Warning: This story does not contain any sex. None of the characters are based on real people nor are they meant to resemble any living or dead people.

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Life Anew

Chapter 11, Part 1

Keep It Professional

Andrew wakes up, and his mind reflects on yesterday's day and everything that happened with Chase. He loved it. He has work today and has to be professional. How can he be professional and in love with Cody simultaneously? Maybe, if he pulled back just a little from him at work, that would do the trick. It might work. It will have to work, so why does that feel wrong to him? Surely, Cody will understand. Andrew somehow has to stay as professional as possible, but he can only do it by avoiding his boss. Andrew gets ready and leaves for work.

***

Andrew gets into work and attends the morning meeting before heading out to get his day going. Usually, Andrew and Cody would have a moment, a kiss, and a hug, but today there was nothing. Andrew hated it. Cody hated it and wondered why. Jennifer, Lisa, and Susan all noticed that Andrew had left the break room as soon as the meeting was over. They also saw that Andrew was being a bit cold towards the doctor. He did do a pretty good job at answering all the questions that were posed to him by Cody. This behavior change has caught Cody a bit off guard. Yesterday between Chase and him, he thought they would be strong than this, but clearly, something is wrong. Andrew should know where he stands with Cody. It would appear there is a hiccup in his thoughts. He decides not to ignore this action by Andrew.

***

Jennifer has no problem butting her nose in if need be. For now, she thinks it's best to observe some more. She can already see the male nurse pulling back. This mess is interfering with morale in the office. All the staff knows that Andrew and Cody are seeing each other, so the two guys can be themselves without the worry of complaints from them. They'll be okay if they don't parade their relationship in front of the patients. She decides to either pull Cody to the side or speak with Andrew, either way, this needs to be cleared up. Cody walks by her, and she looks at him:

"Fix this!"

The nurse says to the doctor. He responds with:

"I don't know how."

He says as he heads to his next patient. He turns to her and says.

"One last thing, I'm fixing this; don't step in."

Cody tells his nurse. Cody knows he is loved by Andrew, and he loves Andrew.

***

Cody and Andrew get a chance to be alone for a few seconds. Cody takes advantage of the fact and gives him a kiss. The kiss actually shakes Andrew a bit.

"Thanks, Andrew!"

Cody says to Andrew as the nurse leaves the room. The doctor is surprised that he didn't get a kiss goodbye or a "You're welcome" for the kiss. The kiss got something stirring inside of Andrew. He knows that wasn't exactly professional, but he also likes Cody. With Cody in his life, his ex can't win. Andrew needs to talk to someone to get these feelings out. Lucky for him, he is going on lunch in an hour, and so does Lisa. He finds Lisa easier to talk to, but right now, he has a 3-year-old to see who seems to have chicken pox.

***

Just before his lunch, Andrew seeks out Lisa, who is on her way out for lunch.

"Lisa, hold up for a second."

He calls out to the other nurse. She stops to see what her co-worker wants.

"Can I join you for lunch? I...I...need some advice."

She smiles and agrees. Cody watches from one of the exam room doors as Lisa and Andrew leave the clinic together. He thought Andrew was having lunch with him today, but he guesses he was wrong. In a few minutes, Andrew and Lisa arrive at the restaurant to eat. They sit down and wait for the waitress to arrive at their table with their menus. Lisa is curious why Andrew is so quiet if he needs advice. She feels whatever is up has to do with their boss, but she isn't prying it out of him.

"Lisa, how do I date Cody and maintain professionalism at the clinic?"

Lisa is surprised by Andrew's question. She isn't sure her answer will be received well by her friend. He doesn't have to like what she says.

"If you love him, you can't always hide it. We all know that the two of you like each other. It's hard not to notice the twinkles in your eyes when you see Cody or when Cody's eyes shine when he sees you. When Chase is around and wants to see you only to find out that you aren't here, one can't hide that disappointment. You can hide it from the patients, but I think the thing to do is to tone it down at the office. Don't be obvious when it's go time, but the minute you're alone with him, keep it clean but let him know you love him."

Lisa could tell he was listening, but she could tell he was still worried. Andrew keeps quiet as he thinks over what his friend said to him.

"Do you think I shouldn't be as professional at the clinic?"

She isn't exactly telling him to not be professional at the clinic, so she hopefully makes it a bit clearer to him.

"You can love him, but keep the PDAs to a minimum and show him attention when there aren't patients around."

He frowns at her advice. When the food comes, the two friends begin to eat. Andrew thinks over everything that Lisa has said.

"You know, I've thought over what you said, and I'm still not sure how to go forward with Cody, but I like the part about keeping our PDA for times when we're away from the office."

Lisa is a little lost. She thought her advice was pretty good, and he's messing this up. If Andrew can't get this right, what will happen to Cody and Chase? All Lisa can do is hope that Cody can see through this mask that Andrew is putting up to look professional.

***

Lunch is over, and Andrew and Lisa had been back for ten minutes. Andrew was doing everything he could to avoid being in a position where he would see Cody. This way, there would be no reason to worry about being unprofessional. Cody wants to speak with his nurse. He is a little unhappy. The doctor walks up to the front desk where Jennifer is sitting.

"Jennifer, why is Andrew being so distant. I thought we were passed all this nonsense."

She doesn't know what to say to Cody.

"Cody, just talk to Andrew."

Cody knows that Jenn is right, but he's tired of trying with him.

"Jennifer, maybe I need to call it quits with him."

This time, she isn't happy with Cody. It's too late; Cody is already in love with the guy. More importantly, Chase already likes Andrew too.

"You can't walk away now; you'll crush that little boy of yours."

Cody knows she is right. He knows what he has to do.

***

Cody decides he going to force Andrew into talking with him. He hates this back and forth with Andrew. As much as he hates to do it, Cody has to know what's going on with that man.

"Andrew, I want to talk to you after work today. We really need to talk."

Cody texts the man in his life and hopes that on his next break, that Andrew will check his phone. It would be foolhardy for the doctor to stop seeing the nurse, but something has to give. Andrew is ignoring him, and it hurts a little.

***

Cody is in his office doing paperwork when Andrew comes into his office. The doctor looks up from his desk and, without smiling, says:

"Please close the door and have a seat."

Andrew's heart sinks a little. He has seen that expression on his man's face, which usually means he's not happy. The nurse's stomach is in knots. He's afraid that he's going to be fired. His boss finishes the paperwork he's been working on for the last 10 minutes. Looking up into Andrew's eyes, he still doesn't smile.

"I want to know what the heck is going on today?"

Andrew is a little unsure of what to say to him.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that?"

Now the doctor is a little mad, but he contains his anger. He looks down at the ground, takes a deep breath, and looks up into his man's eyes.

"You came into today without saying hello to me, never smiled at me, didn't have lunch with me, and weren't here to talk to Chase. I thought we were goo? Is there a problem that I don't know about?"

Andrew frowns at the thought of hurting Cody and Chase. All of this came about because Andrew was mindful of where he is and how he should act.

"I was just trying to be professional. I guess I blew it, huh?"

Andrew was honest about his actions today. Cody shakes his head. If he was trying to be professional, maybe he succeeded at doing that and did awesome in his abilities as a nurse. Where he failed is how he treated the guy he likes.

"I like that you were trying to be professional, but I also like being smiled at or those winks that you give me when no one is looking. I love having lunch with you. I like spending time with you in the mornings. Can I do anything to make you more comfortable so you're not so concerned about being so uptight at work? Look, I want you to be professional, but I want my nurse back. It's like you changed or something did the minute we got close. I could transfer you over to Doctor Hartman's office and see you at lunch. Maybe, we could come in together and go home together."

Andrew's heart just about broke when Cody mentioned that transfer. He doesn't want to be sent away. Cody and him work well together.

"I guess I could relax and tone down my uptightness. I feel like I didn't smile a whole lot today. I did not realize I was making you feel bad."

Andrew could use a hug, but Cody doesn't look like he's ready to hug him.

"Look, I just want Andrew to be Andrew. By the way, I had patients who were unhappy that your usual "sass and sparkle" was gone. Any questions?"

Cody is trying to get him to understand what he wants from him. Ultimately, it's up to Andrew to figure out what he wants.

"Cody, in the end, you're going to do what's best for you and the clinic. Maybe, I am not right for you."

Doctor Gaines isn't letting this slide. He looks Andrew in the eyes and studies his face for a second.

"STOP IT! Dammit, you know I lo...like you, I'm not Ethan or whatever his name is. I won't have you putting yourself down. I want you to come in tomorrow ready to work with a smile on this handsome face of yours. I want you here for our patients, not locked behind your professionalism."

After speaking, Cody stands up and heads for the door. He opens it and stops. Andrew stands up too, ready to curl up next to his pillow and let out some tears. Cody almost said that he loves him, but he didn't, which hurts more than anything that Ethan has done.

"Hey, before you go, can I have a kiss?"

Maybe, Cody can feel the pain in his man's heart. Andrew smiles and gives his guy a kiss. They walk together to the break room and their stuff. No one says a word as they walk to their cars.

***

Cody is willing to spend eternity with him trying to prove that this thing they have is real. There was a moment when they were together in his office that scared him; when Andrew said, "Maybe, I'm not right for you." it broke him. He can see Andrew in his future even if Andrew can't see Chase and him in his future. How many kisses, hugs, dates, and sexy looks does he have to give him? How many things must he do for him? How many times? He wants Andrew to see him and Chase in his future.

***

Their drives home were filled with playlists playing, but neither guy was listening to the music. Cody is wondering what to do with Andrew. Andrew is wondering how to fix himself, not for Cody but for work, and maybe figure out what is wrong with him. His boss hinted at a transfer, and that scares him. He found his place and doesn't want to lose it, not now. They know that they like each other, and it won't be long until they're saying "I love you" back and forth. Their feelings for each other outside work and the clinic must be sorted out.

***

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