Andy was startled by a knock on the door. She wiped her eyes and checked her watch. 22:15. Traci. She shouted that the door was opened and waited for her friend to appear.

Traci took one look at Andy and sighed.

'What happened?' she asked.

'Sam.'

That was all she got back from her friend. She waited for Andy to say more.

'He dropped me home. And I lost it with him! He got all in my face about Nick and I cried and basically told him exactly what I was thinking about him, and Nick, and Marlo. I got angry. But I was still crying. It was weird. But anyway, he hugged me and I just…it felt so right. So I told him to go.'

'He hugged you, so you told him to go?' Traci questioned, taking it all in.

'Yeah, I told him he couldn't be with me and her, so he left. Like he always does.' Another tear rolled down Andy's cheek.

'That's good Andy. I think you did the right thing.'

'I did?'

'You gave him an ultimatum.'

"Yeah but it won't work. I know Sam. It won't change anything. He'll just carry on with Marlo like it never happened.'

'And would that be a bad thing?' Traci asked.

'Yes, and No.' Andy replied. 'I don't know.'

They talked some more about Sam, and Nick. Then about Traci and Steve. And finally Traci had to go. She told Andy to get some sleep, and be brave. Tomorrow at work was going to be awkward.

Andy was tired the next morning, she hadn't really slept well, but she hadn't expected to. She groaned as her alarm went off, snapping it off hastily. It was early. She wanted to go for a run to clear her head, which is what she did. The park was quiet, most people still in bed, but there were some milling about eating breakfast or jogging. She wasn't alone.

She found some comfort in the crisp air as is brushed past her skin, stinging her slightly because of the cold. She ran for a while before heading home to shower and change, her thoughts not much clearer than they'd been before. She'd decided to take Traci's advice and go about her day as if nothing had happened with Nick or Sam. She was going to take some space.

She bumped into Nick as she walked out the locker room. He smiled and fell into step next to her.

'I'm gonna ride with Cruz again today.' She said.

He looked hurt. 'Why?'

'Space', was all she said in the way of an explanation, and quickened her pace. She chose a seat next to Dov in the middle of the parade room. She flashed him a smile before turning to listen to Frank at the front of the room. She was aware that Nick was watching her from his position behind her, and she assumed Sam was in his usual spot by the door too, but she didn't look. Today, she didn't want to know. Frank began his speech about their task for the day. Speeding fines and outstanding warrants, or something like that, she wasn't really listening. He ended with his usual line of 'Serve, Protect…yadah yadah', she'd heard it before. She turned and stepped toward Cruz, who smiled.

'We're partnered again today,' Andy said.

'No we're not.' Marlo remarked, 'you're with Collins.'

'No, I asked Best if I could ride with you, he said it was fine.' Andy replied, slowly.

'Well I guess someone changed his mind,' she said, and slid past Andy.

Andy turned and locked eyes with Nick who grinned sheepishly. She sighed and hung her head. So much for space!

She noticed that someone was watching her, from the corner of her eye. It was Sam. It was always Sam. He looked peeved that she'd been paired with Collins again, annoyed even. Andy moved to leave the room, bumping Sam's shoulder softly and accidentally as she went. He reached out and grabbed her arm.

'Andy…..are you okay with this?' he gestured between Nick and her.

'Leave it Sam', she muttered and shook off his arm.

'Hey!' she heard Nick call, and the sound of his footsteps catching up to them. 'Is he bothering you?' he asked about Sam.

'No Nick, just leave it,' she implored him.

Geezz, it was being in the middle of a playground squabble, exactly what she didn't need!

She continued out through the bullpen. One of them followed her. She felt his hand on her arm again. Shivers ran down her spine.

Sam.

'Andy, about last night…'he started.

'I don't want to do this at work, Sam. Just let me be, please.' She tried to pull away from him, but he refused to let her go.

'Look at me,' he was saying. She resisted for a while but finally met his eye. 'You don't have to let him make this difficult for you.' Sam said.

She gasped, shocked.

'HIM!? He's not making this difficult Sam. You're the one that's doing that!' she raged and pulled away, heading for the exit. He followed her, taking her hand and dragging her into an interview room. They weren't alone. Nick had followed.

'Let go of her.' Nick warned.

'You don't get to talk to me like that' Sam retorted.

'Please don't' Andy tried to calm them both.

'This is not about rank, and you know it' Nick exclaimed. 'Andy doesn't want you pestering her anymore'.

'That's not what it felt like last night' Sam quipped.

'What?' Nick said, surprised.

'When I drove her home, and she told me she loved me.'

Andy gulped. Nick turned his eyes on her. She hung her head, trying to block out the sound of them fighting. They threw their remarks at each other for a few more minutes, before Andy reacted.

'Enough!' she shouted. 'Both of you. Give it a rest!'

'Nick, I don't need you standing up for me, I can handle myself.'

'And you!' she said, turning to Sam, 'I am not your girlfriend. You don't have the right to get angry if I see Nick. It's none of your business!'

She sighed.

'Yeah, go take care of your own girlfriend.' Nick interjected. Sam looked riled. He backed Nick up against the wall and tried to pin his arm above his head. But Nick was just as strong and fought back.

'Sam!' Andy shouted. 'Stop!'

He paused, turning to face her. 'He has a point' she said. 'Why don't you spend a little less time worrying about my love life, and a little more worrying about yours.'

'What's that supposed to mean?' he questioned.

'I might not be perfect, but neither is Marlo. Maybe you should work on that, instead of interfering with Nick' Andy sniped, and pushed past them both. She gripped the handle of the door and yanked it open.

'I know the situation isn't perfect right now, and I'm sorry for that. But you're gonna have to get over this, because we can't work together until you do,' she threw over her shoulder.

She left the room. Sam threw one last glare at Nick before following after her.

'What did you mean about Marlo?' he questioned after her as she walked away.

A crowd had formed outside the room, Marlo was among them. She flashed a glare at Andy as she walked by.

'It's not my place to say.' Andy replied, without stopping.

Out in the yard, Andy marched toward her squad car. She'd wait for Nick there, she decided, hoping he'd give her a chance to cool off before he headed out to join her.

'Andy!' she heard called after her. She turned and saw Marlo walking her way.

'You were going to tell him, weren't you?' she bit at Andy.

'Marlo I made you a promise,' Andy reiterated.

'Well I say that's bullshit,' Cruz replied. 'You fixed it so this would happen, I know you did. Now Sam knows something's up. You've been trying to cause problems between us since the moment you got back!' Marlo was inching closer and closer to Andy, shouting in her face, losing it.

'That is not true!' Andy defended herself. 'I have been nothing but civil since I got back from UC. I told you I would keep your secret, even though it took all of my strength not to run and tell Sam the moment I found out. And to be honest, who would have blamed me!' Andy returned.

Marlo growled under her breath, she looked crazed. 'He is mine now, and it doesn't matter how many times you try, or what you tell him, he is never going back to you.' She exclaimed.

'I haven't told him anything.' Andy said, pushing Marlo back. 'I gave up Marlo. I tried, but I know when I'm beaten. But I can't just stop my feelings for him, that's not my fault. Though I swear to God, if you don't back off right now and give me one good reason why I shouldn't tell him about your Bi-Polar, then so help me I'll do it. I don't care anymore! I am so fed up of everyone leaning on me, and tugging me this way and that. I can't do it anymore.' Andy finished, breathing heavily. 'He deserves to know.'

It was suddenly very quiet. Andy looked around her. Marlo was a few feet away, a pained expression on her face. Surrounding her was most of their friends, Dov and Chloe, Oliver, Nick, Traci, and Sam.

'We heard shouting'. It was Traci who spoke first.

Andy barely heard her. She was too busy watching the interaction between Sam and Marlo.

'You have bi-polar?' he questioned of her.

She nodded slowly, a tear escaping down her face.

'Why didn't you tell me?' he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

'Because I didn't want to scare you off.' She replied.

He huffed. Andy didn't stay to see more. She turned and walked quickly to the yard's exit, reaching the corner and disappearing from sight. Nick moved to go after her, but Traci put a hand on his arm and told him to stay. She'd go.

Traci found Andy a few hundred metres down the road, in an alley. She was slumped on the floor, hugging her knees, with her face buried in them.

Traci sat beside her, quiet at first. Then she spoke.

'Andy?'

No answer.

'It's okay you know,' Traci continued.

'How is it okay?' Andy cried, 'I've made it so much worse! Cruz will probably never speak to me again. And I promised her, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. I feel awful Trace.'

'It's not your fault. If she didn't want Sam to find out like that then she should have told him herself. And he was bound to find out at some point!'

'Yeah, but from me? Why did I do that!?' Andy scolded herself.

'Hey, it might work in your favour..' Traci joked.

'I doubt that' Andy replied bluntly. 'He's probably gonna hate me even more now.'

'He doesn't hate you. You saw that for yourself last night.'

'No, but he should.' Andy said.

A while later Andy plucked up the courage to head back to division. She hurried to the locker room and washed her face, hoping not to run into anyone. She stepped up to Frank's office, and cleared it with him to take the day off. She couldn't face it. He's heard about the incident outside and agreed that her head wasn't in the game today, and that she should go home to sort herself out. He wasn't impressed, that much was plain to see.

Andy spent the day lounging on her couch, drinking coffee and mulling over what had happened that morning. It couldn't have gone worse. But she took solace in what Traci had said, that Sam would have found out eventually anyway. But it still felt wrong that she'd broken her promise to Cruz. She was watching a moving when there was a knock on the door. She approached slowly and looked through the peephole.

Sam.

What the hell was he doing here? Shouldn't he be off somewhere with Marlo, fighting, or worse still, comforting her and telling her it would be okay, he didn't mind, he'd help her. Listening while she told him everything, and still not leaving her side.

But no. He was outside her door.

'McNally?' he called. 'I know you're in there, I can see the lights on.'

She stayed still and quiet, watching him through the hole.

'I'm gonna wait here until you open the door. I need to talk to you,' he said matter of factly.

She didn't move.

'I can hear you breathing.'

Shit, she thought.

'I don't wanna hear it Sam. Whatever it is. I can't handle anymore shouting for one day.' She said.

'I'm not here to shout at you.'

'Then why are you here?'

'Are we really gonna do this through the door, for all your neighbours to hear?'

She thought about it for a moment. He was right. She turned the handle and walked away, so he could let himself in.

He found her in the kitchen, cradling a coffee. Her hair was wet and she was wearing her pyjamas, like that night he's dropped her stuff round after her suspension. He sighed.

'Can I have a cup?' he asked.

She shrugged and moved out the way, so he helped himself.

They sat awkwardly next to each other on her sofa.

'I'm sorry,' he said, finally.

'Why are you apologising?' she questioned, 'I'm the one that's in the wrong. I never should have said anything about Marlo's illness when there was a chance people could be listening. I feel terrible.' Andy said.

He smiled. 'It doesn't matter.'

'It matters to me,' she replied, placing her mug onto the coffee table and shuffling nervously in her seat.

Sam shuffled too. Closer. He rested his hand on her knee and said,

'It's fine, honestly McNally.'

'How can it be?'

'Because I think I already knew.'

'What?' Andy exclaimed.

'I found some of her pills a while back, I didn't ask her what they were for, but I looked it up. I've been watching her, making sure she's okay at work, checking for mood swings or symptoms. But she's been fine. It's not a problem.' Sam said.

'So why are you here?' Andy asked.

'To make sure you're okay.'

'Shouldn't you be checking on her, not me?'

'She's a big girl, she can look after herself.' He said.

'And I can't?' Andy replied.

'No, I just meant that…..I'd rather look after you than her.'

'Sam.' She pleaded. 'I meant what I said last night.

'That you love me?'

Andy blushed. 'You picked up on that?'

He nodded and smiled one of his dimply smiles back at her. God he looked cute.

'That's not what I meant,' she said, when she'd gotten her breath back to speak.

She was becoming more and more aware that his hand was still on her leg. Her heart beat faster. He leaned in closer.

'You can't be with her, and….' She gasped, trying to catch her breath. Sam was slowly moving his hand higher and higher up her leg. She lost her train of thought. She met his eye as he raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue.

'…be with me.' She said.

He traced his hand further up her leg until his fingers were resting on the waistband of her pants.

'Sam!' she said, taking hold of his wrist. 'What are you doing?' she panted.

'Caring for you,' he said, releasing his hand from her grip and trailing a finger up her side, tracing her outline, before bringing it to rest on her lips.

'Tell me to stop.' He whispered.

Every inch of her skin was on fire. She tried to speak, to tell him it was wrong, to remind him of Marlo. But she couldn't. She didn't want to.

She took hold of the finger hovering by her lips and pulled him in closer, twisting as she did so she was facing him. Their lips connected with such ferocity it should have hurt. But it didn't. All Andy could think about was wanting more. He bit her lip and teased her with his tongue. She could feel the passion in his lips, moving expertly against hers.

'Be with me' she whispered against his lips when she had the chance. Sam lifted his head to see into her eyes. Her big, beautiful, bambi eyes, full of emotion, begging him. He needed no more encouragement that that. He slipped his arm behind her back and gently moved her down the couch so she was on her back underneath him. He pulled his lips back from hers, giving them both a chance to breathe. His eyes scanned her body furiously, absorbing every detail, as hers did the same. He ripped his shirt over his head before leaning back and raising Andy up to do the same. They lost their pants before she knew it as his hands travelled up and down across her chest and her legs. Stopping only to stroke her in the most intimate places. His mouth was glued to hers, teasing her, coaxing her tongue into his mouth. Sam broke the kiss to nibble her ear and place kisses down her neck. She groaned with pleasure as he worked, fingers at one end, lips at the other.

For a moment her mind wondered, back to the previous night, to Nick, the way he'd made her feel. It had happened in the same place, right where she was now, with Sam. But it was nothing. In this moment she could see that. She could feel the chemistry between her and Sam. The way he hovered before kissing her, drawing out the buzz before his lips met hers. The feel of his chest with the scattering of hair, the way his calloused fingers lightly scratched her skin as he trailed them across her. All of it. Electric.

She put Nick to the back of her thoughts. Sam scooped her up and carried her through to the bedroom, never once letting his lips leave hers. She smiled against him. He placed her on the bed gently and began working his way down her body with his mouth, kissing and licking until she was writhing under him.

'Sammy' she begged, 'Please!'

He grinned up at her before silencing her with a kiss and thrusting inside of her.

They came together, then collapsed beside each other, panting.

Andy snuggled up to his side and found the familiar spot to place her head, smiling contentedly. He brushed a strand of hair from her eyes as she drifted off to sleep. She thought she heard him say one last thing before her eyes closed.

'I love you too, McNally.'

Ahhhhhh had so much fun writing this! Sorry if it's a bit soppy. Leave a review, let me know what you think, good or bad. McSwarek is winning, but will McCollins make a come back? Tell me your ideas and I'll try and include them in the next chapter!