Chenford: One Shot to the Heart

What Changed?

Lucy was puzzled. 

And being puzzled was not her favorite state of being. 

Even more infuriating was the fact that it was all Tim Bradford's fault. 

~~~

It had been one of what had become a normal evening for them. They were out. Drinking, of course. He'd walked her to her front door, being the gentleman/cop/overprotective friend mash that he was. She had invited him in for a bite to eat. They were sitting on the couch, eating grilled cheese watching the football game he had found and managed to persuade her to watch.

She smiled, recalling the conversation.

"Chen, come on. Live a little."

"No thanks. We are watching reality TV."

"Have you heard of the terms cruel and unusual punishment?"

"Have you heard that I don't care?"

"Chen. Do you want me to leave?"

As she had interpreted the gentleness of his tone, a sudden coldness cut the atmosphere. A sharp reminder that this night wasn't just one of their normal evenings. It was December 9th. The day of her death four years ago. 

"No," she whispered. 

"Okay. Then we are watching this game."

Through the passing quarters that she paid little attention to, she found herself creeping closer and closer towards him. She grew drowsy, startled awake intermittently when Tim got too excited by the game. 

At some point, she had fallen asleep. At some point, Tim had made the decision not to leave. At some point, he chose to stay. But he had made that decision a long time ago. Which was why she woke up on her couch, safely secured in his arms. 

They didn't talk about it. But he made breakfast and coffee. He drove them to the precinct and helped prep the shop before they hit the streets. The day was too normal. It had been unsettling. 

Later, after shift, he did that irritating thing where he walked her to her car.

"Thank you, for everything," she had said before turning to her car.

"Lucy," he had said. She turned, barely catching a glimpse of the hungry fire that had consumed his gaze before she found herself pressed up against the side of her car, Tim's lips pressed urgently against hers, a delicious burn settling in her chest.

~~~

The soft smile that had graced her features faded as she remembered the issue she was facing. The tears started coming again, fast and hot. A soft knock at the door startled her. She wiped the mascara that had begun to streak underneath her eyes, careful not to touch her dress.

"I'll be out in just a minute," she said as cheerily as possible.

"You can't do that Chen," Tim, of all people, responded jokingly. "It's considered bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony, remember?"

She barked out a short laugh. "Tim, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Shouldn't you," he countered. When she failed to respond, he asked carefully, "you aren't getting cold feet on me now, are you Boot?"

"NO! Of course not, I just... I started overthinking some things, and I guess I just want to know what changed? How the hell are we here today? I better not be dreaming or else I will be very pissed off."

He chuckled. "Luce. Calm down, okay? I'm not running out on you. This is very real. It's been real since the moment I realized how much you meant to me."

"When was that?"

"D.O.D."

Her hand instinctively grazed the side of her dress where the mark was.

"It was after the fact, waiting for you to wake up that it hit me. Not everything at once. I just knew at that moment that you meant more to me in a way that no one else had ever. I didn't bother thinking about it too much. There was no point considering I was with your best friend and still your T.O. But that was the moment. I never realized that that moment would lead me to this one. But it did, and I am so thankful for that. I remember the first day you walked into my life as that hotshot hopeful. And all I wanted to do was crush that positivity that you had. So I did just about everything I could think of to do so. You may have bent at points but you never broke. I grudgingly accepted the fact that you were something special. All of you were anomalies. We were around each other all of the time. Your constant chatter pissed me off. The way you always pushed the boundaries just enough was maddening. But I got used to it. And at some point, I grew to like it. You were good for me. I came around to that idea as you got on your feet as a P3 and gopher."

"Aid," she interrupted.

"Whatever. I remember feeling just so happy after you asked me to fill that role. I don't think I could have gotten used to driving around with anyone else. You kept creeping up on me. You were there when things went down with my dad. You even helped me and Ashley for as long as our relationship lasted. You were good for me. It was something Angela had told me too often. But it came to a head where I was able to admit it to myself. From there everything slowly fell into place. It took time, I'll admit. I never could have anticipated this. Never in a million years would I have supposed on that first day when you glanced back across the room at me that I would be meeting the gaze of the woman who I would fall in love with and start over with. But it happened. And now here we are."

She laughed. "I think you just spouted off your vows. Always the overachiever."

"Um... maybe part of them? If you want to hear them again though... you have to leave the bathroom and stop questioning the good coming to you or how we ended up together."

Smiling through the now-happy tears, she said, "Okay."

"TIM BRADFORD! IF YOUR FUTURE WIFE IS BEHIND THAT DOOR THEN I AM GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS AND THEN HERS!"

"Hey Angela," he said casually. "Yes, Luce's in the bathroom. Don't worry, we were only talking."

Angela morphed from angry to sympathetic. 

"Pre-wedding jitters?" He nodded. "Something like that."

"Ah. Well, I've got this. You... need to get to the altar."

He mocked her with a salute. "Yes ma'am." Then he was gone.

"Hey Luce," Angela said, "I'm sure there is a whole storm taking place inside of you. But you'll regret it if you mess this up. So woman up and take the shot of tequila I have here for you."

The door flung open. Lucy grabbed the shot from Angela's hand and downed it. "Okay. Time to take on this wedding like the man my future husband is."

Angela pulled her in for a quick hug. "There's my girl."

A/N: So... last night's episode. Interesting. The next one looks promising as well. Not too much Chenford to work in this one with so I'll see what I can do for Moments. I have so many theories to throw out but I am tired and also hungry. So I need the rest of my energy to spend time debating whether to risk sneaking downstairs for a snack at nearly 2 AM or just sleep it off until a more reasonable time.