It feels like I jumped back and forth a little, but hopefully the timing was still easy enough to follow. Enjoy. And as always, thanks for the reviews.

It was pretty tame by their standards, but it had been a long week. So when Traci decided to head home before midnight, Andy didn't protest. She was already exhausted; one good night's sleep wasn't enough to make up for a week's worth of restless nights.

Andy happily snuggled down into her covers, remembering at the last minute that she hadn't turned off her cell phone. She reached over to grab it from the night stand and noticed that she had a text. Curious she pushed the button to read it. 'Hope you had a good night. Talk to you tomorrow.'

It had been sent over an hour ago, but she still felt the need to reply before going to sleep. 'I did. Thanks. Night, Sam.'

Lost in thought about the man on the other end of the message, it took her a few seconds before she moved to shut it off - just long enough for his quick reply. 'Night, McNally.'

With a huge grin, she turned off the phone and the lights, and settled in for some sweet dreams.

Sam had gotten home from the Penny earlier than planned. After he left Noelle sitting at the bar, he really had nothing else to do but go home. He wasn't in the mood for company and he was still a little pissed at his friends for jumping on him about Andy.

As soon as he walked through the door, he decided to send Andy a text just so she knew he was thinking about her. He then turned on the TV and caught up on the sports highlights before deciding to call it a night. He was just about to shut his phone off and head to bed when it buzzed. He read Andy's text and replied quickly, the last of his bad mood was gone. There was something very intimate about exchanging good nights just before bed, even if they weren't in the same place. And it just felt right.

The next morning, Sam woke with the alarm and a smile as he turned on his phone and remembered Andy's text. He quickly made some breakfast and started with the few things he had to do around his house. He spent the morning trying to do chores but found that more often than not he was getting sidetracked thinking about Andy and her father. He tried not to let it get to him, but it was hard. He really cared about what happened to her and he hated to see her hurting. He wasn't sure how she was going to take it if her father did indeed need a new liver.

He ended up doing more thinking than actual work and had to leave most of his chores undone when he headed to the Shaw's. He was invited for lunch and then a football game before he and Oliver both had to head into the station for the evening shift. Sam got there just before noon, and as usual, he was greeted at the door with a one-armed man hug from Oliver and a real hug from Zoe. They had just sat down for lunch when Oliver tried to jump start the conversation. "You left the Penny in quite a hurry last night."

"Yeah, well. I was kind of done talking." And I was kind of hoping you'd all gotten the hint.

"Sammy, you know…"

"Oliver, I'm really not in the mood today okay. If this is how it's going to be, I might as well leave now." Sam offered. "I have other things I could be doing or I'm sure I can find someone…"

"That's what I'm afraid of." Oliver mumbled.

"What?" Sam was hoping he hadn't heard him right.

"Nothing…you're staying here…relax. You don't have anything else to do."

The rest of lunch was fairly subdued and Zoe tried to fill the uncomfortable silence with stories about their girls who were currently staying with friends for the afternoon. The minute they finished eating, they moved to the family room and sat down in front of the big screen TV. The game they wanted to watch had already started.

Sam tried to enjoy the game, but he found that every so often Oliver or Zoe would be giving him a look. He had really been hoping to get through the day without another lecture about Andy; because not only did it irritate him, but it also kept reminding him of what she was going through and what little he could do to help.

It was finally time to leave for work and Sam heaved a sigh of relief; he thought he was going to get out unscathed as he rushed for the door, but Oliver stopped him. "Sammy, I know you don't want to hear this and I'm not going to go on and on, but I just want you to know that it's only because we want what's best for you. We're worried."

Sam looked back at them. "What makes you think that Andy's not best for me? How do you know she isn't?"

"Well what kind of woman jumps so quickly from one man to another?" Zoe asked, only really knowing what Oliver had shared with her.

Sam was shocked; he had never heard Zoe say anything remotely negative about anyone, especially someone she didn't know. Zoe almost recoiled from Sam's look; he wasn't angry but the disappointment was clear.

"I'm not sure what you guys think you know or what you've heard, but Andy has not jumped from one man to another. In fact, she's the one that's been putting on the brakes. If it was up to me…"

"Putting on the brakes?" Oliver interrupted. "Callahan just broke up with her on the weekend and she's crying to you before the week is even up. And then you're picking her up from work and taking her home. What do you call that?"

"I call it helping a friend."

"Sammy, you know you don't think of her as just a friend."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with helping her." Sam grumbled.

"There is if it means more to you than it does to her. She needs to start thinking about someone else besides herself."

"Are you kidding me? Of course she's thinking about herself right now and how can you blame her?"

Something in Sam snapped and his voice started to get louder. "How would you feel if you had to give part of yourself to a man that has done nothing but make your life miserable. Do you think it's easy for her to watch him throw his life away only to realize that she may be his only hope once again? And this time she might literally have to cut herself open to save him. She's done nothing but put his needs before hers in the past so sue me if I agree that she deserves to think about herself right now. And I'm sorry if you don't agree that she deserves some support from her partner? "

When his tirade was finished, Sam looked up to see the same look of shock on the faces of both Oliver and Zoe. As his eyes darted between theirs, he immediately realized what he had done and panic started to set in. Sam sat down before his legs gave out. Zoe and Oliver exchanged looks of concern. They had never seen Sam so overwhelmed before.

"What's wrong?" Zoe asked anxiously as she moved to place a hand on his shoulder. "Do you need anything?"

"I betrayed her." He said so quietly she wasn''t sure they heard him correctly.

"What?"

"I broke her trust." He repeated, almost like he couldn't believe it himself. "I know you don't know her very well, but she doesn't trust many people and she trusted me…and I just blew it." He dropped his head into his hands. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. She's going to hate me."

"She won't hate you." Zoe swore. The girl would have to be crazy to hate Sam.

"Maybe not, but if she can't trust me, she'll never… Dammit." He yelled.

"It's fine Sammy." Oliver assured him. "You know we won't say anything."

"I know but that's not the point. You guys are so worried that she's going to break my heart or that she's not good enough for me when it's the other way around. Dammit! She finally trusted me; I mean completely trusted me and I let her down just like everyone else she ever let herself believe in."

Zoe sat down next to him and just rubbed his back. Neither she nor Oliver knew quite what to say to Sam. When he finally seemed to calm down a little, Oliver confirmed. "Her Dad?"

"He's been in the hospital all week." Sam replied. "That's all I'm saying."

"Oh." Oliver responded; he didn't know what else to offer.

He and Sam left for the station in silence. He knew his friend was hurting and it was not at all how he thought it was going to happen.

Andy had woken up just before 10:00am and after making a quick breakfast she made her way to the hospital. She was spending the afternoon with her dad.

When she got there, he let her know that they would be meeting with the doctor tomorrow to find out the full extent of his condition and what further treatment it would entail. Apparently, it was also very likely that he was going to be going home then, as his condition had stabilized.

After a couple hours with her dad, Andy took the bus home for a quick nap and shower in preparation for the first evening shift of the week. Sam would not be waiting with coffee today though; he was at Oliver's watching football and they would be coming in together.

Even though she knew he wouldn't be coming to get her, she was content in the knowledge that she knew where he was and what he was doing, and that he had wanted to share his plans with her. And with those thoughts, she quickly fell asleep.

When Andy finally got to the station, she was running a little late. She had hit the snooze button on her alarm one too many times and didn't even get a chance to shower before she came in. She put her uniform on in record time and was about to go to parade when Noelle walked back in. She had been waiting for the room to empty.

"McNally, can I talk to you for a minute." She asked.

"Sure." Andy replied.

Noelle had been rethinking her conversation with Sam ever since she got up that morning, and she decided she needed a little more information. She didn't think Sam would be eager to talk to her, and besides she always preferred to go straight to the source. "What happened with you and Callahan?"

"What do you mean?" Andy was surprised. She and Noelle had rarely had a personal conversation, though Andy was pretty sure this wasn't really about her.

"I mean…you broke up right?"

Andy knew that Noelle had reservations about her and Sam as a couple. Although she hadn't planned on talking about this to anyone else, she was hoping that it might alleviate some of Noelle's concerns. She had told Traci last night that Sam's friends needed to accept her; maybe this could be a step in the right direction.

"We had a disagreement on the weekend and I realized that it wasn't going to work so I broke up with him." Andy replied.

"You broke up with him?" Noelle clarified.

"Yes."

"You realize how it looks?"

"I do." Andy answered truthfully. "But I'm not going to keep dredging it up. It's over and I need to move on. I don't have time to worry about it right now; I have some personal things that I need to work through and they're more important than 'how things look'. I just want it to go away so I can get on with…my life."

"OK." Noelle said, knowing exactly what Andy meant by 'my life'.

It probably would have bothered her more last night, but she had just gained a new-found respect for Andy and she realized that it was time she let Sam make his own decisions when it came to his partner. Noelle turned to leave.

"Officer Williams?" Andy called her back.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?" Noelle wondered.

"For asking." Andy answered sincerely. "Most everyone else just assumed and didn't even bother to find out…so I really appreciate that you took the time to come and ask."

Noelle felt a little guilty, knowing that her motivation to ask wasn't that pure, but she simply said, "You're welcome."

When Andy got into parade, she tried to catch Sam's eye but he wouldn't even look at her. She couldn't understand why; it was the last thing she expected after exchanging late night greetings with him last night. Even once they got out to the cruiser and started riding around, he stayed quiet and avoided eye contact.

After a half hour, Andy had finally had enough. "Sam, what's wrong? Did I…"

She thinks it's her fault. He couldn't take the guilt; he had to tell her and hope for the best. "Please don't be mad, Andy. I didn't mean to; it just came out. I know I shouldn't have, but they won't tell anyone."

"Sam, slow down. What are you talking about?" Andy was thoroughly confused.

Sam pulled over to the side of the road. "I went the Shaw's for lunch and football today."

That wasn't news. "I know. You told me on Saturday that you were going."

"I know, but it just came out."

"What came out?"

"About your dad." He replied as he let his head flop back onto the seat.

This was not at all what Andy had expected; she thought she should be angry but for some reason she wasn't...at least not yet. She decided to hear him out first. "What about him?"

"Andy, you told me that people were giving you a hard time about me. Well they've been giving me a hard time too. For the last few days, my friends have been taking it upon themselves to make certain that I'm sure about you."

Sam could instantly sense the change in Andy's demeanor. He lifted his head off the seat and leaned over to grab her chin so he could look her in the eye. "I am you know."

She tried to give him a small smile in return.

He dropped his hand and turned to stare out the front windshield. "They have no idea what's going on and it's been so hard to hear them talk about you knowing that they are completely wrong. Anyway, I finally cracked." He paused to take a deep breath. "I was over at the Shaw's and they were asking about you…well, more than asking…and I just blurted it out."

"They know he's sick and in the hospital, but I didn't tell them why or anything else." He assured.

He turned in his seat to face Andy, but couldn't meet her gaze. Instead he just stared down at her hands. "I hate that you can't trust me anymore, Andy, but please say you don't hate me."

She put her hand on his. "Sam?"

"What?" He asked, still too ashamed to look at her.

"Sam, look at me." She ordered.

He looked up and was surprised to see that she wasn't angry. He didn't see hatred or disappointment either.

"It's ok." She promised.

"It is?"

"Yes, if anything, I trust you even more."

"How?" He couldn't believe it.

She wasn't entirely sure how or why. But although she was a little disappointed, she knew for a fact that he hadn't done it on purpose. "First because I can see how much you've already beaten yourself up over it. And second, you could have hid this; if they didn't say anything, I might have never known. But you still told me, and that means a lot."

He dropped his gaze and put his other hand on hers; he was completely relieved. "God, Andy, I was so scared. I thought I blew it. We hadn't even started and I thought I already blew it. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For forgiving me."

"What can I say? You're irresistible when you're begging." She teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Begging?" He looked up just in time to catch the twinkle in her eye before she laughed.

He grinned and turned to look out the window. "Fine I was begging, but don't let it get out; you wouldn't want to ruin my reputation."

That was not the right thing to say and Andy immediately became quiet. Sam looked back over to see that the smile was gone and he realized what she must be thinking. "Andy, no. I know people are going to talk. Hell they already are. But I don't care what other people think."

"Even when it's your best friends?" She couldn't help but wonder.

"They'll come around."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know them, and I know they'll just be happy that I'm happy. And Andy…being with you makes me happy."

She smiled shyly. "I hope you're right."

"I am right…and I mean Ollie is already figuring it out." He remembered before suggesting, "but it might go faster if we let the others know. Are you sure you don't want to tell people?"

"I'll think about it." She offered.

Sam left it at that.

He had just pulled away from the curb when a call came in. Andy flipped the light as Sam headed to the scene, thankful that they were able to get it out in the open so fast. After starting the evening so worried that he was going to have to suffer all shift, he now felt like he could at least breathe again.

For the rest of the night, they made small talk – mostly about Tommy. Andy let Sam know that they would be getting the final prognosis tomorrow before she took her dad home. Sam asked if she wanted him to come, but she assured him that she would be fine. He did make her promise to call him if she needed him though, or if she wanted him to pick them up to take her dad home. She thought that might be OK and told him she would confirm tomorrow.

At the end of the night, after Sam insisted on driving her home, Andy was very quiet and contemplative. He knew that she had a lot to think about.

"OK…you better go try and get some sleep." He advised, knowing there was a distinct possibility she might not get much. "You've got a big day tomorrow."

"I know." She agreed

"You're taking your dad home tomorrow."

"I know."

"You'll find out exactly how he's doing."

"I know." She repeated, trying to take a deep breath.

"…If he needs a new…"

"I know."

"Andy, I'm here if you need me." Sam promised.

And that's when she knew she had been right to trust Sam because she had never been more certain of anything or anyone in her entire life. She leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips before she looked him in the eye and whispered, "I know."