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“Ashley can’t possibly think I’m proposing,” Tims’s brow is furrowed and his mouth is set in his usual frown. Lucy stares at the way his knuckles tighten on the steering wheel and she feels a slight amount of relief that she immediately feels guilty for. However, she can not control the thrum of excitement at the thought that Tim may not want to marry Ashley.
“ Why not?” She asks testing the waters, trying to discover his level of attachment to the lifeguard, “I mean, you're of a... certain age. She's in her prime. I mean, on paper, it's... it's like a no-brainer. Okay, be honest. Can you see yourself married to her?” The silence hangs thick in the air as Tim shifts uncomfortably still white-knuckling the steering wheel. Finally, he looks at Lucy and she hopes he can’t discern the hopeful expression on her face.
“Yeah, I can,” He says while looking her in the eye. Oh. That was not at all the answer Lucy was expecting and not the turn she had meant for this conversation to take. She makes a wounded sound and looks down at her lap but before Tim can say anything the radio crackles to life.
“7-Adam-100. I have a 415 unknown in progress at Church of the Chimes.” Tim picks up the radio so quickly that if Lucy didn’t know better she would think he was looking for a way out of this conversation. But she does know better so she doesn’t think that. She knows it.
“7-Adam-100 show us responding, en-route 3 minutes out.” and just like that their little bubble is broken and it’s back to work. Lucy continues to think about that conversation for the rest of the shift. Of course, he could see himself married to Ashley. It’s his second chance at Isabel. Yeah, Ashley is not a cop but she grew up around cops and knows all the lingo and traditions. She looks similar to Isabel as well. Tall, blonde, slender. Her eyes the same shade of blue and her hair the exact same length, color, and cut. It all hits her at once, Tim is with a clone of Isabel. He may not even notice, or he may have a type but even so, she is the exact same. Yet better.
Ashley is boring, bland. With boring tastes, a boring job, and boring hobbies. Like if Isabel never became a cop, or never became an addict. This causes Lucy’s brain to run around in circles. She can’t let Tim marry her. Would he be happy? Maybe, but he would just be relieving a decade past. This paired with the fact that she knows Tim has feelings for her. Anyone with two working eyes could see that they are completely enamored with each other. Yet he is going for the safe bet. The woman who will never go undercover has never even seen drugs and is outside of the police force altogether. Lucy lets out a little sigh as she is sitting in the locker room changing, and putting all the pieces together. She can’t blame him.
‘Isn’t that what I’m doing with Chris?’ She wonders to herself. He is the same as Ashley. Bland, boring, and safe. As she exits the locker room she spots Chris waiting for her a little down the hall, on his phone messaging someone. ‘Most likely the DA’ She thinks to herself as she approaches him. He lifts his eyes at her approach and gives her a bright smile. That causes something to shift in her stomach making her a little queasy. She tries to give him her best smile back but she knows it doesn’t reach her eyes. Chris leans into her giving her a small peck on the lips.
“Ready to go, babe?” He asks her angling his body to her and looking in her eyes. She quickly breaks the eye contact and takes a step back.
“Yeah I’m ready,” She mumbles walking slightly in front of him, they make it to the front of the station and Lucy’s eyes catch Tim and Ashley having a conversation outside of his truck. She watches them for a brief beat, seeing the way Ashley is laughing at something Tim must have said. The feels a lights tug on her arm and turns to look at Chris.
“I need to go grab a statement from a suspect real quick,” He says still typing on his phone, “It will be real quick okay?” Lucy doesn’t respond, just nods. She watches Chris take a few steps away and then turns back around to continue watching Tim and Ashley. Her heart drops at what she sees, Tim on one knee holding out his hands to Ashley. A pit forms in her stomach as Ashley jumps excitedly pulling Tim from the ground and into a kiss. Her ears ring as she watches them get in the car and drive away happily. The pain in her chest spurs her into action. She rushes through the station to find Chris, when she finds him she grabs his arm and turns him around from the file he is compiling.
“Is everything okay Lucy? I’ll be done in a few minutes-”
“We need to break up,” She blurts out. Chris’ mouth hangs open for a moment before closing and opening again. She has no time to wait for him to figure out what he is going to say. “I’m sorry but today made me realize this is not working for me. You can meet me back at the station tomorrow for your things.” It is harsh, and completely not like he, and she should feel bad. Yet the only thing she can think about the whole ride over to Tim’s home is how she needs to stop him. Convince him not to go on the trip with Ashley and not to marry her. She whips down the street in her orange Datsun not caring about things as trivial as the speed limit or the law. So when she raises her hand to knock on the front door she is not nervous but determined.
“Lucy wha-” Tim says his eyebrows knitting together in their signature furrow and his lips pressed in a thin line.
“Tim, please,” She says sounding desperate and suddenly out of breath, “Please just listen to me okay?” Tim raises a brow in question but still opens the door to let her in, and as he closes it and turns around she is right in front of him, standing only six inches apart.
“Tim, you can’t marry Ashley,” Lucy says looking him in the eyes, hers wide and pleading.
“Luce-” Tim starts stepping one inch closer to her, but she takes a step back and continues,
“Let me finish,” She says effectively shushing him, “Ashley is nice, and she has a good job, but she’s boring Tim. I know that you have feelings for her but she is not right for you. She is everything you and Isabel could have been, and she might make you comfortable but she won’t make you happy,” She has started gesturing with her hands and getting louder throughout her ramblings.
“Lucy-” Tim tires again but she does not stop, she continues to rant and pace as she tells him all the reasons to not marry Ashley ranging from ‘I mean she’s a lifeguard’ to ‘You really don’t have anything in common. Tim lets this continue for around three more minutes before he reaches out, grabbing Lucy’s shoulders and stilling her.
“Chen.” He says in his T.O. voice, breaking through Lucy’s ramblings and causing her mouth to snap shut with an audible click. “Me and Ashley aren’t getting married.” Lucy’s eyes go wide, searching his face for any sign of lies and finding none.
“But I saw,” She says before Tim cuts her off again,
“What you saw was a prank.” he says still holding her shoulders still, “Ashley and I aren’t engaged.” Lucy’s eyes light up at this confirmation though she tries to look upset for Tim. Tim lets out a sigh and lets go of her shoulders.
“Sit down Lucy,” he says eyes moving away from hers as he moves toward the couch. She follows suit sitting at the very end of the couch, turning and angling her body toward the older officer. They sit in silence for a moment before Tim starts to speak again, “Ashley and I broke up tonight.”
Lucy’s eyes widen and as he raises her eyebrows, she begins to start to speak again but a look from Tim silences her again.
“After the prank, Ashley broke up with me.” Lucy leans forward placing her hand on Tims, ignoring the heat she feels at the contacts.
“Oh, Tim why?” Her concern leaks through her words as she looks at him. Then he looks at her with something in his eyes that she can’t quite place, but has seen many times before. Tim scoots toward Lucy, intertwining their fingers as he looks her in the eye. The air is thick with unspoken words as the two look at each other. A pregnant pause as Tim pieces together the words he wants to say.
“Because she saw the way I look at you.”
Oh.
Oh.