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It had been a blissful two weeks since Lucy moved in, and despite having dated her before and stayed over at each other’s places, Tim was learning something new about her every day—like the fact that Lucy’s “I’ll be back in a few minutes” could mean anything between five minutes to a half-hour.
He glanced at the clock for the third time. 10.43 PM. Lucy had disappeared into the bathroom several minutes ago. He had already fluffed his pillow twice, scrolled his phone, and stared at the ceiling.
He is not falling asleep without her beside him. No, thank you! He’d already lived through several months of that while they were apart. He’s never doing that again, not if he can help it.
He wonders if this is what his life will be like from now on—lying in bed waiting while Lucy does…whatever women do in the bathroom every night that takes longer than his average shower.
Not that it would be so bad. He is happy to wait for as long as it takes, even if he is dead tired and should have fallen asleep half an hour ago, ideally!
Her soft humming drifts through the crack in the bathroom door, and he can't help but smile. He slips out of the bed and walks towards the bathroom.
“Lucy?” he knocks softly before pushing the door open and stops short.
The bathroom counter resembled a mini-pharmacy, with bottles and tubes in various shapes and sizes.
Lucy stood in front of the mirror in an oversized t-shirt and shorts, her hair pulled back into a loose braid, gently patting something under her eyes.
“What the….Lucy, did you buy out the entire skincare aisle?” he gestures at the collection.
Lucy caught his eye in the mirror and grinned. “It’s called ‘having a skincare routine’. Mine is very minimal, really.”
“ This …is minimal?” he raises his eyebrows.
“I don’t use them all every night. Some go in my morning routine, some I just use a couple of days a week, others are for special concerns that I only need occasionally,” she explains earnestly, and he listens with an amused grin.
“Still, feels like a lot of effort to me.” Tim shrugs.
“Well, it takes effort to look good. Not all of us can just wake up, put on a grumpy face, and look handsome as hell.” she dramatically contorts her face to mimic his grumpy expression, and he bursts out laughing.
“Self-care is important, Tim. You want me to keep looking this good, don't you?”
Tim sighs as he moves behind her, his hands finding her waist. He gently rests his chin on her shoulder, careful not to restrict her movement as Lucy dabs moisturizer on her cheeks.
“You could be wearing a potato sack, with disheveled, grey hair, and have a million lines on your face, and still be the most beautiful woman to me,” he says softly.
The teasing smirk on Lucy’s face disappears, replaced by something warm and tender.
“That’s very sweet, but I’d like to defer that as much as possible.” she turns her face to gently kiss him on the cheek.
“Hmmm,” Tim hums, as his eyes scan the myriad of tubes and bottles in her skincare organizer.
“What does this one do?” he picks up a small brown bottle and tries to read the label.
“That’s an Intensive Barrier Defense Serum with five Ceramides. It helps repair the skin barrier and soothes any irritation.”
“Okay….” he raises his eyebrows. “This?” he picks up a small pump bottle.
“That’s a Bi-Phasic Vitamin C Serum. It’s anti-aging and hydration all in one, goes well with my morning routine.”
And what's this one?" Tim pointed to a small, but expensive-looking tube.
“Ah! That’s the hero of all my skincare - Advanced Retinol Complex.” she holds up the tube like the models do in the ads and he chuckles.
“Jesus, these sound less like skincare and more like military combat weapons!”
“Deploy the barrier support, launch the bi-phasic strike, reinforce with the retinol complex,” he barks in his best military sergeant voice, tapping each bottle in sequence.
Something about the way he committed so completely to the bit—as if he was conducting an actual tactical briefing, was so ridiculously endearing that Lucy burst into laughter. He looked so silly and adorable.
“Such a dork,” she thinks fondly but doesn’t say it out loud.
She glanced at their reflection in the mirror—Tim still skeptically analyzing her skincare, her own face stretched wide with a smile as she watched him. The way it feels so perfectly ordinary and right that she wants to bottle up this moment and savor it forever.
God, she loves this, loves that he was in her space being goofy, and she wants to keep having these stupid, wonderful moments with him for the rest of their lives.
“Are you done?” Tim’s voice cut gently through her thoughts.
“Almost, two more minutes,” she smiles softly at him.
Tim whined, “I hate that I have to wait in bed every night until you finish your night routine.” he pouts as he tightens his arms around her waist.
Lucy pauses for a second and meets his eyes in the mirror before turning in his arms.
“You know, we could very easily fix that…” her face breaks into a mischievous grin as she holds up her moisturizer, and Tim does not like where this is going.
“No”
“Yes”
“Absolutely not,” he shakes his head.
“Oh, come on, Tim! We could do it together every night. It’s very relaxing.”
“Skincare, Lucy? I’m a 43-year-old man,” he protests.
“Exactly, a little maintenance wouldn’t hurt. Pleaseee? How about I do it for you tonight, and you can see if you like it.” Lucy’s eyes go all soft and pleading, and Tim thinks it's not fair. He’d rob a bank if she asked him like that.
He groans as he drops his head to her shoulder and headbutts her like a cat. “Lucy, I should have been asleep half an hour ago.”
Sensing his surrender, Lucy’s face lights up with pure delight. She claps her hands excitedly and bounces on her toes like a happy little kid, and suddenly, Tim doesn’t remember why he was protesting.
“I’ll make this super quick, I promise.” She hoists herself up on the bathroom counter and pulls him in between her legs.
“Now, observe carefully,” she instructs as she brings her palms to cradle his face.
“The first step is the cleanser, but since you’d just washed your face before bed, we don’t need that. So, let’s skip to step 2 - toner.”
“This is a Korean rice water toner that I’ve stuck to for years. It helps tighten your pores and sets up your skin nicely for the products to follow.” she looks every bit like an adorable nerd as she talks, and Tim wants to both kiss her and laugh at the same time.
“Close your eyes,” she instructs, and Tim obeys. She carefully sprays the toner all over his face and neck and gently pats it onto his skin.
“This is ridiculous,” he murmurs but makes no attempt to pull away.
“Now, how soon you can apply the next product depends on what you’re using next. Products like Niacinamide, Hyaluronic acid serum, Moisturizers, etc, go on damp skin.”
“But, Retinol, Vitamin C, Exfoliating serums, etc, should only be applied on dry skin. So, now we wait for the toner to dry.” she pauses to gauge his reaction.
“Wait, Wait. So, some of this stuff like damp skin, and some don’t? What happens if I get it wrong? Does my face explode?” He asks with mock horror, and Lucy snorts with laughter.
“No….it’s just some are stronger than the others, and a damp skin might over-absorb them, causing irritation,” she explains.
“This is insane, I’ve been washing my face with whatever’s closest to the sink for forty years, and now you’re telling me I have to memorize all this?” He gestures helplessly at the array of bottles on the counter.
“Ooh, does that mean you’re actually considering doing this every day?” Lucy's eyes lit up with hope.
“Of course not, I was just humoring you,” he shrugs, and she pouts in disappointment.
“Ok, now it’s time for Retinol.” She cups his face in her palms and pulls him closer.
“You have a few lines on your forehead from all those years of frowning before I came along and made you smile more—which is too bad because now you have a couple of laugh lines as well.” she teases, her eyes shining with mischief.
Tim reaches out and pinches her waist, and she yelps.
But the playful glint in her eyes fades as quickly as it formed, her face going soft with affection. “I’m just kidding, you know. You’re perfect just the way you are, Tim. I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”
“I know,” Tim says quietly, a soft smile tugging at his lips.
“But….like I said before, a little maintenance doesn’t hurt. So let’s get back to business,” Lucy shakes off their tender moment and reaches for the retinol.
“Yes, ma’am.” he straightens his shoulders as if he were receiving orders, and she laughs.
“You only need to take a pea-sized amount and dot it all over your face and neck like this,” she explains, as she dabbed the cream across his forehead and cheeks.
She then begins to smooth the cream on his skin, her fingers working gently. Her touch was soft, careful, like he was something precious, and his eyes fluttered close as she tenderly caressed his features.
Lucy slowed down her movement, drinking in the sight of him. He looked like a different person altogether. The hardass cop during the day was gone, replaced by a version of Tim that only she’s had the privilege of knowing so intimately. He looked soft, almost boyish as he completely surrendered himself in her arms.
Something about him in that moment—peaceful, trusting, and hers overwhelms her in all the right ways, and she leans in, pressing a tender kiss to his lips.
Tim blinks his eyes open to find her watching him intently, and his lips curve into a soft, almost shy smile.
“I didn’t know that was part of the routine.” he grins. “I wouldn’t have complained so much if I’d known.”
“Uh huh, sure” Lucy laughs, shoving him gently.
“Alright, how many more steps left?” Tim asks as he eyes the products on the counter.
“Just the two, eye cream and moisturizer. You’ve got to wait at least five minutes after applying Retinol before you follow with the next product.”
He nods, and they proceed with the rest of the routine in comfortable silence. Tim once again melted in her arms as her soft fingers worked on him.
"There," Lucy said finally, her hands settling on his shoulders. “You’re all done.”
“Do I look younger already?” Tim asked, his voice teasing.
“No….but you’re going to have a noticeable glow on your face tomorrow, that Angela is definitely going to ask you about,” she grins.
“Oh great, that’s exactly what I need! Angela knowing that I let you rope me into doing skincare. I’ll never live that down.” he groans.
Lucy simply shrugs in response, and he rolls his eyes.
“Can we go to bed now, or is there another ten-minute hand care routine that you need to do?” he asks, almost genuinely concerned, making her laugh.
“There is, but I’ll save it for another day,” she says with a sweet smile, sliding down from the counter and grabbing his arms to pull him towards the bedroom.
Tim glanced at the clock again as they settled into bed. That was an hour of sleep that he’d lost to Lucy’s shenanigans, but he didn’t care. He’d let her drag him into doing a ten-step skincare routine every night if it meant they could keep having moments like tonight.
Because, as sleep pulled him under, his heart was so full, yet felt lighter than it had in months.