A/N: This is my very first Fan Fiction, so please be open-minded! I am definitely open to thoughts/advice. I have a definite idea of where I want to go with this, but just recently got started.

*I do not own the rights to Rookie Blue.

Andy felt a familiar and unexpected thud in her chest when she stood in the doorway of the kitchen at 15. Sam was kissing another woman. Her Sam. Just as it had terrified and winded her the day she took a bullet to the vest, this feeling went particularly deep. But unlike the bullet, this pain didn't ease. She continued to stare, waiting for her breath to steady and the pain to lessen- waiting for this not to be real. Her heart pleaded with her brain to wake from this nightmare. But as the doorway supported her increasingly heavy body, his eyes met hers and his sympathetic expression only confirmed this harsh reality.

She thought the worst was already over. Andy had pictured returning to work many times over her six months under cover, and it never looked like this. They had been through so much- it was finally supposed to be the perfect timing. I mean, before she left he finally told her loved her! He finally said the words that had never crossed his lips. Didn't that mean something?

She became aware of the raw emotions written across her face. Sam's sympathetic look didn't change. He said nothing. But what could he say that could possibly make this okay?

Focusing all of her energy on keeping her composure was exhausting. The rest of her day was a complete blur. Somehow she finally made it home. Andy closed the front door behind her and collapsed with her back against the door to her condo. Her eyes flooded with tears and her body began to shake. She allowed all of the feelings she had held in for the last few hours to completely consume her.

A knock at the door startled her awake. She must've cried herself to sleep. She scrambled up from the floor, trying unsuccessfully to straighten her matted hair and wipe her tear-stained face. She looked through the peephole to see Nick standing with a grocery bag in hand.

She opened the door slowly, trying to pretend she was fine. "Hey," she whispered. One look at her and he couldn't hide his concern.

"Hey. When you didn't come to the Penny I was worried. Thought I would bring you some of your favorite ice cream."

"Sorry, I was just feeling a bit tired." Andy was grateful for Nick's gesture, but the thought of eating anything at the moment was more than she could handle. "Thanks. Can you put it in the freezer for now?"

"Sure." One look at her mascara-stained face and slumped shoulders, and Nick knew she couldn't be handling it well. When he saw Sam with Marlo at the Penny together earlier his thoughts had immediately gone to Andy.

Despite her constantly telling him that she was over Sam during their six months under cover together, Nick knew better. He and Andy had become very close, and he knew she was in denial even before they returned. But this- this was not what he wanted for her. He hated to see this woman that he deeply cared for hurting. He hadn't ever had such an intimate friendship with a girl before, and it was definitely foreign to him.

Nick placed the ice cream in her otherwise empty freezer and joined Andy on the couch. Her knees were pulled tightly to her chest. She gripped her arms around her legs- physically holding herself together.

"Andy," he gently whispered.

"Don't. Please don't." One stray tear ran down her cheek. "I can't handle you being nice to me right now. I won't be able to keep it together."

He moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Andy, I'm so sorry. "

The tears began to cascade down her face. "I guess I just wasn't worth waiting for." The deep pain enveloped her once again, and she was overcome with sadness.

Nick continued to hold her tightly until she was so tired she couldn't cry anymore. He wasn't like her girlfriends that would try to tell her that Sam was a jerk who didn't deserve her. He just held her close and listened.

When he felt like she was finally ready, Nick carried Andy to her bed. He laid her down gently and took her face in his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

"I'm going to sleep on the couch. I'll be out there if you need anything at all. I promise I won't leave. You need to get some sleep so you can be ready for shift tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. That's what friends are for, right?" He tucked her in and lightly kissed her forehead. He turned and headed for the door.

"Nick?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks."

He gave her a nod and a faint smile. "Goodnight." He turned off the light and softly closed the door the door behind him.