Work Text:
1.
The first time Tim shows up to Lucy’s apartment late at night is right after they sleep together for the first time. He knocks on the door and he really hopes he’s not waking her up although she did say she would be waiting up for him.
The door opens after a few minutes and she appears looking tired but her face lights up when she sees him. She pulls him into the apartment and shuts the door behind them.
“You came.” She says softly wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulls her close to him, it has been a long night at work and all he wanted to do was come over and curl up with Lucy.
“I told you I would.” He mutters backing her up towards the bedroom. Lucy hums softly and pauses.
“I know.” She says. “But it’s late at night and—” He shrugs his shoulders and continues to back her up towards the bedroom.
“I don’t like going home to an empty house when I know I have you waiting for me.” He says. Lucy stares at him and swallows a little before she’s standing on her toes to kiss him.
“Oh.” She mutters. “That’s nice.” Tim laughs and they are finally in her bedroom. He’s familiar with it now and he knows exactly where he’s going.
“You should have a key.” She says. Tim looks at her and raises his eyebrows. They had just started dating and sleeping together. And in all fairness, he was over at her place for the most part.
“Really?” Tim asks. “You want me to have a key already?” Lucy nods as he gently pushes her on the bed.
“Yes.”
“I’m not really keen on sleeping alone either.” Lucy says. “Now that I know—” She trails off and runs her hands down his chest and then lifts the bottom of his shirt up.
“Know what Luce?” He asks a teasing lilt to his voice. Lucy rolls her eyes and pulls him down to kiss her.
He knows exactly what she’s talking about.
And he doesn’t mind it.
Being with Lucy in that way, in the most intimate way you could be with someone was amazing. He knew it would be but it just got better and better every time.
“You know what.” She says shaking her head at him. “Are you too tired or—”
“No.” He says. He glances over at the clock on her nightstand. “It’s only midnight.” Lucy laughs and glances at the clock too.
“12:01.” She corrects him. Tim rolls his eyes but kiss her again. Whether it’s a decent hour or 12:01am—this would never get old.
***
2.
The next time Tim comes over is right after Tim is put on leave after finding the man who murdered Celina’s sister. He couldn’t sleep so he left Lucy’s apartment and went to the gym and hoped she didn’t notice that he slipped out.
But of course she did.
He gets a call halfway into his workout and he has to pause and take a breath before he answers.
“Hello?” He answers softly although when he looks around there’s no one there. The gym is empty this late at night.
“Where are you?” Lucy asks and he hears her yawn. He feels a little guilty that she woke up when she was so tired.
“The gym.” He replies. He knows Lucy just wants to help him but he just needed to get away to think.
At least for a little bit.
“Tim.” Lucy says. “I—are you going to come back?” Tim sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. The truth was he didn’t plan on going back to Lucy’s apartment—he didn’t want to bother her and sometimes the silence was better. Even though he knows that Lucy tucked in next to him was all he needed.
“I don’t know.” He says. “Maybe.” Lucy sighs over the phone and he can tell she’s holding something back.
“Please.” She says. “Please come back.” Tim looks around there’s gym again and then down at his watch. It was almost midnight—if he was lucky he would get at least six hours of sleep.
Give or take.
“I just—”
“We don’t have to talk about it.” Lucy says. “We can just lay in silence.”
“Okay.”
Lucy lets out a satisfied sigh and he hears rustling of covers. “See you soon?”
“Yeah see you soon.” Tim says. They hang up and Tim gets up, he puts the equipment away and then grabs his stuff and heads to his truck.
He gets to Lucy’s in fifteen minutes and lets himself in. He sees the soft glow of the Lucy’s lamp coming from her bedroom and makes his way inside. She’s curled up and looks like she’s fast asleep.
He undresses quickly and then slides into bed, he pulls her close to him because he knows no matter what they will gravitate towards each other in the middle of the night. There’s a long silence and he’s about to close his eyes when Lucy speaks
“What time is is?” She asks. Tim looks over at the clock and sees the red numbers flashing a little.
“Just after midnight.” He replies. “Go to sleep Luce. We will talk in the morning.” Lucy turns over to face him and she looks exhausted but she has a soft smile on her face.
“Okay.” She says. “Thanks for coming back.” He just kisses her gently and then watches as he eyes close.
He would always come back for her. Always. His heart always seemed to long for her when he was away.
“Of course.” He says softly. “Goodnight Lucy.”
“Goodnight Tim.”
***
3.
The next time Tim comes over to Lucy’s late at night is after Nolan’s wedding. They didn’t drive together so once Celina was rescued they went their separate ways in their cars.
Lucy calls him as he’s pulling out and he answers on the first ring. “Hey.” He says and he can’t help but smile. “Do you miss me already?”
“Shut up.” Lucy says and she takes a deep breath. Even though they had made up, and then made up again in the closet downstairs at the venue he could still feel the tension between them. He hated being separated from her for so long but it somehow made him love her even more.
“What’s going on?” He asks. He hears Lucy’s blinker turn on and then her taking another deep breath.
“I was wondering if you were going to come over tonight or—” She pauses and he already knows his answer. Another night without Lucy sounded terrible.
“Or?” He says teasingly. “If you want me to come over—I will be there.”
“I do.” Lucy says quickly. “I missed you.” Tim smiles a little and he could tease her for missing him but he misses her all the same.
“I missed you too.” Lucy says and she sounds relieved like she thought he would say no. “I will see you soon?”
“Yes.” Tim says and he takes a turn that would lead him to her apartment. “I will see you soon.”
They both arrive at the same time and Tim takes her hand leading her up to her apartment. She unlocks it and then pulls him inside.
“I’m glad you are here.” Lucy mutters. “I don’t like when we fight.” Tim hums softly, and pushes her hair back. He just hates being apart from Lucy. He just hates that it had come to them being apart for two nights.
“Me neither but—” He pauses and brings her up to kiss him. “We are really good at making up.” Lucy rolls her eyes at him and pushes at his chest.
“You really think you can get lucky twice in one night?” She asks smirking up at him. Tim rolls his eyes this time because he knows how this night is going to go.
“Yes.” He says. “We have a lot of time to make up for.” Lucy clicks her tongue at him but he knows she agrees with him.
“True.” She says. “What time is it?” Tim pulls out his phone and tears his eyes away from Lucy.
“12:01.” He says. Lucy grins at him and he pulls her to her bedroom. This was already a long night but he knows it’s about to get a lot better.
***
4.
The next time Tim goes to Lucy’s apartment late at night is after he takes her home from the hospital after the shooting. She is quiet on the way home and he knows what is going through her mind and he would do anything to ease that doubt but he knows that’s not what she needs right now.
He pulls up to her apartment building and turns the truck turning to talk to her but she beats him to it.
“You don’t have to come up.” She says and he stares at her a little bewildered. “You have already done—”
“Lucy.” He says softly reaching out to touch her cheek. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need okay?” Lucy doesn’t say anything so he unbuckles his seatbelt so he can lean across the console.
“I love you.” He says. “We are going to get through this together.” Lucy looks up at him and gives him a weak smile.
“Together?” She asks. Tim nods and kisses her. He would be by her side every step of the way, she just had a bad couple of days. He knows she’s a good cop, and this didn’t define who she was.
“Come on.” He says. He leans back and opens the door and then looks over to make sure Lucy does the same. “It’s late. We are both tired. Let’s go to bed.” Lucy nods and climbs out of the truck. He meets her around the front of the truck and takes her hand.
Lucy doesn’t say anything until they get inside the apartment and she is leading him to the sofa. She curls herself around him and he presses a soft kiss to the top of her head.
“It was scary.” She says. “Being shot at like that. I didn’t—”
“You did what you had to do.” Tim says closing his eyes briefly. He doesn’t like the image of Lucy being shot at in his head. He doesn’t like the thought of it because she could have gotten hurt or worse.
“I know.” She mutters. “There’s just a part of me that thinks I could have done something differently.”
“I know.” He says. “But he’s alive and you did your job Luce.” Lucy leans against him and takes a deep breath.
“Thank you.” She says. “For sticking by me.” Tim’s heart clenches a little and he pulls her closer. There’s no place he would rather be than right by her side.
“Of course.” He says softly. “Always.” There’s a long silence and Tim looks down to see Lucy has fallen asleep. He sighs softly and pulls out his phone.
12:01 am.
Of course.
He closes his own eyes and he knows tomorrow is a new day and they would get through this—together.
Always.
***
5.
The next time Tim goes over to Lucy late at night is when he comes over to help her study for the sergeant’s exam. He meant to come over earlier but he got caught up at work. And when he called Lucy to reschedule because it was so late she told him to come over anyway.
So he did.
He knocks on the door and she opens it right away pulling him inside. She looks a little frazzled as she goes back to sit down at the island.
“Hi.” He says. “It’s nice to see you.” Lucy doesn’t look at him just looks down at the book in front of her. “How long have you been studying?”
“A few hours.” She replies without looking up. “And yes before you ask I have eaten and yes I have water.” She gestures to a empty glass in front of her and an empty plate.
“Well that’s good to know.” He says. He stands up and takes the plate and glass to the kitchen. He puts the plate away and then fills the glass with water again and brings it back over.
“Thanks.” She mutters but still doesn’t look up. He sighs and he knows pulling her away from the books is going to take a minute.
“Luce, you are going to have to step away for a minute and get some rest.” He says. “Studying for hours on end isn’t going to help.”
“That’s why I have you.” She says finally looking up at him. She looks exhausted and he wonders the last time she really slept.
“You can quiz me.” She says and pushes the book towards him. And he’s all for helping her study but there’s no way this is healthy for her nor is she going to learn anything.
He closes the book and then walks over to her and pulls her up. “Tim.” She protests but she almost falls into him.
“Lucy, I will quiz you in the morning.” He says. “Right now you need to go to bed.” He pulls her towards the bedroom and she doesn’t struggle. She just falls into him like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
And maybe it is.
They had been doing better and were getting more comfortable with each other again. She had forgiven him and now he was helping her study.
“Okay.” She mutters and there’s a pause. “Can you stay for awhile?” Tim freezes and she does too looking up at him.
“You want me to stay?”
“If you want.” She replies. “Only if you want to.” Tim already knows his answer and he leads her to the bed. She falls into it and he climbs in too. There’s a long silence and he looks over at her thinking she was asleep.
“It’s 12:01.” She says. “Our time.” Tim laughs a little thinking about the time she showed up at 12:01 on April fool’s day.
“It is.” He says. “Go to sleep Luce.” Tim sighs softly, as Lucy moves closer to him. She puts her head on his chest and soon shes asleep.
It’s not perfect yet—but they were getting there. They were getting back to them and that’s all that matters.
***
+1
Lucy shows up on his doorstep next. He is just getting ready for bed when there’s a knock on the door. He sighs and heads to the door. It was late, he was tired and he missed Lucy. She was still stuck on the night shift and he hated it. He hates that he can’t see her during the day and only for a second at night. He hates that they have to schedule their dates on both their days off and he’s been wanting to ask her na important question.. again.
He opens the door and steps back in surprise when he sees who it is. Lucy is standing on his front porch looking like she did when she showed up on April Fool’s day.
“What are you doing here?” He asks. “You have a key. You don’t have to knock.” Lucy shrugs her shoulders before she moves into his space.
“It’s my day off and I wanted to surprise you.” She says. He pulls her close and buries his nose into her neck.
“I thought you had to work.” She says. Lucy pulls back and shakes her head.
“That was the point of the surprise Tim.” She says. “I didn’t tell you.”
Oh.
God he loves her.
“Well.” He says moving to shut the door. “I’m surprised.” Lucy moves into to kiss him and he feels completely at peace with her in his arms.
“Good.” She says. “And guess what time it is?” Tim doesn’t even have to check the clock to know.
“12:01?” He asks. Lucy grins at him and kisses him again. He’s not exactly sure how 12:01 became their time but he’s glad it did.
“Yep. Our time.” She says softly. “I missed you.” Tim hums as he backs her up towards the bedroom.
“I don’t like you being on the night shift.” He says pausing to look at her. “I know we have talked and we are doing better.”
“We are.” She agrees. “I’m proud of you Tim.”
“Thank you.” He says ducking his head down but she lifts it back up. “I have been thinking of something for awhile. I don’t like being apart and when we do get time together we are always here.”
“Is that a problem?” Lucy asks frowning. “We can go to my place—”
“No.” He says. “I like having you here. And I want it to be permanent. I want to give our relationship a real chance.”
Lucy furrows her eyebrows at him looking a little lost. “What are you saying?” She asks. “What—”
“I want you to move in with me.” He says. “I want us to live together because you are it for me Lucy. I love you and I want to make this work.”
“Oh.” She says softly. “Tim—” Tim’s heart drops a little and she must realize it because she pulls him in close.
“Are you sure?” She asks. Tim nods because he hasn’t been so sure of anything in his life.
“Yes.” He says. “I am 100% sure Lucy. I’m not going to mess this up again. And I don’t want to pressure you—”
“Yes.” Lucy says. “Yes. I will move in with you Tim.” Tim reels back in surprise a little because quite honestly he didn’t know what her answer was going to be.
“Yeah?”
“I would love to live with you.” She says. “I love you.” Tim has never heard better words in his life and he knows it can only go up from here.
“Good.” He says and he continues to walk her back to the bedroom. He pauses at the doorway and looks down at her.
“No more showing up late at night.” He says. She smiles at him and pushes him into the bedroom and kicks the door shut.
“But I can wake you up at midnight right?” She asks teasingly. Tim grins at her and bends down to kiss her.
“12:01.” He reminds her. Lucy huffs out a laugh and falls back on the bed. Tim hovers over and this was perfect. Lucy wraps her legs around his waist and pulls him down.
“I can’t wait to live with you.” She mutters. “You’re it for me too.” Tim just kisses her again and he knows it can’t get better than this.
Until he asks another very important question in the future.
But until then—
He has everything he needs. Right here and it’s perfect.