What should've happened

Lucy

After their shift has ended

"Chen wait up!" Tim calls after her as she's walking out to the parking lot.

"Hey!" He's freshly showered. His hair is still wet. He smells really good. He looks so good.

"We never made plans for the third date." His low voice drags her out of her daydream.

"Oh! Well, I'm free tonight..." 

His eyes lit up and he stepped in closer to her. "I'm sure Kojo would love to see you, you know... if you wanted to hang out" His voice was shaky. They hadn't had an at-home, all alone, date yet. Lucy knew this was coming, but she still felt nervous. Tim could read her uncertainty."I make a mean eggplant lasagna." He adds. "Just dinner and Kojo. No expectations. Okay?" His voice was so soothing, she couldn't help but reach out and touch his hand.

"Okay, I just need to text Tamara and let her know." She pulls out her phone and sends her roommate a quick text. Her fingers are a bit tense, and she's gunning it to the car. Lucy this is not a big deal, it's Tim. Obviously, you want to sleep with Tim. Oh my god, it's TIM! Tim can't see me naked! We can never go back from that! Okay, let's walk it back. He said no pressure. He's right, it would be nice to have alone time, even if we don't do anything. Also, I am way too tired to go out. And lasagna sounds so good... And I've missed Kojo so much... Okay yeah, let's do it! I mean it's Tim! He would never pressure me into anything! I'll just take the drive over to think (and talk to myself ) about it.

It's times like this that Lucy misses Jackson the most. He was the one she would've talked to about all this. He's the one she could've trusted with their secret. He knew her better than anyone, he would tell her what to do. A tear slowly rolls down her cheek. Come on Lucy now is not the time, you haven't cried like this in so long. Come on, please I can't walk into Tim's house like this. There was no stopping the waterworks now, she was way too deep into her feels. So when Tim opened the door for her, her cheeks were soaked, her eyes almost crimson, and her whole body was shaking. 

"Chen?" Tim's voice was low. His eyes were so worried. He reached out to touch her but then stopped himself a few inches away. He thinks I'm crying about him asking me to his home. Shit!  Say something!

"It's... I..." She steps closer to him, signaling it's okay to hug. Tim wraps his arms around her but she still feels his uncertainty. "I was just... I was driving over here... and I just... I'm sorry this is so stupid... I just was thinking about how much I wanted to talk to Jackson about us and ... I'm so sorry Tim" As soon as she said that she felt him relax around her. His grip on her tightened and his mouth lowered to the top of her head. "Oh Lucy" His voice was so sad and empathetic, it only made her cry more intensely. "I am so sorry... This hasn't happened in months..." Her excuses came out so weak and she just buried her face into his chest, hiding, embarrassed. 

Tim pulls away slightly. He thinks I am so weak and dumb.

Tim 

"Lucy" She doesn't look up at him. "Chen, come on. it's me." He slips his fingers to her face and raises her head so she's looking at him. "I get it, don't be embarrassed" She lets out a deep, violent, sob. "Lu come here let's sit down." He leads her to the couch, lowers her onto it, pulls out his phone, and dials a number. "Hey Ronnie, it's Tim. Can I get two orders of veggie fried rice, some veggie dumplings, and two orders of the chocolate-filled dumplings? Thank you so much." By the time he's done, Kojo has made his way onto Lucy's lap and her sobs have subsided into a low heaving. Tim takes off his jacket and plops down onto the couch next to them. He thinks back to Ashley and how she never truly bonded with Kojo. Everything is just so natural with Chen, so right. 

"I thought Kojo wasn't allowed on the furniture" Lucy lets the smallest smile creep on her wet cheeks. It makes him smile and lean and pull her into his chest. "I can make an exception when it's absolutely necessary." She looks up at him and her sad smile has turned into a bigger sunshiny-er one. This is much better. "Do you wanna talk about him? I'd love to hear some Lucy and Jackson BFF stories." Her smile has now turned into full-on sunshine and she sits up straight, "Okay so remember when ....."

It's been 30 minutes and Lucy and Tim are laughing about the chrystal yoda statue story when the doorbell rings signaling that their food is here. Tim gets up to answer the door and Lucy makes her way to the bathroom to wash her face. 

When Tim is done setting up the food on the coffee table, he turns on the TV and starts surfing the channels to find something to watch. That's when Lucy walks out of the powder room. She's got her hair up in a high ponytail and it just catches Tim off guard how good she looks even after she's been crying for the better part of an hour. His eyes follow her as she walks up to the couch. Like he's just remembered to take a good look at her. She's just wearing some athletic leggings and a t-shirt and flannel combo but she looks so good. 

He doesn't notice she's been speaking to him until she nudges his shoulder with hers. 

"Tim. Hey, are you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Can you repeat that?"

The corners of her mouth turn up into a smile, and she tilts her head towards the TV, it makes her ponytail shake and Tim gets lost in it for a second "I didn't know you were a Gilmore Girls fan" What? Oh! The TV! I was channel surfing I must have just stopped at this channel when she got out. Act cool. "Oh um I was channel surfing and this is interesting... I guess" He glances towards the screen and takes in the two girls sitting on a worn couch and talking abnormally fast. Ouuf, this is interesting? What the hell Tim? "I mean it just seemed like something you would like. Right?" He looks back at Lucy nervously. Yeah, she's definitely onto me. But hey it's not my fault she's so hot. "Yeah, it's a really good show. Plus you're definitely a Luke" Hmm that does not seem like a compliment. I can tell by the way her eyes look very amused.

"So do wanna start with rice or dumplings?"

"Ouu for sure the dumplings! Would you pass 'em please"