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Tim knocked lightly on Lucy's door, his chest still feeling tight. It had been a hell of a day with the wildfires. There had been so much devastation so quickly, and Lucy had been trapped in a burning house briefly because Seth had left his post while Lucy was clearing the building. Tim had only seen her be quickly whisked into an ambulance with an oxygen mask on her soot covered face before she was gone.
Every muscle in his body screamed at him to follow her, but there was so much to still do on the scene, and as Sergeant, he had to stay and continue to help people evacuate. By the time he finished, it was 10pm, and Angela told him Lucy had been discharged from the hospital.
He changed out and drove on autopilot to her apartment. He knew Celina was working an overnight, and Rachel had moved into her own place last week, which meant Lucy would be alone. His chest had been in a knot since the ambulance door had closed. Hearing she had been discharged should have helped ease the tightness, but he knew he needed to see her for himself before he would be able to relax.
He was lost in his thoughts when the door opened. Lucy stood in comfortable yoga pants and one of his oversized hoodies, looking at him in slight surprise. "Hey," she said.
"Hi," he responded quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep from immediately reaching for her. When he didn't continue, Lucy tilted her head in question with a puzzled smile. His mouth felt dry, and his chest continued to squeeze painfully. He swallowed thickly before speaking.
"I know I don't have the right, but I needed to see for myself that you were ok," he finished, his eyes studying the floor before looking up at her. "Are you ok?" He looked at her almost pleadingly. A look of understanding passed over Lucy's face then, and she gave a soft nod of her head to indicate he could come in. She shut the door gently behind him before turning to face him.
"I'm ok," she confirmed quietly before stepping directly into his space and enveloping him in a hug. His arms moved of their own accord, wrapping around her and holding her close. He could still smell a slight hint of smoke mixed with her vanilla shampoo as he rested his head on hers. He could have lost her forever today, and he didn't even want to imagine a life without Lucy in it.
They stood wrapped around each other for several minutes, which allowed the tightness in Tim's chest to finally dissipate. He pulled back just slightly to look at her, his hands moving from her shoulders to cradle her jaw. His eyes raked over her face, taking in some of the scraps and minor bruising that marked her skin. Lucy stayed quiet, allowing him to inspect her face to his satisfaction.
He felt overwhelming relief course through him as he held her face in his hands. He could only blame that relief for what he did next. Leaning down, he placed a gentle, lingering kiss to her temple. He heard her sharp intake of breath, and he stilled. When she didn't make any move to pull away, he repeated the gesture on the other side of her head. Lucy's eyes closed, and she leaned slightly into his touch.
Emboldened, he trailed a few more featherlight kisses down her cheeks before hovering over her lips. He had already taken enough tonight; it had to be her choice. After a moments hesitation, Lucy closed the small gap between them, her lips pressing his gently. Tim kissed her back reverently, one hand sliding into her hair to the back of her head, and the other moving down to the small of her back to hold her closer.
This was nothing like the heat and desire that had overcome them in the hotel room at the charity gala. It wasn't hot and hurried and forbidden. This was comfort, relief, need, and love, which was far more dangerous. There was no blaming this on alcohol, shirtless triage, and poor Valentine's Day decisions.
Tim lost track of time as they lazily and lovingly explored each other's mouths, not allowing even a centimeter of space between their bodies. Eventually, they pulled back, arms still draped loosely around the other.
"So, thanks for letting me make sure you were ok..." Tim said with a playful but tentative shrug. Lucy let out an amused chuckle, shaking her head slightly at his obvious attempt at levity.
"I guess you want to talk this time," she inquired as she took a small step out of his embrace. Tim's first instinct was to leave the ball in her court and say only if she wanted to talk, but he realized leaving it entirely up to Lucy wasn't fair. She deserved to know where he stood, and then the decision was hers.
"Yeah, I'd like to talk," he nodded nervously. She let him sweat it out just a minute before grabbing his hand and leading him over to the couch.
"Okay," she said, a tiny smile playing on her lips. "Let's talk."