Chenford: One Shot to the Heart

Maybe It Was Meant To Happen

Author's Note: I was up late watching home renovation processes. 

Anyway, this again became something more emotional than I had intended it to...

"Lucy?" Tim was disconcerted by how quiet it was. Typically his girlfriend was blasting music. Oh, wait. There was a noise. A faint clink, clink, clink. Almost like a hammer- oh no. No, no, no. As far as Lucy was concerned, he had been able to slowly make acceptions to different quirky things she just had to have like snackable items and so on. But if she so much as touched any part of his house with a tool she most likely did not know how to use-- 

He breathed a sigh of relief when she found that the sound was rather her watching YouTube renovation videos. She seemed oblivious to the fact that he was back. He solved this problem by encircling her in his arms and planting a warm, soft kiss on the side of her head. She jumped slightly at first but then settled in. He ended up watching the video till the end with her. It was a kitchen remodel. When it was finished, he asked teasingly, "What's wrong with my kitchen Chen?" She sighed. "Nothing actually. I honestly just like watching stuff like this to get ideas. It sends me a horrible cycle though. I get so excited thinking that it's something I could handle on my own. Back in college, I tried renovating the bathroom in the apartment that my parents paid for. I managed for about two days and then had a breakdown. I had to cave and call them. Admit what I did and then watch shamefully as the contractors they had to hire came and fixed my mess easy peasy. Now I don't trust myself enough to live alone. 

He mocked hurt. "I thought you wanted to live with me." She shoved him over on the couch playfully. "You dork, of course, I wanted to live with you. But I needed to too. If you weren't here, I'd make a huge mess and probably end up burning down the house."

"Well, I guess it'd be best to not let that happen."

"I guess," she replied dully.

To hopefully lighten the mood, he said, "Because Lucy Chen the absolute worst thing you could ever do to me is invite the LAFD to my doorstep!"

She shrieked. Optimal reaction acquired. "You dork," she said, "of course that's what you're worried about. What about me?"

"Luce, come on. You'd be out of there before true danger set in. You'd be playing innocent, having no idea how the fire started. Making use of those undercover skills to play them all so that the entire house would be ensured." She giggled and rolled completely onto him. She looked so small and comical splayed out against his large frame. It was times like these that he felt despite her strength, if he dropped her, she would shatter into thousands of pieces. Looking up, she asked, "Is that the only reason you're with me? So I can help you commit insurance fraud?"

"That is the only reason," replied absent-mindedly. She punched him in the arm. "Ow, ow, ow. Geez Luce, you know that's not true." She batted her thick cloudy eyelashes coquettishly. "Remind me again," she purred. "I'm with you because I love you of course." 

"Go on."

He sighed. "I love that we were friends first. I love how you wormed your way into my life and then my heart. I love that you sing old show tunes just like my mom used to when my dad was away. I love that you think the "diabetes in a cup" you get sometimes is coffee. I love that you've got no quit in you. I love that from the very first, you've stood by me and backed up my decisions, but stepped in when my actions contradicted my moral code. I love you for being so good to me especially when I didn't think that I deserved it. I love you for being a light despite all the darkness that even you have gone through. I love you for you. You, Lucy Chen, are one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I don't know how I got so lucky."

It was all the truth. It was hard for him to express "feelings." But she was helping him with that. If he thought of them as truths that had to be said, it was easier. He heard her sniffle. Not quite what he had expected. "What is it?"

"How did I get so lucky? Really. We are, in most aspects, complete opposites. Even our work relationship was working against us. How on earth did we get here?"

He shrugged. "Guess we'll never know. Although..." he didn't want to say it. He wasn't sure if he wanted her to know.

"Say it."

"Maybe it was meant to happen."

She didn't comment on how opposite that statement was to his typical jargon.

They just sat there in silence, eventually falling asleep. Taking advantage of a rare, peaceful, comforting moment.