Chapter Text
To Tim’s surprise, Genny didn’t tease him the next day when he told her about the date. Instead she rounded the table, eyes shining with tears and gathered him into a huge embrace. Neither one of them said anything, just stood there, arms around each other until she pushed away and tilted her head back at him.
A memory hit him like a bucket of cold water and he was instantly shot back in time, to being ten and eight again, when he’d handed a doll that he’d fixed. Their dad had gone on a bender and came home drunk and roaring, kicking around furniture and stepping hard on Genny’s doll. The head popped off and Genny started crying. When Tim had ran to get it, his dad yanked him so hard off the ground, he thought his arm had popped out of the socket. It was sore for days but he ignored it and worked on getting Genny’s doll back together, finally succeeding and then handing it to her a few days later.
She hugged him the same way back then, tears shining in her and a look of total admiration on her face.
“I’m happy for you, big brother,” She said, not a hint of teasing in her voice.
“It’s just one date.” He tried to downplay the emotion in his voice as he stepped out of her embrace.
A look glinted in her eyes, “Everything has to start somewhere right?”
He waved her off and rolled his eyes, shaking his head and grabbing his headphones before heading out on a run.
“I’ll need recommendations on where to take her,” he called over his shoulder.
“There’s only one romantic restaurant in town,” she replied before running to grab her phone, “Ohh, I’ll make reservations for you two right now!”
The rest of the week passed in a blur, a thankfully quiet one. He shamelessly sought Lucy out, going by her classrooms in the morning and between classes and she seemed to do the same, stopping in his office at various times throughout the day and finding him during his lunch duty.
It felt nice, to have someone like that, even if it was just seeing each other for a few casual fleeting moments. He told her about where he planned to take her, Le Petit Bistro, and her eyes lit up. She echoed Genny’s remark about it being the only fancy place in town but said she loved it though.
The rest of the week passed in a quiet tranquility that would put the Tim of the LAPD on edge, anxious about the calm before the inevitable shit storm that would follow. Now, he had let his guard down, let himself become complacent in the routine aspects of being a school cop and became wrapped up in anticipation of his date with Lucy.
The shit storm came all right, at the worst possible time.
He blamed it all on Pine uttering the “q” word that morning.
Lucy dropped into his office right before lunch and they’d finalized plans. He would pick her up at 6:30 for a 7 pm reservation. She looked giddy and happy and beautiful and he knew he had that stupid look on his face that Genny had described but he really didn’t care. In a little while he would have Lucy all to himself for hours, without any unruly teenagers interrupting them.
Tim had just stepped out of his office, about to make his way over to lunch duty, when his radio went off, Grey’s urgent voice calling him to the office immediately. There was an accusation of a student carrying a weapon. The next few hours were a blur of questions and searches and trying to decide whether or not to put the entire school on lockdown. The accused was found quickly, with no weapon on his person but then a larger picture of bullying and fears emerged. Parents were called, other students were sent to the office and the bell ending the day rang in the middle of it.
Tim could tell they were going to be stuck investigating for hours and he fired off a quick text to Lucy, letting her know he would be tied up.
Six thirty came and went. Then seven. Lucy was understanding but Tim could tell she was disappointed.
When it was finally all over and he wearily got into his truck, it was nearing eight o’clock and Tim sighed before dialing Lucy’s number.
She picked up on the first ring.
“Hey, did you finally get finished?”
He didn’t realize how badly he’d been stressed until he heard her voice and immediately calmed.
“Yeah, unfortunately I’m a little late for dinner.”
“Mm,” she hummed, “Yes, you are. And I already ate.”
“Lucy, I’m sorry, I tried to get out of there-”
“...I would love some dessert though.” Her voice rang out clear and hopeful and Tim felt his lips curl up into a smile, “I know just where to go, dress warmly and come pick me up.”
She hung up before he could protest the fact that they were going to be outside in this weather. Okay, so it was in the 50s which might as well have been the middle of summer in LA for people around here but Tim still wasn’t acclimated to this weather. He threw on a henley and a pair of jeans, grabbing some boots and a flannel before yelling to Genny that he’d be back later and rushing out the door, not even pausing for a second to give her a chance to ask him what was going on.
Lucy’s house was cute. One half of a duplex surrounded by a wrought iron fence, with a neat yard and an ornate door. She came bounding out of said door before he even had a chance to get out of his truck, dressed in a sweater that looked dangerously close to sliding off her shoulder and a long skirt.
“Hey!” After throwing open the passenger door, she slid in and turned to him, the floral scent of her hair nearly smacking him in the face and he resisted the urge to close his eyes and breathe it in.
“Hey yourself,” he said, watching her buckle her seatbelt, the honey skin of her shoulder already visible from where her sweater was sliding down, “Where are we going?”
She gave him a smile that was just slightly mischievous, “I know just the perfect place. Give me your phone, I’ll type in the address.” He did and when she finished, the location popped up on his GPS, right on the outskirts of town.
Lucy chattered on while he drove in silence, talking about the week at school and the aftermath of the food fight. He listened, glancing her way every so often but not staring long enough to make her feel uncomfortable.
They pulled up to an entrance with an arched sign over it reading Harvest Acres.
“What is this place?” He questioned, peering over his steering wheel and pulling into a dirt parking space.
“Just a little fall tradition around here,” She sang out, jumping out his truck and waiting for him to round the front before grabbing his hand and leading him towards a tunnel of sparkling gold and orange lights.
It was some sort of fall festival, complete with hay rides, a pumpkin patch and a corn maze. Tim would normally never be caught dead in a place like this but as he was being led through a tunnel of orange and white lights by Lucy, he realized there was no where else he’d rather be right now.
She let go of his hand when they entered the main area and beckoned for him to follow her, stepping around hay bales and piles of pumpkins. Soon they were in an full on farmer’s market, with rows of stalls selling various things from flowers to homemade honey. At the end was a row of food stalls, delicious aromas wafting towards them and Tim felt his stomach growl, a reminder of his missed dinner.
Lucy set off towards a stall advertising an assortment of pies and Tim followed her.
“Do you like apple pie?” She asked, turning to him, her brown eyes catching the lights twinkling around them. He nodded and she smiled, turning back towards the counter and ordering two apple pies ala mode. Tim pulled out his money clip and paid, then waited with Lucy while they served up two huge pieces of steaming apple pie, then scooped a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
“They make their own ice cream. The apples come from an orchard in the next town over,” Lucy explained next to him, “It’s the best thing you’ll ever eat. I wait for this every year.”
Tim felt the corners of his mouth rise up as he looked down at her then stepped forward to grab the overflowing plates of pie and ice cream. Lucy led them over to a seating area, overlooking the pumpkin patch, dotted with tall heaters and more lights.
They sat down opposite of each other and she dug in before he even had a chance to speak. Following her lead, he used his spoon to slice into the pie, grabbing a dollop of ice cream before bringing it up to his mouth.
The flavors exploded on his tongue and he practically groaned, half out of sheer hunger but mostly because Lucy was right, it was the best thing he ever tasted. He’d always had a sweet tooth but this was just the perfect mixture of sweet and savory.
“See, I told you,” She grinned across from him, shoving another spoonful in her mouth.
Tim took another bite and swallowed before speaking, “Sorry I missed dinner. It was kind of a crisis.”
Her face softened, “I know. I hope everything turned out okay.”
“I can’t say much but I think it will.”
“That’s good.”
They sat there in silence for a beat, both spooning pie and ice cream into their mouths.
“So, did you grow up in LA?” Lucy asked, flashing her eyes up to his.
He nodded, “How about you? Did you grow up here?”
She shook her head, “Close by though. My parents, they own a practice in a town down the highway. They’re psychologists.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Impressive. You didn’t follow in their footsteps?”
She shook her head, “They wanted me to. Expected me to. Or expected me to go into something in the medical field. Asian parents, you know? A fall back would have been to go to law school but I always knew that wasn’t for me. I actually did major in psychology but after we did some work in a school for a practicum, I realized that I wanted to be a teacher.”
“How’d your parents take that?”
“Not good. They thought I was crazy. To become a public servant, low pay in a job where I would be overworked and underappreciated. And yeah, sometimes it is that. But most of the time, it’s not.”
“Most of the time, the good is worth a thousand hours of the bad.”
“Yeah.”She looked at him and nodded, a faraway look in her eyes. He felt like he could drown in them, like he wouldn’t be able to come up for air, wouldn’t want to.
“I understand, it’s why I became a cop, why I joined the army…well, part of the reason.”
“You wanted to do something meaningful?”
“Yeah, at the end of the day, I wanted to feel like my life meant something, you know?”
“So was your dad in the military? Is that why you joined? Tell me about Tim Bradford as a kid.”
The pie turned to ash in his mouth at the question she asked. He knew it was inevitable that Lucy would ask about his childhood but he wasn’t quite ready to open that book so soon.
“No,” he started with a scoff, “My dad was most definitely not in the military, he wasn’t a cop either. He was in construction, barely. When he could hold down a job that was usually what it was.”
“That doesn’t sound very stable,” Lucy’s voice was gentle, comforting.
He shook his head.
“I didn’t have the best childhood,” he admitted, looking down at his ice cream, slowly melting over the pie, “My dad, he drank, a lot, and then he would get…angry.”
Lucy set her spoon down and looked at him, “Did he hit you?”
Tim swallowed and then nodded, keeping his eyes downcast.
“And your sister?”
He shook his head, “No, he never touched her. I wouldn’t let him. He would yell at her, scare the crap out of her, but I never let him get close enough when he was like that to lay a hand on her. My mom though...”
“What about your mom?” Lucy asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I couldn’t stop him, he had been doing it for a long time, since before we were born I think,” he took a deep breath trying to get rid of the tightness in his voice, “But when I got big enough, I protected her too.”
Lucy reached across that table and put her hand over his, he didn’t realize he’d been restlessly drumming his fingers on the table until he felt her touch and instantly relaxed.
“Tim, who protected you?”
He looked up finally and saw her big brown eyes staring at him, soft and full of compassion. He put his other hand over hers and shook his head.
“No one.” he admitted, his voice shaky, “I’m always the one doing the protecting.”
“The fierce protector,” Lucy said, her eyes shining and Tim nodded slightly. She removed her hand from his and got up from the table, pushing her bowl of pie and ice cream towards him and then walking around, ignoring the questioning look on his face. She came over to his side and swung her leg over the bench, straddling the seat and then leaned forward, encircling him in her arms. Tim melted into her, his head dropping down on her shoulder and his arms going around her.
“I’ll protect you,” she whispered into his ear and he let out a small laugh as she squeezed him even tighter. Then she let go and gracefully moved her other leg over the bench, scooting towards him and resting her head on his shoulder before grabbing her pie and continuing to eat it.
He looked down at her head, the soft curls tickling his neck and then reaching for his own plate, finishing off the last few bites with Lucy nuzzled against him, feeling more at peace than he had in years.
“It’s getting late, we should go,” she said, spooning the last of the ice cream into her mouth and then dragging the spoon out slowly. Tim slowly let out a breath before nodding and getting up quickly, grabbing their plates to throw away.
They leisurely walked towards his truck, their hands brushing against each other several times until she finally threaded her fingers through his and leaned against him again. He opened the passenger door for her and then turned to face her. She looked up at him, her huge doe eyes sparkling in the moonlight and before he could think too hard about it he leaned down to kiss her. Her arms immediately wrapped around his neck as she kissed him back, pulling him closer to her. Her mouth was cold from the ice cream and she tasted sweet and he knew that was her, not the ice cream, the sweetness, it was her very essence. Her tongue licked against the seam of his mouth and he opened up to her, letting his own tongue explore her mouth.
He knew he would never be able to get enough.
His hands clenched on her hips and she leaned into him, giving a little moan when he pulled her flush against him.
He was done for. He had fallen, he knew it. He’d never met anyone like her and he knew that he would never be able to let her go.
Finally, she broke the kiss and he chased her lips, not ready for it to end and she smiled before leaning in and they started all over again.
His lips strayed from hers, pressing along her jawline, her neck, breathing her in.
“Tim,” she said softly, “It’s getting late.”
“It’s Friday,” he said into the crook of her neck before ghosting his lips over her tattoo, making her shiver.
“I know but I’m getting up early to go to the kid’s track thing,” she replied and he chuckled into her ear, eliciting another shiver before finally straightening up to look at her. Her lips were swollen from their kisses and he thought he had never seen anything so beautiful.
Trailing his finger along her bottom lip he remarked, “Of course you are.” She smiled shyly and he continued, “I am too, I’m working security. I’ll drive you there.”
He couldn’t get enough of her, would never be able to now.
She nodded, “Ok, but I'm making you breakfast.”
He grinned, “Deal.”