10.

Rusty arrived home, tossing the mail onto the table as he passed it to put his bag away, and made his way to the kitchen to make a sandwich. He stopped dead in his tracks, as he noticed something out of place in the normally pristine condo. He'd been away for two nights, only coming home to grab a change of clothes in between, but he was damned sure that it hadn't been there yesterday.

Most people wouldn't think twice, but he eyed the object sitting on the kitchen counter with suspicion, simply because with a mother figure in law enforcement, anything out of place was something to consider carefully, more so if it was in your home.
It was a tie. Not only was it a tie, but it was a very distinctive tie he had seen very recently. A tie he had seen around the neck of one Lieutenant Flynn.
"How in hell?" he said to himself.
Suddenly he found himself running his mind over all the possible means by which Andy Flynn's tie could have ended up in their condo.
"Calm down Rusty" he told himself. "They're friends. He probably picked her up or dropped her off."
"But... why would he take his tie off?"

Text Exchange:
[Rusty] Sharon we need to talk.
[Sharon] What's wrong Rusty? Are you ok?
[Rusty] Yes I'm fine. How long will you be?
[Sharon] I was going to have dinner with Andy, but if you need me I can come now.
[Rusty] No, it's nothing life-threatening Sharon. See you when you get home.

After they finally managed to escape from the amused scrutiny from Andrea, Andy peeled out of the car park. They had decided to take his car, and he would pick her up in the morning again on his way in.
"Let's have dinner somewhere casual Andy. I don't want to be out till midnight. I just had a strange text from Rusty saying we need to talk." Sharon told him. "He said it's nothing life-threatening and he'd see me when I get home, but it was odd".
"What's going on with him do you think?" asked Andy seriously.
"Would Provenza have mentioned us to him? I'll kill him if he has." was the answer.
"I doubt it. He'd never admit it but he's shit scared of you.' Andy said laughing.
"Andrea wouldn't, and there's nobody else who knows. Ok, so it can't be that." she said a little less worried. "He probably wants to convince me to drop his security detail again. Let's stop and get him some of that disgusting ice cream he likes so much, on the way home".

They hadn't managed to get through dinner without running into anyone they knew. Before the main meal was even on the table, Tao and his wife had spotted them from their own table and come over to greet them. A little concerned they were going to ask to join them, Sharon was relieved when the pleasantries were dispensed with and they went back to their own table. "Andy..."
"Uhuh" he answered while chewing.
"This is stupid. I feel like a teenager hiding a boyfriend from her parents. I jump every time we see someone we know."
"Sharon..."
"Mmm?"
"From where I stand, it's pretty simple. What we do or don't do is nobody's goddam business. I don't care what they do, or don't know and I sure as shit don't care what they think of it. But I do understand your position, and I respect that you want to think it all through so that you know you're doing the right thing, the right way, Miss Rulebook. So, if you're asking for my opinion, you have it. Until you decide otherwise, we play by your rules."
"Thank you Andy." she smiled at him, resisting the urge to reach out for his hand. "And Sharon.."
"Yes?"
"If we don't get out of here soon, Mike Tao is going to have plenty to tell everyone tomorrow, so if you're finished, let's go."

The bill paid, and waiter tipped, they headed for the door. Thinking it was silly because she certainly didn't need to be guided, she allowed him to guide her with his hand on her waist, enjoying the contact it brought. They'd woken up two consecutive mornings to find the other beside them, yet the thought of not doing that the following day had them both feeling a little deflated. They'd known each other for close to 20 years professionally, and had been close friends for 8 of those. The progression to more than friends had taken a very long time, and almost surprised them both, but now that it had happened, it seemed so perfectly natural that being apart felt cold and lonely.
"Let's get ice cream, and go back and watch a movie Andy." she said, hoping he wouldn't disagree. She wasn't ready to be alone with her thoughts yet.
"What will the kid think?" Andy responded with raised brows.
"It's not like we've never watched a movie before Andy, and he thought absolutely nothing then."
"Well, sure. I'm not ready to be away from you yet." he answered honestly. "I know it's dumb, but it is what it is."

Ice cream flavours chosen, including Rusty's disgusting bubblegum flavour, they arrived at the condo.
"Wait. Before we go up..." Andy reached for her and brought her close to him, sighing heavily. "I have wanted to do that since we left Andrea speechless in the car park".
They headed for the condo, and Sharon briefly wondered what it had been that Rusty wanted to talk to her about. If it was his security detail, he'd have no problem bringing that up in front of Andy. If it was something else it could wait till he left.

Opening the door Sharon yelled "ICE CREAM DELIVERY", and Rusty all but ran down the hall to meet her. He stopped when he saw Andy behind her, and smirked. "Well, well, well... if it isn't Any Flynn" said Rusty. "I'm actually glad you're here. Now you can both answer me."
Both of them, with wide eyes, asked what they needed to answer.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell me before we begin?" Rusty asked, arching an eyebrow and looking accusatorially at them.
"Um.. we got you your revolting bubble gum ice cream?" Sharon offered.
"Ah... you can choose the movie?" Andy added.
"Both answers are accepted, and now set in stone, but that's not what I was asking about. Just a moment" he said as he walked into the kitchen.
Sharon and Andy looked at each other with a mixture of amusement and trepidation. What on earth was going on with this kid?
"Rusty, what was it we need to talk about? I haven't forgotten your message from earlier, I just figured it was probably about your detail and you could tell me with Andy here. Is there something wrong?" Sharon asked him as he came back around the corner.
They both saw it at the same time. Rusty held Andy's emerald green tie between two fingers, making it dance as he moved toward them.
"You know, I thought about it for quite a while." Rusty said. "Maybe Andy dropped you off or picked you up, because I see him wearing it often enough to know who it belongs to, but what I couldn't figure out was how it came to be on the kitchen bench when I got home. Either of you care to confess yet?"
Stunned silence ensued.
"The only time I've ever seen Andy without a tie, is when he's off work, so don't feed me any bullshit."
"Language Rusty!" Sharon said as she broke out of the trance it had put her in.
"Sharon, it's no good lying to the kid. He lives here. He's not just a colleague or superior. He's basically your kid. Tell him the truth." Andy pushed.

"Let me just stop you there" Rusty chuckled. "I do NOT want any details. I do not want to know when, where or how, and honestly the images it creates make me want to bleach my mind's eye. Just confirm one thing for me... that Andy Flynn spent the night at Sharon Raydor's condo, while her teenage pseudo-son was away."
Sharon's blush coupled with Andy's grin, told him everything he needed to know.
"Rusty, just keep it to yourself for us please?" she begged him. "We aren't sure what we're doing right at this moment, and it's nobody's business. It would be impossible at work if they all found out, and I've had all the embarrassment I can handle for one week."

"No problem Sharon. Talking about your love life is not on my list of things to do with your team. Eww.
My ice cream is melting, and we're watching Deadpool" he said, and with that he turned and went to find the movie, and promptly took the only single chair available, making it obvious that the only people feeling awkward about things, were the adults in the situation.