Safety Net - The Rookie/Chenford Fanfic (READ DESC.)

Part 3

Tim's dream is interrupted abruptly by the sensation of Lucy shifting on top of him.

"Shit," he thinks to himself. He didn't meant for them to fall asleep like this.

He brings a hand up to his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply.

"Sorry. I was trying not to wake you," Lucy whispers cautiously.

"It's fine," Tim assures her, his voice deep and raspy.

Lucy migrates to the other end of the couch, her mind racing. She had no intention of falling asleep on Tim, but—quite selfishly—she was glad she did. She was always engulfed with a, almost overwhelming, feeling of security when she was even remotely near Tim, especially since her kidnapping.

Tim rises from the couch and staggers over to the kitchen, turning on the coffee pot.

Lucy's pupils grow substantially and she looks at Tim like he hung the moon.

"Want some?" he finally offers with a chuckle.

"Please," she giggles embarrassedly.

⊹⊹⊹

"Good boy," Lucy coos at Kojo before throwing his toy to the other end of Tim's backyard.

Tim watches her in awe, admiring the way she tosses Kojo's ball from her seated position on his porch chair. His heart warms at the thought of getting to witness this everyday: waking up with her body wrapped around his, spending time together before their shifts, walking confidently into the station hand-in-hand.

Kojo's harsh bark at Lucy sends him crashing back down to reality.

He knows he needs to stop looking at and thinking about his damn rookie this way, but he just can't. Maybe it's because of everything they've been through together, or maybe it's because he feels an overbearing need to protect and care for Lucy more than he's ever felt with any of his rookies. But he can't shake away the feeling of his stomach erupting in butterflies when she smiles at him, or the way his heart beams when she laughs, or the way his entire body flushes when her skin grazes his.

Its fucking maddening.

He watches as Lucy sips her coffee, sucking air in through her teeth when she realizes its still too hot.

"I called in today," he asserts, making Lucy's head shoot up to look at him.

"What?? Why?"

"Because you need someone."

"I do not. I'm fine," she scoffs, taking another sip of her coffee.

"No. You aren't. I'm not budging on this, Chen. It's already done."

She shakes her head in protest while glaring down at the liquid in her mug—probably imagining its Tim's face.

"Then if you're forcing me to stay here—"

"I'm not doing that. We can go to your apartment if you want. I just want to be with you because you can't do everything alone."

Lucy's eyes are still locked onto the cup in her lap as her eyes gloss over with—angry? sad?—tears. She gnaws on the inside of her cheek, drawing blood.

"It's okay to need help, Lucy."

She squeezes her eyes shut. The tears begin to cascade down her face silently, and the mug begins to subtly shake in her hands.

Tim rises from his chair across from her and kneels down in front of hers, removing the coffee cup from her grip and placing it on the side table.

Lucy inhales deeply as an effort to calm herself down, but she just ends up choking on air. Giving up on trying to hold it all in, she breaks down entirely.

Tim's heart breaks as he watches his rookie spiral into self doubt, anger, and disappointment all in a matter of seconds. He makes an effort to soothe her by gently shushing her repeatedly, resting his hands on her knees and tracing circles with his thumbs.

She heaves into her hands and—despite many internal efforts to cease her crying—the tears just keep flowing. Like someone opened a valve behind her eyes and walked away. Lucy tries her best to focus on Tim's words, but they just go through her ears in a blur. The only ones she can make out are "breathe," "its okay," and "I'm here."

Her hyperventilating slows, along with her sobbing, and now she's wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"C'mon," Tim murmurs, rising from his knelt position on the deck to hold out a hand.

Lucy takes it and stands up, following Tim back into his house. He whistles for Kojo, and the dog comes barreling inside instantly. Lucy shuffles to a bar stool and plants herself there, her eyes glued to the floor.

Tim makes his way to the front door, grabbing his keys from the hook on the wall, before shifting his gaze to Lucy.

It takes all of his self restraint not to scoop her up and smother her with love—shower her in gentle kisses, run his hands up and down her body, listen to her talk about everything thats bothering her—but he knows theres no way in hell he could get away with that.

"Let's go grab some of your stuff, yeah?" Tim asks with a gentle half-smile.

"Yeah," Lucy mumbles in response, smiling back at him sadly while rising from the stool.