Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today was supposed to be a regular day out on patrol. Lucy and Tim had regular calls all day, nothing too difficult, an easy day.

Until they went back out on patrol after lunch.

That’s when things went downhill.

They got a call that sent them into an abandoned house that’s clearly now being used by squatters and drug users. Someone called 911 about loud noises and a disturbance coming from the building.

Their search of the building is going completely normal until Tim gets jumped by a squatter trying to protect his territory. Lucy has her gun drawn if she needs it but she knows that Tim’s got this. The squatter is weak and thin, and just scared. Tim easily stops the assault and tries to calm the guy down.

That’s when someone lunges at Lucy from behind. 

Another squatter, obviously scared shitless about two police officers searching what they’re calling their home. Even though he’s frail and thin, he has enough strength to drag her to the ground and Lucy quickly uses her training to escape the grasp he has on her and rolls them over so she’s above the guy. She keeps him pushed down to the ground, making sure he’s not going to try anything else. 

She hears Tim huff out a breath behind her and turns to look at him. The squatter that had attacked him is subdued and Tim is looking down at her with a deep, concerned frown.

“What is it, Tim?”

His eyes dart down to her uniform and she frowns in confusion and follows his gaze.

That’s when she realises that’s she’s covered in some sort of powder.

Some sort of drug.

Her heart drops and she looks up at Tim, panic filling her mind.

Tim quickly grabs his radio and calls in for backup and an ambulance. 

“Lucy, you’ll be okay.”

She nods mutely as she shakily stands to her feet. She’s careful not to get too close to Tim when she’s still covered in the stuff.

Tim’s eyes are full of worry as he takes her in again, his hand flexing like he wants to reach out and touch her but knows that he can’t. 

“We need to figure out what that powder is.”

She nods again, her mind elsewhere. She mentally shakes herself to try to focus again. 

“Tim, we need to clear the building.”

He nods but doesn’t move for a second, like he’s not sure if this is the best idea even though they know it’s protocol.

“Yeah, okay. Be careful, okay?” He steps a little closer and pulls out his gun again, the nozzle facing the floor.

“Stay behind me.”

Lucy nods along and gets her gun ready too. Then she’s following him through the rest of the building. It seems like their tumble earlier has scared anyone else who might’ve been here off because the whole building is empty.

They can hear sirens in the distance as they make their way back outside.

Tim’s eyes never stray from Lucy, like he’s afraid she’ll collapse to the floor any second. She wants to try to reassure him but she’s not sure what she can say. They don’t even know what the powder is yet or if it’s dangerous. They don’t even know if Lucy has ingested any of it. 

An ambulance pulls up and Lucy lets out a little sigh of relief when Bailey hops out and rushes over to them.

“Lucy, what happened?”

“A squatter jumped me and we ended up rolling around a bit.” She points down to the rest of her body, “When I stood up I had this powder all over me.”

Bailey frowns as she takes her in and gestures for her to come over to the ambulance. Their backup arrives and Tim reluctantly goes over to talk to them, but he’s hesitating again, like he’s not sure if he should leave her. If it had been anyone but Bailey, he mightn’t have. But they both know he needs to talk to the other officers.

They split off with Tim promising he’ll be right back and Lucy gives him a tight smile.

Bailey gets Lucy to sit down in the ambulance and her and her partner start checking her out.

“Do you think you’ve ingested any of it?”

Lucy glances down to the powder on her uniform again. “I’m not sure. I don’t really remember.”

Bailey nods her head, “Do you think there’s a chance you inhaled any of it while fighting off the squatter?”

Lucy frowns as she tries to remember the exact details. “There could be a chance but I really can’t say for sure.”

Bailey takes two samples of the powder off her uniform top. One to test what the powder is and the other for evidence. She hands them over to her partner and turns back to Lucy as she starts to remove as much of the remaining powder as possible.

“You’ll be okay. Even if you did inhale any of it, it’s most likely a common enough drug that won’t have any long lasting effects.”

Lucy nods and looks back down at her clothes.

“I need a change of clothes.”

Bailey nods her head and looks down at her contaminated uniform. “Lucky for you, I have a go bag in the front with a change of clothes you can borrow.”

Lucy gives her a small smile, “Thanks Bailey, you’re a lifesaver.”

She returns Lucy’s smile before she goes to grab the bag and pulls out a spare change of clothes and hands them over to Lucy.

“Here, we’ll give you some privacy to change.”

Lucy gives her another smile, and then both paramedics hop down out of the vehicle and gently close over the doors.

She’s careful with removing her clothes, trying not to inhale or touch any powder that may be left on her uniform. She slowly peels back the layers of clothes and gingerly places them on the bed in front of her. Once she’s fully removed her uniform she gratefully picks up the clothes that Bailey gave her and starts to put them on. It’s a pair of simple black leggings, a t-shirt and a zip up hoodie and Lucy’s grateful that they are so comfortable.

She sits back down on the side of the bed that her uniform isn’t on and looks back up when Bailey inches the door open to check on her. “You all done?”

“Yeah.” Lucy nods and Bailey pulls the ambulance doors open all the way again.

“Thanks for letting me borrow your clothes.”

Bailey gives her another smile as she checks on the drug tests that are going to tell them what drug it was.

“How are you feeling?”

Lucy does a mental check of herself and she feels okay but that could just mean whatever she might have inhaled hasn’t kicked in yet.

“I feel okay right now.”

Bailey nods her head, “That’s good so far. I want to keep you here until these tests are done and see if you do start showing symptoms.”

Lucy nods her head idly staring out the open doors of the ambulance. Her eyes search the scene in front of her, a few officers milling around, and she spots Tim talking with another officer. 

Her eyes stay on him as he nods at something the other guy says before responding. She lets her eyes trail over him, taking him in when he’s in his uniform. She doesn’t always get the chance to appreciate the sight because he’d notice her openly ogling him when she’s working right beside him. 

Right now though, she’s at a safe distance that she lets her eyes wander over his defined muscles and toned arms that look even bigger in his form fitting shirt. His hands move to settle on his duty belt and she takes in a staggering breath at the sight. Every time she’s seen him do that she has to fight to keep herself composed. 

She’s not even sure what it is about the movement but it’s just so incredibly attractive to her. 

Maybe it’s the way it makes his arms look even bigger, or the way confidence and authority practically flows off of him when he does it. 

Like he knows it makes him look tougher, and in her opinion, much hotter. 

Maybe he does it on purpose. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was some sort of Tim test to examine her focus on the job. 

She’s pretty sure she’s managed to control herself when he does it and he’s never made it obvious that he knows it does something to her. If anything she’s confident he hasn’t noticed what it does to her, because he’d probably start doing it a lot more, or maybe even stop altogether. Both would be a punishment of sorts and she’s not sure which would be worse, never seeing him do it again, or watch him pull that move all the time and never be able to focus. 

His grip tightens on his duty belt as he frowns in response to something the other officer says. 

Never seeing him do it again would definitely be worse. 

Her eyes flick back up to his face just seconds before he’s turning his head in her direction, his eyes seeking her out. When he meets her gaze he gives her a small smile, concern flooding his expression, and he’s clearly still very worried about her which she can’t help but think is really sweet.

———

Tim catches Lucy’s eye when he turns to check she’s still okay. She seems okay from here but she’s still in the ambulance and he wants to go over and make sure she’s alright. He trusts Bailey to keep her safe though, and he still needs to finish up with this officer.

He continues talking to the officer, getting more antsy by the second, wanting to go back to Lucy, and he’s quick to cut off the conversation once all talk about work is done.

He hastily thanks the officer and says goodbye before he’s walking back over to the open ambulance. He sees that Bailey is saying something to Lucy but it looks like the information is going in one ear and out the other.

When he approaches the van he gently taps his knuckles on the door to let Bailey know he’s here before he pushes himself up into the back of the ambulance.

“What’s going on?”

Bailey gives him a tight smile.

That’s not a good sign.

“It was ecstasy, and I’m pretty sure she’s inhaled some. I’m still waiting for her tests to be complete, but there’s a high chance even a small amount is in her system.”

Tim frowns as he looks down at Lucy who’s staring at her feet that are hanging off the side of the bed.

Bailey glances at Lucy again. “She may not have ingested that much, that’s what I’m waiting to see with the tests. If she has injested it, she’ll probably start showing symptoms within the next five to ten minutes, given that it usually kicks in after about 20 to 30 minutes.”

Tim’s gaze sweeps over Lucy as if taking her in could give them all the answers they need. “And if she does start showing symptoms?”

“Well, people can have different experiences when on ecstasy and her symptoms will vary depending on how much she ingested. But the most likely ones are feeling euphoria, dilated pupils, having more energy, muscle tension, confusion, sweating, thirst and even being touchy and heightened emotions. It really depends on how much is in her system.”

Tim feels a knot in his stomach as he turns to face Bailey properly as the test is finally complete and she focuses on that for a minute. 

“Will she be okay?”

She gives him a reassuring smile. “Yeah, it looks like she’ll be fine, she hasn’t ingested that much. It’ll take a few hours until the drug will run out of her system, but she probably won’t feel back to normal until tomorrow.”

Tim nods and moves to sit down beside Lucy who’s absentmindedly staring out the open doors with a content look on her face, not even paying attention to them right now. 

“What should I do?”

Bailey puts a comforting hand on his arm, “Just keep an eye on her, make sure her symptoms don’t get too bad.” 

At the panicked look on his face she continues, “Maybe stay with her tonight, make sure she gets home okay, and stays hydrated but doesn’t drink too much water. Physically she’ll be okay after the drug is out of her system, it’s more the mental side of it you’ll want to keep an eye on. She’ll probably have complete shifts in emotions, being happy one minute and feeling low the next. Just stay with her and make sure she’s okay.”

Tim nods along, making mental notes on all the important things, before looking back to Lucy again to make sure she’s okay.

“I’ll take her back to the station now and talk to Grey about bringing her home.”

Bailey nods and gives them both a smile which Tim returns, “Thank you.”

She nods her head, “Of course, text me later to let me know how she is and call me if there’s any issues or anything you’re concerned about but she should be okay.”

Tim thanks her again before turning back to Lucy, who’s still off in her own world. He taps her arm gently to make sure he doesn’t scare her in an attempt to get her attention. 

“Lucy? You ready to go?”

She turns back to him with a giddy grin, and he notices that her pupils are a little dilated, so it must be starting to kick in.

“Where are we going?” Her voice is full of excitement and he can’t help but smile back at her as he stands up and turns to face her.

“Back to the station, and then I’m bringing you home.”

Lucy grins even wider, leaning towards him from her sitting position. “You’re taking me home.”

“Yes Lucy.”

She’s practically beaming now and turns to Bailey, “Tim’s taking me home.”

The woman chuckles in response, not used to seeing such a giddy Lucy Chen. “Yes he is.”

Tim rolls his eyes fondly and reaches for her hands to tug her up to stand with him, “Alright, come on. Time to go.”

Lucy still has that big smile on her face as she joins him standing, swaying into his chest and he rushes to hold her in place by her biceps so she doesn’t fall over.

“Oops, sorry.” She has a cute pout on her face now and Tim chuckles a little, and within an instant she’s back to being giddy, reaching her index finger up and tapping the tip of his nose.

“Your nose is cute.”

That earns her a hearty laugh from Bailey and a halfhearted glare at the woman for laughing but he can’t be serious when Lucy’s now giggling against his chest, leaning completely against him and letting him hold her up.

This might be a long evening.

—

After a few minutes he finally gets Lucy beside the passenger side of their shop. The journey from the back of the ambulance to their shop wasn’t a long one but Lucy had practically refused to walk herself, all of her weight leaning on him most of the time. This wasn’t such an issue because Tim’s strong enough to support her and shed light enough that after a little getting used to, he successfully manages to steer them towards her door. 

Convincing her to get into the shop was another story.

“Why do I have to get in here?”

Tim pulls the handle and lets the door swing open, gesturing for her to go in but she stays at his side.

“Because we have to go back to the station.”

A cute confused frown overtakes her features, “I thought you were taking me home.”

“I will, but we need to stop at the station first.”

Lucy leans even further into Tim and he moves an arm around her back to hold her up and make sure she doesn’t fall.

“I want to go home!” 

Tim feels bad because she sounds genuinely miserable at the idea of not being able to go home immediately and it almost convinces him to just do as she wants.

“Lucy I promise if you do this for me, I’ll take you home straight after.”

She looks up at him for a moment, thinking over what he’s saying. 

“Pinky promise?” She sticks out her pinky and holds it up and he smiles down at her which gets him a smile in return.

He extends his own pinky finger and hooks it around hers, “Yeah, I promise.”

Lucy doesn’t let go of his pinky. “You have to say pinky promise.”

Tim huffs out a chuckle before giving in, giving her a pointed look, “Okay I pinky promise.”

Another giddy grin appears on her face and only then does she agree to get in the shop with a little assistance from Tim, buckling her seatbelt for her, he shuts the door before rounding the hood and entering the drivers side.

He starts the shop and pulls out onto the road, thankful they only have a ten minute drive back to the station.

He glances at Lucy once they’re on the road and he can tell that it’s really starting to kick in now. She has a dopey grin on her face, her pupils are very dilated and she’s staring out the windows like a kid at Christmas seeing snow for the first time. 

He can’t resist smiling at her. He knows it’s bad that she’s ingested drugs but she’s undeniably very cute like this, and it’s not helping the fat crush that he has had on her for months.

“How are you feeling, Lucy?”

She sighs happily and moves to sit back in her seat, resting her head on the headrest before tilting it to turn her dopey smile on him. 

“I feel great!” When he glances at her again her eyes are closed but she still has a smile on her face.

“I think you make me feel really good.”

Tim lets out a surprised noise that he tries to cover with a cough as his eyes glue to the road. 

He shakes himself to clear his thoughts, shaming himself on why his mind jumped there. 

It’s a perfectly innocent thing to say. 

He knows that they’re friends and they enjoy spending time together at work and even hang out outside of work. Of course she feels happy around him. He’s honoured that he makes her feel that way. 

“I—uh, I try my best.”

Her eyes slowly fall open again, and one hand is thrown across the distance between them until her clumsy hand lands on his thigh just above his knee and Tim almost jumps in his seat in shock.

His skin feels electric now that she’s suddenly touching him and he can feel the heat rising to his cheeks and he steals another glance at her, met with the sight of her gazing intently at him. Searching his face like she’s looking for an answer but he has no clue what the question is.

“Uh—Everything okay, Lucy?”

She furrows her eyebrows as she continues to inspect him, and all he can think about is how cute her face is when it’s scrunched up in concentration.

He has to remind himself to look at the road ahead of them.

“When can we go home?”

Hearing her say we and home makes him imagine them living together, with their own house, constantly in each other's company and waking up next to her, cooking her breakfast and sharing showers and it makes him feel bittersweet for something he doesn’t even have.

“Soon, I promise.”

She huffs in cute annoyance, and then shifts her attention to the hand on his thigh where she lifts it only to start tracing shapes into his uniform trousers with her index fingers. The feeling makes him shiver slightly. Her touch is delicate and soft, comforting in an unexpected way. He expected it to distract him from driving but if anything it made the short drive to the station feel like it flew by.

She stayed occupied for the next five or so minutes just drawing random lines and shapes onto his thigh, following her finger as it moved. 

When he finally pulls to a stop he waits for her to stop her movements but she doesn’t, her finger continues its path across his leg and he finds himself smiling again as he stares over at her.

“Lucy? Will you come in with me for a minute then I’ll take you home?”

Her finger finally slows to a stop but she doesn’t pull it away, she just looks up to meet his eye. Her pupils are fully dilated now and he worriedly glances towards the station. 

“You promise it won’t be long?”

He nods his head, “Yeah I promise.”

“Can I stay with you?”

He frowns a little in confusion and she continues, “I . . . I trust you.”

His frown slips into a tender smile and he feels a rush of emotions overwhelm him that he needs to take a deep breath to compose himself.

“Yeah, I got you, Lucy.”

She smiles up at him, and looking into her eyes he can see the level of trust she has for him and it makes his heart swell with pride that she has so much confidence and faith in him that she trusts him to keep her safe when she’s like this.

He unbuckles his belt and quickly opens his door and rounds the car to her side to get her door for her. She beams up at him from her seat, and he gives her a playful look before he leans in to unfasten her seatbelt for her since she was making no move to do so herself.

She clumsily gets out of the vehicle and Tim has to hold back his laugh, which he doesn’t do a very good job of. She leans into his space with a teasing pout on her face.

“Are you laughing at me?”

Tim smiles down at her, a hand falling to her back to start guiding her towards the doors leading to the station, “Never.”

She easily moves with him, offering no resistance which he’s glad for. In fact she seems very happy to be guided around by him. 

She’s standing as close as she can be when they’re walking side by side, a lot closer than she ever normally would. Her hip continuously grazes his own and it’s making him smile so much that he has to remind himself to look professional walking into the station.

It would almost be considered inappropriate how close they are right now but he doesn’t have the heart to put space between them when she’s not fully in control of herself and not completely aware of what’s going on around her because of the ecstasy. He doesn’t want to upset her especially when she’s incredibly emotionally vulnerable like this.

And maybe he likes her being so close but he wouldn’t admit that if anyone asked.

Trying to open the door to the station is awkward because he has to try not to bump an elbow into Lucy as he’s pulling the handle, and if anything she’s shifting closer to him as they move inside.

He can hear her take a deep breath as she steps inside and takes a glance at her face and he can tell she’s nervous to be in the station.

He frowns, wrapping his arm on her back a little more firmly around her in the hopes it’ll ease her worries. He’s aware that people on ecstasy can become paranoid or emotional very easily, but she spends half of her time on the job in this station and is great friends with most of the officers. He’s not sure why she seems to be uncomfortable being here, even under the influence, but is completely okay with him seeing her like this.

Her eyes dart around the busy enough bullpen as they walk in and she’s practically curling into his side, one hand even comes up to lightly rest on his lower stomach. 

He tilts his head down to check on her again, and he’s not sure if he’s imagining it but he thinks being so close to him helps ground her. 

She can touch him in whatever way she wants regardless of where they are or who they’re around, if it makes her feel more comfortable. 

Most people don’t blink twice at them, far too busy with their own work to pay much attention to them. He starts to lead her to the briefing room, hoping they can get a little bit of privacy for a moment and he can figure out what she’s feeling right now.

He needs to talk to Grey and tell him everything that’s going on but first he wants to make sure Lucy’s okay.

She’s his top priority right now.

He opens the glass door for them and gently urges her in front of him to go through, but she doesn’t seem to want to step too far away from him. Her hand comes up to find his forearm as he follows her through the door and closes it behind them. Her grip is firm enough to worry about her stress levels but not enough to cause him any pain.

The overhead lights in the room allow him to see her eyes clearly, her pupils still blown wide and a vacant but slightly panicked look in her eyes as they look out the glass to the people milling around the station.

He needs to calm her down before he can do anything else. He leads her toward the closest table, her back facing it as she turns her head to look at him again, and his hands come up to her shoulders.

He gently puts pressure on her shoulders to ease her to sit down on top of the table, before letting go.

It takes her a moment of shuffling around until she’s settled and Tim looks into her eyes again, that panic still there.

He needs to calm her down before this gets worse.

“Lucy, talk to me, what’s wrong?”

Her breathing is heavier and her chest is rising and falling faster than usual. 

“I—“

He frowns, stepping closer to her but not touching her yet. 

“Lucy, it’s okay, you’re okay.”

She shakes her head, anxiety obviously building up. Her hands start to fidget in her lap and he just wants to take all her pain away but he doesn’t know what to do or what’s wrong.

“Lucy, what can I do?”

She finally meets his eyes again, wide and full of fear. Her mouth opens and closes a few times as she tries to find her words.

“Could you—could you come closer? Please?”

Her voice is high and shaking and Tim doesn’t waste a second, moving in closer until his thighs are touching her knees. She instantly parts her knees to let him come closer and Tim wraps his arms around her and pulls her in for a warm hug, one hand coming up to the back of her head to keep her against him.

One of her hands slips around his back to clutch at the back of his uniform top and the other curls up under her own chin and she presses her face against his chest. 

He finally hears her breathing start to even out after a minute or two of just holding her.

He’s vaguely aware that they’re on full display right now, everyone in the bullpen has a complete view of them but he can’t bring himself to care about that right now.

Sure people might talk but Lucy’s safety and wellbeing is more important than some gossip about them. 

Besides by tomorrow it’s likely the whole station will know what happened to her on their call earlier and would probably connect the dots.

He doesn’t pull away until she’s pulling away, looking at her dangling feet instead of meeting his eyes and he frowns again. 

“What’s wrong Lucy? You can talk to me.”

She fidgets for a moment looking at her hands before she braves looking up at him again and although it’s not as bad as before, she still looks nervous.

“There’s a lot of people here.”

He furrows his brow but nods gently. “You’re safe here, Lucy, don’t worry.”

She nods softly, “I know but . . .”

He waits a moment to see if she’ll continue but she doesn’t. 

“But what?” He moves his hand to rest over hers because she’d started to pick at her nails and he doesn’t want her to hurt herself.

“It’s stupid.” Her eyes meet the floor again, a flush rising to her cheeks but he won’t let her feel embarrassed. 

He brings his other hand to gingerly lift her chin until their eyes meet again. “Whatever you’re feeling is not stupid, Lucy. What’s wrong, maybe I can help?”

She sighs softly, “I only . . . No one else feels safe. You feel safe.”

Tim’s not even sure he could describe what that sentence made him feel. He can’t believe that she feels safe with him over everyone else in this station.

His eyes search hers and she smiles softly up at him, her fear slowly creeping away as they look at each other. He sways a little closer to her and she tilts her head up further to keep looking at him. Her eyes are wide, and still dilated but there’s no longer any anxiety in them. There’s something else hidden there but he can’t quite figure out what it is.

“Lucy . . .”

The door they came in swings open, pulling them out of their moment and it’s like someone poured a bucket of ice cold water over them. Lucy retreats back into herself, her shoulders tense and her head dropping to look at the floor again, or maybe his shoes, Tims not sure. 

He turns to look at whoever burst in on them, an overwhelming urge to protect Lucy when she’s like this taking over.

He spins around to see Angela walking in with a smirk on her face.

“What’s going on in here?” Her voice is teasing and full of suggestion, which normally would just annoy him because she’s always teasing him about Lucy ever since he drunkenly admitted to having a serious crush on her a month ago. But today isn’t the right time.

“Angela.”

She immediately picks up on his tone and her smirk drops to a more serious look as she fully comes into the room and shuts the door again. 

“What happened?”

Tim glances down at Lucy again, who grimaces at the question and Tim moves a hand down to her thigh to try to help her relax again. Some of the tension from her shoulders leaves. She moves one of her own hands so her fingers brushed against his, and at his reassuring smile she becomes more confident and starts idly playing with his fingers to try ground herself. 

He looks back up at Angela who’s staring at their hands in Lucy’s lap, before she’s looking at him again, a questioning look on her face.

“We had a call to an abandoned house. There were a few squatters who jumped us and one got Lucy on the floor and she accidently inhaled ecstasy that the guy had been using.”

Angela looks down at Lucy in concern, “Is she going to be okay?”

Tim nods and turns to Lucy again. He’s not sure if she’s listening to their conversation but she now lifts Tim's hand slightly and turns it so his open palm is facing her and she starts tracing the small lines on his palm with her other fingers. He lets her, a small smile on his face because she seems to have calmed down again which he’s very grateful for.

“Bailey checked her out on the scene. Said she’ll be okay, just have to wait it out. I’m keeping an eye on her.” Angela nods along.

“We just came back to the station so I can talk to Grey and then I’m taking her home to rest.”

Angela moves further into the room. “I’ll stay with her if you want to go talk to Grey.”

Tim smiles at her, “Thanks Angela, really.”

“What are best friends for?”

Tim looks back down at Lucy and tilts his head down to get her attention again, her wide eyes meeting his after a moment. 

“Hey Lucy, I need to go talk to Grey, Angela’s going to stay with you for a minute.”

She’s quickly frowning, shaking her head in protest and the hand that had been tracing his palm comes up to clutch the material of his uniform shirt, the fabric bunching up in her hands.

“Can you stay, please?”

He frowns sadly down at her, feeling awful for having to leave her like this, even if it’s only a minute or two.

“I’m sorry Lucy, I promise I’ll be right back.”

She shakes her head again, her grip becoming even tighter. Her hand that’s still holding his shifts to interlace their fingers and if Tim wasn’t feeling so horrible for needing to leave her he might’ve started mentally freaking out about how she’s holding his hand. 

Her grip on him is tight but if he wanted to, he could get out of it. He’s not sure he really wants to.  

He helplessly looks over to Angela, not sure what to do, but she has a small smirk back on her face, looking down at where Lucy is touching him.

Turning back to Lucy he sighs and leans his head in a little closer, lowering his voice and his eyes pleading with her.

“I don’t want to leave you, Lucy, but I have to go talk to Grey. I swear I’ll only be gone a couple minutes.” 

She doesn’t say anything but her grip on him doesn’t loosen. 

“I promise, you’re safe with Angela, I’d trust her with my life, and I’ll be right back to bring you home, okay?”

She reluctantly nods her head in agreement, clearly not happy with the situation judging by the large pout on her face. Tim doesn’t step away from her until her hands fall away from him, tucking them back into her own lap where she starts fidgeting again.

He looks down at her worriedly but then Angela cuts through his thoughts. 

“Go Tim, I’ll keep an eye on her.”

He nods his head and takes a deep breath to will himself to fully move away from her. He feels like a horrible person leaving her like this when she really just wants him to stay, even if it’s only for a few minutes.

“Thanks Angela.” His voice is full of unspoken gratitude and she gives him a small smile. He knows she’s aware of how much this means to him.

“Go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back to her.”

He shakes his head a little to compose himself, knowing she’s right.

He gives one more glance to Lucy, “I’ll be back before you know it.”

She smiles up at him, her mood seeming to have shifted slightly. He needs to go now before her mood changes again before he can come back. 

He returns her smile before walking towards Angela giving her a nod, and then he’s opening the door and briskly walking over to Greys office and knocking on the door.

—-

“I’m hungry.”

Lucy looks up at Angela and it’s the first time the woman gets a good look at her since she came in. She can see the telltale signs that she’s high, the most obvious one being her dilated pupils.

“Okay, I’ll get someone to get you a snack.” 

Lucy smiles happily at the mention of a snack. 

Angela looks out the glass windows to see if she can catch anyone’s eye. Nolan looks in her general direction and she lifts her hand to get his attention. He frowns in confusion before she’s gesturing for him to come over.

He walks over and opens the door looking very confused. “What’s going on?”

Angela points over to Lucy who’s now swinging her legs and watching them sway back and forth intently.

“Accidently inhaled ecstasy on a call. Tim’s talking to Grey so I’m keeping an eye on her.”

Nolan frowns over at Lucy, “Will she be okay?”

“Tim said Bailey was the one on the scene and said to just wait for it to come out of her system.”

He nods his head, “What do you need me for?”

“She said she’s hungry, could you run to the vending machine or something and grab her a snack?”

He smiles a little, already moving towards the door, “Of course, I’ll be right back.”

Angela thanks him again before she moves to one of the chairs near Lucy. It’s not too close that it’ll alarm her but she’s close enough if anything happens. She sits down and looks over at Lucy who’s still swinging her legs like a little kid and it makes Angela smile.

She doesn’t try to make conversation with Lucy just yet, not sure how she’ll react. It’s probably better to get her to eat something first.

Nolan comes back very quickly with a chocolate bar in hand. He walks over to Lucy with a hesitant smile, he’s also clearly not very sure how she’ll react to him.

“Hey Lucy, I got you a chocolate bar.”

Lucy's head snaps up and she has a beaming smile on her face, looking at the bar.

“I love chocolate!” She happily takes the offered chocolate and rips open the wrapper to take a small bite, humming in appreciation.

Her legs don’t stop moving back and forth as she chews, staring out the windows again.

Nolan joins Angela sitting down beside her. “How long should it last?”

Angela shrugs, “Not sure, Tim didn’t say. I’m sure she’ll be feeling better tomorrow.” 

He nods in response and Angela grins again, leaning a little closer to him and whispering, “You should’ve seen how close the two of them were. Lucy was practically begging for Tim not to leave her side.”

Nolan frowns and glances at Lucy again before looking back at Angela. “They can’t get together now. I’ll lose fifty dollars!”

Angela grins and sits back in her seat triumphantly, “ And I’m about to win the jackpot.”

“What jackpot?” They both freeze at Lucy’s voice and she’s turned her head to look at them. 

Angela gives her a smile, “Don’t worry about it.”

Lucy shrugs her shoulders with a smile, “Okay!”

Her legs have stopped swinging now and both of them are looking at her. “Did you know Tim’s taking me home?”

Angela raises her eyebrows at that and Nolan lets out a surprised laugh. “Oh is he?” Her voice is teasing and full of victory as she grins at Nolan.

“Yep.”

Angela takes a good look at Lucy and realises she’d probably say anything right now, her inhibitions are so lowered. 

“What do you think of Tim, Lucy?”

She smiles giddily, “He’s amazing.”

Angela laughs a little and Nolan’s frown is gone, listening intently. 

“Is he?”

Lucy nods her head the way a little excited kid would. “Yeah, he’s so nice, but he pretends he’s not. I think he’s a big softie.” Both of the other officers are smiling, no longer teasing, because it’s clear to them how in love Lucy sounds when she’s talking about Tim even when high.

“You know he always buys me lunch when we’re on shift?” 

That shocks them both. Angela would get a huff and a slap on the hand if she ever tried to steal his food, let alone have him buy her lunch everyday.

He’s never bought any of his rookies or partners over the years lunch.

“I always tease him for it and he tells me not to tell anyone. I don’t know why though. He’s really nice, I don’t know why he thinks he has to hide it around everyone else.”

Angela feels tears pricking at her eyes and blinks rapidly to make them disappear. She’s not sure there’s anyone more perfect for her best friend.

What Lucy says next shocks them both so much they burst into a fit of laughter. 

“His arms are also so sexy.”

She grins when she makes them laugh, Angela wiping tears of joy from the corner of her eyes just as the door opens.

Tim steps in with a confused smile, no longer in his uniform but his own clothes, “What’s going on in here?”

Lucy positively lights up at the sight of Tim again, and the two of them watch as he walks over to her and she hurriedly slips off the table she was sitting on to meet him.

She immediately goes for a hug, her arms wrapping around his neck and he easily returns it, his hands settling on her lower back.

He glances at Angela and Nolan over her shoulder as they try to stop laughing.

Lucy eventually pulls back from the hug slightly, her mouth brushing Tim’s ear as she whispers, “I really missed you.”

Tim tries to hide his smile but he knows he’s failed when Angela smirks at him. 

Lucy's arms are still looped around his neck, not letting go, so he keeps his hands on her back, wary of her fluctuating emotions right now.

Physical touch seems to help ground her as well. And if he enjoys it, who can blame him.

“No one answered my question.”

Angela and Nolan glance at each other with matching smiles but don’t say anything and Lucy mumbles against Tim’s throat where she’s tucked her head under his chin.

“What’s that, Lucy?”

She speaks a little louder for them all to hear. 

“I was telling them how amazing you are.”

Angela has a shit eating grin on her face and Tim feels himself flushing.

“And that your arms are sexy.”

Tim thinks she might have just broken his brain, and the two sitting down are giggling again but Tim doesn’t pay them any mind.

“Uh—I think it’s time to bring you home, Lucy.”

She nods her head gently, slotting it back against his neck as she curls into him again.

“I want to go home with you.”

He can hear Angela’s smirk without looking at her. “Oh I bet Tim would love to go home with you too.”

He glares at her, “Not helping.”

His best friend grins at him, “Never said I was trying to help. And it’s true.”

Tim tries to tilt his head so he can meet her eye but it’s impossible with the way she’s pressed herself into his embrace and he doesn’t have the heart to try to pull away.

“Come on, Lucy, let’s go.”

She nods against him but doesn’t move. 

He chuckles a little, “We have to move, Lucy.”

She huffs in frustration. “I don’t want to move.”

“I know you don’t, but we have to move so we can go home.”

She sighs but willingly lets go of his neck and pulls away from him ever so slightly.

He smiles down at her, gesturing with a nod towards the door, and uses his hand on her back to help her get started.

“Text me when you guys get there. Keep a close eye on her.”

Tim nods at Angela, “I will. Thanks for staying with her.”

She smiles, “Anytime.”

Tim leads them out of the room, walking directly behind her because she doesn’t want them to separate from each other so he keeps his hand on her back. 

The further they walk, the more she starts to curl into him again, pressing close to him. 

They catch the attention of a few officers on their way out the main doors. 

They’re definitely going to be the talk of the station for the next few days but he puts that to the back of his mind for now. His main priority right now is Lucy.

He directs them towards his truck, fishing for his keys in his jeans pocket. He leads them to a stop as he unlocks the car and Lucy takes the opportunity to play with the lapels of his jacket. 

“This is a nice jacket.”

He smiles as he reaches over to pull her door open. “I’m glad you like it.”

“You should take it off.”

He freezes for a moment before he looks down at her. She's not looking at him but pulling lightly on the open edges of his jacket.

“Lucy . . .”

“You’d look better without it.”

Tim mouth opens and closes a few times as he tries to form a sentence. 

“Uh—I thought you liked it?”

She looks up at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. “I do. But I like this t-shirt more.” She puts her hand on his abs, the fabric of his form fitting shirt between her fingers.

“Oh?” His voice comes out high pitched and full of surprise, not knowing what to say.

She hums softly, her other hand coming to rest beside the other. They remain there for a moment before she’s sliding them up his chest slowly and he’s too in shock to do anything. 

Her hands slip under his jacket, inching the material further off his shoulders. 

“Lucy—“ He tries to bring his hands up to still her but she pouts at him. 

“Please, Tim.”

The rational part of his brain was screaming at him to pull her hands away and get her in the truck as quickly as possible. But all he could focus on was her face, the hopeful look in her eyes that he doesn’t want to destroy.

Before he can fully think it through his hands are falling back to his sides and she’s smiling in victory, continuing her task of pushing his jacket off his shoulders, until she needs his help to slip it off his arms.

Her eyes flit over his now visible t-shirt, and he catches the way she lingers on his biceps.

Then he’s remembering what she said about his arms and he feels warmth rising to his cheeks. Is that the reason she got him out of his jacket?

“I’m ready to go home now.”

Tim lets out a chuckle and shakes himself out of his thoughts. “Okay your highness, hop in.”

She tries to do exactly that and Tim has to step forward to quickly slip his hand up between where her head was going to crash into the top of the car door frame. Her forehead bumps against the back of his hand and she lets out a little laugh. 

“Oops.”

Tim’s eyes swim with amusement as he watches her second attempt at getting into the passenger seat, this time avoiding a possible head injury.

She settles herself into the seat and then turns to look at him expectantly.

He sighs, pretending to be annoyed but he really isn’t, as he leans in to grab her seatbelt before leaning over to buckle it in.

He can feel her eyes on him as he does it but pretends he doesn’t notice before he’s leaning back out. She gives him a wide smile as he’s shutting her door, and he’s helpless to not return it.

He rounds the truck and hops in the drivers seat, buckling his own seat belt before he’s starting the engine, deciding to take them back to his place so he can keep an eye on her and he still has to feed Kojo.

Just as before, not long into their drive to his house, her hand finds its way to rest on his thigh again, just above his knee. It stays there for about a minute, warming his skin through his jeans until her fingers start to trace patterns and shapes into the material like she did earlier.

It brings a smile to his face and he steals a quick glance at her to see her smiling at him. 

God, she’s beautiful. 

Tim quickly looks back to the road before he gets too distracted and crashes the truck. 

A couple minutes later her fingers start to draw shapes higher up his thigh making his breath hitch. If she notices his reaction she doesn’t let it stop her. If anything she seems to be encouraged by it, her fingers slowly moving up his thigh.

Just when he realises where she might be going and is about to reach down to stop her because she’s clearly not in her right mind, her fingers come to a halt.

She squeezes his thigh once and then her hand is gone.

He finds himself disappointed at the loss of her touch.

But he’s not for long, because then he’s realising that she pulled her hand away so she could shift in her seat to face him better. Her right hand goes to find the same place high up on his thigh and her left reaches up to slide into his hair. 

It should be an awkward position but she doesn’t seem uncomfortable, too busy gently tugging on strands of his hair in a way that makes his mouth fall open slightly in a low groan. His head tilts further into her hand of its own volition before he even realises what he’s doing.

Lucy is egged on by his response and continues gliding her fingers through his hair and every so often tugging gently on the strands just hard enough to make him let out a groan.

He knows he should stop her, because he’s driving and he needs to concentrate on the road. And because they work together and this isn’t appropriate. And she’s high as a kite.

All good reasons to stop this right now.

But his hands stay firmly gripped onto the wheel and the only sounds coming out of his mouth are low, gravelly groans when she pulls on his hair.

The combination of her hand grasping his hair and her fingers resting teasingly on his upper thigh, Tim’s brain is on overdrive and he’s very surprised he hasn’t crashed his truck yet.

“Lucy . . .” She gives another firm pull on some hair at the back of his head and he cuts himself off, managing to fight back another groan. 

“You need to stop.”

The hand on his thigh gives a firm squeeze, “Stop what?” 

She’s looking at him as if she hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about and he’s squirming in his seat, his knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel.

“You know what.” He bites out the words when Lucy’s thumb starts rubbing slow circles into the material of his jeans. 

“I really don’t.” She leans in with a cheeky smile and Tim’s eyes dart back to the road.

“Lucy, you’re gonna kill us both.”

She hums softly, his words not bothering her in the slightest. 

“No I’m not. You’ll keep me safe.”

Tim keeps his eyes firmly on the road as he sees her shift closer again.

“I won’t be able to keep you safe if you keep . . .”

The words die in his throat when he feels Lucy’s nose brush against the skin of his neck. He shivers at the touch, before she’s inching even closer so her lips meet his pulse point.

All the air in his lungs rushes out at once in a short gasp that he knows she heard because he can feel her grin against his neck.

“Lucy—“

“Shh . . .” Her lips meet his pulse point again in a soft, barely there kiss. Then another one, this one a little longer.

“Lucy this isn’t appropriate, and you’re high.”

She gives him another slow kiss in the same spot, “Do you want me to stop, Tim?”

“I . . . Lucy—“

Another kiss cuts him off because this time he feels her suck his skin into her mouth ever so slightly. He sighs at the feeling, unconsciously tilting his head to give her better access even though his brain is screaming at him to pull away and make her stop because she’s not herself right now.

Or is she? He’s not sure. All he can focus on is the way her lips drag across his skin as she explores the span of his neck.

“Lucy . . .” His knuckles are white on the steering wheel and he desperately tries to keep focusing on driving the truck, but that’s hard to do when she’s trailing her lips up and down his throat.

He knows that he should stop her. 

But it feels so good.

And he’s helpless when it comes to telling Lucy the word no.

He doesn’t want to say no.

But she’s under the influence, and will probably regret this later.

He has to put a stop to this. For her sake.

“Lucy—“

She cuts him off again when her lips attach to the junction between his neck and his shoulder, just above where his t-shirt rests, and starts sucking a bruise into his skin. 

He has to stop himself from closing his eyes in pleasure and look at the road.

He can barely move.

All he can focus on is her.

He knows she’s going to leave a decently sized bruise on his lower neck but he can’t bring himself to care about that right now.

But he needs to stop this. Before he doesn’t have the strength to.

“Lucy, I need to drive.”

Her mouth pulls away from his skin for a second, giving him a moment to breathe.

“Seems like you’re already driving.”

He lets out a small chuckle, but it’s cut short when his breath leaves him again because her lips are back on his jaw.

“Lucy, I’m serious. If you’re not careful I’m going to crash this car.”

Her lips don’t stop moving over his skin.

“Mmhmm . . . maybe you should pull over then.”

Tim lets his head lean back on the headrest. 

As wonderful as that sounds, he cannot pull over. He won’t let her do something she’ll regret or doesn’t mean.

“We’re almost there, I promise. But I need to concentrate.”

She hums against his neck again and he can feel the vibration against his throat. His eyes feel heavy as he makes another turn and his whole body feels like it’s hyper focused on every little movement she makes. 

Her lips finally pull away and Tim huffs a small sigh of relief, because if she had tried to keep going he’s not sure he would’ve been able to stop her.

She tilts her head slightly so she’s nuzzling into his neck, the hand on his thigh sliding up his body to clutch onto the material of his t-shirt right above his heart, the other still idly running through the short strands of hair on the back of his neck. 

This isn’t as intense as her kissing her way across his skin. He can focus better now, but he’s still drawn to the faint smell of lavender in her hair and the warmth of her cheek against his throat. 

He’s making the last turn towards his house before he even realises, and pulls into his driveway smoothly, glad they’re finally off the road.

Before knows what’s happening he hears the sharp click of seatbelts releasing and Lucy is moving. 

Fast.

And towards him.

Her leg swings over his thighs and then she’s straddling his lap, both hands have a grip on his t-shirt and his jaw falls open in shock at Lucy on top of him, looking up at her with wide eyes

“What are you doing, Lucy?”

She hums softly with a gentle grin on her face as she angles her head towards his neck again. 

“Getting more comfortable.”

He gasps when he feels soft lips press into his neck, his hands instinctively coming up to hold onto her hips, before he scolds himself.

But he can’t lift his hands.

Because Lucy’s hands have slid down to hold them there so he won’t pull away.

“Lucy, we can’t—“

She doesn’t let that stop her dragging her tongue across his collarbone, and he resists the urge to tighten his hold on her hips and pull her closer. 

“Why not?”

He sighs and tries to regain his composure but it’s hard to do that when she’s started to shift in his lap, ever so slightly grinding her hips against his upper thighs.

“You’re not yourself. You’ll regret this when the drugs wear off.”

Her lips stop pressing against his skin and she freezes. Tim’s heart drops into his gut, because he was right. She’s already regretting this. She doesn’t actually like him, it’s just the ecstasy.

She’s lifting her head out from the crook of his neck and pulling back to look down at him.

He searches her eyes waiting for the rejection, but it never comes.

Instead a small smile pulls at her lips and she loosens her grip on his shirt, smoothing her hands over the wrinkles she made in it.

“So you’re saying, if I was 100% sober right now, you would have no complaints.”

The word slips out of his mouth before he can even form a thought, “Yes.”

He doesn’t have time to feel embarrassed though, because she’s grinning from ear to ear.

“Okay then.” She reaches for the door handle of the driver's door and pushes it open and then she’s sliding off his lap, her two feet landing on the ground.

Tim stared at her bewildered, not sure what just happened. “Wha—“

Lucy leans back into the truck and grins at him, while looking him up and down, “When I’m sober, we’re doing this again.”

Tim’s heart is racing a mile a minute because there’s no way he heard that correctly.

“We are?”

Lucy nods gently tugging on his shirt to urge him out of the seat. “Yes, now get down and bring me inside, I’m hungry.”

He can’t help but laugh at everything that just happened as he gets out of his truck and closes the door behind him, “Okay, bossy.”

Lucy sways into his side, her head tilted up to smirk at him, “You love it when I’m bossy.”

He rolls his eyes fondly and urges her towards his front door. He follows her up the small steps to the door and has to lean over her to slot them into the lock. She doesn’t make any move to make it easier for him to do it, she just leans back into his chest and waits for the door to swing open.

Tim guides them inside, locking the door behind them, flicking on the lights as he does so and leads them towards his kitchen. Lucy leaves his side in favour of sitting on one of the stools at his counter and staring over at him expectantly.

He tries to fight the smile on his face but he gives up, “What are you in the mood for?”

——

Lucy spends the entire time Tim’s making them something to eat, ogling him in a way that is making him blush. He’s trying to hide his red cheeks from her view by facing away from her but he has a feeling she knows what she’s doing to him, especially now that they’ve practically promised to act on their feelings once the ecstasy is out of her system.

When he finally sets a plate in front of her, she’s already digging in eagerly before he even gets the chance to sit down. 

She must really be hungry. He thinks back to when the last time she ate was and it must’ve been at lunch so he can hardly blame her for being hungry. 

He himself is eager to start eating and he slides onto the stool next to her, taking a quick glance over her to check up on her. 

Her eyes definitely are not as dilated as before and she seems to be a bit calmer than she was earlier. He’s not sure if that’s because they’re not surrounded by other people now. She did seem to get more agitated when other people were in the room with them. It warms his heart though, that she’s so comfortable being with him.

But she’s still very touchy. 

Her hand has fallen to his thigh, it’s not moving or anything, just resting above his knee and he flicks his eyes up to her face again. She seems more content now that there’s some physical connection between them. 

He stops the wide smile spreading across his face by taking another bite of his food.

When they’re done, Tim stands to bring their plates over to the sink and Lucy sighs as her hand falls from his thigh when he moves.

He looks back at her as he starts to rinse the dishes and sees that apprehension back in her eyes and he frowns slightly, worrying that another mood swing is happening.

“Everything okay, Lucy?”

He hears her shift in her seat and he starts to pick up his pace with cleaning the dishes so he can fully focus back on her as soon as possible.

“I think . . .” Her voice died off and she sounds so unsure of herself that it breaks something in his heart.

“I don’t like it when we’re not touching.”

His body betrays him at her admission because he almost drops the plate he was holding.

“I, uh, I’ll be done in a minute I promise.”

He hears her shuffle off the stool and the soft sound of her padding towards him. He sighs gently when he feels her arms softly snake their way around his waist so she’s hugging him from behind. 

Hearing her tender sigh from behind him makes him smile and he leans further into her touch which she seems to like a lot, judging by the appreciative hum she lets out. 

Tim feels her cheek come to rest against the expanse of his back.

“You’re really warm. It’s nice. You can be my personal heater.”

He grins as he moves onto drying the dishes. 

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”

He didn’t mean to say that out loud.

His heart clenched as he awaits her reaction but she’s wrapping her arms tighter around him, and he swears he can feel the smile on her face against his back.

Setting down the last plate, he slowly turns in her arms, leaving putting the dishes away as something to do later on. Lucy’s smiling dopely up at him when he’s fully facing her and he returns her smile.

“Hi.” Her voice is so beautiful that it immediately makes him smile a little wider.

“Hi.”

Lucy’s hands come up to rest against his chest and in turn his own come to settle on her lower back for what feels like the millionth time that day. He can certainly get used to doing this a lot more often. 

He hopes she’ll still want to do all this when she’s no longer on drugs because now that he knows what it’s like to constantly be touching her and her initiating contact with him, he’s not sure he’s ready to let it go.

Lucy letting out a tired yawn breaks him out of his thoughts. 

“Alright, Officer Chen, I think it’s time you got some rest.” He chuckles down at her and she moves to lay her head on his chest, her eyes closing.

“Mmm, yeah.”

He slides his hands down to her hips, “Come on.”

He gently turns her in his arms with minimal protest but he thinks that’s because she’s tired and doesn’t have enough energy to put up a fight.

Tim moves them forward slowly, letting Lucy walk in front and keeping his hands on her hips to push her in the direction of his bedroom.

He nudges the door open and steps them into the room.

He debates giving her something to change into but he’s not sure she could manage it herself and he’s not going to offer to help her get changed in front of him, he only has so much strength. Besides the clothes Bailey let her borrow are comfy enough to sleep in and Lucy’s not making any objections as he walks them towards the bed.

It doesn’t take much to get Lucy to sit down on the bed but she reaches out to clutch onto Tim’s t-shirt, pulling him to stand in between her parted thighs.

“Stay, please.”

Tim sweeps his eyes over her, she looks thoroughly exhausted and vulnerable, her eyes wide with uneasiness, like she’s worried that if he leaves now he won’t be there when she wakes up. He can’t stand to see that fear on her face.

“Okay.”

Lucy tries to tug him onto the bed as well but he gently puts his hands over hers.

“I need to change first and I promise I’ll be right back.”

She pouts up at him and he smiles down at her to reassure her. 

“I’ll be two minutes.”

She reluctantly lets go of her hold on him and he moves over to grab some pyjamas, and he slips into the bathroom to get changed.

Tim comes back into the bedroom to find that Lucy hasn’t moved an inch since he left, grinning sleepily at him as he gets closer to the side of the bed.

When he’s close enough that she can reach out and touch him, her fingers wrap around the fabric of his pyjama shirt and tugs it to signal she wants him to join her.

He turns to sit on the edge of the bed beside her and she smiles when their thighs brush. 

Tim uses his hands to slowly push himself so he’s slightly lying down with his head propped up under a pillow. He smiles softly at Lucy and parts his legs slightly, giving her the option of sleeping either beside him or cuddling up with him. Judging from the last few hours he has a feeling it’ll be the latter.

He’s proven correct when Lucy shuffles to lie in between his legs, moving until her head is tucked up in the crook of his neck like before and Tim rests his hands on her lower back.

She’s a comfortable weight on his chest, having her so close and pressed up against him puts his mind at ease.

Her symptoms definitely seem to be wearing off now. He hopes that when she wakes up they’ll have completely worn off and she’ll feel better. But now, she needs to get some rest.

“Go to sleep, Luce. I’ll be right here the whole time.”

The nudge of her head when she slowly nods into this neck lets him know that she’s heard him, and he tenderly starts smoothing his hands up and down her back hoping it’ll help lull her to sleep.

He feels more than hears her hum in appreciation and smiles to himself as he continues to run his hands across her spine.

It only takes a few minutes until he hears her breathing even out letting him know she’s fallen asleep. He grins down at her sleeping form laying on top of him, wondering how he ever got so lucky as to have this woman with him right now.

It’s not long until Tim’s drifting off in sleep too, falling asleep with a lovesick smile on his face.

——

Waking up, Tim feels a pleasant weight pushing him down into the mattress and smiles slowly when he remembers yesterday. 

He slowly peels his eyes open and glances down at the woman on top of him.

They haven’t moved much since they fell asleep, Lucy still tucked up on Tim’s chest with her head just under his chin. He can feel her slow breath hitting the skin on his neck letting him know she’s still asleep.

Tim smiles again, still astounded at how lucky he is right now as his hand resumes the slow path of trailing up and down her back.

He stays like this for a while, he’s not sure how long he lays there thinking about Lucy and how he’s definitely fallen head over heels for her and the past day has only solidified that.

Any time she touched him or pressed up against him it set his heart racing and butterflies erupted in his stomach. He liked being touched by her and he liked returning those touches. He loved running his hands up and down her back and he loved holding her lower back. There was something addicting about it.

He just hoped this wasn’t all because she was on ecstasy. He wants this to be real.

He wants her to feel the same way about him.

Lucy shuffles in his arms slightly, not quite awake yet but she’s clearly stirring. For a moment he freezes wondering if he should keep rubbing her back like this. 

Will she wake up and awkwardly pull away from him, apologising for everything that happened yesterday because she wasn’t herself?

Will she think he’s taking advantage of her?

He’s about to rip his hand off her back in a panic when Lucy groans gently and tries to burrow further into the crook of his neck letting out a sleepy mumble, “Don’t stop.”

Tim swears his heart stops for a second.

“What?” His voice is a whisper, he’s surprised she can even hear him but she can because she responds.

“Keep doing that, it feels really nice.”

Tim’s brain is shortcutting but his body seems to understand what to do because his hands slowly caress the curve of her spine and she hums contently into his skin, setting his skin on fire.

“How are you feeling?”

When he’s moving his hands up her back, he catches onto the loose t-shirt she’s wearing, accidently lifting the fabric slightly, exposing a sliver of soft, creamy skin. His fingers brush her bare back and he smirks when she shivers in delight at the contact.

“Mmm, much better. My head feels . . . quieter, if that even makes any sense?”

Tim nods his head gently to show her he understands and she continues, “I feel less . . . energised, I guess. Tired, like after a long day of work.”

He hums, “Sounds like it’s completely worn off, or just about.” He tilts his head but can’t see her face from their position.

“Lucy?” She murmurs in answer and he chuckles, sensing she might be falling back to sleep. 

“Lucy can you look at me for a second.”

She groans in protest but does as he asks and pulls her head out from his neck, using her hands on his chest to prop herself up to look him in the eyes.

For a flash of a moment Tim thinks about what else they could be doing with Lucy on top of him but he quickly pushes those thoughts to the side.

He looks into her eyes, her pupils aren’t dilated anymore but her eyes look tired and he knows she needs more sleep.

“Okay, go back to sleep, Lucy.”

Tim angled to move himself out from under her, and Lucy can tell he’s trying to get out of the bed, and slips one of her legs around his hip to move into straddling his waist then uses her weight on him to press him back down into the mattress with her hands on his chest.

“Where are you going?”

Tim stares up at the scene in front of him with wide eyes, Lucy keeping him down by straddling him and he can feel his cheeks flushing as he stumbles to get words out so she won’t notice how this is affecting him.

“Uhh, to go make you something to eat?”

Lucy takes him in for a moment and then shakes her head. 

“I’m not hungry right now. And I want you to stay here, please.”

Tim is helpless to do anything but nod up at her still in shock, which makes her smile brightly. 

She doesn’t bother to move from where she’s positioned over his lap, she just lays down using him as a human pillow, tucking herself back into the crook of his neck and breathes deeply. Tim’s hands are on her back again without even thinking, it’s concerning how natural it’s become in less than 24 hours.

Their bodies are completely pressed against each other, Tim comfortably weighed down by the woman on top of him and he breathes deeply as his hands begin rubbing up and down her back again. 

Lucy hums in appreciation, moving impossibly closer to him. 

After a minute, Tim’s heart rate has significantly done down, finally adjusting to having in his opinion, the hottest woman he’s ever seen literally on top of him. 

Then Lucy decides she wants to kill him.

At first he dismisses it as an accident, just an innocent brush against his skin.

The second time though, it feels purposeful when he feels her soft lips move over the skin under his ear.

His brain freezes, trying to understand what’s happening, and then she’s placing a deliberate kiss on his pulse point and he lets out a whisper of a gasp.

He thinks she hasn’t heard it until he can literally feel her smirk against his neck.

Then she’s kissing him in the same place again, longer this time and Tims hand stops their movements on her back to clutch her hips, unconsciously holding her against him as his eyes fall shut. 

He lets himself bask in the pleasure of her lips trailing over his skin, wishing he could wake up to this every morning.

Her kisses move along his neck for the next few minutes, taking her time to explore the expanse of his skin with pecks and little nips, nothing too much to leave a mark. Then he feels her moving to his jaw and his heart is beating like he’s an inexperienced teenager again, because she’s inching closer and closer to his own lips.

She places a lingering kiss on his chin before she leans her head back to smile softly down at him and Tim can feel the buzzed grin on his face as he stares at her, no walls up to block his undeniable feelings for her as their eyes meet. All of his emotions are on display to her right now but he doesn’t care. In fact he wants her to see it all. He wants her to know how he feels.

She’s smiling even more now, more sure of herself as her head starts to tilt towards him, slowly inching closer and closer to his lips. 

He awaits with bated breath, ready to finally kiss the woman he’s been pining over for months. Probably even longer.

And then his stupid phone rings, jolting them out of their daze. Lucy frowns at the interruption but leans over to grab his phone off the nightstand. Her ass grinding down on his groin in a way that’s not helping his situation at all.

He groans at her touch thinking it was an accident but then she’s leaning back and offering him his phone with a knowing grin.

Oh, she’s so dead.

He answers the call, not even checking to see who it is as he settles the phone between his shoulder and his ear, still laying back on the pillow, and then returns his warm hands to Lucy’s hips, tracing small circles into the inch of exposed skin where her t-shirt is still bunched up. 

“Tim Bradford.” He’s glad his voice doesn’t betray him when he speaks even though Lucy decides now is the perfect time to grind down again.

Angela’s voice floats into his ear and he has to make a conscious effort to listen to her and not focus on the way Lucy’s smirking at him.

“Hey Tim, just checking in to see if Lucy’s alright?”

She’s definitely more than alright judging by the way she’s rolling her hips down into his morning wood, and he holds his breath or a moment to compose himself.

“Yeah she’s feeling a lot better now. I think everything’s out of her system. I’m actually about to go make her some breakfast, she’s just woken up.”

Lucy has a genuine smile on her face listening to him speak and she pauses on his lap, fortunately giving him a break from her teasing.

“That’s good. Nolan was saying that Bailey was asking how she’s doing, I think she was worried about her.”

Tim fights letting out a grunt when Lucy slowly drags her hips in a circle again, and Tim clamps his hands tight on her hips, holding her in place because he’s a lot stronger than she is and she pouts at having lost her little game.

“I’ll get Lucy to call her later to let her know how she’s feeling, and if she still has any symptoms, but I think they’ve all worn off now.”

Tim meets her eye at that, just to make sure, and Lucy smiles with a nod in response. She’s feeling back to normal now.

Which makes Tim smile even more because that confirms that whatever the hell they’re doing right now is real.

“Okay, perfect. I’ll see you guys at work tomorrow and tell Lucy I’m glad she’s feeling better.”

Tim lifts one hand off Lucy’s hip to reach up to grab his phone from between his ear and his shoulder after saying their goodbyes. 

He quickly hangs up and tosses his phone to the side before he’s surging up, one hand sliding around Lucy’s back, the other still firmly holding her hip, and then he’s flipping them around. He pins Lucy’s back into the sheets, slotting one leg between her thighs, and she lets out a squeal at the unexpected move.

He smirks down at her, dipping his head so the tip of his nose trails along her jawline and she’s instantly tilting her head back to give him more access to the skin of her neck.

The leg that he’s slotted between her thighs slides up slightly until he’s applying the faintest amount of pressure where she really wants him and she’s letting out soft little groans that are like music to his ears.

The first time his lips graze her skin, it sets his soul alive, and he knows he was always meant to be here, hovering over Lucy and listening to that sweet gasp that escapes her as he kisses her neck for the first time.

“Tim.”

He thinks he could get drunk on the sound of her saying his name. He wants her to say it again.

He grinds his thigh against her a little harder and he can feel the way her throat moves as she lets out a gentle moan.

“Oh my god, Tim. Don’t stop.”

He moves his mouth up slightly to tug her earlobe between his teeth and she gasps again, a hand clutching his t-shirt.

His mouth dips back down to find her pulse point, latching on and lathering the spot. One of Lucy’s hands finds its way into Tim’s hair, running through the strands, until Tim starts sucking her skin to leave a mark and her hand stops its movements, grasping his short hair and tugging in pleasure which makes Tim groan, sending bolts of pleasure through her body.

She uses her hand in his hair to tug his head up out of his neck to meet her eyes, and she grins up at him while Tim smirks down at her, purposefully pushing his thigh against her slowly, watching as her mouth falls open, never breaking eye contact.

“Tim!”

A loud bark at the edge of the bed pulls them out of their little bubble. Lucy’s heart jumps and Tim whips his head down to look at the source of the sound.

Kojo practically grins up at them both, having no clue what he’s interrupting as he pants up at them.

Tim gives Lucy an apologetic smile, “I haven’t fed him yet, he’ll keep barking until he gets his breakfast.”

Lucy nods her head, knowing that poor Kojo should get his food but she doesn’t want to leave this bed, or more importantly she doesn’t want Tim to move from on top of her. 

“I need to make you something to eat too.”

Lucy smiles up at him, her fingers running through the strands of hair at the nape of his neck, Tim closes his eyes briefly at the sensation and Lucy had no idea he would love to have his hair played with so much.

Tim sits back on his hunches, his thigh slotting out from between her legs and she sighs at the loss. She’s still worked up but she is hungry enough to eat so she won’t complain.

She knows Tim is just as affected as her in this situation judging by the telling bulge in his sweatpants. The sight makes her grin, knowing she’s gotten him all worked up just as much as he’s worked her up.

Tim gives her one last apologetic smile before he’s moving off the bed and Lucy immediately feels the loss of heat from his body on top of hers and she shivers.

It catches Tim’s eye and he walks over to grab a thick hoodie and hands it to her.

She smiles softly at him and takes it from him gratefully. She glances down at the t-shirt she’s wearing that she borrowed from Bailey and she knows she should probably get these clothes washed and back to her as soon as possible. She can rob Tim’s clothes for today.

“Could I borrow some sweatpants too actually?” Tim nods his head and goes to pick out some for her to wear.

“I just want to get Baileys clothes washed for her, I feel bad taking them as it is.”

Tim comes back over to the edge of the bed and hands her a spare pair of sweatpants which she gratefully takes.

“You get changed and I’ll start on breakfast. Come out whenever you’re ready and I’ll throw Bailey's clothes on to wash.”

Lucy gives him an appreciative smile, which holds him in place for a moment because he can’t look away from her. 

Then another cheeky grin appears on her face and Tim braced himself for whatever mischief she’s about to carry out.

What he didn’t expect in the slightest, was for Lucy to reach down and grasp the hem of the t-shirt she’s wearing and slowly drag the material up her stomach, clearly the end goal being to take it off, but first she’s putting on a show. With a gulp Tim realises this show is completely for him.

God, what has he done to deserve this woman grinning at him?

His brain freezes, all he can comprehend is that Lucy is bare from the waist up except for a simple black bra and his mouth is watering at the sight of so much soft skin.

She waits a few seconds, watching with glee as Tim stares at her like she hung the moon and the stars before she reaches for his hoodie in her lap, slowly tugging it over her head until she pulls the hem down over her torso, like that moment before never happened.

But it did, because Tims still standing there in shock.

“Tim?” 

He shakes his head slightly to get himself out of his head and catches Lucy’s smug grin, “What happened to breakfast?”

He grunts and rolls his eyes with a smile because she knows exactly what happened.  

He’s so getting her back for that.

——

Tim makes sure to feed Kojo and give him some water before he starts working on their breakfast. 

He’s plating up eggs and bacon for them both when Lucy sidles into the kitchen and moves to sit on one of the kitchen stools grinning at him.

“Thank god, I’m starving!” 

He chuckles at her eager hands reaching for the plate he offers her before he rounds the counter to sit down beside her, both of them tucking into their food. 

He finishes eating first and leaves his plate by the sink to clean up later and tells Lucy he’s just going to take a quick shower and then he’ll be back. She nods at him with a mouth full of bacon, not near finished yet as he’d given Lucy more food then himself because he knows she’s hungry and that she needs to keep her energy up as the drugs finally clear through her system. 

Thankfully she’s definitely back to her normal self, even if he did enjoy having her so open and affectionate with him. 

He puts Bailey's change of clothes into the washing machine and turns it on before moving back into his bedroom. He picks out a new change of clothes before heading towards the bathroom to get into the shower.

He smiles to himself as he lets the water run down his body, remembering their peaceful lie in this morning. He loved having her so close to him, and if he had to make a guess he’d say that Lucy seems to like being so close to him too.

That same dopey grin is still on his face as he steps out of the shower and wraps a towel around his waist. He glances at himself in the mirror and he had a great idea on how to get back at Lucy for her little antic earlier. 

But now he just needs a reason to go back out to the kitchen. 

He glances around, trying to come up with an idea and then his eyes land on the cabinet door that’s slightly askew. He’s been meaning to fix that for ages but kept forgetting about it and when he did remember, he promised himself he’d get to it later and then it would slip his mind. 

Well now’s as good a time as any.

——

Lucy’s almost finished her eggs when she hears soft footsteps approaching the kitchen that catch her attention.

Tim’s back. 

She smiles as she lifts and turns her head to face him and she has to clutch onto the fork in her hands so it doesn’t fall to the floor like her jaw is doing right now. 

Her eyes shamelessly roam over Tim’s half naked body, with only a small towel clinging to his waist.

Her mouth practically waters at the sight of water droplets running down the toned muscles of his abs and his large arms. One hand holds his towel up in a firm grip that’s making her stomach flip and she’s not sure she’s ever felt so turned on with the object of her attraction not even on the same side of the room as her. 

But that soon changes, because then he’s stepping closer.

And closer.

And she finally looks up at his face to meet a smug, satisfied grin that she should find annoying but it makes her clench her thighs together in a way that she hopes was subtle.

He moves to one of the drawers, and pulls it open, sifting through the items, clearly looking for something.

He answers the question she didn’t even ask, like he felt the need to announce why he was here, in the kitchen, half naked and still wet from the shower.

“That bathroom cabinet door has been annoying me for months but I keep forgetting to fix it.”

He finds what he’s looking for and holds up a screwdriver for her to see.

“I’m fixing it now before I put it off again.”

She nods in response, not trusting herself to speak coherently. 

He closes the drawer and turns back to face her fully and she has to take a deep breath to pull her eyes away from his impressive body. His grin lets her know that he caught her staring and she feels a faint blush come to her cheeks.

They hold eye contact for a moment and the glint she sees in his eyes makes her realise exactly what this actually is. 

Payback for her taking off the shirt in front of him, and making him practically drool at the sight of her. The thought still makes her want to smile giddily.

And now he’s getting her back by rewarding her, with the beautiful sight of him fresh out of the shower. 

“That door is not gonna fix itself.”

He smiles at her before moving back towards the bathroom, “No it’s not. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast.”

——

Only a couple minutes later, Lucy is bringing her plate over to stack on top of Tim’s empty one. 

She glances towards the hallway that leads to the bedroom and bathroom where Tim is supposedly fixing a cabinet.

He definitely just used that as an excuse to get back at her. 

She smiles as she moves to walk towards the bathroom, hoping to catch him out on a lie. 

It’s quiet as she approaches the bathroom door and she gently opens it to be greeted with the stunning sight of Tim kneeling on the floor in front of her, his arm muscles tempting her as he tightens a screw on the cabinet door.

He turns his head up to look at her, seemingly surprised she’s come to watch him fix the cabinet, if even a little concerned.

He stops what he’s doing for a moment, turning in his spot on the floor to face her, still on his knees and it’s doing things to her.

“You feeling okay, Lucy?”

He was probably still worried some of the drugs were in her system or she’s feeling sick but she’s felt completely back to normal since she woke up this morning.

The only thing that’s bothering her now is that Tim’s lips are not on hers.

She desperately wants to feel his smooth lips slide against hers and his tongue explore her mouth as his body presses up against hers. 

She wants him.

She needs him. 

And he’s looking up at her with so much care and concern. He’s taken such good care of her since those drugs had gotten into her system and even before that he’s always had her back and made sure she’s been okay.

She loves him.

Tim is still looking up at her waiting on an answer and Lucy starts to grin down at him. He smiles back in confusion realising now that she’s okay but he’s still not sure what’s going on.

“You are so hot.” 

Tim barely has time to smile at that sentence because Lucy’s surging down to cup his face in her hands and bring their lips together in a passionate kiss.

They both ignore the sound of the screwdriver dropping to the tile floor, because then Tim’s hands are in her hair and she groans against his lips despite the horrible angle they’re at.

She kisses him for another few moments, savouring the feel of his lips against hers for the first time. Then she slowly pulls away. 

Tim’s face falls almost comically when they separate, and he tries to lean up to catch her but it’s useless when he’s still on his knees.

Lucy smiles down at him, her hands moving to rake through his short hair, still slightly damp from the shower and he closes his eyes briefly, swaying into her touch.

“As much as I love the sight of you on your knees, let’s move somewhere more comfortable.”

That sentence has Tim’s eyes springing open in shock, and the way he looks at her with such hunger makes her giggle. She loves that she can have such an effect on him as he has on her.

Tim practically jumps to his feet in his hurry to press their bodies against each other and Lucy groans at the feeling of his hard, toned, half naked body pressed against her front.

His hand lifts to cup her jaw and he’s pulling her in for another sweet kiss that makes Lucy smile against his lips. Her arms come up to wrap around his neck, holding them together.

Tim slowly backs them out of the bathroom and towards the door to the bedroom, their lips never breaking contact as they explore each other's mouths, slowly and deliberately.

It feels like forever until they come to a stop close to the bed, still messed up from where they slept last night. 

They slowly pull apart, both panting slightly to catch their breath. 

Then Lucy grins as she steps out of his embrace which makes him honest to god pout in disappointment until he sees her moving towards the bed, stopping when the backs of her knees nudge the edge of the bed. 

She slowly reaches for the hem of the hoodie he gave her earlier and Tim’s breath catches in the back of his throat. He watches with bated breath as she teasingly pulls the hoodie up her body until she fully pulls it off and tosses it to the side to deal with later. 

Tim’s mouth waters at the sight of her, already thinking of everything he wanted to do with her. How he wanted her to scream his name into his pillow and come apart beneath him.

His eyes are transfixed on her hands as they reach around and unclasp her bra, letting it slowly fall to the floor and he takes a step forward, wanting to touch her desperately now that she’s half naked in front of him.

She knows exactly what she’s doing to him with the way she tugs the sweatpants down her legs and kicks them off, leaving her black panties for him to take off.

Then she’s climbing up on his bed and moving until she’s splayed out before him and Tim’s trying everything he can to commit this moment to memory because he’s not sure he’s ever been so turned on before. 

He knows his towel isn’t doing anything to hide how aroused he is right now because Lucy’s wicked eyes latch onto the bulge with a smug grin.

A smug grin of his own lifts his lips into a smile as he reaches for his towel and finally lets it fall down to the floor. 

Lucy’s eyes instantly widen at the sight of his hard cock standing at attention, and he grins even more as he slowly moves towards the bed and he’s never seen Lucy so hot and bothered as she is right now. 

He climbs on the bed with her and slowly crawls up until he’s hovering over her. He can’t help the amount of love that pours out of his gaze as he looks into her eyes. It makes him smile even more when he sees the same reflection in her eyes. Even if they don’t say it out loud just yet they both know. 

He’s never been so happy that one of his colleagues accidentally got drugged at a crime scene.