"What?" One word. Four letters. Out of the countless options of what she could have said, that is what she went with.
Both she and Nick watched Blackburn with weary eyes, neither one quite sure what to make of his words yet knowing all the same what it meant. 15 weeks into Operation Dakota and the two were skating by pretty easy. Nick was in with their targets and Andy's presence was becoming more and more accepted. They should have known they were due for some bad need by now.
"There has been some chatter that one of you is a mole." Blackburn's face was as grim as the two officers felt. "They aren't buying that you are a couple. I don't want to have to tell you how a couple should act, but if I have to -- well, I'm sure there's a video for that." Both officers wrinkled their noses in disgust at that.
"We'll work on it," Nick promised before seeing their handler out. When he returned, Andy was finishing setting the table, several boxes of Chinese Take Out in the center if the table. "I guess we have been acting more like friends than a couple," the man sighed, sitting across from his partner and serving himself some Beef and Broccoli with rice. Andy didn't say anything for a moment, chopsticks moving easily inside a second container, serving herself a few pieces of Sweet and Sour Chicken.
"You don't think this will mess anything up, right?" Her words were soft, unsure, and she hated how they sounded in her own head. Weak. Scared. Vulnerable. "Acting like a couple. It won't change us being friends, right?" A piece of rice flew across the table and smacked her in the center of her forehead.
"Not a chance." She smiled at his words.
The matter was dropped for the following three days, until Nick's arm hooked around her waist during a party and his lips brushed the side of her head. Until then, none of the crew had seen any displays of affection between them. Before they would laugh it off as just being new to the relationship and not wanting to make it s big deal. But by now they should be comfortable with those displays.
Despite the newness of the situation, Andy found it wasn't too hard to relax into his touch. She could see, in the corner of her eyes, the way the Hank's wife giggled to her husband. Lorianne was nothing short of vulgar when prying for details about Andy and Nick's personal details -- for her, this would be gold.
Andy found herself turning her head into Nick's shoulder with a groan of annoyance. Nick's lips traveled from the side of her temple to the crown of her head, chest rumbling with a deep chuckle. "What's wrong, don't like being my arm candy?" He teased, words muffled against her hair.
"Shut up," Andy grumbled in response, pinching his hip. "You don't have to deal with all their questions about how you are in bed." That drew a louder laugh from the ex soldier. "It's not funny!" She huffed, hand slapping his chest as she moved to pull back, only to find his hold tightening and suddenly his lips were sealed over here, soft and kind. She blinked twice, startled by the sudden move. When he pulled away, brow arched in amusement, she scowled.
"You know your forehead," the pad of his thumb brushed between her eyebrows, smoothing a small wrinkle from the furrow between the, "gets all scrunchy when you are mad. You also get red, it starts from your neck and spreads to your ears." He cracked a bright grin, all perfectly white teeth and charm and Andy wanted to wipe that grin right off his stupid face.
"I hate you," was all Andy could bring herself to say, leaning against his shoulder once more. For once, she was thankful for the poor lighting of the beach house. The darkness shrouded the flush that now peppered her cheeks.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this next chapter! Thank you to everyone that has reviewed this story, I appreciate it! Once we get past their home coming (Month 6), I am trying to decide how to proceed. Would you guys like a set plot story, or would you like to see me incorporate writing prompts instead? Or a plot but each chapter has a specific prompt that goes along with the plot?