/6/
Sunday morning dawned bright and warm; Rusty ventured into the living room and kitchen yawning an unmentionable number of times, a hand in front of his eyes warding off the bright light. He was tired but sleep had been elusive, he saw no point in trying to force it anymore.
Rusty found Flynn lounging in the kitchen, a newspaper in one hand and a coffee mug in the other. The older man looked up when he heard Rusty, "Morning, kid."
"Morning," Rusty mumbled back, "Sharon asleep?"
"Nope," Flynn answered, "she's out running."
Rusty yawned again, confusion knitting his eyebrows together, "Running – it's what, 8 am?"
"Yeah – she felt restless."
"Hmm."
Rusty leaned on the kitchen counter, head in his hands; he felt more tired than yesterday but then again he had slept badly, tossing and turning, wondering if Sharon was able to sleep or not, wondering if he was going to dream again.
Flynn gave him a wry smile, putting the newspaper down. The lieutenant turned, found a mug and poured coffee into it and gave it to Rusty.
"Thanks," Rusty said, hastily sipping the coffee – it was deliciously hot and bitter. He sighed.
Flynn hummed in return.
"Did you sleep alright?" Flynn asked him, taking the newspaper in hand again, scanning a page before he turned.
Rusty shrugged.
"Hmm – you ready for school tomorrow?"
"I guess."
Flynn gave Rusty a long look and then with an open expression he asked, "Is there anything particular you would like to do today?"
"Whatever Sharon's doing is fine."
Flynn quirked a smile, "Yeah, I don't think we'll be able to keep up today. She's in hurricane mode - kind of impatient – I have no clue what she's gonna end up doing."
"Impatient?"
"Restless and a bit agitated, I think," Flynn smiled to himself, "She's already scolded me twice – apparently I have an annoying way of breathing when I sleep."
Rusty gave a nervous laugh, not sure what to make of it. He knew that Flynn had slept with Sharon in her bedroom but he was not sure what that entailed; above the covers or next to her under the covers. He quickly pushed that thought away; it was one thing to know they were in a relationship of sort and an entirely different thing to wonder about the bedroom arrangements.
Flynn grinned, "You just wait kid – when they start criticizing the way you breathe it's usually better to lay low."
Rusty shook his head in amusement, "or maybe you snore really loud."
Flynn shrugged with another grin, Rusty smiled back. The lieutenant was rather amusing, Rusty thought, just the right amount of humor to lighten up Sharon.
Rusty sipped his coffee and watched as Flynn turned around, sitting on his haunches and looking in the oven, the timer set – Rusty noticed the rolls in the oven then, not yet ready. Rusty had a hard time imagining Flynn baking.
Flynn looked up, catching his questioning look, "Oh yeah – and she got up at the crack of dawn and started baking. Hurricane-mode, I tell ya."
At that moment the front door opened.
"We are in here," Rusty half-yelled, able to tell it was Sharon by the way the door closed almost silently; she always did things with precision. He heard her shuffling and then she came into the kitchen, still panting and a healthy red glow on her cheeks. She smiled warmly, "Good morning you two."
"Morning," Rusty replied, arching an eyebrow at her questioningly.
Sharon came further into the kitchen, her arms laden with a brown bag and a nearly empty water bottle. She placed both on the kitchen counter, opened the brown bag and took out an apple; "I ran into Mrs. Gordon and she gave me all these apples – homegrown."
Rusty looked closer at the bag, the many apples a variety of sizes and colors.
Sharon took a bite of the apple and gave Rusty and Flynn another warm smile. "How did you sleep?" She looked at Rusty, enquiring and her usual self, warm eyes on him.
Rusty shrugged, "A bit – and you?"
Her smile transformed, turning pensive, "I'm sorry – you should have just slept in," she ignored Rusty's question but Rusty knew the way around that, "Yeah, but I thought I might as well get up and do something. Don't worry about it; I'll be able to sleep even more profoundly tonight. You slept without any more nightmares?"
Her smile turned a bit wan, Rusty knew she hated it when he put her on the spot like that – she gave a small nod, "Yes, I slept alright."
Flynn nodded in agreement and Rusty heaved a little sigh of relief.
Rusty sipped his coffee, giving Sharon an encouraging smile. She pointed her apple at the brown bag, "You should try one – they're delicious."
Rusty lifted his coffee mug, "I'm not awake yet."
Sharon shook her head, and then turned to Flynn, "How are my cinnamon rolls doing?"
"Great," he paused, face nonchalant, "they're meant to be black on top right?"
Sharon huffed, a little look of panic in her eyes as she hurried to the oven and then when she noticed her rolls were not burned, she turned around, hands on her hips, "Ha ha, very funny Mister."
Flynn grinned in an insolent fashion, eyes full of amusement, "Gotcha."
"I'm going to take a shower," Rusty said, thinking a shower would wake him up, "unless you wanna go first, Sharon?"
"No, you go ahead," Sharon smiled, taking another bite from the apple; she resolutely avoided looking at Flynn who was staring intensely at her. Rusty wondered if this was the way it was going to be everytime the lieutenant slept over; a mesh of lightheartedness, tension and awkwardness.
Rusty smiled to himself and went back to the hallway. He stopped midstride however, turning around – he had forgotten his coffee and he definitely needed more caffeine. He stopped just short of rounding the kitchen, curious when he heard a conversation start in the kitchen. He'd already eavesdropped once he might as well do it again – it was apparently the only way to get anything concrete out of the two adults.
"What have you told the kid?" Flynn asked, a little strain in his voice that could either be laughter or impatience, "He seems completely unbothered by everything."
"Nothing," Sharon sounded nonchalant.
"Nothing – what do you mean nothing?" now Flynn sounded slightly exasperated, "Don't you think he deserves to know why you're suddenly having sleepovers with one of your lieutenants. Hell, just so he doesn't start blabbering about it all over central."
"What do you want me to tell him, Andy?" Sharon's voice was muffled and Rusty realized she was talking with a piece of apple in her mouth – a sure sign she was exasperated when she did not even give herself time to chew her food properly before speaking, "I don't even know what to tell myself, Andy, let alone Rusty."
There was a short moment of silence, and Rusty was sure it involved them staring angrily at each other. He grinned to himself – they were kind of adorable when they bickered.
"And, just so you know, he's not going to blabber about anything to anyone. There's nothing to blabber about."
"You're kidding me, right? There's everything to blabber about!"
"I didn't mean it like that," she sighed loudly, "Stop huffing and puffing, you – you - "
"You – you what?"
"Oh, you're on my nerves today. Can't you just have a little patience?"
"Sharon – it's not that difficult, it's not rocket science, hon."
Rusty imagined Sharon would give Flynn a scathing look at the little sarcastic endearment.
The lieutenant continued, "You like me; I like you – no big deal. Just tell it like it is."
Sharon sighed, "That sounds absolutely horrible, no finesse to it at all. There's a reason you're not the runner up for public appearances – you're lacking in diplomacy."
"The kid's not gonna care – he just want you to be happy, you know that."
"I know that Andy."
"Good."
Another short moment where neither of them spoke, the sound of Sharon chewing on her apple clear and Flynn rustling with the paper.
"Are you staying?" Sharon asked, her voice soft.
"Do you want me to stay?"
A second of silence, then "Yes."
"Then I'll stay."
"Okay."
"Okay."
There was a long period of silence and Rusty figured he could venture into the kitchen now. He coughed to announce his presence and then snuck into the kitchen. Both adults looked at him suspiciously; Sharon with an almost embarrassed look while Flynn crossed his arms.
"Just forgot my coffee," Rusty told them with a smile. He took the mug and then, "You know, you don't have to tell me a thing. I already know everything there's to know."
"Everything?" Sharon had a hand on her hip now, a flicker of amusement in her eyes – Rusty was glad she was able to understand the situation was sort of amusing.
"That you love each other – and hey," they both looked baffled now, "I'm just happy for you Sharon – just like lieutenant Flynn said I would be."
"You've been doing an awful lot of snooping lately," Sharon said to him with a dangerous smile, completely ignoring his comment. Rusty smiled; of course she would know he had been listening Friday night.
Rusty rolled his eyes, "Apparently it's the only way for me to know what's going on," he gave Sharon a cheeky smile, "You've neglected to inform me that you're involved with him," he pointed at Flynn and Sharon blushed, "and you lied when you said you weren't dating."
Flynn laughed, "He's right, Sharon."
Sharon fixed Flynn with a glare but he continued to chuckle and eventually Sharon smiled wide, "Yes, we're together, sort of – though don't call it dating. That's too – well, just - " she was rambling now, the red tint on her cheeks deepening.
"Cool," Rusty declared and then with a mock-disgusted look, "Just don't go around snogging in front of me, okay! No big displays of touchy-touchy, okay."
"You better run along then," Flynn warned him with a glint in his eyes, approaching Sharon who continued to look overwhelmed. Rusty shook his head but quickly strode out of the kitchen, aware of why Flynn was approaching Sharon with a cheeky smile.
He heard the sound of a kiss out in the hall and Rusty smiled into his coffee mug.
Sharon giggled, "You're impossible."
Flynn grumbled something back.
Rusty quickly went to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He tried to wipe the big smile off his face but it stayed and he did not really mind; he was happy for Sharon – whatever made her smile was a good thing in his world.
/