Growing Pains

by Kadi

Rated T

Disclaimer: It isn't my sandbox, but I do enjoy it so!

A/N: A belated birthday gift for ProfTweety - Sorry dear, I tried very hard to get it done in time. Here's to you, and I hope your day was filled with much laughter, joy, and light. As always, for the twin who listens to all my rambling, kate04us thank you ever so!

Chapter 1 – Rusty

"Don't do it, pal." Andy's hands were on his hips. He stood; shoulders tense and a deep scowl drawing his brows together. He glared darkly and shook his head; his lip curled in disgust. "Come on, buddy. This is such a bad idea. Don't… God almighty!" He threw his hands up in exasperation and turned away from the television. "Moron," he declared. Just as he feared, the ball bounced off the third base player's glove just as Andrus reached the base; he rounded it and headed toward home. Andy groaned loudly as the other team's shortstop and heavy hitter scored off the incomplete throw. The Rangers were now up three to zip in the eighth inning and headed toward their second win in a four game series. Texas was on a hot streak and his boys were playing like complete crap.

In the kitchen, Rusty shot a pointed look at Sharon as he took down plates for setting the table. "He can't watch the game at his place?"

Sharon stood at the stove putting the finishing touches on dinner. She rolled her eyes heavenward before she plastered a smile on her face and turned toward Rusty. For someone who had seemed so intent, just a few months ago, at pointing out how serious her relationship with Andy was becoming, he was certainly putting on quite a show of being less than thrilled with the fact that they were now, officially, dating. Sharon reminded herself, again, that Rusty's issues with the situation stemmed from a past that was less than pleasant where his biological mother's boyfriends were concerned. She added a quiet reminder, too, that he had deep abandonment issues for the same reason.

The reminder usually worked, but tonight his attitude was grating on her nerves. That wasn't Rusty's fault. It had been a long week, with another grueling case, and despite the full night's sleep that she got the previous evening, after closing their case, Sharon was still feeling the tension that the case had created. Tonight was meant to be simple. Just a quiet evening in with her two favorite guys, her son and her… well, she hadn't quite come up with a word for what Andy was to her now. She felt too old to be using the word boyfriend but they weren't lovers yet. Sharon pushed those thoughts aside and focused on her son again.

She kept her voice low and her tone soft so that Andy wouldn't hear them talking about him. "I invited Andy to dinner, Rusty, and then you insisted that you could help me in the kitchen. Besides," she shrugged at him. "I like baseball." The suggestion to put the game on had been hers. She wanted him to relax and feel comfortable. Sadly, he was as aware of Rusty's sudden disapproval of them as she was. It was making him nervous, and that was making her nervous.

Rusty made a face at her as she poured glaze over steamed vegetables. His eyes swept the kitchen. There was a brown rice pilaf, and a tossed salad in light vinaigrette. There was no meat in sight, and Rusty knew exactly why that was. The boyfriend didn't eat it. Rusty shook his head at her. This wasn't the first time that she made a dinner that Flynn was invited to in the last year, but she seemed to be going to such extra lengths to meet his preferences now. It was a little ridiculous. Why did people do that when they started dating someone?

"Sharon," Rusty moved the plates to the bar and then sighed. "You like going to baseball games," he pointed out quietly. "You hate watching it on television. It's boring, remember? And what is with dinner tonight. Are we making a life change that you haven't told me about?"

She risked a look into the living room as she turned to face him. Andy was seated on the sofa again. He was fully engrossed in the game. She watched him push his hand into his hair as his frustration grew and felt like laughing quietly. Instead she focused on Rusty and pressed her lips into a thin line. "Just once," she said quietly, "I am going to remind you that when we have a guest there are certain behaviors that I expect to see, and others, that you are going to leave in your room. Yes, watching baseball on television alone is boring," she pointed out. "Watching it with someone else who happens to appreciate it can be very enjoyable. As to dinner," she folded her arms across her chest. "I know that it is going to come as a surprise to you, Russell, but this actually happens to be my preference. It is in direct response to things that I never want to see again, as well as the fact that I have been eating a lot of processed take-out meals this week that have been heavy on greasy meat. Is there anything else that you would like to complain about, or may we continue?"

Rusty looked duly chastised as his shoulders hunched. Her pursed lips and arched brows were a clear indication that he was treading on thin ice, even if she was keeping her tone pleasant. He guessed that he was kind of being a brat. There was just something about having Flynn there, like, all the time now that bothered him for some reason. Rusty didn't understand why. It wasn't as if he wasn't always there before. It was just different now, and in a way that he couldn't really put his finger on. Maybe because before it was just amusing to tease Sharon about how much time she was spending with him, but now that she was acknowledging it too… His mind was going places that he didn't want it to go and honestly, that just sounded all kinds of awful. He was being completely selfish, but he couldn't seem to stop these things that he was feeling.

"No," Rusty said quietly. "Sorry," he added and picked up the plates. He carried them around the bar and began to silently set the table.

Sharon watched for a moment. She saw his thoughts turn inward and nodded once. Sharon took a thin, cleansing breath and turned back to the stove. Next time, she decided, they would have dinner elsewhere. She would give Rusty more time to get used to this situation, but it had best be fast, she added. What was it, she wondered, about her life choices that made her sons want to act like immature children? She chose to push it out of her mind, at least for tonight, and enjoy herself.

She carried the dishes around and set them in the center of the table before walking into the living room. They had just a few more minutes before they would settle in to eat. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and sank onto the sofa beside the man who was staring so intently at the television. Her hand slid down his arm in a simple caress before she tilted her head at him. "How are they doing?"

Andy shook his head. "Not that great, but they just tied it up." He glanced at her and then toward the table. She was tense and it wasn't hard to guess why. "Everything okay?"

The quiet, rumbling tone made her smile. Sharon sighed quietly. So he had witnessed all of that? Of course he had. He wasn't oblivious, nor was he stupid. "It is," she told him. She flashed a warm smile at him and let her hand settle against his arm. "Growing pains," she said, "that's all."

He studied her closely. Andy's brows drew together. He glanced at Rusty again before shaking his head. He leaned back on the sofa with a soft sigh. "We don't have to do this tonight," he said, and kept his voice low. He heard, rather than saw, the kid go back into the kitchen. "Sharon, I can go, it's not a problem." For some reason Rusty had a problem with them being together, and he didn't know why that was. He and the kid were getting along just fine, until he and Sharon actually started dating. That was the only thing that he could think of that had changed. Now, all of a sudden, Rusty had a problem with him and he got it. Andy figured that he would have a problem with him too, if he were Rusty.

"No." She wrapped her hand around his wrist and let her fingers slide beneath the gold chain that he was wearing. "Absolutely not." As if to punctuate that decision, Sharon drew her legs up and curled them beneath her. She settled her knees against his thigh and leaned against his side. "If you really want to leave," she said, "then you can. Andy, if you are offering to leave because you think that I want you to, then you couldn't be more wrong. As to Rusty," she shrugged at him, "he will get over it." She smiled at him. "He's a nineteen-year-old boy, this is… not completely unexpected."

His hand covered one of her denim-clad knees. She was comfortable and casual in a pair of jeans and a fitted blouse. She looked good in anything, but the bold colors, he really liked her in those. He was especially fond of red, but the blue that she was wearing tonight was another good color on her. Both of her arms were wrapped around his, but he pulled her close, until her knees were lying against his lap and let his hand slide down from her knee to stroke her calf. "Okay," he said simply. Andy was tempted to kiss her, especially with the way she pursed her lips and rolled her eyes at him before turning her attention to the game. That might have been pushing it, he decided, if the kid was in a mood. Later, he decided, when the kid wasn't around.

Sharon hummed quietly and laid her chin against the top of his shoulder. Her attention was on the game now. They were moving into the bottom of the ninth inning. It was still tied and could very well move into extra innings. She would give it a few more minutes and then herd him toward the table. For the moment she enjoyed just being close to him. Her fingers alternated between toying with the chain of his bracelet and stroking the inside of his wrist. She watched the game with him, and it was as she told Rusty. It was not quite so boring watching it with someone else who appreciated it. Sharon was preparing to get up and call everyone in to dinner when the end of the game came. In spectacular fashion the Dodgers lost. She turned her face into his shoulder with a low groan as the Rangers' Robinson Chirinos hit a walk-off home run right into left field. The ball was gone and it was over.

His head fell back. He looked at the ceiling and growled quietly. Sharon laughed. "I'm sorry, honey." She couldn't even tell him that it had been a good game. That would be a lie. Their team had played abysmally both nights of the series. There were still two games left, however, and they could at least tie up the series if not win it. "If it makes you feel better, they're at home the next two nights. They play better at home."

"Yeah." His head rolled across the back of the sofa. He looked at her. "It doesn't. We'll see how they do." Andy heaved another sigh. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Now that I'm completely depressed, dinner?"

She laughed again. Sharon laid her hand against his shoulder and rose from the sofa. "Yes. I will feed you now." He could be such a typical guy. She leaned over and lifted the remote. After the television was turned off, she held out a hand. "Come on, we will drown your sorrows in carbs and starch."

"Such a perfect woman." Andy hefted himself up as she pulled on his hand and grinned when she rolled her eyes at him. He pulled her to him. The simplicity of being able to hold her, to just drape his arm around her shoulders like he was now, he didn't think that would ever get old. It was such a small thing, and after a year of dancing around this, it should have felt like a big step for them, but it didn't. It just felt good. Andy turned his face into her hair and let his lips brush her ear. "Not entirely a line," he murmured.

Her hand slid up his back. Sharon leaned into him while her smile softened. Her hand stroked between his shoulder blades and as they reached the table, she pulled away from him. She watched Rusty carry in three glasses and the water pitcher. She smiled brightly at him. Whatever his mood, he seemed to have pushed it aside and he was no longer sulking. "Thank you, Rusty, for setting the table."

"You're welcome." He didn't pay attention to how closely they were pressed together, or how much they touched each other now. Honestly, Rusty didn't want to think about it. Aside from the fact that it was just weird it was also kind of gross. Why couldn't they just go to a movie and say good night at the door like they always did? Weren't they too old for this? Rusty kept all of that to himself, however, and took his usual seat at the table. "Dinner looks really good," he said, by way of offering an olive branch. When he took a minute to recall the details of the case they worked this week, he realized why there wasn't any meat with dinner and felt like a jerk for bringing it up. He hadn't wanted any meat either after thinking about it.

As dinner progressed Sharon was able to relax. Rusty became more like his usual self when the Lieutenant was with them. Sharon let the conversation drift toward Rusty's story about Alice. She was very aware that finding out more about that young girl was something that Andy was particularly passionate about too. All of them had been affected by the case, but she knew that he was especially touched by it.

Sharon also acknowledged, at least to herself, that she might have nudged the conversation in that direction to get the two of them talking. At least while they were discussing something that they both agreed whole-heartedly on, Rusty wasn't thinking about why Andy was there, and Andy wasn't worried about Rusty's opinion on the subject of them.

Afterward Andy stood when Rusty began clearing plates. "I've got it kid. Didn't you want to go and do some more research?" He picked up his plate and Sharon's and moved into the kitchen with them.

"Yeah, but..." Rusty shot a distrustful look at his back and then at the table. It was usually his chore to clean up after dinner, but was the Lieutenant trying to get rid of him?

Sharon watched him frown and sighed. She stood and lifted their glasses to carry into the kitchen. Anyone else might think it odd that he was suddenly so wary of a man who spent the last year having the occasional meal in their home. They had not only spent their time together going out to eat. He had also cooked for her in his home a number of times. Wasn't that the entire point of her son's claim prior to Christmas that they were already dating? Rather than allowing herself to become frustrated with him, as she was want to do, Sharon reminded herself, again, of Rusty's past and where his issues stemmed from as she joined them in the small kitchen.

"Rusty, by now I think we know better than to argue with Andy when he's in a mood to clean." She looked at her son and rolled her eyes. It was her way of reminding him that this was nothing new. How many times had she and Andy discussed that he didn't need to help clean up after a shared meal? Good grief, how many times had they had that same discussion in Andy's kitchen because she was attempting to help clean up after a meal? "You did mention wanting to go out after dinner," Sharon continued, and added a warm smile, "I would take advantage of him if I were you." She wondered if her boy knew just how easy to read he was. They were not trying to get rid of him, but she could understand his concerns. Someday, she thought, he would trust that. She would only have to be patient, and hope that Andy could be as well.

"I guess..." Rusty carried the two dishes in his hand to the bar and placed them on it. "I did want to go and talk to a couple of people..." He knew where they would be hanging out, and that he would only be able to speak to them during the evening hours. He glanced back toward the table before looking at Sharon again. "Are you sure?"

"Are you kidding?" Andy shook his head as he walked past to finish clearing the table. "Have you met her?" He made a big show of looking at his watch. "If you're out too late she's going to have a fit. You should go on, we can take care of this."

Sharon's jaw dropped open. Her eyes narrowed at Andy, although they were sparkling happily. "I do not have fits." She lifted her chin at them. "I have appropriate responses to a certain level of awareness of what goes on in this city after a specific time in the evening. I don't believe that there is anything wrong with knowing how late my son is going to be out, or in which part of the city he is going to be spending his time."

Her hands went to her hips, but Andy just turned. He fixed Rusty with a look and held his arms out as if to ask, see what I mean? He kept telling himself that if he treated the boy no differently than he always did, then the kid would get over whatever was bothering him about his and Sharon's relationship changing. "Yeah, and if you're not home by midnight, how many times is she going to text you?"

Rusty snorted a quiet laugh. If nothing else, the Lieutenant was right about Sharon. She did worry about him, a lot, but he supposed that he understood why that was. Rusty shook his head at them. "Okay, I'm going. I will try to not be out too late," he said. "But I will text you if it's taking longer than I expect." He left the kitchen and walked toward the hall. Rusty stopped halfway and turned back, "Um, should I like, make sure that I'm not back before a certain time?" He looked between the two of them and then finally let his gaze settle on Sharon. He felt like it was an important question to ask. He didn't want to walk in on anything especially gross happening later.

She blinked at him a couple of times. It took her a moment to realize what he was asking. When Andy turned away and busied himself at the sink with a cough, she felt her jaw drop. Her cheeks flushed with warmth and she was sure they were turning a deep shade of red. Typically she was not the blushing type, but that particular question coming out of her son, along with his very pointed look, was the last thing that she ever expected. Sharon forced her mouth closed and slowly shook her head. She folded her arms across her chest and shifted where she stood. Her lips pursed while she thought of a response that wouldn't further embarrass her. Rusty seemed entirely non-plussed by her reaction. Sharon was also fairly certain that what she was hearing behind her was laughter, of the badly stifled and choked variety.

"That is a very fair question," she began carefully, and found herself shifting her weight on her feet again. Sharon wouldn't call it fidgeting, but when she heard Andy snort quietly, she realized that was exactly what she was doing. She forced herself to stand still and cleared her throat. "I don't believe that it's anything you're going to have to worry about," she said, in a light but measured tone. She felt a surge of triumph when the laughter behind her stopped. "You should come home when you're ready to, but if you're going to be late, please let me know."

"Sure." Rusty didn't know if he believed her, but he would take her word for it. Didn't she think that he knew what dating entailed? He didn't want to dwell on it too closely, though, so Rusty took that as his cue to get out of there. He turned away from them and made his way down the hall to get his stuff.

Sharon said nothing. She knew that it would only take him a minute to gather what he needed. She continued clearing off the table instead and dutifully ignored looking anywhere near Andy. It took exactly five minutes for Rusty to reappear and call out a goodbye. It was not until the front door had closed that she turned where she stood. She picked up a dishtowel and threw it at Andy's back. "It was not funny!"

"Yeah." Andy looked over at her. He was rinsing dishes before placing them in the dishwasher. "It was." He grinned crookedly; her cheeks were still a light shade of red. "He made you blush, it was worth it." They hadn't discussed taking that step yet, so Rusty's assumptions about them were pretty amusing. Andy shook his head and reached for her. His hand curled around her wrist and he tugged her over to stand beside him. "Come on, weren't you the one who said earlier that he's a nineteen-year-old boy? Trust me when I tell you, at that age, there's just one thing that he's going to think about when he hears the word date. What were you thinking about at nineteen?"

She rolled her eyes at him. Sharon nudged him aside. She pushed the sleeves of her blouse up and took over at the sink. "At nineteen, I was thinking about school, actually." She smiled when she heard him grunt at her. "No, really. I was focusing most of my time on school so that I wouldn't have time to listen to my mother's attempts at talking me into getting married and having babies." Sharon shrugged. "As far back as I can remember, that is the only thing that I can ever remember my parents truly disagreeing on." She looked up at him and hummed. "My mother was very fond of Jack."

"Really?" Andy took the plate that she handed him and placed it in the dishwasher. He tilted his head at her and leaned his hip against the counter. She had mentioned before that she had known Jack while she was in college, but she was never very specific in the details. They always changed the subject. It wasn't that he didn't like hearing it; she just seemed uncomfortable talking about it. That was, of course, while the divorce was ongoing. He could understand that her memories of those early days would have been raw. "I didn't realize that you had known him that long," he prompted, his way of letting her know that it was okay to talk about it. They had, after all, discussed his relationship with Vicki a time or two. She knew quite a bit about his past, his marriage, and the mistakes that he had made thanks to all of the times that she had so graciously played buffer for him. That, coupled with the amount of time they spent together, it really was no wonder that their children had already thought that they were dating.

Sharon glanced at him before she nodded. She hadn't meant to bring up the past, but it was a part of her. He had mentioned a specific time in her life, one that should have been carefree, and she supposed in a way it was. When she thought about all of the things that young adults that age had to think about now, she supposed that she was lucky that her issues at the time were so simple. Although, back then, it certainly had not felt that way. Sharon's head inclined. A smile tugged her lips upward. She hummed again, this time thoughtfully. "I am a walking cliché," she told him. Sharon looked up at him again, this time as she handed him a glass and watched his brows lift in question. "Jack and I practically grew up together. His parents and mine were friends." She rolled her eyes again. "Of course, by that I mean, it was a very small town. We belonged to the same church, our mothers were part of the same social circle so there were garden parties and fund raisers." She waved a hand and wrinkled her nose. "Our fathers liked to compete against one another. It didn't matter what it was. They were lawyers. Mine was a prosecutor, and later a judge, and Davis was a defense attorney. If they weren't competing in the professional arena, then it was on the golf course, or at tennis, or…" She waved her hand again and this time added another eye roll. "You get the picture."

"I think so." He knew the type. His family all came from working class roots, but he'd gone to school with the upper middle class families that engaged in those kinds of activities. The children had all socialized together, inside and outside of school. He had even once dated a girl whose father was a doctor. He could remember her talking about tea parties and social events that her mother insisted on dragging her to when she would rather be with him or her girlfriends. It wasn't much of a stretch for Andy to picture Sharon in that situation. She was exactly that girl. It made him wonder, and not for the first time, what the hell she was doing with him. "It explains a lot." Like why she was always so willing to feel sorry for Jack, when she should have put him on the road years ago.

"Yes," she agreed quietly. "I suppose it does." Sharon handed him the last glass and then started on the pots and pans that would not go into the dishwasher. She smiled when he closed it and reached for a towel, his silent way of offering to dry since she wasn't moving from the sink. "Jack and I started dating in high school. After we graduated my mother started hinting that we should get married. My father was more than happy to send me away to college, actually, I think he would have been even more pleased to send me away to a convent." She laughed. "Although Linda got the same treatment, he was just that way with both of us," she said of her sister.

"Smart guy." Andy grinned. "Hey, if I'd had the opportunity, that's where Nicole would have ended up. I'm a huge fan of the idea." He toyed with the towel in his hand while she worked on washing the first of the pans. "It's a dad thing, just roll with it."

Sharon snorted at him, but she was smiling. "Yes, well, be glad that I didn't roll with it then," she teased. "I went to Berkeley instead. Drove my father nuts that Jack was there too, and that we were away from home. Together." She laughed. "My mother loved the idea. What she didn't like was that I was so much my father's daughter. I was focused on school and little else. By the time that Jack did finally propose she was a nervous wreck. Imagine her response when I went to work after we were married instead of settling down at home to host the garden parties and have the babies that she so desperately thought that I needed."

With everything that he knew about her, Andy was trying to imagine Sharon in that setting as a woman rather than a girl. He started laughing and almost dropped the pan she handed him. "She must've been beside herself when you finally got pregnant with Emily."

"Oh my god, yes." Sharon leaned against the edge of the sink and laughed. "The look on her face when I told her that I was going to keep working. You have to understand, my mother never worked a day in her life, and she was blessed not to have had to. It was the life that she and my father wanted, and that was great for them, but it was a different time. I had other aspirations. They raised me to be a thinker, my mother just never imagined that I would actually use it." Sharon shook her head. "It took her a long time to come to terms with the fact that neither of her daughters wanted the life that she had. It just wasn't for us. Linda wanted to be a doctor, and that was a dream that she was able to pursue. She's been very successful." Sharon was especially proud of her. "To be honest, it wasn't until later that mother realized how smart it was that I didn't listen to her. After Jack left…" She shrugged. He knew that history. "I was able to support us. I didn't need my parents' help, although they offered it a number of times." She handed him another pan and smiled. "So no, at nineteen I was not thinking about that. I was too busy thinking about getting into law school and what kind of attorney that I wanted to be." She dried her hands, while her lips curved into a teasing smirk. "Thinking about that just got me into trouble."

Andy laughed as she turned away from him, moving away from the sink now that the last of the dishes were washed. He finished drying the pan and placed it back in the cupboard, with the others. He folded the towel and placed it on the edge of the sink before following her. "I don't know," he offered a cocky grin, "you might like that kind of trouble now."

"Hm." She arched a brow at him. Sharon folded her lips together to keep from smiling. What was left of dinner had already been scooped into storage bowls. She placed the lid on the last one and put it in the refrigerator. "I don't know about that," she drawled in a teasing tone. "I'm a rule follower."

"No!" Andy made sure to look suitably shocked by that. "Not you." His dark eyes sparkled as he moved closer to her. It wasn't a very large kitchen. He was able to reach her in a couple of steps. His hands fell to her hips as he backed her into the front of the fridge. "There are some kinds of trouble," he said, voice dipping toward a low rumble, "that are worth getting into."

Tiny thrills of excitement danced in her stomach. She felt a shiver of anticipation run down her spine. "Really?" If her voice had taken on a throaty quality, she pretended not to notice. "Can I assume that you intend to tell me exactly what those—"

He didn't let her finish the question. His head bent and his lips covered hers. His hands moved slowly up her sides as he teased her lips open. He pulled her closer while his mouth angled over hers, finally kissing her in the way that he had wanted to since stepping through the door earlier. Waiting was no hardship; he had already decided some time ago that he would wait for her as long as he needed. Waiting an hour or so was a drop in the bucket compared to the months that they had spent caught between the simplicity of friendship and the connection that they shared now.

His nose nuzzled her cheek. He nipped playfully at her lips and finally let his mouth trail a string of kisses along her jaw to her ear. "If it's trouble," he rumbled quietly, "then you're only the best kind."

She hummed as her tongue swept across her lips. She could still taste him. Her hands moved up his arms to settle at his shoulders. "Hm." One of her hands cupped the back of his neck. Her fingers curled into his hair, to tease the short, silver hair at his collar. Her eyes closed as his lips moved down the side of her neck. When his teeth nipped gently, teasingly at her pulse point, her breath caught in her throat. "Maybe I like trouble," she told him.

"Finally," he muttered, "she admits it." He pushed her collar aside as his hand moved in to her hair to tip her head back. His lips moved along the column of her throat. When she tugged at his head, he let himself be guided back to her mouth, at least for the moment. He reached up and curled his hands around her thin wrists. Andy drew her arms up and pressed them against the door of the refrigerator. He turned her hands toward the top edge of the door until she was gripping it. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and let his hands slide slowly downward. His thumbs skirted the sides of her breasts; his hands settled against her sides, at the top of her rib cage. He traced the edge of her bra, teasing her, even as he kissed the tip of her chin, and the underside of her jaw. His mouth moved back to her neck and started its downward trail again.

She arched her neck for him and moaned quietly when he nosed aside the collar of her shirt to let his tongue trace the length of her collarbone. "Andy." His name was a quiet breath on her lips. Her hands fell, once again, to his shoulders. She leaned into him, and let her arms curl around his neck. While her body pressed along the length of his, she sought his lips for another long, slow kiss.

How long they stood in the kitchen, he couldn't say. Andy lost himself in the taste and feel of her, and the steady slide into rising heat and desire. When his fingers itched to slide beneath her shirt and explore the soft expanse of bare skin above the waist of jeans, he turned his face into her hair and drew a deep breath. His hands moved up her back instead, but he was keenly aware of the soft press of her breasts against his chest. "I should go."

She nodded silently. Her hands were at his sides, curled into his shirt. She turned her face into his neck, but the spicy sent of his aftershave was doing little quench the fire that was moving through her. She exhaled quietly. Her tongue traced her lips, and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she concentrated on slowing her breathing. "Or you could stay for coffee," she suggested, knowing full well that if he did stay, coffee was the last thing that either of them would be having.

He groaned at the breathy, rasping sound of her voice. He leaned back and tipped her chin up. Andy looked into her heavily lidded eyes, watched her tongue trace the slightly swollen lips again. His head bent and he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "I don't want coffee," he said thickly.

"No." A smile curved her lips upward. "Neither do I." She placed a hand against his chest and pushed him back. Sharon took a step toward him and let her hand slide down to wrap around his wrist. She gave it a tug as she moved out of the kitchen and glanced back to offer a warm and sultry smile. She said nothing else as she led the way down the hall.

When Rusty got home some hours later the condo was quiet. A single lamp remained on. It was dimmed and just barely enough to light his way from the door to the hall. Rusty didn't know what he really expected to find when he got home. His reason for being out had been wrapped up an hour before, but he had taken his time in getting back. He driven around the city and then even after parking in the garage, he had gone for a walk.

He honestly wasn't trying to be a jerk about it, but there were just some things that he didn't need to know, and others that he truly didn't need to see or be part of. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't want Sharon getting involved in his relationship, if he had one, and so he was trying to stay out of hers. There was also the fact that the whole thing just made him so many levels of nervous. He couldn't explain why, Sharon was nothing like his other mother. He didn't expect to come home and find that he had been locked out, and most of all, he knew that he didn't have to worry about who was moving around the apartment in the middle of the night and if he should stay awake all night, just in case.

Knowing that, however, didn't stop his stomach from clenching painfully when, after his eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the condo, he spotted an all too familiar jacket thrown over the back of the sofa. It was still laying where the Lieutenant had left it earlier in the evening.

Rusty stared at it for a moment. He fidgeted with his phone and his keys and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He cast a wary look at the hall and sighed. He didn't have to be concerned about going to his room, but that didn't stop the irrational anger that swept through him, or the voice in the back of his head that whispered stubbornly, she lied to me. Rusty shook his head and turned away from the couch and the jacket. He walked quietly, if a bit haltingly, down the hall. Sharon's door was closed, but then it usually was at this time of night.

He didn't linger over it too much. He could see no light under her door, and that was just fine by him. He didn't need to know anything really. Once he was past her door, he hurried to his own room. It was habit that had him locking it after it was closed. Rusty stood there for a moment before he reached out and unlocked it again. He sighed as he moved into his room and dropped his things onto a chair in the corner of the room. Rusty pushed a hand into his hair. It was his own fault, he decided. He should never have said anything. If he hadn't, he had a pretty good idea that none of this would be happening. Or would it? He shook his head and fell, face-first, onto his bed. Why did she have to start dating?

The sound of a door closing startled Sharon out of her slumber. She started to sit up, but realized that there was a weight holding her down. When it tightened around her waist she smiled. That weight was attached to the warmth that was pressed against her back. She closed her eyes again and placed a hand against the arm that was holding her. She let her fingers slide down to wrap around his hand. The press of lips against her shoulder made her hum quietly. "He's home," she murmured. They hadn't meant to fall asleep, but she wasn't going to worry about it now. They were both much too old for her to go chasing him out of the apartment in the middle of the night.

"I heard." His voice was thick, but quiet in the dark room. He pressed a kiss against her neck and settled against her again. "Stop thinking and go back to sleep."

It was a very enticing thought, and one that she would have liked to entertain. The longer she lay there, however, the louder her thoughts became. She had promised Rusty that he wouldn't have to walk into anything, and while that was still true, and her personal relationships were none of his business, she didn't think that either of them were ready for him to run into Andy during the night or at some point in the early morning hours. Sharon sighed softly. She gave his hand a squeeze and then she rolled to lie facing him. She traced her finger down the bridge of his nose and then tipped her face toward him to kiss his bottom lip. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

He cracked an eye open to look at her. The only light in the room was that from the window. He could only just make out the shape of her face, but he could tell that she was chewing on her bottom lip. Andy shook his head. He lifted a hand and pushed her hair away from her face. His fingers traced the curve of her cheek. "It's okay." He kissed the tip of her nose, and then pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "Next time, we'll do dinner at my place," he suggested with a smile, and hoped she wouldn't feel the need to rush home before Rusty realized that she had been out all night.

"Yes." She had already considered that. Sharon pushed him onto his back and scooted over to lie against his chest, just for a moment longer. She curled her leg around his and draped her arm across his middle. "It isn't you," she said quietly, keeping her voice low. "I hope you know that. It's…" She shrugged a single shoulder and exhaled quietly. "I know it sounds trite, but it's me, or rather, the perception of me that his past is giving him right now."

"Sharon, I know that." His arm curled around her. His hand moved into her hair. His fingers combed through the thick locks. "Listen, sweetheart, I get it. The kid has issues, and they don't have a whole lot to do with either of us. He thought that he was prepared for this, but you were right earlier. He is just a kid and whatever he thought was going on with us before, this is new."

New enough for both of them to still have a few doubts, she thought. Sharon also thought that she heard a note of worry in his tone. She lifted her head and rested it in her hand. She laid her other hand against his chest and smiled gently down at him. "I only think that he needs a little time to get used to it. At least, that's all that I plan to give him. Sooner or later Rusty is going to have to come to the conclusion that this situation is not like the one that he was in before. I understand what he is feeling, and why he would be unsettled, but…" Sharon shrugged again. "This isn't that, and while I can make some concessions to help ease him along, Rusty is also an adult now. He is going to learn to accept this for what it is."

"Yeah." He reached up and wound a lock of her hair around his finger. His thumb traced the curve of her cheek. She sounded so sure, and yet everything that she had done the last few years had been for Rusty. That was just as it should be; on that they were completely agreed. Their kids came first, and that would never change, but she had a point. There came a time when they got to live their own lives, just the two of them. His thumb swept across her bottom lip. "What exactly is this?" They hadn't defined it, and he was okay with that.

"I don't know." She leaned down and let her lips linger against his in a soft kiss. "But I really want to find out," she said. She felt a great many things for him that she had yet to decipher, but she was rather enjoying untangling those emotions while getting to know him like this.

He threaded his hand into her hair and cupped the back of her head. He held her in place while the kiss deepened. He drew her closer, until she was draped across his body. "Me too," he muttered. Andy gathered her close and wrapped his arms around her, holding her while he could. He turned his face into her neck, and let his lips brush her ear. "The kid will figure it out, he usually does. It will take how long it takes. I said that I would wait. I meant it."

When he started to get up, to do exactly as she had asked, Sharon pressed him back again. She leaned over him, stretching her body until she was able to reach the clock on the table beside him. She ran her alarm back, just another hour. That, she decided, should give them plenty of time to avoid any awkward run-ins outside the walls of her bedroom. "You're right," she said, "he will." She smiled as she curled against his side again. "But maybe I don't have to concede an entire night."

It would make for an early morning, and a very long day. That extra hour would give him enough time to drive home and get ready for work, but little else. He grinned as he rolled back onto his side. He wrapped his arm around her again. "You sure?" He was willing to leave if that was what she needed from him. But if staying meant losing a couple of hours of sleep, he could definitely do that too.

"Very." She moved again and reclaimed her earlier position. She leaned back until her back was resting against his chest and pulled his arm more firmly around her. "Having you leave now or in a couple of hours from now gains the same result, as long as you're gone before Rusty is awake. As much as he doesn't want to know everything, I don't want him to know either. I may be mindful of his concerns, but this is none of his business."

It was the difference between respect and surrender. He kissed her shoulder again. Whens he curled her legs back to tangle with his, he smiled. He was used to sleeping alone, but this was something he could really get used to. "Then stop thinking," He repeated, "and go back to sleep."

She hummed. That was exactly her intention. Rusty had wanted to live his life on his own terms. That had meant letting go of him, just a little, so that he could find his own way. She would always be here for him, but it was time for him to let go of her too, just a little, so that she could have a life that was not entirely built around him, or his needs. She had called it growing pains earlier in the evening. As Sharon drifted back to sleep, she realized that was exactly what it was. For all of them.

They would find their way; it would just be a matter of being patient.

-TBC-