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He had done it again. He had let Lucy into his head and now he was actually worried that he was about to screw up his relationship by having Ashley believe that he was going to propose to her in Hawaii.
She couldn’t actually be thinking that, right? It was way too soon for such a big step. But maybe Lucy had a point. She had shown him enough proof throughout the day that a woman would actually expect a proposal on a romantic trip like they had planned. God, why did relationships have to be so complicated!
Or maybe Lucy was just complicated.
His relationship with Ashley had not been complicated at all. Not even a little bit. In fact, it had probably been one of the least complicated relationships he had been in in years. Why was he letting anyone get into his head about this?
Tim took a deep breath as he walked out of the locker room, quickly shaking off these thoughts.
He smiled when he spotted Ashley leaning against his car already waiting for him.
“Hi,” he said as he walked over.
“Hi.” She smiled right back at him. “Did you have a good day?”, Ashley asked, pushing off of his car.
“Yeah, it was okay.” Tim shrugged. “Lucy was particularly annoying, but –“
“I don’t believe that for a second.” Ashley chuckled before pulling out her phone. “Hey, I know we said Hyatt but I just found this super cute Sharebnb in Ko Olina.”
Tim glanced at her phone screen to see the place she had found for their vacation.
Ashley grinned at him. “Cozier, right?” She clearly seemed excited about the place. “Just the two of us.”
“That’s romantic." Tim nodded but then suddenly frowned when he realized that she clearly had gotten a manicure. And there it was again: Lucy’s voice in his head telling him ‘I told you so!’.
“Is – is that – uh. Is that a new nail color?”
Ashley smiled, showing off her fingers. “Yeah. I just had them done.”
“Oh.” Tim was instantly panicking on the inside. Was Lucy actually right? Was Ashley expecting a proposal in Hawaii? Oh, god! Lucy was never going to let him forget about this. She was going to make fun of him for the rest of his life. He just knew it. “They’re – They’re pretty,” he quickly said before Ashley could realize that he was having an internal crisis over a manicure.
“Yeah?” Ashley raised her eyebrows and chuckled at how weird Tim was suddenly acting. She wasn’t sure if this was actually about her nails or if it was about something else but he seemed nervous all of a sudden.
Tim wasn’t sure what else to say. “Uh – I’m sorry.” Maybe honesty was the best way to go here. “Ashley, look. I – I need – I need to clear the air about something here.” He had to be honest about what was going on in his head or else this could go very wrong. “The reason Lucy was so annoying today is that she is convinced that you think I’m taking you to Hawaii to propose.
There was a frown on Ashley’s face but Tim kept talking.
“But I mean, you don’t – you don’t think that, right?”, he asked. “C-cause I’m not!” Okay, maybe that sounded a little harsh. “I mean, I – I think we are magic together, but I –“
Ashley stopped him by placing a finger on his lips. “Shh!” She had to fight hard not to chuckle at how adorable Tim actually looked as he was clearly panicking about this. “It’s okay.” She laughed. “I am not expecting a proposal, Tim! I’m not.”
Tim let out a sigh of relief. “Okay.” He nodded, smiling at her.
“I would say ‘no’ if you asked!”, Ashley added.
That wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear but it was still better than her expecting a proposal that was not going to happen.
“Uh, don’t get me wrong,” she continued. “I think we’re magic, too. But I just have no interest in ever being married or having kids. I’m just not wired that way,” she said.
“Oh.” Tim nodded very slowly. That definitely took a whole different turn from what he had been expecting. “Okay.” He shrugged his shoulders, almost as if he didn’t care but that was actually a pretty big confession, something he needed to think about. “Uh. Great.” He nodded again. “It’s a vacation!” Nothing more, nothing less. “Look, we’re gonna have a great time,” Tim added, returning her smile quickly.
“Yes, we will,” Ashley replied, grinning at Tim.
Tim wanted to say something else when he spotted Lucy by the entrance to the station, clearly watching him and Ashley. It was so obvious even when she turned away the second Tim noticed her. A thought crossed his mind and he turned back to face his girlfriend. “Will you do me a favor?”
~ ~
From inside the station, Lucy could watch as Tim went down onto one knee in front of Ashley and it looked exactly like what had been on her mind all day: Tim proposing to Ashley.
For some reason her heartbeat picked up, a frown on her face. She wanted to look away but at the same time she couldn’t. Was Tim actually going through with this? Was he proposing to her? Right there in the parking lot? And why was it bothering her so much? Why was her heart beating so incredibly fast? Why did it feel like she was about to have a panic attack? This was Tim! Her thoughts were racing and before she could even find an explanation as to what was going on with her, Ashley had clearly said yes and the two of them were hugging right there outside the station.
And as much as her heart had been racing before, it suddenly felt like it had stopped beating completely. She couldn’t possibly be jealous, right? After all, this was Tim. And he was clearly happy with Ashley. Really happy. And they did make a good-looking couple; that was clear to Lucy too. And –
“Hey.”
Lucy spun around. “Oh. Hi,” she said quickly when Chris walked up to her, suddenly feeling like he had caught her in something she wasn’t supposed to do.
Right. Chris. She was with Chris. And Tim was with Ashley. Shouldn’t she feel happy for them? And happy for herself? Chris was great after all. They made a great couple. He was sweet and kind and they never fought. She should definitely be happy.
Chris said something about how it was good that she hadn’t come to meet his mother but Lucy was barely even listening. She just chuckled softly in response when he did but Chris realized that something was up.
“What’s wrong?”, he asked, frowning.
“Nothing. I –“ She glanced back outside for a brief second. “I just – Hey, how about you wait in the car for me? I’ll be right there, okay?” She forced herself to smile at him and before he could even say anything, Lucy was already heading back into the station. She needed a moment to calm down before she could get in the car with Chris, drive home and act like everything was alright. She needed to be alone for a second.
~ ~
Tim laughed as he held Ashley in his arms after his little fake proposal.
He wanted to see Lucy’s reaction but when he glanced back over, she was talking to Chris, a look on her face that he didn’t like. Worry. Or maybe distress? Something he rarely saw on Lucy’s face and it made something in his stomach drop. Did he take his little prank too far? Or had Chris said or done something to upset her like that?
Still, he forced a grin when he pulled back from Ashley. “Alright, shall we?”, he asked and reached into his pocket. “Oh shoot. I think I forgot my keys in the locker room. I’ll be right back, okay?”
He hadn’t. He knew exactly where his keys were in his backpack but he needed to check on Lucy. He didn’t even think twice about the fact that he had just purposefully lied to his girlfriend only to make sure that Lucy was okay.
Tim leaned in for a quick peck before pulling away to head back into the station.
On the way in he almost bumped into Sanford. “Hey,” Tim was quick to say and Chris gave a short nod in response.
Tim didn’t like the guy. He wasn’t even sure why. But it was obvious that he wasn’t a good fit for Lucy. She deserved so much better than that guy.
He headed back inside, glancing around to see if he could spot Lucy anywhere. It took him a while and he was about to give up his little search when he spotted her in the break room, pacing up and down fast as if something was really bothering her. As if something big was on her mind.
“Lucy?”
Lucy’s head shot around and for a second her eyes were wide as she stared at Tim.
He frowned. “Are you okay?”
Was she? Was she okay? She didn’t even know how to answer that, so she went for the easy way out and lied: “Yes. Of course. I was just – forgot my keys!”, she said and held them up for him to see. For a second, she almost looked proud at how quickly she had come up with that excuse.
Tim chuckled. “Funny. Me too,” he said.
Lucy hummed, clearly faking the smile that suddenly appeared on her face. “Oh. Congrats, by the way.”
Tim frowned. “For?”
Lucy raised her eyebrows and just looked at him. Was he playing dumb with her now or was she the one going insane? “Didn’t you – I thought – you – I guess – what? Didn’t you just-“ It took her a moment to finish that sentence. “Propose?”, she finally asked and Lucy had to force herself not to pull a face again at the thought.
“Oh!” Tim’s eyes went wide. “That. Uh – no. It was a joke,” he admitted. “I was trying to prank you, Lucy. Clearly.” So this was about the fake proposal.
Lucy let out a laugh but again it sounded way too fake. “Of course it was!”, she said.
Tim forced himself to chuckle too but it sounded just as fake. “We’re not getting married. Ever,” he said and shook his head a little.
At that Lucy glanced up again, curious now.
“She’s not the type for marriage and kids and all that.”
“Oh.” Lucy nodded very slowly. “That’s uh – well, takes the pressure off of you then, huh?”, she tried to tease. Why did she suddenly feel so relieved? Why couldn’t she be genuinely happy for Tim when she thought that he was going to get married? They were supposed to be friends after all, right? “And what about you?”
Tim frowned. “What about me?”
“Are you the type?”, she asked.
“For marriage and kids?” Tim asked.
Lucy nodded.
He shrugged. “I always thought I was. But I guess life doesn’t always go as planned, right?”
Lucy frowned again.
When he saw the look on Lucy’s face, Tim just shrugged his shoulders again. “Some things just aren’t meant to be.”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
For a moment they just stood there before Lucy let out a little sigh. “Alright. Chris is waiting. And I assume Ashley is too,” she said and offered Tim a very faint little smile. “Just – Tim?” She reached out to give his forearm a little squeeze. “I always thought you’d make a really good Dad one day,” she said and this time her smile was actually genuine.
Tim looked at her, unable to reply.
“Goodnight, Tim. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lucy said. She let go of his arm and then left, leaving Tim standing there on his own in the breakroom.
Now he was the one left uncertain of why his heart was suddenly beating a little faster.