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Tim smiled fondly at Lucy's sleeping form before walking towards the kitchen. It was a good try, and he was determined not to lose momentum. He figured Lucy would probably sleep several hours, so he got to work packing up and putting all the food away. While she hadn't heard his speech, it had definitely given him confidence, so he decided it was time to up his game. Go big or go home, right?
He looked around the apartment briefly, noting some generalized clutter that he went about organizing. When he walked by her room to get to the kitchen, her overflowing laundry basket caught his eye. Lucy had always been a little behind on laundry when they were dating, but this first week of nights must have really been a struggle. He hesitated only a moment before grabbing the laundry basket and her keys and heading down to the buildings laundry room.
He knew she had the next two days off, and he didn't want her to have to spend it doing laundry. He was hoping that if all went well, maybe they would be spending some time together in the next couple days. After starting the washer, he headed out to the convenience store down the street. He had noticed she was low on a few food and drink staples when he was cooking breakfast earlier. No reason not to help her stock up for the week.
After getting the groceries, he headed back to the apartment and let himself in quietly. Lucy was still sleeping in the exact same position he had left her. She looked exhausted, and he wondered if she had had trouble sleeping these past few days. He put the groceries away before heading back down to the laundry room and putting her clothes in the dryer.
He spent the next hour cleaning the kitchen and catching up on some emails and current events while Lucy slept peacefully. When her clothes were done, he brought them up and started folding them. He was just finishing folding the last few shirts when Lucy stirred. She blinked slowly and took in the sight of Tim on the chair opposite the couch.
"Hey," she said sleepily.
"Hey yourself," he smiled.
"What time is it?" Tim checked his watch.
"Noon," he said. "You've been out the last four hours." Lucy nodded slowly, then her eyes got wide, and her head whipped toward the kitchen.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! You made an amazing breakfast spread, and we were talking, and I totally fell asleep..."
"Lucy, it's fine," Tim interrupted her spiral with a smile. "You were exhausted." She nodded, more visibly relaxed now.
"Thanks for staying," she said softly. Tim nodded, a soft smile on his face.
"Do you remember what we were talking about?" Lucy scrunched up her face as she tried to recall their conversation.
"The last thing I remember was you talking about how you had been working on yourself in therapy.....I'm sorry, again, for falling asleep on you."
"It's really okay. I probably shouldn't have tried to have a serious conversation with you right when you got off night shift. I would really like to continue the conversation though. How about dinner tonight?" Lucy had finally started to really wake up while he was talking, and had just noticed the pile of folded clothes around him.
"Dinner sounds......wait, did you do my laundry??" Tim laughed at her surprised face.
"Yeah, someone seemed a little behind," he teased. "Plus, you know, I'm really going for strong boyfriend material here," he joked.
"Mmhmm" she replied, side eyeing him with her patented Lucy smile. "Thank you," she said. She was genuinely touched that he had done so much for her while she slept. Tim nodded and gave a little shrug to indicate it was no big deal.
"So, what about that dinner? I can come back here with take out?"
"How about I come to your place?" Off his surprised look, she continued. "You have Kojo," she shrugged. "And one less nosy roommate," she finished with a grin.
"Fair enough. Do you want me to come back and pick you up? I know the crash can be hard after a couple nights in a row when you are trying to switch back to days for your next few days off."
"I should be okay, but I promise to let you know if I need a ride."
"Okay, 530 good?"
"I'll be there." She smiled sweetly at him as he grabbed the laundry basket with the folded clothes and dropped it just outside the door to her bedroom.
"See you soon," he said with a smile as he headed for the door.
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Lucy knocked at exactly 530pm with butterflies in her stomach. She knew how Tim felt, and she knew she felt the same, but now that the moment was finally here to have the adult conversation, she found herself nervous. It was an excited nervous though. Kojo's barking brought her out of her thoughts as Tim opened the door and stepped back to let her in.
Kojo launched at her, wagging his tail. She laughed and bent down for kisses and pets.
"Hi baby! Whose my good boy?" She could see Tim rolling his eyes fondly at her antics, so she made sure to add a few extra doggy smooches for Kojo before standing and following Tim to the kitchen.
He had gotten Thai from her favorite place and set everything out on the table. They started eating immediately, and Lucy shared some stories from her first few nights as a Sergeant. Tim updated her on Smitty gossip, and a few stories about Penn.
When they finished eating, Tim gestured for her to head to the couch while he cleaned up. He joined her on the couch a few minutes later, sitting close enough that their knees could touch if they really wanted, but enough to give some space for a serious talk.
"How are you holding up? Any chance you're gonna fall asleep on me again?" Lucy laughed.
"No, I'm good. I'm sure I am going to crash soon, but very awake at the moment."
"Good." Tim took a breath before continuing. "I know you remember me saying I had been doing the work on myself, going to therapy and all. But what you missed after that is that because I know why I did what I did, I can promise you that I will never hurt you like that again." He took a chance and reached out to take her hands in his.
"You mean everything to me, Lucy, and I want us to move forward and really give this a shot. I think you should move in with me," he finished hopefully.
Lucy sat stunned, with emotions swirling through her faster than a freight train. This was everything she had wanted to hear from Tim for so long, and yes, she had forgiven him. But that last shred of fear was still there. The fear of losing him again, of him walking away. Then there was the longing and the exhaustion. She was so tired of fighting what she wanted. Was she ever realistically going to reach a point where she didn't fear losing him? Was it worth denying her feelings to try to hold out for something that would likely just take time? And why not let that time pass together? She took a deep breath and scooted a little closer to Tim.
"I love you, Tim. I really do, but-" Before she could continue, Tim sat back slightly, assuming she was rejecting him. "Hey, no, let me finish, ok?" Tim nodded, giving her hands a quick squeeze.
"But," she continued, "I'm scared. Despite that, I do want to move forward. Tim, I miss you. I miss us. And I want to work through whatever else we need to work through together," she finished with a shy smile that matched his.
"So I'm saying yes," she continued. Tim looked momentarily confused before his face split into a wide grin.
"Yes??"
"Yes, I want to move in with you," she confirmed with a laugh. Tim pulled her to a stand as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. He pulled back a moment later and dipped his head to press a soft kiss to her lips.
"I love you so much," he said reverently.
"I know," she responded cheekily before pulling him back down on the couch and settling in his arms.
"I think I'm starting to crash," she said with a yawn a few minutes later.
"Good thing you're home, then," he murmered in her ear, pressing a soft kiss to her temple as he held her against his chest. Within minutes, she had drifted off to sleep, the steady beat of Tim' heart under her ear. Home at last.