Author's Note: You guys leave the sweetest, most thoughtful reviews. Every single one of them brings a smile to my face and brightens my day. It really is so much fun to write for readers that are so encouraging and excited about the story. I mean this with the utmost sincerity- Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.

"So Sam Swarek is your neighbor?"

Andy sighed and shot a pained, annoyed look at Traci, who just shrugged guiltily. It was Friday night and they were supposed to be having a girls' night, just the two of them, but somehow Gail had finagled an invitation out of Traci.

"For the nine hundredth time Gail," Andy replied, "Yes, Sam is my neighbor."

Gail stood up from the sofa and went over to Andy's living room window. She pushed the curtain aside and peeked outside, looking into Sam's backyard. "Please tell me he mows his lawn without a shirt on."

Andy immediately thought back to the previous weekend, when she'd been awakened by the sound of a lawnmower. Looking out her bedroom window, she saw Sam outside, cutting his grass. She was about to go outside and bust him for being so loud so early in the morning, but just as she was opening the door out onto her small back patio, he'd reached around to unlock the small gate that separated their yards. She watched as he quickly mowed her back yard as well.

She could have gone out to stop him, to tell him that she could take care of it, but she got the feeling that Sam got some kind of weird gratification out of doing chores for her. And who was she to argue with that, especially when it meant that she wouldn't have to haul her dad's old lawnmower out to do the job herself?

When he finished she stepped out on to her patio and waved at him. He saw her and shut the lawnmower off.

"Thank you!" She called out.

Sam shrugged and then gruffly replied, "I was getting tired of looking at your overgrown weeds."

Andy pursed her lips. "You know, you could just say 'You're welcome, Andy,' like a normal person."

"And you could keep your grass cut like a normal person," Sam said, pulling up his shirt to wipe the sweat off of his brow.

Andy was momentarily transfixed by the way the early morning sun reflected off of his sweat-glistened abdomen. Realizing what she was doing, she scolded herself. "Well," she said, "I guess we're not normal."

Sam let his shirt drop, hiding his toned stomach from her view, and smirked back at her. "Guess not, McNally."

When her friend didn't answer, Gail glanced back at Andy and, seeing the blush that rose to the other girl's cheeks, grinned. "Oh my god, he does, doesn't he?"

"No," Andy said firmly, shaking her head. "He does not." Gail continued grinning at her so she rolled her eyes and relented, "He may or may not have been wearing a black wife-beater."

"Even better," Gail mused indulgently, her voice going low and velvety smooth. "You can help him take it off when he's done. Offer him a cool glass of water or maybe a nice, refreshing shower." Her grin widened and she looked outside again. "I'd let him mow my lawn anytime he wanted," she said, waggling her eyebrows. "If you know what I mean."

Traci scrunched her nose in disgust and threw a pillow at Gail, "Perv."

"Prude," Gail retorted quickly, easily catching the pillow that had been hurled her way. "Don't act like you haven't noticed that there's an incredible body under those police blues."

"I haven't, actually," Traci claimed innocently.

Andy nodded, agreeing with Traci. "And I've never seen him in uniform," she said, "So I wouldn't know."

Gail looked between her two friends and then rolled her eyes. "Oh whatever. That man is living, breathing, walking sex on a stick. He's got that whole smoldering eyes, bad-boy with a heart of gold thing going on. It's hot." She nodded decisively, "I'd do him."

"Except that you can't," Traci reminded her, "Since he's your training officer."

"True." Gail shrugged and the looked over at Andy, her eyes lighting up. "Of course, he's not Andy's training officer. You should totally do him and report back," she said to Andy, "Take one for the team, come on."

Andy rolled her eyes. "I am not going to do Sam Swarek. Need I remind you that I'm dating Luke?"

Gail's lip curled up on one side. "Oh please, we all know that's not going to last long."

Traci saw the hurt that quickly flashed across Andy's face. "Gail!" Traci admonished.

"What?" Gail asked, plopping down into a chair and throwing her legs over the arm. "Sooner or later Andy is going to wake up and realize that Boy Wonder is still completely hung up on Rosati."

"He is not," Andy scoffed defensively, "They broke up months ago. He doesn't have feelings for her."

"Look, I'm not saying it makes any sense," Gail continued, "God knows I hate that skinny little bitch, but Andy, if you saw what we saw every day you'd know that those two are not anywhere close to being over each other."

Andy glared at Gail and then looked back to Traci for support. Traci just smiled weakly and then reluctantly admitted, "I hate to say it Andy, but she's kind of right."

Gail nodded, feeling vindicated. "I am right."

Andy sighed and looked between her two friends. She couldn't silence the nagging voice inside of her that said her friends were right, but she also wanted to trust Luke when he told her that he and Jo were just friends. "I don't want to talk about this," she said. "We're supposed to be having fun."

"You're right," Gail agreed, "Let's discuss something more interesting." She grinned naughtily. "Like Swarek's truly fantastic looking ass."

Andy and Traci looked at one another warily, both fighting to hide their grins. When they both noticed the twitch of the others' lips, they couldn't hold it in any longer and erupted into a fit of giggles.

Laughing, Andy stood to her feet, thankful for the change in topic away from her relationship with Luke. "Who wants wine?" She asked, moving towards the kitchen. Unsurprisingly, she was met with a chorus of "me!"s from her friends.

She pulled the wine out, it had been a housewarming present from Traci, and was about to uncork it when there was a knock at her door. She quickly made her way over to the door and stood on her tiptoes to look through the peephole.

"Who is it?" Traci called from the sofa.

Andy settled back down on her feet. "It's Sam," she said. When Gail squealed with delight and clapped her hands, Andy whirled around and pointed at her, warning, "Do not embarrass me."

"Who me?" Gail held her hands up, looking like the perfect picture of innocence.

There was another knock and Andy took a deep breath before opening the door.

Sam stood in front of her, one hand braced high on the doorframe. "Hi."

His dark gray t-shirt rode up just enough to show a sliver of skin above the boxers that peeked out from his low-slung jeans.

Andy swallowed hard, Gail's declaration of his incredible body ringing in her ears. "Hey," she replied, trying to sound casual as if he, or rather, his ass, had not just been the topic of conversation.

He leaned into her house and saw Traci and Gail. "Ladies," he greeted, nodding his head. Looking back at Andy he asked, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Um no," she said, shaking her head. "We're, you know, just hanging out."

"Oh, okay." His eyes squinted and Andy could tell he wanted to say something.

"Did you need something?"

He nodded and took a step back, motioning for her to join him. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

With a glance back at Traci and Gail, who were both looking at her with wide eyes, Andy stepped out onto her porch and closed the door behind her. "What is it?"

"I need to collect on that favor you owe me."

Andy arched an eyebrow. "What favor?"

"Take your pick McNally," he replied, ticking them off on his fingers, "I drove you home from the Penny, I cut your grass, I've taken your garbage out like, three times…"

"Aw, and here I thought you were doing all that out of the kindness of your heart," Andy teased, letting her head fall to the side.

"Nope," Sam said, grinning, "I've just been racking up favors."

Andy leaned back against her door and crossed her arms over her chest, smiling at him. "Well, I kind of like this… you needing something from me. Let's hear it."

He cleared his throat and his expression turned from playful to serious. "You have tomorrow off, right?" When she nodded he went on, "Jerry called me and needs me to go down to the station in the morning for a couple of hours."

"Okay," Andy said, prodding him to continue.

"Lindsey's already gone to sleep and I don't want to wake her up," he explained. "But I also don't want her to wake up to an empty house in the morning."

"So you want me to babysit?" Andy concluded, surprised. Sam didn't seem like the type of person to ask for help and she was fairly certain he wouldn't let just anyone around Lindsey.

"Just until she gets up," Sam said. "You don't have to stay after that, she'll be fine."

"Lindsey doesn't know me," Andy reminded him. "Won't it scare her to have some stranger in the house?"

"She knows who you are," Sam told her. At her confused expression he told her, "She asked me about the pretty neighbor lady I was talking to when she got home from school the other day."

"Pretty neighbor lady?" Andy repeated, amused.

"Her words, not mine," Sam quickly clarified, his lips curling at the ends.

"Oh right," Andy said, recalling their conversation from the bar. "Because I'm not your type."

Sam grinned. "Exactly. But anyway, I told her who you were and she's seen you around, so she knows you're not a stranger. " He paused and rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly seeming uneasy, "Look, I know it's a lot to ask but I'll pay you…"

Andy waved her hand, interrupting him. "No, you don't have to do that," she said, "It's fine. What time do you want me to come over?"

Sam sighed. "It's early."

Andy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "How early?"

"Six."

He winced when she groaned. "Six?" she repeated, whining.

"The D's office has an operation going down tonight and he thinks he'll need me to help with some of the interviews," he explained.

"The DeLuca case?" Andy guessed.

Luke had been absorbed with the case for the better part of two weeks; from what he had told her, it was a joint venture between homicide and the drug squad to get Rocco DeLuca, a known drug trafficker thought to be responsible for ordering the murder of the prosecutor on his case. That night he was supposed to be showing up at a friend's restaurant for his little sister's engagement party.

"Yep, that's the one," Sam confirmed.

"Why aren't you on the surveillance team?"

He smiled patiently. "Well lately I've been trying to work more regular hours."

Andy could have kicked herself. Obviously he wasn't going to go on the surveillance team, not with Lindsey at home. "Right, of course." She looked at her watch. "Six o'clock. That's in like… seven hours."

"I know," he said.

She eyed him for a stretch and then grumbled, "Fine. I'll be there. I expect coffee though."

"Of course," he agreed readily. Something caught his attention and his gaze briefly flickered over to movement in her window. When he looked back at her she could have sworn that she saw his eyes darken with a mischevious gleam.

Taking a step towards her, he braced his hand behind her and crowded into her personal space, making her move backwards until the door halted her retreat.

"So you're having a girls' night or something?" He asked and her eyes immediately went to his full lips, watching the way he formed the words.

Her breath caught in her throat. "Yes," she squeaked out, her obvious discomfort making him smirk with satisfaction. He leaned in closer to her and just as his body brushed against hers, she put a hand up to his chest, stopping him. "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he trailed his free hand up her side to rest on the curve of her waist and his eyes softened as he bent his head, his lips stopping a fraction of an inch away from hers. She could feel his breath against her face and for a second she was certain he was going to kiss her. She drew in a sharp breath and, as if on it's own accord, her hand ran across his chest to grip his shoulder, her fingers pressing into the solid muscle.

"Sam…" she breathed, knowing she should push him away but not being able to get the message to her hands.

"Hmm?" He asked, brushing his nose against hers, nuzzling her cheek.

"What are you doing?" She asked again, her voice unsteady.

His lips opened and she instinctively tilted her head up to meet them, but he shifted before they made contact and whispered into her ear, "Just giving you guys something to talk about."

Her whole body shuddered at his husky voice and she closed her eyes, at first not understanding what he said. She ran the words over again in her mind and when realization dawned her eyes flew open to find that he had taken a step back, out of her grasp, and was grinning at her maddeningly.

"Jerk," she accused as she narrowed her eyes into a glare, which just made him laugh.

Jutting his chin towards the window he said, "Tell Peck that if she ever wants to go undercover, she's going to have to be a lot more stealth." He turned and practically skipped down her steps. "See you in the morning."

Speechless, Andy watched him go without a word. She took a moment to catch her breath, more affected by his proximity than she wanted to admit even as she stood by herself on her darkened porch. After a long moment, she straightened her spine and pushed open the door to find Traci and Gail standing right inside, both with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

With a heavy sigh Andy stepped into the house. "He could see you, you know," she told them accusingly, shutting the door.

Neither woman even pretended to care. "What the hell was that?" Gail asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"What was what?" Andy asked innocently.

The two women looked at each other and then back at Andy. "Oh girl," Traci said, raising an eyebrow. "You have got some serious explaining to do."

The next day, Andy groaned when her alarm clock went off way too early for a Saturday morning. She threw her covers off and stumbled towards her bathroom, her eyes still clouded from sleep. Her head felt a little achy but she was glad Sam had shown up when he did- she'd kept herself to one glass of wine to avoid what could have been a very embarrassing hangover.

As she quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, she thought back to the night before, to the little stunt that Sam had pulled on her porch. She hadn't been entirely successful in convincing Traci and Gail that there was nothing going on between them and that Sam had only pushed her against the door because he knew they were watching.

"Whatever," Gail said, shooting down her theory, "We saw the whole thing. He looked like he was about to devour you."

"Oh he did not," Andy said, rolling her eyes. "He was just being a jerk. Besides, he told me flat out that I'm not his type."

"The man worked undercover for years Andy," Traci reminded her. "He's basically a professional liar."

"Well, I don't think he's lying about this," Andy said. "And even if he were, I am not interested in him, so it doesn't matter."

They both looked at her, obviously not buying her protests, but when she threatened, "The next person to say something about Sam doesn't get any wine," they let the subject drop.

As Andy was pulling her hair up into a ponytail, she looked in the mirror and tried to give herself a pep talk. She was going to make it very clear to Sam that she was not interested in him and that what he had done the night before wasn't funny, it was rude and disrespectful.

She nodded firmly, psyching herself up, and then finished getting ready. Five minutes later she found herself standing in front of his door, debating whether or not to knock and risk waking Lindsey up.

The decision was taken away from her when the door was thrown open, catching her off guard. Sam stood before her with a mildly amused expression on his face. "It's a door McNally, you knock and it opens."

Andy rolled her eyes. "I know how a door works Sam."

He moved out of the way so she could step into his house. "Well you were standing there for so long, I wasn't sure if you understood the concept."

"I didn't know if knocking would wake Lindsey up," she told him, following him to the kitchen. It was strange to be inside his house- it was laid out exactly the same as hers, just opposite, like a mirror image.

"Ah," Sam said, pulling a travel mug out from one of the cabinets. "Her room's upstairs so you should be fine."

"Okay," Andy said, leaning against the counter. "How long do you think you'll be?"

Sam shrugged, filling the travel mug before pulling another one down. "Three or four hours maybe, I'm not sure. She may still be sleeping when I get home. Coffee?"

She nodded, "Thanks."

"There's creamer in the fridge but I hope you don't take sugar," he said, pouring her coffee, "Because I don't have any."

"No, just creamer is fine," she replied, taking the mug when he offered it to her.

"Okay," Sam pulled a piece of paper out of a drawer and scribbled something on it. "Here's my cell number. If I don't answer you can call the station and they'll come get me." He held the paper out to her and, as seriously as Andy had ever seen him be, said, "Call me if you need me. For any reason."

He didn't elaborate on why she might need him, but she could draw her own conclusions. "I will," she promised, slipping the piece of paper from his fingers.

"TV's over there," he said, pointing into the living room. "I don't know what you're going to do until she wakes up but…"

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Andy said. Sam looked at her and she could tell he was questioning his decision to leave. She assured him, "I'll be fine, Lindsey will be fine. We'll both be… "

"Fine," Sam finished. "I know. I got it."

She tried to smile convincingly at him and he silently regarded her for a moment, narrowing his eyes. Her smile fell and she shifted uncomfortably under his intense gaze. "You're right," he said finally, "It'll be fine." Grabbing his wallet off the counter, he pocketed it before picking up his keys and travel mug. "Alright, I'm outta here."

Andy knew if she was going to talk to him about the night before, she had to do it then. She quickly gathered her courage and then moved in front of him, stopping his exit from the kitchen.

Sam stopped abruptly and looked down at her. He raised an eyebrow and she could read the question written on his face.

"Sam," she said softly, carefully. "I think we need to talk."

He groaned and she knew he knew exactly what she wanted to talk about. "McNally, I don't have time for this, I'm going to be late," he said, curling his arm around to look at his watch.

She put her hand on her hip. "This is important."

"Oh, I have no doubt it's right up there with bringing peace to the middle east," he replied condescendingly. "But unfortunately, I've got to go." He quickly darted around her and headed towards the front door.

"Fine," Andy stuttered, not really having another choice. She sighed and then called after him, keeping her voice low, "But we are going to talk when you get back."

"Can't wait!" Sam called back.

When she heard the click of the door closing, Andy frowned. That hadn't gone quite like she had hoped but she shook it off and told herself she'd have another shot when Sam got home. She fixed her coffee and then walked into the living room, intent on finding something to watch until Lindsey woke up.

There was a marathon of some design show going on, so Andy nestled into the sofa to watch. The hours and episodes passed quickly and Andy didn't hear so much as a peep out of Lindsey. Just as she was starting to worry and wonder if she should check on Sam's niece, she heard a voice come up behind her.

"I can't wait to tell Mr. Oliver you're watching Project Runway. He's gonna make fun of you so much." Andy sat up quickly and looked over to where the voice was coming from. When Lindsey saw that it was Andy lying on the sofa and not Sam, she jumped and her eyes widened with surprise. "Oh wow," she said, her hand coming up to cover her heart. Stating the obvious, she pointed out, "You are not my uncle."

"No," Andy chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm not. I'm Andy from next door."

She took in the young girl's appearance. Like Sam, Lindsey had dark hair and dark eyes and even for her age she appeared to be very petite. Andy noticed that she was practically swimming in a large gray robe, which probably made her seem even smaller. Her features were much more delicate than Sam's and even though she had some requisite preteen awkwardness going on, Lindsey was a very pretty girl.

Lindsey nodded and moved into the living room. "I know, my uncle told me about you." She eyed Andy curiously, "Did you spend the night here?"

"Oh, no!" Andy exclaimed, quickly dismissing the idea, not wanting her to get the wrong impression. "No, no, no."

"So, no?" Lindsey repeated. Andy didn't miss the hint of teenage sass in her tone.

"Yes," Andy said and then shook her head, "I mean no, I did not spend the night here." She took a deep breath and then explained. "You're uncle had to go into work so he asked me to come over for a little while."

Lindsey raised an eyebrow, "Like a babysitter?"

"He just wanted someone to be here when you woke up," Andy told her, knowing that a twelve year old would not want to have a babysitter. "He didn't want you to be alone."

"I guess that makes sense," Lindsey said, accepting the explanation.

Andy noticed that Lindsey was glancing around so pulled her feet up to make space at the end of the sofa. "Do you want to join me?" She asked. She knew Sam said she could go home when Lindsey woke up, but she didn't feel right about just leaving right away. "This episode's almost over but I think another one is coming on."

"Okay." Lindsey yawned as she sat down and brought her knees up to her chest, curling against the armrest.

"Did you sleep well?" Andy asked.

Lindsey didn't turn her eyes away from the television. "Yeah," she deadpanned, "It's a lot easier to sleep in when no one's banging on the wall."

Andy's eyebrows shot up at the pointed jab. If there had been any question that Sam and Lindsey were related, the sarcastic tinge to her words removed all doubt.

"I'm really sorry about that," Andy replied pleasantly, purposely not responding to the girl's attitude. "I didn't realize how thin the walls were."

Lindsey just shrugged. "It's okay."

Neither said a word and even with the television on for background noise, Andy felt an awkward tension in the room. "So…" she said lightly, trying to make conversation, "How's school going?"

"It's fine, I guess," Lindsey replied. After a brief pause she admitted, "It's a lot bigger than my old school."

"Yeah, that can be kind of overwhelming, huh?" Andy scrunched her nose up sympathetically as Lindsey nodded. "You'll get used to it, I promise." Again Lindsey was quiet, so Andy racked her brain to think of something to talk about. "Do you know the Shaws? Oliver and Zoe?"

Lindsey finally looked over at Andy. "Yeah, we went over to their house for dinner the other night."

"Oliver's hilarious, isn't he?"

Lindsey cracked a grin, which Andy was thankful to see, and nodded. "Yeah, he's really funny."

"His daughters are about your age, aren't they?"

"Isabella's in fourth grade," Lindsey said, "And Hannah's in eighth. She's a year older than me."

"Oh that's good!" Andy said. "Do you go to the same school?"

"Yeah," Lindsey nodded. She fidgeted with her hands. "Hannah's really nice. She invited me to go to the homecoming dance with her and her friends."

"Well, that'll be fun!" Andy said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "When is it?"

"Next week," Lindsey answered quietly. "On Friday."

Andy could sense Lindsey's lack of excitement. "Hey," she said, nudging the girl with her foot. "What's wrong?"

Lindsey sighed heavily. "I think it's just a pity invite," she confessed. "I bet her parents made her ask me."

"Oh no, I'm sure that's not it," Andy promised, her brow furrowing. She reached out and patted the girl's leg. "She wants you there."

Lindsey shrugged, unconvinced, and turned her attention back to the television. The episode Andy had been watching was over and a new show, one Andy had never seen or heard of, was coming on.

"This looks like a really dumb show," Lindsey commented after the opening credits.

"Would you rather watch a movie?" Andy offered.

"Sure, whatever," Lindsey agreed indifferently, propping her elbow against the armrest and cushioning her head in her hand.

When Lindsey made no effort to move from her spot, Andy got up from the couch and walked over to the DVD towers that stood next to the television. Scanning her eyes over the titles, she found that the movies had been arranged in alphabetical order. "Your uncle's pretty organized, huh?"

"Oh yeah," Lindsey said. "He's a big time neat freak." She laughed to herself and then told Andy, "He even irons his jeans."

"No way!" Andy exclaimed, dropping her jaw dramatically before laughing along with Lindsey. She mentally filed the information away for later use. There weren't very many movies Andy thought Lindsey would be interested in, Sam's collection consisted mostly of actions films and the occasional historical biopic, but she called out a couple of options and they finally decided on one.

"You know Lindsey," Andy offered cautiously, popping the DVD out of it's case and sliding it into the player. "I could help you get ready for the dance if you wanted. We could do your hair and your nails and maybe some makeup, as long as your uncle says its okay. We could make a spa day out of it. What do you think?"

She turned back around to Lindsey and her heart immediately sank in her chest.

Lindsey's chin was quivering and tears were welling up in her eyes. "Oh Lindsey," Andy murmured, impulsively crossing the room to wrap her arms around the thin girl. By the time she reached her, big crocodile tears were starting to fall down her cheeks.

"Oh sweetie," Andy said quietly, feeling incredibly helpless, "What's wrong?"

Lindsey hiccupped, trying to stop herself from crying, but she just ended up crying even harder. Her fingers clutched at the back of Andy's shirt and Andy could feel the girl's tears seeping through the material.

"It's okay," Andy assured her, rubbing her hand up and down Lindsey's back. "It's okay, you can cry."

She held the girl as she cried, supporting her as the uncontrollable sobs wracked through her small body. Andy wasn't certain what had triggered the meltdown but she didn't have to ask what it was about.

Lindsey's sobs were gut-wrenching and Andy found herself physically hurting for the girl. She had been just a little younger than Lindsey when her mother left and while she knew the experiences weren't exactly the same, she felt like she could understand a little bit of the pain that the girl was dealing with. She remembered how there were times when she was happy one minute and then the next something would remind her of her mom and she wouldn't be able to stop the flood of tears that sprung from her eyes.

After a few minutes Andy heard the front door slam and looked up to find Sam staring at them in horror. "What the hell is going on?" he asked, moving into the living room.

Andy shrugged helplessly, still holding on to Lindsey. "I'm not exactly sure," she answered honestly, shaking her head. "We were talking about the school dance and then she got upset…"

Lindsey drew in deep, heaving breaths, trying to calm herself down so she speak, but when Sam grabbed her shoulders and tugged her to him, she broke down again, weeping into his shirt.

"I'm so sorry, Sam," Andy said, letting him pull the sobbing girl away from her, "I really don't know what happened."

Ignoring her, Sam smoothed Lindsey's hair down and pressed his lips to the top of her head, whispering words that Andy couldn't make out.

She stood by uncomfortably, her heart aching as she watched Sam try to comfort his inconsolable niece. Not knowing what else to do, she reached her hand out to rest it on Lindsey's back.

Sam saw her hand and looked up from his niece. "Get out," he demanded, his voice cold and his eyes hard as stone.

Andy's shoulders sagged and her brow furrowed, confused at his sudden anger. "Sam…" she tried again, but he cut her off.

"Now," he said firmly, his tone harsh. "Get out now."

Hurt, it took her a moment to react. When she did, Andy swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay," she said. She glanced around the room and gathered her things quickly. With a final glance back at Sam and Lindsey, she quietly slipped out the front door.