A/N: Ok, I let a certain thing go on for a while, haven't mentioned it in like 10 chapters or something ridiculous so I had to pick it up...
Team three had come to the last of their 6 day stretch of day shifts, and team one was just starting theirs. Thankfully, that meant Sam and Jules would at least get dinner together tonight, even if come tomorrow he'd be spending his day off alone. Maybe he'd go by his apartment, make sure it was still there, that Nat hadn't pawned his stuff. They'd been staying at Jules' house for almost a week straight, and last time he saw Nat he had gotten the feeling that she was hiding something. He knew she'd been working, doing something to do with clothes he thought. That meant she was most likely hiding something to do with a guy, something Sam wanted to know nothing about. He preferred to think his little sister was the nun-without-a-convent sort. She wasn't, of course, but a guy could dream couldn't he?
He finished his last bit of paperwork and looked around HQ, hoping to see Jules. She wasn't back yet, of course, as team one had taken the unusually quiet day as an opportunity to go on patrol. Tonight she'd have some random story to tell him about her day, about something funny or stupid that happened while on patrol. She would put on her 'man' face and do some lousy, albeit hilarious, impression of whoever she had driven around with that day. The best stories usually came out of time spent with Spike, although the Ed ones had gotten better lately, especially with all the time he had been spending with Izzy. Apparently one day he had said 'ta-ta' to Jules to get her to hand him something she'd been holding. She'd responded with a shocked 'Excuse me?', as his full head turned red with the embarrassment of what he'd just done. It seemed Ed might be losing his ability to interact with adults, or so Jules had insisted when she told Sam about it. Whoever she had spent the day with, Sam looked forward to the story. Although, there was still the issue of that kid Nick, the little shit who had gotten Jules shot not so long ago. He hoped for her sake that she hadn't been stuck in a car with him all day.
Jules had been paired with Spike for patrols. Greg had briefly considered putting her with Nick, then figured Nick might actually have more to gain from riding with Ed, simply because the kid still seemed terrified of Jules.
"So," Jules began, taking a sip of her Timmies they had just stopped for. "You and Natalie still…uh…involved?"
"Don't say it like that, Jules."
"Like what?"
Spike cringed. "Involved… makes it sound so… filthy."
Jules laughed. "Ok, well, what would you call it?"
Spike thought for a moment, then turned to his friend, smiling slightly. "Well, the other day she called me her boyfriend so I guess we're dating? Why all the questions?"
Jules smiled at the obvious glee in Spike's eyes as he said the word boyfriend, then asked, "Is it serious?"
Spike's eyes narrowed. "Um…well… I don't know…We're…" He shook his head when Jules shot him a glare. "I don't know if we're tell Sam serious."
Jules shook her head. "Look Spike, if theres anyone who gets the not telling people thing its me, its just… I really hate lying to Sam, you know?"
He sighed. "Yeah, I know… I'll talk to Nat about it, alright?"
"All I ask." Jules smiled, then changed the subject. "So, think Faulkner will ever look me in the eye again?"
"You think Nick's skiddish around you, you should see him around Sam. All but hides in his locker when they're both in the room at the same time," Spike laughed.
"Poor kid… wait, why's he afraid of Sam?"
Spike sighed. "I think that might be my fault. After you told him off in the locker room he was worried that you'd never trust him. I told him not to worry about it, but that you were a mean shot and he really wouldn't live to regret it next time. Then I kind of might have thrown in a bit about how your boyfriend is also a mean shot, and he was confused so I pointed out that he had met Sam and…"
"Spike! I can take care of myself, thanks, you didn't need to throw Sam in his face!"
"I know, I know, I was mostly joking. It got to him more than I thought it would."
Jules rolled her eyes. She'd have to have a chat with Nick next time they were alone together. She only hoped she could fix it without having to ask Sam to talk to him, mainly because she figured Spike was right, and didn't see that conversation going well.
After shift Jules met Sam at the desk where he had been chatting with Winnie, and they walked out together.
"So, your place tonight?" Sam looked slightly shocked. Jules smiled. "Its your day off tomorrow and I know you'll end up there anyways, at least if we stay there tonight you'll be able to sleep in later. I'm sure I've got clothes there that I can wear in to work tomorrow."
"What about dinner? I doubt theres much food at my place."
She laughed. "Always thinking about food… alright we'll stop off at a grocery store on the way."
By the time Sam and Jules walked up to his apartment door they were too involved in conversation to notice anyone but themselves. They had nearly walked into his 90-something year old neighbour Mrs Sullivan while bickering over how many vegetables Jules had forced Sam to buy, saying steak was not a suitable side dish for steak. They had bickered on occasion, usually about Sam's eating habits, or something work related, like which gun was a better choice for which shot. Bickering wasn't unfamiliar to them, and it didn't bother them when they did it - they considered it as normal as any conversation. After all, it wasn't like they were fighting. They rarely fought.
Sam dug his keys out of his pocket, mumbling something about sailors and spinach as he opened the door. He all but dropped the groceries on the floor when he saw what was going on in his kitchen. There stood his kid sister, in a frilly pink apron and chef's hat, trying to look like a serious chef as she followed the instructions of the man next to her. It took him a minute to realize who it was - Spike?
"What the hell?" was all Sam could say.
Natalie and Spike turned around from the kitchen counter looking like two kids caught stealing cookies. Natalie cursed under her breath. "Oh…hey Sam…"
There was a long silence while Sam tried to piece together what he was seeing. It didn't take him too long, with only his own horror at the situation holding him back from understanding. Jules took a seat on the couch, next to Natalie who had removed her ridiculous hat. Spike seemed too terrified to move, and remained leaned up against the kitchen counter. That way, he supposed, he didn't have to worry about watching his back when Sam lost his shit.
Finally Sam spoke. "How long…" has this been going on? have you two been lying to me? have you been fucking my sister? have you been fucking my best friend? The end of the sentence wouldn't come together.
Natalie gave a sheepish look. "Six months."
"Six…Six months." Sam bit his lip, looked from his sister, to Spike, and back again. "You two have been sneaking around behind my back for six months?"
Natalie just looked at Spike, who spoke for the two of them. "We weren't ready to tell you… we were going to though, talked about it shortly before you got here…"
"Oh, good. I feel better now." Sam rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Sam…"
"What Jules? This one's a mess, and she's dragged Spike into her web of destruction."
Jules shook her head. "Sam, she's your sister."
"And?"
Jules sighed, and turned to Spike and Natalie. "Maybe now would be a good time for the two of you to go…get some coffee or something."
The two gladly took the invitation to leave, grabbing their jackets before heading out the door. On their way out they managed to over hear something along the lines of 'you knew about this?', but decided Jules could hold her own and continued out.
Coffees in hand the recently exposed lovers sat at a table closest to the window, where they could see Sam's apartment building. Typical Sam, moving in just across the street from Tim Horton's.
"Think he'll hate me forever?"
Natalie shook her head. "Nah, he'll get over it. He just doesn't like being left out of the loop I think. Doesn't like surprises, or even surprise parties."
"I still feel bad about Jules. She covered for us, and now what? She's up there defending us while we drink double doubles?" Spike sighed. "Its not right, Nat."
"Yeah I know… Jules can handle Sam though. I'm sure she's done something to get his mind off of it already," Natalie replied, with a smirk.
They chatted for another half hour or so, deciding it was safe to return to the apartment only after seeing Jules' jeep pull out of the parking lot. Natalie gave a slightly mischievous grin. "Guess we have the apartment to ourselves again."
Instead, when they walked back into Sam's apartment they found Sam sitting alone on the couch, beer bottle in hand. Spike and Natalie exchanged nervous glances. "Sammy?" Natalie asked, sitting down beside him on the couch. "Where's Jules?"
Sam shrugged. "You two are back."
Spike nervously sat on the chair across from his friend. "We uh, saw Jules' jeep leave and figured you two went back to her place or something."
"Nope."
Nat gave Spike a small frown before turning her attention back to her brother. "Are you two ok?"
He sighed. "Apparently we lie to each other now." With that he got up from the couch and went to his room, closing the door behind him.
A/N: And now I must apologize for how that went... and how the chapter left off... But, I promise to update soon, as I also dislike the way this chapter ended and need to share what happens next. (by soon I mean probably tomorrow night... or tomorrow morning, depending on how ambitious I get after I do my christmas shopping today).