A/N: Updates will be slow between this one and the next. I know you're all awaiting the cabin and all it's magical-ness but writing it has me terrified, and I want to get it right. In the mean time, enjoy this chapter.

"There's sand in my sandwich." Sam complained when Andy finally emptied the contents of the tote bag that she'd brought everything in.

She was laying on her back, propped up on her elbows, munching on carrots, occasionally dipping them in hummus, while Sam took a bite into his turkey club and dug to the bottom of the yellow and blue bag, hoping to find some chips.

When he'd showed up at her house that morning, she was still genuinely surprised to see him in navy swim trunks. Obviously he'd have to be wearing them, but they'd worked in thirty degree weather before and he still insisted on jeans. He wore a plain white tee on top, and his aviators - opting out of the safety goggles that she was used to. There were even Nike thongs on his feet, presenting a new level of relaxed Sam.

Andy came out of the house wearing a big, thin white shirt, and from a few feet away, he noticed the white bikini top was visible from underneath. She wore her signature denim shorts, but these ones came off a little more Daisy Duke than he was used to, and he took his time appreciating them. And to top it off, she was still wearing his hat, backwards.

The whole drive to the beach they had both windows down and a burned CD of her own playing, and he was un-offended by every song that came on. He didn't recognize them all, but he could tell there were some tracks on there for his benefit alone.

She found them a nice spot on the sand, a little further out from where the families hunkered down and quite a ways back from the lake so they wouldn't have to deal with sand being kicked in their faces as people made mad dashes to the water. He had thrown everything down and started to lie out their towels as she peeled her shirt off, and he froze.

Her skin all over was olive-y and already tanned from working in the sun most days. There were a couple of hard lines where she'd been burned and the tan hadn't evened, and when she asked him help out with her sunscreen, he paid special attention to those spots. Her stomach muscles were as taut as he remembered and the curves and slopes of her breasts were as inviting as ever. She shed her shorts not long after and he realized this was as much of her lower body as he'd ever seen. Seeing her legs all the way to their tops and not having to work too hard to imagine the rest, he'd let out a low whistle, and she'd turned and hucked her balled up clothing at him, before dropping down onto her towel.

"No there isn't. They were in a sealed container."

He startled, and picked up his jaw, continuing to chew on his perfectly good sandwich.

"Well there's sand everywhere else." He grumbled, brushing a collection of tiny rocks off of his shin to prove his point.

Andy couldn't help but laugh and bite into another baby carrot. He swung his head around to look at her, as she tipped her head back to let the breeze that was picking up cool her neck where her hair had been sitting. Chin pointing to the sky she sighed and smiled unconsciously, looking ten times more relaxed. A feat he didn't think possible. As soon as they put their towels down she was digging her toes into the sand and laying her head on her folded hands.

He studied her carefully and then took another bite and groaned again, and this time, Andy rolled her head to the side, and brought her sunglasses down her nose so she could squint at him.

"Sam?"

"Yup?"

"If you hate sand soooo much, why did you ask me to come to the beach with you?" Andy asked, rolling all the way onto her side now, plenty amused.

He put his sandwich back its Tupperware container and leaned himself back down to one elbow, while the rest of him was facing her. When he got himself situated just right, his face was nice and close to hers, their knees touching and he rested his free hand on her smooth and tanned hip, just under where her white bikini bottoms ended.

He brought his face as close to hers as his neck would allow and then brushed his nose against hers.

"Well, I do like swimming. Don't do much of it at home."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"So, you don't want to be lounging on the beach with me? You'd rather take a cold dip?"

He laughed at her then, breaking the banter, and moved his hand from her hip to trace her jaw from below her ear to her chin.

"Only if you join me."

"But I'm all toasty and warm." Andy said, stretching her free arm past her head and extending her toes too.

"Maybe in a little while then, huh?"

"Yup. Ten minutes."

He let hand come up and move his from her face and tangle their fingers together before dropping them in the sand between the towels. She was distractedly placing handfuls of sand on top of fingers, slowly burying his hand when he spoke again.

"There is one other thing I like about coming to the beach."

"What's that?"

"Really like seeing you in a bikini, McNally."

Half of her was so tempted to give his shoulder a small shove so he fell back onto his back. But with him so close, and the heat still rolling off of him, even with this wind... she wanted to feel his skin on her skin.

So she smiled, tilted her head and leaned forward to meet him, taking his lips in hers.

True to her word, ten minutes later, she lifted her head off of his chest and sat up and started pulling at his arms, trying to get him to stand with her. He'd decided after the exchange of chaste kisses and she laid right along side of him that maybe resting in the sand wouldn't be so bad. She'd been resting their so still and quiet he thought she may have fallen asleep. Then she lightly dragged her finger nails over his chest and through the smatter of hair there, blowing at it every once in a while. But now she was squatted down next to him, putting the food back in the bag and straightening her towel for when she came back, cold and in need of drying off.

"Come on, ten minutes are up. Swim time." Andy said, tapping his thigh and stretching to her full height before he could pull her back down.

"Do I have to?"

"You said yourself, you came for the swimming, so, up up." She said again, hands on her hips this time.

He sat up a bit and looked around at the beach and the busy water. He saw kids running in and splashing each other, and a few girls hand in hand, jumping over the small wave breaks that the wind caused. Then he turned his head to look further down the beach where most of the teenagers had accumulated and were blasting music from their battery powered boom boxes - or whatever they were called these days.

"Plus, you know, this bikinis new. So, I'm not completely sure that it isn't see-through."

She had said it so casually that he was thankful he hadn't been drinking something, cause it would've been a spit take type deal.

He was on his feet in seconds, and gave her a 'I have an idea you're not going to like' look, and started moving toward her. She had the good sense to start backing away, but then he lunged and she shot away, running to the water.

In a well timed race, he was only seconds behind her, nipping at her heels and drove her straight into the lake.

She submerged herself until she was knee deep and then realized she had nowhere else to go and would much rather ease in, so as Sam came forward, she held her hands out and bent her body over a little in a defensive position.

"No, no, no. Sam, don't!" She pleaded, eyes wide, trying to look serious while she silently accepted her fate.

He had stopped when she slowed down just in case she changed her course and tried to get back around him, but now that she had just given up, Sam smiled, and walked slowly toward her.

Andy took one more step backward before Sam was running at her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he hoisted her up into the air. She screamed and kicked her legs while her center of gravity shifted and she was up over his shoulders, and then he threw in the air a little, and his arms were supporting her back and under her knees. She was prepared to wrap her arms around his neck so he wouldn't be able to shake her, when he tossed her and then she hit the water with a smack.

After the initial shock and cold that caused a shiver to crawl down her spine and goose bumps to grow on her skin, she became accustomed before her head broke the surface to take a breath.

The water was only just waist deep, Sam's waist, higher than hers, and when she stood to her full height she watched his face drop with mock disappointment.

"Not see-through. Good to know."

Feet up on the dashboard as usual, Andy relaxed in the middle seat of the truck as Sam drove them out of town. After the first couple of rides in his truck, with her hand trying to rest on his leg over the console, he started leaving the middle seat up. It left Boo out of things when he was with them, but it was easier for them to just touch the other. Right now she was sitting close, but not shoulder to shoulder, her arm over the seat back and her hand scratching at the back of his neck absentmindedly. He had his right hand on her knee, taking it away every once in awhile to turn, but always bringing it back.

"You shouldn't sit like that." Sam said, trying to keep her from dozing while he drove.

"Huh?"

"With your feet on the dash. It's a bad idea."

"Pffft. It's fine."

"Andy, I've been to too many accidents where a passengers legs were up on the dash before a head on collision and-"

"What happened to 'I'm an excellent driver' huh?"

"I am. But I can't help what idiots do."

"Fair enough." Andy conceded, remembering her dad telling her that when she was growing up.

"Seriously, they use the jaws of life, and the firemen have to..."

Sam trailed off when he saw her head relax against the flat of the seat back and pretend to snore, trying to keep from smiling. He laughed and gave her a light slap to the knee and she giggled too, placing her hand over his and squeezing just lightly.

"You know, Sarah's place is closer. You could stay tonight." He said when he noticed her fading.

Andy was completely drained from the sun. And without Ruth always bringing them a pitcher of ice water, she was forgetting to hydrate often enough. Once she got the spins, he decided they needed shade for a while.

Sam had rubbed her back while she sat on a bench with her head between her knees, doing her best to get her equilibrium in order again.

Andy wrung her still wet hair out onto the towel that was still wrapped around her as they rolled on down the road, Sam's statement still on her mind, and thought about how right he had been. The water was so nice, and she didn't swim in the lake much in Toronto either. It was weird, but no one really did. But here, it was so refreshing and she wished she did do it more...

She'd been hoping to get him back in the water, maybe get even for being dumped in. After that little fiasco, she jumped onto his back, pushing him further into the lake and then used all her strength to drag him down with her.

After a bit of water treading and splashing, Sam just stood with his feet sinking in the sand underneath them. With Andy's legs wrapped around his hips, the water supporting her, and they shared one of their best kisses to date.

Her arms were wrapped tight around his neck, each hand holding the opposite elbow, and used her advantage of being a little higher on his body than usual to lick her way inside of his mouth, and stroke his tongue with hers. Her lips were chilly, and tasted like the lake, but he didn't care.

With her front pressed against his, they managed to keep fairly warm for awhile, until the wind picked up again and she shook in his arms. Just how chilly she'd become was very apparent as he felt her nipples harden against his pecs, and he'd pulled away to look between them. One of his hands, that had been holding the other just underneath her ass, came up and he experimentally ran his thumb over the little nub that strained against the simple string bikini top, and he watched as she opened her mouth to let a rush of air into her lungs.

Her eyes went wide for a second, but when they went back to their regular shape, her pupils dilated and he did it again, listening as she made a small whine.

There was something about this girl - wet and in white was how he was beginning to like her best. Ever since he sprayed her with the hose it became a fantasy. Then it became a reality. Her cool skin under him, heating with every kiss and press and stroke...

And then like that, the way she huddled into him to share in his warmth while wrapped around him in the lake, he had her right where he wanted her. Needed her.

Unfortunately as her mouth closed, her back teeth chattered and he noticed the goose bumps forming on the valley between her breasts as his eyes followed yet another drop of water that fell from her soaked hair.

So he took her back to the beach. They laid down on their towels and let the sun reheat them until a bead of sweat replaced that trickle of water and he wanted to lick a path up her breast bone. But the that was when the dizzy-ness cut in, and he was distracted yet again.

They'd been so distracted by the time they were leaving that she couldn't believe that relaxing sun bathing had been only that morning. But then again, she could still feel the sand between her toes.

"And Sarah only lives five minutes from Ruth." Andy laughed, tiredly, running her nails lightly over his collar bone.

"Eh, I tried." Sam grinned, giving him all his teeth and deep dimples.

"Sam." She said, waiting for him to look at her as they approached a stop light. "Next weekend, we'll have a cabin all to ourselves. We won't have to think about Ruth, or Sarah... "

That reminder was what brought him back every time he thought he couldn't handle the wait any longer.

She slid down the seat and turned toward him, until her chest was against his arm and she was pressing a kiss to that smooth spot of skin under his ear.

"And we'll be miles from anyone." Andy whispered conspiratorially before pulling back. "Doesn't that sound so much better?"

"Actually the back seat sounds just as good to me right now." He insisted, shoulder checking, unable to look at her right now, fearful that he may just lose it.

"I promise you, you'll be happy you held off."

They shared a laugh for a minute, but in the silence he grew a little bit fearful that she might walk away from this conversation with the wrong idea.

"I know. Andy, I do know that. You just..." He trailed off, failing to find the words to let her know that she was just unbelievably irresistible. In this way that made it seemed like her appeal was crafted specifically with him in mind.

"Yeah, I get it. You just... too."

They drove the rest of the way in silence.

"So, Gran, Sam and I made plans for next weekend that I have to run by you." Andy started nervously as she staked their plates after dinner.

Ruth knew that by the tone of her voice they'd be moving into new territory in their living situation, what with the law she laid down back when they 'told' her about them.

"Alright." Ruth said, leaning back in her chair. "Run away."

"Okay, so, Sam has this friend - he said you know him - Oliver? And Oliver's got this family cabin not too far away, and they only use it a couple of weekends in the summer, and that he might be able to-"

"Andy, please, the point of this rambling?"

"Sam and I are going away for a weekend." She said finally, deciding it best not to ask.

Andy didn't need approval, a young woman of twenty one, she was free to make her own choices. But this way Ruth had about her, made her feel like a child again, like her opinions mattered because Ruth had such a good moral compass... This would be a grey area though. Ruth probably couldn't have too much of an opinion that she'd be able to share in the parameters of normal social acceptability anyway.

"You are? At a cabin. Of a friend of Sam's?"

"Yup. Those are the deets. So we're leaving Friday afternoon and I'll be home on Sunday night, and Sam and I will be finishing up the greenhouse on Monday, so it all works out-"

"Andy?"

"Yes?" Andy asked, falling into the seat next Ruth, bracing herself for something coming.

"Darling relax. I understand. You want some time away with your boyfriend, or... man friend. And it's fine." Ruth insisted, laughing at her granddaughters uncomfortable expression when she used the 'b' word.

Andy let out a deep breath and then laughed at herself, apologetic about how wound up she was. They only just got each other back, the last thing she'd wanted to seem was ungrateful for everything Ruth had done this summer up until this point. She needed to know that this wouldn't be a problem.

"Sweetie, you're an adult. I know you're used to your dad being in charge and his rules, and just because I don't want any... sin, happening under my roof doesn't mean you aren't free to do as you please. Just within reason. And I don't want to know about it." Ruth finished, placing a hand over Andy's.

Andy nodded and sunk back a bit, fully relaxed, and finally able to look forward to their upcoming getaway with unparalleled excitement.

"Although..." Ruth said, interrupting Andy's planning.

The look on Ruth's face had Andy groaning when she realized some kind of deal was about to be laid out for her. Though her grandmother and father had no relation, they were similar in too many ways.

"What?"

"Alright, hear me out. I think your getaway is perfectly reasonable. I'm being a very cool grandma, very understanding. And since I'm being level headed, I think you should do something reasonable as well." Ruth stated.

The slower she spoke, the more anxious Andy got, anticipating whatever task was coming.

"What is it Gran, please, you're killing me."

"Call your father."

"Gran-"

"Andy. Hear me out. You've been away two months now, and you refuse to talk about him, and what happened. But I think you should talk to him. You have to go home eventually, a couple of phone calls might help smooth the transition. That seems reasonable, right?" Ruth asked, knowing she was appealing to Andy's rationality, which she'd always had trouble ignoring.

"Two minutes."

"Five minutes. A five minute conversation, and you will have nothing weighing on your shoulders for your lovely weekend away."

Andy sighed and her face was burdened, a little sad and turned down, but she nodded in the end.

Ruth kissed her forehead and left the room, allowing her to begin dreading that call to get to her dream weekend.