AN: Don't get used to this. This whole updating once a day thing. It doesn't last. But I'm just having so much fun with this story. Especially after last night's episode (which I'm going to rematch right now).

Let me know your thoughts! Thanks for all the reviews!

On Wednesday, Andy tried her hardest to get from English to Criminal Justice in a timely manner. The attempt, however, proved to be futile. English was on the other side of campus, right next to her dorm. It made waking up in the morning a dream, but getting to the rest of her classes in the more central academic buildings nearly impossible. This time when she showed up, Sam had already finished taking roll and Boyko had taken over.

"Dammit," she muttered under her breath, sliding into the seat between Traci and Sam. "I'm so sorry I'm late, Professor."

"We'll discuss it after class… McNally, I'm assuming?"

"Yes, sir," she answered automatically, looking quickly to her right to see a smug smirk on Sam's face. She rolled her eyes at him and pulled a notebook out of her bag.

"Only problem is, McNally, we're working with partners today on a little role playing exercise," Boyko continued and her eyes searched his for the meaning behind his words. "And everyone is paired off. You're either with me or Swarek, over there."

Andy let out a huffed breath and turned slowly toward her TA. His face was drained of all its color and he looked about as willing as a lobster being dropped into a pot. "I'll take her, Sir," Sam said, surprising nearly the entire front half of the class—the only half paying attention at this point.

"Great," Boyko said, clapping his hands together once. "Explain the exercise to her, then. Everyone else, you may begin. You have 30 minutes."

"I tried to stall him," Traci told her and Andy smiled graciously at her. "Maybe it won't be so bad," she continued quietly, her eyes darting to Sam.

"Ha," Andy laughed sarcastically. "Thanks for trying."

"McNally?""

Andy turned reluctantly toward her partner. She hadn't seen him since their run in in the hallway before her biology class, but there he was—looking at her expectantly.

"You know, you're going to have to try harder to get here on time," he told her and she ran her hand through her hair.

"Yeah, I know that," she admitted sharply, pulling her foot onto her seat. "I'll figure it out."

"Listen, I'm not trying to give you a hard time," he said quickly, pushing his desk closer to hers. "I'm just giving you real world advice over here. I've been in your shoes before, okay? And with this very professor. He's not the easiest guy to deal with. I wouldn't be here now if I had any other options. So, all I'm saying is to be careful."

She nodded slowly, letting out a deep breath, and regretted the way she jumped down his throat. "Why are you TAing this class if you don't like the professor?" She asked, leaning her elbow onto the desk and resting her head in her palm. "I mean, that can't be easy."

"Like I said, I don't have many other options," he shrugged. "Now, do you want to talk about your first assignment in your first big girl class or would you like to move on to braiding each other's hair?"

At that, she smiled and he let out one solitary chuckle. "I mean, I'm not sure your hair is long enough to braid," she said, fingering the longest bit that fell barely onto his forehead and he laughed more heartily now. "So, I guess we should do this assignment," she finished, dropping her hand.

"Okay, then," Sam said, leaning closer to talk it over.

As the class wrapped up, Sam stayed behind to answer a couple of questions from one of his students. It was still the first week and the freshman were a little worried that Boyko's class would destroy their GPA before they even had a chance to build it up.

He tried his best to reassure the girl, but when she left she was still looking frazzled. He looked up in time to see Andy and Boyko still discussing her tardiness. He was free to go, but for some reason he was unable to move from his spot in front of his desk. To make it look like he wasn't just staring at them, though, he began to pack his bag—slowly and as quietly as he could muster.

Andy was facing him and every so often her eyes would drift toward him, but her attention was quickly called back to Boyko. Sam couldn't hear a word they were saying, but he could see the slump in Andy's shoulders, so he knew that if she was late again the professor wouldn't make things easy for her.

He finally saw her nod and watched as Boyko laid a stiff hand on her shoulder. As she walked toward him—or the door, more accurately—Sam threw his backpack over his shoulders and called a goodbye to the professor, coincidentally in time to fall in step with Andy.

"How was that?" Sam asked as they turned the corner toward the stairwell.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Sam," she said, a hand on each of her backpack straps. When she looked up at him, all wide eyed and terrified, he deflated a little. "I mean, my class is on the exact opposite side of campus and I only have ten minutes to get here. It's hopeless."

"You got a car?" He asked and the look she gave him—like he was insane—almost made him laugh. "What? That's a valid question."

"I'm a freshman," she reminded him and he narrowed his eyes, confused. "Freshman can't have cars on campus. Plus, I just… don't have a car."

"What about your boyfriend?" He asked, steeling himself for the answer. He wasn't quite sure why the word boyfriend sounded like axe murderer when it left his mouth.

"I don't… What are you talking about?" Andy asked as they reached the bottom of the steps. He pushed open the door for her and she walked past him, but waited for him to catch up and answer her question.

"The blond I saw you with at the dining hall on Monday?" He reminded her. He wasn't sure where she was headed now, but when his hand fell to the small of her back, he redirected her to that very spot. When she looked up at him with her doe eyes, he realized where his hand was and how he didn't even know her, so he promptly placed it into his pocket.

"That was Luke," she said quietly with a shrug. "I only just met him two minutes before. I haven't seen him since."

"Huh," Sam nodded. Knowing this girl was single made him stand a little taller and talk a little softer. For whatever reason, that news was good. "Well, I'm sorry about the commuting issue. I'd help you out, but my mornings are all on this end of campus. I don't go anywhere near the dorms unless it's an emergency."

"Bad experience?" She asked with a playful smile and he nodded.

"Let's just say that I hope your freshman year turns out better than my own," he shrugged and her face changed from playful to worry right before his eyes.

He hadn't even realized they stopped walking and were face to face until he saw the look in her eyes. They were probing him for more information, but she was too afraid to ask. "Don't worry about it, McNally, I'm sure your freshman year will turn out better. You seem to be better with people than I am… especially when I was your age," he noted with a laugh.

"When was that exactly?" She asked, pulling on the ends of her backpack straps and rolling from her heels to her toes, and then back again.

"Well, you're what? Eighteen?" He asked, looking her up and down as his hands slid into the pockets of his jeans.

"Yes," she nodded definitively. "But only until next week," she added with a smile.

"So, I was your age about… five years ago," Sam said, stepping onto his toes in thought. "But, uh, you're older than I was as a freshman. I didn't turn nineteen until the summer before my sophomore year. So, it's been about six years since I was in your shoes… and your dorm," he added with a smirk.

"Twenty-four, huh?" She asked, biting her lip. "Good to know."

"Why is that?"

"So, you're a second year grad student?" She asked, ignoring his inquiry.

"First, actually," he corrected. "I took a year off to work. Why is my age good to know, though?"

"I like to know what I'm dealing with," she shrugged, the smile returning to her face.

"And my age helps you how?" He asked as she turned to close the gap between them and the dining hall.

"Don't worry about it, Swarek," she called over her shoulder. "Thanks for all your help in class."

"That's what partners are for," he called after her. She threw a smile over her shoulder before the door fell shut in her wake and he sat on the half wall just outside the window, kicking his toe into the cracked pavement.

Andy McNally was turning into a fun sort of challenge for him. He liked that she was able to have a hard time and still walk away smiling. He didn't have that talent. And he liked that she was comfortable enough with him to keep up with him but not too comfortable to expect much in return. He liked that…

"Brother, you hungry?" Oliver called, running toward him. "I've got ten minutes to eat or I'm going to be late."

"Right behind you," Sam answered, following his best friend into the dining hall—still packed with unfamiliar freshman and other students he had never had the interest in getting to know. "Um, Ollie, you're getting into the salad line. Sandwiches are over there."

"Zoe," he answered simply, with a shrug, falling into line behind a group of girls. "Andy McNally, as I live and breathe."

"Hi, Oliver," she said, turning to smile and Sam caught her eye. "Of course you two are friends," she said with an easy laugh.

"And how do you two know each other?" Oliver asked, turning to Sam for the answer.

"I'm her CJ 101 TA," he explained. "And you?"

"Soc," Oliver laughed. "Small world, isn't it McNally?"

"The smallest," she smiled as her attention was called. She turned to the lunch lady quickly and then back to Sam and Oliver. "Enjoy your lunch, boys."

As Sam watched with a smile as she walked away from them, Oliver nudged his elbow into his side. "What the hell?" Sam asked, shoving him in the shoulder.

"Freshman, Sammy," was all he said before they got called to place their orders.

Andy found her friends in the same table they'd been sitting in all week. Chris and Dov were arguing over a pickle that Gail had offered while she and Traci looked on with amused smiles.

"How did it go with Boyko?" Traci asked as Andy sat down.

"I need to get there on time on Friday and every class after or my grade is going to suffer greatly," she said, shaking her head. "And when I talked to Sam about it, he was no help."

"Sam?" Chris asked, looking up from the pickle just long enough for Dov to snatch it up and take a bite. "Aw man!"

"Yeah, Sam Swarek," Andy nodded as she aimlessly pushed her salad around its container. "Our TA."

"Oh, yeah," Dov nodded. "He's TAing our CJ 101 class, too. Are you taking it with Boyko?"

"Yeah," Andy told him. "Why aren't you in our class?"

"Tuesdays and Thursdays," Chris shrugged. "Swarek's pretty cool. At least, he seems it. He doesn't say much."

"He's nice," Andy insisted.

"I like Oliver," Dov decided, finishing off his prized pickle. "Sociology is going to be much easier with him."

"At least he seems like he gives a damn about us," Gail agreed. "Swarek only has eyes for one person in our class," she said, pointedly staring at Andy.

"Ha. Ha," Andy said, stuffing her mouth.

"She laughs, but you should have seen them partnered up today," Gail continued. "It was adorable."

"I was late, he was my only option," Andy argued.

Gail rolled her eyes and Andy thought back to the fifty minutes she spent in class with Sam. And, then, the walk over to the dining hall together. She wasn't going to lie, she liked talking to him. He had experience in college that she wanted to use to her own advantage. He seemed to care about whether or not she was going to be able to succeed. She wasn't sure why after she was late to his class just two days before, he had no problem talking to her like an actual person instead of a troubled freshman. Gail was right about that—he was showing her a side of him that she hadn't seen him share with the other students in their class.

She nearly shook her head at herself—it had only been two classes. And she was the one that was late each one, so he had to show her that attention. He was older, way older, and there was no way he had any interest in her. Even if she was starting to reevaluate hers in him.

"I figured it out!"

Sam turned from the bar at the Penny to see a red faced Andy looking up at him triumphantly.

"What's that, McNally?" He asked, leaning back against the bar and crossing his arms. As she was handed a beer from the bartender, he flicked his eyes to Jerry to show his amusement. Jerry just shook his head until Sam watched his eyes widen and he followed his line of sight to… Traci Nash.

As Jerry walked away from him, Andy finished her huge sip of beer and practically slammed the glass on the bar. "I'm going to be on time on Friday," she told him. "Was that the grad student Traci made out with on Sunday?" She asked, rather distractedly and Sam laughed at the sudden change of topic.

"Yeah, that's my buddy, Jerry," he explained, nodding to their friends hovered over a table in the dark corner.

"And the world just keeps getting smaller, huh?" She laughed and Sam couldn't help but join her. From where they were standing, they could also clearly see Oliver with the rest of her freshman friends, gearing up for a game of pool.

"So," he said now, and her eyes slowly found their way to his. She was clearly on the drunker side of tipsy and he kind of liked how she was looking at him—like he was the answer to all her problems.

"You'll see," she promised, shrugging one of her shoulders.

"Why can't you just tell me? That's why you came over here, isn't it?" He asked, turning so his side was against the bar and her shoulder was nestled between his chest and his arm.

"Who said that's why I came over?" She asked, turning to face him. "Maybe I was sent over here to get your friend to notice Traci."

Sam felt his face fall at the realization that that was probably true.

"Or maybe I just wanted any excuse to come over and talk to you?" She said more quietly. When he looked at her again, she was looking down at her shoes, suddenly shy. He took a long sip of his beer, finishing it, and then tapped her toe with his own. "Who knows?" She continued, smiling wide now. "I'm going home. See you on Friday."

"Let me give you a ride, Andy," he insisted and she shook her head as she finished off her beer. "McNally."

"The dorms are right across the street," she reminded him. "Thanks for the offer, though. You're a good partner."

"It was a one time thing," he told her with a soft smile and she laughed out loud—right in his face.

"Was it, Sam Swarek?" She asked, zipping up her sweatshirt. She pulled her hood over her hair and smiled up at him. "Was it?"