A/N: I'm so sorry for the longest hiatus ever. I really didn't mean to let this story languish on my computer for a year. And I have no excuses. So thank you everyone who has stuck around to keep reading. This chapter is for you guys. :)

Chapter 16: With You

Sam was long gone by the time Andy's bleary eyes blinked open. Things with Sam hadn't gone as far as she would have liked the night before. They'd made it to the bedroom doorway, Sam's body pressed tightly against hers so she could feel his heat radiating through the clothing that still separated them in sharp contrast with the cool drywall at her back. His lips had left hers to trail down her throat, his hands roaming over her body as if he doesn't decide which part of her to caress first and was trying to commit her entire form to memory. She had reached for his belt, wanting more of him, all of him really, as soon as possible. But suddenly he pulled back. He'd captured her hands in his and stepped back until there was at least a foot of air between them.

Andy had tried once to pull him back by their joined hands, but Sam shook his head. "We can't do this."

The words were like a bucket of ice. Andy pulled her hands out of his and turned to leave the room but Sam grabbed her arm, arresting her movement.

"We need to talk, Andy. If this is going to work, we need to talk about it."

Andy clenched her jaw in frustration, but she couldn't argue with him. Falling into bed was her default mode, and one they had tried before. Letting out her disappointment in a deep sigh she let the gentle pressure of Sam's hand on her arm draw her to the bed. She sat down and almost laughed when Sam half sat beside her before rising and leaning against the dresser instead. She could tell by the white-knuckled grip he kept on one of the drawer handles and the black of his dilated eyes that it was costing him at least as much as it was costing her not to just skip this part.

"So…?" She turned sideways on the bed, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"So." Sam replied awkwardly.

Andy wondered if he had ever had 'the talk' with anyone. She tried to think back to past relationships, but she couldn't remember ever caring about anyone enough in the early days of dating to have needed a talk. Her relationship with Sam was wholly unique. Even Luke, for all she thought she had loved him, had only been a fun fling before he was her boyfriend so there had really been no need to discuss what would happen if it didn't work out. She had already known that when they didn't work out they would be able to work side by side without any real trouble because, other than the sex, she wouldn't really be missing anything.

Sam was her best friend. It felt almost disloyal to Tracy to think it, but it was honest. She wasn't an easy person to get to know. She wasn't closed off like Sam, but she wasn't an open book either. In a way she thought she might even be worse than Sam. At least he didn't feign openness. She was an expert at looking like an open book without actually having to tell anyone the deepest secrets that defined who she was. Except with Sam. He was the first person at fifteen to know about her mom. Sure, she hadn't really meant to tell him, he'd eavesdropped on a rather extreme circumstance, but still, he was the only one she had ever wanted to talk about it with. Her dad too was a sore subject most of the time, but when it came down to it, it was Sam she had wanted to tell. Sam she had trusted with Tommy's wellbeing and her own – even when she'd been in a relationship with Luke.

Which all went to remind her that if things didn't work with Sam this time she would lose that. She would lose her confidant, the man she trusted most in the world. So, yes, having 'the talk' was extremely uncomfortable, but Sam was worth it. She and Sam were worth it.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." She said. She didn't know if this was how the talk was supposed to go, but she figured an apology wasn't a bad place to start.

"What are you talking about?" Sam's brow furrowed. She had already apologized for leaving on assignment without talking to him. He had forgiven her and he thought they were already past that. Clearly Andy either hadn't accepted his apology. He wasn't sure what to do with that.

"The night Jerry died," Andy clarified. "I let you go through that alone. I was so worried about Tracy that I didn't even stop to think how much it must have hurt you until you wouldn't answer your phone." She dropped her eyes, suddenly very interested in memorizing the pattern on his duvet. "I was so selfish. Can you forgive me?"

Sam swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "There's nothing to forgive. Of course you were worried about Tracy. I should never have shut you out."

"You still miss him?"

"Every day." Sam released the stranglehold he had been keeping on his dresser. The erotic tension that had seemed to crackle in the air between them was gone and he knew there was no longer any risk of him being distracted out of this talk. He just wanted to hold her.

Andy jumped a little in surprise when Sam sat beside her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She let her head relax against his shoulder. "We kind of suck at this, don't we?"

Sam chuckled. "Relationship talks? Yeah, they're not our strong suit."

"But the other stuff is pretty great."

He kissed the top of her head in response. "So was that 'the talk'?"

He could feel her shaking her head, her slim shoulders trembled with supressed laughter. "You wish."

There was a long beat of silence before Andy spoke again. "What do you want Sam?"

A million dollars, a few fewer white shirts nosing into my business, a beer cellar… the glib response immediately bubbled to the surface of his mind, but Sam held his tongue. The question was a serious one, and his answer needed to be serious as well. "You know that park, the one with the giant swings?"

"You want to go play on swings?" Andy asked incredulously.

Sam's arm tightened reflexively around her shoulders. "No, listen…" he rolled his eyes. "A week ago I walked past that park and there was a woman there with a toddler. She looked just a little bit like you and her kid had this really messy black hair, like untameable, may as well give him a crew cut messy, and for a moment I felt like I was looking at my future, our future, and I couldn't breathe I missed you so much." His voice was a barely audible whisper by the end. He could feel a hot flush covering his face. He was such a sap.

Andy couldn't have spoken even if she knew what to say. There was a tightness in her throat and a burning at the back of her eyes and she was pretty sure anything she tried to say would just come out as a sob. She brought one hand up and threaded her fingers through Sam's where they wrapped around her shoulder and squeezed.

"I want you, Andy." Sam continued gruffly. "Whatever that looks like. Kids, if you want them, or no kids. We can collect stray schnauzers and yellow finches if you'd rather."

His teasing tone brought a smile to Andy's face. She swallowed twice, hard, and then looked up at him. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears but the wide grin on her face told him immediately that they were tears of happiness. "I love you." The words were scratchy, but clear.

Sam kissed her softly. "I love you too."

"There should definitely be kids," Andy said when they broke apart. "I hate schnauzers, and isn't loving birds one of those things that means you're crazy?"

Sam laughed and kissed her softly before rising to his feet. "It's late," he said reluctantly extending a hand to help her up.

Andy nodded. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little disappointed they weren't going to sleep together. But if they were going to spend the rest of their lives together she supposed one night wasn't the end of the world. Besides, now that her anxiety about Sam had faded, the fear she had for the future of her career had free reign. She needed to be a cop almost as much as she needed Sam. There would be plenty of time for sex after they cleared her name.

In the bright light of midmorning Andy thought back regretfully on the night of tossing and turning and unspent sexual energy and knew she couldn't wait until her name was cleared to jump Sam's bones. She would go insane. Especially if they stayed under the same roof.

.

.

A suitcase was the first thing Sam saw when he opened his front door. It's not his and his mind stalled out for a moment as he stood staring at it, the door still open behind him, his keys dangling from his hands. A gust of wind slammed the door behind him, jolting Sam back into reality.

"Sam?" Andy's voice floated out from the kitchen.

His feet carried him mechanically towards her. His brain was still glued on the small black Samsonite in the entryway. She's leaving?

"Good news," Andy said without looking up from the salad she was assembling at his kitchen counter. "A tenant in Gail's building skipped out two months early on the lease so I can move in there tomorrow."

Sam opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Rickard's White, popping the cap off and taking a generous swig before even remembering he only buys this beer for Andy. He drained the rest of the bottle in three gulps, grimacing at the slightly thick texture and fruity taste.

"Sam?" Andy set down the knife and wiped her hands off on her jeans. "What happened?"

"You're leaving?" The question came out more like an accusation.

Andy rocked back on her heels. "You knew I was looking for a place." She responded in a similarly combative tone.

"So last night was…?" He let the question dangle, angry implications burning from his eyes.

Andy sucked in a deep breath through her nose. Sometimes she just wanted to strangle him. "Last night was amazing," she said in the calmest voice she could muster, "but I need my own place, Sam."

Sam opened the fridge and extracted another beer without breaking eye contact. He had a mulish expression on his face she was used to only seeing at work when one of his superiors was being a dick and he was fighting not to say something that would get him tossed onto traffic duty, or worse, hidden behind a desk, for a month.

"When we move to fast we fuck everything up, remember?"

His expression softened minutely.

"We can't move too fast this time Sam. I need you, and I want you." She gave him a small smile and turned back to preparing supper. "And it's only a three month lease."

Sam set the beer bottle down softly on the table and closed the distance between them in three steps. He took the knife from her hands and placed it on the counter before framing her face with both hands and capturing her lips in a blistering kiss.

Andy's hands slide around Sam's neck, one hand brushing through his messy black hair. She opened her mouth encouraging him to deepen the kiss and didn't bother to supress a moan when his hands slid down to cup her ass, pulling her pelvis tightly against his.

His lips trailed down her throat and Andy half-heartedly murmured something about dinner being spoiled. Sam responded by sweeping the cutting board, knife and small pile of bagged produce to one side and lifting Andy onto the counter. "We'll order in." He growled against her clavicle.

Andy didn't protest further. Her mouth was too busy gasping for air as Sam pulled open her button down and latched his hot mouth over her left nipple. Her fingers fumbled with the end of his shirt, pulling it up so she could relearn the contours of his torso with her fingertips.

He released her for a brief moment to throw the shirt aside and push hers completely off and then his hands were on her skin, tracing circles across her back, loosening the clasp of her bra, and teasing the ticklish spot just below her left ribs until she was forced to retaliate by twisting one of his nipples into a hardened peak.

"So that's how we're going to do this?" He asked. Lust made his voice rougher than usual and the sound sent a jolt of need to Andy's groin.

"We are definitely not playing." She hissed, her fingers setting to work on his fly.

Sam's lips quirked into an adorable half smile. "Oh really?" He palmed her crotch, deliberately rolling the seam of her jeans over her clit.

Andy's hips bucked towards him and she let her head fall back. "Fuck, Sam!"

He kissed her roughly but he wasn't in the mood to take things slow any more than she was and his fingers were soon pulling open her fly so he could force one hand inside. Her jeans kept his hand tight against her. He moved straight past her clit and curled two fingers up inside her. "Fuck, you're wet." He rested his forehead against her shoulder, his breath coming quickly as he tried to control his reaction to her body. He thought he could come just hearing the half moaned litany of expletives pouring out of Andy's mouth and the gentle brush of her hands against his most sensitive parts and she freed him from his pants and briefs.

"When we move fast we fuck everything up, remember." He whispered against her ear, pulling his hand from her jeans and raising his sopping fingers to his mouth. He held her gaze and stuck them in his mouth, licking her juices off before capturing her mouth in a kiss.

He lifted her up just enough that he could pull her jeans over her hips and ass. She kicked her legs a little to help them fall completely off. Sam stepped out of his jeans and then picked her up in both arms and transferred her from counter to table. Laying her back he kissed his way down her body. She wanted to go slow. He could do slow.

. . . . .

A/N: Okay, I know that's a bit of a teaser, but I've never really written explicit smut before. Baby steps. I'm sure your imaginations can fill in the rest. :)