Once again, thank you JacquelineR!

All disclaimers still stand.

I'd been staring at the ceiling for hours, the night's events on a continuous loop in my mind. No matter how much I tried to sleep, no matter how much I tried to press pause, they wouldn't stop. They wouldn't stop tearing at my heart and torturing my emotions. I threw the duvet off and reached over to the table at the side of the bed, clawing in the dark for my phone. I pressed Nick's number and began to text him, but everything I said sounded inadequate- nothing seemed to convey what I felt.

After a few more minutes of internal debate, my thumb hesitated over the send button begging to be allowed to hit the button.

"I'm sorry," it read. Something simple but it was the best I could do.

Closing my eyes, I relented and slowly brought my finger down. Within seconds it was gone and there was no taking it back, all I had to do now was wait.

A minute later, the phone began to buzz. Reaching over my heart soared as I looked at the screen,

"Me too," it said, "Call me?"

Without hesitating I pressed Nick's number and waited on the dial tone. He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey," he said immediately, "Listen, Andy, I'm really sorry. I don't know what got into me. I shouldn't have-"

Hearing his apologies made my heart falter. No one has ever opened up to me like Nick has, he knows me and I know him- we trust each other implicitly. His willingness to apologize illuminated all the differences between him and Sam and made me realize that there are people that I could actually have an adult relationship with. There are people that are willing to stand by me as an equal and that can actually share how they feel.

"I'm glad you did that," I said in a hushed tone- ashamed of what I'd just revealed, " Honestly I am. I just don't know what's supposed to happen now." I admitted as I leant back into the pillows.

"Andy, I told you that I was making a decision and I stick by that decision. I want you. I want to see where this thing can go. I know I need to sort some things out and I will."

"Nick- please don't do anything hasty. It's not as simple as wanting to try this. You have to think about Gail and about how she's going to feel. Can I suggest something?"

"Of course," he whispered.

"Let's not do anything for the time being. I know that it's going to be difficult but I want you to be sure that this is what you want. I'm happy just being friends and I know we have this connection, but it's like you said- you have some things to sort out. Besides, I don't think I'm ready to jump straight into us. I just didn't think that we should go to bed on an argument- you were right about that. I just want you to know that I'm not mad. I'm confused but I'm not mad."

"Neither am I. I can't help the way I feel Andy and I don't want to not feel this way either."

"Nick," I pleaded, "I can't talk about this anymore tonight. We both need to sleep."

"Okay," he replied softly.

"See you tomorrow at work?" I asked, hope permeating through my confusion.

"See you tomorrow, Andy," he uttered, "Good night."

As the screen went black, I fell back on the bed and allowed sleep to overpower me.

As the sun crept through the blinds the next morning, I rolled over and looked at the clock on the side of the bed. It was an hour earlier than I need to be up but with last night's events still present in my mind, I decided it would be useless to attempt to go back to sleep.

As I entered the bathroom, I caught sight of my face in the vanity mirror. I carefully studied the dark circles under my eyes and ran my hands through the tangled mess of hair- wondering how I was going to get through a ten-hour shift after facing Nick and Sam. I leaned down and splashed water across my face before straightening up and allowing it to drip off my nose and chin into the sink.

"No Andy," I said to myself, "Today is a new day. Whatever happened yesterday, you have to let it go. Today, you're fresh paint."

I turned to pat my face dry on my towel before shutting off the lights and walking back into the bedroom: ready to face the day.

"Morning McNally," hollered Oliver from across the parking lot as I approached the station.

"Hey Oliver," I replied casually, "How are you?"

"No complaints," he smiled. "You headed in for shift?"

"Of course. Can't wait to get out there."

"Well, let me pre-warn you," concern lacing his voice as he spoke, "Peck's already in there and she's not looking so great- if you know what I mean."

"Thanks Oliver. She got a little too well acquainted with my liquor last night- I'll keep an eye on her."

"That's what I like to hear McNally," he stated as he lifted himself of the hood of his car and readjusted his belt, " Always back your partner."

Oliver walked back into the barn with me close at his heels.

When I walked into the locker room, I saw Gail sat on the bench with her head in her hands and a bottle of her disgusting cleanse drink at the side of her. My mind immediately flashed back to a time a little over a year ago when Gail and I were nursing similar hangovers following a very productive night of congratulating Traci on making detective. I couldn't help but linger on the memory; it had been a time when we were all so happy.

"Come on Gail," I encouraged as I wrapped my arm around her, "You need to get ready for parade."

I watched her slowly pick herself up off the bench and proceed to put on her uniform. By the time she'd managed to escape her clothes and finish the last button on her shirt, we were already five minutes late for parade.

As we slid into the back of the room, I could see Sam was at the front talking about a gun case that he was working on. My eyes were drawn to the information on the board and as I began to read it, I could feel two sets of eyes burning into me. One was coming from Nick who was sat to my left and the other was from a rather irate looking detective at the front of the room.

"Thanks for joining us Peck, McNally." I could hear the annoyance in his voice- obviously someone had worked another long shift.

"Sorry." Gail mumbled.

"Yes, sorry." I said, staring him down just as hard.

I flashed my eyes over to Nick who was now looking straight ahead, avoiding both Gail and I.

"Assignments are on the board," said Frank's booming voice, "Collins, Diaz and Shaw are all helping the Detectives with this case. McNally and Peck- you two appear to have volunteered yourselves for traffic."

Traffic. Not the most exciting part of the job but, it requires little thinking and at least I don't have to worry about working with either Nick or Sam. Maybe this shift could be better than I thought.

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