Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. Does anyone else ever have trouble getting back onto a schedule after a holiday? I think I'm finally back to normal. Anyway, thank you so much for the reviews on Chapter 16! I really appreciate everyone's feedback... it was better than pumpkin pie :). I promise that the next chapter will be faster than this one!

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.

"What do you think they're doing up there?"

"Building a pipe bomb," Andy deadpanned, not bothering to look away from the television. "Or, you know," she paused and thoughtfully licked at a spoonful of ice cream, "Talking about boys."

It was a Friday night and Hannah Shaw was staying over. The girls had disappeared upstairs to Lindsey's room as soon as they had gotten home from school and only made an appearance when the pizza arrived.

They scarfed down their slices and then announced that they were going to go back upstairs. Andy sat on the counter and watched with a small, amused smile as Sam fretted around the kitchen, pulling out cookies and leftover Halloween candy and asking if they wanted anything as they tried to hurry away.

"Nope," Lindsey called back, the thud of twin footsteps and giggles echoing down the hallway.

"They're fine Sam," she assured him, feet banging against the bottom cabinets. "They'll tell you if they need anything."

Sam exhaled through his nose and put his hands on his hips, glancing around like he was trying to decide if he believed her. "Yeah," he said finally, nodding. "Yeah, you're right."

"I am right," Andy agreed, reaching out to grab a fistful of his shirt to tug him over to her. She grinned when he shot a worried look over his shoulder. "But you know what I could really go for?" she asked, tracing her tongue along her bottom lip before catching it between her teeth.

Sam coughed, surprised, and then put his hands out to squeeze her lean biceps. "McNally, I don't really think now's the…"

"Ice cream," Andy interrupted him, innocently brushing her hands over his chest, smoothing out wrinkles that weren't there. "I could really go for some ice cream."

"Ice cream?" Sam repeated, backing up slightly.

She nodded, pushing him towards the freezer before reaching above her head to retrieve a bowl. "And not that pistachio stuff you tried to feed me last time either. Real ice cream."

Sam smirked but pulled a carton of double fudge brownie out and held it up. "This good enough?"

Her eyes lit up and she let out a happy sigh. "Perfect. You want some?"

"Death by chocolate? I don't think so."

He scooped her out some ice cream and then let her lead him into the living room and onto the sofa. Andy scrambled for the remote before he could get to it and flipped through the channels until she landed on a crappy made-for-TV Lifetime movie.

"Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a masseuse who's actually a prostitute so she can provide for her family, Sam," she said, scooting back against him until he slung an arm around her shoulder. "It's brilliant. We have to watch it for, like, research purposes."

Sam grumbled under his breath but seemed far too concerned with what was going on upstairs to actually do anything about it.

"I think I'd prefer the pipe bomb," Sam muttered in response to Andy's prediction that Lindsey and Hannah were talking about boys.

"Relax, they're probably just dissecting everything grocery boy said today," Andy told him, her teeth clinking against the metal spoon. "Trying to decide if he likes her or if he like likes her."

Sam sighed and rubbed his hand over his jaw. "I can't believe you haven't gotten that kid's name yet," he said, looking back towards the stairs as he absentmindedly stroked his fingers through her hair.

Andy craned her neck to glance back at him. "Who says I haven't gotten a name?"

"Have you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe."

He poked his finger into her side, tickling her a little. "Tell me."

"No way," she said, laughing as she shoved his hand away, "You forget that I had a cop dad. As soon as you find out his name you're going to do background checks on his entire family and probably send Diaz up to the school to dig around a little."

"I wouldn't send Diaz," Sam huffed. He looked like he was thinking it over and then quietly mumbled, "I might send Peck though."

"See?" Andy said, pointing at him with her spoon, "I'm not telling you. Plus, Lindsey asked me not to, so…" she shrugged and turned her attention back to the TV.

Sam looked down at the back of her dark head. "You're really not going to tell me?"

Andy shook her head. "I'm really not. I made a promise."

"And?"

She glanced back at him narrowed her eyes accusingly. "You want me to break a promise that I made to your sweet, innocent, trusting niece?"

"Okay, first of all, Lindsey's a Swarek so she's not that sweet," Sam told her, earning a burst of laughter, "And second, yes, I do."

"Well, too bad."

He gazed down at her with a vaguely incredulous expression, like he really just understand why she wasn't falling all over herself to tell him what she knew. "McNally…"

"Look, Sam," she set down her empty ice cream bowl and turned to face him fully. "I don't want Lindsey to think that anytime she tells me something I'm going to run and tell you. If there was something going on that I thought you needed to know about, I would let you know, I swear I would, but so far the most interaction they've had is when she hands back homework during math class. I've think they've only had like, one actual conversation and it consisted of what flavor of Jello in the cafeteria was the best. Its not exactly earth-shattering stuff. She just thinks he's cute, that's all."

Sam chewed on his bottom lip, eyeing her carefully. "You're sure it's nothing more than that?"

Andy nodded. "I'm positive."

"She hid behind the counter at the grocery store and they've only talked one time?"

Andy nodded again. "Some people make good first impressions," she said, smirking a little and flicking her finger over a button on his shirt. "Others…" she pressed her lips together and tilted her head from side to side, "Not so much."

Sam snorted, immediately knowing what she was getting at. "She probably didn't wake him up at the crack of dawn."

"He probably wasn't a jerk to her," Andy shot back.

"She probably wasn't a pain in the ass."

Andy's mouth gaped open, feigning insult, and then she shoved her elbow back into his stomach. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, not really, but he let out a grunt anyway. "I'll show you pain in the ass," she muttered with a scowl.

Sam grinned and before she knew what was happening, he wrapped his arm around her waist and hauled her back up into his lap. He was careful, still mindful of her ribs, but he was starting to use a little bit more of his strength again and wasn't quite so gentle.

Andy was just glad he wasn't treating her like she was made of glass anymore. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't appreciated his concern and his gentleness but after a week of being handled with kid gloves she was happy he was loosening up.

"Sam!" she squeaked, squirming around and halfheartedly struggling to get out of his grasp for no other reason than just not wanting to give him the satisfaction of winning their stupid little fit. She finally gave up and relaxed against his chest with an exasperated huff.

He just chuckled and planted a kiss against her temple, ruffling her hair a little until she leaned her head onto his shoulder.

"We should totally do this," Andy said, gesturing towards the screen as she stretched her legs out along the length of the sofa.

Sam's brow furrowed when he looked down at her. "What?"

"Set up a sting operation out of a massage pallor," she said. "I bet we'd get tons of johns."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, focusing the movie for a second. "You gonna wear one of those little…" he pointed at one of the scantily clad women on the screen and waved his finger around, "Outfits?"

He didn't sound entirely on board with the idea.

"No way," Andy scoffed. "I'd have to be the receptionist or something. I was a terrible prostitute." At his expression she clarified, "We did a john sweep a couple months ago. Ugh," she scrubbed her hand over her face, "It was… embarrassing and horrible and I totally froze up."

Sam chuckled, his chest rumbling against her shoulder, and she looked back at him and narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. He was still laughing to himself though, his eyes twinkling like he was thinking something he couldn't say out loud.

She jabbed her finger into his ribs. "What?"

"Nothing," he insisted, grabbing a hold of her wrist to keep her from poking at him again.

Andy jutted her chin out. "Tell me," she demanded.

Sam's mouth twisted to the side and she could practically see him debating how stupid it would be to actually tell her what he thought. "I just, uh…" he shrugged a little, grinning, "Wouldn't have made you for shy, that's all."

Her jaw dropped slowly and her eyes narrowed even more until she was staring at him through two barely opened slits. "Jackass," she muttered, wrenching her wrist out of his grasp. "There's a big difference between, you know, us…" she gestured between them, "And some perv off the street asking me to grab his crotch."

Sam flinched. "You're right, come here," he said, tangling his fingers through the cool strands of hair at the nape of her neck and pressing a kiss against her forehead. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

His gaze soft and he sound genuine. "'S'okay," Andy said, letting her forehead tip down against his. She kissed him, easy at first and then with more intent, nibbling on his lower lip a bit until she felt his hands wander down over her back and settle against her hips, pulling her forward just fraction of an inch. The way she was sitting on his lap – both legs slung to one side, wasn't ideal for what she had in mind, but she rocked forward anyway, grinning against him when she felt his sharp intake of air.

He broke away, eyes immediately looking towards the stairs. "McNally…"

Andy pulled back and cocked an eyebrow. "Now who's shy?" she asked, her lips curling up mischievously.

"Funny," Sam smirked.

Andy grinned and shifted off his lap so that she could sit beside him, curling her arm around his and leaning her head against his shoulder. "I know I am."

Sam just hummed and turned back to the television.

They sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Sam's hand was warm through her jeans and his fingers slowly trailed up and then back down, stopping every once and a while to brush his thumb over the rough material. It was a sort of familiar pattern, one he followed without thinking.

She looked up at him and at casual glance it would seem that he was watching the movie; his jaw was set and his eyes were focused forward. She could tell he wasn't really seeing it though – aside from the fact that he hadn't rolled his eyes or muttered under his breath about how he couldn't believe she was "making me watch this crap" recently, he had a distant look in his eye and his gaze was landing somewhere beyond the screen.

"You ever miss it?"

"The Kind Touch Health Spa?" Sam asked, nodding towards the TV and being purposely dense. "Never been."

She rolled her eyes. "Undercover."

"Oh, that," Sam said, smiling down at her and squeezing her leg. "I don't know, don't really think about it too much."

"Uh huh," Andy replied skeptically. "But if you were to think about it?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, sometimes, I guess."

"Don't worry," Andy assured him with an edge of sarcasm. "I'm not looking for details here or anything."

He took a deep breath in through his nose and then let out a heavy sigh. "Undercover is… I don't know…" he laced his fingers through hers and then held their hands up, quietly inspecting them as he searched for the explanation he was looking for. "You're on your own for the most part, putting together your case. It's exciting. Dangerous, at times."

Andy nodded slowly. "I can see how you'd be good at it," she said. When he raised an eyebrow curiously she continued, "You've got that whole, I'm a badass drug smuggler but you can totally trust me vibe going on."

"Oh I do?" he asked, chuckling.

"Yeah, you do," Andy laughed. "There are probably a bunch of heartbroken drug dealers sitting in jail because of you."

A look darkened his eyes. "I never got the one I was really after," Sam confided. "Anton Hill. You know who he is?" Andy shook her head. "Seventy percent of the heroin that comes into this city comes in through Anton, when he's not pimping little girls for fun. I was two weeks away from arresting the guy when…" he trailed off and then nodded to towards the stairs.

"Oh, wow… " Andy breathed, her brow furrowing. She was quiet, processing what he had said. "Would you ever want to go back, if you had the chance?"

Surprisingly, Sam immediately shook his head. "No," he said firmly.

"No?"

He shrugged. "Things change," he said simply, squeezing her hand.

"Right," she nodded, fighting a grin. "You've got Lindsey now."

"Yeah," he agreed quietly, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. He left his hand on her cheek and ducked his head a little until his gaze met hers. "I've uh," his lips twitched with a smile and he winked down at her. "I've got Lindsey now."

She knew it was true – he wouldn't go back to deep cover because of Lindsey – but the way he was looking at her… she kind of felt like her heart was starting to trip over itself and she could feel the flush that crept up her neck.

Andy couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face and she pushed herself up to kiss him quickly before settling back down beside him. A couple of quiet minutes passed and then Sam huffed and rolled his eyes. On screen, Jennifer Love Hewitt was sending tortured, guilty looks at the tiny little angel figurine that sat on her dashboard. "Alright," he grumbled, grabbing the remote from the coffee table. "We're done with this."

"She's just doin' for her kids," Andy argued weakly, laughing when he shot her an incredulous look. "I'm kidding, go ahead and change it," she said, rubbing his shoulder. "I can't believe you lasted as long as you did."

The following Monday was the tie-cutting ceremony, which, as far as Andy was concerned, was pretty anticlimactic. Boyd stood in front of her with his usual smug expression and as he raised the scissors to her tie, he told her, "Officer McNally, can't say I ever thought this would happen."

Andy pressed her lips together and she waited until he was finished cutting through the thick material to respond. "Officer Boyd," she replied even, arching an eyebrow, "Can't say I'm surprised you doubted me."

A brief look flickered through Boyd's eye, Andy could've sworn it was something close to admiration, and then he smirked. "I hear you're leaving us for fifteen."

Andy nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Well," his face softened the slightest bit. "If they don't treat you right over there…" he trailed off, nodding a little. "You know. Come on back."

Caught off guard, Andy couldn't think quickly enough to come up with a clever response. "Thank you, sir."

Boyd's featured hardened again and he just nodded sharply before moving on to the next rookie.

When it was over Andy said goodbye to a couple of people and quickly cleared out her locker for the last time, shoving everything into her duffel bag, and then caught a cab to the Penny. It wasn't until she settled into the back seat and watched twenty-seven disappear behind her that it began to set in. She felt… relieved. Proud. Happy to be done and moving on. Exhilarated, even, laughing to herself until the cab driver shot her a funny look in the rearview mirror.

The rookies from the fifteenth division weren't being cut loose until later that week but they had all agreed to meet up for a little early celebration. Traci was dominating in darts when she got there, as usual, and before she had time to sit down Dov was slapping her on the back and handing her a beer. "To Andy," he said, holding his bottle up like a toast, "For being done with Boyd and finally coming to her senses and joining us at fifteen."

"Here, here," Chris chimed in, clinking their bottles together. Even Gail managed to crack a smile and congratulate her. Andy felt like she was on a sugar high – her heart was thumping wildly in her chest – and she grinned broadly and called winner.

She had just finished getting her ass handed to her by Traci when she noticed Sam walk into the bar. His eyes scanned the room, looking for someone, and when they landed on her he grinned and tipped his chin up in acknowledgment. Andy grinned back, trying not to be too obvious. They hadn't quite decided how open they were going to be about their relationship so she was still trying to play it safe.

Sam nodded to the jukebox tucked away in the corner and didn't wait for her response before making his way over to it. Andy glanced around to see if anyone was anyone was paying attention. They weren't – a new game had started between Chris and Dov and elementary playground insults were being slung around like mud – so Andy slipped away and crossed the bar.

Sam was leaning against the jukebox when she got there, his arms braced against the top of the glass casing. He was pretending, she assumed, to be deciding what to choose. Based on the release date of most of the songs, the music selection hadn't really changed since her dad was a rookie so she guessed he probably knew what was in there. Even still, he seemed to be deep in concentration.

"I didn't think you were going to come," she said, sidling up beside him. Although she was careful to keep her distance, she let her shoulder briefly bump against his arm. She could only see his profile and had it not been for the way his lip curled up at the end, she would have thought that he hadn't heard her.

"Well," he said slowly, pushing in a couple of buttons before standing to his full height, crowding into her space. "Lindsey had some group project, so I thought I'd make an appearance." Andy grinned and instinctively wet her bottom lip. His eyes went to her mouth, watching her with a smirk, and he leaned in just enough that Andy wondered if he was going to kiss her. In the end he didn't, but he did raise his arm and rest it behind her, boxing her in from one side. He smelled clean- like the soap he used after shift and the fresh scent of laundry detergent.

Andy drew in a lungful of air and wondered why she still had trouble breathing properly when he came near her.

It probably had something to do with the way the dark Henley he was wearing was stretching across the muscles of his chest. Or, possibly, the way his jeans clung to the curve of his ass. She had the sudden, intense desire to reach her hand around and slip it into his back pocket.

She refrained though, just barely.

"How'd it go today?" he asked, lowering his voice.

"Well, Boyd actually cut me loose, so…" she arched her back a little and grinned when he noticed, "I can't complain."

Sam nodded and chewed on his bottom lip for a second. "Congratulations," he said, a slow smile beginning to make it's way across his face. "I'm, uh…" he grinned quickly, flashing his dimples, "I'm proud of you."

Andy pressed her lips together, trying to hide a pleased grin. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded. He glanced over at the bar. "You gonna let me buy you a drink… copper?"

"You sure you want to do that? What if Best sees?" she teased, even though he didn't seem too concerned about the prospect when he'd been pushing her back against the jukebox. The jukebox for goodness sake, like they were in some bad '50s sitcom. Andy would have laughed if it weren't for the glint in Sam's eye.

He shrugged. "He'll just see a guy buying his neighbor a drink to celebrate."

"Nothing wrong with that," Andy agreed, tossing another flirtatious grin his way before allowing him to guide her to the bar, his hand low on her back.

They were halfway through their drinks, making friendly small talk, when Dov and Traci joined them, bumping into Andy and arguing loudly about something that had happened on shift.

Andy tried to pay attention to them but underneath the bar Sam's hand landed on her knee.

At first she thought that maybe it was unintentional, just a reflex of his now, because surely Sam would not, would not, be trying to feel her up in a bar with their coworkers (or, future coworkers) sitting less than two feet away.

But then his finger began to make slow, intentional circles over the spot where her ACL scar was. She tensed and looked over at him but he just ignored her and told Epstein that Nash was right.

"Damn it." Dov groaned while Traci whooped in victory. Sam's hand wandered higher, lightly tracing along the inseam of her jeans.

"I told you," Traci said, pumping her fist. "Andy, next round of drinks is on Dov."

Andy tried to reply but at that exact moment Sam chose to brush his knuckle down her zipper, so her response came out as more of a whimper. Traci shot her a weird look and Sam arched an eyebrow. "You alright McNally?" he asked, running his hand back down so that his warm palm was spread out over the inside of her thigh. His fingers stroked behind her knee.

"Yeah, I'm good," she said, smiling brightly at Traci before turning to Sam and hissing through clenched teeth. "Cut that out."

Sam blinked and took a sip of his drink. "Cut what out?" he asked innocently, tapping his finger up her leg. He stopped just short of her center and smirked when she let out a short, frustrated breath. "You really want me to stop?"

She felt her face flush and she narrowed her eyes. "Bastard," she muttered. Sam's hand was on the move again and against her better judgment she spread her legs wider to give him more access.

"Yeah," he said, chuckling a little when he felt her move. "That's what I figured."

She thought she heard someone saying her name but the sound of blood whooshing through her ears was drowning everything out. Sam experimentally grazed his knuckles over the seam between her legs and then, at the hitch in her breath, pressed the heel of his palm right against her.

She gasped and her hips jumped forward.

Sam grinned behind his drink.

"Andy," Dov called loudly and impatiently, like he was having to repeat himself. His voice cut through the fog that had settled in her brain. "You're up."

Andy stared over at him blankly and blinked, his words not registering fully.

Dov jerked his thumb back to the darts game. "It's your turn," he told her, looking slightly concerned.

"Oh, okay," she said, banging her knees against the counter as she scrambled to stand up onto wobbly legs. Sam discreetly tried to steady her with a hand on her arm. "I'm uh… I'm just going to go to the bathroom first. I'll be right there."

"I'll come with you," Traci piped up, hopping off of her own barstool.

Andy shot a hesitant look back at Sam and then smiled shakily at her friend. "Okay."

When they made it to the bathroom, Andy quickly locked herself inside the stall and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to get it together. She listened and waited until she thought she was alone before cautiously pushing the stall door open.

Traci stood in front of her with her arms crossed over her chest. "So," she said bluntly, arching an eyebrow. "You and Swarek, huh?"

"What?" Andy laughed weakly, trying to feign innocence as she dodged Traci and moved around to the sink.

"Don't play dumb," Traci replied, bracing herself with one arm against the stall so she could look at Andy in the mirror. Her nail tapped a beat against the metal. "I know something was going on out there."

Andy sighed and turned the water on to wash her hands. "I don't even know what that was."

"But it was something," Traci pressed. "Right?"

Andy took a moment to soap up her hands before nodding. She wasn't sure why she felt like Traci was getting ready to lecture her.

"How long?"

Andy turned the water on again and spent an abnormally long amount of time rinsing the soap away before shutting it off and reaching for a paper towel. "'Bout a month," she said, drying her hands. She turned around and leaned back against the sink, her fingers curling around the edge of the counter.

"A month?" Traci asked, her eyes widening with surprise. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I'm sorry Trace, we just… we haven't had the talk about what we were going to tell people and then I didn't want to mess with the transfer…" she trailed off and shook her head, realizing that her excuses probably sounded lame. "I'm sorry, I should have told you."

Traci shrugged, not really seeming too upset about being kept in the dark. "I understand," she said. She was quiet for a second and then asked, "What about his niece?"

Andy felt tension creep into her shoulders at the mention of Lindsey. "What about her?"

"Does she know?"

"Yeah," Andy nodded, "Of course she knows."

"What does she know?" Traci amended.

"She knows that Sam and I are together."

"Yeah," Traci said slowly, "But what does that mean?"

Andy's forehead wrinkled as she tried to piece together her answer. "It means that we're together, I guess. I don't know, Traci, we're just… it's complicated. We haven't really discussed what it means."

"If it's complicated for you think of how complicated it is for her," Traci said. "You can't just do that to a kid, Andy, especially someone like Sam's niece, she needs stability…"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Andy interrupted her, holding her hand up, palm facing out. "I think I know Lindsey a little bit better than you do," she said defensively.

"Yeah," Traci acknowledged, "But I think I have a little bit more experience with kids than you do."

"No offense, but you have experience with your kid. Lindsey's kind of a unique situation."

"I know, which is even more of a reason to think about this Andy," Traci said emphatically. "Have you thought about how much it's going to hurt her if she really gets attached to you and then you and Sam break up?"

"Of course I've thought about it," Andy snapped. "Do you really think that I haven't?"

Traci held her hand out. "All I'm saying is that it's not casual when there's a kid involved, Andy. Leo didn't even meet Jerry until we'd been together almost six months."

"Yeah, I realize that," Andy said, throwing her arms out. "I never said that Sam and I were casual."

Traci blinked twice. "So it's serious then?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Andy shot back.

"It's just, well…" Traci hesitated. "It just seems kind of fast, that's all. I just hope you know what you're doing."

Andy's eyebrows shot up. "You're acting like I've never been in a serious relationship before."

Traci snorted. "The longest relationship you've been in was with Homicide Luke and look how well that turned out."

"Well, I didn't love Luke," Andy replied, the words leaving her mouth before she had time to think about them.

Traci looked truly and completely stunned. Andy imagined if she turned and looked in the mirror she'd see a similar expression. "You love him?"

Andy sighed and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "That's not what I said. Look, we haven't like, sat down and talked about it or anything, but yes, it's serious."

"And it's serious for Sam, too?" Andy went to say something but Traci interrupted her, "I know you haven't talked about it, but just from what you can tell…?"

Andy felt her heart clench in her chest and warmth spread in her belly when she thought about Sam. Or, more specifically, the way he treated her and cared about her. If he wasn't serious about her, she really couldn't imagine what him actually being serious about a woman would like. "Yeah," she said, "It's serious for him, too."

Traci let out a deep breath and visibly relaxed. "Okay, but just… talk to him, alright? Make sure you're really on the same wavelength. I just don't want you to get hurt."

Andy nodded. They had been dancing around the subject, teasing and making jokes about it, but they had yet to actually define what was going on. She knew that it was something they needed to do. "Yeah," she said, "Yeah, I will."

"So," Traci said, a playful smile spreading across her face. "You love him, huh?"

Andy rolled her eyes and brought her hands up to cover her face, letting out a groan. "I didn't say that."

"Uh-huh," Traci teased.

"It's just…" Andy let her hands drop. "It's easy with Sam, you know? With Luke I always felt like I was an inconvenience and that he had to rearrange his schedule to make me fit in but with Sam…." she trailed off, shaking her head, "I don't know, even before we were together…"

"You fit?" Traci offered.

Andy nodded. "Yeah. I do."

Traci's face softened into a genuine smile. "I'm happy for you then," she said, reaching out to squeeze Andy's arm before nodding towards the door. "We should probably get back out there. Dov's probably having a fit."

"Interrogation over?" Andy asked as she crossed the cheap linoleum.

"Just one more question," Traci said.

With her hand on the door, Andy stopped and looked back.

Traci grinned wickedly. "Is it good?"

Andy let out a strangled laugh and her knees slumped a little as she pulled open the door. "Heavenly," she swooned, making Traci laugh as they both exited the bathroom.

They both stopped in their tracks when they saw Sam leaning against the wall opposite the door. Traci's eyes widened and she looked back at Andy, who seemed to be frozen in her place. "I'm just gonna go play for you," Traci said, hitching her thumb over her shoulder.

"Yeah," Andy nodded, her eyes never leaving Sam's. "I'll be there in a minute."

Traci dipped her head to Sam before slipping away. "Officer Swarek."

With a wry grin Sam replied, "Officer Nash." When they were alone he looked back at Andy and raised an eyebrow. "Heavenly?"

Andy wished the ground could open up and swallow her right then and there. She thought quickly. "The new soap," she said, holding up her fingers. "It smells a lot better than what they used to have."

"I hadn't noticed," Sam grinned, playing along but clearly not believing her.

"Well," Andy said, still trying to recover. "You should next time."

Sam chuckled and held up his phone, waving it back and forth. "I've got to go pick up Lindsey, I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Oh, okay," Andy said. She took a step closer to him, which in the already cramped hallway meant that they were almost touching. Sam reached his arm out and hooked his fingers through her belt loop, pulling her the rest of the way until she was right up against him. She jumped a little, skittish, and nervously glanced around, but calmed down when she realized they were alone.

Sam grinned down at her. "You wanna come by later, when you get home?"

She didn't like the way he was looking at her- like he knew that he knew the answer without her having to even say it. Andy felt like she needed to get some control back. "Do you want me to come by later?" she asked, narrowing her eyes and putting it back on him.

"Yes," he answered easily, obviously not feeling the need for power plays.

Andy smiled and tapped her finger against his chest. "Okay."

Sam grinned and kissed her quickly, too quickly, before dropping his hand from around her waist. "Good," he said, leading her out of the small hallway, "I'll see you later then."

He left and Andy rejoined her friends at the darts board. They stayed for a few more hours, making up silly challenges and rules and drinking games, before one by one peeling off and heading home.

On the cab ride back Andy told herself that she was going to talk to Sam that night; that she was going to get his face in her hands and make him tell her what was going on.

It was late – she knew that Lindsey had probably gone to bed hours ago – so she rapped lightly on the door. She was feeling tipsy and silly but she told herself that she could pull it together.

But then he answered wearing a pair of reading glasses she'd only seen him in a couple of times before.

It uh... it wasn't a bad look.

She was caught off guard and literally took a step back, grinning up at him like a giggly fool.

He was trying to hide a grin, she could tell, when he tipped his head down and peered over the top rim at her. "You alright there, McNally?"

She swallowed audibly. "I just uh," she waved her hand around, "Like this look you've got going on here."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, lips twitching and eyes twinkling.

"Yeah," Andy nodded. "It's very, um… sexy professor."

"Sexy professor?" he repeated, licking his lips.

He was clearly amused, grinning so broadly that she thought his face was going to crack. It was a such rare thing – Sam grinning so openly – and she liked it so much that she kinda wanted to see what she could do to make him keep grinning like that.

So, she might have played it up a little bit.

"Mmmhmm," she murmured. She ran her tongue across her top lip and mused indulgently, "Kinda makes me want to jump on you and do naughty school girl things to you."

He laughed, loud and surprised. "Well by all means," he said, pushing the door open and pulling her inside. He pulled with a little too much strength and she crashed hard against his chest but it didn't seem to faze him; his mouth closed over hers and two seconds later she felt her coat hit the floor and his arms hitch her up around his waist.

She helped instinctively, coiling her legs around him, as he kicked the door closed and walked them back to his bedroom. "Come on McNally," he said between kisses. "Let's see if you can earn an A."

She grinned and yanked his shirt up over his head. "So it's a hands on project then?"

"Oh yeah," he said, dropping her unceremoniously onto the bed. "I want you to get a good feel for it."

He reached down for the hem of her shirt and she let him tug off of her before hooking her fingers into the waistband of his sweats. "Is there a, um…" She looked up at him, smiling coyly, and pushed his sweats and boxers down in one go. "An oral exam too?"

He drew in a sharp, overly dramatic breath. "Andy McNally!" he scolded playfully, nudging her back. "What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing yet," she purred, wiggling out of her jeans as he climbed on to the bed next to her. She shoved at his shoulder until he was flat on his back and then she straddled his lap, grinning wickedly down at him. "But I was kind of hoping you'd be up for it."

His eyes widened briefly and he let out a choked laugh, shaking his head. Recovering quickly, he hooked his hands under her knees and easily flipped her in the air, dropping her on her back.

"Sam!" she squealed, giggling delightedly as he crawled up over her.

"Uh uh uh," he chided, reaching down to wrap both of her legs around his waist before bracing himself on either side of her head. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her pointedly, "That's Mr. Swarek to you."

Andy grinned and tangled her fingers through his soft hair as he began planting kisses along her jawline and down the column of her throat. "Mr. Swarek," she exclaimed, her mind going deliciously hazy at the feel of his warm mouth on her skin, "None of the other professors do that!"

They didn't talk that night, at least not about anything important. Later, when Sam was pulling the comforter up over them, he brushed her hair out of her face and grinned down at her. "Heavenly, huh?" he teased.

"Shut up," she mumbled, her words muffled by the pillow she hid her face in.

He just hummed and switched off the lamp before pulling her back against him.

When his alarm clock went off the next morning, Andy groaned and pulled a pillow over her head. She was still leaving early, before Lindsey woke up, but there was a little bit of time before she had to go. The bed shifted when Sam got out of it, he wasn't one to hit the snooze button which didn't really surprise her at all, and a couple minutes later she heard the shower turn on. Groaning again, she took a deep breath and then pushed herself up.

She stumbled around in the room, pulling some clothes on, before padding out to the kitchen to make coffee. Sam usually woke her up by waving a fresh mug under her nose but it was kind of an unspoken agreement that if she didn't have to work that day, she'd be the one to make the coffee.

His coffeemaker was old and slow and every time she had to use it she reminded herself of her promise to get him a new one for Christmas. Maybe one of the ones that used the little pods. While she was stretching her arms over her head, her conversation with Traci came rushing back to her. She'd been able to push it out of her head the night before but then, standing alone in the quiet kitchen, she could practically hear Traci telling her to talk to him, a nagging little voice that wouldn't go away.

When the coffeemaker finally finished brewing, Andy poured two mugs and added creamer to hers, leaving his black. She carefully made her way back to the bedroom, proud of herself for not spilling anything on the trip from the kitchen, and then walked over to the small bathroom.

Sam was out of the shower and standing at his mirror with a towel slung low around his waist, getting ready to shave. Andy handed him his mug without a word and then pressed a kiss against his bare back as she moved behind him. She flipped the toilet lid closed so she could sit on it, pulling her knee up to her chest.

"Thanks," Sam muttered distractedly, taking a long sip of coffee before setting the mug down on the counter. His eyes were still bleary and a little red, like he wasn't fully awake yet.

Andy just nodded and let out a loud yawn, rubbing her hand over her face to try and wake herself up. Sam raised an eyebrow at her but then turned back to the mirror and slathered shaving cream over his jaw and under his nose. He started there first, moving the razor in short little lines along his top lip, before rinsing it with warm water and turning his left cheek towards the mirror.

Andy had never seen him shave before, usually she was hurrying home to get herself ready, and it felt surprisingly intimate to just sit and watch part of his morning routine. He didn't seem to be bothered by her presence, at least not that she could tell. She was struck again with the sense that she just… fit.

"You okay, McNally?" he asked, drawing the razor in a long stripe along his jaw. He was finishing up, tilting his face from side to side to see if he had missed anything.

Andy blinked, drawn out of her reverie. "Yeah," she said. "You uh…" she scratched at a spot right below her ear and then pointed at him. "You missed a little bit."

"Oh, thanks," he said, pulling his skin taut so he could get it. "Is that it?"

She knew that he was asking if he'd missed anything else, but when she opened her mouth to speak that wasn't the question she was answering. "Sam, you and me… it's serious, right?"

Sam turned to her with grin, like he was going to tease her, but when he caught sight of her expression he must have changed his mind. His eyes darkened and he set his razor down before reaching over and covering her knee with his hand, looking at her intently.

Andy wished for a second that she had considered her appearance before asking – there was undoubtedly mascara smeared beneath her eyes and her hair was in a messy rat's nest on top of her head, not to mention the too-big sweats the swallowed her frame.

He was quiet for a stretch, just looking at her, and just as she was beginning to seriously regret bringing it up, he nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Yeah, Andy," he said finally, rubbing his thumb over the dip in her kneecap. "You and me. It's serious."