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Lucy groans as she pushes the front door open, Tim following closely behind her, Kojo bounding over from his dog bed to greet them.
She bends down to scratch Kojo’s head and say hello while Tim brushes past her, making his way down the hallway towards their bedroom.
It still feels weird to call it their bedroom. She moved in two months ago, after a lot of discussions, a lot of healing and a lot of promises. They merged their things together nicely, much easier than Lucy ever expected and now the space was really starting to feel like it was theirs.
She rises up slowly and walks over to the sliding glass door to let Kojo out. She stands there, watching him go out, do his business, chase a few squirrels around the yard before he is back at the door. She lets him back in, moves to the kitchen to grab him a bone, he takes it gingerly from her and trots off to his dog bed.
Lucy knows she needs to go talk to Tim, they had driven home in silence. Not the comfortable silence that they are used to, but silence filled with tension, with something simmering below the surface. She knows he’s angry with her, and she knows why he’s angry with her, but they still have to talk about it.
She trudges down the hallway, and pushes the door open. She can hear the shower running and for a second debates going to join him, but she knows that wouldn’t solve anything, just delay the inevitable.
Instead she begins to pull off her clothes, throwing them in the laundry basket then turning to open up her dresser drawer. She rummages around until she finds a worn pair of pajama shorts that she tugs on. Then she moves to Tim’s drawer, pulls out one of his old LAPD t-shirts and pulls it over her head. If they are going to fight then she might as well be comfortable while they do it.
She hears the shower turn off and she moves to sit down on the edge of the bed as she waits for Tim to emerge from the bathroom.
He walks out, a towel slung low on his waist, his chest still glistening with water droplets, his head down. She watches him move to the dresser, pull out a pair of boxers then he disappears back into the bathroom. That's how Lucy knows he’s mad, he usually wouldn’t hesitate to drop his towel right in front of her, letting her see every inch of his naked body. But not tonight, tonight he retreats back into the bathroom, hiding away from her and it breaks her heart just a little bit.
The door opens and he walks back out, dressed in his boxers but his chest still on display for her. He walks around to his side of the bed and sits down on the edge, their backs to each other.
Lucy takes a deep breath, “Are you ready to talk about it? We can’t just shut each other out. We promised we wouldn’t do that.”
”Like you shut me out?”
She sighs, “Tim, it wasn’t like that and you know it. I didn’t mean to shut you out. Everything happened so fast, there wasn’t time.”
She feels the bed shift as he rises to his feet, “There wasn’t time? Lucy you could have found the time to tell me that you were going undercover, you should have made the time. Instead you just left, left for three days with no contact and I had to find out from Angela.”
“I know..”
He cuts her off, his voice rising, “How do you think I felt? Waiting for you after shift wondering where you were, worrying about you? I had no idea where you were.”
”I know exactly how you felt. Because I felt the same way when you walked out on date night and ghosted me for thirty six hours.”
The words come out of her mouth before she can stop them, and she immediately claps her hand over her mouth as she hears Tim take in a sharp gasp.
His lips pull into a thin, tight line and she watches him take a deep breath before he speaks, “Right. You’re right. I did do that, so you know exactly how it feels. And I thought when you said you forgive me for everything that meant we could leave all of that in the past but I guess not.”
He moves to the dresser, pulling out a shirt and a pair of gym shorts. He tugs the shorts on, “I’m going for a run. I’m not doing this with you right now. You can’t keep throwing that in my face if we are truly moving forward.”
She stands up from the bed, rushes towards him and grips his arm, spinning him around to look at her, “You don’t get to just run away. We promised each other we wouldn’t do that anymore. We have to talk about this, that’s the only way forward.”
She sees his eyes soften so she continues, “I do forgive you and we are moving past everything, it just slipped out, I’m sorry. I just wanted you to understand that I do know how you felt, because I felt the same way when I didn’t know where you were for thirty six hours.”
She takes a breath, “But I shouldn’t have thrown that in your face, I’m sorry.”
He deflates, letting out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding, “I’m sorry too. I just.. I thought you were done with undercover work then Lopez said you went under and I panicked. I know you’re not Isabel, I know you will always do everything in your power to come home to me, that you wouldn’t just leave unless there was a good reason. But Lucy you could have found a minute, just one minute to fill me in on what was going on.”
She nods, her grip on his arm tightening, “You’re right. I should have. It just all happened so fast and I was excited for the opportunity. And maybe part of me avoided telling you because I was scared of how you would react. But I know that was wrong, I should have never just left without telling you.”
He closes the little space between them, reaches out and pulls her into his arms. She wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face in his chest as he rests his chin on top of her head.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers into her hair, “I shouldn’t have shut you out. I just needed some time to deal with my feelings, I didn’t want to say something I couldn’t take back.”
She nods, “I know. Thank you for talking about it with me. We can get through anything Tim, as long as we communicate. No running.”
He tightens his grip on her, “I was just so scared. Angela told me you went under and it could be a couple of days and I was so scared. I kept imagining the worst case scenario, how I didn’t get to say goodbye and didn’t get to tell you how much I love you.”
”Well I’m here now. And I’m done with undercover. For real this time. Not even short assignments. I don’t want to miss my life, I don’t want to miss you. And I love being a sergeant, I really love it. I don’t need undercover work anymore.”
He pulls back to look into her eyes, studying them for any sign of doubt, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to have any regrets.”
”The only thing I would regret is missing out on my life because I’m off working undercover for six months out of the year. I have big plans for our life together, and I don’t want to miss a single second.”
Tim leans down and kisses her gently, his hands coming up to cup her face, thumbs rubbing across her cheeks, “Big plans huh? You gonna fill me in on those big plans?”
She giggles as he presses a kiss to her nose, “Maybe I’ll share if you’re lucky Bradford.”
”Oh I know I’m lucky, because I’m standing here with you in my arms.”
”Smooth. Very smooth.” She laughs as he ducks down to press his lips to hers again, this time a little rougher, sliding his tongue in to swipe hers.
He pulls back and looks into her eyes, shining with so much love, “Come on. Let’s go to bed. It’s been three days without you, I miss my night time cuddles.”
They separate, both moving to their sides of the bed before climbing in and getting under the covers. Lucy slides over, resting her head on Tim’s chest, one leg thrown over his while his arm wraps around her and he begins to run his hand through her hair.
She hums softly, “You know, maybe I should tell your boot how much you love night time cuddles, he probably wouldn’t be so scared of you if he knew that.”
His hand drops from her hair and pinches her shoulder lightly, “Watch it Chen. I have an image to protect. It’s already struggling because Angela keeps making fun of the “dopey” look I get on my face everytime I see you.”
Lucy laughs again, “Well she’s not wrong.”
They lay there together, Tim’s hand running through her hair until she drifts off to sleep. As he lays there, staring up at the ceiling, he thinks about the plans he has for their future. Plans that include a little black box that has been hidden away in his sock drawer since their second first date.
He shuts his eyes and begins to drift off, holding Lucy close and dreaming of the future he can see clearly laid out in front of him.