Author's Note: As always, you guys are awesome! Thank you for the feedback and encouragement!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.
Sam squinted into the darkness, trying to read the red numbers on his alarm clock. He groaned when he saw that only seven minutes had passed since he last checked.
If he thought it was difficult to sleep with Andy under his roof before, it was downright impossible now that their relationship had progressed. Specifically, now that he'd spent a night in her bed.
He'd told himself, as he kissed her goodnight and watched her walk up the stairs the last couple of nights, that it was good they were sleeping in separate rooms. He meant it when he said that they could take things slowly and that he would wait until she was ready to move forward. Of course he would. He'd waited for her throughout her entire drama-ridden relationship with Callaghan, he'd be an idiot to give up now.
If he slept in her bed again he knew that there was little chance he would be able to stay true to his word.
It wasn't even necessarily sex that he wanted, even though of course that was part of it. It had been far too long since he'd actually had sex, longer than he'd ever gone before in his adult life. He tried not to think too much about it because it was depressing.
He just craved being near her. Being able to reach out and touch her, to kiss her whenever he wanted. He'd been denied that simple pleasure for so long that once he got a little taste of it, he couldn't help but want more.
He suspected that if he showed up at her door and asked to join her in bed, she would let him. He'd considered it more times than he cared to admit, but somehow, through some feat of willpower and self-control he hadn't known he possessed until that point, he remained in his own bed.
He let out a heavy sigh, frustrated more with himself than the situation, and flipped to his stomach, willing himself to fall asleep.
Andy thought it was strange that Sam wasn't awake when she first went downstairs to get her coffee. He was usually up before she was, especially on mornings when they had to go to work, with the coffee already brewing. She didn't think too much about it and went back upstairs to take her shower.
When she came back down and it appeared he still wasn't awake, she started to worry. She checked to see if his truck was there, just in case she had missed a note telling her he was out, and found it where he usually parked.
She debated what to do. They had a little bit of time before they had to leave for work, but if he didn't get up soon they were going to be late. She walked over to his bedroom and listened at the door, thinking that maybe he was in the shower. She didn't hear anything.
"Sam," Andy called softly, tapping against his door. When she didn't hear a response she tried again, a little louder, "Sam."
Again there was no response, so she pushed his door open and walked into his room. Sam was there, sprawled out on the bed and still sleeping. She checked the clock to see when his alarm was set for and realized that he must have slept through it.
Andy sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to shake his shoulder gently. "Sam," she said, "Sam, wake up." She shook his shoulder again and he began to stir.
He opened his eyes and blinked several times, then groaned and pulled a pillow over his head to block out the morning light. "What?" He asked groggily.
"Hey," she said gently. "I think you slept through your alarm."
"What time is it?" Came his voice from under the pillow.
"We need to go in about thirty minutes," Andy told him, chuckling softly as she lifted the pillow off of him.
Sam sighed and then, before Andy could react, reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, dragging her onto the bed with him.
"Sam!" She protested, laughing and struggling against him. "We have to go work."
She was no match for him, really, and he easily pulled her back against his chest, spooning her from behind. "We still have time," he mumbled, pulling the covers up over them. He kissed the skin where her neck and shoulder met and Andy gave up her half-hearted struggle, relaxing into him.
She fit against him perfectly. He ran one hand up her arm and then she felt him tugging at her hair band. "I hate when you wear your hair like this," he said sleepily, running his fingers through the strands and loosening the braid.
Andy couldn't help but smile, amused that he had given any thought whatsoever to how she wore her hair. "Are you okay?" She asked, concerned about his uncharacteristic lethargy.
"Just tired," Sam admitted, yawning. "I didn't sleep well last night." He didn't say why.
"I hope you're not getting sick," Andy mused, running her fingers lightly over his forearm.
"I'm not getting sick," Sam replied dismissively, nuzzling against her neck. He slid his hand under her shirt and spread his fingers out over her stomach, his thumb stroking the delicate skin over her rib cage.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you were," Andy continued, thinking out loud. "Your immune system is probably shot. You eat like crap and you never sleep."
There were other systems of his body he wished she'd be more concerned with. "I ate an apple yesterday," he weakly defended himself. He closed his eyes and tightened his arms around her. "And if you hadn't woken me up I'd still be sleeping right now."
"Seriously though, when was the last time you got a solid eight hours of sleep?" Andy asked, undeterred by Sam's grumbling.
"I don't know McNally," Sam mumbled into her hair. "Will you stop talking and just lay here with me?"
"We have to get to work Sam," Andy said, giggling as she tried to twist free from his grasp. "And now I have to fix my hair again."
"Just five more minutes," he grumbled, hooking his leg over hers and pulling her tightly back against him. "Five minutes."
Andy sighed, her resistance fading as she sunk back down into the warm bed. "Fine," she said, quickly reaching to the bedside table. "I'm setting your alarm though. Five minutes, then we have to get up."
"Whatever," Sam said, already drifting back to sleep. Andy stayed awake the whole time, simply content to enjoy being in Sam's arms in the warm cocoon of his sheets and blankets.
When the alarm went off Sam groaned unhappily and rolled Andy beneath him, trapping her to the bed. She laughed as he kissed his way up her neck, growling as he went. Her hands tangled in the hair at his nape and she lifted his head off of her. "We have to go," she reminded him, smiling as she brought one hand around to cup his stubbly cheek.
He turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand and muttered, "I know." Resigned, he sighed before kissing her one last time and untangling himself and pushing off the bed. With a loving swat to her backside, he made his way to the shower.
They somehow made it to work on time and Andy quickly got changed. Instead of waiting for Sam by the locker room like she had become accustomed to doing, she hurried to the parade room and made her way over to the other rookies. She glanced back at the door once more to make sure Sam hadn't come in and then asked, "Hey, you guys are on for Sam's party, right?"
Chris nodded enthusiastically as Dov asked, grinning, "Are you kidding, a surprise party for Swarek? Wouldn't miss it for the world."
Gail just rolled her eyes, "I don't know why you're bothering with a party."
"Because it's his birthday," Andy said, as if it were obvious. "Come on, it'll be fun."
"Why don't you just get naked," Gail advised. "I'm sure he'd think that was a lot more fun." She ran her tongue along her top lip after the word "fun" and winked at Andy, her message clear. Looking over at Dov, she asked, "What do you think, Officer Epstein?"
Dov grimaced. "Gail is right," he said tightly. Gail smiled indulgently. Through clenched teeth Dov added, "Gail is always right."
Andy grinned at her friend. "Lose another bet?" She asked.
"Yes," Dov said, flinching with the admission. "Dammit."
"Well," Andy said, ignoring Gail's suggestion, "We have reservations at seven thirty, so I think if everyone is at his house by nine… "
"Andy," Traci interrupted, tipping her head towards the door of the parade room. Andy turned to see Sam walk in. He scanned the room, obviously looking for her. When his gaze landed on her she smiled at him and he winked back before pulling out the chair beside Jerry.
"Wow," Jerry exclaimed as Sam took the seat next to him. "You look like crap, man."
Sam accepted the insult, knowing it was true. "I haven't been sleeping well," He grumbled, stirring his coffee. He took a sip and almost spit it out. "Who made this?" he asked, holding the cup up to Jerry. "It's terrible." He tried another sip, his nose wrinkling with disgust as he swallowed the bitter liquid, coughing.
Jerry just raised an amused eyebrow.
"Hey guys," Oliver said, stealing a chair from another table and sliding up next to Sam. He rested his elbows on the table and asked, "What's going on?"
"Sammy here isn't getting his beauty rest," Jerry told Oliver, leaning across Sam to talk to the other man.
"Oh yeah," Oliver commiserated, cutting his eyes over to Andy. "McNally keeping you up? You know, you're really getting too old for that kind of thing. I know you wanna keep up with her because she's younger but you're gonna have to learn when to say enough is… "
He was cut off when Sam slapped him over the back of his head. "Ow, what was that for?" Oliver asked indignantly, reaching up to rub where Sam had hit him.
Sam took another sip of coffee and then looked back over at his friend. "It's not like that."
"Sam, buddy, it's okay. When Traci and I first got together…" Jerry started to say.
"We aren't sleeping together," Sam admitted quickly, mostly to keep Jerry from finishing his sentence. He must have spoken too loudly because the officer in front of them turned around. Sam just glared at him until he faced forward again.
"Oh," Oliver said, surprised. He leaned back in his chair until the front feet came off the ground and exchanged a look with Jerry behind Sam's back. Settling back down, Oliver hesitantly asked, "So is it the not sleeping together thing that's getting to you?"
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and let his head fall forward. "We are not discussing this."
"Ding ding ding," Jerry said, sharing a knowing look with Oliver. "I think we have a winner."
"Barber," Best called, starting parade. "You ready to fill us in on the car-jacking?"
Jerry adjusted his tie, grabbed a stack of folders off the table and confidently strode to the front of the room. He taped a picture from a surveillance camera on the whiteboard and then addressed the gathered officers, explaining that another mid-sized luxury sedan had been taken the night before. It followed the same pattern as several recent car-jackings; a masked man wielding a gun approached the victim late at night in a parking garage. So far, no one had been hurt but they were having a hard time catching a break in the case.
That was until the night before, when the whole thing was caught on tape.
Local news media ran the surveillance video and tips began pouring into the station from people who reported seeing the silver Mercedes all over the city.
It was actually a noise complaint that led Oliver and Dov to what appeared to be a makeshift chop shop. They called for back up and Sam and Andy, being the closest unit, responded. While Andy flipped the lights and siren on and radioed them in, Sam checked the rearview mirror and jerked the steering wheel, pulling them into a dramatic U-turn in the middle of traffic.
"Well that was unnecessary," Andy remarked, chuckling as she clutched her seatbelt.
Sam shrugged in response, never taking his attention off the road.
Andy frowned. She could tell he had been in a mood all day, but decided it wasn't the most opportune time to get him to talk about whatever was bothering him.
They made it to the crime scene without incident, for which Andy was thankful, and helped Oliver and Dov take two men in for questioning. While one of the suspects stayed in holding, pacing back and forth in the small cell, Jerry and Oliver took a run at the other.
Andy and Sam watched from the viewing room.
Or rather, Sam watched the interrogation and Andy watched Sam.
He stood with his arms tightly folded across his chest in a way that made his biceps flex and bulge against the short-sleeved uniform shirt he wore. His jaw clenched and unclenched with each question that was asked and each non-answer that was given.
"This is getting ridiculous," he muttered, his eyes trained forward. "This guy's not giving anything up."
He leaned over and braced himself against the windowsill. With a heavy sigh, he worked his neck from side to side.
Andy sidled up next to him, unsure of what to do. She knew his frustration wasn't entirely related to the interrogation; he'd been distracted and tense long before they'd brought the guy in.
She reached her hand out and ran it up and down his back soothingly. At first he stiffened at her touch, but then she felt him relax under her hand.
Sam felt guilty as soon as she touched him. He knew that she could tell something was… off, and the last thing that he wanted to do was take it out on her.
He looked back and afforded her a small smile, which she returned. "You okay?" She asked, concerned.
Sam nodded quickly. "Yeah," he said, pushing himself to stand up straight. "Sorry, just tired." With a hand on the small of her back he directed her towards the door. "Let's take the other guy to interview two."
Her brow furrowed but she allowed herself to be lead out of the room. "Okay," she agreed, stepping into the hall.
After their shift she met him at his locker, asking if he wanted to go to the Penny with the others to celebrate closing the car-jacking case.
Wearily, he looked at her and asked if she would be okay with just going home.
She smiled and nodded in understanding before extending her hand. He took it, intertwining their fingers, and they walked out of the station together.
They barely made into the house when Sam, without warning, backed her against the wall and claimed her lips with his own, kicking the door closed. It wasn't the soft, gentle kiss she had come to expect from him. It was aggressive and hungry, his lips persistent against hers. One hand settled at the base of her neck, wrapping around to curl into her hair while the other grasped the curve of her waist, pulling her tightly against him. He swiped his tongue over her bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth and biting down gently, causing her to gasp. He seized the opportunity to deepen the kiss and slipped his tongue between her parted lips.
All of a sudden his behavior that day made complete sense. He had been wound tighter than a drum and it wasn't because he was tired and it wasn't because he was upset about a case.
Sam Swarek was frustrated.
In a way, it was good to know that he was human.
She smiled against his lips at the thought. She knew he loved her, even though he hadn't said it to her he'd proved it over and over, but he had been so good about not pressuring her that she was beginning to wonder if he actually wanted her.
He nibbled along the shell of her ear, removing all doubt from her mind about whether or not he wanted her. His hands grazed over her collarbone, his lips trailing behind, and he slipped her coat from her shoulders. It fell to the ground in an ungraceful heap. She struggled to keep up, his hands felt like they were everywhere at once and it was making it difficult to concentrate, but she was finally able to work the zipper of his coat down and tug it off of him. Her hands immediately went to the hem of his shirt and she lifted it up, sliding her hands across the muscles of his abdomen, enjoying the way they tensed under her fingers and the hiss that the move elicited from him.
His lips found hers again as he pushed her back, steadying her against the wall as he continued his assault on her senses. She cupped her hands around his face as he trailed his hand down to rest on her rear. Then, in one fluid movement, he lifted her leg and hiked it around his waist, pressing into her. She moaned at the contact, her head falling back against the wall.
And then, as suddenly as it began, it ended. Sam tore his lips away from her, leaving her panting and dizzy. When she got her breathing under control she looked up at him. She waited until his unfocused eyes met hers. "Feel better?" She asked, her lips curling into a crooked smile.
Sam let out a short, choked laugh and took a step back from her, his hands still braced on either side of her body. "I think I just made it worse, actually," he confessed breathlessly, his voice ragged.
Andy smirked and hooked her fingers through his belt loops, pulling him back flush against her, not letting him hide. He let out a strangled groan and, emboldened by the sound, she worked the buckle of his belt and quickly slipped it free from his jeans.
"Andy, what are you…?" He tried pushing her hands away but she stopped him.
"I'm helping you out," she said, unbuttoning the top button of his jeans. "I think you need to relax." She paused. "Release a little tension."
Sam's eyes widened comically at her words and he tried to move away from her, but she held him close. "Andy, just stop. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even… you don't have to…" he mumbled incoherently, fighting to stay in control.
"Sam," she said, and at the seriousness of her tone his gaze flew to meet hers. "I want to." She looked him dead in the eye, wanting him to know she meant what she was saying. "Do you want me to?"
His head fell against her shoulder and he could only nod as she slowly slid his zipper down. She slipped her small hand into his boxers. "Oh holy sh…" his curse was cut off when she covered his mouth with her own.
Later, after they had cleaned up and eaten dinner, they sprawled out on the couch together, watching TV. Sam had propped his head up at one end of the couch and pulled Andy on top of him, her body covering his.
"Hey Sam?" Andy said, resting her hand on his chest and propping her chin on top of it.
"Yeah?" he replied, lazily trailing his fingers up and down her back.
"When Sarah comes this weekend," she asked, drawing small shapes against his soft t-shirt, "Is she staying here?"
"No," Sam answered easily. "She hates staying in the city, she'll probably just go home after dinner."
"Oh," was Andy's soft, noncommittal response.
Sam shifted his gaze from the television and looked at her, suspicious. A small grin played on his lips. "Why?"
Andy shrugged innocently. "Just wondering." Sam quirked a quizzical eyebrow at her but she just smiled and rested her head back on his chest, feigning interest in the show they were watching.
It wasn't long before she felt his hand still on her back and heard him snoring softly. Even though she knew they'd regret sleeping there in the morning, she flipped the television off and pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa, covering them with it. With a small, satisfied smile, she curled against Sam and closed her eyes.