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“Hey.” Lucy catches up to Tim as he walks out of the locker room, he smiles when he sees her and she is immediately by his side as they walk to the exit. She loops her arm in his and he smiles down at her.
“How was your day?” He asks. Lucy let’s out a long breath. It was a long day and so many things could have gone wrong but the worst part of the day was she didn’t see Tim all day long. She was busy on her end and he was busy on his and quite frankly she didn’t like it.
“Long.” She answers. “I missed you.” Tim looks down at her, his blue eyes studying her intently.
“I missed you too.” He says back. She wants to reach up and kiss him but they are still in the station.
“Do you want to get something to eat?” Tim asks. She nods and her fingers dig into his arm, her stomach growling at that exact moment.
“Yes.” She all but moans. “I’m starved.” Tim let’s out a bark of a laugh.
“I have the perfect place then.” He says and he pulls her towards the door. She giggles as he does he can’t believe this is her life right now.
They get to Tim’s truck and he pushes her against it and she grins up at him as her fingers grip his shirt.
“I hate not seeing you during the day.” Tim mutters. “I can’t even imagine it if you were at another station.”
“It all worked out.” She says and it had even if he had no idea how it happened or that she was the driving force behind him getting into metro.
“It did.” He agrees and then he backs away from her and opens the passenger door. She slides in and he gives her another quick kiss. She swings her legs inside and he shuts the door. She watches as he gets in and immediately grabs onto her hand. He drives like that all the way to wherever they were going.
He pulls into a small parking lot where the street lamps flickered. He parks in a spot right in front of a small diner which had a flashing open 24 hours sign flashing in the window.
She turns to look at him and tilts her head at him curiously.
“What is this place?” She asks. He brings her hand up to his lips and then sets it down but doesn’t let go.
“I discovered this when I was just starting as a patrol officer.” He says. “The night shift was brutal and so I stopped here.” Lucy bites her lip and smiles at him.
“Why have you never taken me here before?” She asks him. He shrugs his shoulders before turning off his truck.
“I wanted it to be special.” He answers. He finally let’s go of her hand and she immediately misses him.
She gets out of his truck and he meets her on her side but instead of grabbing her hand, he tucks her into his side. Lucy sighs happily as they make their way to the door. Tim opens it for her and she steps inside immediately getting all the smells of a diner: bacon, eggs, BLT’s.
Tim pushes her along and they step up to the hostess stand. A young blonde girl with headphones is standing and looks up.
“Table for two?” She asks. Tim nods and she leads them over to a wrap around booth. Lucy slides in first and then Tim. The girl places the menus in front of them.
“Your waiter should be here soon.” She tells them. They thank her and she saunters off to the hostess stand.
Lucy looks around the restaurant, it’s pretty full for this time of night. There are families and couples gathered around the tables. She looks back to see Tim looking at her, his eyes lighting up when she looks at him.
“What?” She asks. He holds out his arms and motions her over.
“Come here.” He says and she’s by his side in an instant curling into his side. He kisses the top of her head and she looks down at the menu.
“What are you hungry for?” She asks him. There’s a mischievous glint in his eyes as he answers.
“You.” He mutters and she slaps his shoulder. “But that will have to wait. So I think maybe just a sandwich.”
“Mmm.” She mumbles as she continues to look at the menu. She decides on the veggie burger because that’s always her go to.
When they have ordered Lucy curls up more into his side and wraps her arms around him and lays her head on his shoulder.
“You must have really missed me.” He mutters. She nods against his shoulder, her eyes closing.
He kisses her gently and then takes a sip of his water.
“Hey.” She pulls him back to her and they are so engrossed in each other, Lucy almost doesn’t hear someone clearing their throat by their table.
They both look up and Lucy has to hide her gasp of surprise when she sees who it is. Emmett.
Tim tightens his grip on her as he glowers at the other man.
“Oh uh hi Emmett.” Lucy says nervously. She hasn’t seen him since he broke up with her over text message. He’s in his paramedic uniform, and he’s crossing his arms across his chest.
“Lucy.” He nods at her and then looks at Tim a frown on his face at how close they are. “Bradford.” Tim nods at the other man albeit a little stiffly.
“You got off work late.” Emmett says and it’s a statement not a question. Lucy bites the inside of her cheek and nods.
“Yeah we had a case that—” She stops herself. Tim is still glaring at Emmett. “I’m guessing you are on the night shift?”
Emmett nods. “Yeah sixth day straight.” He says and Lucy can’t help but hum sympathetically. She feels nothing for Emmett but she’s an empathetic person and she hates the night shift.
Tim kisses the side of her head. “I will be right back baby.” He says quietly shooting Emmett a look.
“Okay.” She says smiling at him. He scoots out and she watches him disappear. As soon as he’s out of site, Emmett turns to Lucy.
“You are dating Bradford?” He asks a little bitterly. “Why?”
Lucy sits up straight and she knows why Emmett waited until Tim left to ask her this. “I am dating him.” She says. “And it’s because he’s amazing. And sweet and he truly cares about me.”
Emmett opens his mouth to speak but Tim comes walking back and slides in the booth next to Lucy. She curls up into him again, and looks at Emmett daring him to say anything insulting in front of Tim.
There’s a long silence before the waitress is coming up with their food. Emmett moves out of the way, his eyes still on Lucy as he does.
“Well uh it was nice seeing you Emmett.” She says and turns away from him and back to her boyfriend who is eating one of her fries. She smacks his hand and he pouts at her.
“That’s not going to work Tim.” She says. “These are my fries.” He rolls his eyes at her and takes a bite of his sandwich. When Lucy looks up again, Emmett is gone.
***
Lucy stays tucked into Tim’s side all throughout their dinner and then when Tim goes up to pay. She really likes seeing him during the day even if it’s just for a moment. So not seeing him makes her stressed like something is missing.
Just as they are leaving the diner with Tim’s arm wrapped around her waist and their fingers laced together someone walks in the door causing Tim to skid to a stop.
“Tim?” Says a familiar female voice. Lucy looks up and sees Ashley standing by the door in her usual lifeguard get up. Her curly blonde hair is cascading down her shoulders and she’s looking between them with her eyebrows furrowed.
“Hi Ashley.” Tim says tugging Lucy closer and squeezing her hand once. Ashley smiles tightly at him and then at Lucy.
“What are you doing here?” Ashley asks her eyes on Lucy but her question directed to Tim.
“Late case.” He answers. “We were hungry and I know this place is always open.”
Ashley nods as if she understands and maybe she does. “That’s nice.” She rocks back on her heels.
“So you two are together now?” She asks. Lucy looks up at Tim who shrugs at her before turning to Ashley.
“Yeah we are.” Says Tim and just like Lucy did with Emmett he gives her a look as if challenging her.
“That’s great.” Says Ashley and Lucy sees Tim’s shoulders relax. “I always had a feeling that you liked Lucy. You never looked at me like you look at her.”
Lucy looks up at Tim who looks down at her, a sparkle in his eyes and she knows Ashley is right. Tim has always looked at her differently.
“Yeah. It’s pretty great.” Says Tim. Ashley nods at them and her smile is genuine.
“Have a great night.” She says and then she pushes into the restaurant without another word. Tim kisses her on top of the head.
“Let’s go home.” He mutters. Lucy nods as he leads her out, feeling lighter than she had all day. She knows it won’t always be this easy and there will be days where she probably won’t see Tim but that’s okay because she knows he will somehow always be there for her.
Tim nudges her effectively getting her out of her thoughts. “What are you thinking about?” He asks. She looks up at him and then pulls him to a stop.
“This was nice. Thank you.” She says. He kisses her hard and then pulls back.
“You are worth it.” He mutters. “Even if it means not seeing you. You will always be worth it.”
Lucy kisses him again and mutters how he is worth it too. Because he is. They are worth it.