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Lucy groggily wakes up to the sound of spring vacuum cleaning, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She was hoping to get more sleep before going in for her first shift as a sergeant on the night shift, but the sun was already beginning to set, about time for her to start getting ready. After all, she had to look good and professional but not too much, casual but like she put no effort into her appearance, and unlike she just turned nocturnal and still has eyebags.
She steps out of her room to get a glass of water and sees Celina seemingly ridding the house of demons with something wooden and burning and a vacuum cleaner. She unplugs the vacuum cleaner and turns to her roommate with a large contrast to her energy level. Lucy was rubbing her eyes and in sweatpants after having just woken up.
“I’m sorry, Lucy, did I wake you? I’m just doing a deep cleanse on the apartment so you can step into this next stage of your life with positive energy. I was gonna sage everything after. I can totally postpone this until you leave if you need me to!” she says, concerned for her friend whose sleep schedule was about to go out the window.
“No, no, it's fine, I needed to get up anyway. I should start getting ready for work,” the older girl responded, waving away the idea that she was disturbed by the noise. It was annoying to wake up to, but not an issue.
“Okay! So, how are you feeling about your first shift as a sergeant? Excited? Cause I am! I know you're going to impress everyone tonight, you were made for this!”
“Yeah, I am excited, but mostly anxious.” Lucy says as she walks over to the coffee maker, brewing espresso as she was definitely going to need it. “I really dont want to mess up, I feel like I need to prove myself.”
“You might, but you’ve already proven yourself to be a highly respectable officer. And, you were a sergeant's aid so you already know the ins and outs of the job. Oh, and you’ve already studied the sergeant…” she teases, grinning with a knowing edge to her voice.
“We’re just friends,” Lucy denies, and Celina just nods. “Mhmm…”
“Speaking of, now that the chain of command issue is sorted out, should I expect to see Tim around more often?” Lucy chuckles and looks up with a pained and somewhat sad expression.
“Yeah, uh, i don't know. He hasn’t really brought it up since last week. I’m starting to think he changed his mind,” she looks back down and clasps her hands together, “which is fine, because I didn't take the test for him.”
Celina pauses for a moment, then unexpectedly, bursts out laughing before she can stop herself. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but do you see the way he looks at you like he just saw the sun for the first time? Lucy, that man is head over heels for you, he’s probably just waiting for you to initiate. You know, going at your pace because he knows he broke your heart.”
“Yeah, you're probably right. There was the confession under the wildfire, and then our conversation at the food truck… and the one when we got drugged…”
“Wait wait wait, what confession?! Lucy?” Celina questions, knowing this was probably something big.
Lucy stirs sugar and creamer into her coffee, remembering how Tim would have called this an abomination of a drink, or a pre-breakfast dessert. He still would, now that they were going back to their routine. They were in a good place and nothing was holding them back. Lucy was trusting Tim again, they were in the same chain of command, and yet she got nothing from him. She was stuck waiting for the relationship she so desperately wanted, wondering if he had moved on. “I’ll tell you later,” she picks up her drink and begins to move toward the bathroom to get ready. “I’m gonna get ready,” she simply says, ending the conversation. Celina notices her lack of admission, but doesnt say anything, deciding not to press.
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“I’m just saying, you should talk to her, at least. You guys have been dancing around each other for weeks, waiting for this, and now that it’s finally here you haven’t done anything.” Angela tells Tim, seemingly exasperated with their shenanigans.
“I’m trying to be respectful of the fact that I’m the one who broke her heart.” Tim explains, aware that their relationship had moved to Lucy’s pace. He had learned in therapy that by breaking up with her because she ‘deserves better’ he had been making decisions for her, not getting her input about what she wanted and what she deserved. Now, it was time for her to make the decision about what she wanted. Maybe could never fully trust him after he walked away that night in the parking lot, and would not choose to give him her heart after he ripped it up and threw it out the window once. He’d feel incomplete for the rest of his life, longing to go home with her and feel her lips on his one last time. He would never forgive himself for ruining their relationship, but if she needed to distance herself from him, then that was okay, because she deserved happiness and maybe that meant a life where he was just a friend. If Lucy could trust him again by some miracle, then he’d be forever grateful to spend the rest of his days on earth with her, never taking the second chance for granted. He just hoped it would be the second option.
Angela turns toward him. “Well, you might break it again if you leave her hanging too long.”
Tim takes a breath, “So, what, I should just, ask her out again?”
“Pretty much.” Angela agrees, glad he’s finally getting her point. It’s what they both wanted, so there's really no reason not to. It’s true that he broke her trust, and it was an incredibly stupid decision, but they talked about it under truth serum and can leave all that in the past.
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Lucy sighs as she walks into the kitchen at 8:30 AM, dropping her bag by the door and shrugging off her sweater. She sees Celina on the couch, who quickly turns off the TV and turns to her roommate. “Hey, roomie!” She greets Lucy, excited to see her.
“Hey, Celina. I am so glad it’s the weekend, a girl is tired.”
“I know. I’ll be quiet if you want to take a nap. Rodge is coming over later, but we can go out instead, if you need,” Celina offered, always considerate. She was truly a good roommate, which Lucy was grateful for.
“It’s totally fine, I have a great pair of noise cancelling headphones, so now I can sleep through his constant singing,” Lucy joked. Rodge was always singing, which probably would annoy her if not for her beloved headphones.
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After Lucy’s nap, Celina found her in the bathroom putting on a new lipstick. She was wearing a low cut top and her favorite pair of jeans, and had curled her hair, which was unusual. “Hey, whatcha doin?” She questioned, curious to know what Lucy was getting ready for.
“I am getting ready to visit a friend.” Lucy was once again giving minimal information.
“Which friend, exactly? I know you wouldn't be getting this dolled up for Nolan or Rachel,” Celina pressed, hinting that it was a certain someone who was more than a friend.
“It’s Tim,” Lucy answered, honestly. She was tired of waiting for Tim to progress their relationship, and he clearly wasn't going to after twiddling his thumbs for a week after she made sergeant. It was honestly getting frustrating, waiting for him to make a move and him doing absolutely nothing, as if she had all day or something.
“Ooh, I can’t wait to hear about it when you get home,” Celina grins, “Or… don’t come home?” she added with a wink. Lucy chuckled at the younger girl, always ready for some steaming hot gossip.
“No, nothing like that. It’s just-- I made sergeant over a week ago and he still hasn't done anything. And, it isn't like he just doesn’t like me like that, because he’s a romantic; he waits for me after his shifts, gives me little notes sometimes, in fact, he explicitly said and also implied in a different situation that that is not the case but I’m waiting for him to do something. Make it official. Nothing is holding us back, but we’re still in a weird spot right now. Sorry for rambling.”
“Like I said, he’s probably just following your lead. And you’re right that he still loves you, I mean, his aura is overwhelmingly bright- well, for Sergeant grumpy pants, when he’s around you. He’s going to come back to you, when he pulls his head out of his ass. You have nothing to worry about.” Celina assured Lucy her and Tim’s relationship was fine, he was just waiting for her to say the word.
“Thanks, Celina. You’re a really good friend, you know that?” Lucy said, glancing at Celina, who now had a smile crossing her face.
“Just supporting my bestie.”
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Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.
Tim opens the door in sweatpants and an old LAPD t-shirt to find Lucy knocking frantically, whose expression wasnt giving away much.
“Hey! Lucy! What's up?” Tim was surprised to see Lucy at his house with no warning- They hadn’t made plans, and the last time she showed up unannounced it was for an April fools day dating prank which was not really a prank, and today was not April fools day, so this could mean a thousand things. But deep down, he knew why she was here.
“What are you doing?” Lucy asks, undertones of anger and sadness present in her voice as tears began to build behind her eyes, threatening to fall.
“What?” Tim clearly wasn’t understanding what she was talking about.
“Tim. It’s been over a week. A week of you buying me coffees when your shift ends and mine starts. Of us not having any more obstacles. I thought this was supposed to mean something for us, Tim!” She angrily wipes a tear from her eye, “and you haven’t even done anything. I’m tired of waiting.” Her voice was thick with emotion, longing hidden and a touch of desperation beneath its rough exterior.
Lucy quickly steps inside as Tim moves aside, silently inviting her in. She suddenly envelopes him in a hug that neither of them want to let go from, ever. Tim holds her tighter as she melts into his arms and tears roll down her cheeks, wetting his shirt. He doesn't care about his stained shirt, just that she's okay.
Sobs wrack though Lucy’s body, sobs that should have come out a long while ago. This was the pain she had been feeling for months, not just because of the break up but because of everything. Seth washing out and lying to her and Tamara, shooting Greta, the aftermath of failing the detectives exam. Everything she had been through in the past few months without Tim to comfort her and hold her in his arms like they used to.
“I miss you, Tim,” she sniffles, “I miss us.” Tim rubs her back as she cries, “I know. I know, baby. I do too.”
Lucy pulls back and wipes her tears. “Do you still love me?”
“Of course I still love you.”
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After Lucy and Tims emotional reconciliation, she rinses her face in the sink, without asking for directions to Tim’s bathroom, and sits down on the couch with Tim, where they finally talk. Not under the influence of sodium pentothal, not under a fire blanket, just talking, in Tim’s living room, with no stakes or risks to their lives.
“So , I guess we should probably talk,” Tim opens up the conversation.
“That's why I’m here, right? I’m sorry I came here so angry.”
“You were right. I’ve been a bit of an idiot lately.”
“A bit?” Lucy jokes, chuckling as she places her hand on his.
“A lot. Yeah. I didn’t know if you were ready to come back to me after I hurt you. I was waiting for you to give me the ok.”
Lucy moves closer to Tim. “I guess I was waiting for you to stop waiting for me. I’m ready now.” A grin spreads across Tim’s face, “So… did you have something you wanted to ask me?” She repeats her words from the moment he first asked her on a date. This was the beginning of a new era for them, once again.
“Lucy Chen, will you give me the honor of a final first date with you?”
“Yeah, I will,” she thinks for a moment and looks up at him, “But I need you to promise me you won’t leave me again. That you won’t walk away when things get hard.”
“Lucy, walking away that night was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. I’ve been working on myself, going to therapy and veterans group every week, I’m really trying. And I will mess up occasionally but this time, I’m not leaving you. We can figure everything out together, I promise.”
“Thank you. I’m proud of you, I can see you’re putting in effort, healing. And I believe you.”
Tim leans in to where Lucy is sitting on the couch and presses a soft kiss to her lips, and then their lips meet in another kiss, this time longer. It was gentle, warm, and everything the two of them had been wanting for months. It wasn’t something they were going to regret later, or question the meaning of, because they were back, starting where they left off but with their inner turmoil healing.
Eventually, they have to pull away, gasping for air. Lucy looks into Tim’s eyes, cradling his cheek with one hand and the other on his shoulder and dives back in. Their kiss grows deeper and more rushed as their tongues fight for dominance and their hands roam each other's bodies, stripping them of their tops.
“Take me to your room,” Lucy requested, “We have a lot of time to make up for.”
Tim just grinned and did exactly as told.