Work Text:
Oh…
Fuck
Tim almost passed out, standing outside Lucy’s door. Feeling like he’d been hit by a truck. Any responsible undercover officers would rehearse. He told himself. They had to pass as a couple. Couples kiss. 1+1= 2.
So why did it suddenly feel like one and one equaled three. Why was he so annoyed when Tamara walked in? Why did he feel like levitating when she grabbed his face and kissed him like her life depended on it.
Her life might depend on it, he justified, and she wants to be an undercover officer. So her career depended on it too.
He shook himself out of the stupor, starting to walk away and immediately stumbled.
They’d been drinking and he hadn’t eaten in a few hours, he explained to himself. Even if it had been one beer.
I am getting older, Tim reasoned, can’t drink like I used too. His heart beat settled a little as he explained away the symptoms he felt.
He was tipsy, not heartsick. A responsible officer, not desperate to press his lips to hers again.
The evening passed in a fog. He tried to watch an old Rams game, but he saw Lucy in the stands. So I tried to clean the kitchen, only succeeding in fondly remembering how messy hers was. Dishes piled in the sink, silverware tossed haphazardly into whatever draw was closest. He thought about the frustration on her face as she hunted for a bottle opener not more than three hours ago. Before he started to feel like this.
He must be sick, he thought, staring at the ceiling as the sun started to stream in through his bedroom curtains.
Or just committed.
That's it, he
lied
thought to himself, so committed to the role of Dim that he was temporarily feeling just as infatuated with
Lucy
Juicy that their doppelgangers were with each other.
But now he was sweating in his truck. He’d cracked, blasting the air conditioning right at his face. It wasn’t making him weak. He was getting into character.
Obviously.
She was staring at him through the truck window. A meek
adorable
wave of acknowledgment. They shouldn't walk in together, he thought, that would be suspicious.
Hold it, why? Nothing had changed.
Obviously.
He couldn’t open the door on the first try, forgetting to unlock it. When he did finally stumble out they tripped over their hellos. It had been a long night, for him at least, he pointedly didn’t think about how she had spent hers.
“I-I just wanted to say…” Every thought he’d backtracked over suddenly was suddenly on the tip of his tongue, “We need more work on our back story. Give it more depth. Key moments, ya know?” For a moment he thought she was disappointed. Couldn’t imagine why.
“Yeah, we uh, we could take the morning–you know, while we're waiting for Hajek to call.”
“That's great.” He responded, happy to spend the morning
with her
on the case.
“Great.” She repeated.
“Okay.” Was he blushing? No, it's hot out.
They went to walk inside, hypersensitive to the space between them. He plotted out ‘key moments’ in his head. Heart pounding as he pictured what the first date would have been like between
Lucy and Tim
Juicy and Dim, maybe she gave him a dog, helped him when he struggled to read, teased him whenever she got the chance, helped him process every feeling he didn’t understand.
Maybe he fell for her slowly, hardly noticing as she became one of the most important people in his life. And maybe she kissed him one night and it all came crashing down. Hitting him like the most beautiful earthquake he could imagine.
Damn …he was really committed to this part.