"Bradford, Chen," Grey calls after the two of them after finishing up the morning briefing.
"Yes, sir?" they say in unison.
"Lopez needs Aaron for help on a case, so, Lucy, you're back on gopher duty."
Lucy shoots a glance at Tim, who seems to already be staring a hole through her.
"I can handle being on my own," Lucy stammers, making Tim's brows furrow.
"Well, as you already know, the heat wave is coming in. I don't want anyone on their own if we can help it," Grey responds, followed by a pat on her shoulder before he walks away.
Lucy's eyes drop down to her feet as she bites the inside of her cheek.
"I'll get the gear," Tim mumbles.
"No, no. I'll do it, don't worry."
Lucy's statement from their phone call a few nights ago replays in his head as she leaves the room.
'Maybe some day in the near future, we'll have no choice but to ride together.'
He can't help but let his lips twitch upward into a smirk, amused by her intuition, before he finally realizes why she's avoiding him.
She wasn't asleep.
⊹⊹⊹
"Lucy."
She jumps at his voice breaking the deafening silence in their shop.
"Hm?"
"Can we talk?" His tone is vulnerable and almost a little sad.
Lucy bites at her cheek and fidgets with her hands. She glances at Tim, who is already looking at her. She averts her gaze to the camera in front of him, then back to his eyes.
"They never check those, and the footage is deleted monthly," Tim assures her with a nod. He reaches over from the center console, placing his hand on top of hers.
"Talk to me, Lucy."
Her lips part as her eyes gloss over. "Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry," she begs internally.
"Tim," she begins shakily, "After the bar..." She inhales sharply as he pulls the shop over to pay optimal attention to her.
"I wasn't asleep when we were on the phone," she murmurs, refusing to meet his eyes.
"I know."
Lucy's head shoots up and she looks at him, shocked and confused.
"Well, I didn't at the time. When Grey placed us together this morning, I was thinking about how you predicted us riding together when I realized."
Lucy smiles slightly and shifts her hand subtly. Tim takes this as a sign to properly interlace their fingers, and Lucy's stomach blooms with butterflies.
"I shouldn't have said it," Tim admits, making Lucy's smile drop and eyebrows furrow, "But I meant it."
( ❗️Author's note: I'm sorry this is short and also kinda doesn't make sense. I have no idea where to go with this next so PLEASE comment ideas for the next chapter!! I wanna continue this conversation between the two of them, but I have no idea how. Help me out!! )
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「 ✩ Unhealthy Habits • A Chenford Fanfic ✩ 」
Fanfiction〘 Tim lets his stress get the best of him after a long week. Lucy makes sure he knows he fucked up, but eventually ends up giving in. The tension grows between the two of them after a moment at a bar, and they attempt to live in denial.〙 ❕Before rea...
