Chenford-The Bar

12

Stepping into the shop, Lucy realized that her relationship with Tim would never be the same. He had confessed plain as day. There was no other way to take it. Tim had feelings for her.

Tim Bradford. Sergeant Tim Bradford. Her training officer, the man she thanked for her career. Has feelings for her.

She felt like she was in middle school again. Crushes and boy drama. She wanted to laugh and / or cry, but Tim was sitting right next to her.

He, of course, wasn't saying a word, and she knew that he was hoping he could act as if he wasn't even there. Lucy actually had almost forgotten he was there if it wasn't for the car starting to move.

She quickly glanced over at him, and you could barely even tell he had just turned the most important relationship in his life upside down.

He was good with maintaining facial expressions, but Lucy knew him too well for it to work on her. He fidgeted with his fingers on the wheel.

They were just patrolling at this point. Mid-afternoon with a few hours to go on the clock.

Tim was hoping to make it out with limited calls and, in turn, limited conversation. But of course, the God's weren't finished with him just yet.

"7-Adam-19....." The call came through the radio from dispatch. Tim turned on the sirens and let them know they were on the way.

No words were exchanged between Tim and Lucy. Lucy was honestly in awe at Tim's ability to not speak to her.

They arrived at the call, a possible breaking and entering. Before getting out of the car, Lucy turned to Tim, tapping him on the arm. He turned, glancing quickly and just as fast, averting his eyes.

"Tim. This can't be how it is all day. We have to talk about this." She knew this wasn't the time or the place, but it needed to atleast be said.

"Chen." He finally met her gaze, his face read as confused. "We can't talk about this right now." He glanced to the cameras in the shop.

She looked at the cameras and sighed. She turned back and met his eyes. A moment of silence fell on them. Both seemingly slipping back to the night at Tim's house. Admiring each other's features with quick up and down glances.

And in a blink of an eye, a slam on the shop window vacated any moment they were having. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! THERE IS A MAN INSIDE MY HOUSE!"

A lady was standing outside of the car window. Both cops quickly got out.

The call ended quickly. Apparently, the lady had forgotten about a mannequin her daughter had bought for school, and no one was actually in the house.

Tim was talking with her and writing a few things down for the report while Lucy waited by the shop. She took a few moments of peace to really think about how she wanted to do this.

Did she really want to jump right back into a relationship? She had just gotten out of one, not even a few hours before. Then she thought about how long she had wanted this relationship.

She felt her ears burn from remembering the first time she truly saw Tim as someone she wanted to be more than just friends with.

She remembered the night well. She was staying over at Tim's house for the first time ever. Under not great circumstances. She remembered asking for a hug. Tim didn't even hesitate.

She remembered him embracing her in his arms. She remembered the feeling in her stomach when he pulled away. Looking up at him and seeing his face so close to hers had made her stomach flip.

She remembered the feeling of realization as he went into his room.
She had guessed the feelings had been there for a while, but she didn't want to admit it.

So much had changed since then. Except for her feelings, they had only grown stronger over the years. She, of course, had stowed them away. Now, they emerged in a new light. Reciprocated.

She looked down at her feet and sighed. Was she really going to do this? Was it too quick? What if they were rushing and it didn't work out?

Tim glanced over at Lucy while the lady was answering a question. He noticed he had been doing it a lot lately. Wonder why. He stifled a scoff that was directed at himself and turned back to the lady, writing a few things down and giving her his card.

He walked back to the shop and stood in front of it. Lucy looked up and met his eyes. He sighed deeply and opened the door.

Only 2 hours left.

Once they made it back to the station, Lucy offered to do the paperwork while Tim grabbed them some sort of food. They hadn't exactly had a chance to eat.

Tim walked into the breakroom and was staring at the selection of granola bars when he heard a familiar voice. "So, how's the pining going?" Angela was smirking at Tim when he turned around to face her.

He had almost forgotten their conversation that morning. It felt like it had been days since they had last talked. Tim sighed and closed his eyes. Angela cocked her head and squinted at him. "What did you do."

Tim opened his eyes but made sure he wasn't making eye contact for what he was about to say. "Chris may have come in, and Lucy may have broken up with him." He looked at her, waiting to see her reaction, but it was steady. She was waiting for the next part.

Tim sighed again and continued. "I may have taken that opportunity to... confess." Now her expression changed. "What!?" Angela was practically screaming, and Tim could feel the stares from the fellow officers in the room.

"Would you quiet down. I didn't mean to it, just. " Tim shrugged his shoulders and moved side to side slightly, "slipped out."

Saying it like it was the most casual thing he could have possibly done. Angela gave him a look like he was crazy and Tim knew he deserved it.

He knew he screwed up. Lucy wanted to talk to him, and Tim knew it wouldn't be what he wanted, not that he really knew what he wanted anyway.

"Well? What'd she say?" Angela was giving him a concerned look, and Tim knew it was genuine. Despite making jokes, Angela knew when to be serious.

"Nothing. She said we had to get back to work, and then at the last call, she said we'd talk about it later." Angela nodded and gave Tim a pity look now. "I'll be fine." He turned back around and grabbed a handful of bars for him and Lucy.

"I gotta go." He headed for the door. "Let me know how it goes!" Angela yelled at him as he was exiting.

He shook his head and met back up with Lucy. She had finished the paperwork and walked over to him. "We should head back out." Lucy avoided eye contact. Tim nodded.

An hour was left. The minutes ticked by, and the calls came in. Paperwork was filed, and the clock finally struck 8. End of shift.

Tim walked out of the locker room with his duffel bag and looked up from his phone to see Lucy waiting for him. She was already staring at him with her lips pressed together. She nodded her head towards the parking garage.

Tim sighed as Lucy started walking in that direction. Is this it? He asked himself. Is this really how it's going to end? He stupidly confessed, and now the woman he longed for was walking away.

He followed, of course, and stepped out in the cool brisk air of L.A. He stood next to Lucy, who was next to her car.

He looked at her and waited, not wanting to say the first word. He was scared.

Lucy looked down at her keys and finally met Tim's gaze. She sighed and pressed her lips together again. Tim squinted his eyes at her. A conversation seemed to form between them without a word being spoken.

It ended with Lucy looking back down and slowly shaking her head. "Tim." The word hung in the cold air. A slight fog escaping from Lucy's warm breath. The word made Tim's skin crawl.

Shit.