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Tim had just finished checking in on Piper and her father and was headed for the exit when his phone, still on silent, began vibrating in his pocket. He fished it out carefully, smiling unintentionally when he glanced down to find Lucy's name and picture on the display. After the initial joy at hearing from her faded, it was replaced with confusion. It wasn't as though Lucy never called, but it wasn't often that she did so so late at night, especially on nights when they were supposed to work a shift the next morning.
He slid his thumb across the screen to accept the call, then lifted it to his ear as he finally reached the automatic doors and walked out into the balmy nighttime air. "Hey," he greeted jovially, glancing both ways before crossing into the parking lot, headed in the direction of his truck. She didn't immediately respond with a greeting of her own, and her uncharacteristic silence quickly set off alarm bells in his mind. "Everything okay?" he questioned, concerned. He'd been hopeful that her trial preparation had gone well, but if she'd called him just to then sit in silence, then the odds were pretty good that it'd actually gone terribly.
She drew in a shaky breath, then exhaled slowly. "If I bring pizza and beer, can I come hang out with you and Kojo for a while?" she asked instead of answering his question.
He hesitated, only growing more worried in the face of her avoidance, but agreed nonetheless. "You don't have to bribe your way into my house, Luce," he replied dryly, unlocking his truck and pulling his door open. "You're welcome any time you want. But I'm not going to turn down pizza and beer, if you're offering." He paused. "You didn't answer me earlier. Is everything okay?"
She laughed humorlessly. "Not really. I'm, uh, I'm not going to testify against Rosalind," Tim would never admit to the relief that coursed through his veins at hearing her say those words, knowing how much the idea of facing Rosalind to talk about what had been done to her had been messing with Lucy's head, "and Chris and I broke up," now, that was more of a surprise, but Tim couldn't say he was all that disappointed to hear it, "and I really just want to be around a friend and a cuddly dog right now, if you don't mind?"
"Like I said, you're welcome anytime. I'm about to leave the hospital," he informed her, climbing into the cab and sliding behind the wheel, "so there's a chance you'll beat me there, but you can let yourself in, right? You've got your key?" He'd given it to her soon after West's death, just in case, and it'd come in handy more than once in the past.
Lucy sniffled. "Yeah, I do."
"Okay. You good to drive?"
"I'm okay, Tim," she assured him.
"Alright. I'll see you soon then, Lucy."
He could hear her smile as she responded, "See you soon, Tim. Drive safe."
"You too," he replied, waiting for her to hang up because he couldn't bring himself to do it.
She did, in fact, beat him to his place. She was lounging on the sofa when he walked in, the blanket he kept draped over the back covering her legs and Kojo's head resting against her knee as a show he was sure he'd heard about in the past but had no chance of naming in that moment played in the background. She smiled at him softly as he approached, then nodded in the direction of the pizza box and plates on his coffee table. "It's been a dinner in front of the TV kind of day for me," she offered by way of explanation, taking a sip of what he was certain was one of the teas he kept around for her use alone from the mug of his that she'd labeled her own that first morning after West's death. "Beer's in the fridge. I didn't want it to get warm."
"I'll get it," he said, flashing a reassuring smile before retreating into the kitchen to retrieve both the beer and some napkins. "So," he said a few minutes later, once they were settled with their plates and drinks, "do you want to talk about it, or do you want to watch..." he squinted at the television, still unsure as to what was going on. "...whatever that is?"
"That is Regency-era drama, otherwise known as the greatest stress relief in the world," she informed him, reaching for the remote to pause it all the same. She hesitated for a few moments, then said, finally, "I saw the video."
He didn't have to ask which video she was talking about. He'd watched it exactly once, and only because he'd had to. He'd dashed into the nearest men's room immediately after it was finished playing and avoided it at all costs ever since. He couldn't even hear that song without immediately feeling the overwhelming need to reach for the nearest trash can. "I'm sorry," was all he could think to say, knowing even as he did that it wasn't nearly enough.
She smiled gratefully at him all the same, though it faded quickly as she continued, "Chris has seen it, too. He, uh, he was humming it. The song."
Tim had to bite back his instinctual response to that, which involved far more expletives than would probably be helpful. "That why you broke up with him?"
"It was probably more of an excuse than a reason," she admitted, taking a bite of pizza and chewing for a moment before adding, "I should've broke up with him a long time ago. I never really thought it was going to work out, you know? It was easy and fun for a while, though, but then today happened, and I just felt so... raw, you know? Exposed, and, like, violated. Which I know isn't fair, I know that he's an ADA and watching the video's a part of his job..."
"Humming in front of you isn't, though," Tim countered, picking up his own slice of pizza. "And you don't have to defend your decision to break up with him to me. Didn't really like the guy much in the first place, and I definitely don't like him more now."
"You don't like any of the guys I date," Lucy pointed out, smirking at him. A little of her usual fire had returned to her gaze, and Tim had to stop himself from audibly exhaling in relief at the sight of it.
Instead, he said, "Date better guys, and maybe that'll change."
"You realize you set me up with Chris, right?" she reminded him teasingly. "And Emmett, he's your friend." He wasn't, not anymore, but Tim certainly wasn't going to tell her that. Telling her would mean hearing her ask for an explanation, and in all honesty, he didn't have one to provide that went beyond not liking anyone who caused Lucy pain. "And you might not have set me up with him, but you think Nolan's a good guy, too."
"He's okay," Tim allowed, taking a long swallow of his beer before setting it back down on the coffee table. "Not sure what Nolan's got to do with your crap taste in..." He trailed off before he could say men, his eyes flying to her face only to realize she was staring down at the floor. "Nolan?" he repeated incredulously, for clarification's sake more than anything else. "Really?"
She shrugged helplessly. "While we were at the Academy! And, uh, for a few months after," she added sheepishly, smiling embarrassedly when it only caused Tim's expression to grow even more disbelieving. "If it makes you feel better, my therapist says it's because he was emotionally unavailable and that was all I was really looking for back then."
"That does not make me feel better," he said, still in shock. "We live in Los Angeles, Lucy. You can walk into anywhere men are and find at least half a dozen emotionally unavailable ones."
"I..." She trailed off. "That's a fair point, actually."
"Who called it off?" Tim asked in spite of himself, morbidly curious about all of it.
She winced. "It was a group effort? Bishop, she'd made it clear what would happen if it got out that I was dating another cop, and, well..." She shrugged, as though that were an explanation in and of itself. To be fair, it pretty much was. "Back then, my reputation in the department was all that really mattered to me."
"Not anymore?"
"It still means a lot to me," she assured him. "I've just accepted, now, that there are things worth risking it for."
Tim decided to change the subject before he did something stupid, like ask her exactly what she thought was worth taking that risk for. "You're not the only one that went through a breakup this week," he informed her, preparing himself for her surprised gasp.
She didn't disappoint. "No! You and Ashley?" She didn't give him a chance to do much more than nod his confirmation before asking, "What happened?"
He shrugged, saying simply, "Just wasn't working anymore." Sure, it was a very simplified version of the truth - which was that Ashley had been jealous of his relationship with his partner and he hadn't been able to force himself to tell her the lies she wanted to hear, ultimately leading to him ending things and then dodging a stiletto aimed at his head in the immediate aftermath - but it wasn't far enough away to be considered an outright lie. Anyway, telling her the full truth would only complicate things, and truthfully, things felt pretty damn complicated already.
"I'm sorry," Lucy said softly, genuinely, as she reached out to rest a hand on his knee.
"Don't be," he replied honestly. "I'm not."
"Maybe we should look on the bright side," Lucy suggested, leaning back in her seat. Though he immediately missed the warmth of her touch, Tim didn't say anything. "This means our Sunday morning hikes are back on, right?"
"You mean the hikes you use as an excuse to get me to buy you pancakes from that diner near the park?" Tim questioned dryly.
She gasped in false outrage. "Those hikes are a family bonding exercise, Tim."
"So are the pancakes, if the fact that you found one of the only diners with a patio is any indication." He smiled in the face of her playful glare. "If we do pancakes this weekend, then I get to pick the movie," he bargained, falling back into their old habits without even thinking about it. Spending his Sundays with her was one of the many things he'd missed in the past few months.
She groaned, of course, but the look on her face suggested it was mostly for show. "Fine."
"But I'll watch... whatever this is with you," he added, more to see her smile than because he had any interest in watching a show about how fictional people had lived two hundred years prior.
She grinned, shifting closer so that she was tucked against his side, Kojo's head somehow managing to remain on her knee throughout all of her maneuvering. The dog had been snoring since about five minutes into their conversation; he didn't even blink at all the shifting. "I was serious earlier; this is the best stress relief. You'll see."
"Alright," he said skeptically, directing his gaze to the television.
The tension did leave his body as the night went on, but he was rather certain that had far more to do with Lucy's presence at his side than it did with anything unfolding onscreen.
"Oh, look," Lucy sighed, smiling sappily as the main female protagonist made her way down the aisle, predictably marrying the man who'd started out as her arch-nemesis. "Isn't she beautiful?"
"Yes," Tim replied, his eyes never leaving Lucy's face. "She is."