Want You to Stay || Chenford / The Rookie

Part 25

With every passing day, Tim finds himself growing more and more...antsy. He sometimes wonders what the statute of limitations is on feeling guilty about almost cheating on your girlfriend with the woman you're in love with, then he chastises himself for the thought. It's only been about six weeks. Relax, Bradford.

Besides, he's waiting for Lucy to take the lead. Though they had talked about it, her response from the morning after they slept together is still at the forefront of his mind. And so is how upset she was at the funeral. He isn't going to make a single move until he is absolutely positive she is ready. Layer in the fact that she's earlier in her career and likely to take the brunt of all the whispers about them, and he knows he owes it to her to take whatever time she needs.

He's going to get it right this time.

He needs to be sure she's ready.

***

She wants to be patient, give him whatever time he needs, but after almost six excruciating weeks Lucy can't help but start to wonder — for the love of god, when is this man going to make a move?

Maybe her mistake is in letting Tim Bradford, king of unrelenting penance, hold the keys to their ultimate release. But Tim was with Ashley for longer than she was with Chris; she can't assume that just because with every passing day she feels more and more ready to move forward, he is feeling the same way.

She is almost positive that all of the calls and sweet gestures are him trying to broadcast his intentions. But after sleeping with him the night of his visit to the hospice and then almost kissing him the night his father died, she has to know that he wants this — that he wants to be with her when he is not mired in pain and grief.

She's going to get it right this time.

She needs to be sure he's ready.

But that doesn't mean she's above playing a little dirty to give noble and repentant Tim a nudge in the right direction.

***

As part of her ongoing campaign to bring Tim into the modern era of telecommunication, Lucy gradually coaxes Tim to swap their almost daily calls for FaceTime instead.

She calls on Saturday morning just as he is just stepping out of the shower post morning run with Kojo, his phone vibrating on the bathroom counter. Tim briefly debates sending the call to voicemail and calling her back after he is fully dressed, but the idea of seeing her beautiful face on his screen is too tempting for him to resist.

He quickly secures a towel around his waist before hastily swiping at his phone to answer the call. Her image fills the screen. She's clearly still in bed, her hair splayed out across her pillow and her expression still adorably sleepy as she waits for him to appear. The realization that he was obviously one of the first things on her mind as she woke is ... well... it's making him wish she didn't have to call him at all.

"I can't see you..." she whines playfully. Tim chuckles, drying his hands more thoroughly on his towel before lifting the phone. "Oh-ohhh..." her eyes are wide as she follows the movement of the camera up his body until they are finally eye to eye. "You're all... wet..." she teases playfully, but he doesn't miss the tinge of pink that has appeared on her cheeks.

He arches an eyebrow at her word choice, but settles on a simple, "Hi."

Her lips curve into a smirk, "Hi."

"Late night?'

She nods, lifting a hand to rub at her eyes, "Yes, and I'm calling because I was too mortified to check what I texted you last night. Should I be worried?"

Tim grins. Lucy had, in fact, texted him throughout her entire night on the town the evening prior, and he had loved every minute of it... her messages getting more hilarious and less self-aware as the night progressed. He loved that she was out having a good time with her friends. But he loved even more that she had, for whatever reason, wanted him along for the fun, even if just in spirit.

"Nah... it was all pretty tame, except for... well, those pictures were pretty..." Tim sucks a breath through his teeth.

Lucy lifts a hand to cover her mouth as it drops open, "What pictures? Oh shit."

And then her video pauses as he is certain she is scrambling to check their texts. Her image returns to the screen and she glares at him, "Oh my god, Tim. I'm going to kill you."

The pictures in question were a drunk Lucy being adorable in front of a Bradford Ave. street sign holding up a peace sign.

Tim feigns innocence, "What kind of pictures did you think I was talking about, Lucy?"

"You're such a jerk," she huffs.

Tim laughs out loud. Lucy's cheeks are still flushing as she sits upright in her bed. His eyes automatically follow her movements as she throws off her comforter, throat going dry when he realizes that she is definitely not wearing a bra under her T-shirt.

She crosses the room and leans in toward the camera as she props the phone up on what he presumes is her dresser, "Hang, tight. I'm just going to change real quick."

She moves a few steps away from the phone, but is still most definitely in frame as she turns away and begins to peel her sleep shirt off over her head.

"LUCY!" Tim practically chokes on his own spit, "You're still — I can still —"

She finishes removing the shirt and then turns to look back at him over her shoulder, one arm coming up to cover her chest. "Huh, how did that happen?" she asks sweetly. She then tosses the shirt in the direction of the phone before disappearing into the bathroom.

He shakes his head, trying to fend off his body's reaction to just the hint of a striptease from her. Unbelievable. There's no doubt she knows exactly what she's doing. But this is Lucy. She's a flirt for sure, but she isn't one to play games. She's all about open communication; she'll tell him directly when she's actually ready, right? Right?

He thinks back on his favorite messages from the night prior, the final ones after she'd confirmed she'd made it safely home and was settled into bed. "I really missed you tonight." Followed by, "I wish you were here with me."

She was drunk, he knows that. He knows he can't read too much into the messages as an indication of where her head is with regards to the two of them, but they had still filled him up with a cozy warmth as he'd drifted off to sleep, Lucy the only thing on his mind.

And now, well, he can feel the tingle of anticipation in his gut; they are getting closer, he is certain of that.