Chapter 26: Sam – Thursday Morning

Sam wasn't sure of the time when he awoke. It was dark though, or at least it seemed that way. He wasn't completely sure since his eyes were still closed, but there was definitely no blinding beam shining through the window. The type which would light up his eyelids no matter how tightly he squeezed them shut, and so he found himself wondering what had caused his body to wake, because he was fairly certain it was still far too early.

Then he felt it.

It was a weird sensation coming from his arm, a mixture of numbness and shooting pain, and he couldn't stop himself letting out a short groan as his eyes flew open. Everything still seemed normal…well as normal as he expected them to be considering he wasn't in his own home or bed, and it was certainly still dark, well mostly. From the corner of his eye he spotted a few luminous numbers over Andy's shoulder, 5:49.

At least his instincts were still right but-

Sam had to grit his teeth as he felt the surge of pain again. Instinctively he moved his eyes toward the source, vaguely making out the shape of Andy's back before spotting the problem. At some point in the night she had rolled away and clearly attempted to take his arm with her before lying on top of it, which explained the unusual sensations it was creating. The kind of sensations Sam really wanted to rid himself of as soon as possible, although at the same time he didn't want to wake her.

Still, it needed to be done, and so as carefully as he could Sam placed his free hand to her shoulder, pushing her away until there was enough space to pull his arm free. He wasn't sure if he woke her in the process, he received some incoherent mumbling but he was a little more concerned with returning the blood flow to his arm. It came, slowly, the numbness being replaced with a tingling sensation as he clenched and unclenched his fist.

Sam wasn't sure how long he spent repeating the action before he glanced back in Andy's direction, but by the time he did his eyes had adjusted enough to give him a clearer picture, causing a small smile to work its way across his face. Whatever else he said he could never say it was dull when his rookie was around. Even when they were sleeping she managed to keep him on his toes, he just wished they had gone to bed a little earlier, although…well he couldn't say he would have changed anything about last night. Hell, even the failed dinner and tortuously long, he'd say conversation but he wasn't sure conversation was the right word for what occurred while he prepared dinner; he guessed highly detailed lecture was closer to the truth. Whatever it was, it was just Andy, and he would do it all again…well, apart from the sleeping arrangements. That was one part he definitely wanted to work on…

Sam had to do his best to stifle a laugh as his brain replayed the thoughts. One night and he was already planning future nights with her…he could just hear Oliver and Jerry. The two of them telling him how they had known all along, that it was about time, that clearly he was in love…

Love?

It was probably just Jerry and Oliver's influence, they got far too ahead with their feelings. Besides, he would know if he was in love with her.

Sure he liked her. Hell, he liked her a lot and he wasn't afraid to admit that. He wanted to spend time with her and…he stopped himself as he turned to look at her again. She was still wearing his shirt, sort of. It had ridden up during the night so mostly he could see her bare back with his t-shirt bunched up around her shoulders, but still…it was something he could get used to.

"You're awake." Sam didn't bother to answer as the tangled mess of hair was replaced by Andy's face.

"So are you," he muttered, noticing the smile on her lips.

Yep, that was definitely a sight he could get used to.

"You okay?" she asked, obviously noticing the way he was still trying to return the blood flow to his arm.

He just nodded his head before opening his mouth. "Yeah. Having two arms is overrated anyway."

"What?"

"Much longer and I might have lost it," he explained as he continued to flex his hand. The numbness had subsided but the tingling sensation wasn't much better.

"Wha-" She stared before clearly putting the pieces together. "Oh you're so overdramatic."

"Overdramatic? Coming from you-"

"I'm not over dramatic."

"No. No of course not, but uh, you did try to steal my arm."

"I did not try to steal your arm."

Sam took a moment, trying his best to keep the smile from his face, before responding.

"This the same the logic you used last night when you stole my shirt?"

"I didn't steal it! I borrowed it!"

"Taking without permission…pretty sure that's stealing."

"Fine." She huffed, ducking her head as Sam just looked on, trying to work out what she was up to.

It wasn't the most graceful he had ever seen his partner as she flapped her arms around before pulling the item of clothing off and chucking it at him.

"Happy now?"

Sam found himself having to bite back a grin as he tried desperately to hold her gaze before finally opening his mouth.

"No complaints," he said simply, noticing the disapproving look she was directing at him. It was the sort of look he would have been worried about if it wasn't for the curve of her lips which were completely undermining her attempts to look annoyed.

"You okay there?" he asked as he noticed her shiver slightly.

"Fine." She nodded her head, short and sharp.

"Right."

From the determined look on her face Sam had a feeling they were involved in some sort of unspoken competition. Though he had no idea what the rules were or how either of them was supposed to win.

"Kinda mean, you know?" She spoke up after a minute of glaring at him.

"What's that?" he asked, still fighting to keep the grin off his face.

"Taking my only item of clothing."

"Well, you do like to tell me I'm not a nice guy." He couldn't stop himself flashing her a smile at that point.

"Yeah," she snorted before biting down on her lip. "Kinda cold now," she muttered as she shuffled closer to him.

"That so?"

"Yeah," she spoke quietly, but Sam recognised the tone of voice all too well. She had a plan. "And it is kinda your fault."

"Right," he muttered as she pressed herself against him.

"And it is very, very cold," she spoke slowly as Sam turned his body towards her.

"Got a plan to warm yourself up?" he asked before running his tongue over his bottom lip, he already had a pretty good idea of where they were headed.

"Maybe." She shrugged, trying to seem uninterested as she placed a hand to his chest ever so softly.

"Maybe?" He raised an eyebrow at her as he felt her fingers brushing lightly over his skin.

"Maybe." She offered him a sheepish grin as he felt her hand moving under his waistband.

"Shit!" Sam had no idea what time it was when he heard the sound from his phone, but he felt himself agreeing with Andy's statement. "Sam! Shit!"

"Yeah," he breathed as he threw the covers off their heads. "I got it."

He reached a hand out to the bedside table, trying to grab his phone whilst attempting to regain some sort of control over his breathing. At the very least he needed to make it less obvious what he and Andy had just finished doing.

"Sorry, I-"

"Don't be." He pulled her in for kiss with his free hand as he finally grasped his phone. "Completely worth it," he told her before seeing a proud smile work its way across her face.

It was the same one she had worn the day she arrested him, not that she had had it for very long after Jerry's revelation. If he was being honest he had actually quite enjoyed seeing her expression after she learnt his true identity, although…well he still wasn't sure if it was as priceless as Oliver's when he had first spotted him in the back of the cruiser.

"Sam." He felt Andy's knee as she nudged his side, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, just-"

"I know." She nodded, pretending to zip her lips and indicating for him to deal with the phone still vibrating in his hand.

"Okay." He blew out a breath, his heart rate wasn't anywhere near normal but at least he wasn't still desperately trying to suck in air, so he guessed it was as good a time as any.

"Swarek."

"Morning little brother."

"Sarah. Hey."

He already knew exactly why she was calling. Even though she had kicked him out last night, and she hadn't actually said it outright, he knew she expected him to be around for Matt's birthday.

"I take it your night went well then?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah. Not bad," he said as he caught Andy's eye. She seemed rather amused at his choice of words. "Yours?"

"Zack's still talking to me so I'd call that a success."

"That's, uh." He took a breath. "That's good."

"Looked at the time recently?" she asked, causing him to glance over to the clock before scrunching up his face. 8am. Matt would have been up from seven, if not earlier. He remembered one Christmas a few years ago when he had been woken up at five by his nephews, so he had a feeling Matt would have been up for a while.

"Uh yeah, yeah sort of lost track of time," he explained as he looked back to find Andy raising an eyebrow at him. "But uh, I'll uh, I'll be back soon," he told her as he felt Andy taking hold of his free hand.

"Okay, the birthday boy is pretty desperate to open some presents but I said we'd wait until you got here."

"Yeah. I'm uh, I'm getting ready now," he said as he caught Andy's eye again. She just nodded to his current state causing him to avert his gaze to the ceiling.

"You can bring Andy with you you know."

Sam found himself opening his mouth to speak but for some reason the words failed to come out. He hadn't even considered asking Andy to join them, although…well he hadn't exactly put much thought into the day so far.

"Uh, yeah," he muttered as he looked back to Andy." I'll ask her."

Of course Andy suddenly seemed very interested in his conversation, her eyes already asking him questions.

"Okay then, we'll see you in a bit."

"Yeah. See you soon," he said before hanging up.

"Ask me what?"

Sam couldn't help but snort out a laugh, he hadn't even had a chance to put his phone down yet.

"Uh…" he started but then deliberately stopped so he could put the phone down on the bedside table.

"What?" Andy asked again as he turned back to look at her.

"You working today?" Normally he knew the rota off by heart but things had been a little complicated recently so he couldn't really remember.

"No. Wilson's taking this one since I covered for him the other night."

"Right." He nodded before feeling her knee against his side again, he guessed he was taking too long to answer her question. "You wanna come celebrate an eight year-olds birthday?" he asked, as if it was an everyday occurrence.

Of course it wasn't, and so he wasn't surprised when Andy didn't respond straight away. Instead she bit down on her lip, clearly contemplating his offer, as he found his eyes glued to her. He wasn't sure what he expected, part of him wanted to tell her that she didn't have to come, that he understood if she already had plans, but then he saw the smile she was clearly trying to hide.

"You gonna wear a party hat?"

She seemed far too amused by the prospect so he just shook his head.

"No." Although…well he had a feeling it could happen if he got the manipulative 'pretty please Uncle Sam' that Zack had perfected at the age of five and promptly taught his younger brother a few years ago.

"You sure?" she asked as she slid her hand up his leg.

"This some weird fetish you-"

"No!" She cut him off. "No definitely not!"

Sam couldn't stop himself letting out a short chuckle at her expression.

"So?"

"So?" she questioned as he just grinned at her.

"Wanna come get hyped up on sugar?"

Again Andy didn't speak straight away, but Sam already knew her answer from the smile plastered across her face.

"Okay." She nodded her head a little before running her thumb over his chin. "I uh, I guess that means we should get up now."

"Yeah," he agreed as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her a little closer. "Really should."

"Yeah." He could feel her breath on his skin, her lips only millimetres away from his.

"We uh, we really-"

"I know."

But then her lips were against his and he was pulling her on top of him.

"Okay. We uh, we really need to get up," Sam said, managing to pull his head back just far enough so the words weren't muffled by Andy's mouth.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

"Okay," he muttered as he threw back the covers, feeling Andy shiver against him as soon as her bare skin was exposed.

"That was mean," she grumbled as he forced himself into a sitting position.

"Yeah, but I'm not a nice guy," he said as he looked over his shoulder to see her pulling the covers back up. "Remember?"

She didn't respond, just gave him an evil stare. Sam wasn't sure if she was trying to telepathically convey her annoyance or if she thought he might do something, but in the end he just gave her wink before pushing himself off the bed. He had a feeling his last action hadn't helped but as he turned back he noticed that she was no longer interested in glaring at him, instead content with staring at another part of him.

"You okay there, McNally?" he asked, causing her to snap her eyes up to his.

"Yeah," she spoke quickly, looking as guilty as she had the previous night when he had caught her. "Um. We uh, we should shower."

"Not sure we got time," he told her, causing her to raise an eyebrow in his direction.

"We reek of sex, we need to shower."

"Reek?" The way she said, it was as if she thought it was a bad thing.

"Smell." She grabbed his hand and brought him closer to her before he had a chance to stop her.

"Smells good to me."

It really did, and he would be more than happy if she smelt like that all the time.

"It does not." She wrinkled her nose at him. "And there is no way we are going to yours smelling like this."

"Yeah."

He uh, he didn't really want to explain the smell or his appearance to his nephews, so a shower definitely seemed like a good idea.

"Come on then," he said as he grabbed hold of the covers and yanked them off of her. "Let's go get clean."

"Oh my god! What is wrong with you?"

"What?" Sam asked, throwing a glance in Andy's direction.

"It's freezing."

She looked completely disgusted as he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"It's warm."

"It is not," she told him as she wrapped her arms around herself in what he guessed was an attempt to keep warm.

"Fine," he muttered as he reached a hand out behind him and turned the knob. "Better?"

It took Andy a few moments to respond but then she just nodded her head, though she waited at least another minute before she stepped under the jet with him. As much as Sam wanted to say something he was less interested in doing so when he felt her body against his, her hands sliding around his waist and up his back. He guessed she had completely gotten over the small amount of nervousness she had had the night before.

"You look good under water." Sam found himself smirking at her declaration before looking down.

"So do you," he told her as he found his eyes watching the droplets slide down her skin. Yeah, she definitely looked good like this and Sam was sure he could spend far too long just watching her, although when he felt Andy's hand on his chest he realised she did not share the same interest.

"Could you?" She indicated behind him, causing Sam to turn around.

"Uh." He wasn't exactly sure which one of the bottles she was after.

"The uh-" He moved his hand to the blue one. "No the-" He moved his hand to the right before feeling Andy lean into him and seeing her hand on the brown one in the opposite direction.

"Sorry." She shrugged as he turned back to find her flipping the lid off.

She didn't look very sorry but Sam decided against saying anything, instead content with watching her as she set about her routine.

"You want some?" she asked, holding the bottle out to him after squirting some into her own hand.

"Trying to make me smell like you?"

"Trying to stop you smelling like me," she told him, moving the bottle a little closer to him.

As much as Sam wanted to tell her that he liked the way she smelt, he knew she had a point, and so after a few seconds he reluctantly held his hand out to her. She didn't say anything, just squeezed a large amount into his hand before putting the bottle back in its place as he looked down to the white substance. He guessed she had forgotten that he didn't need anywhere near as much as she did. Still, he decided to hold off saying anything, instead focusing his attention on washing his hair.

If he was honest he wasn't completely sure what he had expected when he agreed to, or possibly even suggested their joint shower, but Sam found himself letting out a breathless laugh when he tried to rinse the shampoo out of his hair. Clearly both of them were far too accustomed to showering alone because neither of them seemed to really consider the other person when they wanted control of the water's direction, which resulted in some awkward positions given that Andy's shower wasn't exactly built for two.

Having said that Sam was finding the experience rather entertaining. Every time Andy needed something from behind him she had to ask him for the item and he was not exactly being helpful. He was uh, he was quite enjoying playing dumb so she had to press herself against him every time she wanted something. Of course he knew she wouldn't buy his act for too long and so he wasn't surprised when she basically wrestled him out of the way so she could condition her hair.

It was at that point that Sam decided to behave, and so silently he just watched as she continued with her morning routine, although when she picked up a bottle body wash he couldn't stop himself speaking.

"Want some help?" he asked, causing her to meet his gaze, her eyebrows a little higher than usual.

"Thought we were running late?"

"Just being helpful."

She gave him a pointed look, letting him know exactly what she thought of how helpful he had been so far. "Isn't this going to slow us down?"

"Nah. I'm uh, fully trained with the use of-"

"You're an idiot." She cut him off, shaking her head and clearly trying to hide a smile.

Sam figured she would be fine with it and so placed his hand on top of hers, taking hold of the bottle.

"Sam." There was a hint of warning in her voice but also something else.

Instead of speaking he just reached his free hand out and took hold of her arm before pulling her closer to him.

"Trust me," he told her as he held her gaze.

He could see the wheels turning in her head, the overthinking she was clearly about to start, and he was just about to tell her to stop but she spoke before he could.

"Yeah," her voice was quiet but he still heard it, although it took him a moment to understand the full meaning. To start with he figured she was just agreeing to what he was proposing, but as he held her gaze he realised exactly what she had said. An answer to his unasked question. She did trust him.

"Come on McNally," he called out as he checked his watch again; his sister was going to kill him.

"I'm coming, jeez" she huffed as she threw her jacket on and hurried over to him. "You know this is your fault."

"My fault?"

"Let me help you with the soap," she mocked his voice as she pushed him out of the way so she could lock the door.

"I was being helpful."

"Yeah, just you know, the whole point of using it was to get clean."

"And you're clean," he said, matter-of-factly, as she pulled the keys out of the lock and turned to face him.

"Just took an extra half hour."

"I was thorough."

"Yeah." She snorted as Sam eyed her, she hadn't complained much at the time. In fact she had been rather appreciative, something about him being amazing, especially when he-

"What?" Upon hearing her voice he snapped out of the memories, although he failed to remove the small smile from his face.

"We should go," he told her as he nodded toward the elevator.

"Why were you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" he asked as he turned away, trying to get them moving in the direction of his house.

"I dunno, it was weird, you were all like…smiley."

"Smiley?"

He pushed the button before turning back to look at Andy, he had certainly smiled at her before so her description was not the most helpful.

"Weird smiley."

"Weird smiley?" He quirked an eyebrow at her, he had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

"I…it doesn't matter." She shrugged as Sam heard the elevator doors open.

As much as he wanted to find out the definition of weird smiley he decided to leave it and so just followed Andy into the elevator before pushing the button to the ground floor.

"You can tell Sarah it was all my fault if you want," he said as he leant back against the wall. "You know, tell her I was singing in the shower and got carried away-"

"She won't believe that." She shook her head before looking at him. "Will she?"

"Not one word." He grinned at her, causing her to shake her head again. Even though she was trying to look unimpressed he could see the reluctant smile playing on her lips. The one which meant she was nowhere near as worried about being late as she was currently making out. And the one that meant she certainly wasn't annoyed at him, in fact she was clearly rather amused by the whole situation.

"But it was totally worth it." She shrugged as the elevator opened up.

Sam found himself silently agreeing with her as they stepped out but then he noticed the way she kept looking back at him. Even though she had shrugged she was clearly waiting for clarification on the matter, and as much as he wanted to, he decided to leave off teasing her. Instead he just nodded his head as they continued their journey out of her building and onto the street.

Of course with Andy being Andy the silence only lasted a minute.

"And I mean, well my bed is much better than your couch."

"Yeah, there uh, there were certainly some perks to sleeping in a bed," he said, seeing the slightest pink blush creep across her face as she bit down on her lip.

"Better than your bed too," she told him after a few seconds.

"That so?"

"Yep." She popped the 'p' and tilted her head to the side, clearly challenging him to tell her otherwise.

"Whatever you say McNally." He really didn't care about comparing beds, was more than happy to agree with her, although part of him was tempted to disagree just to see how wound up he could get her.

In fact he was more than slightly tempted, but it was mostly driven by the thought of taking her back to bed after. Sam had a feeling it would be rather fun if she was worked up over something, but since they were on their way to spend time with his family he figured he should leave it for now.

"What are you so happy about?" Andy asked, causing Sam to push the thoughts aside.

"Nothing." She would find out another time. Yeah, he was pretty set on testing his theory at some point, was fairly sure it would be better than what they had already done. And he would be lying if he said he wasn't interested to see what it was like if he let her take charge.

"So." Andy dragged out the word as they carried on down the street. "What exactly is the plan?"

"Get back as soon as possible so Sarah's less likely to kill me."

"I meant after that bit."

"No idea." He shrugged, he knew Sarah had planned a party with Zoe later on, but until that time…well he guessed his sister probably had something else planned. "Why? You got something you need to do?"

"No." She shook her head as they stopped at the curb. "I was just wondering-"

"You know you don't have to come."

"And pass up the chance to get more dirt on you?" She smirked at him before hurrying across the road.

"That the only reason you're coming?" he questioned when he caught up to her, she looked far too excited at the prospect.

"Nope. Just a perk."

It was not a perk, that he knew for certain. Sarah had far too much on him, although he had a lot on her too so hopefully they would just keep the brother-sister pact of loyalty.

"So you gonna make pancakes? I mean Sarah did say birthdays were one of the only two occasions you make them."

Sam couldn't help but snort out a laugh, of course she remembered every single detail about that morning.

"Sam?"

"Uh yeah." She was still waiting for an answer. "I guess."

"And she's okay with me coming, like-"

"She invited you personally."

"Okay, yeah okay." She nodded slightly, offering him a quick smile. He got the feeling she was worried about intruding, but it had been Sarah's idea so he knew there really was nothing to worry about.

"You think they'll be games or anything?" He shrugged but she wasn't looking at him. "Have you got him a cake already, or should I help make one? Oh and-"

"No idea," he cut her off, trying to keep the grin from his face, she really did hate the unknown. He guessed she would never take a surprise birthday party well…not that he was planning…sometimes he swore she was rubbing off on him because he really did not need to think that far ahead.

"Oh crap."

"What?" He really had no idea what had caused her sudden outburst.

"I didn't get him anything."

"What?"

"Matt. I haven't gotten him anything?"

"So?" He didn't see the problem. She didn't know him, hell she had only met him a couple of days ago so she really didn't need to get him anything.

"So?

"It doesn't matter"

"It doesn't matter?"

"You're awesome."

"What?" she asked, seeming completely confused.

"Was just seeing if you planned to repeat everything I said." He smirked at her but she continued to glare at him, apparently he wasn't helping. "Look, you met him for the first time about three days ago, so yeah, you're not supposed to get him something."

"But he'll remember."

"Andy, he's eight. You'll be lucky if he remembers your name the next time you see him, let alone if you got him a present."

Besides, they were already running late so they really didn't have time to stop.

"But-"

"Come on," he cut her off as he grabbed her hand and pulled her across the road.

Sarah was going to kill him.

I know, short chapter from me but I got a bit stuck writing the final parts and I wanted to get some of it posted, so I decided to split the chapter up (think the next bit works better from Andy's pov anyway).

So next up: family day out with the Swarek's (probably went overly fluffy to make up for the S4 promos)