I wasn't sure how to go with this and finally settled on interspersing the scenes unravelling in real time with both Andy and Sam's thoughts regarding their new normal. I assumed a three-week time frame between the end of episode 1 and the beginning of episode 2. The italics describe scenes unwinding the night preceding where we find them in Episode 2. The non-italic is rambling thoughts that I superimposed into their heads.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rookie Blue

"You didn't tell me you had worked on your skills." Sam's hand rested on the door behind her.

Andy scoffed as she twisted the key in the hole and turned to look at him.

Her eyes lit up with a golden hue as she laughed straight into his face. "I guess I'm a quick learner!" She gave him a bold, teasing look. She was flying on a natural high, fabricated by simple and pure happiness.

"Well that all depends on who is teaching," he chided softly, leaning towards her.

She chuckled again turning the knob behind her, moving backward into her living room. He stepped in after her. She let out a flirtatious giggle, as he closed the door behind them.

So this was Normal? Whatever that meant when it came to Sam!

It was infuriating! It was his quirky expression and raised eyebrows, when she rushed into Parade windswept and late almost every morning.

Christ how the hell did he make it in before her all the time? After all, they usually began their mornings together. Actually, to be completely truthful, he was an extremely compelling instigator and reason for her windswept lateness!

Normally their mornings were warm reaching hands, raw intrinsic need and keen instinct drawing them rhythmically together. It was magical. It was blissful. It was maddingly pleasing. Especially for her!

There was no denying it. Sam always made sure she was very, very happy. There was nothing infuriating or normal about that. It was just plain incredible really.

That's when she would really want to lie tangled up with him just a little longer, relishing in the sensational thing that had just happened between them.

She wanted just five more minutes to run her hands over his smooth, muscular arms and shoulders; five more minutes to dip her nose into his firm, sinewy chest and plant sweet, sensual kisses there; five more minutes to stare deeply and meaningfully into his dark, mysterious eyes.

She wanted this so much; even if it meant incurring even more insane rushing; even if it meant burning under his insufferable, bemused looks and raised eyebrows at Parade!

But instead of this, most days Sam would be making a wild dash back home to shower and change. That was when the infuriating part really kicked in.

He really should leave a few clothes at her place for Heaven's sake. Hmm, any mention of that and he would go off on a tangent about something else. What was up with that? If he had spare clothes there, then she really could have those extra five minutes of heavenliness with him. Didn't he want those things too?

At least she always packed a change of clothes in case they ended up back at his place. She liked going home with him, a lot actually. Each time she did, it reminded her of their first frantic, wondrous encounter with each other.

That was the night the power went out in Toronto. It was a time when things had been so different and complicated with them. It was two summers ago and there were a bunch of hurdles in their way.

The power came back, the obstacles slammed into her; and she cut that passionate dynamic right off. She cut it off about as abruptly as she started it really.

And now, every time she was there in his house, she felt a positive energy. Perhaps it was a visceral reminder of the palpable electricity between them. Perhaps it was just being alone with Sam in his place. She didn't know, but she loved this part of normal.

When she slept over, they got their extra five minutes and more. They often shared a steamy shower. It was a way to conserve water, save energy, protect the planet… whatever.

Yet, even those mornings when they arrived at the precinct together, she was baffled that he was always there in Parade before her. He would inevitably be sitting at the back as usual, cool as a cucumber and sipping coffee! It was just so infuriating!

She flung her keys on the kitchen counter, still laughing at her upstart move by challenging Sam and Jerry to a game of pool at The Penny just a few hours earlier.

Sam of course had rolled his eyes at her. He recalled her previous performance at The Alpine, no doubt.

Even though she was again partnered with Traci, he thought it would be a push over, a no-show, easy money. He misjudged her. Her time in Temagami had not been all about the wilderness and jumping from planes after all.

"Who coached you?" He asked resting his arms on the counter top. She took a pitcher of water from the fridge, poured some into a glass and gulped down several mouthfuls. Her eyes challenged him as she plopped the glass down in front of Sam.

He smiled at her, entranced by her adrenalin-induced exaggerated arrogance. He reached out for the glass and took some sips, then used his hand to wipe his mouth dry. Pulling one of his most tight-lipped expressions, he stared her down.

She had yet to answer his question.

"So tell me who in Temagami taught you how to play pool?" He raised his eyebrows.

She puffed a breath, blowing her bangs away from her face momentarily. "Are you jealous Sam Swarek?" There was that vivacious giggle of hers again. It just seemed to encapsulate everything about her right now.

"Ha." He replied moving around the counter and stepping in front of her. "Not even a little," he added with an earthy gruffness. He folded his arms and met the challenge in her eyes.

"I think you are," she teased. Her mouth crinkled into one big smile. He felt like it flitted from her face to somewhere deep inside his heart.

"Well you seem to know all the answers. So you tell me. Should I be concerned about who taught you how to work a pool table?" He lifted his chin and stared into her eyes, with a touch of roguishness in his smile.

She noticed how perfectly his dimples penetrated his cheeks. It was quite possible that his dimples were the first thing she found so irresistibly cute about him.

"It depends." She replied, poking his chest, so that his hands fell to his sides.

"On what?" He stretched out his hand and his knuckles subtly stroked over her flat stomach.

"On whether you consider a five-foot-three, 130-pound women's billiard champ from North Bay, a threat."

Was she actually cackling at him now? She crinkled her nose, rounded her eyes and appraised him with an expression of pure innocence. Then she giggled again and skirted around him.

"Oh yeah McNally that's hilarious." He countered as he turned and tried to grab her arm. She already had a few strides on him and was swiftly making her way to the bedroom.

So this was normal!

He was no romantic, but normal on the Andy-richter scale, was some kind of amazing, honestly.

She was long sensual kisses; she was dreamy, enigmatic looks and soft voluptuous passion infused into his days and nights.

She was a sharp, energetic brain that challenged his wits and mind on the job and off.

She was simple, pure joy and radiant beauty to wake up to almost every morning. God how he missed her when they didn't spend the night together.

Normal with Andy was essentially still a wickedly wonderful roller coaster ride! It had been like that when she was his rookie. But she wasn't his rookie anymore. She was his… his girlfriend. He could barely get his head around that. She was his partner in every sense of the word; she was his yin; she was his.

This newly-delineated reality was making the 'partners on the job' thing challenging to say the least. He didn't know this aspect of normal would be so difficult.

He had to curb the part of him that cherished her more than was good for him. Instead he was camouflaging it up with the veneer of professionalism on duty. On the job, they couldn't be a normal couple. Then they had to serve and protect others above all else.

Damn that was the hardest part, reconciling her as the Junior Officer he worked with nearly every shift he got. He couldn't let her decipher it, but in all shades of the day and night, work or play, she was also fast becoming the love of his life.

It might be easier for her. She expected Sam to be slick and in control. He had even announced to her that his personal life had not gotten in the way of his job.

That's why the internal battle he waged had to be just that, an internal one. It would get easier. She would surely be partnered with someone else soon enough, and his inherent instinct to protect her at every turn would recalibrate naturally.

Perhaps that was why he often needed to leave her so quickly most work mornings. Unless there was no shift to get to, he couldn't deny having a strange compunction to distance himself from her.

He couldn't explain it, but extricating the touch and feel of her, gave him clarity for the job. It allowed him to take a breath and prepare himself to emotionally and physically transform his perception of her from immaculate lover, to a fully-uniformed trained cop and co-worker.

On the beat she was as prepped as ever for danger. She was a fireball hyped up for perilous action. The adrenalin was coursing through her veins, and she trusted her gut instinct intuitively, just as he had once told her she needed to. Who knew that would come back to haunt him?

He knew his mad escapes in the morning weren't easy on her, but she couldn't possibly ascertain how hard it was for him.

She was always so damn irresistible too. He thrived on giving her everything physically, and never held a thing back until she was completely satisfied, every single time.

He had thought it many times now, but he could swear that her exquisite body was made just for his. There was this seamless heated lust between them that was always on the point of boiling over. It made every time with her seem just this side of explosive really. He hadn't thought it could continue at this feverishly hot level, but it did!

It was always there bubbling beneath the surface, even when they hit the streets. Sam worked extra hard at quelling it on the job. Entwining work with their personal desires would completely remove that professional edge he worked so hard to accomplish. It could damage and fracture everything between them.

Sam knew all about the ways cops would sneak around on the job. The Barn was probably hiding numerous illicit secrets on that score. In the past, well before Andy, he himself hadn't been exactly immune to it.

Heck, though he hated to admit it, he had even seen Callaghan yank her into empty interrogation rooms for no apparent reason.

Yeah, that used to needle him and make him sick to his stomach. It was like everything about that guy just rubbed him the wrong way. Well to be fair, he knew it was only really once McNally arrived on the scene, that things got really tense between them.

He had had no choice but to watch them together back then. It ate way at him bit by bit, but that was where her heart and mind was. Who was he to intervene?

It was different now. So much intermittent turbulence had swayed the tide in his favour, and for once she had actually washed up on his shore and stayed there.

At times he would pinch himself to be sure it was really true. He would wake up next to her and just watch her too scared to move or touch her; for fear that she would simply evaporate into thin air.

He couldn't admit it, but deep down he had qualms. She had left him at the drop of a hat once before, even if her reasons were meaningful and valiant. Would she do it again? Would she take flight and run away from him? Could he really trust her?

Could he trust himself with her heart? He had never really been good to, or for, anyone's heart before. When his mind went there, his fears all spiraled to a
self-inflected paranoia over whether he was truly worthy of her.

The only way he could deal with that notion was to stifle it. In his mind if this normal was going to survive, he needed to hold on tight, even if that paradoxically meant fleeing from her arms in the early hours of the morning.

When she stayed at his place, he had no excuse for an early exit. He had come up with various scenarios, but when he looked at her and felt her curved tightly into him; he knew in his gut that she belonged there with him.

These were the times he had to work extra hard to hit that professional zone once he got to the station. Not having that physical break from her doubled up the pressure to set up those blasted working boundaries all over again.

He was starting to think that there might be something to that yoga idea of hers though. God help him for entertaining that thought!

Sam raced after her. The lilting sounds of her laughter ribbed him. It made his heart pound harder and faster all over again. She was inside the bedroom before he caught up. He grabbed her arm playfully and yanked her gently back towards him.

She spun around. The velocity of her movement and his sudden halt, had them colliding abruptly into each other. Both wavered. They clung to each other to steady themselves.

He thrust his tongue into his cheek and chuckled. "You had your fun Andy. Just so you know there will be no more chances next time."

"Huh," she rebuked him, pulling a face. "So you think you let me win?" She pulled herself free and stepped backwards. The mischief sparkled in her eyes. It captivated him.

"I may have." He tweaked his eyebrows, before stepping towards her, closing the gap again.

"I think not." She laughed into his eyes.

"Oh you think not?" In an instant his hands came up and he began tickling her everywhere he could get his hands to. Tickling was a weakness of hers. He knew it.

"No stop, wait-" she attempted, before her body began convulsing in irrepressible spasms, sputters and giggles. She tried to step away again. She tried to pry his hands free, but he was too fast and relentless in his quest.

"Sam you are so… infuriating," she yelped breathlessly, amid shrieks of laughter. He continued his onslaught with a ridiculous grin on his face.

Infuriating. That wasn't a word she used every day. It was an interesting choice of adjective. It might just be an appropriate one for herself actually.

He stopped tickling her. The last absent giggles escaped her. Their mouths were a fraction apart. He lowered his face and dropped his lips, but not to hers.

So this was what it was like being normal together! Three weeks in and the new normal between them was like taking an unpredictable ride on a brand new set of wheels every day; yet as intimately familiar as a warm blanket to get wrapped up in.

Their relationship was becoming discernible and definable. There were no blatant statements or brazen public displays of affection or anything like that; but it was pretty undeniable to anyone who cared to look.

In Sam there was a new youthfulness and lightheartedness that leveled out his serious demeanour. In Andy there was a fresh confidence, electricity and vitality.

At The Penny Andy mostly always sat with her friends, while he hung back with Oliver, Jerry or both. He wasn't sure whether to step into her space, or whether he belonged there even.

He would always angle himself to gaze at Andy as she laughed and joked with her friends. There was nothing new there; he had done that even when they weren't together.

It gave him a thrill to catch glimpses of her hair cascading down around her shoulders, or the amber tint of her eyes sparkling in the dimmed lights. She always looked so lively, vibrant and tempting.

He liked it when she looked up and saw him watching her. They would share a secret smile and she would hold his gaze for a few sweet moments. Come to think of it, she had done that even when they weren't together.

He particularly liked it when she came over and sat on the stool beside him. She had few, if any, qualms about entering his zone it seemed. She would lean in just a little closer and their thighs would brush suggestively.

He almost always covered her tab, whether she drank with him or not. Andy didn't think that was strictly necessary, but she didn't object too much. That was one of the very few things he and Luke had in common. They were both pretty chivalrous that way.

There were also those little touches that passed between them; her hand drifting to his thigh; his fingers lacing through her hair; his arm drooped around her shoulder as he leaned in to whisper something to her; the little kisses she sometimes dropped on his cheek; and the time she planted a quick kiss on his lips.

Nothing too blatant, but definitely not inconspicuous either.

Tonight she had a fiery spirit and undeniable charm when she suggested a game of pool. Even though she had armed herself with the likes of Nash for a partner, he could barely contain himself.

He practically snorted at her suggestion. It was even more of a tease really, considering how things ended up for them the last time she and Nash took him on at pool.

At least she hadn't asked to partner up with him against Traci and Jerry. If she wanted to be humiliated and hand her money over to him, who was he to argue? He didn't know why Nash was okay with it though. She didn't seem to have any objections really. That was a bit suspicious admittedly.

"Game on," Jerry announced. The minute she took her first turn, Sam was enlightened. Andy had definitely taken some kind of lessons. She had certainly brought her A-game tonight.

Where on earth she had picked up these new skills he had no idea, but between her and Traci, he and Jerry never really had a chance to get into the game.

She laughed triumphantly, her eyes sparkling in glee as she held out her palm and took his money. He smiled at her thinking that he wouldn't be covering her bill tonight. She dropped a soft, delicately wet kiss on his cheek. There again maybe he would.

He watched as she high-fived Traci, who even had the audacity to wink at him. Andy sidled back up to him moments later. "Now that you've lost all your money, are you ready to go?" She laughed and tugged at his arm.

His lips landed on the curve between her neck and shoulder. The gossamer strands of her hair tickled his face, and her vanilla-scented skin enveloped his senses.

He felt her muscles tense as she took a sharp intake of breath in anticipation. He sank his teeth gently into her succulent skin, then nibbled and licked. Moments later she trembled and softened into him.

"This doesn't mean it's over!"Andy's voice sounded strangely feeble as she took small gasps of air. "If you think I accept for a minute that you let me win, Sam, you can think again." Instinctively her hands began threading through his soft thick hair.

He growled into her skin and she pressed harder against him. Moments later he lifted his head and searched her face, a curiously playful glint in his eyes. She gave him only one second, before she anxiously brought her lips to his with a new burst of crazy energy.

The current sparked freely between them. He met her harried and frenetic pace, sliding his arms up her back and cradling her head, as they continued to exchange heated, wet kisses.

Andy tore her lips away gulping greedily for breath. She giggled in excited anticipation, as her fingers trickled under his shirt, across his toned abs and up his back. A second later she had tugged his shirt off and flung it across the room.

Her sense of adventure and the dark orbs of her now fully dilated pupils set his blood pumping harder through his body. She clasped his wrist and raised it between them, laughing at her own bold playfulness.

In one deft motion she had loosened the strap and was dangling his watch before his glowering eyes. She flung it away; he was too distracted to know where.

Instead he attacked her mouth hungrily, as he fumbled for the hem of her shirt. He yanked it up, breaking their kiss only for the moment it took to disentangle her shirt and throw it to the ground.

His fingers danced freely over her skin again, but this time the teasing was not at all tormenting, it was purely delightful.

As the last of their garments hit the floor, his arms came around her waist crushing her against him. Her hardened nipples scraped his chest. He couldn't get enough of the way she felt pressed tantalizingly against him like this.

They clambered on the bed together, and she breathed hard and deep as his mouth journeyed from her mouth, dribbled down her neck and drizzled to her breasts. Her body rose up to him as though compelled by some magnetic force.

Again the way he made her feel invaded all her senses full throttle.

Other men, including Luke, had told her she was beautiful and sexy. Sam was different. He said very little. Instead he used his eyes, hands and mouth to show her how very remarkable he found her.

In his eyes she was truly exotic. She was bright, lush and full of surprises.

He savoured her soft textures and toned willowy limbs. He marvelled at her waves of vibrant energy. He craved her magical touch with a ravenous appetite. He responded articulately to her whispery enticement and deep, breathy moans.

He freed his mind of everything they had been that day; police officers, professionals, first responders, partners. Right now with no figurative or literal barriers between them, she wasn't Officer McNally. She certainly was anything but normal. She was his.

She was like a silvery flowing stream that perfectly matched his cadence and momentum. They looked unwaveringly into each others eyes, clinging fiercely to one another as they reached a mesmerizing precipice of ecstasy.

So this was their normal! It was a frenzied entanglement of hearts, brains and bodies. It was exciting and addictive. It was everything.

Much later, she poked him in the ribs. "I'm cold," she complained rubbing her icy feet against his.

He sighed and stumbled out of bed. Moments later he was tossing her a shirt he had retrieved from her drawer. She giggled and pulled it on, as he claimed his place in bed next to her.

His arms encircled her. She sighed into his chest. "Go to sleep Andy," he whispered.

She did.

Sam wasn't there when she woke. She stretched her arm out to feel for him, but she couldn't find him. She could still feel his warmth and touch, but not him. She saw the slightest indent on his pillow, but he wasn't there.

Her eyes flickered about in the bright light, and then came to rest on what she sought. Sam. He was shirtless and coming through the door. He had the broadest kind of smile on his face.

He was still there, he hadn't left her yet.