Simple Clarity

by Kadi

Rated K+

Disclaimer: Not my sandbox, just the one that I love most.

A/N: Okay, this is my take on what could have happened after the episode ended... There seemed to me that there were a few things left unsaid. Enjoy!

"I'll meet you by the elevator." Sharon gave Rusty a pointed look, and hoped that he would get the hint without too much more prodding on her part. When he smirked at her, eyes shining, she wanted to groan. There was even a small part of her that wanted to stomp her foot in frustration, because honestly, the boy had been infuriating all evening. He wasn't alone, Nicole was plenty to blame, the pair of them had found something to poke at and enjoy, even if it wasn't overt. No, there had been knowing looks, and a few shared grins. Sharon was certain she caught Rusty rolling his eyes in Nicole's direction at least once.

She really needed to have a long talk with him.

Several times a month.

First there was someone else that she was needing to talk to, and that was just a little more pressing. Sharon arched a brow at Rusty as he, once again, looked between her and Andy and fought the urge to grin outright.

"Yeah, sure." Rusty turned. "Goodnight Lieutenant."

"Rusty." Andy sighed as he leaned against the side of his car. His jacket was gone again, and his hands were pushed into the pockets of his trousers. He watched the boy walk toward the lobby door and shook his head. "Still a comedian," he mumbled. Andy shook his head and drew his gaze back to Sharon. The parking garage felt a little oppressive, even for such a large structure. It was too quiet now, with Rusty gone. He had the urge to look at his shoes, but managed to suppress it. The damned kids had been rubbing in whatever it was that they both thought they knew all night. To make matters worse, Nicole specifically put Sharon beside him during the performance. He didn't imagine any one person could make them self as small in one of those theater seats as she had. The time or two that his arm had brushed hers, completely by accident, she practically cringed away from him. She couldn't make herself anymore clear if she took out a permanent marker and wrote it on her forehead. Not interested. "Look, Sharon..."

She turned, slowly, and for a moment she couldn't lift her eyes at all. "You lied to me." She spoke quietly. When finally she looked up at him, the sparkle had dimmed. Her smile slowly fell. Whatever realizations she might have reached earlier, the one thought she couldn't manage to get past for the remainder of the night was that one. They had spoken, at length, about the lies and the manipulations, and the disappointments that her marriage had wrought. He knew. If one person knew how she felt about that, it would be Andy. Dammit, they were supposed to be friends. She had confided in him as such. Truly, she thought he had too. How many times had he expressed regret and sadness at his own mistakes? How many times had he told her that he would give anything to be able to fix that now? For the opportunity to go back and do it again, and get it right?

Maybe that was the point. She began to think that he was different. Despite the similarities of his past, she began to truly believe that his burning desire to be better and do better set him apart from a man that she was no longer married to.

I'm a married woman.

Only she wasn't. Not anymore. That was the first thought to run through her mind earlier. She would be lying if she said that it wasn't accompanied by a little thrill of excitement, perhaps even hope. Then she was reminded... he lied to her.

After all, a lie of omission was still a lie.

"You know how I feel about that," she continued, voice still soft, quiet, and perhaps a bit tremulous. She hated that just when she wanted to be firm and to the point with him, her voice could so easily give away what she was feeling. He knew immediately, of course he did. She saw the regret in his dark gaze, and the way he looked at his shoes. When he sighed, she looked away. This was not how she envisioned the conversation happening when she sat, during the second act, planning it while her mind was unable to focus on anything else.

"Yeah." He scuffed his shoe against the concrete beneath them. Andy lifted his head finally and looked at her. "You know, the thing is, it wasn't about you." He shrugged, still feeling like ten times an ass about it, but when they got down to it, the target of his daughter's assumptions hadn't really mattered. "That doesn't change it, I know." Andy pushed away from the car and took a step toward her, just a small one. He was neither suicidal or interested in living dangerously. "I'm sorry," he said again. "There were a number of times that I could have cleared it all up, and I didn't. That's on me. It was something that Nicole wanted, and I didn't have it in me to disappoint her again. I did that anyway, I guess, not that she believes us," he muttered the last bit to himself.

"No," Sharon said. "I'm sure she doesn't. Not now." Now that it was a non-issue because, really, when Rusty put it in such plain terms... who were they fooling? Themselves, apparently.

"I'm sorry you got hurt by it," he said. Andy took another step forward. Close enough now that she had to lift her head to look up at him. "That's the last thing I wanted."

"I know." It was that soft, rumbling tone of his voice that always did her in. She could never manage to stay irritated with him for long when he used that. Sharon was fairly certain that he knew it too. She smiled, a bit sadly, up at him. "I'm not hurt, Andy. I'm disappointed. If nothing else, I thought we'd reached a place where we could discuss anything. Unfortunate missteps included."

"Yeah." His hand brushed hers as he moved steadily closer. His fingers moved along the outer curve of her palm until they found her wrist and loosely circled it. "Maybe I was a little embarrassed too," He admitted. "I mean, when it started, at least, it was never going to happen. You were married and... well, I used to think that there was a line and we were standing on opposite sides of it. Who you are, and who I am, and miles of difference between." She started to open her mouth, he saw her eyes widen, but Andy continued before she could. He circled her other wrist and drew her gently forward. "Then, you know, we started spending time together. Those differences didn't seem like so much space after all, but you were still married. That wasn't a bridge that you were ever going to cross, I knew enough about you to know that, so maybe I figured I'd take what I could get."

He turned them, so that the car was to her back. Her breath hitched. She hadn't expected his honesty, not at this point in the game. Maybe the apology, yes, certainly that. He would be sorry, and he would be regretful, and she would forgive him. Because she did believe that what he'd done had not come from a place of spite, but rather a deep, burning need to be accepted by his daughter. She hadn't exaggerated with Nicole earlier. She did believe that Andy had only done it so that Nicole would be proud of him. That Nicole would at least see him enough that his own deeds, his own personality would be enough for her. Sharon exhaled quietly. Perhaps he wasn't so different than she thought him to be. It rattled her, though, that she could be so oblivious to her own life. How could she not see this. Where had he come from, that she could be so comfortable in their association that she could miss the obvious, as according to Rusty, that was exactly what she had done.

When the cool smoothness of the car touched her back, Sharon lifted her hands out of his grasp. She placed them against his chest. "What are you doing?" If her voice had gone just a tad breathy, she pretended to ignore it.

"Telling the truth." His hands slipped into the thick curtain of her hair. He tipped her head back and watched her eyes widen, and then darken.

"Andy." Her gaze dipped, quite involuntarily to his lips. It was on the edge of her mind to push him away. To say goodnight and continue this another time. They needed to talk about this. They couldn't just push forward as though the last few days had not happened at all. If she were honest with herself, she needed to think about it. Categorize it, and determine whether it was something that should continue or not. Instead, her hands curled around the straps of his suspenders. She pulled herself forward, even as his head lowered.

They hovered there. Neither moving, lips only centimeters apart. Their breaths mingled while their eyes met. He watched her, while his thumb traced the curve of her jaw. Slowly, hardly moving at all, he closed the distance between them. His eyes closed. His nose brushed her cheek, nuzzled, and then his lips brushed hers. It was barely a caress, there was very little of it that could be considered a kiss at all. Yet it had been a while since anything had felt sweeter. When she hummed, the sound went through him. Heat coiled in his belly. He let his lips touch hers again, and this time, they lingered.

It wasn't a complete surprise, the rush of emotion that swept through her. She wasn't so oblivious to her own thoughts that she never thought him attractive. She was only human. She thought about it, Sharon wasn't so much a fool that she couldn't admit, even to herself, that she thought about it. About this. She wondered what it would be like for them if they were more than friends. But they weren't. They were only friends. Good friends. At least, she thought that they were. At some point the dynamic shifted. It became something else. They became something else, and it happened so seamlessly, so naturally, that of course she didn't see it. How could she? Even if her feelings for him ran deep, they were still friends. He was still the first person that she looked to when she was surprised, or amused, her eyes would seek him out if she was troubled. Her hand would reach for her phone and it would be his number that she would be searching for when she felt the need to share, no matter her underlying mood.

Maybe they were right. They weren't dating. Perhaps it was just too simple a term to encompass all that they had become to one another. After all, shouldn't they be beyond such labels at this time in their lives?

Warmth spread downward along her spine. A smile curved her lips, even as she leaned more fully into him. As far as first kisses went, he certainly managed to capture her attention, and yet, it was almost chaste as well. When his head lifted, she leaned back on her heels, although her hands did not immediately relinquish the hold they had on his suspenders. Her eyes fluttered slowly open and she looked up at him. The corners of her mouth curve toward a smile. His thumb stroked the line of her jaw again, while the sparkle her eyes held earlier returned.

"In all this time," she said, voice dipping, but soft. "You couldn't find a way to tell me the truth a little sooner?"

He grunted a low, rumbling laugh. His head dipped and he placed one last, soft kiss to her lips. Then he released her and stepped away. "Yeah, well…" Andy shrugged. "I didn't think it was anything that you wanted to hear."

"Hm." She offered a soft hum, and then she released him. She smoothed his tie down and shook her head. "Next time, maybe you should ask?" Sharon smiled and stepped around him. As she walked toward the lobby door, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Next time?" He turned, let his eyes follow her. His brows lifted. Andy couldn't help the slightly hopeful tone. Well, she hadn't shot him, but she wasn't exactly wearing anything that would be conducive to hiding her service weapon. He was thankful for that, for more than just the obvious reason.

"Yes." She cast a look at him from over her shoulder. "That is the appropriate behavior following a date, isn't it?" Sharon reached the door and stopped. She turned and pointed a finger at him. "There will be a conversation," she warned. There was so much left to discuss. His deception, although she understood the reasoning. Their relationship, and where it might actually be headed now. She was also his boss, and there would have to be some ground rules. Sharon almost laughed, she could actually hear him groaning already. The rules. Now wasn't the time to get into all of it. They'd had enough clarity for one evening.

Andy shoved his hands into his pockets. He shook his head and chuckled. He had to know he wasn't off the hook completely. Not with Sharon. "Yeah, okay." His eyes gleamed. "I'll pick you up for breakfast."

She turned on her heel, but not with a little smirk. "I'll think about it."

He watched her sashay through the door and rolled his eyes. The woman drove him crazy. He couldn't remember, in recent memory, having wanted another one more. Infuriating but beautiful, funny and warm. Hell, his partner was right. He was in trouble. Problem was, he'd given into it a long time ago. Andy walked around his car. He took his phone out of his pocket as he slid in behind the wheel. "If you don't have breakfast with me, I'll think that you kiss all the guys you go to the ballet with."

In the small pocketbook that was tucked under her arm, Sharon felt her phone vibrate. She took it out and swept her thumb across the screen. She snorted a small laugh. Sharon stopped just shy of turning the corner that would take her toward the elevator bank, where she knew that Rusty would be waiting. Her thumb moved quickly as she keyed out the response. "Only the ones that I'm 'dating'." She gave a firm nod to herself and dropped the phone back into her pocket book.

Rusty was leaning against the wall across from the elevator when she finally appeared. He pushed away from it and reached out to hit the button for the car. As she got closer, he shook his head. "Yeah, because I always look like that after my not-dates." He smirked. "Sharon, really?"

"Oh hush." She stopped beside him. She could feel her cheeks heating up. "I'm not going to talk about it."

"Come on, Sharon!" Rusty faced her, eyes bright with humor even if his tone was beseeching. "You make me discuss, like, everything with you. I think this is definitely classified in the things that I get to talk about. Especially when you're completely clueless."

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She sighed quietly. If she didn't completely adore him, well, Sharon didn't know what she would do. She did adore him, however, which was why she cast a sideways look at him. "I wouldn't say completely," she muttered. "It's complicated, Rusty."

"No, it's actually kind of not." He continued to grin at her. "Okay, I won't say you've been dating the guy for an entire year, because even I don't think you're that bad. I will say that it's been a while. I mean, Sharon… Really?"

She fidgeted where she stood. When the elevator doors opened she actually considered taking the stairs. If it weren't for the fact that her feet were already aching in those heels, she'd have done it. The idea of being trapped in an elevator with Rusty while he was being so curious, and impertinent, and just… Rusty, well, it was daunting. Sharon moved forward into the car, however, and shrugged out of her jacket once she was inside. "I needed a friend, Rusty," she said gently, once he joined her. "I wasn't looking for anything else. Can we leave it at that?"

"Yeah." He deflated a bit. "I guess so." He stared at the digital read out above their heads, watched as it slowly increased while the elevator rose. It was almost sad, a little bit pathetic, and kind of cute. Okay, maybe more than kind of. He didn't think anything could fluster Sharon quite like this had. She was having a total girl freak-out and it was, well, okay so maybe he was being a bit of a creep but it was kind of the best thing ever. It made her so normal and really human, and not perfect, and just… Sharon. Rusty snorted quietly and tried not to laugh. He couldn't wait to tell Jeff about this one. Yep, that's my mom, he thought.

"Thank you." Sharon shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Oh, and Rusty…" She slanted a look at him. Her gaze found him from over the rims of her glasses. "Not a word to anyone."

Rusty couldn't stop himself, he giggled. "Sharon…" His eyes sparkled happily. "The only people who don't know that Sharon and Andy are a thing, are Sharon and Andy. Although, mostly Sharon. I'm pretty sure he knew." He rocked back on his heels. "Everyone else already knows."

Her eyes closed. She moaned quietly. "Oh god."

~FIN