Work Text:
"So, ready for your date tonight?" Nyla asks as she approaches Angela's desk.
Angela smiles at Nyla over her computer screen, her big brown eyes twinkling as she reminisces.
"Remember when we went under at that club together a couple years ago?" Angela asks.
"Of course I do," Nyla says, leaning forward with her hands over Angela's desk, biting her lips to avoid grinning at the memory.
"Should I bring back the black dress I wore then for this date?"
Nyla digs her fingers harder on the table at the question, remembering too well said dress and that night.
Because it ended up becoming the kind of bad mistake that feels really good to make.
Nyla could blame the adrenaline high that remains after every undercover operation for agreeing to go home with Angela for another drink that night. Or the way they danced the whole evening while keeping an eye on their target, the slow, sensual grinding of Angela's ass against Nyla's hips, the way their hands explored each other's body over clothes more than was necessary to keep their covers, the brush of Angela's lips over Nyla's cheek as the woman sang along to one particular song.
Nyla could even blame that damn little black dress that hugged perfectly all of Angela's soft curves.
But it would be just excuses for the fact that Nyla truly wanted to go home with her, and the fact that she did, and that she made sure to show Angela just how much she wanted her all night long in all the ways she was good at.
It only took Angela slowly sliding her hand over Nyla's jean-clad thigh while looking at her with hooded eyes and a slow grin for Nyla to give in, leaning forward to kiss her hungrily on the couch at her place while leaving their drinks untouched on the coffee table.
The sex had been good, really good. But both agreed it was just that and that they should go on with their lives as it never happened. And they did, or at least Nyla was damn good at pretending that she did, because she couldn't truly forget that night no matter how hard she tried to.
She looks up, waking up from her reverie to find Angela's burning gaze already fixed on her with a knowing look, like she's been thinking about that night too. And maybe she hasn't been able to forget either, but Nyla doesn't want to get her hopes up.
So she tries to be casual when she smiles at the other woman, lifting her arms from the table and making a show out of checking the time on her wrist watch.
"Maybe you should wear another color," Nyla says as she takes a step backwards, because the desk between them definitely does not give her enough space to breathe under Angela's gaze. "Bring a jacket, nights are getting colder." She takes another step back, motioning with her hand towards the hallway that leads to the parking lot. "I have to meet with a CI but text me later if you're still nervous, though I'm sure it's gonna go great. And if it doesn't, the tequila shots are on me, yeah?" Nyla adds, winking at her before she thinks about it.
"Deal. Thanks," Angela smiles at her, sweet and warm and short.
"I got you girl," Nyla says, smiling back before turning away and running to her car, trying to calm down her racing heart.
--------------------
"Why is it so hard to find someone to date at our age?" Angela says, squeezing her eyes shut and whining as she places her empty shot glass over the table with force.
Nyla can't help but chuckle at that and their situation.
In the end, Angela's date didn't go well. It could have been compatibility, it could have been because Nyla didn't let Angela wear the black dress, but in the end it didn't change the fact that it ended before it should and now they're sitting at Las Torres, downing the tequila shots Nyla promised.
"That's because we have real standards now, honey," Nyla says as she leans with her arms crossed over the table.
Angela sighs, passing a hand over her styled curls and letting them fall over one of her shoulders. She looks a little out of place with her smokey eyed makeup and her sparkly peach colored dress, surrounded by jean-clad drunk cops after their shifts. At least she wore the jacket like Nyla suggested.
"It's not like I'm looking for perfect, I just–"
Nyla shakes her head slowly, knowing very well how she feels. "You don't want to just date now," Nyla starts. "You want a life plan. Family, kids...someone to make a team with, for life."
Angela's eyebrows furrow as she nods and waves her hand towards Nyla. "Ugh, it's like you read my mind."
Nyla just grins. "I'm good, but I'm not that good," she says. "I've just been where you are, before Donovan and Lila. And I'm back there again, now."
Divorce had been hard, but fighting back for Lila's custody had been harder. Nyla had to find herself again, build new bridges to connect with her new found family at Mid-Wilshire and earn their trust. It had been a long journey, but she managed to get where she is now, with her baby girl back and her job as a detective and Angela as her partner.
Life was good, very good. But sometimes a girl wants a little more.
"I thought you were enjoying single life. I know how tough things have been for you," Angela says, reaching for one of the beers they ordered along with the shots and taking a sip.
Nyla shrugs. "Sure. Being single is fantastic, for a while, but I don't want to be alone forever."
Angela chuckles, a lovely sound in the middle of the loud bar. "I hear you."
They smile at each other as they sip on their beers for a while, not saying anything else, but not needing to. They're used to sharing long silences while on stakeouts and they don't need awkward small talk to be comfortable around each other. Nyla takes her time to look at Angela while she's distracted glancing besides them at a group of people that suddenly decides to sing acapella.
Angela's eyes glow under the warm lighting of the bar, that curious and amused look that she often wears whenever people are doing something outrageous, her hair wild and loose around her face now with how many times she's passed her hands through it.
Nyla feels an ache in her chest at the sight of Angela, relaxed and open and gorgeous in front of her, and she wonders for how long she can keep lying to herself that she only sees the other woman as a friend.
As if sensing she's being watched, Angela turns to face Nyla with a smirk and a look that screams trouble.
"Hey, you and me, we make a good team..." Angela starts, interlacing her fingers before she places her hands over the table in a way that Nyla recognizes as meaning business.
It clicks suddenly then, as Angela keeps grinning at her, that she's calling back at what she said before of wanting a partner to make a team for life.
"We are one hell of a team but that's not–" she attempts to give Angela her best confident smirk, refusing to look flustered in front of her. "Are you asking me to marry you right now, Lopez?" she asks, teasingly.
Nyla grins in satisfaction now at the mild panicked look Angela has, before she lets out an amused chuckle and straightens in her seat, feigning confidence in a convincing way. Well, convincing to anyone who doesn't know her like Nyla does.
They're too similar in a lot of things, after all.
"No. I was thinking that, if it turns out we're both still single in say– five years?" Angela starts, pursing her lips. "we could just –you know– marry each other."
She says the last part so casually it makes Nyla laugh out loud, for real, her body bending over the table and making her eyes tear up. She's still shaking with laughter after what feels like a minute, wiping the back of her hands under her eyes as she looks at Angela who looks about to laugh as well but at the same time like she's serious about her proposition.
"I know it sounds crazy, but think about it," Angela says. "We know the other like the back of our hands, we trust each other with our lives, and we're always good even when we piss off each other."
"All of that's true but I already got married once. It didn't work out," Nyla says, her belly aching after laughing so much and her chest aching again at a thought of a future with Angela, something she'd never let herself contemplate before tonight.
Angela nods with an infuriatingly attractive grin, gesturing with her hands at herself. "But you didn't marry me, Harper."
Nyla can feel her cheeks getting hot. Angela's such a shit and that's probably one of the reasons Nyla likes her so much.
"That's a good point," Nyla says, smiling back at her.
"So, what do you say?" Angela asks, expectantly.
"Why the hell not. We got a deal," Nyla says.
And just like that they're shaking hands, ordering another round of beers and talking about something else like they didn't just promise to marry each other in the future.
"Remind me again why we are spying on Harper?" Tim asks Angela before he grabs the visor of his ball cap to pull it further down his head.
They're sitting at a bar different from their usual hangout place, at least five tables away from where Nyla is having an animated conversation with a handsome man that Angela has decided to code name "ugly suit". The distance is not enough for Angela to be unaffected by Nyla's dazzling smile as she laughs at something "ugly suit" says, her chest warming at the sight.
(Nyla's smile is probably Angela's favorite feature of the woman, more so when it's directed at her).
Angela lowers her dark sunglasses a little, glaring at Tim over them. "We are not spying on her. Just, checking how her date is going, she's had bad luck with them lately."
"Right. And who's fault is that?" Tim asks, narrowing his eyes at her, his look accusatory.
Angela adjusts her hat and sunglasses, knowing this is a terrible disguise and that they're lucky no one has looked at them weird in the last hour or so they've been here. She feigns innocence, smiling sweetly at Tim. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Please Ange, we've known each other for more than a decade, I know when you're lying. I saw you some months ago at Las Torres walking over to Harper's table to tell something to her date when she went to the bathroom. That poor woman looked terrified when you left and practically bounced off the table when Harper sat back."
Oh, shit. She's been found out.
Angela's about to protest, but Tim doesn't seem done yet. "I also know about at least five more incidents in the last two years, going from her dates getting mysterious food poisoning to forcing Thorsen to make an emergency call for you to Harper," Tim says, shaking his head. "Not to mention that one time I caught you about to puncture the car tires of the dude Harper was with at Osia. I gotta admit though, that after meeting the douche he probably deserved it, but you're a cop, for fucks sake."
Angela kind of wants to disappear. It's bad enough that Tim has caught up on what she's been doing to sabotage Nyla's dates, but it's even worse to hear some of what she's done out loud.
It's ridiculous, she knows. Angela's a grown woman, a law enforcement officer, she shouldn't be acting like a jealous teenager. But she can't help herself.
Nyla has this…effect on her– she makes her lose her mind a little (or a lot).
Tim's judgemental stare is becoming too much, and Angela groans as she passes her hands over her face. "Ok, smartass, you got me. I've been sabotaging Nyla's dates. Happy?"
"No? I mean, why are you even doing it? I thought you guys actually liked each other a lot," Tim says, taking a sip of his beer.
"We do! It's just– I can't let her get married before me," Angela says, eyeing Nyla's table once more, her blood boiling when she watches "ugly suit" grab Nyla's hand.
"What? You know it's not a competition, right? It'll happen when it happens," Tim says, as if it were that simple.
"Yeah, but if it doesn't happen we made a promise and–"
"A promise? About what?" Tim asks, curious.
Fuck, Angela should have kept her mouth shut.
"I'm not telling you," she says, shaking her head slowly, her sunglasses slipping slightly down her nose. "It's embarrassing enough that you caught me red handed, I don't need to add to that."
But Tim seems determined to know, leaning forward on the table and fixing Angela with that soft, understanding look of his that makes Angela's heart melt in the spot and also makes her wonder how it is that her best friend is still single. "Angela, come on. You know you can talk to me about anything."
She sighs, closing her eyes as she speaks in fear of how Tim might look at her. "We promised to marry each other if we didn't have any prospects in five years," Angela says in a hurry.
Tim almost spits out the sip of beer he just took. "You did what? " He asks, almost yelling as his eyes look about to pop out of his face.
"Keep your voice down!" Angela shushes him. "A while ago, we were drinking and I made the proposition as a joke, but I didn't think she would actually say yes. And a promise is a promise Tim, you know how I feel about them."
Tim looks at her like she's grown a second head. He still nods anyway, knowing how superstitious she gets about keeping a promise. "I do. That doesn't explain why you've been terrorizing Harper's dates." Then, he pauses and his eyes suddenly light up as if he just figured out something. "Unless, your goal is to actually marry her?" Tim asks, his growing smile a teasing one.
"I– well–"
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Angela can feel her cheeks burning. Why is she blushing? Why is her heart beating so loud she can almost hear it?
Tim's look on her turns soft, understanding, and Angela would rather he were teasing her. "Angela, do you have feelings for Harper?" Tim asks, and Angela suddenly feels the bar spinning around them.
"Ok, this conversation is over. Let's go."
Nyla spots Tim and Lucy at one of the high top aluminum tables that fill the food truck court. They're sitting way too close to be friendly appropriate, their faces almost touching as they animatedly talk, and if Tim's hand resting over Lucy's thigh wasn't a dead giveaway that they're hanging out as more than friends, the megawatt smiles and heart eyes that they're giving each other sure is.
The place is not one the Mid-Wilshire crew frequents, today is packed and they're tucked away at the far end of the court, probably thinking they won't be noticed. Tim and Lucy dating is not exactly a secret and it's not a thing they're advertising either, but they're fools to think their friends don't know. Still, Nyla is happy for them finally getting their heads out of their asses and giving that thing between them a chance. It's risky, and she said as much to Chen, but both have been through a lot, separately and together, and they deserve to be happy.
She hates to burst out their privacy bubble, but Nyla's here on a mission, and hanging out with them for a while will make her look less suspicious.
"Bradford, Chen. Fancy meeting you here," Nyla says, approaching the table and smiling in satisfaction when she watches them jump on their spots, eyes wide as they take their hands off each other.
Tim is the first one to talk, not that it helps his cause much. "Harper– hi, we're uh…this is–" he's shaking his head as he gestures vaguely between him and Lucy, panic evident in his face.
"We're here because of the food, obviously–"
"–obviously," adds Tim.
Lucy nods. "The reviews are excellent and–"
"–Tamara couldn't come with," Tim says.
"So I convinced Tim to tag along with me," Lucy finishes, smiling and lying with a confidence learnt during UC training that makes Nyla proud.
She has to work on keeping her breathing steady, though.
"Relax lovebirds," Nyla says, on the verge of laughing. "I don't care about why you're here, even though I know."
"You do?" Lucy says with a cute tilt of her head as she frowns and Tim rolls his eyes.
"Of course I do. I know everything," Nyla says, smirking as she steals a chair from another table and sits with them.
"So much for trying to be discreet," Lucy mutters, her lips betraying her as they stretch on a smile.
"The eyes don't lie, Chen," Nyla says, leaning on her arm over the edge of the table as she scans their surroundings.
"What are you doing?" Tim asks, an edge of annoyance at having his date interrupted in his voice.
"It's classified," Nyla says, looking around until she spots what she's here for.
Three food trucks away from them, Angela sits across Calderon, a sergeant from another station she met earlier that day while interviewing a witness on a scene. They hated each other when they first met, so Nyla was more than a little confused when she found out they were going on a date in the afternoon.
"Is that Angela?" Lucy asks, quick to follow Nyla's line of vision.
Crap.
"Hmm yeah. She met that guy this morning," Nyla says, watching the way Angela pushes her hair back with a hand to let it fall over her shoulders before leaning closer to Calderon, smiling sweetly.
A flirty move, if she ever saw one. A move Angela's used on Nyla before.
Nyla bites down on her tongue and takes a hold of the edge of the table, reminding herself that she's supposed to go unnoticed, and that no, she shouldn't walk over there and steal Angela away for the night, no matter how much Nyla might want to.
"Is that the reason you're here?" Tim asks.
"I don't have to tell you why I'm here. Besides, I just need to wait here for around…" Nyla trails off, checking her watch and starting to count down to forty before she looks up to check on Angela again. "Forty seconds."
From where they are they see as Calderon reaches with his fork to start eating his food and then suddenly stands up from his seat in a frenzy, screaming something about cockroaches in the food as he gestures wildly with his arms.
Nyla can't help it when she erupts in laughter, hiding her mouth behind her closed fist.
"Oh no," Lucy says but Tim just laughs.
Nyla turns to look at Tim and Lucy with a smirk that she knows is conceited.
"You– this is unbelievable," Tim says, giving Nyla a reprimanding look, something in his eyes twinkling as if he knows something he shouldn't.
Shit.
"What do you mean?" Lucy asks, confused.
"Bradford, it's not what you think–" Nyla starts weakly, but Tim just shakes his head.
"Yes it is, Harper," Tim says, crossing his arms, before turning to Lucy. "There's nothing classified about Harper's mission. She's here to make sure Angela's date goes wrong."
"What?"
"Nyla and Angela made a promise that if neither had married in a couple years, they'd have to marry each other," Tim says, looking at Lucy with a smile.
"Oh my God–" Lucy says, then starts to giggle.
"What's so funny?" Tim asks her, frowning, even if the smile is still present on his face.
"It just sounds like something you and I could have done if we hadn't–" Lucy interrupts herself, biting her lips before she says more as she catches Nyla's gaze. "Nothing."
"Well– you're not completely wrong," Tim agrees with the most love sick smile directed at Lucy that Nyla's ever seen.
Lucy, of course, reciprocates the smile with just as much love and just like that they're suspended in a moment for a few beats.
Nyla wants that. Thinks briefly that she could have it, with a certain hardass detective, if things were different.
"How did you even manage the cockroaches thing?" Lucy asks, remembering she's not alone with Tim and turning to face Nyla again.
"Same guy Bradford knows," Nyla says with a shrug.
"Ok, but here's what I don't get. Isn't the idea of the deal to motivate you to find someone to marry before you have to marry each other?" Lucy asks before popping a fry into her mouth.
"In theory, yes. But my dating life is a mess, and no way I'm letting Angela get married before me. Or God forbid, you two," Nyla says pointing between Lucy and Tim, who blush as if on cue.
Lucy clears her throat. "But what if Angela never finds someone? Do you not want her to be happy?" she asks.
Nyla frowns. "Of course I want her to be happy. I just–"
"You want to be the one to make her happy," Tim says, easily, giving Nyla a knowing look.
Shit. Was she that obvious?
She must be, for Bradford to notice right away. For him to recognize that she feels for Angela something similar to what he feels for Lucy.
Nyla realizes now just what she has done and feels the ugly monster of shame start to eat her up. She needs to get out of here, before Tim of all people can keep on reading her like an open book.
"Ok, I'm done here. Sorry for crashing your date. I was never here, and you're both dead if you say I was," Nyla says, getting up from her chair.
"Just for the record," Tim says, making her stop before leaving, his gaze kind. "I think Angela wants to be the one to make you happy too."
------------
Nyla has a problem. A very cute and annoying Angela Lopez shaped problem currently laying on top of her.
A problem, because after Bradford called her out on her feelings and then basically told her they might be reciprocated, Nyla has just been a confused mess around Angela. Casual touches at work stopped meaning just that, too long glances directed at her from Angela have started to make her heart race more than usual, and while before she thought of that ache in her chest whenever Angela went out on a date as longing for a relationship, Nyla recognizes it now as thin veiled jealousy because not only does she wants that, but she wants it with Angela.
So you see, she's basically fucked.
They're on one of their many movie nights, a tradition they started after closing a particularly gruesome case, then developed into something they did whenever they had a tough day. Just comfy clothes, good wine, carbs, a bad romcom movie and each other. Nothing else needed. They usually end up crashing on each other's sofas those nights, or– if they're too tired– sharing the same sofa.
Tonight though, Angela insisted Nyla could sleep with her on the bed after their movie marathon. And it's not the first time they've shared a bed after all (for sleeping or not sleeping), but Angela has had more than usual to drink, which makes her sappy and a little more handsy and cuddly than usual.
So Nyla has now Angela's limbs wrapped around her, feels the heat of half of her body on top of her own, and her face buried in Nyla's neck. Nyla has her own arms loosely wrapped around Angela, one of her hands lazily combing through Angela's soft and wavy hair.
"At this rate, I think I will have to take you up on that marriage promise we made. None of my dates have gone well in a long while," Nyla says without thinking.
She feels Angela tense for a second under her arms and then relax, which makes Nyla frown.
"You good?" Nyla asks.
Angela nods against her collarbone. "Yeah. I'm sorry your dates have sucked, though. I haven't got any luck either," Angela says with a sigh.
Nyla wraps her arms around Angela just a bit tighter. "On the bright side, if all fails for both, you'll be stuck with me forever."
Angela just laughs, tilting her head back a bit to look at Nyla. "That will happen either way, you're never getting rid of me."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Nyla says, the big smile on her lips genuine.
It's nice, knowing they will have each other no matter what, even if Nyla would rather do that while knowing what her feelings are, and Angela's.
I think Angela wants to be the one to make you happy too.
Tim's words start to dance around her mind again. Could she hope that they're true? Trying to figure if they are seems too risky, and Nyla's done with risky for a while, at least where her heart is concerned.
"I miss sex," Angela suddenly says, breaking the silence of the dimly lit room and startling Nyla. Her fingers toy with the hem of Nyla's oversized shirt, making Nyla's heart beat faster. "I mean, good sex. And cuddling afterwards, and waking up in the morning next to someone I would try to ditch work for just so I could stay in bed all day with them," she adds.
"Girl, you haven't slept with any of the people you've gone out with lately?" Nyla asks, pulling back a little to look at Angela's face as she frowns.
Angela rolls her eyes, smiling as she lifts and props her upper body on the bed with her arm folded. In this position their limbs are very much still entangled– one of Angela's legs between Nyla's thighs–, but Angela's face hovers above Nyla's, some strands of her hair falling around them and tickling Nyla's nose as the woman finds a comfortable position. "A few of them, yeah. None were bad but they weren't mind-blowing experiences either."
Nyla takes her time to watch Angela's features, tries to tell herself Angela isn't looking down at her lips every other second.
"That's a damn shame," Nyla says, her fingers tapping without a rhythm over the arm that Angela still has draped over her torso. "When was the last time you had mind-blowing sex?" Nyla asks, curiosity winning despite not wanting to know the answer at the same time.
Angela blushes then, a faint red coloring her cheeks as she bites her bottom lip to hide a smile. Still, her eyes are fixed on Nyla's, and this time she definitely catches the other woman looking at her mouth and then up again.
"It was with you," Angela says, her tone serious as her hand settles over Nyla's right hip. She shivers, feeling her body start to grow hot as she lets Angela's confession wash over her, as she remembers the ways Angela fell apart under her hands that night.
Nyla can't help the cocky grin that she directs at Angela, or the way her hand starts sneaking under Angela's shirt. "I was that good, huh?"
She can feel Angela pressing closer to her side the more Nyla moves her hand higher over the other woman's spine, and sees the fire on her eyes as Angela's face moves closer.
"What a huge ego," Angela says, her voice deep and sultry as she nudges Nyla's thigh with her knee. "You know you were." Nyla opens her legs wider as Angela moves on top of her, her hips slotting perfectly against Nyla's.
Nyla almost groans at the position they're in now. With Angela over her, there's almost no spot where their bodies aren't touching, and she feels Angela's hot breath on her face as their lips are only inches apart. The look in Angela's eyes as she moves to cup Nyla's jaw with one hand is one filled with desire, her hooded eyes almost black in color. Nyla knows this is a bad idea, but it's been a while for her and it feels too good to not savor the moment at least for a few minutes.
She's never wanted anyone as bad as she wants Angela, and knowing how she tastes, how compatible their bodies are, how good they can make each other feel, how they obviously still want each other after years have passed...it makes resisting the temptation to give in again that much harder.
"You were so good too, baby," Nyla says, slowly sliding her hand up and down Angela's back and over her ass before settling it on her waist, smirking as she feels Angela shiver under her hand. "So responsive."
Angela makes a small noise, an almost-moan that makes Nyla's whole body buzz in anticipation. Nyla's eyes flutters close as Angela dips her head down, her nose dragging slightly over Nyla's cheek before their lips are touching.
It's a soft kiss at first, a tentative thing that has no right setting up Nyla's body on fire like it does. One of Nyla's hands moves to hold onto the back of Angela's head, her fingers tangling in her hair as Angela opens her mouth. The kiss deepens then, hot tongues meeting as the dragging of their lips together goes from tentative to sure and familiar. She can feel Angela start to slowly grind against her hips, and the taste of strong wine on her tongue as Nyla moves a hand to grope Angela's ass.
The low moan Angela lets out against Nyla's lips makes her head spin and Nyla drags her lips lower, kissing slowly over the column of Angela's neck as she catches her breath.
"As good as this would be, we shouldn't do this tonight," Nyla hears herself say, as if she were outside her own body. "We've had a long day and–"
I want more than just one night like this with you.
Nyla bites her tongue. She knows any excuse she can give will be a lame one. Working together, them being friends, none of that stopped them from having sex before, so why should it now?
Angela shifts herself over Nyla, extending her arms on both side of Nyla's head so she's hovering above her. She thinks Angela will get mad at her for interrupting, but instead, her big doe eyes look intently down at her as her lips curve into a resigned, almost sad smile.
"No, I know. You're right," she says, her teeth catching onto her bottom lip. "I let myself get carried away."
"Hey," Nyla starts, caressing Angela's sides over her clothes in a reassuring manner. "You're hot, I'm hot. We're both hot, single and into each other. It happens," she adds with a shrug, attempting to make the situation lighter.
Angela giggles, nodding, the earlier sadness gone from her eyes and replaced with the usual mischief. "I know, we're super hot," she says, before bending down to give Nyla a soft kiss on her cheek and moving so she can plop beside her on the bed.
A minute passes before they both start to move to lay on their sides facing each other, soft, half-drunk smiles on their lips as they look at each other. Angela reaches forward for Nyla's hand, bringing it up to her lips to leave a kiss on the back of it before lowering their joined hands to rest on the space between them on the bed. Nyla knows what it means.
We're good. Always.
"Come here," Nyla says, opening her arms. Angela immediately moves to cuddle Nyla, her own limbs circling around the other woman. They stay like that, in silence, their deep breath syncing until they fall asleep and wake up the next morning wrapped in each other's arms.
Angela wishes she could rewind time to this morning, when she woke up next to Nyla's wam body wrapped around hers and when they made breakfast together before running to work. Or even rewind to four hours ago, when Nyla wasn't mad at her and ignoring her at the station.
It wasn't bad enough that Nyla had found out Angela had lied about a lead on a case just to keep tabs on Elijah Stone, a criminal that refuses to get caught and with whom Angela had history with after her Priest brother got attacked for helping a young man that was involved in a gang. Nyla had also found out that Angela had been responsible for her dates going horribly wrong, and in the most stupid way too. It's her own damn fault for asking Smitty help once, and for thinking he would be able to stand a chance against Nyla's questioning.
It doesn't matter how it happened anyway, only that it did, and Angela screwed up, and now Nyla is hurt and angry and won't talk to her. Angela knows she has to apologize, but she doesn't know where to even start.
You lied to me!
A lot of things keep dancing in circles around Angela's mind. The way Nyla yelled at her in a way she'd never had, her eyes blazing with hurt as she made Angela get out of their stakeout car in the middle of the road. Then the way Nyla barely glanced at her while Grey was reprimanding Angela, and then the image of her back as she turned around to leave Angela there alone without a word.
They work the rest of the day filling reports in silence across each other on their desks, with Nyla only looking at Angela over her computer screen to hand her a folder. When their shift ends and Nyla stands up from her chair in a hurry to go home, Angela opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes out, any words she wanted to say dying on her throat as she watches Nyla leave.
Angela feels miserable. They were all happy, touching and kissing each other yesterday after so long, and now Angela fears they might never go back to that. She lowers her head to her desk, hitting her forehead softly with the worn wood of it.
"Taking naps at work, detective?" A deep male voice over her asks after a few minutes, startling her.
It's a voice she knows too well.
Angela groans as she lifts her head from the desk to find narrowed dark blue eyes and a smug smile in a too familiar face. Tim.
"Leave me alone," Angela says, pouting. Tim walks closer, his smile dropping a little as he starts to look worried. He sits on the edge of Angela's desk while crossing his arms, his ass too close to her paperwork for comfort as he looks expectantly at her.
"What happened?" Tim asks. "You complain a lot but sulking is not like you."
Angela sighs. "I screwed things up with Nyla."
Tim winces. "How badly?"
"Really bad." Angela looks down at her hands resting on her lap. "I lied about a lead on a suspect so we could keep an eye on Elijah. I made Nyla sit with me in a car for hours, waiting for something that was never gonna happen, just because I'm paranoid."
She can hear Tim's sigh. "Angela…"
She lifts her head up again to find Tim looking at her like a parent gently scolding their child. "Don't give me that look. I know," Angela says. "She was so mad, Tim. I've seen her angry before but never like this, never at me."
"I would be pissed off at you too if I were in her place," Tim says, but there's no judgment in his tone.
Angela knows he's right, knows that she deserves Nyla's anger directed at her. She let her emotions guide her actions blindly and these are the consequences.
She's screwed up badly before, but it never hurt this much to hurt someone else.
Someone she loves.
"There's something else you're not telling me, right?" Tim asks, drawing Angela away from her musings.
"I…" She pauses, bracing herself for Tim's reaction. "Nyla found out I've been messing with her dates."
Tim's shoulders sag a little. "I knew this would come to bite you in the ass," he says.
"Yeah, you told me as much."
"Did you apologize to her?" Tim asks and Angela shakes her head.
"Not yet. She's been ignoring me all day and I don't even know where to start. How can I excuse the way I've been acting?" Angela starts fiddling with her hands, finally working up the courage to say out loud what's been bothering her the most about this situation. "And, even if I apologize, there's no guarantee she'd want to keep being friends with me, let alone work together."
Tim reaches forward to pat Angela gently over her shoulder. His hand stays there and Angela feels just a little better now she's talking to someone about all this. "Hey, we don't know that," Tim says, his tone sure. "Besides, you already know why you sabotaged Nyla's dating life, you're just scared to say it."
Angela smiles sadly at this.
"It's funny, isn't it? We do the job we do everyday, and here I am, more scared about facing my feelings than getting hit by a bullet," Angela says.
"I know," Tim says, smiling back at her. "Go talk to her, I'm confident things will work out. And if they don't, you know I got you," He adds, giving her shoulder a final pat before taking his hand away and standing up.
"Thanks Tim."
"Anytime."
-------------------
Angela has done a lot of dangerous and scary things in her life. Chasing criminals on the daily, running as bullets fly past her, going undercover, going toe to toe with cartel bosses, you name it. Her job can be a scary thing on the daily, but it's a fear Angela can work around and conquer.
Potentially losing her friendship with Nyla though, that's something truly terrifying.
She rings the doorbell on Nyla's door, taking deep breaths as she attempts to untie the knots that have formed in her stomach. Angela rehearsed at least ten times on the way here what she was going to say, but her mind goes blank at the sight of Nyla as she opens the door.
She's let her hair down from the tight updo she wears at work, the curly strands framing her bare face, and she's wearing a loose graphic t-shirt that Angela's pretty sure used to be hers. This is a look Angela loves on Nyla, relaxed and soft and naturally gorgeous. Except there's nothing soft or relaxed to Nyla's expression as she sees it's her at the door. She looks less angry than this morning, but angry all the same, with her pursed lips and her furrowed brows, the look in her eyes almost stabbing Angela in the heart.
"Well, look who it is," Nyla says, crossing her arms over her chest and yep, she's pissed.
"I owe you an apology," Angela rushes to say.
"Definitely."
Angela feels a tightness on her chest grow and she knows tears are already forming on the corner of her eyes. "I shouldn't have lied to you. I put you in danger and compromised the investigation."
Nyla's eyes soften just the slightest bit and all Angela wants is for Nyla to step closer and wrap her in those strong arms of hers, but she doesn't move.
"And?" Nyla asks.
"I'm sorry," Angela says, trying to convey just how sorry she is in just a couple of words.
It seems to work, if the way Nyla takes a small step closer to her is any indication.
"And?"
Angela shakes her head, looking down at her feet as a traitorous tear falls down her cheek. "I have no excuses for the way I behaved and I understand if you never want to see me again."
Angela hears more than sees Nyla sigh, and before she knows it she's being wrapped in strong and familiar arms, the warmth of Nyla's body against hers making it easier to breathe for the first time in the last twelve hours.
A couple more tears fall down her face as she lets herself be held by Nyla. Angela tentatively wraps her own arms around the other woman, feeling Nyla's cheek pressed to the side of her head. "As angry as I could be, I would never want you out of my life Angela," Nyla says, squeezing her just a tad tighter with her arms. "I just want to know why you did it."
"I'm scared," Angela finally admits. "Every time the phone rings, I worry it's a cop over Damian's body. Elijah can come for us any minute and my family is counting on me to protect them."
Angela feels Nyla pull back from their embrace, but she keeps her hands over Angela's arms. Through her blurry vision, Angela feels comfort in Nyla's warmth gaze directed at her, the earlier anger seemingly dissolved. Nyla guides Angela inside her house with an arm as she closes the door behind them. Nyla doesn't walk them any further inside, just steps in front of Angela at the foyer as she reaches with her hands to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks.
"Elijah's playing mind games with you," Nyla says, her features looking clearer now that Angela's stopped crying. "You need to stop playing his game and be smarter about this. And you have to know that I have got this."
She says it with such certainty that Angela believes her. How could she not, when time and time again Nyla has shown her how much she's got her back.
Angela nods. "I know you do."
"Okay," Nyla says, her lips curving into a warm smile. She rubs her hands up and down Angela's arms in a reassuring manner before she steps back, leaving some space between them. "Now, about messing with my love life…" Nyla starts, narrowing her eyes.
Angela should've known things wouldn't be so easy with Nyla. They never are, but it's so worth it anyway.
"I'm really sorry about that too," Angela starts. "We made that promise, and apparently, I took it more seriously than I should've. At first I didn't want to lose to you, but then I realized that I didn't want to lose you to someone else." Angela pauses, catching the look of surprise on Nyla's eyes and smiling as she steps closer. "I want to be the one you get married to some day, if that's what you want. I was scared to lose you because I love you, Nyla."
Angela's heart threatens to rip out of her chest with how fast it's beating as she waits for Nyla to say something, anything, but she just stares at her like she's about to cry, her eyes darting all over her face.
"You're so–" Nyla starts with a slow shake of her head, but stops herself and just launches herself towards Angela. Before she knows it, Nyla's hands are holding her face as their lips crash together.
It's something else, this kiss. While Nyla's hold on Angela's face is gentle, her kiss is fierce, a certainty and passion behind every drag of her lips against Angela's that knocks the wind out of her. There's something beyond that too, so much love and affection conveyed through their kissing that Angela feels it from the tip of her toes up to the last strand of hair on her head.
Angela gives back just as much when she reciprocates the kiss, can't help the moan she lets out as it deepens and their tongues meet, her fingers digging into the soft skin of Nyla's waist under her shirt as she pulls their bodies closer.
Angela doesn't know for how long they kiss, only that when Nyla pulls back to breathe she's chasing her lips blindly, desperate for more.
Nyla lets herself be kissed once more before she leans back, letting out a short laugh as she looks at Angela. She's beaming. "I have something I have to tell you," she starts, her thumbs tracing the edges of Angela's jaw. "You see, I realized I want you all to myself too, and before I knew it I was attempting to mess with your dates too. I only did it once but–"
Angela can't hold the snort she lets out at this, laughter following suit as all the pieces fall into place.
"Let me guess, the cockroaches was your doing?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
Nyla shrugs, looking to the side before her lips curve into a smirk.
"Oh my God," Angela exclaims. "We're both such idiots."
Nyla turns to look at her with a frown, looking faux offended. "Hey, speak for yourself," she says. "I didn't ask Smitty of all people for help."
Both giggle at this.
"Shut up," Angela says and she's happy to see that familiar sparkle of mischief come back to Nyla's eyes.
"Gladly," Nyla says, before capturing Angela's lips with her own in a slow and hot kiss.
"Hey, you have to know…" Nyla starts after breaking the kiss, looking at Angela with such adoration she fears she might melt on the spot. "I love you too, so much," Nyla says, beaming.
Angela is left speechless, surging forward to kiss Nyla all over her face before claiming her lips again. She feels Nyla's smile against her lips and her hands start to slide higher up under Nyla's shirt, desperate for more contact. She doesn't need to talk for Nyla to get her message as she starts to walk them both backwards against the hall, and then the bedroom, and then to forever together.