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Even though e-sports have seemingly taken over the boys’ interests, somehow Genny convinced Austin to do cross country. The meets were long and often boring, waiting for him to pass them at various points but Genny, Tyler and even Tim were always there to support.
Austin has been begging for Lucy to come for weeks now, only really knowing her from when she helped Tim coach Tyler’s baseball team but she very quickly won both of the boys over.
When Tim arrived at the meet, he grumbled when Genny handed him a sweater, a matching one to hers that was navy blue and had ‘Bradford’ written on the back in white. She left no room for argument, staring him down until he put it on.
He didn’t know Lucy was coming, somehow she kept it from him, but he felt lighter the second she came into his view.
Of course, they kept a respectable distance even though it took everything in them both to not give the other a kiss. Instead they settled for a simple “hello” in which Genny was giving them a side eye, but they both ignored.
As they waited for Austin to come around to where they are, Tyler asked Tim if he wanted to play catch. Tim agrees and they moved back away from the crowd. Lucy continued to chat with Genny, the two women catching up over the last few months.
When the first few runners started passing by, Tim and Tyler stopped playing and went back to wait and cheer. Tyler was ahead of him, already back at Genny’s side when Tim noticed the lettering on Lucy’s back. Genny must have made her a shirt too.
For a minute, he feels like the wind has gotten knocked out of him. Even though it’s still early on in their relationship, he can’t help but picture the day Bradford isn’t just a name on her back.
Once he finally composes himself, he walks back over, this time standing a little closer to Lucy, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “Someday, if I play my cards right, you will be one.”
She blushes instantly, wanting to say something to him but instead she’s tapped by Genny, her pointing to Austin coming towards them finally.
She does catch Tim’s eyes once he’s past, giving him a quick wink before continuing to cheer on the other runners.
—
Tim has been at the station now for 16 hours. He got called in early because of an emergency and had to stay late because of yet another emergency. He sent Lucy home, unsure of how long he’d be and wanting her to go home, unwind, get some dinner and hopefully he’d be home before she falls asleep.
It was late, 11:10pm to be exact when he finally finishes and grabs his bag. Exhausted, he drags himself into the locker room to finally change out of his uniform and head home.
To say he’s surprised to see Lucy standing there when he steps out of the locker room is an understatement.
“What are you doing here?” He hasn’t heard from her in a couple hours, he thought it was safe to assume she was sleeping.
“Well,” she takes a step towards him, “Since we rode together this morning, I knew you’d probably uber and after the day you’ve had, you shouldn’t have to. Plus, I couldn’t fall asleep without you in bed.”
He’s too tired to say much of anything really, letting out a yawn making her laugh. “C’mon, let’s go home.”
It isn’t until she turns around and is in front of him that he notices her very large, very recognizable shirt.
It’s his; a maroon long sleeve. Of course she has the sleeves rolled up some as the bottom hem is at her thighs.
“Cute shirt,” he smirks when she turns her head back with a laugh.
If he wasn’t so tired, he’d have fun taking it off of her when they got home. But he’ll just make her wear it again soon when he can throughly enjoy the view.
—
It’s been 13 days since Lucy has been home. She’s been in Baja with Nyla for almost two weeks. She misses Tim like crazy but knows she’s exactly where she needs to be.
One night in particular, she’s missing him a little extra and the breeze coming off of the ocean is a little chilly. She didn’t bring many warm clothes of her own, but she did sneak a pair of his sweats and her favorite hoodie of his.
She slips them both on after her shower, finding so much comfort in the fact that they still smell like him. She’s tried to only wear them the nights she really misses him, not wanting his cologne to fade.
11 days later and the op is finally over. They’re packing up the van to head home and the last thing to go in her bag is his sweat suit. After wearing it almost every night for the last week, it’s finally lost the smell of him. But thankfully, in just a few hours she’ll be back in his arms.
After their initial reunion, Lucy retreats to the bathroom to take the best shower of her life. He decides to start unpacking her bags, not even surprised to see his clothes nicely folded at the top. He’s not sure he’ll admit it to her, but almost every night, he would fall asleep holding one of her sweaters.
He’s just coming back from bringing her laundry into the laundry room when she’s coming out of the bathroom in another one of his shirts.
“Have I mentioned how much I love you in my shirts?” He throws the basket down and pulls her into his arms.
“Hmm, no… but you can show me how much you love it when I take them off?” She wiggles her eyebrows as she’s already backing up towards their room, squealing when he catches up to her and picks her up, gently throwing her down on the bed as her giggles fill the room.