Chapter Text
Andy places a wholesome plate of chicken, rice, and steamed vegetables in front of Tamannaah after putting his down. He pulls off his chef's hat and sighs, throwing the napkin on his lap. There's a moment where Tamannaah opens her mouth to speak, but doesn't say a word. Seconds pass. Andy laughs slightly.
"Yes, Tammy?"
"Last night, you said that…well…" she shrugs and trails off.
"I was a dick. It's not my place to get between you and Jake. Forget what I said."
"Fair enough," Tamannaah admits, spooning up some rice. She and Andy eat in silence for a while, and whenever she looks at him, he smiles without teeth. She starts to wonder how Juliet would feel if she knew they were eating dinner right now, but she reminds herself that Andy's probably just trying to be a good friend.
"You stole my graduation cap," Tamannaah says.
"Did I?" Andy asks, cocking a brow. She knows he's joking and probably still has it. She laughs.
"It's on my kitchen counter. If you want to come by and get it, I'd be happy to give it back," Andy explains.
"So, your birthday is this Saturday. What are you going to do about it?" Tamannaah asks.
"Eh, drink, probably have CC come over. He likes to party. Maybe you should bake me a cake," he says. Tamannaah actually considers it.
"Jules and I had plans, but…" he shrugs, looking down into his plate and frowning.
"I'll see what I can do about the cake," Tamannaah promises. Andy's grin sends her into delirium.
Come Saturday, Tamannaah walks up the stairs in Andy's apartment building. When she knocks on the door, she doesn't hear any music playing. In fact, she wonders if anyone's even home. After waiting a while for an answer, she decides to leave. Andy doesn't seem anywhere to be found after she calls him an gets his answer machine. She texts Jake and asks him whether CC or Jinxx were planning on coming over. He responds a minute later to say that Andy decided to call off his birthday party, saying he was sick. Sighing with some disappointment, Tamannaah walks back down the stairs and starts for her car. As she's in the middle of texting Jake back, she doesn't notice someone walking into the building at the same time as she's trying to exit.
"Ugh," comes the rough voice of Andy whose chest she had bumped into. She looks up at him, his eyes red rimmed and full of anger.
"Andy?"
"What are you doing here?" he asks, "I said I didn't want to have a party," he says somewhat unfeelingly. Tamannaah furrows her brows in confusion. He doesn't sound sick at all, just angry. He stares down at her, not having expected to see her.
"Andy…what's…?" she reaches up to touch his cheek and he turns his face away abruptly, a moment of sadness flashing there. He looks down at Tamannaah angrily for a few seconds more, his eyes slowly filling up with tears. Juliet must have told him. Tamannaah, not knowing what else to do, throws her arms around Andy and hugs him tightly. A few seconds pass before he hugs her back. Tamannaah ends up sitting on Andy's couch, listening to him talk about what Juliet did, and when he tells her that they broke up over the phone, she genuinely feels terribly. Andy stares into space.
"I just don't know what I did," he says lowly.
"Andy, it was a mistake. From what you told me, I know that Juliet regrets it—"
"Doesn't matter. I broke up with her anyway. I kind of wish she hadn't fucking decided to tell me today," he says, forcing a laugh, "But she said she couldn't stand to lie to me any longer. So…I guess it's good that she finally told me, but I can't be with someone I can't trust. It doesn't matter how I feel about her. She cheated."
Tamannaah sighs, placing a hand on Andy's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Andy."
"It's not your fault, TK."
But Tamannaah feels a pang of guilt, knowing that she knew this information before Juliet decided to tell him. She figures that if she tells Andy she knew, it would only make him angrier. So she's silent. He picks up one of his cats and rubs it absently.
"I know you're upset. But it's still your birthday. Stay right here. I've got something for you," Tamannaah explains, picking up the canvas bag she'd brought with her and disappearing into Andy's kitchen. She proceeds to make him a cake, and when he smells it coming from the kitchen, he actually smiles at her. His eyes gradually become less teary and he starts talking more. They frost the cake together and Andy hugs her sincerely.
"You're amazing, Tammy," he says. She finds herself not wanting the hug to end. They enjoy some cake and Andy tells her stories about his twenty-five years of life and sings a couple of songs on his guitar. As the time passes, Tamannaah only yearns for him more. Eventually, he goes to sleep on the couch next to her. She pulls a blanket that had been sitting there over Andy's shoulder, kisses him on the cheek, and quietly leaves.
On Sunday morning, Tamannaah is awoken by her cell phone ringing. She sits up in bed, baffled, reaching around for her phone until she finds it on the night stand. She recognizes Andy's number from the picture of the cake she'd made him the previous day. She smiles, answering the call.
"Hello?"
"Tammy?" Andy's voice is tired, but he sounds much better than he did when she bumped into him while leaving his apartment.
"Hi," she says.
"I'm sorry. Fuck, did I wake you up?" he asks.
"Uh, yeah. But it's okay…are you okay?" she asks, waking up even more.
"I just really wanted to thank you again for yesterday and I was wondering if you'd come over. I still have your graduation cap. I never gave it back to you."
Tamannaah laughs. She has a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that he's not calling this early about a stupid cap. He laughs.
"It's just, I woke up, saw it on the counter, and realized you never took it with you when you left yesterday."
"Alright. Well, do you mind if I come by in an hour or two?"
"Oh yeah—yeah. Take your time," Andy urges.
"I'm gonna be home all day," he admits. She frowns, knowing he's probably still sad about Juliet.
"Okay. I'll see you in a bit."
"Bye, Annie."
He hangs up, and she sighs, wondering if he really has forgotten how much she hates to be called that. She decides she can bare it for him to say it. Anything said in Andy's smooth voice sounds good to her. When she makes it over to Andy's, the door is open and The Doors are playing People Are Strange quietly. Tamannaah sticks her head in the door, not finding Andy. She calls his name, stepping in. A few seconds later, Andy emerges from the kitchen, holing Tamannaah's graduation cap. She laughs. He smiles in a way she hasn't quite seen before.
"Are you okay, Andy?" she asks.
He walks past her, holding the hat. He closes the front door.
"I'll be fine in a minute," he says, "Once I know."
"Know what?" Tamannaah asks, growing nervous, wondering why it's taking so long for Andy to lock the door and turn around to face her. When he turns around, he full on kisses her. Taken by surprise, Tamannaah gasps. She wonders for a moment whether Andy has lost his mind, but she doesn't taste a drop of liquor on him as he leads her back, back, back. She had never been in his bedroom, let alone his bed before. His hands are already unhooking her bra beneath her shirt. Tamannaah pushes her hands through Andy's hair, pulling his head back. He gazes down at her in the same way that Jake used to look at her.
"Please don't tell me that we haven’t felt the same way for each other for a while now," Andy says quietly. His eyes are begging, and Tamannaah only truly hopes that he doesn't turn out to be a jerk or that he's only doing this out of hurt because of Juliet. She scans his face a few seconds more. To hell with it. But hell is exactly the opposite of the place that Andy takes her to next. Everything is on fire and burning, somehow without hurting, even as she struggles to accept Andy's girth, his lips playing games at her neck. He envelopes a nipple between his lips, watching Tamannaah squirm at the waist and paw at his back, letting him deep inside of her. He gives her a few seconds to get used to the feeling before thrusting between her thighs. Tamannaah moans out loud, covering her mouth and seemingly surprised by her own noise escaping her lips.
Andy grins, pulling her hands away from her lips.
"I want to hear you," he says. He gets rough to ensure this, the bed creaking, Tamannaah gasping. She gazes up at him in amazement at everything that she feels. She can't believe she's not dreaming until she touches Andy's cheek and it's warm. He turns his head to the side, kissing her wrist, fucking her with an aggression that just about brings her to the edge. Andy swears and his back clenches. He grips Tamannaah's legs in place, sitting up on his knees to get a better vantage point. She had gotten so wet at the severity of his motions that it makes her blush to watch his eyes feasting on her. But he smiles and she realizes that he likes what he sees. The breath catches in Andy's throat.
"Fuck, I'm gonna cum," he breathes.
Tamannaah writhes in pleasure, until Andy presses her abdomen firmly with a hand. She looks up at him.
"Don't move," he pants. She watches as he pulls out, everything dripping and glistening, and he finishes on her lower stomach, groaning with finality. She goes to sit up and Andy holds her back.
"Don't move," he breathes again. She lies there, watching as he hooks her legs over his shoulder. Her hand moves to touch the fluid on her skin and Andy grabs her wrist.
"Don't touch it."
She feels his breath hot on her flesh before his tongue laps there. She shivers in the aftermath. Andy's lips go from licking to kissing, and he climbs back on top of her, looking rather satisfied. He starts kissing her, and she finds herself rather aroused as opposed to disgusted. She liked the way that Andy spoke, the way he gave orders, the way he was relentless. The kissing seems to turn him on again and she feels him fumbling between her legs. She guides him back in and he moans. Andy moans, moving at a much slower pace this time. This time his eyes bear deeply into hers and only disappear when he blinks. Tamannaah gazes at his hand intertwined in hers, the contrast between his pallor and her copper flesh.
Andy smiles. She quickly learns, as he lies on his side gazing at her with satisfaction, that Andy never lied about having OCD; every caress she gave him he had to return, every kiss that she planted upon his flesh had to be reciprocated, and if she kissed his cheek twice, he had to kiss hers twice, and it would never suffice for him not to have made the final gesture. He lifts his head up off the pillow, looking as if he's ready to mount her again. Tamannaah closes her eyes. A slim arm wraps about her waist beneath the quilt.
"I knew that you liked me this entire time."
His voice sends chills down her spine.
"How?"
"I just…know these things. I also knew that you would never have told me," Andy explains. His lips make contact with her forehead. She opens her eyes, thinking that perhaps she'd been dreaming, but it's all reality when she finds that Andy is very much real and beside her, gripping absently at her naked hip.
"Look at me," Andy demands after a few silent moments. Tamannaah averts her eyes shyly to Andy's scrutiny. His blank expression lights up and he laughs quietly.
"That's how I know," he says. Tamannaah's heart jumps.
"You wouldn't stop looking at me like that the day we sat out by the pool and you told me all about your childhood with Juliet. You looked at me like that every time I said hello, every time that we were alone." She gets so lost in his ethereality that she doesn't even notice him cupping her chin, until he tilts it up to his lips.
"And you couldn't tell me you wanted me because she means the world to you. You wouldn't have hurt her like that," Andy explains. She knows that he's talking about Juliet.
"What am I going to do?" Tamannaah asks aloud, speaking to no one in particular.
"First, I hope you'll tell me that you really enjoyed your first time."
Tamannaah reddens about the neck. She gives Andy a look that tells him everything without her having to speak and he grins.
"Yes, she told me," Andy confirms.
Tamannaah sighs.
"She loves you, Tammy. Like a sister. You're usually the number one thing she talks about."
And just like that, tears rain down Tamannaah's face. She sits up straight, taking Andy by surprise and shoving him back a bit. The reality of what just transpired begins to set in and she can't stop worrying about what Juliet will think if she finds out. Andy pulls the hands from over Tamannaah's eyes, the face that meets her field of vision full of sadness.
"Tam—"
"No—don't touch me. What the fuck did I just do? She's going to be upset."
"What are you talking about? We already broke up—"
She jumps out of the bed when Andy reaches for her again. Rushing into her clothes, she continues speaking to no one in particular.
"I shouldn't have let that happen. She's going to hate me."
"Tammy."
She pauses in pulling her jeans on when Andy grabs her wrists firmly. He's stark naked in front of her and she just stares at his chest.
"What if she's going to want you back? She doesn't just forget about the people she loves."
"If she loved me, why did she fuck somebody else?" Andy asks, pulling her closer. Tamannaah sighs, closing her eyes again. Andy's lips do all the talking, all over her face and neck. He picks her up and sits atop the bed.
"Do you always have to be such a good girl? There's nothing to feel guilty about," he assures her, wiping her cheeks dry.
"Just stay. I really don't want to be fucking alone again."
His eyes are enough to keep her frozen in place.