This will be the Part 2 of " Crossing the line ".
Previously : He nodded, switched off the light and went back to his living. Tomorrow will probaly be more complicated than today : Her body will hurt more, she will doubt. Tomorrow her face will have more bruises than tonight. But it will be tomorrow. For the first time in months, she slept, safe.
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The guilt, the fear, the shame, the lack of understanding, the anger, the pain, the love, the hate, the insecurities were on repeat in her thoughts. The bruises on her face, on her whole body were the first things she saw at the mirror. She was blaming herself. If she was in that position, it was because of her. He lied and she stayed, everytime. She trusted him, and for what? Nothing. She had plan with him, at some point she could see herself married to him. But he crossed the line, a line she drawn in her head. Lucy looked at herself at the mirror, once again : Why did she accept all of this ? Because she loved him and deep inside, her feelings for him were still there. She was silently crying, when she realised she was like the other women she tried to help : A victim of domestic abuse. She hated herslef more than him. She was a cop, and she failed.
When she joined Tim outside, She just looked at him. She didn't know why, two days ago she knocked at his door, but, he was here, he helped because he knew. She sat on the stairs, Tim joining her right away.
" Grey called "
And she knew what that meant. She had to go to the station and gave her statement, once again.
" Will you ... ? "
" Of course. But, first, breakfast, come on "
She wasn't hungry, but, he gave her no choice. She needed to eat something. And she did. One hour later, Tim parked his car at the station. She looked nervous.
" You can do it.. Remember, you're not alone in this. You've got a whole village "
And it was true. They were there for her, her phone was full of their texts. She was not alone but she was afraid. She took a deep breath and get out of the car. Both of them walked toward Grey's office. Blinds were down, no one could see her. She felt every look, every smile, heard every hello, every whisper and it was hard to handle. They saw her as the victim, not as Officer Lucy Chen. The way they knew her was different now. Grey joined them two minutes after. He looked at her, gave her a smile.
" Detective Harper is waiting for you in room 3. You can joined her. "
She nodded and looked at Tim. She didn't need to talk, eyes said everything. He opened the door and walk with her to Nyla.
" Can't come with you. Wesley and Nyla are waiting for you inside. I will be behind the tinted window. You're safe. "
He opened the door and let her in. Everything he said was true. And he was behind the tinted window as he said, listenning everything. Angela joined him, because it worked like this. She was always here when she had to.
" How is she ? "
" Broken, unsafe, stressed, afraid ? Pick the one you want "
" How are you ? "
" Fine, I guess. "
" He's here. "
" Where ? "
" Room 1. And you stay here. "
" Hm. Fine. Not going anywhere. "
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Lucy stayed at Tim's house two weeks before she wanted to go home. She needed to go home. He helped her to clean it and stayed a bit with her before he left. She was now alone in that big house, the same house she became someone victim. The same house she was sharing with someone she loved, the same house where she wanted raise kids. The first nights were rough, she cried a lot, she had more nightmare than she already had. She started therapy and was back at work one month after the night he crossed the line. Her whole village took care of her at work but outside work too. They spent time together at her house. And she felt safe.
It's been two months since that night, things were still complicated sometimes but she tried. The last two weeks she spent a lot of time with Tim, more than the others. He came to fix things at her house, to give her a ride to work, to drop Kojo when she was off and needed some company. Sometimes he stayed for dinner and long talk.
Day after day she was healing. Domestic violence case were tough but, she used her experience to help. Bruises were gone since a while, but she will keep scars until her last day on earth. And she was ok with it.
It's been a year since she ran away and knocked at Tims door. She was stronger now even if sometimes her old demons still messed with her. She sold the house and moved. She needed a fresh start, somewhere where her story wasn't engrave into the wall. She needed a year to be her again, even if a little part of her will always be broken. She accepted it. But she had a work she loved, she was studying for the TO exam, she had friends, she had a family.
And she had Tim. Things had change in a year too. Since the moment she knocked at his door, to today he was here. When she called him afraid in the middle of the night, he came. He spent too many nights on her couch because it was too late to go home. He was with her when she went to the court, when she won her case, when she faced her ex boyfriend. She had him. Something in him healed her. Day after day they became closer, and closer, and everything was unconscious. Day after day, she felt things she never felt before : a nice heat was wrapping her heart when he was close, the unavoidable desire to smile when she was with him, the ballet butterflies made in her stomach everytime he hugged her. And all of this was natural, it felt right for both of them.
Tonight was one of these nights where Tim stayed for dinner, for a film and long talk. When it was time to sleep, she knew tonight will be different. She stared at him for a second. She wanted more of him, of it, and she knew him too. She took a deep breath, grabbed his hand and went to her room. In silence, they both laid down on a side. She switched off the light. While she was looking for his hand, Tim came closer, and hugged from behind. One of his arm was around her waist, the other one took his place underneath her head. She intertiwned one of her hand with his before he kissed her neck. Everything felt right.
« I want to swim, i want to swim to the other side of pain. I want to give in to the mercy of change, i want flowers to bloom after rain. » ♫
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21/08/24 : Hi :) ! As i said, this is the part 2 of " Crossing the line ". Some of you asked for a part 2 and i'm not going to lie, but i wanted it too. I hope you liked it. Don't forget to comment and vote, it helps. Happy to be back :) ! Take care of you. x
♫ Hurt - Sleeping at last.
