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Lucy rests her head against the passenger window of Tim’s truck as they drive home from a very long 14-hour shift. The sounds of rain hitting the glass amplify as she presses her ear up against the cold material, but it’s comforting in an odd way that soothes her pent up adrenaline.
Tim is silent as his eyes remain on the road, squinting slightly as he carefully drives through the rainfall. They don’t mind the quiet, they’ve grown to be comfortable with just each other's presence. Lucy being in the passenger seat is all the company Tim needs, and she wouldn’t feel safer with anyone behind the wheel besides him.
Lucy closes her eyes as Tim remains steady, and she’s about to drift off into sleep until she feels the tire under her drive over a small bulge followed by an unfortunate-sounding pop. The truck starts to rock, and Tim quickly pulls into the shoulder of the road.
“What happened?” Lucy asks sleepily as Tim switches his display to check the vitals of his car.
“The tire pressure on your side just deflated. I think we ran over something,” he sighs, rubbing his hands against the steering wheel as he searches his brain for the next step. Being police officers, they’d both depleted quite a few shop tires, but it was nearing midnight and the rain was getting more heavy by the minute; none of them had the desire to get up from their seats.
“I guess we just wait it out?” Lucy suggests, and Tim hums in agreement. Simultaneously, they both reach to the side and pull the levers under their seats, reclining them backwards so that they could relax through the unrelenting weather.
“I’m really sorry, I know you’re tired. You can sleep here if you want, I’ll wake you up once the rain slows,” Tim says softly , but his girlfriend shakes her head.
“Hey, it’s not your fault. And I’m more than happy to keep you company.” She props her elbow up against the headrest and flashes him a tired, but genuine smile.
“Let’s get some music going,” Tim announces, picking up his phone. Lucy giggles as he scrolls through their shared Spotify account; their music tastes are practically from different worlds. Lucy is into typical trendy, girly music; Tim barely listens to anything, and when he does, it’s 70’s music that he grew up on. As a compromise, he decides on the only commonality between them: 2000’s hit pop music. He turns down the Katy Perry blaring from the speakers, leaving it as background as they fall into an easy conversation.
“I should have expected this to happen, especially after how my shift went,” Lucy sighs as she grabs the ends of her hair, twirling it around in her nervous fingers. Her and Tim had been together for a long time, but his beaming eyes still managed to suck the air out of her stomach. She didn’t mind the lack of air or constant butterflies, though. She always felt excited to be around her boyfriend, the desire burned deeper than she ever knew it could.
“Oh yeah? Rough day?” And she knows it’s not intentional on his part, but his gaze has finally landed on her, and his watercolor eyes cause a wave of heat to flash over her body.
“Yeah, I responded to a pretty harsh domestic. The first time someone called, they both denied everything. But a couple hours later, I responded to a gunshot call. The wife pulled through, but it was scary how this wasn’t the first time I’ve seen a situation like that,” she explains, Tim nodding to show his interest.
“Oh wow, I- I’m so sorry that you had to see that.”
“You know, I get that stuff like this is inevitable. Society has made it difficult to want to accept help, and it’s going to keep happening. What freaks me out is the fact that there were pictures from their wedding, anniversaries, and college all around their house. They looked so happy and in love. It’s unsettling how quickly things can change.” Lucy turns to lay flat on back, hiding her eyes as the memories of today turn them glassy. She reaches her hand up to the roof and traces the speckles of dirt with her fingernails as a method of distraction.
Tim doesn’t know what to say, because he’d seen this exact situation - if not worse - and nothing in the English dictionary could make it better. And judging by her sudden shift in attention, he assumes that she’s finished talking about it and changes the subject.
“If we ever make it home before daybreak,” he rolls his eyes and motions to the unrelenting rain slamming across the windshield, “what do you want for dinner?”
Lucy’s finger flies down and taps against her chin as she thinks for a moment. “Hm, I’ve been feeling like a veggie burger. Think we can just grill it on a stove?”
“Of course, anything for you,” he smiles and reaches his hand across the car, holding her face as he rubs his thumb across her cheek. He notices the pink hue appearing with his touch, so he leaned over and gently kissed her. It’s brief, but even the slightest scent of her perfume makes him feel intoxicated.
Lucy runs her gentle fingers through her hair, something she does quite often, as she stares at him with wonder. Sometimes, it was hard for her to believe that Tim was actually hers, and not just a far off dream.
“Do you think that we’re in love in every universe?” she blurts out, filling the silence. Tim raises his eyebrows, slightly taken aback as his mind returns back from the intimacy.
“What do you mean?” he asks as he backs into his seat.
“Well, you know… it’s the multiverse theory! The idea that there are multiple universes, and we have different experiences in each one of them. It’s just a silly question people have been asking, whether they love someone in every universe,” she explains, and Tim nods his head in understanding. Tim usually had to tread very carefully with his answer to Lucy’s questions she’d found off of ClipTalk, so he was surprised at the fact this answer came to him with ease.
“I don’t think so,” he pauses, and Lucy’s jaw falls to the floor.
“What?”
“I think that our love is… once in a lifetime. I’d like to think that we are the only people who get to experience something like this, no matter the universe. It’s what makes us special.”
And Lucy can practically feel all of her organs happily rearrange themselves in her body, her heart just melting. She herself couldn’t think of a better answer.
“I hope that multiverse Tim Bradford is lucky enough to love someone half as amazing as you,” he adds on confidently, as if he’d never believed in anything more.
“You’re perfect, you know that?” she whispers, the moonlight sky illuminating the sparkle in her eye.
“I mean, I’ve been told, one… maybe two times,” her boyfriend scoffs, and she doesn’t hesitate to swat at him through her giggle.
“Did I say perfect, I meant pretentious.”
“Mhm, sure.” Tim guides his hand through the car until he finds Lucy’s hand, and interlaces his fingers with hers, binding them once again. “What about you, do you think that we’re in love in every universe?”
“I know that I love you in every universe, but I think that each one is different.” She looks around through the windshield and side windows until she spots and motions towards trees to her right, ones with crisp, brown leaves falling off of its thin branches. “It’s sort of like those trees. They lose their leaves every fall, but they stay right where they are, next to each other. Their flowers will bloom again with each cycle, and it’ll go on for longer than we are alive. I’m not exactly sure how it happens, but I know that we find each other in every universe and grow old together, until it’s time to do it again. I can’t imagine a world where Lucy Chen doesn’t have Tim Bradford.”
Tim feels out of breath by just listening to her. “Well, that would just be a terrible world,” he huffs, shaking his head.
“Oh, tell me about it,” she scoffs, hinting at the early years of their lives they’ve spent apart.
“Well, Lucy Chen, it’s a good thing that you’re stuck with me. At least in this universe,” he says, running his fingers through the first pieces of her hair. She’s about to respond, but her stomach rumbles louder than the sound of water thrashing against the glass.
“Oh, it’s getting late,” Tim realizes, looking at the 12:48 a.m. flashing on the display. “The rain isn’t letting up, let me just change the tire.”
He lets go of Lucy’s hand and attempts to unlock his door, but Lucy gently tugs at his arm.
“I’m fine! You’re going to get sick,” she argues, but Tim’s mind is unchanged.
“I don’t care, we can’t stay here all night.”
“Alright, then I guess we’re getting sick together.” And before her boyfriend can even try to persuade her otherwise, she’s jumped out of the car. By the time they meet by his trunk, their clothes are drenched and they can barely hear anything over the rain.
Tim presses the button under the trunk and lifts it up, Lucy grabs the spare tire under the carpet and heaves it out. She brings it near the door while Tim grabs the tool. They regret their decisions almost immediately, because the cold practically seeps through their skin and into their bones. They feel all kinds of disgusting as they work together to twist off the nuggets and nails, removing the popped tire.
But their hands brush while lifting it off, and everything feels okay. A one person job suddenly becomes a two-person job, and even though it takes them double the amount of time to simply change the tire, they’d rather spend every minute of their lives together in the rain than alone in the sun. Because life is meaningless if it isn't with each other.
“Finally,” Lucy says as they twist the final notch in place, but Tim can’t hear her over the water hitting the impermeable pavement.
“What?” Tim yells.
“Finally!” she says a little louder, directly in his ear this time. He laughs as helps her up off of the ground, and he’s about to set her back in the car, but something about her all drenched in the rain, her mascara running and hair dripping, makes him ravenous. If this feeling could make his stomach rumble, it would overpower the rain.
He pushes her up against his truck, and even though she can feel the water seeping further into her clothing, she doesn’t argue. In fact, the moment their mouths meet it’s as if a fire’s been lit, and her body temperature rises exponentially. Her surroundings disappear and her senses only allow her to process Tim’s tongue exploring her mouth, as if it was brand new. She repeatedly runs her hands through his hair until she trails them down his back, clutching on to the soaked flannel above his undershirt.
And she’s only reminded of the downpour when she runs out of breath and has to pull away. Both her and Tim pant as they stare at each other like artifacts displayed in a museum. Tim’s hands are still wrapped around Lucy’s waste, but his view is obstructed by the droplets falling between them. But despite the lack of a view, everything is incredibly clear.
“Lucy Chen, loving you is my greatest privilege . In this universe, and in every other.”
And the difficult shift, hard rain, and persistent hunger don’t matter anymore, because the love of her life is standing right in front of her. For the first time in her life, she has someone who loves her as much as she loves them.
“The other universes must suck, because they don’t have you,” she says, almost choking on the sob held back in her throat.
“Likewise.”
And if they could, they would stay in that moment forever, but their little bubble is popped by a car skidding by, splashing water across both of them.
“Oh. My. God.” Lucy giggles as she shakes out her hands, which are now covered in murky water.
‘Well, moment’s over,” Tim huffs as he attempts to brush the filth off of himself.
“It was good while it lasted.”
Tim helps Lucy into the car before sliding back in and starting the engine. He winces when he sees his seats become covered in dirty rainwater, but his worries disappear quickly when Lucy distracts him with a random conversation about nothing. The rest of the drive is short, and they jump into the shower within mere seconds of being back in Lucy’s apartment.
“It feels nice to be hit with warm water,” Lucy moans as she steps under the showerhead.
“It’s going to take a million showers to feel clean again,” Tim scoffs as he aggressively rubs a bar of soap over his chest.
“At least it’s a funny story for the grandkids,” Lucy pauses and bites her lip, “and we get a shower out of it.” She winks, and Tim knows exactly what she means. And the veggie burger that was consuming her mind earlier is irrelevant.
“Could be worse, I guess,” he huffs, shrugging his shoulders as Lucy wraps her bare arms around him
“You guess?” she raises her eyebrows. She teases his stubborn nature by running her fingernails all over his back as she pressed up against him, and it takes him less than a minute to crumble.
—-
By the time they head to bed, it’s practically time to wake up for another long, treacherous day. But they wouldn’t trade it for the world, or the universe, because they’re exactly where they want to be.
And of course they both woke up with runny noses and sore throats, but none of them had a single regret.
From then on, “I love you in every universe,” became their farewell line.