but it doesn't feel wrong you know. When we got shot I was scared, and I saw how scared you were, because of Damian, and I can't do this. I'm not jaded enough. I want to go, but I want to stay too. Is that wrong?". Lars spoke and sounded so sad.

"I say you should go, get your girl and make a better life for yourselves". Sam said, his eyes focused on Bobby as he spoke. He knew that saying that would come back to haunt him.

"He's right. But I want to see her". Bobby spoke up sounding a little like an over anxious mother.

"Will you come with me?".

Bobby nodded, but Sam looked away. He wasn't going to go out the house with Bobby and leave Andy here with the guys, although Elliot was a good guy, Damian sent him everywhere with Bobby, unless he went himself.

If Bobby and Lars were going that meant that Damian would too, so Scott would be left here- not even considered as an option.

"Can I say thanks to her?". Lars shocked Sam with the question, but he had good manners.

Andy had only been up in the house with everyone the night they came home shot, other than that; she was downstairs.

No-one ever went downstairs, besides Bobby.

Sam nodded and moved downstairs, Andy might get a fright if Lars just barged in.

Sam knocked on the door knowing that it would alert Andy to another presence.

When he pushed the door open, Andy was still cocooned under the covers, but sitting up this time- her attention focused on the door.

"Hi". Lars said as he followed Sam into the room, stopping just inside the doorway.

Andy lifted her hand up in a small wave, a light smile tugging her lips up. She hadn't seen him since she stitched him up although she had asked Sam how he was. She was worried about him, even though he was a part of the crew that kept her locked in a room.

"I just wanted to say thank you, you know, for what you did".

Andy was looking at Lars strangely, like she had a million questions to ask him, but her mouth stayed mute.

"I'm leaving, so thank you Ma'am. And look after Sammy here".

With that Lars walked off, leaving Andy staring at his retreating form.

"Where's he...". She cut the words off, not really wanting to know the answer to her question. The less she knew, the better right?

"He's going to get his girl, then he's out of this life. Gonna keep his nose clean".

Sam's posture was tense and defensive, like he was trying to hold back any emotions from visibly displaying.

"Why are you letting him go?".

"He's a good kid, he deserves a chance".

Andy wondered if Sam had ever been given an out. And why he wouldn't have taken it.

"So he can leave just like that?"

Andy and her questions.

It sometimes drove him insane.

"Yup".

"Then why are you still here? Why haven't you left yet?".

Andy's eyes widened at her question, the second the words were out.

Sam's face dropped a little, so she knew that she had said it out loud. Her inner voice totally forgetting the filter.

"Don't answer that, I know. It's complicated right?" Andy snapped.

Sam nodded.

"Okay". Andy said and flopped back down on the bed, leaving Sam to leave the room again, this time slamming the door behind him.

"Problem?".

"Nope". Sam took the beer that Bobby was holding out and took a long sip.

He really wasn't the door slamming type.

"She's getting to you".

"No, she's not".

"Need me to make you guys dinner?" Bobby had the sense to change the subject, Sam wasn't good company when he was brooding.

"Who's staying?".

"Just you and Andy. Damian's taking me out after we drop Lars off, and the guys are going to stay in town after hitting some clubs. We'll probably stay overnight too".

Great, just what he needed.

A night alone with Andy that wasn't constricted to the confines of the room downstairs.

"Nope, I'll sort it out later".

"I'm sure you will". Bobby said teasingly as she walked out of the room.

Hours later, Sam ventured downstairs yet again in an attempt to call a truce with Andy.

He had taken her coffee, but she didn't touch it. Bobby made sandwiches for lunch, and Andy's still stood untouched next to the bed.

Everyone had left, so she could freely move through the house but it didn't seem like she wanted to do anything except lay in bed and do a bad impersonation of someone sleeping.

The last time he headed upstairs, he left the door open; but she never followed.

"Dinners done" he said hovering again. He wasn't the hovering kind of person, but with her he just did it.

It was in his nature when it came to her.

Andy didn't reply, so he walked over and yanked the blankets right off the bed, sending them into a heap on the floor.

"Are you crazy?" Andy hissed, sitting up and leering at him.

Her fire was back and it made him smile.

"I said..."

"I heard what you said"

See, a simple action from him earned him a reaction from her.

"Move, upstairs now". Sam added, trying to keep his dimples from flaring.

Her exasperated look was enough to make him want to flash them around.

"No".

That threw him for a loop.

Her flat out no.

Since she had been here, she had never used the word, or defied anything she was asked or told to do, and she had also never asked for anything- except to shower or use the bathroom.

"I wasn't asking". Sam reached out for her and scooped her up before she had a chance to back away.

Within seconds the world tilted and turned upside down, Sam slung her over his shoulder and she didn't even have a chance to put up a fight.

Sam carried her up the stairs and set her down in front of the table in the far corner of the lounge.

Andy spun around, and nearly slipped on the wooden floors because she was only wearing socks. She never got the chance to put her slippers on.

Sam's hand shot out to steady her, an amused grin playing on his lips as he noticed her inability to keep herself balanced.

He let go as soon as she was steady, her eyes flashing across the room.

"They're out". Sam said reading her thoughts.

"Oh".

Sam gestured towards the table, dinner already set out.

"You made dinner?". She sounded like she didn't believe that he was capable of completing the task.

Sam nodded, and motioned towards the table.

Andy sat down, the aroma of something delicious assaulting her senses.

She dished up, and began eating silently, her eyes focused on her plate to prevent another slip of the inner voice blurting out something that should be kept inside her head.

They were halfway through dinner, when the lights flickered a little and dimmed.

Before going out completely.

The room plunged into darkness, Andy staring vacantly ahead of her as she let out a groan and cursed the universe simultaneously.

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