Chenford-The Bar

9

"You what?" Angela almost yelled. It was Sunday morning, and her and Tim were walking into the station. Tim put his hands up. "She was gonna puke in my car! What the hell was I supposed to do?" Angela scoffed.

They made their way to Angela's desk. "Sleeping with each other seems a bit extreme for not wanting puke in your car." She sat down and smirked at him. He gave her a glare in response and tilt his head as if to say, Really?. She put her hands up. "Just saying."

He threw his head back and rolled his eyes. "Oh my god. You know that's not what I meant." He leaned on her desk. "Still. Sleeping in the same bed doesn't seem necessary in the context." Tim despised the detective talk he was currently receiving.

She studied his face and chuckled, knowing that teasing him about her would make him turn red and just a little defensive.

"She had a nightmare and asked me to stay with her until she fell back asleep. So what? It doesn't mean anything. It was an accident. I didn't mean to fall asleep." Saying those words outloud seemingly made Tim's case even worse, and he knew it when he saw the face Angela was giving as a response.

She gave him the look, and it wasn't the first time he had received it. Not even the first time he'd gotten it about Lucy either. "I don't like her." He gave a look back. "Not like that." She turned in her chair and sighed. "This conversation is getting old, Timothy." She turned on her computer.

Tim scoffed and squinted his eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She spun around so fast in her chair that Tim thought it'd break. "You really wanna play dumb?" She squinted at him."You've liked her for so long, and it's honestly so sickeningly obvious because the only ones who don't see it are you and her."

Tim was about to respond when he heard Nyla's voice coming from behind him. "You talking about him and Lucy?" Angela looked at Tim and smiled before turning to Nyla. "Mhm." Tim sighed and shook his head. "Whatever."

Nyla sat down next to Angela. "I mean, I'm not saying that you have a crush, but I am saying that freaking out after a quick makeout for work is kind of telling." She smirked and glanced at Angela, who was nodding in agreement.

Tim had told Angela about it the next day that it had happened. He hadn't planned on telling Nyla, but it was either him telling the facts or Angela telling a twisted version. He had opted for the safer option.

"I did not freak out." Tim said, still leaning against the desk, and a hand on his hip. "I was just concerned she was reading into it." The two detectives gave one another a look of disagreement towards his words.

"You need to just tell her." Angela finally spoke. Tim shook his head. "Even if I did have feelings for her. Telling her wouldn't make any of it better. She has a boyfriend, and I'm her superior officer. Plus cops dating cops has a million red flags in it of itself. The relationship never works."

He had already gone over this in his head before. He knew he had feelings for Lucy, but saying it outloud made it too real for him.

Nyla nodded. "You're not wrong. Either of you." She gestured towards Angela to reassure her that she wasn't taking a side. "Telling her and her not reciprocating them could lead to issues. And that's kinda best case scenario. Because if she does reciprocate them, then one of you would have to transfer. Station or position." Tim got uneasy at the possibility that the feelings he has for Lucy are one-sided and that that was best case scenario.

"Both of you are in a good spot in your careers right now. I mean, Lucy is killing it as a U.C, and you love being a sergeant. It's risky either way." Nyla shrugged and looked to Angela again for an opinion.

"Making it awkward or continue to pine for eternity. Choose your pick." Angela smiled at him. Nyla shook her head and chuckled. He tried to give a weak smile, but all Tim could think about was the next 12 hours.

Lucy was his Gofer, and after everything that had happened with her Friday night, he didn't know whether it was a good idea to still ride with her.

He had ultimately decided to stick with it and make it as smooth of a shift as possible. If he could ignore what happened with Lucy - and Angela's comments - then he figured he could survive.

The first call was nothing out of the usual. Domestic violence. The car ride over, however, was.

"So." Lucy said. She twiddled with her thumbs. They hadn't spoken since they'd gotten into the shop.

Tim was driving, per usual, and Lucy had noticed his glances and stiffness towards her the whole morning.

Now she won't deny that the only reason she knew he was glancing was because she was also doing some observing. Getting into Tim's mindset was nearly impossible, but Lucy had her ways.

"So." Tim responded. Not a great start, but something Lucy could work off of. "How was the rest of your weekend?"

Boring small talk was the bane of Lucy's existence. But here she was.

Tim gave her a pity filled look and sighed. "Took Kojo on a walk and watched football." Lucy nodded. "Did they win?" Referring to the football team. The Chargers, of course. Tim was a diehard fan.

"Nope."

Lucy nodded again. Back to silence, it was.

Tim had noticed Lucy's valiant efforts in trying to converse, but he really couldn't handle having a normal conversation with her. Especially when the conversation was just attempts to avoid the elephant in the room.

Hours later, while coming back to the station to process a flasher, Chris had walked up to Lucy. He was there to represent a case. He walked over to Lucy.

"Hey, I'm so glad I caught you." Chris said with a smile on his face. Lucy looked over to Tim to make sure it was ok if he got this one. There was something she needed to do.

Tim nodded. Even if he hated the way seeing them together made him feel he didn't feel like making everyone else's day miserable. But he couldn't help but feel jealous as he saw them talking from across the way.

"Can we go somewhere private?" Lucy asked Chris. Chris continued smiling but gave a confused look. "Uh yeah, sure." Lucy walked him into an unused interrogation room. "What's up?" Chris asked, still having the confused expression on his face.

Lucy realized just how unprepared she was for this when all she could say was. "How was your day?" Chris squinted at her. "Uhm, good. Is that really what you pulled me in here for?" He chuckled.

Lucy sighed. "No. Maybe you should sit down." She gestured towards a chair. Chris's smile faded, and a more concerned look took place on his face. 

Unlike Tim, Chris's expressions were much easier to read. But no matter what expression it was, he always managed to make it look condescending.

Chris walked towards her. "What's wrong, Lucy?" She sighed again. She hated doing this, but she knew that she couldn't be with him anymore. The relationship they had together just wasn't what she was looking for, and it wasn't fair to lead him on any longer.

"We should break up."