Tim + Lucy = ?

We Need To Talk...Or Just Kiss Again

#104daysofsummervacation
#104daysofchenford
#Day19

Tim

Lucy had been evasive towards him for most of the shift that day. Thankfully, he knew what was wrong. So he wasn't left wondering why she didn't pry him for details about Hawaii.

She was out of the shop and in the woman's locker room before he could stop her. She might be capable of sneaking into the men's locker room and escaping without (much) notice. But he certainly wouldn't. Waiting for her, Angela said, wasn't an ideal option either since the halls would still have cops roaming about, getting ready to go home, or transitioning over for the night shift.

Angela's garage ambush it was.

Lucy

She was absolutely numb and had nothing to say to him. Surprisingly, he didn't ask, "you okay?" like he would when something was obviously bothering her. So either she wasn't being obvious enough, or his head was really up in the clouds, focused on anything but her or what happened.

If it was going to be that way, then it was going to be that way. He and Ashley would likely get married and she would fade into obscurity. She was able to take a small satisfaction in the knowledge that she had the high ground in this scenario. He was being a coward. There was no way he was putting everything behind him without effort.

He wasn't waiting outside the woman's lockers. At that point, she gave up the little bit of hope she had been clinging to.

Lost in a grey fog, she didn't register that there was someone waiting outside the door to the garage. They lay a hand on her shoulder and she reacted by grabbing their hand and twisting their arm behind their back.

"OW! Chen, it's just me."

Immediately, she dropped his hand. "Tim! Oh my gosh, I am so sorry." But in the next second, she slapped his arm. "Don't scare me like that!"
He mumbled something about being a punching bag and then said, "Hey, this isn't all on me. You should've been more aware of your surroundings. What if it hadn't been me?"
"I would have kicked their ass, just like I was about to take yours."
"Still-"
"Tim," she interrupted, "are you for real right now?"

"You're right, it's not important, I'm sorry."
She fell into a shocked silence.
"Chen," he said, "we need to talk."
She knew exactly what he meant. But she didn't want to hear how he was in love with Ashley. It was a risk to their positions on the job. And he didn't feel anything for her.
"No, I don't think we do."
"Lucy, please. Just let me-"

"No! Okay, Tim? No. I don't want to have to listen to you tell me about how in love with Ashley you are. That she's the one you want a future with. I don't want to have to hear you patronizingly tell me what a risk anything other than a professional partnership would do to our status on the force. I don't want to have to hear you say that you don't love me, I can't-"

Tim

He was simultaneously heartbroken and elated. She'd convinced herself that he couldn't have felt anything for her. But she was upset, which could mean that she must feel the same. He didn't want to assume, but this had to mean that she did. And his overloaded mind could only think of one way to figure it out.

He repeated the moment that had gotten them caught in this web.

He caught her face between his hands and drew her lips upward to his. He'd long since given up on the feeling. There was too much of it. It was a sensory overload. All he could comprehend was that it was an incomparable sensation. An ethereal high that he only wanted more of. She was the one drug he could allow himself to become addicted to. Well, he already was.

This time, she did push him away. Understandable. They weren't practicing to go undercover, they weren't undercover, and according to her, he didn't love her.

But she was wrong.

"What are you doing. Tim! I-what? You-you're with Ashley. This is not funny. You can't just-"
"Ashley and I broke up," he interrupted, "I love you, Lucy."

"You're joking. You've got to be joking. You are going to regret-"
"I regret nothing," he interrupted again, "because it's true."

Lucy

She was scared that her heart might burst from her chest. But she needed to be certain that this wasn't just another prank that would send her into a tailspin.

"You-you mean it?" she asked, fighting back the tears welling in her eyes. But she couldn't help them from falling when he reached out to gently caress her cheek.
"Trust me. I mean it when I say that I am in love with you. And I've been in love with you. Don't ask me how or when. Just know that I fell in love with you, the passionate, gorgeous woman that you are."

"I don't know whether I should blush or have you institutionalized."
"Ya know, Angela said something similar. Apparently, me sharing my feelings is reason to believe I've gone insane."
"She's right."
"You do know there's a difference between not having feelings and not sharing them, right?"
"Ahem, daughter of psychologists here."

She could not believe this. But she had allowed herself to because this was going to go down as one of the greatest days of her life. Tim Bradford, was a chiseled figure of masculine perfection and emotionally available, apparently. And he was hers. Oh. It was probably her turn to say something.

"I-I love you too."
He smirked. "Good. Otherwise, I would've had to go die of heartbreak."
"I'm sure you'd move on."
"Maybe. But I'd always be looking back."

She recalled that they were standing in the department's garage.
"Can we get out of here?"
Smirking again, (goodness his ego was intolerable as ever) he said, "Pick up where we left off that night?"
"Slow down, tiger. I'm going to demand food first."

Her laugh flooded and echoed through the parking garage as he gestured dramatically and said, "Whatever the lady wants."