Thoughtless Bet - Chenford

You Mean Something

After many paces around her bedroom, Lucy finally grew the courage to call Tim. Her thumb lingered on the contact name, debating on where her she should bother him.

-

Tim on the other hand, hadn't slept since their phone call ended. His eyes were bloodshot, busy staring at the ceiling. He turned over to face the clock, 4:21 AM.

There's no point in sleeping, anyway.

He reached for the phone charging at his bedside table, unplugging it and scrolling through his contacts. His finger pressed, and his phone began to ring.

"Hey, I was just about to call," Lucy stammered, waving her hands in the air, looking back at her mirror.

"Yeah, look, the whole thing?" Tim began.

"I agree, it's not smart, we could get in trouble, or worse, fired?" Lucy continued, curving her eyebrows. Her breathing gradually slowed, and she slowly started pacing to her bed, each step longer than the other.

"Okay," Tim sighed, rubbing his hand through his hair as he held the phone to his ear. Lucy played with her hair, twirling it in her finger.

"Alright," Lucy said, removing the phone from speaker.

She hung up the phone seconds later, reminding herself that there were only two days left until the end of their probation.

-

Lucy woke up with worry spilling out of her head, her stomach churning as she entered the station.

Once out of the locker room, she entered roll call, still early. Jackson had to be sitting there at least twenty minutes. She joined his side, scanning the room for any other officers sitting behind them.

She made eye contact with Tim, and immediately flustered. Her cheeks rosy as she turned back to Jackson. The two made small talk, mostly talking about Jackson and Sterling. Lucy nodded, though her head was in the clouds.

That conversation couldn't have been real.

She turned to Tim once more, though this time, his eyes were busy on the white board as Sergeant Grey entered the bullpen.

"All these gorgeous, wake faces," Grey smiled, a few cops laughing at the clear sarcasm. Lucy gave a small chuckle, nudging at Nolan's arm.

"Midnight shift left multiple cases for us, I've got a folder for all of you. Chen and Bradford, Bakers called for a break in last night and the call was never answered."

"Bishop and Nolan, burglary in a convenience store."

"Lopez and West, you two got a special assignment." Grey folded his hands, leaning over slightly.

"Detective Largesse needs your help, something about a porno movie gone wrong," and the entire room began to chuckle, all but Angela and Jackson.

-

Now on route to the Baker's, Lucy made sure to avoid all eye contact with Bradford.

"We should.. talk about it," Tim suddenly spoke, and Lucy head snapped so quick she couldn't believe she didn't decapitate herself.

"You want to?"

"Not really, but I don't want to not talk about it either." Bradford shrugged, giving her a quick glance before bringing his eyes back to the street. Lucy brushed her hand on her leg, a small grin as she hid her face with a hand.

The rest of the car ride was silent, and finally, the two joined for lunch. As they reached the food court, they turned off their own cameras, strutting to a taco truck. Timothy ordered for the two, waiting as Lucy looked for an empty table. She found one beside a large, old tree, and she sat herself down as she waited for her training officer to arrive with her food.

After minutes of waiting, and Tim yelling at the employee working the stove, Tim finally was given his food. He thanked the man at the window, scanning the small area to find his boot.

He spotted her, phone in hand as she rubbed nervously at her hand.

"Remedies for PGAD" read the article's page. Tim rolled his eyes, immediately turning off her phone from her hands. He placed a plate in front of her, then walked around the table to his own three tacos.

"I'm going to end up blowing your phone up," Tim raised his eyebrows, looking up as he shook his head with a taco in his hand.

"Oh, yeah, and blowing up lithium battery is so smart." Lucy smirked, cocking her head. She looked around the park nothing but a few birds flying above the lake, and women with their strollers. There were some people sat at the tables, and food trucks held some small lines of customers.

She bit at her cheek, bouncing her leg as she continued watching her surroundings. She chewed on her taco, only eating one before Tim began to speak again.

"Don't stress about it, Chen. We were, we were tired, and we just didn't know what we should do."

"Don't stress about it? We agreed to sleep with each other?!" Lucy whispered, eyebrows crinkled as her face shook. She leaned in closer, grabbing at the corners of the metal table.

"Look, it was a moment. It can't be anything more, I'm in your seniority range, and you can't be messing up your head with only one day left."

Lucy nodded, eyeing Tim before sitting back in her seat.

"So, it didn't mean anything?" Lucy questioned, her voice suddenly small.

"Of course it meant something, we just can't act on whatever that something was." Tim explained, his hands on his thighs.

"You want anything to drink?" He called, rising from his seat.

"Just water," she replied, stuffing another taco into her face before Tim could come back. She'd been on her third by the time he got back, she thanked him, finished her taco, and drank from the clear cup and straw.

Lucy's phone dinged as they walked back to the shop, their hands on the utility belts. Her eyes were large and smile was bright for a moment, expecting it to be Vic.

Her stomach dropped when she read the contact.

To: Lucy Chen
From: Max Anderson

"Cant wait to see you again"

Lucy almost threw up, thought kept her lunch stable in her stomach as they began to ride around the city.