Lucy's Little Secret || Chenford / The Rookie

Part 4: Lucy

When Lucy wakes the next morning, she's immediately aware of the warmth surrounding her, and she can't stop the smile that forms as she attempts to come to terms with the fact that last night did, in fact, happen. She feels the rise and fall of Tim's chest against her back, his arm curled over her, holding her close. She shifts her fingers so they can gently intertwine in his, still not entirely believing any of this is real.

She knows she should probably be exhausted, given the late night and other... distractions that limited the amount of sleep she'd gotten, but she instead feels like her elation might actually physically burst out of her body.

It's almost shamefully cheesy, but there's really no other way for her to describe the feeling of something she had filed away under 'not in a million years' for at least a hundred different reasons actually coming to fruition.

She doesn't know exactly how long she's been in love with Tim Bradford. She's asked herself before if there was some specific moment that turned the tide for her, but every time she's landed on the same answer.

It was never one single moment with them. It was the entirety of all the tiny moments that had built on top of each other until he was such an integral part of her life, of who she was, that she couldn't imagine life without him.

The tiny bits of vulnerability that she could never see coming; the pieces of himself he offered to her, even when it was so easy to see that his every instinct was screaming at him to run the other direction.

The moments of unexpected kindness.

The fierce protectiveness that probably should have pissed her off, but instead just made her feel so valued and loved, coming from him.

The moments of getting under her skin with idiotic tests, and unrelenting stubbornness, and merciless teasing, and — by far the most annoying — the moments of ingenuity where he'd somehow solve the unsolvable problem and never let her forget it.

But as head-over-heels, as she'd fallen for Tim Bradford, she had never let herself actually believe this could be possible. Beyond her own personal decision to swear off dating cops, she was sure he'd never be able to see her as anything other than his boot — a naïve rookie looking to him for guidance and approval.

And in the Tim Bradford world of lines and rules and right and wrong, she had been close to certain he wouldn't be able to see her as anything more. Maybe if she hadn't been so afraid to let herself hope, she would have known better — he was, after all, a man of contradictions, a man aware of gray areas even if he preferred to stay out of them, a man willing to overlook the rules for the things that mattered the most.

She can't stop herself from smiling as she realizes that this... Tim and Lucy... as an 'us,' is one of those things.

"Mmmm," she can feel him shifting behind her as he starts to wake, before she feels him nuzzling his face into her neck, lips just barely brushing her shoulder with a sweet kiss.

"Good morning, sunshine," he murmurs, voice still thick with sleep.

She squirms and a laugh escapes her as his stubble tickles her skin, before she allows herself to relax back into his chest. His arms tighten around her.

"Is this actually real?" she muses.

She feels his chest shake briefly with quiet laughter before he drops another kiss on her shoulder, "God, I hope so. I could get used to this."

She shifts onto her back so she can look up at him, his head propped up on his hand as he looks down at her, and she reaches her fingers up to trace along his ridiculously perfect jawline, shaking her head in disbelief.

"So could I," she sighs dreamily, aware that the ridiculous smile she can't seem to suppress, her blissful tone, and the way she's looking up at him and tracing his features with her fingers like he's some sort of dream apparition must make her seem like she's on some sort of trip, but in a way she is. She is so incredibly happy, but simultaneously still trying to process the fact that her actual wildest dreams have somehow come true in the last 12 hours.

He grins down at her, reaching over to push the hair off her face before cupping her cheek. His thumb grazes her skin as he leans down to gently brush his lips against hers.

Lucy turns to cuddle into him as he relaxes onto his back. His arms wrap around her to pull her closer.

Her fingers trace lightly over his abs, finding the faint scar from the gunshot wound he'd gotten on her second day as a rookie. "This healed really well... you wouldn't even know it was there if you didn't know to look for it," she murmurs.

His free hand comes up to meet hers, intertwining their fingers again, before he pulls her hand up to his lips, "Did I ever thank you for saving my life?"

Lucy snorts with a sudden burst of laughter, "Yeah, um, not exactly. I think your response was something along the lines of 'not expecting special treatment just for doing my job in a fire fight.'"

She feels him laughing again before he responds. "That sounds... accurate. What an asshole, huh?"

"Mmmhmm. Totally... good thing you were pretty." She kisses his chest. "Who could have imagined back then that we'd end up here?"

She feels Tim shrug, "Well, I mean..."

She jerks her head up so she can look at him, surprised by his response.

"What? Stanton was a complete racist idiot, but he got one thing right — you really were a 'hot little boot'. I'd be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind... a few times. And according to Jackson, apparently it crossed yours too," he laughs, tickling her as the blood rushes to her cheeks.

She giggles as she squirms away from his fingers. "Speaking of Jackson, he is in so much trouble! I still CANNOT believe he told you about my... well, you know."

"Hot TO fantasies," Tim offers helpfully, shifting positions so that his mouth can find her neck.

Lucy rolls her eyes. "Yes, those... he totally broke roommate/friend/rookie code. What the hell?"

"I don't know," Tim says as he begins to lazily explore the edge of her neck tattoo with his lips, sending a shiver through her as she curls her body into him. He seems pleased with her reaction as he pulls her closer, continuing the path before pausing, "I'd say he kind of did us a solid, don't you think?"

Lucy's lost track of the conversation and is having difficulty focusing on anything other than whatever amazing thing Tim is doing to her neck. "Mmmm sure... yeah, I guess if you think so..."

Tim pulls back abruptly, raising his gaze to meet hers. "You guess?" he asks, eyes twinkling devilishly. Lucy's fingers tangle into the hair at the back of his head, mentally willing him to return to his pursuit before realizing he's not going to budge until she responds.

She arches up to press her lips to the corner of his mouth. "Maybe I just need a reminder of exactly why I should be grateful..."

And then he's capturing her mouth with his and flipping her onto her back to make sure she knows just how good the real thing can be.

Afterwards, wrapped up again in the warmth and comfort of his arms and on the brink of dozing off, she feels him shift before he asks, "Lucy?"

"Mmmhmm?" she mumbles sleepily.

"I'm still going to need an explanation, you know."

"For what?" she asks, barely resisting the pull of sleep.

"Your other little secret... seriously..." She can feel him shaking his head, stubble just barely scratching her shoulder. " John fucking Nolan?!"