A/N: This is mostly Sharon and Andy taking care of each other in some interesting ways after a hard day. Read on to find out! Also, don't own the show or the characters. Just playing in the sandbox for eternity.
Handle With Care
It had been a much too exciting day for Sharon's liking.
The murder room was in shambles after the explosion.
An explosion she'd very nearly not made it out of.
She thought about Andy's call on Provenza's phone to her to make sure she and everyone else was okay.
That had been a sobering moment.
She actually had someone to worry about her now.
She wasn't entirely used to it, but she realized now that she also had to think of him when she put herself in life or death situations like the one she'd found herself in today.
She thought back to when Andy had been thrown from that moving car and how worried she'd been about him.
How worried he must have been when he saw the windows of the murder room blown out by the bomb.
It went both ways: the fear and the love and the care
So, as Andy pulled into a parking space in the parking garage of her condo building, he took a deep breath and squeezed Sharon's hand that was on the console with his and then pulled her hand towards his lips and kissed her knuckles.
They didn't speak on the ride together on the elevator up to the floor of their condo.
As they arrived at their condo door, Andy took his keys out of his pocket and found the key Sharon had given him to the condo.
He unlocked the door, opened it, and let Sharon go in first.
"Where's Rusty?" asked Andy.
"He called earlier when I was getting checked out by the ambulance. He called to make sure I was okay and said he'd be at the library late tonight," Sharon told him.
"Alright. Well, home alone together, then. What should we get up to first?" asked Andy.
"Well, I definitely need a shower. I've got drywall dust everywhere on me and my hair's gotta be a mess," said Sharon.
"Can I join you?" asked Andy.
"You never have to ask that," said Sharon with a sly smile as she began walking down the hallway towards the bathroom, Andy following close behind.
Once they undressed and Sharon set the water to her desired temperature, they stood there a moment waiting for the hot water to warm up while Andy held Sharon from behind and suggested, "Let me take care of you for a while."
Sharon hummed a moment later before she asked Andy, "What does that entail?"
"Whatever you want," Andy told her.
"Interesting proposition. How about I give you free reign on what we do in the shower? Cause I really don't wanna think for a little while,"suggested Sharon as she stepped out of Andy's arms and into the hot shower, Andy close behind her.
As Sharon stood facing Andy and smiling at him, he told her, "Turn around."
"Ooh! What are we doing?" asked Sharon, genuinely curious as to what was about to happen.
"It's not what you think. At least not yet," replied Andy as his hands began massaging her scalp.
Sharon hummed affirmatively as Andy continued massaging her scalp, taking great care to get whatever drywall debris might have gotten in there during the explosion.
As he pulled her out of the path of the spray, he leaned towards Sharon's ear and said, "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Me too. Glad I made it out, if only for this amazing scalp massage," joked Sharon.
"Sharon, I'm serious," Andy told her earnestly.
"I know. I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, I'm glad you made it out too. You've gotta marry me someday soon. Although, going after that bomber without back-up was rather risky, especially with your past health issues and injuries," said Sharon honestly.
"I know. I think we both worried each other," admitted Andy as he massaged the shampoo into Sharon's hair for her.
"Mmhmm," hummed Sharon affirmatively.
"What can I do to make it up to you?" asked Andy.
"You're doing it right now," said Sharon before she walked back into the spray as Andy followed after her and wrapped his arms around Sharon's waist as she leaned back to wash the shampoo out of her hair.
"What?" asked Andy a moment later.
Sharon leaned out of the spray for a moment before she said, "Handling me with care. Loving me."
Sharon tipped her head back into the spray to wash the remaining shampoo out of her hair as Andy pondered her statement for a few minutes in the silence between them.
After Sharon washed the shampoo out of her hair, Andy was at the ready with the conditioner, squeezing a healthy amount of it into his hand before setting the bottle down as he began massaging the conditioner into Sharon's hair for her.
"Sharon, what did you mean when you said that I handle you with care?" asked Andy, genuinely curious.
"Just that you take care of me when I want or need that sort of thing," said Sharon as she smiled at Andy.
"It's my pleasure to be able to do that for you," said Andy as he leaned forward slightly to kiss Sharon's lips, which she returned with equal fervor.
Once they finally broke apart for air, Sharon said, "I'm sure it is. Let me wash this conditioner out of my hair real quick and then it's your turn."
As Sharon washed the conditioner out of her hair, Andy marveled at how lucky they both were that this day was ending the way it was, considering the dangerous ordeals they'd both been through today.
A few minutes later, Sharon and Andy traded places, with Andy now under the spray and Sharon behind him.
Meanwhile, a couple minutes later, Andy stepped out of the spray and grabbed a dollop of shampoo from his shampoo bottle and began massaging it into his own hair before feeling two hands making their way up the nape of his neck and into his hair.
"Told you it was your turn," Sharon whispered next to his ear before placing a kiss against his cheek as she gently massaged his scalp as well.
Andy relaxed into Sharon's touch as she continued massaging the shampoo into his hair.
When Sharon was done, Andy stepped under the spray to rinse the shampoo from his hair while Sharon lathered up her body with a loofah and some body wash, ridding her body of drywall dust.
God, this shower felt so good, Sharon thought to herself as her and Andy came together under the spray in a passionate kiss.
After a few minutes, Andy broke the kiss and shut off the water before he said, "This is only the beginning."
Sharon hummed and raised her eyebrows curiously before she asked, "Beginning of what?"
"The beginning of the handle with care plan," Andy told her as he opened the shower door and motioned for Sharon to go first.
Sharon got out of the shower and began toweling off as Andy got out and did the same.
She put a short silk robe on and tied it at the waist, while Andy put on his green terry robe & then came up behind Sharon and kissed the spot behind her ear.
"Will this handle with care plan include sex?" Sharon asked him before she turned around in his arms and gave him a proper kiss.
Once they broke apart for air, Andy replied with a smug smirk, "It could happen. I wanna do something else first though,"
"And what would that be?" asked Sharon, interested in where this was all going.
"How about you go sit on the edge of the bed while I grab a couple things out of here and find out?" suggested Andy.
Sharon smiled widely at him before she said, "You're being quite mysterious tonight."
"It's all part of the handle with care plan," said Andy as he smirked at Sharon before lovingly patting her silk clad butt.
As Sharon opened the bathroom door, she commented, "Now, you're just being cheeky."
"Pun intended?" asked Andy.
"Oh, it was so intended," said Sharon over her shoulder as she walked down the hall to their bedroom.
"Who's being cheeky now?" asked Andy as he quickly gathered Sharon's brush and a couple hair ties out of a drawer and headed in the same direction she'd gone.
Sharon was still laughing at that one when Andy entered their bedroom, closed the door, and then sat behind her on the bed with the brush in hand.
As Andy began brushing any tangles out of Sharon's hair, she relaxed a bit before she asked, "What exactly are you doing besides taking care of me and brushing my hair?"
"They say a bit of mystery keeps the relationship alive," said Andy as he leaned next to Sharon's ear.
Andy continued brushing Sharon's hair until he'd gotten it all brushed out before he set the brush on his nightstand and went about separating Sharon's hair into three different sections.
As Andy started weaving the sections of her hair together, Sharon knew exactly what he was doing and bowed her head and smiled to herself for a moment.
She was curious about one thing though, and asked, "Where did you learn how to braid hair?"
"Well, having a single mom and three younger sisters and daughters teaches you some things," said Andy.
Sharon smiled at the use of the word daughters and continued letting Andy braid her hair.
For them, there was no mine and yours anymore, just ours.
Eventually, Andy put a hair tie on the bottom of Sharon's braid and then pulled her back until she was flush with his robed chest and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I always like that robe," commented Andy as he ran one of his hands up Sharon's smooth outer thigh, inching higher and higher.
"Wanna see me take it off?" asked Sharon leadingly.
"God, yes," Andy told Sharon as he let go of her and she turned around and got on her knees in front of him and slowly began disrobing, sliding the silk robe off her shoulders until it fell on the end of the bed.
As she sat back on her legs, she looked at Andy with want in her eyes as he did the same before she said, "Your turn."
Andy got up and stood next to the foot of the bed as he told Sharon as he began disrobing, "This will probably be a bit less graceful than your performance."
"I don't mind," replied Sharon as she smiled and gave Andy the motion to come here once he undid his robe and it hit the floor.
"What now?" asked Andy teasingly as he sat next to Sharon on the bed.
"Now, it's time for me to handle you with care for a while," replied Sharon as she ran her hands up Andy's chest and towards his shoulders.
"Do tell," said Andy as his and Sharon's lips were now mere inches from each other.
"Why don't I just show you?" said Sharon with a mischievous look on her face.
"I can't wait to find out what your handle with care plan has in store," replied Andy with an equally impish grin on his face as he looked into Sharon's eyes, both his and her eyes brimming with love for the other.
"Why don't you lie back and find out?" suggested Sharon.
Andy did as he was told and pulled Sharon on top of him as he did.
As Sharon's body tumbled into him, she placed a kiss against his chest before continuing to place kisses against his torso and heading further south.
"God, I love the handle with care plan," said Andy as he looked up at the ceiling, preparing himself for what was about to happen.
At that, Sharon just laughed into his hip before reaching her final destination.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Feel free to leave a review if you'd like. It helps me immensely as a writer and ultimately fuels me to write more.