Thank you for the positive reviews. I hope I can work through the writers block and keep going. Fingers crossed.
Side note: Have you all seen the promo for the next season of Rookie Blue? So pumped for it to start up again!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rookie Blue characters.
Andy McNally sat beside Sam at the bar, animatedly telling him about how her and Dov pulled over a guy twice for running a stop sign. She became annoyed when it was obvious that he wasn't listening to her and instead was staring at a group of women with a sexy grin.
"Should I be jealous?" she asked with spunk.
Sam turned to her with his eyebrows raised, looking innocent. "What?" he asked.
"You've basically been watching that table since I got here," she answered. She was sure that Sam looked at other women while she wasn't around, she wasn't stupid, but to do it right in front on her was really pissing her off.
Sam looked closely at Andy and recognized that expression. She was worried, angry and a little hurt. "There's a woman over there that Oliver's into," he began to explain with a sly smile as he saw Andy's face relax. "He's on his way but I want to make sure she doesn't leave before he gets here."
"Oh," Andy said, feeling a little ashamed for jumping to conclusions. She looked over towards the table of women. "Which one?" she asked as she leaned in to try to get a better look.
"Her back is to us. She's the one in the blue shirt," Sam described.
Andy spotted who Sam was referring to but couldn't get a good look at her. She sat back on her stool and looked over at Sam. "Sorry," she said, giving him a crooked smile and fiddling with her fingers. She felt bad for basically accusing Sam of being interested in another woman.
"Yeah, it's weird. I'm not used to seeing this side of you," Sam answered seriously, then smiled and looked over at Andy out of the corner of his eyes. Andy smacked him on the shoulder and smiled, feeling herself relax again.
"So are you going to go talk to him?" Emily leaned over and teased Heather. She had been trying her best to discreetly watch a man at the back of the bar basically since they sat down. She kept looking over at him, hoping that he would see her. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying her any attention, either on purpose or simply because he hadn't been able to see her through the crowd of people.
"No!" she practically shrieked. Heather hadn't realized that she was being so obvious.
Emily smiled at her friend and didn't push her any further. She herself wasn't one to go up to a man she was interested in so she felt she had no right to bug Heather about doing it.
They had been at the bar for about half an hour and were having a great time. It had become really crowded since they arrived and Emily could tell that it was a popular bar with regulars. When new people showed up they were usually welcomed by others with a loud shout and pat on they back. She had never really been one to go out to bars that often, but as she watched as everyone seemed to know each other, she could see the appeal of having a favourite place to have a drink on occasion.
Emily looked at their table and saw that most of her friends' drinks were almost done. She stood up and grabbed her purse. "Alright, this rounds on me," she stated and waited for her friends requests.
"Rum and Coke?" Heather asked, still blushing.
"Water," Claire said sadly with a raised hand. She had offered to be the designated driver for the night and had opted for water every time someone got drinks.
"I'll have a Singapore Sling," Janelle said loudly, bouncing along with the music.
Emily nodded and repeated the drink order in her head, adding a vodka and cranberry juice, while heading towards the bar. She bumped into a few people on her way and apologized as she went. When she finally reached the bar she squeezed her way in between two stools and waited patiently for the bartender to finish up with other customers.
The Penny was busier than Oliver was used to seeing it and he was greeted by a few old friends as he walked in. After giving the generic answer of "Good and you?" about his well being, he finally spotted Sam and Andy and walked over to them.
"Hey, you made it!" Sam exclaimed, turning in his stool and leaning back.
Oliver sat down beside him and smiled hello to Andy. "Yep, you got me here. Now what are you going to do with me?" Oliver answered, half joking. He was still wondering why Sam was so adamant about him coming out. He looked over at Andy and saw her staring back at him, grinning like an idiot. He knew that look and knew that she was hiding something. "What is it McNally? Why did he want me here so badly?" Oliver asked bluntly.
Andy looked at Sam who had turned to her quickly and shook his head ever so slightly. "Just wanted to spend time with his buddy," she answered with a laugh and stood up. "I'm gonna use the washroom. Excuse me," she added and stepped away, leaving Sam to deal with Oliver.
Oliver watched Andy walk away and noticed how she gave Sam a coy smile before disappearing in the crowd of people in front of the bar. He turned to Sam who was looking back at him and lurched back quickly at finding his friend staring at him.
"So how was your night?" Sam asked conversationally, not really ready to reveal that Emily was there at the Penny.
"It was alright. Went shopping with Abby and Brianna. They're going to spend the night tomorrow. Izzy too," Oliver sniffed and shrugged.
Sam looked at his friend and saw that there was something bugging him. His smile slowly disappeared and he turned serious for a second, leaning in closer to Oliver. "What's wrong?"
Oliver twitched his upper lip and titled his head to the side, taking a look around the bar. "I just miss being a constant in their lives," he paused and turned back towards Sam. "It felt so weird being at the house today. It was like I didn't belong there."
"Well, you don't," Sam answered seriously.
"Thanks brother," Oliver quipped, with a furrowed brow and a fake smile. He shook his head and thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea to come out after all.
"I didn't mean it that way," Sam began, feeling bad when he saw how hurt Oliver looked after hearing his opinion. "You'll always be a part of your daughters lives. A huge part. You just..." he trailed off, unsure of how to explain his thought. He took in a deep breath. He hadn't expected to be talking about this with Oliver. He had expected some light banter before pressuring him to go talk to Emily. He cleaned his throat. "It didn't work out with you and Zoe. That doesn't mean it didn't work out with you and your girls. You're their dad ... a great dad, and they'll always know how much you love them, even if you aren't living in the same house as them," he finished.
Oliver kept his gaze straight ahead, not looking at anything in particular. He was considering what Sam had said and he realized that he was right. It had been very awkward being alone with Zoe for those few minutes before he left, but he had had a great time with his girls before he dropped them off. It was like nothing had changed between them.
He quickly stood up, feeling the need to shake off the serious moment they just had before he could enjoy himself. "Get me a beer will ya?" he asked Sam as he took out his wallet.
"Where are you going?" Sam asked, wondering what he was up to.
"Gotta take a leak," he said, as if it was the most obvious answer, and placed $20 on the bar.
Oh no, Emily thought to herself. She had ordered drinks for her and her friends and as she watched the bartender place the full glasses in front of her, she realized that she was going to have difficulty getting them all back to her table by herself. She quickly looked back and forth between her friends and the bar, hoping that she would catch the eye of one of her friends. Of course, none of them were looking her way.
Fumbling with her purse and hesitating for a few seconds, she eventually leaned in towards the bar. "Um ... just ... just one second," she said, raising up one finger to the bartender. He nodded, annoyed, but continued making her last drink.
Emily turned to try to flag down one of her friends to come and help her, but she clumsily collided with a solid frame, knocking some of the wind out of her. Blinking rapidly out of shock, she pushed out a labored breath and raised her hands in front of her, trying to compose herself before apologizing to the stranger for bumping into them. She felt hands firmly bracing her arms just above her elbows and looked up to find someone she hadn't expected.
"Emily!" Oliver shouted with a huge smile and wide eyes. They were standing so close together and Oliver had his hands protectively holding her arms. He looked down at her and noticed how pretty she looked staring back at him and was thankful she was there. He was surprised and thrilled to see her again and thought that tonight might be his chance to finally ask her out properly.
Emily stood frozen with her hands still raised in front of her chest, almost touching Olivers. She hadn't seen him up close since that day at the coffee shop and she had forgotten just how handsome he was. Emily saw the way that he was smiling at her and smiled herself, but the look on his face when she saw him at the stations parking lot flashed before her eyes, leaving her to feel uncomfortable. "Look, I didn't know you were here," she defended herself firmly and shrugged herself free from his grasp.
"What?" Oliver asked with squinted eyes, feeling like he missed something.
"I didn't know ... I'm not stalking you," she said, going into self preservation mode, then turned to face the bar again. She had every right to be at that bar and she had no idea that he was going to be there.
"Wait ... what?" Oliver asked, completely baffled.
Emily didn't respond.
He stepped closer to her, wanting to know what she meant by that. "Um, what are talking about?"
Emily felt herself growing warm with frustration. She figured that she might as well tell Oliver that she had overheard Sam's comment and his reaction to it. If that was what he thought of her, then he was entitled to his own opinion. But she didn't want to have to deal with him being overly polite whenever he saw her, while knowing that he wanted to get away from her as quickly as possible. She needed to call him on it.
She huffed out a sigh and turned to him, determined to make her point without backing down. That's when Emily saw the confused and worried look on Oliver's face. She saw the way that his eyebrows were pulled together and tilted upwards. She'd seen that look countless times at work on children who were nervously awaiting the consequences for their actions. She cleared her throat, trying to compose herself when she began to almost feel sorry for Oliver. "I overheard Sam call me your stalker," she blurted out quickly but assertively. She took a deep breath and tried to continue when she saw Oliver pull back a little and squint, making her realize that he didn't understand what she was talking about. "I stopped by to drop off a letter for Sarah and when I was walking home I saw you guys ... and overheard the whole thing," she finished then looked at the bartender who had been trying to get her attention to tell her her total.
Oliver watched as Emily handed over her money to the bartender, then felt a wave of relief wash over him when he realized that he could easily explain that conversation. He let out a small laugh when he remembered how Sam had teased him that day.
Emily turned quickly to face Oliver when she heard him laugh, and glared at him. He's laughing at me? Wow, what an ass, she told herself then shook her head and looked back at the bar. She tried to grab the drinks the best she could but fumbled with them and almost knocked them over when he felt Oliver place his hand on her elbow.
"No. No, no, no," Emily heard Oliver say too quickly, before she turned to look at him. "That wasn't what happened," he paused. "Well it was, but ... you have the context all wrong," he was smiling now and feeling a little nervous, but Emily didn't understand what he found so amusing. "I told Sam that I'd run into you a few times since we met and he joked around and called you my stalker. It was nothing really, he wasn't serious," he rambled on then paused again, noticing that Emily still looked upset. "Look, that day, he was just bugging me. It was a stupid comment, but he meant nothing by it. He was just teasing me," he tried to explain.
"About what?" she asked skeptically.
Should I just tell her? Oliver asked himself as Emily looked at him expectantly. He realized that a bar probably wasn't to best place to ask her out, but it would explain why Sam had been teasing him, and hopefully make Emily feel more at ease. Besides, if he didn't clear the air with her now, he was fairly certain that she wouldn't want to see him at all again. He looked towards the ground and shoved one hand into his pocket, trying to work up the nerve to just blurt it out.
Emily watched as Oliver stared at the ground and bit his bottom lip. She couldn't help but feel nervous at what he was going to tell her and wondered why he seemed so nervous as well.
Oliver's chest began to pound as he looked up at Emily. He took in a deep breath and paused. "Uh, ab ... about how nervous I am to ask you out," he finally said, with a grin, like it was no big deal.