**** As requested, an Andy and Esha chapter. Takes place before any of the marriages, well into the past.

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Andy pulled at his leather jacket, leaning against his car, trying not to check his phone to see the clock for the umpteenth time.

Was she going to be late?

Even as he fought off that thought, Esha came out of the door.

This was it. Their first date.

Though they had been spending lots of time together since they reunited, Andy had never officially asked her out.

Until yesterday.

Esha's hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, leaving her face unobstructed from viewing.

She hadn't gone all out, just barely wearing more makeup than she usually did.

She was comfortable with Andy, enough to not feel like she needed to do too much just to impress him.

But she still did, every single time. He was constantly realizing just how much had changed since they'd been friends all those years ago. She was the same, and yet she was different. The same personality, and yet there was a different execution to it.

Maybe it was just that Andy was paying far more attention to her now.

Yeah, that's it.

He felt like she was different, but really he was the different one now. It wasn't a friendly aura with them anymore. No, it was hints of sexual tension, too much attraction for either of them to handle, and undertones of something else, something that could only be classified as deep feelings.

The lover-for-life type.

Andy pulled the bouquet of roses out of the car, presenting them to her with a nervous smile.

She grinned, taking them before allowing Andy to open the passenger door for her. Normally she would make a quip about chivalry being alive, but today her heart was beating too fast for her to joke around.

"Where are we going?"

"Just around...."

"We've known each other too long for me to suspect you're about to kill me, right?"

There was that spark in her dialogue; as soon as she wasn't looking straight at him, she found herself calming down.

Andy suddenly realized that she might not even want to go where they were going, and he was faced with the dilemma to keep the surprise and risk it going sour, or telling her where they were going, in case she wanted to do something else.

"Do you like the beach?"

Esha looking serious for a moment before laughing. "I don't have a swimsuit."

Andy motioned to her feet. "Ryker gave me a pair that you left at one of Ronnie's parties."

Esha couldn't help but grin at how prepared Andy had been.

So much different from his high school dates. She'd never been a participant in them, of course, but she always heard about them afterwards.

And now it was her turn. Now, she wasn't listening to the date stories - she was living it.

The thought left a warm smile on her face.

She was so lost in her thoughts that when they arrived, Andy had already gotten out of the car and grabbed the beach bag before she realized they had stopped.

While Andy leaned against the car looking at the parking lot, Esha quickly changed into her bikini, somehow managing to not hit her head too much on the roof.

With an embarrassed cough, she let herself out and followed him out to the beach.

It was an odd day, not as hot as would've been preferable, but because of this, the beach was more vacant, a sparse spread of people along the long stretch.

The sun was blaring down on them, but the wind allowed for a cool breeze that left them just barely feeling chilled.

After fighting against the waves to not be swept too far down the beach proved to bore them, they opted to go back to the beach, laying on a blanket with towels hugging their shoulders.

The picnic had been a nice thought; but Andy hadn't realized just how much sand would blow in the wind, and after they ended up eating more sand than food, Andy suggested that they go out later for food, and Esha was all to eager to agree.

Despite that, both of them felt as happy as they could remember, together.

Though the wind felt cold, it dried them off faster than the sun, and soon they had wrapped themselves up in the blanket, huddled together more for the excuse of touching than sharing body heat.

Andy leaned up slightly, looking down at Esha softly.

She licked her lips, about to speak, but Andy couldn't resist it; he kissed her.

It was soft, and even though the saltwater managed to make its way into both of their mouths, it felt perfect.

"Esha, I think I love you."

"Took you long enough. I've loved you since before you were even famous."