Author's note:
Hey everyone!
First of all, as always, thank you so much for coming back, reading and commenting. It means the world.
If you haven't read my new fic, Daughter, yet, the first chapter is up if you feel like reading something else by me.
There was someone who asked me for extra long chapters. I hope this is long enough... I have tried I swear!
There was someone else asking me to post this story on Wattpad. I think I have finally managed to figure out how this site works (after a long while struggling, I am not going to lie), so I will try to upload everything on it this weekend. Look for it on Saturday or Sunday I guess.
After this chapter, there are only 3 more chapters left (and an epilogue), so I guess you should get ready LOL
This chapter begins exactly where the last chapter ended. (Season 2 episode 9)
I hope you enjoy and if you have moment to spear, leave me a comment, I love to hear your thoughts!
"Today surprised me." Andy confesses. She leans against the railing, and moves forward just a little bit to close the distance between her and Sullivan, who looks at her with attentive eyes. Their elbows are touching, and she just has to shift her balance a little bit for her lips to meet his.
They have been friends for four months now, just friends, nothing more. Yet his presence around the station makes her feel flirty, audacious. The sight of him back in those dark navy uniform make that thing deep inside her core ignite again, make her remember all the times they have been sneaking around the station when no one noticed.
"I expected it to be so boring. But I actually made a real difference for someone today. And it turned out to be a great outcome."
"I am glad." He says, and he looks genuinely happy for her. By now the left side of her body is pressed against his right. There is something comforting in him being this close, without any of them making a big deal out of it.
"Me too."
"I had a pretty good day too. We saved a patient with congestive heart failure, and we got his car to start." Sullivan brags, and Andy can't help but answer him.
"Yeah, well I have treated a fugitive with a fake amnesia and lied to a few cops so she could say goodbye to her son." He smiles at her, and she uses that moment to slide in between his arms, her back is pressed against the railing and she is trapped by his entire body.
"Why do you have to make everything a competition, Herrera?" He asks, and there is barely an inch left between their bodies now.
She tilts her head to one side, and bites her lower lip suggestively. She can feel the unavoidable sexual tension in the air around them, almost forming a bubble of a sort. "Well, there is one area in which other men have no competition when it comes to you." She flickers her eyes down to the seam of his pants, then looks back up at him.
She knows he understood her not so subtle hint when he blushes, and she smiles triumphantly at him.
"Is that so?" He asks, not backing down. "Unlike what women might think, men don't always compare themselves to each other."
"Oh, so I guess you will have to take my word for that."
"I guess I will." He chuckles, and then they hear someone clearing their throat behind them.
Shit.
They have been so wrapped up in each other they didn't notice someone was listening to their very much not safe for work conversation the entire time.
Sullivan goes off of her as fast as he could, revealing her father standing in front of her, his arms crossed around his body. His face is a bright shade of red and he looks as if he is about to explode in any moment now.
"I should go." Sullivan mutters as he points in the direction of the stairs.
"Yes, you should." Pruitt agrees as her captain flies down the stairs, avoiding what is ought to be a huge family quarrel.
He can handle a near death experience, he can handle rescuing helpless people from a burning building, he can pull her out of a collapsing apartment, but apparently seeing her father angry is just too much for his ability.
"Dad, whatever you have to say, we should do it outside. I cannot afford to have another fight about Sullivan, or with Sullivan, to the eyes of the chief and the entire station." She pleads. She cannot be the center of attention one more time.
"Fine." He spits out, and follows her out of the station and into the street. She can feel his gaze burning into her back the entire time they walk, making her squirm uncomfortably.
When they arrive at a safe distance from the station, away from prying eyes and ears, he gives her a disappointed look, and asks. "Who else knows?"
Andy knows better than to try to deny, or try to pretend that nothing has ever happened between her and her captain. "Maya and Vic." She answers.
Her father turns away from her, not able to look at his own daughter at the moment. "Did you think about the consequences? Or did you just screw the first man you saw?" He asks, his back still turned away from her.
"Of course I thought about the outcomes of my actions." She breathes out. "Do you think we went shouting from the rooftop that the captain and his lieutenant are having a prohibited relationship?"
"I don't know." He turns back at her, the fury never disappearing from his face. "From what I saw in the exact two seconds I was standing there before you noticed me, it didn't seem like you two are putting the extra effort to hide the fact that you are sleeping together."
"We are not sleeping together, not anymore." Andy tries to justify her actions. Her father has a way of making her feel small, making her feel as if she has to apologize for every step she takes he disapproves of. "I met him before I knew who he was."
"And when you found out, did you make any effort to stop it?" He asks.
Andy starts to move uncomfortably, bouncing from one foot to another. The last thing she wanted was to have a conversation with her father about her sex life, a topic which by now became unavoidable. "I did sleep with him after I knew he was the captain of this station." Andy admits. She leaves out the part where most of their sexual encounters happened at the station itself. This information will most definitely not make her father happy.
"Of course you did." Her father retorts, and she thinks that never, in her whole life, she has seen her father so disappointed by her actions. "I don't care how many men you have slept with, but your captain?" He asks, and she is glad that they are out in the street, because she knows that if they were inside the station right now, not only the entire team would have heard their argument, but she is afraid he would have started to break things in his rage.
"I am sorry, I don't see how my sex life is any of your business." Andy spits. She knows her father hates it when she is rude, and that she is only adding oil to an already raging fire.
"Of course it is my business!" He yells, and she can only pray that no one inside can understand what they are saying. "You are my child, your decisions reflect on me, on my legacy!"
"Of course it is about you and your legacy." She huffs out and crosses her arms around her chest. "Well, I am so sorry I didn't think about you and your precious legacy when I fell in love with him!"
The night silence echos through the darkened street while Andy and her father just stand there, looking at each other. It takes her time to realize what exactly she has confessed to her father's ears, the one truth she refused to admit even to herself for so many months now.
"I am sorry." Pruitt apologizes, as if he can take his words back now, after they have been said. As if her forgiveness can make the fact that he hurt her disappear.
"Well, that doesn't matter now, does it? It's not like I can act on those feelings anyway. And I swear, dad, we are just friends."
"Andy, the chief wants to see you inside." Maya says as she walks out of the station. Her best friend sends a questioning look her way, and Andy nods at her, making sure she knows she got everything under control.
"Well, we can't let Chief Ripley wait, now can we?" Andy asks her dad as she turns to get into the station.
She runs toward Maya, and mouths her way. "There is no way Ripley actually needs something from me, is he?"
"Nope." Bishop confirms. "I just heard all the yelling and figured you were outside for long enough. Thought I would come and rescue you before you or your dad will say something both of you will regret."
"Oh, that is far too late for that." Andy shrugs. "But thank you, anyway."
It takes Robert quite some time to realize his phone is ringing.
The buzzing sound penetrates his dream, waking him slowly, until he has no choice but to turn on his back and reach a hand to grab the device. He blinks a few times, his eyes trying to adjust to the offensive light coming from the screen. The time tells 1:05 am, and the caller ID shows the name Bishop.
He glides the screen with his finger to answer, and places the phone against his ear. "Bishop, it must be really important if you decide to call my personal number and wake me up at 1 am on my night off." He barks into the speaker, his voice raspy from sleep. He presses the hand not holding the phone to his ear to his eyes, trying to calm himself down from being so rudely awakened.
"Sir, I am sorry to bother you at home, but it is Andy. Something is really wrong with her. I didn't know who else to call. I wouldn't have reached out for you if I had any other choice." He can hear the panic in her voice, even though he knows she is trying to keep her tone leveled as much as possible.
"Is she OK?" He asks, and in an instance he is fully awake, his tone turning from annoyed to worried in a matter of seconds.
"She is safe, but I think you should come down here."
"I am on my way, text me the address again, I can't remember it." He orders and already hops on his feet, going through his closet to find the first clean shirt he can grab. "And Bishop." He adds. "Don't let anything happen to her before I arrive."
"Yes, sir." She promises, then hangs up, leaving him with a beeping sound signaling the call is over.
He puts on his shoes at a light speed, then runs to the entrance and grabs his car keys, the address already showing on the screen of his phone. The drive, which is supposed to take no longer than five minutes in this traffic-less hour of night, crawls by at an agonizing slow pace. He taps his fingers nervously on the wheel every time the car stands still at a red traffic light, which happens to be every traffic light in his way.
God, please let her be OK.
It feels like forever before he finally parks the car in front of their building. He decided to take the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator, and climbs them up at a record time. Robert races towards the door, then knocks frantically on the one that says "Bishop and Herrera."
A tired Bishop answers the door, wearing sleeping shorts and a tank top, and he walks in before she has a chance to invite him to enter.
"Where is she?" He asks, looking around the apartment. Everything looks at its right place, no blood stains on the floor or an empty bottle of pills scattered around.
"Last room to the left." Maya answers. He starts to walk in the direction she pointed while she is still speaking. "I am sorry I woke you up in the middle of the night, I really ran out of options. I woke up about an hour ago, hearing her screaming, and I tried to walk in and help her but she locked the door from the inside and didn't open it, no matter how many times I have tried. I thought she might let you in."
"You did good by calling me." He reassures her. He wants to tell her that of course he is not upset, that he will dedicate every day of his life to taking care of Andy if it comes down to it.
Robert presses his ear and a hand against the closed door and listened for a second. He doesn't hear any screaming or yelling, but he can hear her elaborated breaths and her mumbling something to herself. Bishop is right, something is definitely wrong.
"Andy it's me. Please open up." He begs. For a long while there is no answer coming from inside the room, only the sound of her breaths again.
At least he knows she is still alive.
He turns his head to see Bishop standing behind him, the look on her face still full of worry. He knocks on the door, and pleads again. "Andy, please open up."
He hears the key turning in the door and releases the breath he has been holding in his lungs.
"Take care of her." Maya requests.
"I will." He promises as he presses the handle downwards. "You should consider having a back up to her key. Just in case something like this happens again."
Bishop nods, and he opens the door quietly and closes it behind him. It takes his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkened room, the only thing keeping it from being completely blackened is the moonlight filtering through the half open windows.
He can see Andy standing in the middle of the room, her arms hugging her body tightly. Whatever that has happened, it shook her pretty badly, considering her shoulders are slumped and her eyes are fixated on the floor.
"Hey" He whispers, and closes the distance between them. "Come here." He coaxes, and when she presses herself against his body he envelopes her in his arms. "What happened?"
"I had a nightmare." She confesses. "And it was so real I couldn't get out of it." From the short distance between them, he can see the tears glistening on her face, can feel them wetting his shirt. He runs his thumb down her cheek to catch them, and the thought of kissing them away goes through his mind, inevitable, but he shakes it off quickly.
"Do you want to tell me what it was about?" He doesn't want to push her, doesn't want to worsen the delicate situation she is already in.
"You." She admits. "I keep having this dream, and it is always so vivid I feel like I am back there again. We are back at the aid car, and the team doesn't get there on time. I try to save you every single time, and every time I fail. I usually wake up then and I manage to calm myself back to sleep, but I couldn't wake up today. I just felt like I was sitting there alone, helpless, waiting for someone to come and rescue me."
"And this is the reason you woke up when you heard my voice." He realizes. "You managed to figure out I wasn't really dead."
Andy nods, and he can see she is shaking.
"Are you cold?" He asks, and she nods again in response. He kicks off his shoes and pulls his shirt over his head, tossing it somewhere on the floor, before sitting on the edge of her bed and reaching a hand for her to take. She slides beneath the covers, and he spoons her, leaning his chin on her shoulder.
He knows she is still awake, her breathing didn't quite even out yet.
She turns to face him, and he can recognize the sadness in her eyes, the pain written all over her face. He can see himself in her eyes, and he knows that he probably looks the same way, beaten down by the turn his life has taken. His body might have recovered completely by now from the near death experience, but he knows his soul would need to make a lot more effort to bring him back to be the man he used to be.
And maybe he will never be that man again, maybe that experience made an eternal mark on him, for better or for worse.
He knows that even though that incident didn't leave any marks on her body, it does not mean it didn't leave any scars on her soul.
She hovers on top of him, their faces less than an inch apart, until she leans towards him and presses their lips together. She presses her entire weight against his body, and he feels the unavoidable thing in him shift, his whole body awakens just by the lightest touch of her.
He knows what will happen if he just lets Andy continue with her plans. He knows how he will feel, having her again, and there is nothing he desires more than to be inside of her after all this time.
So it takes every inch of self control he has to ask her. "Andrea… Stop." She doesn't listen, but trails kisses along his jaw, down his neck, and he has no other choice but to push her away lightly with his hands on her shoulders.
The pain he sees on her face is unbearable.
"I thought you wanted it, I thought you came for this." She says, combing a hand through her hair.
"Andy I came because you needed me to."
She leans in and whispers into his ear. "I need you to make me feel something, anything. This is the only thing I need from you."
He knows she doesn't mean it, not really, she just tries to hurt him the same way she feels he hurt her. But her words pain him, nonetheless .
"Leave." She orders.
He nods his head. "I am not willing to take advantage of your state."
"It is not taking advantage if I initiate it."
"Come here." He tries to clear the air between them. She is hesitant at first, but he can see her lowering her guards and comes back down to lie in between his arms.
He forgot how well she fits in that particular spot.
"Andy, you have to believe me when I say there are fewer things I would like better than to let you follow through on that plan of yours. But nothing has changed between us, not really."
"I know." She whispers, and when her voice breaks he just tightens his grip around her waist. "Can you just stay for the night and hold me? I think the nightmares won't come back as long as you are here."
"Of course. You did the same for me, remember?"
They say nothing more, and he just lies in her bed until he is absolutely sure she has fallen asleep. He holds her far longer than that, her head nestled against his bare chest. He can't sleep that night, not when he knows she could wake up screaming any minute, not when he has the woman he loves finally back in his arms, even though the circumstances are different than the ones he would like them to be.
He just watches her sleep, watches her chest rising and falling, stays in the exact same position even though his arm and shoulders went numb hours ago and his back hurts.
She might be thirty, but he is definitely not anymore.
He watches the stars through the little open window in her bedroom. He watches them change and shift, watches the moon dance around and makes its way to a brand new day.
And when the sun finally rises, sending the first ray of light into the room, making Andy roll and twist in her sleep, he gets up from the bed as gently as possible. He picks up his shirt and shoes scattered all around the floor, and gives her sleeping image one last look before he heads out.
God, how he wishes he could be the man she was falling asleep with, and also waking up to.