Chapter Text
Tim was sitting in his backyard on a Saturday night, a beer in one hand as he waited for his food to arrive before starting the third game he had saved on his DVR.
Work had been crazy all week. Between the long hours, the constant calls, and everything else that came with being a sergeant, by the time Friday night had come around, Tim had wanted nothing more than two full days where nobody needed anything from him.
He had the entire weekend off and absolutely no plans except for the prerecorded sports games waiting on his DVR.
And honestly, that was exactly how he wanted it. He leaned back in the lounger and looked up at the stars above him. The night was warm, the backyard was peaceful, and for once he didn’t have to think about work or worry about what he had to do next.
He could sit there with a beer and enjoy the fact that he had nowhere to be, something he missed more often than he probably realized.
Tim spent so much of his life moving from one responsibility to the next that he often forgot how nice it was to simply stop for a while. There was no uniform waiting for him, no radio going off, no paperwork sitting on his desk, and no one asking him to make a decision. It was just him, his backyard, and an entire weekend with nothing on the schedule, and after the week he had just had, that sounded pretty damn good.
After a few more minutes, he pushed himself up from the lounger and headed back inside. He grabbed a plate, a few napkins, and another beer from the fridge before carrying everything into the living room.
He set them down on the coffee table and had barely straightened up when there was a knock at the front door, making him reach for his wallet before heading toward the entryway.
When he opened the door, he greeted the delivery driver and took the pizza from him. He handed over the money, thanked him, and closed the door before bringing the pizza into the living room.
The box landed on the coffee table, and Tim sat down on the couch before opening it. The smell alone was enough to make him realize just how hungry he was, so he grabbed a slice, leaned back against the cushions, opened his beer, and picked up the remote.
A few seconds later, the game was back on, and Tim settled into the couch as he took a bite of his pizza. He cheered when his favorite team scored and muttered under his breath when they made a stupid mistake, completely absorbed in the game. This was exactly what he had wanted from his weekend, and he was perfectly content spending the rest of the night right where he was.
Just as he reached for a second slice of pizza, there was another knock at the door. Tim paused the game and looked toward the front hallway before glancing at the clock on the wall. It was nine o’clock, and he really wasn’t expecting anyone, so he set his plate down and got to his feet before walking toward the door.
When he opened it, Angela was standing there with a plastic bag hanging from one hand. Tim stepped back and motioned for her to come in, looking her over as he asked, “Ang, what are you doing here? Everything okay?”
Angela smiled as she walked inside. “Yeah, everything is fine. I just realized something today.”
Tim closed the door behind her and gave her a curious look. “And what did you realize today that had you coming over here instead of calling me?”
Angela laughed as she turned to face him. “Today I realized that you and I have been friends for over fifteen years, and today just happens to be the date you and I met at the academy and became friends.”
Tim stared at her for a second before a surprised smile crossed his face. “Oh, wow. I didn’t even realize it’s been that long.”
“Yeah, well, apparently I’m the only one who pays attention to important dates,” Angela said with a smirk.
Tim gave her a look. “You’re calling the day we became friends an important date?”
“I’m calling fifteen years of friendship an important thing.”
Tim shook his head, already knowing from the look on her face that she hadn’t shown up at his house simply to tell him how long they had been friends. “So what exactly do you suggest we do to celebrate this friendship?”
Angela’s smile widened, and Tim immediately pointed a finger at her. “And I’m not going to a bar for drinks. I’ve already been drinking.”
“No, dummy.” Angela lifted the plastic bag in her hand. “I brought something.”
She reached inside and pulled out a box, making Tim look at it curiously. “What’s in the box, Ang?”
Angela set it down on the kitchen island and opened it. Tim stepped closer, and his eyes immediately landed on the chocolate cake inside. Then he saw the writing across the top and stared at it for a second before he started laughing.
Best Friends for Over 15 Years
Tim looked over at Angela. “You’re ridiculous. Did you seriously have them write that on the cake?”
Angela started laughing. “I did, and they thought it was really nice.”
“Of course they did,” Tim said, shaking his head as he walked over to the cabinets and started pulling out two plates.
Angela looked toward the living room and noticed the two empty beer cans sitting on the coffee table beside the pizza box. “I’m sorry, was I interrupting something?”
Tim glanced back at her. “No. I was just watching the prerecorded games I had saved. Those games were the only plans I had for this weekend.”
Angela laughed. “Those are some big plans. Sorry for crashing your exciting weekend.”
Tim pointed toward her with one of the plates. “Shut up. You’re lucky I like keeping you around, especially since we’ve apparently been best friends for over fifteen years.”
Angela started laughing again, and Tim grabbed forks, a knife, and two glasses before filling the glasses with water and setting everything down on the island. He cut two slices of cake and placed one on each plate before handing one to Angela, who took it from him with a smile.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
They sat down at the island, and before Tim could pick up his fork, Angela lifted her glass. Tim looked at her, and Angela smiled as she said, “To over fifteen years of friendship. Here’s to many more years of laughing, arguing, annoying each other, and always being there when the other one needs it.”
Tim’s expression softened as he picked up his own glass. Their glasses tapped together, and he gave her a small smile. “To fifteen years.”
Angela took a drink, and Tim set his glass down before looking at her. “You’re absolutely ridiculous for doing this, but it was sweet. Honestly, I’m glad I have you in my life. You’re a great friend, someone I can always count on to be there. You’re like a second sister to me.”
Angela’s smile grew as she took another bite of cake. “Aw, Tim. That’s so sweet. I consider you like a brother, another one to add to the many I already have.”
Tim stared at her for a second before he started laughing. “Thanks.”
“What? You know I love you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
They both laughed, and Tim picked up his fork again before looking across the island at her. “Can you believe that in fifteen years, we’ve both moved up in our careers and ended up where we wanted to be? You became a detective, and I’m a sergeant.”
Angela smiled. “We always pushed each other to be better, and we always had each other’s backs when it mattered.”
Tim nodded. “We’ve been through a lot, but I wouldn’t change our friendship for anything. I’m glad we got along at the academy. It’s been fun, stressful, and annoying at times, but we always cheered each other on.”
“I remember meeting you that first day at the academy and thinking you were intense and a little intimidating,” Angela said with a smile.
Tim raised his eyebrows. “I was not.”
“You absolutely were.”
“I was friendly.”
Angela stared at him for a moment, and when Tim frowned and asked, “What?” she started laughing. “Tim, nobody would use the word friendly to describe you when we first met.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is.”
Tim crossed his arms. “Keep going.”
Angela shook her head, smiling at him. “You were intense and intimidating, but you also had this confidence about you. You knew what you wanted, and you didn’t let anything distract you from it. I remember thinking you were going to be an amazing cop.”
Tim looked at her, clearly caught off guard by the sincerity in her voice, before smiling. “Wow. Thanks, Ang.”
He picked up his fork and pointed it toward her. “I remember meeting you too, and then I watched you destroy half the guys in rope climbing and pull-ups over the wall. I knew you were going to be badass. You weren’t going to let anybody get in your way, and you knew exactly what your goal was. I admired that.”
Angela looked genuinely touched. “Wow. That’s really kind of you to say, Tim.”
Tim smirked. “Plus, I was kind of worried you’d kick my ass if I didn’t let you win a few times.”
Angela immediately started laughing and shoved his arm. “Shut up.”
Tim laughed. “See? This is exactly what I mean.”
They both laughed, and Tim took another bite of his cake before Angela noticed him chuckling to himself. “What?”
Tim swallowed and looked at her. “What’s funny?”
“You are.”
“Okay, what did I do?”
Tim shook his head. “You remember the first argument we had at the academy?”
Angela’s eyes widened before she burst out laughing. “Oh my God.”
Tim started laughing too. “We were studying, and you kept giving me answers to the questions we were practicing for the test.”
Angela pointed her fork at him. “Because I was right.”
“You were not.”
“I was.”
“You weren’t.”
Angela laughed. “You kept telling me I was wrong, and you were so damn annoying about it.”
Tim grinned. “You stormed out of my place.”
“Because you were being annoying.”
“You didn’t talk to me for two days.”
Angela covered her face for a second as she laughed, and Tim continued, “Then you showed up at my place with takeout because the show we watched together to keep us from stressing about tests and exams was on. You walked right into my place like you hadn’t ignored me for two days.”
Angela shook her head as she laughed harder. “Oh wow. I forgot about that.”
“I didn’t.”
“Of course you didn’t.”
“You held a grudge for two days over practice questions.”
Angela pointed at him again. “You were wrong.”
Tim laughed. “Sure, Ang.”
Angela smirked as she took another bite of cake. “But you’ve got to admit, you were definitely annoying sometimes, showing up at my place before the sun was even up and waking me up to go for a run.”
Tim started laughing. “Oh yeah. The amount of shoes and pillows I had to duck because I showed up too early.”
Angela looked at him. “You showed up before the sun came up, Tim.”
“Still.”
Angela laughed. “You’d stand outside my door like it was a damn emergency.”
Tim smiled. “But you still ran with me.”
“Eventually.”
“Yeah, you ran and cussed me out the entire time.”
“It was way too early.”
“It was entertaining.”
Angela shook her head. “You were lucky I didn’t throw more than pillows at you.”
Tim laughed. “You tried.”
Angela suddenly looked up. “Oh my God. Do you remember Frank?”
Tim immediately started laughing. “Which part?”
“The part where he thought he was the best person in the class.”
Tim shook his head, already remembering. “Oh yeah.”
Angela laughed. “He was always going on and on about how he was going to climb his way through the ranks and become the head of police one day.”
Tim grinned. “I also remember you telling him to shut up about it a few times.”
“A few?”
Tim laughed, and Angela leaned back in her chair with a grin. “Guess who’s my mailman now.”
Tim stared at her. “No way.”
Angela nodded. “I saw him about a month ago. We talked for a few minutes, and he told me policing wasn’t for him. He quit the second day on the job.”
Tim stared at her for a second before he started laughing. “Oh, wow.”
Angela laughed. “Guess he’ll never be the head of police.”
They both started laughing, and Tim shook his head. “I can’t believe you ran into him.”
“Neither could I.”
Tim leaned back in his chair. “You remember all the nights we went to the bars when we were in the academy? All the dart games I won against random people?”
Angela immediately started laughing. “Tim, you would challenge the most random person in the place.”
“I liked darts.”
“You would find someone you could tell had absolutely no aim.”
Tim frowned. “That’s not true.”
Angela stared at him until he smiled. “Okay, maybe sometimes.”
Angela laughed. “And then you, with your perfect aim because of your years in the Army, would beat them.”
Tim shrugged. “They agreed to play.”
“Because they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into.”
Tim chuckled. “That was so much fun.”
Angela shook her head. “You were such a menace.”
“Still am.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Tim took another bite of cake, and Angela looked around the kitchen before smiling at him. “Do you remember the first time I introduced you to Wesley?”
Tim smirked. “I do.”
Angela started laughing. “And I still can’t believe you did that.”
Tim looked completely unapologetic. “I stand by what I did.”
“You terrified him.”
“I didn’t terrify him.”
Angela stared at him, and Tim shrugged. “Okay, maybe a little.”
Angela laughed. “You showed up and basically interrogated him. Then you told him I was like family and if he hurt me, you would make sure you hurt him worse.”
Tim smirked. “And now Wesley and I are good friends.”
Angela shook her head, smiling. “You are unbelievable.”
Tim leaned back in his chair. “Look at you now, happily married with two great kids. So I guess I didn’t scare him off.”
Angela smacked his arm.
Tim laughed. “Hey.”
“I was embarrassed for weeks.”
“But he married you.”
“He did.”
Tim smiled. “And he survived.”
Angela shook her head, and Tim looked at her. “I had to get you back for all the girlfriends you scared away because you intimidated them and told them they weren’t good enough for me.”
Angela’s smile widened. “Well, some of them definitely weren’t.”
Tim laughed. “You are impossible.”
“No, I’m honest.”
“You threatened one of them.”
“I did not threaten her.”
“You told her you knew where she worked.”
Angela tried not to laugh, but Tim pointed at her. “Exactly.”
“She was rude to you.”
“She said I was annoying.”
“She wasn’t wrong.”
Tim stared at her before Angela started laughing again.
After a moment, Tim’s expression changed as he looked across the island at her. “You’ve always been this tough person, someone who could scare people without even trying. You intimidated a lot of people, and I knew that about you from the beginning, but when you told me you were pregnant for the first time, that was different. Watching you become a mom was different too.”
Angela’s smile softened as Tim looked down at his plate for a moment before looking back at her. “I always knew you’d be amazing at it. Watching you with Jack, though, you changed. Not who you were, but there was this whole other side of you that I got to see. It was something else seeing this tough-as-nails person on the job go home and sing to her baby and be so loving with him.”
Angela smiled at him. “You know, you’ll find that one day.”
Tim looked at her. “I know. I just have to find the right person. You know anyone who isn’t a cop?”
Angela chuckled. “I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
“Perfect.”
They both laughed, and Tim set his fork down before looking at Angela for a moment. “You know what I love about our friendship?”
Angela looked at him. “What’s that?”
“We don’t have to talk for weeks, and when we see each other, we just pick up right where we left off. And anytime one of us needs the other, we’re there. No problem, no questions. We just show up.”
Angela smiled and winked at him. “That’s what best friends are for. We’ve got each other’s backs no matter what.”
Tim nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. They had been doing that for fifteen years, and neither one of them had ever needed to question whether the other would be there when it mattered.
Then Angela looked at Tim with a familiar smirk, making him immediately narrow his eyes. “Oh no. What’s that look for?”
Angela smiled wider. “I think I’m going to make this a yearly thing.”
Tim stared at her. “What are you making a yearly thing?”
“Our friendship anniversary, silly. We bring cake and reminisce.”
Tim started laughing. “No.”
Angela’s smile didn’t change.
“No, Ang.”
“Why not?”
“We practically see each other every day.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It absolutely matters.”
Angela pointed at the cake. “This was fun.”
Tim looked at the cake before looking back at her. Angela was still grinning, and he shook his head. “It’s not needed.”
“Careful, or next year I might have you buy me something for our yearly friendship anniversary.”
Tim started laughing. “Angela, I love you. You’re my best friend, but no. I will not buy you gifts for our friendship anniversary.”
Angela chuckled. “Love you too, Tim. Okay, no gifts next year, but I will show up with another cake.”
Tim winked at her. “Not if I beat you to it.”
Angela looked at him for a second before she immediately started laughing. “Oh, I can’t wait for you to show up at my house next year with a friendship anniversary cake.”
Tim grinned. “Better be prepared.”
“But next year, I want vanilla cake.”
Tim started laughing, and they were both still laughing when Angela finished the last of her cake and stood up from the island. She carried her plate over to the sink before turning back toward him.
“Thank you for letting me crash your night off and interrupt your baseball watching.”
Tim waved a hand dismissively. “It’s no big deal. I appreciate the company, and the surprise cake was definitely worth putting the game on pause.”
Angela laughed as she picked up her purse and placed it over her shoulder. “I’ll see you at work on Monday.”
Tim stood up and walked with her toward the front door. When Angela stepped into the entryway, he opened his arms. “Come here, Ang.”
Angela smiled and stepped into his hug, wrapping her arms around him as Tim hugged her back. They had been friends for so long that moments like this didn’t need explanations. Fifteen years of memories, arguments, celebrations, bad days, good days, career changes, and everything else had brought them here, and even though Angela had shown up with a ridiculous friendship anniversary cake, Tim was glad she had.
When they pulled apart, Tim looked at her. “Say hi to Wesley and the kids for me.”
Angela smiled. “I will, and I’ll tell the kids Uncle Tim invited them for a sleepover one night.”
Tim immediately started laughing. “I know you will, but seriously, if you and Wesley ever want a night out, I’d love to watch the kids for you.”
Angela’s expression softened. “That’s sweet of you.”
Tim shrugged. “They’re good kids.”
“They adore you.”
“Because I let them get away with things.”
Angela laughed. “Exactly.”
Tim opened the front door for her, and Angela stepped outside. “Goodnight, Tim.”
“Night, Ang.”
Tim stood in the doorway as Angela walked to her car and got inside. A few moments later, the engine started, and she rolled down her window before calling out, “Bye!”
Tim lifted his hand. “Bye.”
Angela backed out of the driveway and headed down the street, and Tim stayed where he was until her car disappeared from view. He finally closed the door and headed back into the kitchen, where he cleaned up the leftover cake, covered it, and put it in the refrigerator. He loaded the cups, plates, and utensils into the dishwasher before wiping down the island, his mind still going over everything they had spent the last hour talking about.
When he finished, Tim returned to the living room and looked down at the open pizza box before laughing. “Guess that’ll be tomorrow’s lunch.”
He picked up the remote and sat back down on the couch, but before turning the game back on, he found himself thinking about Angela and her completely unexpected visit. Fifteen years. He honestly hadn’t realized it had been that long, and somehow fifteen years had passed between meeting each other at the academy and sitting in his kitchen eating chocolate cake with Best Friends for Over 15 Years written across the top of it.
They had been through so much together. The academy, the early days of their careers, promotions, arguments, relationships, bad breakups, new relationships, Wesley, Jack and his sister, and all the changes that came with growing older and building lives for themselves. Through every one of those years and changes, they had remained friends.
Tim loved that they could go weeks without really talking and still pick up exactly where they had left off. He loved that there had never been any question about whether they would be there for each other. If one of them needed the other, they showed up. It really was that simple, and maybe that was why Angela had been right when she said their friendship was worth celebrating.
He shifted farther back into the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table before turning the game back on. A smile stayed on his face as he thought about Angela’s promise to make their friendship anniversary a yearly tradition, because he was definitely going to be the one to bring the cake to her house next year.
Maybe a day early, just so he could see the look on Angela’s face when he showed up at her door with a cake and proved that he had actually gone through with it. And it would be vanilla because she had already made sure he knew exactly what kind of cake she wanted.
Tim smiled as the game continued on the television in front of him. He had thought Angela’s idea was ridiculous at first, but now, sitting there and thinking about everything they had talked about, he understood why she had wanted to celebrate.
Fifteen years of friendship was a long time. Fifteen years of having someone in your life who knew where you came from, remembered the person you had been when you were younger, had watched you grow into the person you became, and had stayed through every version of you in between.
As ridiculous as he knew Angela would be about it next year, Tim already knew one thing.
He was bringing the cake first.