AN: Due to some serious peer pressure, this chapter got updated much sooner than I thought it would. I don't really mind, though. It was a pretty fun one to write. Hope you enjoy it!
When Sam had left Andy in bed ten minutes earlier, she was fast asleep. He didn't want to get up and get dressed, but he needed to take his whining dog out for a walk. Now, Boo was eating happily in the kitchen and Sam was quietly creeping back into his bedroom. If he played his cards right, Andy would never know he left in the first place and he could get another hour or so of sleep.
The night before—the whole day, really—was a blur, but he was still able to remember everything. The only thing he would change was the party; the two of them could have happily stayed at his place all night without ever having to see another person's face. The party was fine and it was quick, but if he had known what he was missing back at his place? There was no question where he would have rather been with her.
She was still asleep, most of her bare back exposed, and he didn't waste any time taking off his shirt and jeans and getting back in there with her. His side of the bed was still warm and he fell almost immediately back to sleep. That is, until a hand worked its way from his navel to his chest.
"Where'd you go?" Andy asked groggily before turning onto her side so she could drape her leg across his body and pull herself closer.
"Boo had to go out," he explained quietly, running his hand down her side. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"'S'okay," she mumbled before kissing his chest. "We're okay?" She asked with her eyes still closed.
Sam almost wanted to laugh at her question. Were they okay? For the ten minutes he was outside, all he wanted was to get back into bed—with her. When he slept, with her naked body curled against his own, he dreamt of her. Were they okay? As far as he was concerned, they were beyond okay. They were great. He was in a rare bubble of contentment, something he'd never had any luck at staying in long. But in bed with her, anywhere with her, well, he didn't want to be anywhere else.
"We're good, Andy," he promised. He kissed her forehead lightly.
"I have to go," she said, turning out of his grasp.
"What?" He asked, turning over to lie on top of her. "Where?"
"Homework," she explained and then she stopped squirming beneath him and settled further into his mattress.
"You can't go."
"I'm going to have to go eventually, Sam," she laughed, waking up more and more by the minute. "I may have finished my midterms, but I still have readings to do and papers to write."
"So do I," he said, slowly easing off of her. "Thankfully I've got that nice living room out there with enough couch space for the both of us."
"I don't have my books," she reminded him. Thankfully, she was already turning back onto her side so she could fit underneath his raised arm. As soon as she was situated against him again, he lowered his arm and curled it around her.
"Sleep, McNally," he whispered and she nodded slowly before falling back under.
Andy crept into her dorm room knowing her friends stayed out long after she had gone to Sam's. Dov was asleep in Traci's bed so she assumed Chris and Gail were occupied in his room and Traci had spent the night with Jerry. Andy dropped her pantsuit into her hamper, grabbed her backpack and her computer, and quietly closed the door behind her.
It was almost 11, but the whole dorm was silent and she felt like she had to tiptoe all the way outside again. She didn't mind so much that everyone was asleep or nursing hangovers in their rooms because she was dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt—both of which were far too big for her. But, she didn't want to put on her own clothes just to change when she got to her dorm, so Sam told her to take whatever she wanted. Then, he handed her his truck keys and promised that, if she hurried, there would be breakfast on the table when she got back.
When she and Sam finally pulled themselves out of each other's arms and out of bed, she reminded him again that she needed to get homework done. He promised that he needed to do the same, that he wasn't expecting the day before happening the way it had, and that his to-do list was longer than he was planning it to be. She tried to convince him that she should go home then and got out of his hair and that she had messed his weekend up enough already. He stopped her midsentence with a mind blowing kiss and his sincere promise that she could stay and they could do their own homework together.
Of course Andy wanted to stay and work alongside him. She wanted to do her homework while being able to steal glances at him doing his own. She wanted to run her fingers lazily through his hair while she read and she wanted him to tap steady rhythms into her kneecap. She could see the whole day playing out in front of her, so she drove carefully but quickly back to his apartment.
He wasn't lying, there was a breakfast waiting for her on the table. She smiled, dropped her bag near the door, and practically skipped to where he was waiting by the coffee machine. He turned toward her and smiled before she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Hey," he laughed, holding on to her so he didn't fall backward. "That was quick."
"Hi," she said, standing taller to kiss him again. "I was hungry and you promised me food."
"Mmhhmm," he hummed sarcastically. "That's why you're in here kissing me and not at the table eating pancakes."
"What can I say?" She asked, running her hands down his bare chest. "I'm hungry."
He laughed and kissed her, framing her face between his palms. "Your bacon is going to get cold," he said and she sighed contentedly against his lips. "The coffee's done," he tried again even though his grip on her tightened and his body was flush against hers.
"You're right,' she said as she turned away from him to sit down at the table.
"See? This is what I was talking about last night," he called, pouring two cups of coffee. "Tease."
"I promised I wouldn't be a distraction," she said. "Actually, you promised I wouldn't be a distraction. If we kept it up in there, we'd be back in bed by now."
"I'm okay with that," he insisted as he put her cup in front of her and sat across from her. "It might even help me concentrate in the long run."
"You're a liar," she laughed. She pulled her foot onto her chair and curled it beneath her. She wasted no time digging into her food and only looked up long enough to take a sip of coffee. As she neared the end of her second pancake, she noticed Sam staring at her, slack jawed. "What?" She asked as her hands fell into her lap.
"Umm," he said, pointing vaguely in her direction. She looked down and saw that his shirt she was wearing was hanging off her shoulder and the v was deep enough on her chest that Sam could pretty much see… everything.
"Oh my god," she said, straightening it out. "I am a distraction. I need to go home."
"Don't even think about it," he said, speaking clearly now that she was covered. "We're grown adults; we can restrain ourselves."
At the mention of them being grown adults—both of them—Andy smiled and nodded. The age difference would always be a blip on her radar, but if he was able to equalize them, then she could look past it. She could be comfortable with it. And she was comfortable with Sam, so that was all that mattered to her.
"Okay," she nodded, taking a sip of her coffee.
"So, you'll stay and stop thinking you being here is a problem?" He asked and she nodded again. "Can you stay tonight?" He asked quietly. Andy almost strained to hear it at all.
"I wish," she said, pushing her chair out so she could stand up. When she was standing in front of him, he pushed his chair back and guided her onto his lap. "With classes and my lack of clothes, it's probably a good idea for me to stay in my room. But I'll see you in class."
She attempted a smile and Sam kissed her. "That's going to be fun, huh?" He teased, his fingers dipping into her shorts. "You, me, and a class full of people? Boyko included? Now that's a party."
"We can have our own party after classes," she reminded him as she grinded against him to emphasis. "Right here."
"Now," he said, pushing his plate toward the other end of the table and pushing her to rest on top of it. "Right here, right now," he said again, leaning into her as he pulled the shorts from her body.
So, Sam got a little distracted after breakfast and the two of them took a detour on his kitchen table… then again in his shower. But, then, they were able to sit down and get their homework done for a couple of hours. Eventually, they took Boo out for a quick walk and hurried back inside where it was warm. Again, they were able to sit together in his living room and get their respective work done.
At one point, he noticed that they had gone from opposite ends of the couch to Andy's back resting against his chest while he read and she typed a short paper. From then on, they discovered that they didn't need to completely detach from one another in order to get things done. They really were able to restrain themselves and Sam actually liked it better when he was able to feel her next to him.
"Food?" Andy asked after she shut her laptop. "Want me to make you something?"
Sam rubbed his eyes and Andy turned her head so she was looking at him. "I'll make us some sandwiches," he said and she put a hand to his chest.
"You made breakfast, I'll make lunch," she promised with a kiss. He smiled at her and watched her walk to the kitchen. "Just tell me what you like."
So, he watched her move skillfully through his kitchen while he sat comfortably on his couch. He wasn't sure how, but she seemed to know where everything was located and he found himself smiling in her wake. He pulled himself off his couch and wound his arms around her waist from behind. "Thank you," he said into her hair. Andy leaned into him and patted his hand that was against her stomach.
"You're welcome," she said before turning in his arms. "It's just-"
A knock sounded at his door and he sighed, throwing his head back. "Go," she said softly and he reluctantly let his arms fall from around her. He ran to his room to pull on a shirt and ran past Andy eating at his table to open the door. "What-?"
"Zoe's driving me crazy, man," Oliver said as he walked right passed him. "Oh, Andy," he said, smiling now. "You're still here. Sammy, Andy's still here."
"Thanks, Oliver, I wasn't aware," he said, rolling his eyes. The look on Oliver's face made it abundantly clear to him what he was referring to. When Sam dated Monica for that year, it was an unwritten and undiscussed rule that Sundays were meant for homework and solidarity. Now, Andy was sitting in his apartment—in his clothes—for the second day in a row. "We were just about to eat."
"Oh, no thanks, I ate," Oliver said with a wave of his hand. Sam rolled his eyes again and sat at the table next to Andy. Oliver sat across from them. "After the party last night, Zoe went all… Zoe on me. We've been fighting all day."
"About what?" Sam asked. He had one hand clutching his sandwich while the other curled around Andy's knee.
"Everything," Oliver sighed, reaching across the table to grab a fallen piece of meat from Sam's plate. Andy laughed into his shoulder quietly and tangled her fingers in his hair. "I'm lazy and don't help clean up. I clean and I do it wrong. My homework is taking up too much space in the bedroom and I'm too loud while she's working on her lesson plan for the week."
Sam nodded along, familiar with all of Zoe's complaints as Oliver wasn't shy about sharing them with him. Andy picked up their empty plates and whispered in his ear, "I'll be in the bedroom." Once the plates were in the sink and she was behind closed doors, Sam looked at his best friend again.
"She's still here?" He asked and Sam rolled his eyes.
"Yes, but I thought we were talking about you?" Sam said trying to bring him back to the point of his visit.
"We always talk about me and Zoe," he said, waving him off. "I know exactly what you're going to say. 'Talk to her, tell her how you feel, are you really happy?'"
"Well, are you?" Sam asked, crossing his arms on the table in front of him.
"Yes," Oliver insisted before his walls fell. "I don't know. Are you?"
"I don't know if I've ever been happy," Sam shrugged and Oliver laughed. "What?"
"You are," he promised. "She's still here and you're not freaking out. You're happy and it's about time."
"Okay," Sam said self-consciously. "What are you going to do about Zoe?"
"Talk to her, tell her how I feel, find out if she's really happy."
"Good," Sam said with an easy smile. "Let me grab McNally and we can hang out for a bit."
"Yeah, okay," Oliver said, taking off his jacket. Sam cleaned up his couch, separating his homework and books from Andy's, and then went into his bedroom to find her lying on the bed with Boo.
"Hey," she said, turning from her stomach to her back. Sam eased his bedroom door shut and got into bed next to her. "Everything okay?"
He nodded before resting his head on her chest, aware that their bubble was breaking. She held his head with one hand running down the back while the other held his cheek. "I invited him to hang out," he said before lightly kissing the exposed skin of her chest. "So he can cool off a little."
"Good," Andy said and he could hear a smile in her voice. "Can I ask you a question?"
Sam hmm-ed in response and put his arm across her waist to ruffle his dog's fur. "Why was he so surprised that I'm still here? Do you have a reputation of kicking poor girls out of your house after a night of debauchery?"
Sam chuckled against her. "No," he promised. "Just on Sundays. They've always kind of been my days."
"I didn't have to stay," she told him and he sat up so he could look down at her.
"Hey," he said, using her hand to pull her up with him. "I wanted you to. I practically made you. You're not the other girls, okay? You're just- you're not."
As a slow smile spread across her face Sam smiled back and kissed her lightly. "Okay," she said finally, kissing him again. "Can I borrow a sweatshirt so I don't have another wardrobe malfunction in front of your friend?"
"Yes, please," he laughed, climbing out of bed to toss her a pullover.
After a few hours that included a movie and popcorn, Andy finally needed to get back to her dorm room. She wanted to see her friends and talk about their nights. She wanted to finish her homework in bed. But, then again, she didn't really want to leave at all.
Throughout the movie, she sat between Sam and Oliver on the couch, leaning most of her weight on Sam's side, while Boo rested at their feet. She listened more to Sam and Oliver's ongoing ribbing and banter than to the movie. She spent most of it curled into Sam's sweatshirt, laughing against her knees. She was used to spending time with them at the bar or at parties, but Sam's apartment was a new setting and brought on a whole new relationship. And they didn't exclude her from conversation, they talked to her not around her. They told her embarrassing stories about the other and they laughed with her together.
When the movie ended she announced that she needed to go and Oliver offered her a ride. She insisted that the walk back to campus was short and that she'd be okay, but both Sam and Oliver were persuasive and got her to agree to the ride. When Oliver said goodbye to Sam he told Andy to meet her at his car and then left. Andy smiled at the door when it closed and turned to find Sam coming toward her. He kissed her hard with a hand on her waist and the other clutching her face. It didn't last long, but it left her reeling.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Sam said and Andy nodded.
"'Night, Sam."
"'Night, McNally," he said with a smile and she kissed him quickly before leaving to find Oliver on the sidewalk.
"All set?" He asked.
"Yeah, thank you," she said and he shrugged with a smile and opened her door for her. She smiled at him and watched as he rounded the car to join her.
The ride over was quiet but not awkward. Andy just assumed he was thinking about having to go home to his girlfriend who wasn't so pleased with him. And she was too caught up on thoughts from the last 36 hours. It took her a second to even realize that they had pulled up outside of her dorm. "Have a good night, Andy," Oliver said.
"Thank you," she said, unbuckling her seatbelt. "You, too."
"Thanks," he said and as she went to get out of his car he reached for her arm. "And, um, thanks for hanging out. I needed it. And I'm sure Sam appreciates that we can all hang out and get along."
"I know I do," she promised. "I had fun."
"Me too."
Andy smiled and Oliver nodded in return. He waited for her to get inside before driving away and she started to see more similarities between him and Sam. It was no surprise they were so close and so important to each other. It reminded her of her and her own friends. When she got into her room, she smiled at her roommates who were doing homework at their desks.
"Nice outfit," Gail joked, looking over at her. "Good weekend?"
"Pretty good," Andy nodded, shrugging off her backpack.
"Pretty good?" Traci laughed and Andy joined her.
"Okay, really good," she amended, falling dreamily into her desk chair. "Heavenly."