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Chapter 12- Missing You When You're Here.
Andy woke up to an empty couch behind her, but bigger flames blazing in the fireplace.
The couch behind her was still warmish, so Sam hadn't been gone long, a dent still in the pillow where his head had spent the night resting beside hers.
Wrapping the blankets around her she got up and carefully wobbled through the house, trying not to fall on her face.
She was still groggy with sleep, and her legs felt heavy, so they moved with cautious steps.
The kitchen was empty and so were the other rooms, so Andy hobbled down the stairs to Sam's room, cautiously hoisting the blanket up around her knees.
She heard the water running and knew that he was in the shower.
The electricity and heating were still off, so it was freezing, even though she saw that the sun was trying to make an appearance from behind the early morning, heavy snow clouds through the lounge windows when she navigated the room.
She couldn't even begin to imagine how Sam could shower in cold water. The idea of that was enough to make her shiver.
Sam came out the bathroom, a sliver of steam blowing out around him.
"It's hot!" Andy exclaimed in glee. She could really do with a hot shower now. The water had obviously stayed hot over night.
Sam nodded but didn't say anything, so she scrambled to get clean clothes and hit the shower.
When she came out, Sam was gone again. But she didn't find it surprising anymore.
Everytime she took a step closer, he backed off. If she backed off, he stepped closer.
It was enough to make her dizzy.
When she was dressed warmly, Andy reentered the house, the sound of closing car doors making her stop just as she reached the top of the staircase.
She hadn't seen Sam again, so she turned around, went back downstairs and closed the door behind her.
"Sammy". Bobby bounded into the house full of happiness.
Everyone was home, giving Sam a small amount of gratitude because there was a reason he could avoid Andy now.
"So?".
"So...Nothing".
"Sam!".
"Don't go there" Sam growled out, Bobby holding her hands up in surrender.
They had been home a while, but Bobby had held back on her questioning.
"You okay?". Sam asked Bobby after a while. She seemed really sad, but he understood why. And he was really quiet, and she knew the reason behind that.
"Yeah, I'm good. Really happy. He made a good choice to go".
"So did she say yes?".
Bobby nodded. "It was like the sweetest thing ever, do you know that he actually knew where she lived".
Sam chuckled, he guessed that Lars knew that.
"So he knocks on the door, and she opens it and he kisses her, just right there. She was holding the little girl, and then Lars just steps back and says 'Hi' like it was a regular thing".
Bobby looked really happy for the kid, like she approved of his choice too. Her smile glowed as she told Sam what had happened, a true sign that she was happy with herself too- for making the right decision and letting Lars go even if it was hard on her.
At least someone had made the right choice, and stood the chance of making their happy ever after come true. Without prison.
"She looks nice, but man is she stubborn. She first said no, and we're sitting there watching him sort of give up when the little girl just threw herself at him. Apparently she doesn't like many people".
"Probably the bear".
"The what?".
"Never mind". Sam forgot to tell Bobby about the bear, so he let it go.
"Eventually she said yes and packed a few things and they left. Damian gave him the new truck, so he's gone".
Sam smiled at knowing that at least one of them would have a chance at making something of themselves. Other than having to live looking over your shoulder and avoiding the cops. Lars was an intelligent kid, he'd make good on his freedom.
"So, the power been out long?"
"All night, should be back up soon".
"You didn't..."
"No I didn't hit the breaker, it went out all by itself".
Really? Bobby could seriously sometimes let her mind entertain some deranged thoughts.
"Hey I'm just checking".
Andy was flipping through TV channels.
She came out the shower, and found their bed made up.
That analogy sounded so weird, even in her head- Their bed.
Sam had obviously made it up while she was in the shower, but it escaped her attention when she had headed upstairs.
The whiskey she had been drinking stood with it's cap on next to her side of the bed, Sam had probably left it there as an indication that she might just need it if the power stayed out.
That would have meant that coffee wasn't an option.
Bobby soon appeared, carrying steaming hot coffee.
The power had come back on, not long after Andy had gotten out of the shower, the TV suddenly jumping to life, nearly giving Andy a heart attack.
"Hi". Bobby said as she sat beside Andy on the bed, her hand wrapped around her own coffee cup.
"Thank you" Andy said reaching for the coffee. She really needed it.
"So... How was your night?".
Andy resisted the urge to roll her eyes, this woman was just too nosy for her own good.
"I know, Sam told me".
"Told you?".
"That nothing happened".
Oh, yes, that.
"Andy, I know that it's hard being here, and that you feel like you don't belong. But you should stop screwing with his head".
That statement totally caught Andy off guard. And Bobby said it so easily.
Up until now, Bobby had been sweet and kind, now she was harsh and overbearing.
"I'm sorry, what?".
"Sam's head, you're screwing with it".
"I'm not".
Bobby was testing the theory, and so far, so good.
Pushing Andy's buttons using Sam as a weapon wasn't ideal, but it would be the only thing she could do now that time was running out.
"You don't know that you are, it's unintentional".
Andy stared at Bobby, her mind whirling over her own transparency.
"He feels it too, the connection, he just doesn't know how to handle it. Sammy doesn't do relationships, he's been here for two years, and never had the inclination to bring a woman home, or go looking for one".
Andy was having trouble listening to this, it really didn't have anything to do with her.
"I...".
"Look, I'm just saying... I dunno what I'm saying, but things are going to get hot real quick, and I don't know you well enough to trust you, but Sammy does. Not enough, but it'll do for now. Just remember that".
As soon as her words were cold, Bobby was gone, leaving a dazed and confused Andy sitting staring at a closed door.
After Bobby left, Andy lost herself to deep thoughts.
She ran every clear memory through her mind, scrutinizing it to see if there was any truth behind Bobby's words.
But she kept coming up empty.
She couldn't find anything that told her that she was guilty of what Bobby was accusing her of.
And after last night, she seriously doubted that she was even capable of messing with Sam's head. He didn't seem like the type that would allow it anyway.
The following days passed with Andy retreating all the way into her shell. She was quieter than she had ever been, and avoided any kind of conversation whatsoever.
She didn't look at Sam when he was around, and her minimal answers had gone to quiet nods if he spoke to her.
That eventually stopped too.
Sam seemed darker to her, like he was angry, so she left him alone.
Andy also tried to stop sleeping at night, she tried to spend the days sleeping while Sam was gone. That was just easier, no risk of him being used as a pillow again.
She knowingly withdrew herself in every possible way she could.
Sam would sneak glances her way when he thought that she wasn't paying attention.
She just didn't talk anymore.
He kept coming and going to bring her food and coffee. He would disappear for hours and come back with candy bars and magazines and other inanimate objects that he thought she should have.
She would smile vaguely in thanks but that was it. That was all she gave him.
It was eating him alive.
Until one day he just snapped.
She had been mute for almost two weeks and he just couldn't handle it anymore.
The final preparations were being made for the exchange and he knew that his time with her was almost up, but he just couldn't let it go, couldn't leave her here hating him.
He'd had a bad day, Scott was looking for a fight but Sam was holding on to every morsel of self restraint he possessed. Bobby had asked him why he didn't ask Andy to leave with them; like giving her the option to come along would be better than just dragging her out the door.
He'd messed his own coffee on himself and had to change shirts, he ended up with a splinter in his finger when he brought more wood in, and now Andy was completely ignoring him.
He came down after everyone went to bed and brought Andy coffee. Her eyes followed him as he set it down next to her side of the bed, but no smile and no nod just pushed him over the edge.
"If this is about kissing..."
"It's not". Andy was back to using her confident tone, the one that first drew his attention outside the bank.
"Then what is your problem?".
Wow, that just came out all wrong.
"You". Andy cringed when she said that, telling Sam that; she hadn't meant it to leave her lips.
"Me?". It was shocking.
"Yeah Sam. You are the problem. You're hot and cold at the same time, then you're just willing to let me get close enough before you send in backup to warn me off. You know what... You need to grow a pair".
Andy had found her feet, they padded across the floor as she moved to walk away, her voice was angry enough to carry across the room.
She didn't wait for an answer, she escaped to the only place she had to go - the bathroom.
Just as she was about to close the door loudly, Sam's hand stopped it so Andy let go knowing that there was no point in trying to fight his strength.
"What the hell are you talking about?".
He stood in the doorway, watching as she squirted toothpaste onto the bristles of her toothbrush, her eyes watching him in the mirror.
"I'm not screwing with your head anymore, so just... Go do whatever it is you do". Andy seethed out as she turned just enough to face him.
"What?".
Andy stopped, he seemed genuinely confused.
Sam let out a loud groan, his hand running over his face in frustration.
Bobby.
"I never said that".
"Well, YOU didn't need too".
Sam leaned against the open door as Andy turned away, opened the faucet and began brushing her teeth.
He had missed her sassy side more than he would ever admit, but he was kind of in awe at how much passion she could muster in seconds when she was backing something she really believed in.
Andy caught him staring, by looking at him in the mirror and he couldn't help but smile at their whole setup.
It was like they were having the standard kind of argument that relationships have, and they were living together, and just...being normal.
"What?".
Andy had finished brushing her teeth, and faced him again, her hands moving to pull her hair into a ponytail.
He had lost himself to his thoughts and caught a glimpse of his own smile in the mirror when she spoke before he managed to school his features and switch on the autopilot.
"Nothing". Sam mumbled pushing off the door and leaving her to finish in the bathroom.
He was under the covers when she came out, his face aimed at the ceiling.
He left her bedside lamp on knowing that she wasn't about to get into bed and go to sleep.
She would read, or watch TV without the volume turned up.
She just completely avoided sleeping when he was in the room.
"I dunno what she said, she likes to meddle".
She surprised Sam by getting into bed and turning the light off, so he took the chance to apologize.
"Whatever she said, she shouldn't have I'm sorry".
Andy turned to face Sam. She had something to say, but was holding back.
"What?". Maybe letting her say it would end the mirth that dwelled around them.
"Do I? Screw with your head?".
Had she really just asked him that?
Sam was tempted to be truthful and say yes, but her reaction to that was just too unpredictable.
So he said "No" hoping that it sounded real enough. Not that she really screwed with his head, she was just in it all the time.
He wasn't lying, he was just protecting her from something that she probably couldn't handle.
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Jelly Bean Jenna©