A/N: Aaaaaaannnnddddd... it's Friday! Enjoy!

"So did Andy say why she wasn't coming tonight?" Traci asked a few days later after their shift, over drinks in the Penny.

"Yeah. She said she was tired and she wanted to get a head start packing for this weekend." Gail told her.

"That is a lame excuse." Dov complained

"It's what she said."

"It's what who said?" Chris asked joining the table.

"Andy. I think she's seeing someone." Traci said.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Dov asked while Gail tried not to choke on her drink.

"She doesn't come out any more, and when she does she doesn't stay long and is always distracted." Traci explained.

"I did see a hickey on her shoulder last week." Gail added.

"So what if she is seeing someone. She's a grown woman and deserves to have a little bit of fun." Dov said, defending Andy.

"He's obviously not someone she should be seeing because she won't tell us about him." Traci continued.

"How do you know it's a 'he'?" Dov asked, making Chris spit his drink over Gail.

Andy was waiting for Sam to pick her up from her apartment. They had agreed that they needed to go out to dinner and Andy had persuaded him to let her go home and change first, so now she was stood looking at her reflection, applying her nude lipstick. Her door buzzer went and she knew it would be Sam. She walked out of the room, picked up her jacket and bag and headed for the door.

She bolted down the stairs and opened the main door revealing Sam stood there wearing a black shirt, open at the collar and a pair of dark jeans. Andy could feel her heart fluttering when she saw him and saw his eyes darken as they took in her appearance.

She kissed him and walked past him to his truck where he opened the door and helped her in before climbing in the opposite side himself.

"I like that dress." Sam told her, indicating the short, revealing black dress she was wearing.

"I thought you might, that's why I came down rather than buzz you in." Andy told him with a small giggle.

Sam took her hand and kissed it before resting their entwined finger on the centre console.

"You look beautiful."

"So do you."

Sam drove Andy to a restaurant she had never been before, but had always wanted to try. She couldn't remember if she had told Sam she had wanted to try it. The queue of people waiting for a table was a long one, but Sam had forseen this and booked a table in advance.

No sooner had they settled at the bar to wait for the turn around of their table before they were told it was ready. The waiter led them through the intimate setting of couples sat at tables enjoying their meals and the company of each other.

The waiter stopped and showed them to a cozy corner of the restaurant, where prying eyes would have to work hard to see who was sat there. The waiter pulled out the seat for Andy and as she took it he pushed it under her before taking the napkin off her plate, shaking it out and placing it quickly and gracefully on her lap before passing her and Sam a menu and informing them of the specials and disappearing.

"Oh my God! Look at this food!" Andy groaned, her mouth watering as she read items such as roasted duck with plum confit served on a sweet potato puree.

"They have lamb. I haven't had lamb in years!"

Before they had completely made their minds up, their waiter appeared to take their order.

Andy furrowed her brow as she looked at the starters.

"Could I please get the griddled Haloumi?"

"Certainly, and for you, Sir?"

"I quite fancy the sound of the watercress soup."

"A fine choice, Sir. And your mains?"

"I quite like the sound of the chicken roulade." Andy said, looking over the menu again.

"Certainly. And for you, Sir?"

"I will have the herb crusted lamb please."

"And to drink?"

"A glass of the house white please."

"I'll have a glass of the red."

The waiter took the menu's off Sam and Andy and disappeared, returning moments later with their drinks.

Sam reached across the table and took Andy hand.

"Do you have any idea how happy I am right now?" he asked her.

"About as happy as I am." she told him, squeezing his hand.

Before they knew it, their starters had arrived and Sam reluctantly let go of Andy's hand.

"Is it good?" he asked her after she had taken a bite of her haloumi.

"Amazing." She speared a piece of cheese and leaned across the table to feed it to Sam.

"Mmmm. You weren't wrong!"

"What about your soup?"

"So good!" he told her, copying the manoeuvre Andy had and fed some of his soup to Andy across the table.

"So. so good!" Andy agreed, leaning in and taking the spoon in her mouth again, making Sam chuckle.

The continued to eat their starters, sharing them whenever the other saw fit to feed it to them. Sam, realising the awkward angle of the table and shifted his chair so he was sat next to Andy rather than opposite her.

When they had both eaten, Sam took Andy's hand again and began rubbing small circles with his thumb, making Andy shiver in the process.

The waiter reappeared and quickly removed their plates, asking if they wanted another drink as he did so. They both ordered another glass of wine.

"Is this where we say 'how was your day' and we laugh because our days were exactly the same?" Andy asked.

"I don't think our days were exactly the same. I did go and get the squad car, leaving you to laugh at Diaz's horrific driving skills."

"True you did."

"So your dad used to take you to New York for your birthday?" Sam asked. He had wanted to ask her since he had found out about the birthday tradition, but had never found the right time. He felt Andy try and pull her hand away from his, so he held on and slowed the circling with his thumb, knowing it would calm her down.

"Yeah, before my mom left. It was the only weekend of the year I could guarantee I would see him. We'd fly down late on the Friday, stay in a hotel, eat sundaes and visit the bakeries. He'd usually pre order some sugar cookies that spelled 'Happy Birthday' from this little bakery in Brooklyn. It closed down when I was 10 and I remember getting there and crying. We'd walk around Central Park and he'd buy me some new clothes and some jewellery and then I would wear them for the show." Andy explained in a rush, knowing Sam wouldn't stop asking her until she told him.

Sam raised his eyebrows at Andy as he took in what lengths her father went to on her birthday.

"And then it all stopped?"

"Yeah. My mom leaving kind of ruined the whole going away thing for us and he discovered alcohol before that. I mean the first few years he special ordered some earrings, but then nothing."

"Did it bother you?"

"It did at first. Just like the drinking did, but then I guess I learned to expect it. Why are we talking about this? We're on a date!" Andy laughed, but she could feel the usual tension that surrounded her birthday, as well as the pending feeling of dread slowly melt away now that she had told Sam why she didn't celebrate anymore.

Their food arrived and the delicious smell wafted to their noses. Sam let go of Andy's hand to pick up his cutlery.

"Ohmygosh! Thisissogood!" Andy moaned through a mouthful of food.

"Nice to know I'm at dinner with a lady." Sam joked, managing to keep his face straight while his eyes danced with laughter.

Andy graced him with a swift fly of the bird before spearing some of her meal onto her fork and feeding it to Sam.

"A lady wouldn't feed her other half."

"Not with the way you cook they wouldn't." Sam muttered before smiling and popping his dimples.

"Do you want to wear this fork?" Andy asked him with a laugh.

"I'm sorry, I completely misheard you then. I thought you said do you want to go somewhere to..."

Andy never got to hear the rest of the sentence as she took the opportunity to feed Sam some more of her chicken.

"You are right. That is good." Sam conceeded, pinching one more forkful before feeding Andy some of his lamb.

"That's lamb? It's so velvety and melt in the mouth and tender!"

"What did you expect?"

"Chewy and impossible to cut! At least that's always been my experience with it."

"Want some more?"

Andy nodded her consent.