Andy took a deep breath and pulled open the door of the Penny, willing the confidence back to her side as she felt it slipping away from her. Her eyes darted around the room nervously, coming to an abrupt stop when she saw him sitting at the bar with his back to her. He didn't turn around to look as the door swung closed with a dull thud. Andy stared at the back of his head for several seconds, watching as he raised his glass and took a sip. She knew that this must have been how the scene played out the night she went undercover and left him sitting alone waiting for her, and a wave of regret poured over her. Confronted by the visual of him sitting alone at the bar, Andy's heart hurt and she had the overwhelming desire to make everything okay for him.

He didn't look up as she sat down on the adjacent bar stool, and Andy knew he was reliving that night, too. She watched him as she pulled off her coat and dropped it on the empty stool beside hers. When he slid the second beer toward her and still didn't turn in her direction she realized how hard it must have been for him to come, knowing there was a possibility—however remote—that she might not show up again. Turning her stool toward him, she willed her hand to remain steady as she rested it on his arm, hoping to reassure him that things were going to be different this time.

As Sam turned to face her she instantly recognized the lingering doubt she saw in his eyes, and her predominant thought was that she had to erase any uncertainty that still existed.

"I'm sorry I didn't come." It was something she'd wanted to say to him for a year—a recognition of her own culpability. She thought back through the many nights she lay sleepless in bed regretting her decision not to meet him at the Penny, wishing she could go back and change things. Regret and her inability to make things right had been her constant companions for the past year. She'd been left with nothing but the very dismal prospect of moving on without Sam.

Sam's hand rested idly on his leg, and Andy couldn't resist the impulse to reach for it. She held on tightly, reveling in the feeling of his strong hand wrapped solidly around hers for the first time in a long time.

He was smiling, and he seemed genuinely happy. She was certainly happy, and it was a relief to see those same feelings mirrored on his face. Andy considered the possibility that they might actually be on the same page for once.

Sam surprised her when he said, "When you didn't show, deep down, I knew it was my fault. It was too late to fix things between us. I waited too long."

"It wasn't too late. I should've come. I was confused and hurt, but my feelings for you hadn't changed." Andy wanted to assure him that although she didn't show up, she did still love him. She knew that her absence at the Penny that night sent the message that she no longer cared, and she regretted it more than she could ever remember regretting anything. Her penance had been a year of living with the pain of knowing he might be lost to her forever.

"How about now?" he asked slowly. "How do you feel now?" He seemed to be second-guessing what she told him after he was shot. Andy wondered how that could be possible, but then again, they'd both done a lot to shake their confidence in each other. It was going to take some work to restore the security they once had in themselves and their relationship, and Andy knew it wouldn't be a quick fix. Tonight was about taking the first steps, though.

"Sam, I think I was pretty clear about my feelings in the ambulance," Andy responded, emitting a burst of nervous laughter. She suddenly felt awkward and looked down as she sensed the heat creeping up her face. When she looked at Sam again, she knew she was blushing. It was a blush her body reserved specifically for him and it had been a long time since she'd felt it. "Do you think they've changed during the past month?"

"Heat of the moment, Andy," he informed her with a sly smile.

"You're a real funny guy." She couldn't help but roll her eyes. He was right, of course—frustratingly right, as far as Andy was concerned. "Okay. I get it. To be clear, I meant everything I said after you were shot."

"Good." She watched as he turned toward the bar and took a sip of his beer. She smiled down at their joined hands. He wasn't letting go. She never wanted him to let go of her again. "I meant everything I said that day when you were holding the grenade. And I still do."

Andy grinned as she realized that no one else could ever make her feel as fulfilled and cherished as he made her feel. He made her happier than she ever thought she could be. She took a drink of her beer, watching him for a reaction as she casually swiveled her stool to reposition her legs between his. When he didn't bat her away, she took that as a good sign.

"What would you have said if I had come?" It was something she had hypothesized about many times during the past year . . . just one of the many "what ifs" that haunted her.

Having Sam so close after being away from him for so long gave Andy an almost uncontrollable desire for even more contact. She made a show of shifting around on her stool and in so doing, she "accidentally" grazed one of Sam's legs with her own.

Sam rested his face in his hand on top of the bar, seemingly considering what he might have said to her if she had shown up at the Penny that night. When he started talking, it was slow and deliberate. "I would have said I made a mistake . . . that I knew it as soon as I drove away from you. I couldn't admit it to myself at first because I thought I was doing the right thing, but I knew. I would have done everything I could to assure you that if you gave me a second chance I'd never hurt you that way again."

Andy smiled at him as she thought about how things might have been different for them if she'd given him the chance to actually say those things to her then. Then, she considered the possibility that she might not have been in a place to hear those things back then even if he had said them to her. She'd felt so broken and her confidence in him had been shaken. Hearing him speak those words to her now, though, left her with a sense of complete fulfillment and happiness that she probably wouldn't have had before. Intuitively, she knew he still meant everything he'd just said. She also knew she appreciated the words even more after the year they'd had. Not for the first time, she allowed herself to consider that they might be better for having spent time apart. They might have grown individually in a way that would allow them to build something even better than they had before.

"That sounds nice," she choked out, determined not to cry. "I don't know how I would have reacted then, but I like hearing those things from you now."

"I mean them now, too," he confirmed what she already knew, and she wondered if she could ever love him more than she did in that moment. "If anything, I mean those things more now than I did then. I'll do anything to make this work."

"Me, too," she assured him, squeezing his hand. She needed him to know one more thing, though. "So we said we'd give each other a month to get our ducks in a row, right?"

"Yeah. But for the record, you were the one who mentioned the thing about the ducks . . . ."

She laughed at the skeptical expression on his face. Sam definitely wasn't a "ducks in a row" kind of guy.

"Well, I did it. I got my ducks in a row. I ended things with Nick. I just thought you should know that," she confessed. It had been difficult to end things with Nick, but she'd known it was the best thing for all of them. Even Nick agreed that he didn't want to be in a relationship with a woman who was clearly not available, as much as she might have thought she was when they started whatever they were doing.

"You broke up with Collins," he said, a look of disbelief passing across his features. It quickly dissolved into one of happiness and relief, though.

"I did." Andy felt herself bubbling over with sheer happiness as she smiled at Sam. Having heard rumors that Marlo was gone, she knew this meant they could finally be together.

As if he were reading her thoughts, Sam said, "It's probably stating the obvious, but Marlo and I ended things."

"I guess I did hear something about that . . . " she confirmed, rubbing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb.

"So what does our second chance look like?" he wondered aloud.

Grinning at Sam, she said, "I think it looks pretty good. I see us getting our acts together and building something really special."

"I can do 'special.'" Sam nodded his head in agreement. Andy wasn't sure she'd ever seen him that happy.

"I'll be back in a minute. Nature calls," she said, pushing off of the stool and heading toward the restrooms. When she looked back over her shoulder, she knew she was openly flirting with him but couldn't help herself. They could do anything they wanted, and she felt giddy at the limitless potential of that.

Andy moved quickly through the back hallway and into the restroom, wanting to get back to Sam as fast as she could. When she pushed open the door, not even the sight of Gail glaring back at her from the sink could ruin her good mood.

"Ugh. You look sickeningly happy," Gail observed, checking her lipstick in the mirror. "I'll assume it has something to do with Swarek. I saw you two drooling over each other at the bar."

"You know, Gail," Andy began confidently, "not even you can ruin my good mood tonight." With that, she slipped into the stall. Seconds later Andy heard the outer door open and close. Gail mumbled to someone outside and she was gone.

When she finished up, Andy opened the door quickly and was surprised to see Sam standing just outside of the door. The sight of him had her heart racing, and she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the shock of almost bumping into him right outside of the bathroom.

"Wow. Couldn't wait for me to come back?" she asked.

"Nope," was the response she hardly registered as Sam nudged her toward the wall and pressed himself against her. She felt his fingers sifting lightly through the hair on the back of her head as he brought her toward him, drawing her into a long, slow kiss. As she sank into it she let go of all the hurt and regret from the past year, feeling overwhelmed by the sensation of being in his arms again after such a long time. When he swept her hair back and began working his way from the side of her neck to her jaw line, Andy closed her eyes and leaned limply against the wall, surprised that she hadn't already melted into a pool of hot liquid at his feet. As he took her chin gently in his hands and returned his mouth to hers, she sighed. She ran her hands up his back to his shoulders and pulled him toward her, letting him know that she wanted more.

Somehow his voice broke through the haze of need that surrounded her, asking if she needed a ride home. She managed to utter "mmhmm" as she drew in a breath and continued kissing him.

Finally, she heard him say, "McNally, let's get out of here."

"Okay," she responded with reluctance, drawing back from him ever-so-slightly. She nodded against his forehead as they shared a look that was heavy with significance. Of all the things they'd shared, that bond between them was the one thing she'd longed for most while they were apart. His strong presence and the knowledge that he was there with her made her feel whole in a way that no one else ever had.

Without a word, Sam took her hand and pulled her with him as he exited the hallway. She followed him toward the bar, snaking their way through a maze of tables and bar stools along the way. He paid their tab and then reached for her coat before she could make a grab for it. As he held it out for her, she stepped into it, hiding the smile that was forming on her lips. She reached down to button her coat, but Sam seemed to have other plans. With his hands on her shoulders, he turned her to face him and began buttoning her up while she looked on with a mix of confusion and enjoyment. As Sam worked his way from button to button, he warmed her up in more ways than one. When he finished, he stepped back with a satisfied expression and pulled on his own jacket. Andy reached for his hand and led him to the door. Sam held it open for her as she slipped past him and this time, they left together.