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Lucy goes through her drawers frantically tossing everything out onto the floors. She brushes everything off her dresser just hoping to see the necklace. But it wasn’t there. She went through her jewelry box hoping that she had just tossed it in but it wasn’t in there either.
She always put the necklace on her dresser, and always put it back on when she got back from work. She never wanted to take it off in the first place, she would prefer to always have it on. It was the necklace that Tim had given her for Valentine’s Day, and she loved it and wore it all the time.
But now it was gone and she felt like the ground was going to swallow her up. She sighs and flops down on her bed and closes her eyes. It had to be somewhere in here. It didn’t just get up and run away. She always left it on her dresser…
“Hey Lucy?” Tamara calls from the living room. Lucy gets up and peeks her head out of her room to see her roommate on the couch. “Is Tim coming over tonight?”
Lucy lets out a breath. Tim’s metro hours had been keeping them apart lately and they hadn’t see each other much. He always tries to come over but sometimes it’s late and she knows he’s tired. And when he does slip into her bed, and pulls her tight against him it seems like he just has to get up again.
It stinks because she misses him.
“I don’t know.” She replies feeling wary. “He’s working so it just depends on how he feels.” Tamara gets up and walks over peering into her room. Her eyes widen when she sees the mess Lucy had made.
“What happened did a tornado go through here?” She asks. Lucy rolls her eyes and flops down on the bed again.
“I can’t find the necklace Tim gave me for Valentine’s Day.” She says. “I always leave it on my dresser and it’s just not there. ” Tamara looks over at her with a sympathetic expression and then steps into her room more, she digs around her dresser dumping things out and carefully going through everything.
Lucy isn’t even paying attention to what she is doing until Tamara speaks. “Did you leave it at work?”
Lucy sits up and shakes her head. “No.” She says and flops back onto the bed bouncing a little as she does.
Tamara sighs. “I’m sure it will turn up somewhere Lucy. Don’t give up yet.”
Lucy runs her hands down her face and sighs and hopes that she is right.
***
Tim sighs as he unlocks his door and throws his keys down. It’s past midnight and he didn’t go to Lucy’s because he had to be back in 4 hours. He wanted nothing more than to curl up with her in bed but he knew when he came in that late he woke her up. And most nights he would go to her apartment but there were nights like tonight where he just knew he needed to go to his house.
He makes his way to his bedroom, and stripes down before falling into bed.
He sets his alarm and closes his eyes before his phone is buzzing. He groans but reaches over to pick it up.
“Hello?” He answers. There’s silence on the line before the person speaks and he can’t help the smile that spreads across his face when she does.
“Hey.” Lucy says. “Are you at your house?”
“Yeah I have to go back and I didn’t want to wake you up twice.” He says.
Lucy scoffs over the phone. “You know I don’t mind that Tim. I would rather wake up and you be there than wake up and you are not there.”
“I know Luce. It was just a long day.” He says and he feels the guilt washing over him. He had barely seen Lucy the last few days and it sucked.
He wishes she could be here all the time. He wishes he could come home to her and leave his house knowing he would come home to her. And they were at a place in their relationship where they could talk about moving in together but he thinks about how anxious she was when Chris was pressuring her. He doesn’t want to do it unless the time is right. And she’s okay with it.
“I know.” She says and her voice sounds sad. He’s not sure if it’s from them not seeing each other or something else.
“What’s wrong?” He asks. Lucy doesn’t answer right away, he can hear her soft breathing over the phone.
“Luce?” He probes her gently. “Are you okay?”
“Yes-no..I-I can’t find the necklace you gave me and I always put it in one spot but it’s not there and maybe it fell off and got swept up.” She says and he can tell she’s trying not to cry. “And I miss you.”
Tim blows out a breath and he regrets not going to Lucy’s apartment tonight. He can’t fix that right now but he can fix something else. He knows exactly where he necklace is. He slides out of bed and goes to his dresser. He turns on his light, and smiles when he sees Lucy’s necklace sitting exactly where she left it.
She had come over a few nights ago and taken it off in the morning when she had to leave in a hurry. He had just noticed it the day before and meant to bring it to her but he had gotten caught up in work.
“Well good thing I know exactly where your necklace is.” He says. She makes a soft sound over the phone.
“I have it Luce.” He continues and she lets out a sigh of relief.
“I hate this.” Lucy says after a few moments of silence. “I hate not seeing each other everyday, you have stuff at my place. I have stuff at yours. There has to be an easier way to do this. I just want to come home to you everyday, I don’t even care what time of the day it is. I just want—”
“Move in with me.” Says Tim cutting her off. “Move in with me and then you can have all that Luce because I want it too.”
“Tim are you sure—” Lucy starts.
“Yes.” He says fiercely. “I want to come home to you all the time Luce and curl up in bed with you every night and not have to feel guilty about not going to your place.”
There’s silence over the phone for a few minutes before Lucy speaks again, her voice sounding lighter than before. “Okay.” She says. “I will move in with you.”
Tim smiles and he wishes he could pull her into a hug. “Good.” He says. He moves away from his dresser and climbs back into bed.
“What about Tamara?” Lucy asks. “I don’t want to just—”
“We will talk to her Luce. You know she will understand.” Tim says reassuringly. “We don’t have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I know how much Tamara means to you.”
Lucy sighs a little. “I know Tim.” She says. “I know she will understand. She will probably be relieved because she won’t have to put noise cancelling headphones on all the time.” Tim snorts and lays down on his pillow. He’s ready to have Lucy next to him every single night.
“This will be good.” Tim says. “We can make our own little home.”
“Yeah.” Lucy agrees. “But Tim. My home isn’t a place anymore.” She pauses and Tim furrows his brows wondering where she is going with this.
“No?” He asks. “Then what is it?”
“Home is where ever you are.” She replies and he smiles. He really couldn’t wait to get this next chapter of his life started.
***
Lucy moves in with Tim a week later and as Tim predicted Tamara was fine with it. She was happy that Lucy was taking a step in her relationship with Tim. And she told her it’s not like they wouldn’t see each other. They were like sisters.
Lucy was so grateful to have someone like Tamara in her life because it’s true what they say blood doesn’t always make a family.
She smiles as she watches Tim put her pillows on his sofa. “Why do you have so many pillows?” He grumbles. “It’s not like we can sleep on these.”
Lucy laughs and makes her way over to him and wraps herself around him. “They are just decorative pillows babe.” She says. “To make it seem more homey.”
It’s weird how at peace, at home she feels with Tim. She thinks back to when Chris was pressuring her to move in with him and how uneasy she felt and panicked. She realized long ago Chris wasn’t the right guy for her and that’s probably why all those feelings came rushing up. But with Tim it’s different. She wants this, and she can’t wait for this chapter to begin with him.
“What my house isn’t homey enough?” He grumbles. Lucy laughs again and raises herself up to kiss him.
“It’s plenty homey.” She says and then she thinks about what she told him when he had asked her to move in.
Home wasn’t a place anymore. It was where ever he was. And it was true, she thinks that’s why she missed him so much when he didn’t come over. It’s because he was her home, her safe place.
“Hey.” He taps her on the shoulder pulling her out of her thoughts. She looks up at with curious eyes. “Welcome home.”
“No place I’d rather be.” She replies. A smile lights up his face and he pulls her closer.
And she was finally home. Exactly where she was suppose to be.