The Boot (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty-Six

A/N: Just a reminder that this is kind of an AU, as in some of the plot events from the show aren't included in this and vice versa. I am watching the sixth season as it comes out, but to avoid any spoilers, I'm writing this storyline based on what we have from the first five seasons. Anything that happens in the new season won't be included so that there aren't spoilers for those who haven't seen it yet/are behind.

LUCY

Tim stammers, blinking rapidly. "Wh- W- W- Wh- Wha- W- What are you sorry about?"

Nolan's eyes scan the room, landing on me for an extra second longer, almost as if he were trying to decide what I would do in this situation. He sighs. "I need to talk to Lucy. Alone."

Sebastian nods silently, leaving the room, and Tim's father follows right behind him. But Tim stays where he is, crossing his arms.

"I said alone, Tim," Nolan repeats gently.

"I deserve to know what the hell is going on!" Tim shouts in protest. "I'm not an idiot, clearly something happened to my mom! Is she hurt? Missing? In my line of work, especially these last few months, I know better than anyone what the possibilities could be. So just tell me what happened so that I can know how best to proceed."

"Tim, please," Nolan begs.

Tim looks at me. "It's okay, baby," I tell him. Reluctantly, he sighs, turning and leaving the room. Nolan slowly, and cautiously approaches me. "Come on, I don't bite."

He laughs and returns to a normal pace, reaching my bedside shortly after. I motion for him to sit down in the chair beside me. He does so, nervously going back and forth between running his fingers through his now very disheveled hair and folding then unfolding his hands in his lap repeatedly. He releases a shaky breath.

"Nolan, you're scaring me,"

"Sorry, sorry, I just- I don't know how to break this news,"

"You're telling me first because I'm most likely to be able to come up with a way to break it to Tim, aren't you?"

"Yeah..." he says sheepishly.

"Well, I'm not Tim, okay? So you can just tell me, flat out."

"Okay..." he takes a deep breath. "Tim's mom,"

"What about her?" a sudden panic comes over me, which is very clear by the sudden spike in my heart rate. "Is she dead?"

"No!" Nolan quickly corrects as a nurse rushes in to check on me.

"Your heart rate had a sudden, rapid spike. Are you feeling alright?" the nurse asks.

"Yes, sorry. I'm fine. Just got some surprising news is all."

The nurse's shoulders detense as he nods. "Okay, but if anything feels off, press the call button right away or send your husband here out to get one of us nurses or doctors."

My eyes go wide at the misunderstanding. "Oh, I'm not-"

"Yeah, she isn't-" Nolan corrects at the same time as me.

"Oh, my mistake," the nurse says, excusing himself from the room. The second that the door closes behind him, I make eye contact with Nolan. A beat of silence passes between us before we both burst out into fits of laughter.

"What the hell was that?" Nolan wheezes.

"That's so f*cking ironic!" I cackle. Given what we once were to each other, long long ago, this particular misunderstanding has an extra irony factor to it. Which only serves to make the entire situation even funnier.