AN: This just came flying out of me when I actually sat down to write it. Jeez, but at the same time I'm not sure if I'm rushing things. I don't know. My head's a mess right now, so I could just be babbling. Anyway, enjoy and let me know your thoughts (especially since I trust you more than myself).
When Sam finished climbing the steps to Boyko's Friday morning CJ 101 class, he nearly tripped over his feet at the sight that awaited him. Andy was slumped against the wall, curled around a book, with her hand in her hair.
"This is a record," he said when he was close enough and she looked up and smiled at him. "And you're dressed in regular clothes. How'd you pull that off?"
"My English professor was out and the TA had no idea what she was doing," Andy told him, stuffing her book into her backpack. "Class lasted all of twenty minutes, so I went back to my room and got dressed."
"And here you are," he smiled, extending his hand toward her. She took it and he pulled her to stand.
"Here I am," she agreed. Sam let her hand go and watched as it fell to her side and he kind of wished, just for a second, that he hadn't let it go at all.
There was a class finishing up in the room, so he leaned against the wall and she joined him. On Wednesday, she was on time thanks to her run through the Langham building, but she was exhausted and crabby. Today, she seemed much more like the Andy McNally he was starting to get to know. There was a faint smile on her face and she looked like she was bursting with energy—probably missing the run she was planning on taking between her classes. She couldn't stop hitting her fist, then her palm, against the wall that was between them. More than once he almost grabbed it to keep it still, but then he never would have let it go.
"Hey," she said suddenly, and he looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "It's Friday. Can I expect to see you at the Penny tonight?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. He was caught up in all of his and Boyko's classes, but he was still exhausted.
"Well, how am I ever supposed to buy you that beer if you never go out?" She asked, backhanding him in the stomach.
"Well, if you actually plan on buying me that drink, I guess I have to show up," he smiled and she nodded.
"It is my b-" she was cut off by the door opening as a flood of students walked past them. As the room cleared, more of Andy's classmates joined them and, together, they walked into the classroom and sat down.
"Happy birthday!" Traci called as soon as she entered and Sam looked at her with a questioning eyebrow. When she smiled shyly at him, he knew, without a doubt, that he would be at the Penny that night.
"Happy birthday," Gail said as they sat on the other side of her.
"Thank you!" Andy said, standing up to hug them both quickly. When all three of them sat down again, Sam nudged her knee with his own.
"Happy birthday," he told her and she smiled widely at him.
"Thank you," she said quietly.
More and more of the class was joining them and when Sam glanced at his watch, he realized he only had a minute before he had to start taking roll. "Hey," he said to Andy, reaching out to grab her arm and get her attention. "I'll be theretonight."
"Yeah?" She asked, smiling, and he nodded. "Good."
Andy walked into the Penny wearing a birthday tiara and a sash. Traci had looped her arm with Andy's while Dov had his arm around her shoulders. Gail and Chris were standing as far as humanly possible from each other due to the fact that she refused to make the next move and Chris had no idea what to do. Andy didn't want to worry about that, though. All she wanted to do was have a good time- and get her friends drunk enough so they wouldn't realize she had taken off the tiara and sash they forced on her.
When she saw Sam standing near the bar, smiling at his two friends, though, she couldn't care less about anything. She pulled herself away from her friends, squeezing Traci's hand quickly, and sauntered over to him as if he was the only person in the bar. And, as far as she was concerned, in that moment, he was.
"Ah, the birthday girl is here," Oliver announced as soon as she was within earshot. "Look at that, Sammy, Andy's here."
She saw the roll of Sam's eyes, but was more focused on the smile he was sharing with her. "Happy birthday," he said and she smiled, nodding once.
"You said that this morning," she reminded him and he shrugged before flagging down the bartender.
"I'll have another," he said and Andy turned back to where she left her friends, but they had found a table and were saving a seat for her. "McNally?"
"Hmm?" She said, turning back to Sam and the other grad students she was starting to get to know.
"What do you want to drink?" Sam asked slowly with an amused smirk on his face. He'd clearly just asked her that when she wasn't paying attention. She apologized and quickly told the bartender she wanted a rum and diet coke.
"Wait," she said, looking at Sam again. "I thought I was supposed to be buying you a drink."
"It's not my birthday," he reminded her. "You can get me a drink another time."
"Why are you making this poor girl buy you a drink at all, Sammy?" Jerry asked, finally ripping his eyes away from Traci.
"She spilled one all over me last week," he said. "Don't worry about it, man," he said, shaking his head. When their drinks were delivered, he took her by the arm and pulled her away from his friends and in the opposite direction of hers. She wasn't quite sure what his plan was, but she definitely wasn't fighting him on it.
When he seemed satisfied with where they were, he sat at the nearest table and stared at the chair next to him until she sat down. "I think it's that day," she said, looking into her glass.
"What day?" He asked and she looked up to smile and then down again. "Andy?"
"You know, that day I tell you why I'm nice to you and why I really like that you're nice to me," she admitted and she heard Sam let out a strangled laugh.
"You don't have to do that," he told her. "I don't care why just as long as you are."
"You're, like, really good at listening," Andy told him, ignoring his protest. "And I like that you don't treat me like a child. You're helpful and you seem to care. I mean, last Friday after class, you were just so nice to me. You know? And I didn't think we'd get along well at all after that first class, but I walked in here with all of my friends and left them to walk right up to you."
When she finished, she finally looked up at him and his mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide. "And I think that's why I like when you're nice to me. Because, it makes me feel like I'm not completely crazy and that you might feel even a little bit like I do."
Sam was stunned silent and still until he saw the look on Andy's face replaced with fear and embarrassment. He swore she was about to get up and run out the door, so he grabbed her hand. "I really wasn't expecting..." he trailed off, running his thumb over knuckles. "That."
"I know," she shook her head, trying to wrench her hand away from his. "I have a really hard time keeping my mouth shut. I'm sorry."
"Andy, no," he laughed and her eyes searched his. "You're not crazy at all," he admitted. "Ask Oliver or, hell, Jerry. Or any of your friends, I'm sure."
"What do you mean?" She asked, successfully taking her hand out of his to take the tiara off her head. When she pulled her chair closer to his, he sat up straighter and angled his body so that one of his knees landed between both of hers.
"I don't do this kind of thing," he told her quietly, letting his hand fall to her knee so he could grip it lightly. "I like having you around, Andy. You're always smiling and I think it's starting to rub off on me. You are confident and it scares the crap out of me, but the way you look at me makes me feel like I'm doing something right."
"I've never seen you do anything wrong," she told him, placing a hand on each of his thighs.
"Well, I've been trying really hard to impress this girl," he smirked and she laughed, leaning closer to him.
"And it doesn't matter that I'm only nineteen years old?" She asked quietly, still moving closer. "Because it's going to be that way for another 365 days."
"Doesn't really bother me," he promised, pulling her chair closer with his feet. "Nope, nineteen's fine with me," he decided when her hand slid onto his shoulder and her eyes remained glued on his lips. "What about twenty-four, too old?"
"Shut up," she said, closing the gap between them. The change in him was instant and he'd never been so proud of himself- dragging her away from their friends so they could have a second to talk was turning out way better than he imagined. He tangled one of his hands in her hair, kissing her back and her grasp on his shoulder tightened.
Sam was the one to pull away as he twirled a piece of her hair between his fingers. "You'd think it was my birthday," he joked and she laughed, hiding her face in his neck. Her breath was warm and her pulse was racing, so he smoothed a comforting hand down her back until she sat up.
"Okay," she said, running a hand over her face. "Wow. So, that's what all the hype about older guys is about, huh?"
Sam laughed with a shrug and kissed her again- quickly, just so he could say he kissed her at least once. "You should go back to your friends," he told her, squeezing her shoulder. "I don't want to be that guy that, you know, steals you away from them."
"You're probably right," she nodded, looking at his lips again and he couldn't even try and keep a smile off of them. "Thanks for the drink."
"Yeah, no problem," he promised, sliding off of his seat so he was standing over her. "Before you go over there, though, I just want to..."
He kissed her again, this time slowly as he pulled her to stand with him. She stood on her toes to deepen it and he let her, holding her tightly against his body. "Okay," she said, pulling away and shaking her head quickly. "If I don't go over there now, I never will," she laughed, picking up her tiara and her drink. "I'll, uh, I'll see you around."
"I'll be at the bar," he promised and she nodded, walking around him.
Andy walked over to her friends in a daze. She knew her lips were swollen and she couldn't care less because she could still feel Sam's lingering there.
"Hey, so do you think we should go dancing or do you just want to stay here?" Traci asked as soon as she had sat down. "I mean-" she cut herself off, laughing at the look on Andy's face. "How was Sam?" She asked.
"Oh, he was good," she said, nodding to herself. "Really... good."
"You're a mess," Gail laughed. Andy looked at her, challenging her before quickly flicking her eyes to Chris. It wasn't often Gail got red, but then she did and Andy smiled at her. "Let's go dancing. The five of us. Now."
"It's Andy's birthday," Dov reminded her. "Calm down, Casper."
"No, we should go," Andy nodded, taking down a good amount of her drink. "It'll be fun."
"Good," Traci said with a single clap of her hands. "Drink up!"
Andy looked behind her, at the bar, and saw Sam shaking his head at something Oliver was saying. She heard him and Jerry laugh, which caused Traci to turn back, too. "When was the last time you talked to him?" Andy asked and, from the corner of her eye she saw Traci shrug.
"We haven't talked since Wednesday," she admitted. "But it's a good thing."
"Okay," Andy said skeptically.
"Hey," Traci said, reaching for her arm and she turned toward her. "Focus on you and Sam right now. That's huge. He clearly likes you."
"It's clearly complicated," Andy laughed. "But it was, like, a really good kiss. Better than that, I don't even know."
"Wow," Traci laughed. "Go for it."
"Yeah," Dov said now, leaning in to join their conversation. "Go for it."
"What's it to you, Dov?" Andy asked, shaking her head.
"Look at your face," he shrugged. "We've got Trace who's trying not to fall for Jerry- and failing. We've got Chris and Gail pretending they never kissed a couple of days ago. Then, there's me, who hasn't gotten any action since we got here. You like Swarek, he likes you. So, go for it."
"Okay," Andy agreed, looking back at Sam again. "Okay."
"Are we going?" Gail asked, calling them back to the awkward silence between her and Chris.
"Five minutes," Traci said, pulling Andy toward the bar by her hand.
"What are we doing?" She asked, grabbing her drink before getting too far.
"I need to talk to Jerry and I need you to distract Sam and Oliver," Traci explained, letting go of her hand to take Jerry's and pull him further down the bar.
"Hi," Andy said awkwardly when Oliver and Sam looked at her with raised eyebrows. "How's it going?"
"Not as good as you," Oliver teased and Sam elbowed him while Andy's cheeks flared up. "How's the birthday so far?"
"Great," she nodded, looking quickly at Sam. "We're going dancing now; it should be fun."
"And what's going on back there?" Sam asked, nodding toward their friends.
"I honestly have no idea," she admitted with a smile. "I'm sure you'll find out all about it when he gets back over here."
"I'm sure you'll find out before I do," Sam argued and she shrugged.
"If worse comes to worse, you guys could always compare notes some other time," Oliver said. "Like... tomorrow night?"
"Dude," Sam said, elbowing him again. "Go sit in the corner."
"Come on!" Oliver complained and Sam just stared at the empty bar stool.
"Sorry about him," Sam said when they were alone. "He doesn't understand boundaries."
"It's fine, Sam," she promised. "This isn't going to be awkward now, right? We'll be able to sit next to each other in class and have a normal conversation without everyone knowing we made out?"
"I don't know about that," he laughed. "You didn't exactly choose the least public place in the world to kiss me."
"Well, I couldn't help it," she shrugged and he smiled. She wanted to kiss that smile right off of his face, but knew it wasn't wise if they wanted to take things slowly. "It's not like you pushed me away or anything."
"I would never," he said and she laughed, leaning into him. "I can't hang out tomorrow night, but we should, you know."
"Yeah, we should," she agreed. "But Traci is coming back over here. I'll see you in class."
"Where it won't be awkward," he promised and she laughed before leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "Enjoy the rest of your birthday."
"Impossible not to now," she said, turning to walk away with Traci. "What was that?" She asked her as they neared their friends.
"We have a date tomorrow night," she said, trying to keep the smile off of her face.
"That's awesome!" Andy said. "Guys, let's go," she said to the table. Everyone drank down the rest of their drinks and they walked out together to hail a cab.