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Tim had never been a romantic guy. Not on purpose anyway. With Isabel being so much like himself, he never really had to put much effort into it. She liked the same things he did and it was perfectly easy. Football on Sundays, policing the rest of the week. They had sex 2.5 times a week and fell asleep afterwards on their respective sides of the bed. And when she started doing undercover work, he got used to not missing her presence in bed. It was easy. Until it wasn’t.
And then Lucy Chen walked into his life. With her utopian ideas about romance and love regardless of the fact that she felt extremely unlucky in that department. Maybe it was the way she never saw much love growing up that made her crave it. In other words, Lucy Chen was a hopeless romantic. And being with her was easy in a completely different way.
It was easy the way they could communicate through their eyes. The way a simple touch could light up his whole nervous system like a Christmas tree. It was effortless to want to be in her same space. To breathe her same air. To try and see the world through her perfect brown eyes. It was easy because they made the effort to be in a relationship every day. Challenging each other every chance they got. That hadn’t changed even after their relationship did. And he loved it. In a way he had never loved anything before.
It was also so so so so easy to want to be touching her all the time. But it was hard because they did work 12- hour shifts, in two completely different departments. And they were professionals which meant absolutely no PDA. Except maybe that time in that supply closet. It was hard because for the most part they couldn’t be any more different. Where Tim Bradford was analytical and cold, Lucy Chen was chaotic and warm. And it worked. It worked perfectly.
He wanted to kick himself when he thought of all those months he had her in a shop next to him and they could have been touching all that time but weren’t. His hands would itch sometimes at how much he missed the feel of her skin against his, how she felt, how soft she was, how perfect they fit together.
Which is why he was currently counting down the seconds until today’s shift was over so he could go home and touch her as much as he wanted. Everywhere. Her face, her hair, her neck, her perfect perky beautiful boobs, the curve of her waist, the summit of her thighs ( God her thighs, he could write a book about her thighs) , and anywhere he could get his hands on.
Of course the universe had other plans. This was the fourth time he had looked at his watch in the past hour. It was nearing midnight and he was past the point of being tired. Now he just wanted to go home and curl up next to his girl. Fall asleep glued to her. Feel her breathing evenly as she was safe in his arms. Bask in that sweet smell that was so uniquely Lucy. On the warmth of her sleepy form. On the way she seemed to relax when he was holding her. Nothing mattered more.
He can’t pinpoint why he’s so needy today. He didn’t have a problem before when he had to work overtime. He actually craved it. Needed it. Or when Isabel was gone for months and he stopped missing her touch. He had never wanted to touch someone as much as he wanted to touch Lucy. It was infuriating, borderline torture. But now that he had her, his lovely Lucy, waiting for him at home, God he needed to get the fuck out of here.
He knew it was going to be hard with Metro hours and once she became a detective it was going to be even harder. But thats what made it worth it. The moments in between. Where they could be the most authentic version of themselves. With each other. And maybe it was the toll the week had taken on him. Or the way she was looking that morning. Every morning. Her body putty beneath him. When she let him take charge, be at his mercy, let him worship her body in any way he wanted.
Finally, finally the guy showed up. He could’ve jumped with joy, yell that he got to go home at the top of his lungs. They started moving towards the guy who apparently was brave enough to take on five metro officers. And even when he grazed his shoulder, even when it took him an extra hour to finish the damn paperwork, he had a dopey smile on his face. Not caring that Lucy was going to be asleep when he crawled next to her in bed. Just being in the same space as her was enough. It was always enough.
“Excited to go home Sarge?” - Mad Dog patted him on the back. He could’ve dropped the smile and in old Tim Bradford fashion tell him it was none of his business. But he couldn’t have cared less. So he smiled wider.
“Hell yes” - Mad Dog chuckled and walked away. Muttering something about saps.
Tim raced home. It helped there was no traffic at 2 in the morning. It also helped he wasn’t too sure what day it was. All he cared about was making it home. He found a parking spot next to Lucy’s car and smiled at the giddiness he felt at seeing their cars next to each other in another place that wasn’t the station. He really couldn’t wait for the rest of his life with her.
He made it to her apartment in record time. Opening the door slowly to avoid waking her up. He slowly took his shoes off and made his way to her bedroom. He wanted to moan at the sight in front of him. Lucy was wearing one of his shirts but it had ridden up her stomach. Her panties on full display, her thighs tantalizing him. But then he saw her face and he almost giggled. Her lips were parted, a small line of dried drool on her cheek. Her hair looked ruffled and pointed in different directions, an indication that she had been moving all night. She told him once it was really weird falling asleep without him anymore. That she dreamt a lot and it was never a deep sleep.
He took all of his clothes off except his boxers. He winced at the movement his injured shoulder made when he removed his shirt. But he didn’t care. He needed to be pressed against her. Let her skin soothe the aches of the day, the aches of the years.
He was careful in getting into the bed not to wake her up but once he slithered an arm around her waist and tried to pull her flush to him, she stirred. Her wide amber eyes fluttering open registering the sight before her. A wide sleepy smile adorned her face.
“Hi sweet” - she scooted forward and threw a leg around his waist. Pulling him impossibly close. She burrowed her face against his chest and he reveled in the feeling of her little breaths warming his skin. He moaned at the way her skin felt. At finally making it home to her. He kissed her cheek and smelt her hair. Pulled her by the waist and squeezed her tight. It felt like what he thought doing drugs must be like. He would ask a criminal one of these days. Have you had a Lucy? Because that is way more addicting.
“God you smell so fucking good, you feel so fucking good. I missed you like a lot. I’ve been waiting to touch you the whole day” - he wasn’t even trying to make it sound sexual. Lucy still smirked at him, laughing against his chest and kissing his sternum.
“Not like that goof. I just want to be close to you. Feel your skin. Its been driving me crazy” - he slithered a hand between her messy strands of hair. Holding her there and kissing her temple.
“I think I figured out your love language” - she said sleepily.
“My what now?” - he pulled away to look at her face. Was she dreaming?
“Your love language. The way you show love” - she sighed and closed her eyes.
“Oh-kay? What is it?” - he asked.
“Physical touch” - she said and he snorted.
“I don’t think so baby. I think I just like to touch you” - he said. Her eyes opened.
“Think about it. First time you hugged me, first time we kissed, second time we kissed. Your hands were everywhere. And now that we’re dating every little chance you get you’re on me”- she explained.
“You’re making me sound like a creep” - he pouted.
“No babe. I love it so much. Although now that I think about it you’re probably a little bit of all of them” - she pondered.
“What do you mean?” - he asked.
“Well you’re always telling me how beautiful I am, how strong. And you also gave me the prettiest necklace ever although I don’t think you’ve ever done that for anybody else. You literally took a desk job to be able to be with me and let me be primary officer when I was just your aide. And lastly, you watch Top Chef with me even though I know you didn’t like it much at first” - she was looking at him like nobody had ever looked at him before. He got a little bit emotional.
She spoke again. Trying to lighten the mood.
“Nobody would ever believe me if I told them though” - she giggled at the way the corner of his lip lifted.
“Thats damn right. To the world I’m Sergeant Bradford. To you I’m just Tim. And I hadn’t been able to be just Tim in a while. So thank you” - he gave her a chaste kiss.
“Just Tim is perfect” - she said returning the kiss.
“Wait whats yours?” - he asked curiously before they could both fall asleep.
“My love language? I don’t know. I think I’m a good gift-giver” - she shrugged.
“What are they again? I’ll decide” - it was too late to be having this conversation. But any chance he got to talk to her, pick her brain, see her face light up, he would take it.
“Umh physical touch, words of affirmation, giving gifts, acts of service and quality time” - she said ticking them off one by one with her fingers.
Tim thought about it for a little bit. He couldn’t choose just one. She also liked touching him. She always reminded him how proud she was of him. How amazing he was. She was probably the best gift giver on the planet, he had multiple references including himself. Did the pranks count as acts of service? Probably not, but the way she risked her career to get the spot in Metro to open up was more than anybody had ever done for him. And she loved making new recipes together, going on silly dates and watching movies together.
He realized he loved her. And although he would hoard the words to himself for a little bit longer, he probably had never been this himself with anybody else. And that should scare him. But it didn’t. It didn’t at all.
He felt her yawn against him. Her eyes fluttered shut. She scooted impossibly closer to him. If he could fuse their skin together he would.
“I also think you’re a little bit of all of them. I could make a list but it would take us all night. It would probably take me forever” - he stroked her cheek. She smiled.
“Well its a good thing we do have forever” - she said.
He felt his heart stop for a second. But then he relaxed because forever with her sounded perfect. It sounded like a dream come true. And they fell asleep just like that. With the promise of the future lingering between them.