Author's note: Hey everyone!
I know I have been MIA lately, but I am going through some personal stuff, so it means fics will probably be posted with larger breaks between them. I am sorry for that but this is how things are currently.
I don't have too much to say, other than thank you so much for being part of this journey with me. I have never believed I am actually capable of finishing a multi chapter fic.
Hope you enjoy, thank you again for reading!
Andy lies on her back at the top of the engine. She looks at the high ceiling of the barn, the thoughts running around her head even as she does anything in her power to keep them at bay.
She closes her eyes, her hands resting on her belly, and she can feel her entire body rising and falling with every breath she takes.
They have been on so many calls during the day, in houses where a faulty charger was left plugged or a pot was forgotten on a stove left on, causing fire to spread. She treated kids who were too brave for their own good and sick elderly and even one mom during an active labor. She got puked and bled on. She took a countless amount of showers and changed more pairs of uniforms than she cares to admit, just to go through the process over and over again.
She is exhausted, every muscle in her body aches and her eyelids are falling involuntarily. Even though the craziness of her day, things have been quiet for the last couple of hours, and she has gotten the precious opportunity to get some sleep.
Yet every time she closed her eyes, the thoughts took over. She rolled around in her little bunk, lying on her belly, then on her back, then on her side, no position comfortable enough for her to finally fall asleep in.
This is how Andy found herself in the barn at 2 am, trying to silence the excitement and nervousness inside her.
Her mind takes her back to the day they first met, of all times and places. It has been over a year since that particular moment, and a lot changed during that year, but for some reason Andy can recall vividly one thing Emilia told her at the bar that night.
You don't have to marry him.
And yet fate led her exactly to that point after all.
"Andy." She hears him calling. She closes her eyes and savors each sound that comes out of his mouth to form her name. She can see him climbing up the ladder, then lying beside her and wrapping one long arm around her shoulder, pulling her impossibly close to his chest.
She lets out a content sigh as the warmth radiating from his body envelopes her. Just the presence of him makes her feel safe, and loved, and relaxes the tension that has been building up between her shoulder blades all day longer.
He places a soft kiss on the top of her head, and then she lifts her head up for him to kiss her properly. They kiss slowly, until they are out of breath, and she rests her head back on his chest.
He picks up one long lock of hair in his hand, and starts to twirl it around his index finger.
"What are you still doing here?" Andy asks, breathing in the scent that is so familiar. The scent of his body wash and his cologne and something that she still can't really pinpoint at but is just, him.
Other than Maya and Vic, the rest of the team members remain clueless about their secret love affair. Not for long, of course. They are planning to tell them the day after tomorrow, after they sign the marriage license and the laws will officially protect them from any disciplinary actions. They should still hide, they should still keep guarding their secret, but right now, she couldn't care any less. She just wants to spend some time in the arms of the man she loves, even for a short while.
"I just had a workload to get done. You know, if we will end up deciding to take that honeymoon we talked about." Robert reasons his presence in his office, now that he is a battalion chief and overnight shifts are no longer a part of his duty.
His hand that doesn't currently play with her hair, finds a way down the hem of her shirt, and starts to draw small circles in her lower back. The sensation of his hand on her bare skin does something to her, arouses something deep inside her core, and suddenly she doesn't feel as tired as before.
Maybe all she needs is one good orgasm, a memory of a time when she used to get them more often than not around the station. An orgasm will definitely remedy her sleeplessness.
"You don't think you could fall asleep if you headed back home, am I right?" Andy asks. Her tone changes. It is more seductive now, and Robert catches up on that easily. He has grown to know her so well by now, she doesn't even have to ask. A slight change in her voice, a certain shift in her body, will convey her message perfectly and will tell him everything he possibly needs to know about her desires.
"I have been married before." He grins down at her. "But if you are asking about my feelings, then yes, I am nervous. And I am also excited and happy. I have done this before, but believe me when I say I plan this time will be the very last time. I plan this marriage to be the one that lasts forever."
Andy props herself on her elbows, and sends a sly look her fiance's way that can not be interpreted in more than one way. "You know, the only question I have in mind right now, is what do you think about us going back up to your office, closing the blinds, shutting the light and locking the door?"
She bits her lower lip as she waits for his answer eagerly, the image in her mind changing completely. Her thoughts drift, and now she can't help but imagine herself sitting on his desk, her legs spread wide, her pants pulled all the way to her ankles. She can't help but imagine the way he likes to bite her earlobe when he is inside her, the way she likes to dig her nails deep into the skin of her shoulder blades.
"I don't know." Robert hesitates, and Andy feels like a deflated balloon. "It has been a long day, and tomorrow will be one as well, even if due to much different reasons. You should get some rest, and so do I."
She loves him with all of her heart and soul, but sometimes he can be a bit of a buzz killer, that soon to be husband of hers.
"What if…" Andy pulls herself up his body, so she can whisper into his ear. "I will do that thing with my tongue that you really, really, seem to enjoy." She raises her brow at him suggestively.
"Well, in this case... " He doesn't finish his sentence, just lifts himself up and makes his way down all the way to the floor. Andy follows him quickly, and before her feet even have a chance to touch the ground, Robert wraps his arms across her waist and pulls her into a deep kiss. They are a mess of tongues and lips as she leans against the engine, and Robert fumbles with her belt, until he can finally get it to open.
They giggle into the kiss, trying to catch a breath and calm their racing hearts. His mouth finds the spot in her neck that makes her moan enthusiastically with no effort, and he starts to nibble at her sensitive skin exactly as the sound of a call coming in interrupts them. Structure fire.
"Damn it." Andy whines as Robert hands her the belt he worked so hard to undo, her smile turning into a pout.
Here goes her plans of getting an orgasm and some decent amount of sleep.
"I think I should go." Robert says, and Andy nods in agreement. She places one hand on his chest before any of her friends show up, and places a little kiss on his lips.
"I will see you at the altar." Robert promises as they detangle from each other.
"I will see you at the altar." She says back to him as he disappears, and she readies herself for another long call.
Andy thumps the heel of her shoe down on the floor nervously.
Four and a half inch heel. What the hell was she thinking?
"Where the hell are they?" Andy breaths out. She starts to pace along the length of the small room, knowing that Robert is waiting for her on the other side.
She prays he doesn't think she got cold feet right before she was supposed to make her way down the aisle.
Maya places a steady hand on Andy's shoulder and looks deep into her eyes. "They will be here any minute now. Just concentrate on breathing with me."
"I just need them here with me. They have been a part of this since the beginning. I can't get married if they are not around." Andy takes a deep breath in, and then releases the air trapped in her lungs through her mouth. She does it over and over again, until the wait for her friends' arrival is a little bit less stressful.
Andy squeezes Maya's hands as she hears the sound of a few pairs of shoes making their way quickly towards her.
"We are so sorry we are late." Meredith apologies, trying to catch her breath. "We came as fast as humanly possible. Ellis had a little incident." The surgeon tries to reason the fact that she arrives at her friend's wedding way later than it was scheduled.
"I had a surgery that went way longer than expected." Maggie adds.
"And I was with Link and I couldn't tell how much time has passed, if you know what I mean." Amelia smiles at her, making a comment that fits her usual self perfectly.
"Hey Amelia, I would rather you won't talk about your sex life in front of my dad, thank you very much." Andy blushes, glancing in her father's direction, who looks as if he doesn't quite belong in between all the women wearing dresses.
"You look absolutely amazing." Meredith compliments.
"Our work." Vic says proudly, pointing a finger at Maya, then at herself.
"Not too bad for two firefights, if I do say so myself." Maya agrees, and nods as she gives Andy's hair and makeup a quick once over.
It is a small wedding, just her father and her friends as witnesses in the city hall. Andy didn't see much of a point in spending her day under the hands of a professional hair and make up artist, so when her friends volunteered to get her hair and makeup done for her, she jumped on board, even if she did it with no so little hesitation.
But as she looked in the mirror once they were done, she couldn't help but be completely awestruck by their work. They outdid themselves in a way Andy never believed was possible. Her hair is pinned low on her head, looks a little messy yet very elegant. Her makeup is natural yet glowy, compliments the shape of her face perfectly.
She wears a baby pink dress and some silver earrings, and she feels amazing, but she is not sure it has much to do with her looks, rather than the fact that she is about to spend the rest of her life with the man she loves.
The man who just over a year ago, was nothing but a stranger in a bar. Just an unnamed man who she decided to smile in his direction.
"She would look amazing wearing a potato sack." She hears the voice of said man complementing, yet before she has a chance to sneak a peek at him, one of her five friends lays a hand on her eyes softly, completely blocking her view.
"You are not supposed to see each other before the wedding!" Meredith protests. "Sullivan, out, now!" She orders, and Andy knows that not many people dare to defy the orders of Meredith Grey when she uses that particular tone.
"I was just tired of waiting, so I decided to come and check on you." Robert says, and Andy can see in her mind's eye the way he probably grins. Like a lovesick school boy.
"Sullivan, I won't ask again." Meredith hisses, and since when her friend is one to believe strongly in superstitions?
"OK, I am going." He gives in, and Andy can't help but smile to herself.
She knows he is gone when the hand that was blocking her vision finally disappears. Andy blinks twice at the light, trying to adjust, hoping her makeup isn't ruined.
"We will see you out there." Vic mumbles, as she opens the door.
"Wait, we have something for you." Amelia calls, pulling a rectangular jewelry box out of her purse. The box is wrapped in black velvet, giving the entire thing a sense of luxury. Emilia opens the box for her, and Andy can see a delicate silver bracelet lying inside, with one blue stone in the middle.
"It doesn't quite match your dress, but we figured you have to have something that was blue and new, right?" Maggie asks as she closes the bracelet around Andy's right wrist. "Do you have anything old and borrowed?"
"Yes, the earrings used to belong to my mother, and my dad made it very clear that he expects them to be returned to him. Now go." Andy prompts. "If we won't start soon, I am pretty sure my heart would physically pop out of my chest."
"Take it from a cardiothoracic surgeon, this is not a possibility." Maggie intervenes.
"Go!" Andy calls again.
A long minute after her friends disappear behind the closed door, Pruitt asks his daughter "Are you ready?"
She nods at him, and they make their way slowly down the aisle.
When Andy arrives at a stop in front of Robert, there is a breath that catches in her throat. He looks more handsome than ever, in a black suit that compliments his tall form.
"I got why your friends didn't want me to see you." He whispers. "You do look amazing. I may have kissed you before it was the right time for me to kiss the bride."
Andy smiles at him, and holds the urge to punch him playfully on his shoulder. "Well, you clean up quite nicely yourself." She grins.
Andy takes Robert's hands in hers. She can hear the words said during the ceremony only barely over the sound of her racing heat.
When Robert says "I do" and Andy repeats those two words, a small electric shock runs down her spine, starts from her head and goes all the way to her toes.
And when she kisses him to the enthusiastic sound of clapping coming from her friends who form a small crowd,
Well,
She feels,
Alive.