"Enigma (13/16)" - Hobbs/Raydor Fic
Title: Enigma (13/16)
Co-author: sharon_ray
Pairing: Hobbs/Raydor
Rating: T
Word Count: 1,628
Disclaimer: Not our characters or television show
Summary: Sharon and Andrea's relationship has been balanced on the precipice of friendship and something more for longer than either of them care to admit. Will the ever-present danger of their jobs finally push them over that fine line? Or will it pull them apart?
A/N: Fic starts out in season seven of The Closer, and follows the events (we've taken some liberties of course) of Major Crimes. This fic is complete and chapters will be posted on a weekly basis. On ff.net: Enigma.
Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3, Ch.4, Ch.5, Ch.6, Ch. 7, Ch.8, Ch.9, Ch.10, Ch.11, Ch.12,
(graphic made by me with my own screencaps and those taken with permission from MajorCrimesTV.net. Please do not take or re-post.)
“Sharon, the movie is starting!” Rusty called from the living room as the opening scene for The Three Stooges rolled across Sharon’s wide screen television. It wasn’t exactly Sharon or Andrea’s idea of a perfect, Old Hollywood, date night movie, but sometimes they had to compromise with a sixteen year old boy around. Sharon couldn’t sit through another superhero movie and keep her sanity, so Larry, Curly, and Mo it was.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Sharon chided playfully as she sauntered from the kitchen into the living room, holding two bowls of popcorn. Rusty couldn’t fit on the couch with her and Andrea, so she thought it was easier to make him his own bowl rather than passing one back and forth. Usually, Andrea and Rusty ended up taking care of the pop corn on their own anyway, but it had become their tradition to make it like that, so every week, without fail, Sharon did.
Sharon plopped down next to Andrea and grabbed her usual throw blanket to cover herself with; there was rarely a time when Sharon wasn’t cold, especially with Andrea and Rusty in her condo. They both liked to keep the thermostat lower than she did. Andrea propped her feet up on the coffee table and rested her arm against the back of the couch then looked at Sharon expectantly; she was waiting for Sharon to cuddle into her side as was their tradition. Taking the hint, Sharon snuggled against Andrea, wrapping an arm around her waist and resting her head against Andrea’s shoulder.
“How can you not like this Sharon? This is brilliant,” Rusty said as the opening scene played out before them.
Sharon chuckled against Andrea’s torso. “It’s not really my style of humour. I prefer more subtlety,” she said, shrugging. “But my kids used to love these three clowns too. Must be a young person thing,” she joked.
Rusty scoffed at her joke and turned his attention back to the screen. As the movie went on, he could see Sharon’s eyes become heavy with sleep; she never made it more than halfway through a film. It was something he and Andrea liked to tease her about. As per her routine, Andrea gently removed Sharon’s glasses from her face and set them down on the coffee table next to her; she gave Rusty her usual affectionate eye roll at the fact that Sharon was crashing at barely 10:00 pm on a Saturday evening. Yet, as the familiar scenes played on, Andrea began to find herself feeling drowsy too. It had been a long week. Between working overtime and her usual insomnia, she was exhausted.
Sharon always snuggled her a little bit harder when she slept; Sharon’s arm was wrapped very securely around her waist now and her head was heavy on Andrea’s shoulder. To afford them both more comfort, Andrea shifted Sharon’s petite body so that they were laying down on the couch, with Andrea half reclined on her back and Sharon still curled around her side. She used the armrest as a makeshift pillow and rearranged the blanket around Sharon’s body so that she was fully covered. If Rusty noticed their more intimate position, he didn’t comment on it; he still sat facing the television screen, seemingly engrossed in the film, which suited Andrea just fine. She was far more content to turn her head and breathe in the floral scent of Sharon’s shampoo and place a chaste kiss on the top of Sharon’s head under the guise that Rusty wasn’t paying attention.
As the ending credits rolled up the screen, Rusty looked over at Andrea and Sharon, who were both dead asleep on the couch. He didn’t know when they had repositioned themselves so they were laying down, but Sharon’s arm was fully wrapped around Andrea’s waist and her head rested on Andrea’s chest. Rusty grabbed the remote off the coffee table and hit the power button. He didn’t want to wake them; he didn’t quite know how to wake them. They looked peaceful. In fact, it was the most serene he’d ever seen Sharon look. Deciding it was best to leave them be, he flicked all of the lights off save for one in the entryway, made sure the front and back doors were locked, then headed down the hallway to his bedroom. He shut his bedroom door as quietly as he could, vowing to stay in there the rest of the night so not to disturb them.
The first thing Andrea became aware of was the sharp pain in her neck, the second was the warm weight that was draped across half of her body. Opening her eyes slowly, she surmised that she must have fallen asleep at some point during the movie. She rubbed her eyes and looked around; the lights in Sharon’s living room were all off, as was the television. Rusty must have gone to bed and left the two of them snoozing on the couch.
“Sharon, wake up,” she whispered gently as she rubbed Sharon’s back. “I need you to get off of me so I can go home,” she teased.
But Sharon didn’t get off of her, instead, she snuggled deeper into Andrea’s embrace. “Hmm?” she murmured sleepily.
“Wake up,” Andrea prodded again gently.
Sharon rubbed her cheek against Andrea’s neck. “But I’m having such a nice dream,” she sighed. Andrea poked Sharon’s side. “Oh, fine, I’m awake,” Sharon pouted as she looked up at Andrea.
“Looks like I pulled a Sharon tonight,” Andrea joked; she kept her voice quiet as not to disturb Rusty. “It’s probably late, I should get home,” she said mournfully.
Sharon unburied her arm from under the blanket to check her wristwatch. “God, it’s 3:00 am,” she giggled. “We’ve been sleeping for hours. Rusty put the movie in not long after dinner.”
Andrea’s heart fluttered. She’d spent the better part of their evening wrapped around Sharon and it had been heavenly; she really didn’t want to have to leave Sharon but she knew that she probably should.
Sharon sat up first, she wrapped her arms around her torso and shivered slightly as Andrea sat up and pinched her sore neck. “I’m cold now,” Sharon sighed, rubbing her own arms.
Andrea pulled her close to her with one arm. “I’ll tuck you in and make sure you’re nice and warm before I leave,” she said sweetly.
“Or you could just stay and hold me for the rest of the evening, or I should say, the rest of the morning,” Sharon said quietly.
Andrea pulled back slightly to regard Sharon in the dark; Andrea could see her own need reflected in Sharon’s eyes. “But, I always go home,” she said carefully.
Sharon leaned forward and kissed Andrea’s cheek. “There’s a first time for everything,” she said, smiling, against Andrea’s laugh lines. “It’s Sunday, Rusty will make us pancakes and I’ll make us coffee in a few hours. Stay with me until then, please?” she requested.
“Are you sure?” Andrea asked carefully, rubbing Sharon’s hand as she waited for her answer.
“Yes. I’d like to go back to sleep. But I’d like to go back to sleep wrapped around you again. That’s the warmest I’ve been in months,” Sharon laughed, making her intentions clear as she asked Andrea to stay again.
“Okay, if you’re sure. But I don’t have any pajamas.” Andrea smiled at Sharon as they both stood up from the couch. Sharon turned the light in the entryway off, then she squeezed Andrea’s hand and walked her all the way down the hall to her bedroom.
“I think we can find you something.” Sharon smiled as she switched a lamp next to her bed on and moved to her dresser, opening up one of the drawers. She pulled out a pair of silk pajama shorts and a matching tank top and tossed them on the bed. “I know you’ll be warm, will you be comfortable in that, or would you like something else?”
“These are perfect,” Andrea smiled softly as she investigated the set that Sharon had given her.
Sharon hummed her approval as she slid her yoga pants off and stepped into a pair of silk pajama bottoms. It was without any shyness that she lifted her sweater over her head, and unsnapped her bra, tugging it off as well. She smiled sweetly at Andrea as she tugged the silk pajama top over her head. Andrea followed Sharon’s actions and divested herself of her jeans, t-shirt and bra in favour of the decadent set that Sharon had offered her. There was a warmth that permeated the air around them, neither one of them could pretend otherwise, but the desperation that once clouded their desire was replaced by a mutual sense of love, acceptance, and the undoubted fact that they were well on their way to exploring other aspects of this slow burning romance.
Andrea climbed into Sharon’s bed and she immediately found the older woman settling next to her. Andrea sighed contentedly as Sharon backed her body against her, so that Andrea was spooning the petite woman. “Your bed is very, very comfortable,” Andrea joked quietly as she wrapped her arm around Sharon’s torso, pulling her even closer. She placed a kiss on the back of her head and nuzzled her nose into her hair, taking in the scent of Sharon's floral shampoo once again.
“Hmm..” Sharon hummed sleepily as she pushed one of her legs in between Andrea’s to cuddle her closer. She wanted every part of their bodies to be as connected as they could be.
Andrea held her close, feeling her own heartbeat against Sharon’s back. “Goodnight Sharon,,” she muttered quietly as sleep started to overtake her again. Sharon, as usual, had already fallen asleep.