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"There's this new restaurant opening at the pier this weekend. I thought maybe we could go Saturday night after your shift?" Tim glanced over at her from the driver's seat, his hands flexing on the steering wheel.
"Sorry I uh, I can't go out Saturday."
"But Tim." His name came out in a whine and he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. "We always go out on the first Saturday of the month. You wanted to do that so it would be something consistent." He was growing increasingly annoyed at her but he really didn't want to tell her his plans for this weekend.
"Look, I just can't go out on Saturday. I made a commitment to a friend."
"Tim please, what's more important than spending a Saturday night with your girlfriend. I'm sure you can just reschedule with your friend."
"I can't okay. Lucy's had this appointment for weeks now." He heard a huff of annoyance come from the other side of the truck and was glad he was pulling into the parking lot. "What Ash?"
"It's always Lucy!" She threw her hands up, dropping them down in her lap as she turned to face him fully. "You always put her before me. What's so important that she needs you for this time?" He sighed, resigning himself to telling her at least some of the truth.
"She needs me to go with her to get a tattoo."
"That's ridiculous. She has tattoos already, this should be nothing. Can't one of her other friends go?" Tim shook his head, looking in her direction but not at her, his mind clearly somewhere else.
"No. It has to be me. It's partially my fault she has that tattoo on her ribs anyway, I need to be there when she gets it covered up." He finally looked at Ashley but he wished he hadn't. Her eyes were wide in disbelief and he winced at all of the information he let slip.
"So let me get this straight. You're going to skip our monthly Saturday date night to go with someone you said was 'just a coworker' to get a tattoo covered up that you just happen to be responsible for?" It sounds much worse coming out of her mouth than it actually is but he knows that's all of the information she's getting from him. That's not his story to tell.
"At the basics, yeah, that's what it is." Her movements were rough as she grabbed her bag and threw open the door.
"I just knew there was something going on between you two but I let you convince me otherwise. Gosh I'm an idiot. I hope she's worth it." With that she slammed the door shut and ran up to her building.
Tim didn't think to follow.
"Thank you so much again Tim for coming with me." He smiled at her from his seat. He was in a plastic chair at her hip, sitting opposite of where the tattoo artist would be.
Lucy was laying on the chair with her shirt pulled up under her ribs, taking a deep breath as she knew the needle would be going over her skin again soon.
"Of course. You know I'm here for you, whatever you need." He squeezed her hand that was in his in a silent show of comfort.
"I know."
After her trial prep she had decided to get her day of death tattoo covered up but she knew that there was no way she could go alone. Not when even hearing the needle on TV spiked her heart rate.
If she had still been with Chris maybe she would have asked him to go with her but then she thought better of it. There was only one person she could trust in that situation. One person who knew why it would affect her the way it did and be able to pull her out of any attack it may send her into. Tim.
She was nervous to ask him but she realized she shouldn't have been. He agreed immediately, telling her to book an appointment whenever she was free and to let him know the date and time and he would be there. Looking back now she knew she made the right decision.
"So, do you know what you're going to get to cover it?"
"I'm getting a stem of gladiolus flowers. They're a symbol of strength." Tim felt a smile appear at that. He had told her not long after her rescue that that tattoo was a sign of strength, that she survived. She later admitted that she did too and now, even though she wanted the date covered, she still knew it symbolized how strong she was to survive.
"I'm proud of you." He squeezed her hand again as she smiled at him, clearly pleased by his words.
The artist came into the room shortly after, prepping her skin for the ink.
Lucy kept her eyes on Tim's the entire time, squeezing his hand when a memory got too close. He never let it envelop her though, instead running a hand over her hair and talking to her about the latest trouble Kojo had gotten into.
When it was finally done Lucy let him pull her up and walk over to the mirror with her. As we turned in front of the mirror admiring the new ink she felt Tim's eyes on her as well, taking in the flowers that had covered over one of the worst memories of her life.
"What do you think?"
"It's perfect. I love it." Her smile was bright and he knew then this was exactly what she needed.
"Yeah, me too." Catching his eyes in the mirror she felt her cheeks flush as she realized he wasn't looking at her tattoo but instead her face. Overcome with emotion she spun around, hugging him tight.
His arms wrapped around her, his large hands splayed across her back and pressing into her skin where her shirt was still pulled up. She felt the heat of his hand and had to hold back a shiver at his touch, especially when his thumb started rubbing a circle over her spine.
When they broke apart Lucy smiled up at Tim, her hand coming up to rest on his chest.
"I don't know how to thank you for this Tim."
"There's no thanks necessary Lucy. I'm just happy I could be here for you." The look in his eyes made her heart skip a beat and she started to lean up to kiss him when the artist came back in the room. Clearing her throat she stepped back, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear before turning to face her tattoo artist.
"Thank you, this is exactly what I wanted."
Lucy was still talking to the other man but he couldn't hear what she was saying. Instead he was solely focused on the way her eyes had flicked down to his lips and was starting to push herself up on her tiptoes. If he was being honest he wanted to kiss her. Badly. But now was not the time and certainly not the place.
"Tim?" He felt her hand on his arm and broke out of his thoughts, looking down at her. "You ready?"
"Yeah, after you." He held his hand out, following her to his truck that they had carpooled in. "You hungry?"
"Oh my gosh yes!"
"What do you say we go to the diner? Get some burgers and milkshakes?" Lucy smiled, Tim somehow knowing exactly what she wanted.
"That sounds perfect."
As they drove to the diner Tim couldn't help but steal glances at where Lucy's new tattoo was. It was the perfect way to cover up what was supposed to be her death date while still symbolizing her strength.
Later when they were sitting in a back booth at the diner, him laughing at a story Lucy was telling, he knew he didn't regret a thing. Being here for Lucy was the right thing to do, even if it cost him his relationship with Ashley. Although if he was being honest with himself he wasn't even upset about it. He briefly wondered if that was a sign that it was never going to work out with her anyways. Because he couldn't be with someone who didn't understand his relationship with Lucy, even if he didn't understand what his relationship was with Lucy.
"Hey, you're quiet over there. More quiet than normal anyways. What's up?" He shook his head, Lucy's voice breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Oh um, nothing." He took a drink of his milkshake hoping she would leave it alone but he knew his former Boot better than that. Glancing up at her from the table he saw her brows furrow and she sighed, dropping her hands in her lap.
"Look, if this is about earlier I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started to kiss you. I guess I just got wrapped up in the moment and- I hope this doesn't mess anything up with us or with you and Ashley." She was looking anywhere but at him, her hands now fidgeting on top of the table.
"Lucy." When she didn't look up at him he placed a hand over hers to still them, making her meet his eyes. "First of all you didn't mess anything up between us. You could never do that. And second of all, there's no more Ashley and I." Her eyes went wide as she processed that information before sympathy filled them.
"Tim, I'm sorry. What happened?"
"No, it's okay. Really. She got mad when I told her I couldn't make our normal date night because I was coming with you to get a tattoo. She practically accused me of cheating on her with you."
"Oh my gosh Tim why didn't you say anything before? I could have changed the date or something. You didn't have to cancel your date just to hold my hand! Maybe I should talk to her, tell her there's nothing going on between us-"
"St-stop. She may have been the one that ended it but I'm actually kind of glad. I know now that we never would have worked out. And I didn't cancel my date to hold your hand. I cancelled it because I wanted to be there for you and if she couldn't handle that then she's not the right woman for me." He shrugged like what he said was no big deal but the look in his eyes gave her hope that maybe just maybe he felt the same way for her that she did for him.
"Tim." She didn't know what else to say to that and instead flipped her hand over and squeezed his. "Remember when I told you about what happened with my trial prep?" Tim nodded, his eyes glossing over with anger that he still had at Chris for what he did. "Well I uh, I broke up with him."
"I'm sorry Luce."
"It was the right thing to do after what happened and considering..." She took a deep breath, looking into his eyes for courage before just going for it. "Considering I have feelings for someone else."
She bit her lip as she stared at him, willing him to read between the lines. His wide eyes kept searching hers, trying not to hope too much that she was talking about him.
When he still didn't say anything Lucy rolled her eyes. "I'm talking about you Tim. I have feelings for you."
"Oh thank God." He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and leaned across the table, cupping her chin as he kissed her. Since they were in public he kept it short and sweet, not wanting to draw attention to them but when he pulled back he didn't go far, resting his forehead against hers. "In case it wasn't clear, I have feelings for you too Lucy."
She was smiling, one of her full blown smiles that covered her face and he knew his smile was matching hers.
"Good." She leaned back in, pressing another short kiss against his lips. "Now, can we get out of here so I can kiss you properly?"
His eyes darkened and all words were lost on him so he nodded, sitting back down and throwing enough cash on the table to cover their meal and tip. Grabbing her hand again he pulled her up from the table, leading her out of the diner and to his truck where they silently agreed to go to his place.
Waking up the next morning Lucy rolled over and snuggled into the warm body beside her. A flush came over her body as she remembered the events of last night and how Tim had kissed his way over her body, paying special attention to her tattoos. If the way his eyes lingered on her newest one were any indication she couldn't wait for it to heal so he could pay the flowers that same attention.
It turned out that Tim really loved that tattoo, paying more attention to it then any of the others much to her delight.
When Tim got his first tattoo, an outline of a lotus flower to represent their new beginning, she was more than happy to return the favor.