I am completely overwhelmed by the positive reaction to this story! Thank you all so much! I hope this chapter lives up to the promise of the first. Either way, I welcome your feedback.

As usual, I do not own Major Crimes or these fabulous characters. That honor belongs to James Duff and co. I just enjoy writing about them.

Chapter Two

The tape began to play and Andy and Provenza could be seen walking up to the house talking to the realtor. They seemed to make small talk as the realtor let them in and told them to "feel free to look around" and let him know "if they had any questions". Once inside the house, the two older men are seen looking around as they make comments on the house. Andy is overhead asking Buzz if he's rolling. Then, things took a decidedly more interesting turn. Provenza is seen walking slightly ahead of his partner.

"I don't understand why you dragged Buzz and me along with you to see this house in the first place," is heard as the tape played. Sharon stood with her arms crossed and her attention glued to the screen. She heard Andy answer with some explanation about needing the older lieutenant's opinion, which surprised her because she didn't know that Andy was in the market for a new house. Then, she heard something that caused her to pause and pull back suddenly. Provenza said, "I have a novel idea, why don't you bring your girlfriend with you if you want her to see the house you plan to move into with her".

Her eyes went wide, but she kept her focus on the screen. The others seemed to grow uncomfortable around her, but she pretended not to notice. From their desks, Julio and Amy exchanged amused looks and continued to eavesdrop on the conversation on the recording. The tape continued to play until Sharon heard Provenza say something about her not knowing about Andy's plans and at this point, she had heard enough.

"Ok, Mike, can we just skip to the part where they find the body?" She interjected quickly, and the others detected a slight undercurrent of uncomfortableness in their usually calm and collected captain. Tao fast forwarded the recording until the body came on the screen. He let it play, and Sharon inwardly cringed at the ensuing conversation. Once the recording stopped, she turned to leave making sure to avoid eye contact with Andy.

"Thank you, Mike. We need to speak with the realtor and check in with Dr. Morales to see if he has an ID yet. Oh, and we should pull the real estate logs to find out who else accessed that house in the last 48 hours," she said as she walked towards her office. Andy watched her retreating form and decided to try to salvage what he could.

"Captain...," he started, but she quickly cut him off.

"Not now, Andy," she said curtly and then walked into her office closing the door and blinds.

Once she was in the safety of her office, Sharon sunk into her chair, removed her glasses, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was angry, upset, disappointed, and embarrassed. What was Andy thinking? The captain in her wanted to throttle him for getting involved in this debacle and dragging Provenza and Buzz into it. The girlfriend in her wanted to shake him until he gave her a really good reason why he went behind her back and looked at a house for them, and then let her get completely blindsided by it in front of their team. She didn't have time to do either, so she resolved to deal with her lieutenant and her boyfriend after they solved the murder.

Andy watched Sharon close her door and draw her blinds before he made his way back to his desk. He sat down in his seat with a sigh. His partner stared at him with a knowing look on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You told me so," Andy offered defeated and annoyed. Provenza just continued to stare at him.

"Yes, I did, didn't I? But even I couldn't have predicted that it was going to blow up so spectacularly in your face," he conceded.

"Sir, moving in together tends to go more smoothly when both parties know it's happening," Julio snickered.

"Yeah, communication is really important in a relationship," Amy added trying to suppress a laugh.

"I was going to talk to her about it," Andy said defensively.

"When was that, Sir. Before or after you bought the house?" Julio replied with amusement in his tone.

"Ok, enough. Flynn has dug himself a big enough hole here all by himself," Provenza scolded the two younger detectives. With that, they went back to work, but neither could keep the small smiles off their faces.

Provenza moved his focus back to his sullen partner. "What exactly were you thinking, Flynn? You planned on showing her that tape eventually knowing what she would hear on it".

"I was going to talk to her first. If things didn't go well with the living together discussion, then I'd forget the video tour. If they went well, then I figured we'd share a good laugh at my expense. I definitely wasn't picturing this," he explained.

"Ok, look. It's not that bad. I'm sure the Captain will get over it".

"I looked at a house without asking her if she wanted to move in together and then had Buzz film it. And if that wasn't enough, the perfect house that I picked out had a body in it which led to everyone seeing the video," Andy said shaking his head.

"Ok, so maybe it is that bad, but the Captain is used to you making an idiot of yourself. So, you dragged her into it this time. She had to know that would happen sooner or later when she unwisely decided to enter into a relationship with you," Provenza stated. He noticed Andy's continued depressing look and decided to take mercy on him. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. "Look, that woman is just as crazy about you as you are about her. She will forgive you. Eventually".

"Gee, thanks," Andy replied.

"In the meantime, give her some space. She needs to work through it and calm down before you go all 'hurt puppy dog' on her," Provenza advised.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Andy agreed.

"Oh, I know I'm right".

The rest of the day was filled with interviews and evidence, and left little time for anyone to dwell on the events from earlier in the day. Once they reached a series of dead ends, they decided to call it a night and start fresh in the morning. Andy sat at his desk finishing up a few case notes when he saw Sharon walk by with her bag and coat slung over her arm.

"Good night, everyone. Don't stay too late. We'll start fresh in the morning," she said on her way out. Everyone returned the sentiment and she was gone. Like the rest of the day, she was formal and distant with Andy, but he decided to give her space as his partner had suggested.

When he finally made it home, he wanted nothing more than to call her. He wanted to hear her voice, know that things were ok between them or that they would be, but he didn't want to make them worse. He hoped that she would call him, but his phone remained silent all night. So, this is what space felt like.

When Sharon arrived in the murder room the next day, she noticed that her two senior lieutenants were already at their desks pouring over evidence. She gave them both a cordial salutation and continued to her office. Once inside, she removed her bag and coat and went to sit at her desk when she noticed something unexpected resting on it.

She paused and then leaned over to pick up the white to-go cup of coffee bearing the logo of her favorite local coffeehouse. She lifted it to her lips and took a small sip. It was her favorite brew, and it was exactly how she liked it. She closed her eyes and let the flavor roll over her taste buds. It was delicious, and she knew exactly who had left it for her.

As she placed the cup back on her desk, she noticed something written on it. She rotated it slightly in her hand so she could read it better. There in familiar scroll was a simple, but meaningful, "Sorry". Sharon stared at it for a few moments before letting out a sigh. She pursed her lips and finally took a seat in her chair. She stole a glance out to the murder room and immediately looked in Andy's direction. He seemed to be busy and wasn't looking at her. She made a small, sad smile. Yes, she still had to deal with that situation.

In the murder room, Andy sat at his desk trying to make it look like he was focusing on the case when all he could think about was Sharon. He hoped she liked the coffee and the gesture, but he was too worried about spooking her to look in her office to find out. Since he couldn't sleep much the night before, he figured he'd leave his house extra early so he had time to go across town to her favorite coffeehouse. She had taken him there a few times, and he loved to watch her savor every sip of her favorite drink. He figured if anything could show how sorry he truly was, it was that cup of coffee.

"Is she drinking it?" his partner asked without looking up from his file. Provenza had been present when Andy came in with the coffee and knew his partner was stewing over it instead of the case.

"I don't know. Honestly, I'm afraid to look," Andy admitted.

"Well, nothing says 'sorry' quite like a cup of ridiculously expensive coffee," Provenza deadpanned. He glanced in his captain's direction and saw her enjoying the cup of coffee.

"I'm going to talk to her, too. Believe me, I learned that lesson. I'm just giving her space like you said. Coffee was just a way of communicating without invading her space," Andy explained.

"While you're passive aggressively apologizing and pretending to give your girlfriend space, could you also focus on the case? The sooner we solve it, the sooner you can solve the problem with the Captain and the sooner we can all put this whole unfortunate incident behind us," Provenza pleaded.

"You're just annoyed because I didn't bring you any expensive coffee," Andy said knowingly. Provenza scoffed and went back to focusing on the case.

By the end of the day, the case had been solved, a deal made, and paperwork completed. Andy really wanted to talk to Sharon, but wasn't sure if the timing was right yet. She had seemed to be in a better mood today, but she still wasn't her usual self with him. She was professional and nothing more. Andy wasn't surprised, but he was having a hard time reading her.

He finished his paperwork before some of the others, but wanted to wait to turn it in until everyone had left just in case she was willing to talk. As he watched Julio exit the Captain's office after successfully completing his report, he looked around the murder room. Everyone else had called it a night leaving just him, Sharon, and a retreating Julio. Andy figured it was now or never. He took a deep breath and stood from his chair. Before entering her office and forcing them into their first moment alone since before this whole debacle, Andy glanced at Sharon through her open blinds. She seemed to be lost in her pile of paperwork. She looked focused, but not angry.

Andy decided to suck it up and knock on her open office door. After all, he had to turn in his paperwork some time. He just hoped this was the right time.

TBC