I think I shocked some people last chapter with Andy finding & keeping the ring. It's just that finding the ring/the engagement played such a big part of the season I wanted to include it in some way….and I love a little angst here and there. :) All will be revealed about the ring in this chapter, which takes place during episode 2x03.

Reviews are wonderful, so please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.

Chapter 4

It had been less than 24 hours since Andy found the engagement ring and she was preoccupied thinking about it. As she gazed out the cruiser's window as Sam drove, she couldn't figure out why she took it with her. It seemed easier at the time – stuff it in her suitcase and forget about it. But she couldn't forget about it. Sam noticed she was in her own world, and thought about how she hadn't seemed herself when she dropped his truck off the night before. He was about to bring it up and make sure she was okay when they were called to a multi-vehicle accident.

Three severed heads was definitely not what they expected to find in the trunk of one of the cars. It did take Andy's mind off the ring, however. She cringed and tried not to look as Jerry and Sam discussed the gender of the heads.

Sam quickly began to wish he hit the man fleeing the scene once they discovered he stopped taking his anti-psychotics and then decided to steal the heads from the hospital he worked at. Andy had a bad feeling when she learned this Daniel Baird guy had become obsessed with her after she tried asking him questions at the hospital. The feeling only got worse when the radio crackled to life with a disturbance on the street where she had lived with Luke.

"That's the street where Luke lives," Andy said when she heard the location over the radio. "Why would – oh god, he's trying to find me."

They rushed to the scene, arriving to find Dov handcuffing Daniel Baird, and Gail holding up a gun that wasn't hers. Andy recognized it as Luke's and began running toward the condo she shared with him for a short time. Sam was close behind. When she entered the condo, she immediately saw Luke lying on the floor, a pool of blood under him.

"Luke! It's me, Andy," she said, tears filling her eyes. She might have broken up with him, but she still cared about him as a friend. She never wanted anything bad to happen to him. As she stared at the blood gushing out of him, all of Andy's police instincts flew out the window. She didn't think about radioing for help and simply called out for Sam as she pressed her hands over Luke's wounds.

Sam found her kneeling next to Luke's body, blood covering her hands as she tried to stop the bleeding. He radioed the situation in before trying to get Andy under control. "He's breathing. Cloths, get some cloths from the kitchen. Hey, McNally! Get some cloths or towels or whatever from the kitchen, alright. He's still alive."

Andy tore through the kitchen, not remembering which drawer held the towels. So, she grabbed one off the counter, along with several plastic baggies.

"Alright, just apply pressure there. That's it. It's going to be alright," Sam tried reassuring Andy. When that didn't work, he knew what would. He had to get her to focus on him. "Look at me, it's going to be fine. He's still alive. Just stay with me."

He made sure she kept her eyes on him, that she didn't look at the quickly growing pool of blood on the floor. He held one hand over hers, hoping to help comfort her. He kept her eyes on his, although he couldn't read them like he usually could. He stayed like that until paramedics arrived and carted Luke off on a stretcher. As Andy walked back to the cruiser, weaving through the other officers who responded to the scene, she was in a daze and Sam couldn't figure out what she was thinking or feeling.

It was hours later when Sam, Andy and half the division was filling the hospital's hallway. She had washed Luke's blood off her hands. Scrubbed so hard her hands were raw. And now she sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair waiting for news on whether Luke would survive. Jo arrived, explaining how Andy's business card was found on Daniel Baird and he must have tracked down the house by looking up her name. Jo did little to hide the blame she put on Andy for being the cause of Luke getting shot. That was when Andy sat back in the chair and tears fell down her cheeks.

"It's my fault," she muttered. "This is all my fault."

"Ignore her," he said, nodding toward Jo. "You are not to blame for some crazy guy shooting Callaghan."

"He got to him because of me," she said, standing up to pace. "It should be me lying in there not him. Daniel Baird wanted me."

Sam was about to comfort Andy, when a doctor came out informing Frank that they removed all the bullets and Luke was going to be fine. When the doctor asked if there was any family, Andy thought about the engagement ring buried in her suitcase at Traci's. Frank responded that the family couldn't get there until the next day, and that's when Jo stepped forward pleading she be allowed to see him because they were old friends and lovers. The doctor relented and let her in the ICU. Andy's eyes followed Jo down the hall, repeating the word 'lovers' in her head. They had dated? She thought back to the looks she'd seen Luke and Jo share since she transferred to their division and it all started to make sense. Andy wondered if they'd slept together since she was back and was surprised when a twinge of jealousy hit.

As Sam watched Andy continue to pace the hallway, he wondered if she still had feelings for the detective. There was something about the look in her eyes. He couldn't really explain it, but it made his heart break a little. If she left him, he knew he couldn't sit by and watch. If that happened he'd sit in a wire room for Guns and Gangs all day if it meant not having to see her with someone else day after day. Sam shook the thoughts out of his head.

Andy looked down at the stained tile floor as she paced. She glanced over at Sam, then to the door of the ICU. What was she supposed to do? This was her fault. Maybe if she hadn't moved out, maybe if she hadn't given the girl her card, maybe if she'd been more aware that Daniel was trying to find her and warned Luke – the maybe's and what if's were haunting her.

Maybe Luke getting hurt and finding the ring were signs. Maybe the universe was telling her he was part of her life plan. Heck, she had broken up with him and he still refused to leave her. And Sam, well, he loved undercover work and it was only a matter of time until he left on another deep cover assignment. No matter what he said, she knew he couldn't stay away from that, and eventually he'd leave her and break her heart. She didn't know if she could handle that.

They eventually headed back to the station, but the silence in the cruiser worried Sam. Something was wrong, but he wasn't going to push her. After changing out of his uniform, Sam walked into the women's locker room and as he hoped, Andy was still there. She glanced over at him before continuing to place things in her bag.

"Need a ride?" he asked, sitting next to her.

"Uh, no, Traci's just about to leave, so I'll catch a ride with her." Andy couldn't look Sam in the eye, so she fidgeted with her bag.

"Andy, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, Sam."

He knew she wasn't though. "Is this about Callaghan?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

"I just need to be alone, to think through some things. I'm just, things are confusing right now," Andy replied. She looked up at Sam not knowing what else to say, but the look on her face said it all.

He got up, ready to walk out, but hesitated and leaned against the lockers. "It's not difficult Andy. You either want to be with me or him."

Andy looked up at Sam and sighed. "I feel like the universe has a plan for me, that maybe I've been trying to fight that plan."

"Your entire life doesn't have to follow a plan. It's okay to go with your gut, or your heart," he said softly.

Throughout her life, she followed plans, five year plans, ten year plans. She always had her life figured out. "Plans are good," she said.

"I bet you were one of those kids who saved her Halloween candy and made it last all year, huh?" Sam questioned, trying to hide his frustration.

"And what, you were the kid who ate all his candy in one night?" she asked smirking.

"No, just the good stuff, then I threw the rest out," he replied.

"See, you can't do that, you've got to save the good stuff," she said.

"Save it? What for?"

"I don't know, later."

"Why are we talking about candy?" Sam asked.

"You brought it up."

"So, you have plans," Sam said, getting back to where the conversation started.

"Look, I've always had plans. You follow a plan and you can't get hurt by something unexpected. Plans got me through living without a mom, through college, the academy, reaching my goal to become a cop. Plans work for me, or they did," she said, the last words coming out at almost a whisper.

Sam looked down at her, urging her to continue.

"My plan called for finding a nice boyfriend, finally choosing the good guy, the safe guy, the guy who couldn't hurt me," she said, rolling her eyes at herself. "We'd meet, move in together, get engaged, get married, have kids. It was all in the plan."

"And Callaghan fits nicely into that plan." Sam wasn't sure if he was asking a question or stating a fact.

"I didn't expect my head and my heart to, uh, pull me in two different directions, with two different plans. I'm just, uh, it's confusing. I need time to sort through my feelings," she said.

If Andy kept talking she was going to break down in tears, and she couldn't let that happen in front of Sam right now. So, she picked up her bag and quietly made her way out of the locker room to find Traci. Sam sighed as he pushed himself off the lockers. The happiness that had filled his heart in recent weeks was replaced with sadness, and he walked out of the station feeling crushed. He headed home to drown his sorrows.

Andy lay awake most of the night having an internal debate. From the first day on the job, she had wanted Sam. Dreamed about him more than she cared to admit over the last year. But she didn't know if she could handle it if, no when, he left her and went back to deep undercover work. She couldn't allow herself to fall in love if it was going to hurt so much when he left. Then there was Luke. There was no chance he would ever go undercover. He would be there, at least physically, even if he was tuned out emotionally.

But that's it, she thought. Luke was never there for her. Sam always was. She didn't know why she was fighting what she wanted. Just because Luke had been part of her plan and he had planned on proposing, just because he had gotten shot because of her; those weren't reasons to choose him. She needed to choose the person who stole her heart from the moment she laid eyes on him, and that was Sam.

She tossed and turned most of the night and when morning came, Andy knew what she had to do. She showered quickly and told Traci she had to run an errand before going into the station for their afternoon shift.

Andy walked to the hospital, needing the fresh air to clear her thoughts and think about what she was going to say when she got there. She walked into Luke's hospital room to find him sitting in bed laughing as Jo popped balloons all around him. She knocked on the door to announce her presence and Jo looked up first. "McNally."

"Don't let me interrupt," Andy said, walking over to Luke's bed.

"It's not like that, Andy," Luke said. He tried to reach out and touch her, but Andy carefully kept herself at a distance from him.

"Whatever. I'm not sticking around anyway. I came to give this back," she said, pulling the ring box from her pocket, fingering it with her hands for a moment. "I don't want this, Luke. I shouldn't have even taken it." She reached out and placed the box on the bed. "I'm moving on. I've found happiness and it's not with you. I'm sorry."

"How long have you been sleeping with Swarek?" he accused.

"Nothing happened while we were together," she said.

"Yeah, sure," he said, not believing her.

"You know what? The fact you still can't trust me just proves we shouldn't be together. Take the ring, put it back where I found it. Goodbye Luke," she said, walking out before he could say another word.

Andy left Luke's room knowing she did the right thing. He had just been filling in while she had to wait for Sam. He was the guy that prevented her from sleeping with Sam while he was still TO, which would have gotten them both in massive amounts of trouble. He was there when she couldn't have Sam. But now she could. Everything was falling into place for her.

She leaned back against the wall, exhaling loudly. Smiling, she took out her phone and pressed speed dial 2 for Sam. She was disappointed when the call went to voicemail, but she couldn't wait to see him to tell him what she needed to say.

"Hey, uh, look, I just wanted to say that I, I know that I've got a plan, ya know. And it's a great one. But screw it. Screw the plan because I don't want to save the good candy for later anymore, ya know," she said, stumbling over her words and not being nearly as eloquent as she wanted. "All I want is you. I'm coming over."

As she was hanging up, she heard Luke and Jo talking and couldn't help but overhear.

"You gave her my ring," she heard Jo say.

"It was never your ring, you said no," Luke replied. "She found it, which was great by me. I wanted her to say yes, to stay with me."

"She left you!"

"I want her back. Swarek doesn't deserve her," he said.

Andy shook her head as she walked away.

Sam got out of the shower and while he was getting dressed noticed he had a missed call. He grabbed his phone, hitting the button to call his voicemail while he walked out to the living room. He smiled when he heard Andy's voice talking about good candy.

He barely had time to wonder how long it would take her to get there when there was a knock at the door. He opened the door and saw Andy standing there. "So, I'm the good candy, huh?" he asked, his dimples on full display.

Andy blushed. "You're the good candy," she confirmed before launching herself toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting her lips on his. When they parted, she took his hand and led him to the couch. She had more to say than vague comparisons to candy.

Sitting on his couch, facing him with her legs pulled up to her chest, she didn't know where to begin. "I'm sorry, Sam. I don't know why I had any doubts about us. It was stupid," she said, resting her chin on her knees. "I probably have no right being here right now, asking you to forget how stupid I was, to forgive me."

"Andy, you've had a rough time of it lately. It's a lot for anyone to handle. But I just wish you'd talk to me when you're feeling that way. Don't push me away," he said, brushing the back of his hand up and down her leg.

"I don't want to push you away. I didn't mean to," she continued. "I just - You should know something, part of what had me messed up yesterday. When I was packing my stuff up at Luke's, I found an engagement ring." Sam's eyebrows quirked up hearing about the ring, but he let Andy continue. "Thinking he was going to propose and then him getting shot because of me –"

"That wasn't your fault," he interrupted.

"Still, it all just threw me and I needed time to process it. I'm sorry I wasn't more open with you." Andy looked at her fidgeting hands. Afraid of what Sam might say, she couldn't look him in the eye. He probably thought she was crazy and couldn't deal with someone as nuts as her.

"And the ring? Where is it now?" Sam asked, more from curiosity than being worried she kept it.

Andy looked up to meet Sam's gaze. "Back with Luke. It wasn't even for me."

Sam briefly wondered who the ring was meant for, but that's not what he wanted to focus on. "Are you ready to put all of this behind you? To focus on us going forward?" he asked.

She let out a deep breath and smiled. "Absolutely. I wasn't even sure you'd take me back after how I acted."

Sam shook his head. This woman was going to give him gray hair, but he could never stop loving her, even if he hadn't told her yet. He pulled her onto his lap and nuzzled her nose with his. "Just don't make a habit out of it," he smiled.

Andy rested her head on Sam's shoulder and let her fingers draw shapes on the back of his neck. "Do you think the universe has a plan for us?" she asked.

"Again with the plans?" Sam rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see them.

Andy laughed. "Okay, disregard that question."

"But I do have a plan," she said, slapping Sam playfully when he sighed. "The plan is that I don't care if the whole world knows about us. I don't want to hide it from our friends and co-workers anymore."

Andy could feel Sam's smile as he kissed the top of her head. "Sounds like a good plan to me," he said, hugging her closer.

A/N: I realize I rushed Luke's recovery, but I needed it to fit my timeline with Andy going to see Sam the next day. And I didn't want to postpone their happy reunion. :)