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The sun was hanging low over the water at the docks, that kind of golden hour light which made everything feel softer than it really was. Lucy could just about hear the faint sounds of the city, the traffic, life moving. But here, near the quiet sounds of the water against the concrete of the docks, it really felt like it was just the two of them.
Tim stood across from her, his hands loose by his sides, almost relaxed, for once. But Lucy knew better, She could see it with his tight jaw, and the way his shoulders were just a little higher than normal, as if preparing for something.
The conversation. The one that they had been putting off for far too long, the one that would either break what they had built back up since they broke up, leaving them heartbroken once again, or it would reunite them in a rush of love, passion and hope for the future. The one Lucy had been terrified to have, more than she would let anyone know.
But now the moment was here, she didn’t really know how she wanted it to play out. What he was going to say. Sure she’d forgiven him, but no matter how many hookups they had, or teasingly flirty moments, it still hurt.
“Tim, you broke my heart,” Lucy said, voice calm, but guarded, which somehow made it hurt more. “The scar is so deep it might never fade”
He didn’t interrupt her. Didn’t rush to explain, justify or defend himself. He just stood there and took it, knowing he deserved it.
“I know,” he said, struggling to look at her.
Lucy swallowed, “I know that I’ve forgiven you, and that I had moved on… from the breakup.”
Tim nodded softly, “but?”
“But then I will just be anywhere, the food trucks after shift, the roll call room, my bedroom, and I’m thinking about how great it used to be”
His throat bobbed, “Lucy-”
“But then” she finished, “I remember how much it hurt when you walked away in that parking lot”
“I never stopped loving you,” Tim said, voice rough, sounding hurt, almost as if he was trying to hold back tears.
She looked at him, and she could see it so clearly in his eyes.
“I know,” she replied softly. “But that doesn’t erase what happened”
“You’re right,” he agreed, “It doesn’t”
The wind kicked up a little, tugging slightly at her ponytail, brushing a couple of strands of hair across her cheek. Tim then lifted his hand on instinct, but stopped himself, fingers curling back into his palm.
Lucy noticed.
“I don’t want to pressure you at all” Tim said, “Or to reopen things you aren’t ready to talk about yet”
“Then what are we supposed to talk about?” she asked.
He took a deep breath, “Because we can’t keep avoiding this conversation. I can’t keep just hooking up and acting like it doesn’t mean anything! And… I’ve already tried having this conversation”
Her heart stuttered.
“What?” she asked,
His mouth curved into a small smile, “That morning, at your apartment”
Lucy blinked.
“You fell asleep,” he added softly, “Right as I thought we were finally going to talk”
Her lips parted, “Tim…”
“I don’t blame you,” he said quickly, “you were exhausted. New night shift sergeant. I should’ve known better”
Lucy didn’t say anything. Just looked at him softly,
“I actually asked you then,” he continued, “I mentioned I went back to therapy, and I was actually doing the work. To be better, not just for you or us, but because I just needed to work on myself”
Lucy remembered the way his voice had sounded that morning. Happy. Soft and warm. And sincere.
“I wanted to see if we could get back together” he said, “on your timeline, of course. No pressure or expectations. I just hoped that it was what we were working towards, if that's what you want as well”
Her chest tightened. “I hope you know I didn’t fall asleep because I didn’t care”
“I know,” he said immediately.
“I fell asleep because,” she admitted, “I felt safe, you made me feel safe and relaxed enough for the first time since that night”
They were standing only inches apart now. The air between them charged, electric with everything they weren’t saying.
“I’ve done the work,” Tim said, “the therapy, the hard conversations about the army, Isobel, my dad. Sitting with the parts of myself that I hated. The ones that taught me to shut down instead of fighting for what matters”
“I can’t promise I won’t be scared you will leave again,” she said softly “or that the scar won’t ache sometimes”
“I’m not asking you to forget,” he replied. “I want you to let me be there for you while the scar heals”
Her eyes glistened in the glow of the sun.
“And I know that I have said this already,” he added, his voice shaking just a little now, “but I want to say it again, this time while you are awake”
She smiled faintly, “That’s probably wise” , her tone a little flirty.
“I wanna ask you to move in with me” he said, moving forward.
There it was again, bold, yet sincere.
“Is that right?”
“Yeah” he replied softly.
Lucy laughed softly, shaking her head. “You really don’t do things halfway, do you?”
“I don’t want to,” he said, “Not with you.”
She studied him for a moment, and then she reached out, brushing his wrist, a question, an answer and a promise all at once.
“I’m not ready to talk about moving in, just yet,” she said, “I want to settle more as a sergeant first,”
He nodded immediately, “Okay”
“But” she continued, stepping even closer, until there was practically no space left between them, “I am ready to stop pretending that this wasn’t in the back of my mind the whole time I was thinking about becoming a sergeant.” pulling him in, till their chests were flushed against each other.
Hope flared in his eyes, “Lucy-”
“We can figure the rest of this out,” she said. “Slowly, and together”
“Is that a yes?” he asked carefully.
She smiled, warm and sure and full of feelings. “Well, what do you think?”
Tim didn’t hesitate a moment longer, as he reached and cupped her face gently, as if she would disappear if he moved too fast, thumbs brushing her cheeks. Lucy was leaning into the touch, her hands gripping the front of his jacket tightly.
The kiss was soft at first, tentative and sweet. As if they were saying I love you, I missed you all at once.
Then it began to get deeper, warmer, and familiar, all of it flooding back in. All the love, hurt and healing fueling the kiss. And it felt like coming home. To both of them.
When they finally pulled back, they were smiling. Lips swollen, breath heavy.
The moment was then interrupted by a rather loud and deliberate throat clearing sound from behind them.
They both froze.
“Oh my God,” Angela’s voice said, rich with amusement. “It really is about damn time”
Celina stood beside her, beaming, eyes wide and looking like she was trying not to squeal with excitement. “I knew it!” she whispered loudly. “You guys have been so obvious lately, especially with Tim coming over and cooking Lucy a feast”
Tim sighed, as he wrapped his arm around Lucy’s waist, pressing a kiss to her forehead, “Would you mind being quiet, my girlfriend and I are trying to have a peaceful reunion over here and we could do without you to yapping”
“Girlfriend, huh?” Lucy teased him,
“If that's okay with you” he muttered to her softly,
“I love the sound of it” she beamed up at him,
“Good,” Tim grinned back, leaning in for another kiss,
Until they heard Angela chiming in again.
“Do we need to remind you that you are both sergeants on duty right now?”
“Grey is asking us what is taking so long to get the suspects back to the station? Do you want me to tell him the truth?” Celina teased.
Lucy giggled, blushing, warmth bubbling up in her chest.
“Uh… Sergeants?” Miles piped up, from a few feet away.
They turned.
Miles was just standing there blinking between Tim and Lucy with a very confused look on his face.
“Sergeants, since when are y'all together? Is it allowed? Does anyone else know?”
“Shut it, Boot.” Tim groaned,
Lucy grinned apologetically, “We only just got back together, Miles, but we have to tell Grey before anyone else finds out. Understand?”
“Yes, Ma'am,” Miles replied nervously.
Angela walked over and clapped Tim on the shoulder, “Try not to screw it up again.”
Tim looked down at Lucy, eyes soft, smile wide, “I don’t plan on it”
“Well good” Lucy smiled back,”because if you do, there will be trouble”
~~~~~~
The bullpen was much louder than usual when they walked in, the phones ringing, officers talking over each other, and the steady hum of controlled chaos. Lucy was slightly aware of Tim next to her, their shoulders brushing just enough for it to feel intentional.
Neither Tim or Lucy had separated since they got out of their respective shops, letting Celina and Miles take the suspects to the holding area.
Although, that lasted all of about 5 seconds.
“Bradford. Chen.”
Grey’s voice cut clean through the bullpen.
Tim stopped, and Lucy closed her eyes for just a second, before they both turned to Grey’s office.
Grey stood in the doorway to the office, arms crossed, and his expression unreadable, which somehow is making the situation worse.
“Sir,” Tim spoke, sounding a little nervous
Grey’s gaze flicked between the two sergeants. Slowly. Deliberately.
“Anything you two want to share with the class?” he asked, as they stepped into his office.
Lucy opened her mouth, but then closed it again, and Tim took a deep breath and looked at Lucy, who nodded.
“We’re back together” Tim said simply, trying to suppress his glee.
Grey stared at him.
Then Lucy.
And back at Tim.
“Ok” Grey said.
That was it.
Lucy was waiting for the yelling. The warnings. The lectures, just like he had when they pranked the station back on April Fools.
Instead, Grey pinched the bridge of his nose, and he sighed like a man who had just aged ten years in ten seconds.
“I don’t even want to know how long this has been going on! I just hope that it started after your promotion, Sergeant Chen.” he muttered. “But I do want to know why some of my other officers look like they watched the two of you in a romance movie scene on shift”
Angela, who had walked past the open office door, stopped. “Well they kinda did, Sir”
Grey shot her a look, “Lopez”
“Lieutenant” She grinned back.
Grey, then looked back at the newly reunited couple, “This better not affect your work”
“It won’t. Sir, we promise” Lucy replied immediately.
“It didn’t much before” Tim added,
Grey then raised an eyebrow, not truly believing the pair, “That, Bradford, is debatable”
Lucy bit back a big smile, trying not to laugh.
After a rather long pause, Grey straightened up, “Just,” he pointed between the pair, “Please be adult about this”
Tim nodded, “Always,”
Grey then added, “And Bradford?”
“Yes, Sir?”
“If I catch you breaking her heart again, I will send you to another station”
Lucy smiling up at her boyfriend, putting her hand on his arm, “See? I told you he would be supportive”
Grey at that point decided to just walk away, muttering, “I am way too old for this, and they definitely don’t pay me enough for it”
~~~~~
It then took less than 10 minutes for the rest of the station to find out.
Nyla was first, of course, she took one look at them being a little more touchy than normal and smirked at them, “It took you guys long enough”
Lucy blinked, “You knew?”
Nyla just shrugged, “Despite being cops, one of you a trained UC, you guys really are not very subtle”
Aaron and Nolan then came over to congratulate them, Angela in tow.
“I hear congratulations are in order?” Nolan said,
Lucy smiled, “He just couldn’t stay away”
“No,” Tim gazed down at her lovingly, “I couldn’t”
“Well this is cute and all,” Angela pipes in, “It’s kinda making me wanna gag, so go get a room please”
“We will,” Tim smirked, dragging Lucy off, as she giggled.
~~~~~~
When they walked into Tim’s house, it was quiet, the porch lights were glowing softly. Lucy kicked off her shoes, suddenly starting to feel nervous, something she hadn’t really felt all evening. Not since the docks.
Which Tim noticed almost immediately.
“Hey,” he muttered gently, setting his keys down, putting his arms around her from behind. “You know we don’t have to anything tonight”
She smiled, turning around in his arms, “I know” reaching up and cupping his face.
The kiss was a lot slower than it was at the docks, deeper. And less about urgency and more of the pair reassuring each other. About choosing this, them, together.
They took their time. No rushing like their hookups. No pressure. Just them in that moment, laughter breaking through the nerves, whispered reassurances.
Later, they then lay tangled up together under their sheets, bodies warm, and hearts full. Lucy rested her head against Tim’s chest, just listening to the steady beat of his heart.
“Hi” she murmured softly,
He smiled into her hair, “Hi”
They didn’t speak for a while, just enjoying each other's warmth. Just holding one another again.
“I’ve missed this,” Lucy spoke up eventually, “Not just.. This. But you, just all of it really”
Tim brushed his thumb gently along her arm, “I’ve missed just being able to hold you”
“You really have become a softie,” she grinned, smirking.
“Only for you, Luce” he smiled down at her before leaning in, kissing the smirk off her face.
They then just continued to lay there, in that moment, exchanging small confessions, from small things to topics about their future. Just reconnecting.
Then there was a sudden thump.
“What was that?” Lucy asked, lifting her head reluctantly,
Before Tim could even answer, the bedroom door was nudged open and Kojo trotted in, his tail wagging happily.
“Oh my God,” Lucy whispered, “Hi baby!”
At this, Kojo decided to jump up onto the bed and placed himself right between the couple, which Tim groaned at. “No, Kojo, get down”
Lucy just laughed, as Kojo proceeded to curl up right up against Lucy, sighing happily.
“He missed me” she said, smugly,
“He’s not the only one,” Tim replied softly, “but he has his own bed”
Kojo did not move at this, and also because Lucy had begun scratching him at that sweet spot behind his ears, and he closed his eyes.
“I can still snuggle with both my boys” Lucy said, “No need to get jealous”
Tim sighed rather dramatically at his girlfriend's comment, wrapping an arm around both of them, “I can’t believe that I fought for months to win you back and now I am losing bed space to our dog”
She kissed his chest sweetly, “You still won”
He smiled down at her, “I really did”