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It was late. The kind of late where everything softened, where the noise of the day finally fell away and the world felt smaller, quieter, just the two of them.
It had been a long day. Long hours of being Sergeant Bradford and Sergeant Chen. Decisions, reports, responsibility, keeping everything held together for everyone else.
Now, there was none of that.
Just Tim and Lucy.
Lucy on her side, her head tucked against his neck, breathing him in like she needed the reminder that he was right there. Her fingers traced slow, absent patterns over the fabric of his shirt, light and unthinking.
Tim’s hand moved through her hair in steady motions, grounding, familiar, like it was second nature now. Like taking care of her, like being close to her, didn’t require effort anymore. It just was.
They hadn’t said anything for a while.
They didn’t need to.
Because after a day of being everything for everyone else,
This was the only place they got to just be themselves.
Lucy shifted slightly, pressing closer, her leg sliding more fully over his, her body fitting into his like it had always belonged there.
“Can I ask you something?” she murmured.
Tim’s hand stilled for half a second before continuing, slower now. “Always.”
She hesitated.
Then quieter, “Why don’t you use pet names with me?”
Tim’s brow furrowed slightly. “I do.”
“I call you Luce,” Tim said, like that proved his point.
Lucy pulled back slightly to look at him. “That’s not a pet name.”
Tim’s mouth twitched faintly. “It is.”
“No, it’s not,” she said, softer but firm. “It’s just… a shortened version of my name.”
Tim shook his head once. “It’s not just that.”
Lucy frowned a little. “Tim, it literally is.”
He held her gaze, something quieter behind his expression now.
“It’s mine,” he said.
That made her pause.
His thumb brushed slowly along her jaw.
“It’s still your name,” he added, softer this time. “Just… closer. Not what everyone else calls you. Just what I do.”
Lucy’s expression softened, but there was still something there.
“But it’s not the same,” she admitted. “It’s not like… other people do.”
A small pause.
Her fingers slowed.
“I mean, I call you babe, honey… my love,” (that’s his personal favourite) she added softly. “And you… don’t really.”
Tim didn’t answer right away.
Lucy felt it.
That small shift.
Her chest tightened just a little.
“It’s not a big deal, i know.” she said quickly. “I just… noticed. And then I kept noticing.”
Her voice softened more.
“And now I can’t un-notice it.”
Tim’s hand moved from her hair to her chin, gently lifting her face so she had to look at him.
“Hey.”
Lucy met his eyes.
There was no distance there. Just steady attention.
“That’s not what it is,” he said quietly.
“Hmm?” she asked, softer now, something vulnerable sitting just under her words.
Tim studied her.
“Because I like your name,” he said.
Lucy blinked. “Tim—”
“Lucy,” he repeated, softer this time.
His thumb brushed slowly along her jaw, lingering there.
“I like saying it,” he added. “I like how it sounds when I say it.”
Her expression softened, but not fully.
Tim watched her carefully.
Then quieter, her voice softening just a little more,
“I just… want to know you feel like that about me too.”
Tim’s expression changed instantly.
His hand tightened slightly against her cheek, grounding, certain.
“Lucy.”
The way he said her name made her breath catch.
“You… Lucy Chen,” he murmured, softer now, his forehead resting against hers, “my love… you’re everything to me.”
Her eyes flickered, searching his.
Tim didn’t look away.
“That’s not even a question,” he continued, voice low and steady. “There’s no version of this where I don’t feel that. Where I don’t feel all of it.”
His thumb brushed slowly along her cheek.
“I don’t use pet names,” he said quietly, “because your name already carries everything I mean.”
A small pause.
“When I say Lucy,” he added, softer now, “I mean all of it. I mean you’re mine. I mean I choose you, always. I mean… I love you.”
“God, I love you so much,” he whispered.
Her breath caught again.
Tim’s gaze softened, but didn’t waver.
“I don’t need anything else to make it softer,” he murmured. “It already is.”
Lucy’s hand came up to his wrist, holding him there like she needed to anchor herself to the moment.
“You really mean that?” she whispered.
Tim didn’t hesitate.
“Every time.”
Something in her softened.
Not all at once.
But enough.
Tim saw it.
He always did.
A quiet shift passed between them, something settling, something still searching.
Then, softer,
“That doesn’t mean I don’t see you like that,” he added.
Lucy’s brows pulled together slightly. “Like what?”
Tim held her gaze, steady, certain.
“Like you’re mine,” he said quietly, his voice soft but certain, like it was something he held close.
A small breath.
“Like you’re everything I didn’t even know I was missing… and now I can’t imagine a single second without you in my life.”
His gaze didn’t leave hers.
“Like you’re everything good I have in my life.”
Her breath caught, softer this time.
His hand slid from her cheek to her waist, pulling her closer, slower, more deliberate, his thumb brushing gentle circles against her side.
“And for the record,” he added, his voice lowering just a fraction, something warmer threading through it now, “Sergeant Chen…”
Lucy blinked, already feeling the shift in him.
“What about it?”
Tim’s expression changed.
Not teasing.
Not guarded.
Something deeper.
“I like that one a lot,” he admitted, softer now. “Saying it.”
A small pause.
“I like calling it out across the bullpen,” he continued, quieter, like he was letting her into something personal. “Getting your attention and knowing it’s you I’m looking for.”
Lucy’s eyes softened.
“Over the radio, too,” he added. “When we’re out on patrol. Hearing it come back, knowing you’re right there.”
His thumb brushed slowly against her side.
“And in a crowd,” he said, voice dipping just a little more. “So everyone knows exactly who I’m talking about.”
A beat.
His gaze held hers, steady, certain.
“Sergeant Chen,” he murmured again, softer this time, like it belonged to him.
Lucy felt it settle deep in her chest.
Tim leaned in slightly, his nose brushing hers.
“I like saying it,” he added quietly, “because it’s you.”
“Because every time I do, I think about how far you’ve come.”
Lucy’s eyes flickered.
Tim’s thumb slowed, his gaze steady on hers.
“How hard you worked for it,” he continued quietly. “What it took to get here.”
He leaned in slightly, his nose brushing hers.
“And I’m proud of you,” he added, voice softer now, but steady. “ So incredibly proud.”
A breath.
“Proud that I got to be even a small part of that.”
Lucy’s expression shifted completely at that.
Her hand tightened slightly against him.
“You weren’t a small part,” she said quietly.
Tim stilled.
“You were everything,” she added, softer now. “I wouldn’t have made it here if it wasn’t for you.”
Her fingers slid up to his jaw, holding him there.
“You saw something in me before I did,” she whispered. “You pushed me, you believed in me… even when no one else did, when I didn’t.”
Tim’s gaze didn’t leave hers.
Lucy smiled faintly, something warm and certain.
“So don’t call yourself a small part,” she murmured. “You’re the reason I got here.”
Something in Tim shifted, deeper this time.
His hand tightened slightly at her waist.
“Sergeant Chen,” he said again, quieter, like it meant even more now.
Lucy let out a soft breath.
“That’s not fair, Sergeant Bradford,” she whispered, but there was no protest in it anymore.
Tim’s lips brushed just beside hers.
“Didn’t say it was,” he murmured.
Her hand slid into his hair, tugging lightly, pulling him closer.
“Okay,” she murmured, softer now. “But I still want one.”
Tim huffed a quiet breath, something warm in it.
Then, softer,
“Baby.”
Lucy melted into him instantly, her body pressing closer without thinking, her hand tightening slightly in his hair.
Tim felt it.
Of course he did.
His hand tightened at her waist, steady, grounding.
“That what you wanted, honey?” he murmured, voice low and gentle.
Lucy let out a soft breath, her forehead brushing his.
“Yeah… that one too.”
Tim smiled faintly, his thumb tracing slow circles against her side.
“Anything you want, sweetheart.” he murmured, quieter now, his gaze softening,
A small pause.
“My love.”
That one came softer.
Closer.
Like it meant more.
Lucy’s breath caught, her fingers stilling for just a second against his jaw before tracing again, slower this time.
“My love,” she echoed back, barely above a whisper.
Tim stilled.
That one always landed deeper.
His grip on her tightened just slightly, pulling her fully against him like he needed her even closer.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “That one stays.”
Lucy smiled, softer now, something warm and settled in it.
“Good.”
Tim’s hand moved slowly along her back, steady and warm, lingering just a little longer with each pass before he leaned in again, brushing a soft kiss just beside her lips.
“My love,” he murmured again, like he was trying it out, like he didn’t want to stop saying it now that he had.
Lucy smiled against him, her hand still in his hair, holding him there.
“Yeah, my love?” she whispered back.
Tim huffed softly, something fond in it.
And this time, neither of them let go.
Their lips met then.
Slow.
Unrushed.
Familiar in a way that made everything else fade out.
Lucy shifted slightly over him, her knee pressing between his, her body close, her touch soft but certain.
Tim held her there, his hand firm at her waist, like he wasn’t letting her go anywhere.
When they pulled back, it wasn’t far.
Their foreheads rested together.
“Luce,” he murmured, softer now.
Lucy smiled faintly.
“That one’s still not a real nickname,” she whispered.
Tim huffed a quiet breath.
“Doesn’t matter.”
A pause.
“It’s yours.”
Lucy’s smile softened.
“Okay,” she murmured.
Then, quieter,
“Hi, honey bunny.” he whispered.
Tim’s arm tightened around her.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “That one… I like.”
Lucy giggled and settled back into him, her head returning to his chest, her fingers tracing slow patterns again.
Then he leaned in.
His lips found her hair first, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of her head, lingering there like he didn’t quite want to pull away.
Another followed.
Then another.
He shifted slightly, just enough to reach her temple, brushing a gentle kiss there before trailing one to her cheek, slower, softer.
Lucy smiled faintly, her eyes closing for a second as she leaned into him.
Tim didn’t stop.
He pressed a quiet kiss to the bridge of her nose, then the other cheek, like he was mapping her out in pieces he already knew by heart.
“My love,” he murmured softly between them, like the words belonged there now.
His hand tightened just slightly at her waist as he leaned in again, brushing one last lingering kiss against her forehead.
Then settling there.
Close.
Still.
Like he didn’t need to be anywhere else.
And this time, the silence that followed felt full.
Not with questions.
Not with doubt.
Just with them.