Work Text:
“I’m not sorry about last night,” Lucy stares forward in the elevator.
“Oh, me either,” Tim glances over at her.
“But it can never happen again,” she shoots back.
“I know—“ he’s cut off before he can even say anything else.
“For a million different reasons.”
“I mean I’m in your chain of command for one,” he beats himself up internally for saying that.
“Exactly.”
“Plus, I’m hashtag grumpy cop,” Lucy tries to hide her smirk as she nods.
“Yeah… that too.”
“Wasn’t grumpy last night,” he looks over waiting for a response.
“No, you definitely were not,” she says again trying to hide another smirk.
Finally, the elevator reaches the parking garage and she steps out first, him following.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Tim says as he heads to his truck in the opposite direction of her car.
“I guess you will,” she says quietly before getting into her car.
She knows she needs to go home. She knows she can’t do this again. But there’s a part of her that can’t resist him. They’ve spent so many months apart and last night was the perfect reminder and how good they were at other things.
She starts to drive home but when she reaches the light that she either has to turn left to go to her apartment or turn right to go to his house, she decides to go right.
Before she can even change her mind, she’s pulling up to his house. She knows he’s already home and can’t help but feel like her heart is going to beat out of her chest. She doesn’t want to keep doing this. She doesn’t want to keep tip toeing around him because they can’t talk about anything other than work. She misses her Tim.
She’s thankful her feet are moving faster than her mind and next thing she knows, she’s standing in front of his house just like a few weeks prior.
Before she can even knock, she hears Kojo barking followed by footsteps. Only a few seconds later, the door swings open.
“Hey, everything okay?” Tim asks, a concerned look on his face.
“No. Yes. I don’t know,” she huffs. He can’t help but throw out a laugh before moving out of the way so she can step inside.
“Last night…” she begins.
“Can’t happen again. Yeah, I know.”
“No… I mean yeah it can’t. But that wasn’t what I was going to say.”
“Okay?” Now he’s confused.
Before she can even regret it, she steps forward and immediately starts kissing him. At first he’s a little taken back but it doesn’t take long for them to fall into the same rhythm as the night before.
“Stop,” Lucy says against his lips.
“Too far?” Tim pulls away looking down at her.
“No, but we shouldn’t do this out here,” neither realized until that moment they were still standing in his living room, windows exposing them to the street out front.
He grabs her hand before walking them to his bedroom, slamming the door behind them and immediately peppering her with kisses, anywhere he had access to.
“Off,” is all he hears her say as she’s tugging on his shirt. He quickly throws it over his head and onto the floor in the corner before he starts working on her own top.
She had on a jean jacket which he was quickly able to get off while still kissing her. Next came her tank top and while she worked to get that off, he was working quick and unbuckling his belt and lowering his pants to the ground.
Now fully able to explore every inch of her body, covering her in kisses, he stops to admire her.
“Beautiful,” he says as he kisses her neck making her squirm slightly.
Only giving him a blushed smile, she pushes him on the bed where she makes up for all their lost time.
•••
A few rounds later, they both laid awake backs facing each other, similar to about 12 hours before. Only difference is this time she isn’t trying to leave. She knows they can’t keep playing this game.
“Now do you want to talk about it?” Tim asks looking over at her.
“We should, but does your offer for coffee still stand?”
“Lucy… it’s late,” he shakes his head.
“Does your offer for coffee still stand?” She asks again, this time more firm.
“I’ll be right back,” he sighs as he gets up out of bed to collect his clothes before walking out to the kitchen to get a pot of coffee started.
While he’s in the other room, Lucy grabs her clothes and puts them back on, forgoing the jacket.
She decides to make her way out to the kitchen and as she’s walking out there, Kojo comes running up to her.
“Hi boy! I missed you,” she bends over to give him scratches.
“Feelings mutual,” Tim walks over and hands Lucy a cup.
“Is that Kojo saying that or you?”
“Definitely Kojo,” he winks.
“Look Lucy… uhm you want to sit down?”
“Sure,” she says as they make their way to the couch, Kojo right on her heels.
“Lucy, I don’t want you to think I’m just using you for sex. I know I messed things up and I know last night and today probably only complicated things between us further. But I don’t regret it. I don’t regret being able to show you how much I still love you,” he can’t make eye contact with her so instead he looks down at his feet.
“You’re right, it did make things more complicated,” Tim’s heart drops thinking she isn’t on the same page, not that he could blame her.
“But Tim, I don’t regret it either. I just wish you could tell me how you feel and not just show me.” She’s nervous too, rubbing her hand up and down the mug still in her hands.
“I want to, Lucy. I do. I just don’t want to say the wrong thing. I don’t want to say anything that would push you even further away.”
Lucy sighs before shaking her head, “Say what you want to say, say what you need to say. How I take it and how I feel is up to me to decide,” he can tell she’s frustrated.
“I really am trying. It might not seem like it but therapy has been pushing me every week. It sucks and it’s hard, but I need it.”
“I’m proud of you, Tim.” She gives him a sweet smile.
“I want to be the man you deserve. I want to be the man you’re proud of. The man you can come to for everything. The man who isn’t afraid of the person he once was and who he was slowly becoming again. I’m not that same man I was when I broke up with you, Lucy.”
“I know, Tim. I can see it.”
Silence falls between them, before he speaks again.
“So where do we go from here?” He asks hopeful.
“Well, for starters I say no more messy hookups, and I mean it this time,” they share a laugh. “But I also want to start over. It’s going to take time and we aren’t going to just go back to being us, but I want this. I want you Tim.”
“I want you too, Lucy. And I promise I’m not going to walk away again. When things get tough, because I know they will, we talk about it. I’m not going to walk away, I’m not going to leave. You and I are in this together.”
He grabs her hand that was now resting in her lap and gives it a squeeze before raising it up to meet his lips.
“I like the sound of that. Who are you and what have you done with Tim Bradford?”
“New and improved, baby.” They share a kiss before Lucy yawns, earning a laugh from Tim.
As much as they both would like to spend the night together, they agree to take things slow. Tim walks Lucy out to her car before giving her a kiss goodnight and shutting her door. He watches her drive away before walking back into the house with a smile on his face.
Things are going to be okay…