Work Text:
Lucy Chen shuts her locker whilst sighing deeply. To say today had been an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement.
It started with laughing at Nolan,
then playing with raccoons,
then teen girls getting stabbed,
then her rookie -who she was almost positive was a liar- showed up,
then those teen girls turned out to be murderers,
then she finds out Tim almost got shot,
THEN her rookie was a confirmed liar who got fired,
and she wanted nothing more than to sit on her couch and watch Top Chef in peace.
"Oh hey, Rodge is going to come over tonight, is that okay?" Celina spoke up from next to her.
There goes her quiet night.
Lucy turned to Celina, doing her best to keep a joyful face, and smiled as she replied, "Of course! It's your apartment too."
Celina sighed and threw her head back before hugging Lucy. "Thank you you're the best." She gushed. Lucy just smiled and walked out of the locker room.
The station was practically empty as she walked through its halls. But all Lucy could think about was how she now had to worry about tiptoeing around her roommate and her boyfriend inside their apartment and -ohmygod. She couldn't be in the living room.
Okay, that's fine. She'll just stay in her room.
Nope. She'll have to socialize anywhere in their apartment.
Lucy groaned aloud as she got in her car; tossing her head back against the chair. Then an idea popped in her head. She could just go somewhere she knows she can rest.
Except the first place that came to her mind is now off limits.
But she was so exhausted. And just maybe she could ignore their problems for tonight.
Lucy reached for her phone, pulled out her contacts, and called the 2nd most recent one.
It rang twice before his voice came through. And it was pathetic the way her body relaxed at the sound of his voice.
"Hey, what's up?" Tim greeted. Based on the background noise of the Los Angeles traffic she could tell he was still on the road.
"Hi, I know this is kind of awkward but after today there is nothing I want more than to rot on the couch but Celina is having her new boyfriend over so that will be impossible and-"
"You want to come here." Tim interjected, as more of a statement than a question. He sounded rather amused.
"Yeah... can I?" she cringed at how desperate she sounded. But Tim's reply was quick; "Of course, Lucy. You never have to ask." He reassured, and she could hear his smile.
"I'm still on the road but I'm about ten minutes away from home. Do you want me to order something for dinner?" He offered, and Lucy put her car in reverse as she pulled out of the Mid Wilshire parking lot.
"Yes please, that sounds great. Uhhh Thai?" She answered, and God, she missed this. The little plannings like this after work. The small things she took for granted then that she now misses so dearly. "I'm just pulling out of the station, so I'll meet you there. Thank you so much, Tim" She finalized.
"Anytime, Luce. See you soon." he quipped and then the line went dead. She smiled at the use of her nickname before remembering that she... well... couldn't do that anymore.
-----
Lucy pulled into Tim's driveway and right next to his truck. As she walked up she heard Kojo's barking, and a grin etched its way onto her face. She didn't even get to knock before Tim opened the door.
He looked... so good. He was wearing a white shirt and grey sweats, and his hair was messy -probably from not styling it after a shower-. It was just the way she always told him she loved seeing him and- oh damn him. He did this on purpose.
Her own clothes felt fancy in comparison. Jeans with a nice top. It was just what she had worn to work today, so she didn't have anything else.
"Hey, food is almost here," he began, and he looked genuinely happy to see her. Just then, Kojo snaked his way to her from behind Tim and immediately began jumping on her with his tail wagging at a million miles per hour.
"Oh hi, honey!" She crouched down to pet Kojo, and she could see Tim beaming out of the corner of her eye.
Eventually she got up and fully stepped inside. Right as he closed the door he turned to her and said, "do you want some comfier clothes?" She laughed before replying, "I was just thinking about how I'm clearly overdressed. Do you have anything?" She pondered. They moved towards his bedroom.
"I mean I've still got some of your shorts here, and as for shirts you could just use one of mine." He offered, and that sentence caused a multitude of emotions.
For one, the thought of wearing his clothes again made her heart leap.
And secondly, "You still have some of my clothes?" He moved towards his dresser and opened the drawer that she recognized as her designated drawer from when they were together. She could see his nervous grin despite his head being dipped.
"Well I mean I wasn't going to throw them away." He gestured towards the drawer, "Here, and you can just grab what you want from the closet. I'll be in the living room." He smiled at her once more, and walked out; shutting the door behind him.
She sat on his bed for a moment. Taking in her surroundings. It had been a while since she had been in here, and she missed it. Memories of them in this room came flooding to her. The sweet domestic ones, and the charged intimate ones. She smiled at the memories.
After pulling on a pair of her sleep shorts she made her way to his closet. Suddenly, a dangerous idea came to mind.
She grabbed his LAPD shirt with BRADFORD written across the back and below the LAPD logo on the front. Not that she was playing mind games, but she was playing mind games. The shirt engulfed her, and she breathed in the familiar scent of him.
She left her clothes and her discarded bra on his dresser.
When she walked out, he was spread across the couch, and their Thai food was on the coffee table in front of him. She audibly groaned at the smell of it before sitting down right next to him.
Grabbing her chopsticks, and shoving some of the noodles into her mouth, she grumbled out a quick "thankyousomuch" between bites which caused Tim to chuckle and shake his head at her.
"You're a mess." He teased, but his eyes remained fixed on her, and her heart ached. That look was the same one he always had while they were dating. The same one from the gala that caused her to say "don't look at me like that" but this time? She wasn't sure if she wanted him to stop.
But then she leaned forward to get more noodles when out of the corner of her eye she saw his own shift to her back. She grinned to herself as she saw his pupils expand at the sight of his name across her back.
Good.
Eventually the food ran out, and after putting away dishes and throwing away the trash, the two ended up back on the couch. Tim sat first, leaving it up to Lucy to decide the space between them.
She settled on a spot too close for friends, but would've been too far for dating. Just enough to where their thighs almost touched along with their shoulders. It was hard to not lean into him, but she chose not to.
Tim reached for the remote, flipping through channels until he landed on the new Top Chef episode that started airing a minute ago. She smiled at him, and her eyes said "thank you". He smiled right back, his own eyes saying "you're welcome" before they both focused on the TV. Their signature wordless conversations.
Eventually, Lucy's mind drifted from the contestants on the screen arguing over ingredients. Tim caught on quickly, and muted the channel. She didn't notice until he spoke.
"What's on your mind?" He coaxed, shifting his body so he was fully facing her. She did the same, but took a few breaths before she spoke.
"I just can't stop thinking about the whole Ridley situation." She began, and he sat up straighter. "I mean... what else could he have possibly lied about? He could've almost hurt people..." she drew off, her eyes moving to look down, and Tim tilted his head slightly while furrowing his brows.
"You're leaving something out." He stated, knowing her all too well. She twiddled her fingers while lifting her head and quickly sighing. What she always did when she was about to admit something.
"After shift today," she started, "I just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something that we missed." He nodded slightly, "What do you mean?" He pondered.
"Do you remember after the wildfire when he visited us in the hospital?
"And he rambled about the weather service and it's mess ups where he clearly seemed off? Yeah, how could I not?" He replied, and his small joke at the end made the ends of her lips twitch up slightly.
"Yeah. So, I convinced Grey to let me check the station's security footage on the guides of what happened today, but instead I went back to the day of the wildfire." She continued, and... did they get closer?
Sure enough, they went from being around two feet a part to then a foot. Huh.
"What did you find?" Tim coaxed, and Lucy took a deep breath before on instinct, her hand fell onto his. He didn't say anything, but his eyes did dip for a second.
"Tell me if I'm being insane or delusional here. Please. Don't hold back. Tell me." Tim laughed slightly before nodding, "of course.".
"Around the time you and I made the distress call you can see Grey call Ridley into his office. Given Ridley was on command it makes sense. But before that, he had received a call on a radio and wrote something down. When I zoomed in on the writing it was blurry and almost ineligible, but it fit the shape of Eagle Rock Road." Her voice got more serious as she went on.
Tim's eyes got serious, and drifted off slightly as his brain was painting the picture.
"After he got back from Grey's office, he looked at the notepad, looked up wide-eyed, before ripping the paper up and putting it into his pocket." She finalized. There was a stretch of silence before Tim said what they were both thinking.
"He got a call from the weather service about the road closure, got distracted, forgot to say anything, realized his mistake, and blamed it on someone else." He summarized.
"I know it sounds crazy-" "It doesn't not with his record." He interjected her worries, before scoffing. "God, he almost got us killed..." He said to nobody in particular.
They both were silent for a moment as the memories of the horrors of that day came back to them. Lucy's grip on Tim's hand tightened, and his eyes flicked up to her own. She was staring into the distance; clearly disturbed.
He lifted his arms before one of them came to her shoulder, nudging her slightly, "come here," he eased. She fell into him without hesitation as his arms wrapped around her.
This was risky. They both knew it. But his arms have always been the place where she felt the safest. The calmest. The happiest. So instead of thinking about of how bad of an idea this was, she let out the breath she was holding, and closed her eyes as he rocked slightly.
Eventually he leaned back onto the couch, and she fully nuzzled into him. Her head finding the crook of his neck like it always did when they were together. Her hand fisted his shirt, and then she felt his lips against the top of her head. Her heart skipped a beat.
The house was quiet around them, save for Kojo's occasional heavy sighs as he sat on the floor by the couch, and although this wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she came here, she didn't think she would rather be doing anything else.
Eventually she spoke against his chest, "do you think he'll ever try anything again?". His head lifted from where it rested on her own, but his thumb continued to stroke her back from where his hand rested.
"Maybe," she lifted her head to stare at him -clearly not the answer she wanted- but he continued. "But it won't matter if he does. The whole station has your back." He assured, and her eyes softened.
"You think?" Her voice was small, and she hated how much this was affecting her. He smiled, and one of his hands came up to cusp the back of her neck. "I know. Many officers came to me at the end of shift to tell me just that."
She smiled before her expression sobered up again as she rested her head on his solid chest. "If I'm being honest, it's not them I'm worried about."
She sighed into him, "what will Tamara think? Last I checked they were still dating- oh my god." She shot up, grabbing her phone from the table and jumping to her texts.
He sat up, "What's wrong?" his arm came up to stroke her back which -she has to admit- did ground her.
"Tamara needs to hear it from me before Seth. She'll hate me otherwise." Lucy rushed out, before typing out her text
Hey, have you heard from Seth at all today
Yes. Can't believe you really think he'd lie about that.
Lucy's eyes shot up to Tim, who was looking at her screen. Her eyes welled up with tears, and he scooted close to her; pulling her into his side.
"Tell her your side. Even if she doesn't believe you, it will matter that you tried." He reasoned, and she nodded tearfully with a small "mhm".
Tamara please listen to me when I say this. It doesn't matter if me believing that is what got him fired. He refused to prove his innocence. And after he admitted to lying to me in the past you can't blame
me for being skeptical. The doctor he claimed to be his oncologist has a history of trouble with the hospital for lying
*Read 9:42pm*
They watched her phone for another five minutes, but a reply never came. Lucy put her phone face down on the table, before collapsing into Tim's arms. She wasn't sobbing by any means, but tears fell down her face in silence with the occasional sniffles. Tim just held her; something she always appreciated. He never tried to make it right, he was just there.
"She's smart. She'll come around eventually." He assured, and Lucy just nodded.
In an attempt to lighten Lucy's spirits, he leaned back and turned on one of her favorite crime shows. She shot up, eyes sparkling with joy and mischief. "I thought you hated this show?!" She squealed. "You said you can't watch it with the inaccuracies?!"
He shrugged, "figured I'd make an exception". Lucy giggled before settling right back into his arms as they watched.
The next hour was filled with Tim's complaints about the so called cops of the show who used cliches and made blatant mistakes, and Lucy's ohmygoditisjustashow's that followed.
Eventually Lucy's eyes grew heavy and her yawns were closer together. There was a question on both of their minds -a rather risky one- that neither dared to ask. Until it was unavoidable.
Lucy spoke quietly, but he heard it, "do you mind if I stay here tonight...? I really don't want to drive." He lifted his head, prompting her to do the same.
"Always, Lucy. As long as it's okay with you." He assured, and she snuggled right back into him. He smiled, and laid his lips on the top of her head again.
Ten minutes later exhaustion took over her body as she fell asleep. He let them lay there for another 30 minutes before he stood to turn off the TV.
He stood over her body for a moment, as his head rang through a few things.
For one, how gorgeous she looked when she was asleep like this. Her face completely relaxed, and the worries of the day nowhere to be found.
Secondly, he never though he would get to see her like this again, let alone in his house, and even more in his clothes.
And lastly, how the hell was he going to get her to bed...?
He shook his head in a IcannotbelieveIamabouttodothis type of way, before he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to bed.
After laying her down and covering her in the blankets -and placing a rather selfish kiss to her forehead- he climbed into his own side.
Tim planned on giving her space and not wanting to overstep, but immediately upon him laying down, she shifted to his side. An instinct they always had while together.
Despite every part of his brain screaming that it was wrong, he allowed himself to hold onto her. To remember. His eyes closed rather fast after that.
Despite the events of the day, both of them slept better than they had in months.