Provenza had waited a bit to make sure that The Captain and Hobbs were already gone, and when he got back to the murder room, he found everyone packing up for the day. It was Andy that had gone over to his desk. "Where'd you go? Everyone's heading out to Mulcahey's and I was waiting to see if you wanted to join."
"Oh, I just took a walk. Needed some fresh air, so I went up to the terrace for a bit. Mulcahey's, you say? You can buy me a drink. You owe me anyway."
"What the hell do I owe you for this time?" Crossing his arms, and giving his cranky partner an eye roll, Andy stood over Provenza now regretting ever having waited for him.
"Just for me having to put up with you on a daily basis." And for joining forces with the she-devil to help you and the other lovesick fool get your heads out of your asses. "You're paying for my food, too. You annoyed me today." Provenza had already grabbed his jacket off of his chair and started making his way out of the murder room, leaving a very confused Andy standing at his desk. "Let's go. I'm hungry."
Andy loved his partner. He really did. Except for the moments when he wanted to kick him in the ass so hard, that it would send him flying down the hallway. Right now was one of those moments. "What crawled up your ass, huh?" He asked while aggressively pressing the elevator call button. "If you're going to be like this the whole night, you can buy your own damn dinner and I'll go home."
"Nothing crawled up my ass. It's just a well known fact that your mere breathing annoys me, and for that, I get to be cranky. This is who we are, Flynn. It's what we do. How are you not used to this by now?"
Stepping onto the elevator, Andy could only shake his head and chuckle at his partner. Mainly because he knew he wasn't wrong. "I still don't know why I put up with you. It's like I have that thing where you keep going back to the person that tortured you. What's that called again?"
"Stockholm Syndrome. And that, my friend, is something you definitely have a double case of," he said while stepping off of the elevator. "You've had a case of it for way too damn long."
"I swear, the theme of the night is going to be, what the hell are you even talking about? Because I honestly have no idea what the hell you're talking about." Andy had stopped for a moment to think on what his parter had just said, not having the slightest clue what he meant. "Louie! Hey, Lou! What does that even mean?" He had to jog a few steps, but he finally caught up with his partner who looked like he was trying to avoid the question. "You can't just say something like that, then walk away! What do you mean by double case and way too long?"
"Oh, you know exactly what I mean! You might as well have it tattooed across your forehead: I'm a big dope that has a dopey crush on Sharon Raydor, but I'm too big of a chicken-shit to do anything about it, so I'll just following her around taking all the scraps I can get."
Resisting the urge to drop-kick him, Andy opted for yanking Provenza by his arm to spin him around to face him instead. "Enough with this! Not that it's any of your damn business, but we're just friends and that's it. It can't go any further than that. Especially now. You need to drop it." Now it was Andy's turn to leave his partner behind and continue walking. Maybe heading home would be a better option.
"And why not now? Those damn divorce papers are nothing but a formality at this point. You know it, I know it, hell, even Jack knows it." The scowl that Andy gave Provenza at the mere mention of Jack Raydor's name told him that he hit a sore spot. "Oh, what's that face for? You were friends with the guy once, now all of a sudden you hate him?"
"One, me and him were never friends. We ran in the same circles, something that you know very well that I'm not proud of and have worked my ass off to stay away from. Two, you know exactly why I hate him and his big fat mouth." Andy had stopped to let a few patrolmen walk out of earshot, but it had him thinking back to the time when everything in his life had gone to hell.
Jack, being totally jealous of Sharon and Andy's friendship, decided to drop hints to a few gossip mongrels that a certain sergeant was sleeping with his female patrol partner. He'd only done it to force a transfer for one of them. He didn't think of the giant shit-storm it could've stirred. He figured the worst that would happen would be Sharon being so humiliated, that she'd just quit the LAPD and he'd be rid of Andy Flynn for good, leaving Jack to be Sharon's hero. What he didn't anticipate was it being the final nail in Andy's already crumbling marriage. When Andy confronted Jack at one of their haunts, all Jack could do was snicker when he spoke. "That's what you get for not staying the hell away from my wife." When Sharon heard what Jack had done, she was furious, and even tried reaching out to Sandra to tell her that there was nothing going on, but Sandra refused to believe her. The damage had been done, and the entire mess was the catalyst for Andy going down the rabbit hole. Sharon and Andy's friendship was over just like Jack had wanted, and Andy knew that things between he and Sharon would never be the same. Jack continued to go out night after night, telling anyone and everyone that would listen just how cold and heartless his wife was for blaming him for Flynn's misery and it worked in his favor when many of their mutual friends started turning their backs on Andy. When a few of their old buddies tried jumping Andy in defense of Jack, Andy stopped going out and became a recluse doing nothing but working and drinking. Not too long after Andy started AA, he heard that Jack left Sharon high and dry. Andy's first instinct was to go to Sharon the minute he heard that Jack left, but he was still in the beginning stages of his recovery and he wasn't sure if he had it in him to split his focus. He would forever hate Jack for not seeming to care about the mess he left behind.
"His lies cost me my marriage, a good chunk of time with my kids, and my friendship with Sharon. Damn near cost me my career, too. Not a damn thing he said about us was the truth because nothing happened between us back then. We really were just friends, just like we are now. She and I have both worked our asses off to put that mess behind us. Being friends is all we can be, so just drop it. Why do you care so much anyway? You can't stand her."
"I can stand her just fine, thank you very much." Provenza was still questioning himself as to why he cared so damn much about this, but he had been around for most of that mess back then. They really were just friends. The rumors were nothing but rumors. Rumors that had temporarily tarnished the reputation of two really great cops, and two of his really good friends. Yes, even he and Sharon had been on better terms once. When she crossed over to the dark side, that's when Provenza turned his back on her, taking half of the department with him. So, perhaps, this was his way of mending that fence for good. "Look, Flynn, I've known you both for a long, long time. I know neither one of you would've crossed that line back then, and I know very well that they were just rumors, but there's something there now. Maybe," he paused. "maybe now is the time for you to act on it. We both know you want to."
"What I want and the way things have to be are two different things. I won't risk hurting her by pushing her into something she probably doesn't even want and something that she's not ready for. Sharon's been hurt enough by one sorry excuse for a man. She doesn't need another one. Please, I'm begging you, just drop it."
Ah, so there it was. The real reason why Andy was holding back. "Did you just compare yourself to Jack? Andy, there is not a single person that knows you both that would ever compare the two of you. Especially Sharon." This is why he didn't do feelings. He could listen, and he could try to be supportive, but he was lousy at giving advice. The one thing he could do was give Andy the information he knew from the conversation that he'd overheard between Sharon and Andrea. "If you think that she's not in the exact same boat you are, then you are blinder than I thought. Did it ever occur to you that she's waiting for you to make a move because she can't?"
"I know that it's got to be me! But I won't do it. It's not right." Now he was just down right pissed. All of this was messy enough, and he didn't need Provenza getting involved. "Not too long ago you were telling me to pull my head out of my ass and to not even think about going near her. Now you're being all supportive and encouraging me to ask her out? I swear, you really need to have your head examined." Andy quickly realized that it was time to go home before things really got out of hand. "You know what, I can't do this with you tonight. I'll owe you for dinner and drinks another time. I really just want to go home and forget about this. I'll see you tomorrow." And with a turn of his heel, Andy walked away, leaving Provenza on his own. "Flynn! Andy! I didn't mean…" He heard Provenza yell after him, but he had no intention on stopping. Andy had practically ran towards his car, trying to get away as fast as possible. He just wanted this day to be over with, and he really wanted to forget that conversation ever happened.