it's a match | andrew siwicki

18. One Less Problem

"Share a personal problem and ask your partner's advice on how they might handle it. Ask your partner to reflect back to you how you seem to be feeling about the problem you have chosen."

"Alrighty, tell Dr. Lexie all your problems," the brunette proded.

Andrew giggled back and took a deep breath. "Well, I feel like I'm pretty good right now. No real big problems - which is good! But if I had to think of one thing maybe it would be about future career choices and what I want to do in the future. We talked about this a little bit earlier ago, though." Andrew looked over at Shane and said, "Maybe I shouldn't be saying this in front of the guy who's paying me."

Shane laughed from behind the camera and replied, "No, no keep going."

They all laughed and Lexie said, "I think that you are pretty content with where you are now." She smiled at him, then at Shane. "Like you enjoy what you do right now and who you work with and it's all going well! So my take is why fix something that's not broken? Maybe I shouldn't be giving career advice considering where I'm at in life though," she laughed.

Andrew smiled and replied, "No, no, I really would like to hear what you have to say."

Lexie nodded and continued, "I think in your case it's okay to stay put where you are as long as you're happy. And who knows? Maybe you will get bored in the future and that's okay. You would just start thinking of your career goals and what your next step is then."

"Yeah, I like that idea," Andrew replied, clasping his hands together and smiling at her. "Maybe I'll focus my energy on other things too," he stated and looked at her knowingly. "Your turn."

"Ohh, boy, okay, let's finish this first," Lexie said, holding out her third glass of champagne.

Andrew laughed and clinked his glass with hers again and they finished their drinks. "Don't be nervous," he reassured, gently taking her hand in his and rubbing circles into her palm. Shane zoomed in on this and tried so hard not to let out a squeal of excitement.

Taking a deep breath, she started, "So I've been single for a while now. My last relationship was my first serious one. It was with a guy I met in college. He was my everything, and after two years together, we were about to graduate and he just broke up with me. We were supposed to move in together and we had a lease set up and all that stuff. It took me a whole while to get over him, but I'm good now," she reassured Andrew. "We're over and he hasn't been in my life since graduation. But even though all that is done, I still find myself single despite going on dates and stuff. I don't know... like what the issue is..."

After taking some time to process her statement, Andrew replied, "Okay, yeah, I think I know what the issue is and I can tell that it frustrates you a lot."

"What do you mean?"

"Like, I think you do want to be in a relationship and fall in love again, but you block yourself and put up this wall because you're scared. You know that though, and I think my best advice to you is to just trust and let yourself fall," he explained, gripping her hand a little tighter. "You need to pick someone you think is worth taking the risk for, and trust him."

Lexie smiled over at him softly and gripped his hand back. "You wouldn't break my heart, would you, Siwicki?" she asked, trying to completely take in his advice.

"If anyone is breaking anyone's hearts here, Lex, it would be you with mine," he replied honestly.

Before letting Lexie gush, Shane interrupted, "God damn it you guys are so fucking cute. I think you guys know enough about each other for a first date, so let's move onto the last part before all that alcohol really catches up to this tiny girl."

Lexie giggled and said, "I'm fine!"

Shane turned the camera towards himself and shook his head. "This might be awkward, okay? But trust the process. I want you guys to look at each other- like full eye contact and everything. For 4 minutes."

"Four minutes?" Andrew asked.

After going back and forth a bit and the whole squad coming up to where they were filming, they finally agreed to it. Ryland had one camera trained on Lexie, Shane's was on Andrew, and Morgan and Garrett were off to the side trying to stay quiet. They started the timer and observed as Lexie and Andrew looked into each others' eyes.

One minute in, it felt awkward. Just staring at each other, but they did it to entertain Shane's idea.

Two minutes in, they started to get more comfortable and relaxed in their seats.

Three minutes in, Lexie looked for answers in Andrew's light brown eyes. She fully processed his advice to her in her head and decided that she would take it. And she came to the conclusion that if Andrew would have her, she picked him to take a chance on..

And lastly four minutes in, Andrew was internally freaking out at how he was feeling. Going into this, he knew he'd like this girl. Hell, he was extremely attracted to her and as a man, that at the least would have been enough to make this day worthwhile. Coming into this, he had guarded himself to an extent, and he sure as hell did not expect to fall for her as much as he did now. He hoped that she'd let him prove himself to her.