#chenford drabbles

[londonrih]

Chenford + valentines day ♥️

Tim and Lucy were walking down the hallway to his office together. Lucy swayed back and forth as she had a wide smile on her face. The corners of her mouth could reach from ear to ear.

“So…today’s Valentine’s Day!” She said.

Tim chuckled, “Luce—you’ve said this almost all morning. From when you woke me up at five in the morning, to breakfast, to our way to work…I’m highly aware of what today is.”

“I know! I know, and I’m sorry! It’s just…it’s our very first V-day together as a couple. I just want it to be special. I don’t wanna forget it.”

He pushed the door to his office open, he stood against the door as he motioned her to go in first.

“I know…Luce. And it will be special. I promise.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened, “What’re we doing tonight then?”

He heavily sighed as he pulled his phone from his back pocket. “Well, since you’re gonna ask me almost all day — I got us some reservations at the restaurant you’ve been screaming over for like ever.”

She loudly gasped, “You didn’t!” She exclaimed. She rushed over to him in the tiny space with her arms spread out, “Babe, you didn’t!”

“Oh, but I did.” He grabbed her hands, he smiled softly as he looked into her brown eyes, “That’s not the only surprise, though…make sure to check your locker at the end of shift.”

[pattysfics]

Chenford + pregnancy announcement with a Rams onesie

(I don't think I did this right. 🤷🏼‍♀️)

"You have an addiction," Tim grumbles shutting the door after yet another delivery from UPS. Or was it FedEx? After all the delivery trucks that had been at their house the last two days, he had lost track. It was only Tuesday, two days into their vacation.

"It's not an addiction," Lucy shoots back quickly after Tim tossed the package on the couch beside her. "Careful," she scolded playfully, "It could be breakable." Tim can't help but roll his eyes.

Some of her purchases have been entertaining, others not so much. The most memorable was a tie between the black lacy babydoll that arrived last week and the mini blender where they had spent the night making tiny Piña Coladas in shot glasses.

"This is for you," Lucy says after a second of looking at the address.

"I didn't order anything."

"Is your name Tim Bradford? Do you live here," she asks smartly looking up at him. "Then this is yours," she says tossing the bag back over to him.

Sure enough, it was his name printed on the shipping label, not hers. He still could not think of anything that he would have bought in the last week. It's a shirt or some type of clothing, he gathers feeling the package out. He is met with a Rams logo pressed on the white fabric, a small white fabric. "You ordered me a hand towel," he asks before ripping into the small plastic enclosed package.

"Not exactly."

She can see when it hits him as he unfolds the fabric in his hand. The shoulders of the shirt pulled tight in his hands. His eyes blink making sure that the fabric in his hand is actually what it appears to be. He had not even made it to the back yet.

Across the back is eight blocked letters. Conveniently spelling out the name they both share. A simple yellow one underneath. "Are you serious," he asks after a minute, having to swallow to hold back his emotion.

Lucy only smiles at him as she pushes herself to her feet. "Surprise," she says softly walking up to him.

Tim doesn't reply. Instead, he is pulling her into him. Her smaller body crashes into his as he holds her tight. Lucy can feel his heart hammering in his chest. Tears form in her own eyes as she relaxes into his arms.

It was time to start their next new adventure.

[wanna-be-bold]

Decided to put all of my Tumblr Chenford Drabbles on AO3 so if you'd like to read them there the link is below!

[dreamerrgirl]

Chenford + 5x19 speculation fic... their relationship is put to the test ❤️

When Tim quietly pushes Lucy's apartment door open at 10:30 that night, the last thing he expects to find is his girlfriend pacing back and forth across the floor, her hair falling out of the messy bun she has piled on the top of her head.

"Hey," she says, giving him a distracted smile, still pacing.

"Hi yourself," he answers, raising an eyebrow at her in question. "Is everything okay? I figured you'd be in bed by now."

She shakes her head. "No, I'm too wired to sleep."

Oh yay, Tim thinks to himself, internally groaning. He had really been looking forward to collapsing into bed and snuggling up with her the second he walked through the door- he was pretty much dead on his feet. Taking a deep breath in an effort to keep his brain functioning for at least a few more minutes, he slowly sinks down onto one of her barstools, giving her his full attention.

"What's wrong? Is the detectives exam stressing you out?"

"No, it's not that," she says, worrying at her bottom lip, standing on the opposite end of the kitchen. "It's more about you said this morning, about us having to get used to not seeing each other as much."

"Yeah, and I said we'll figure it out, right?"

"Well yeah... but how?"

Tim shakes his head, his brain at a loss for the moment. "Well I don't know right this minute."

"I mean, it's not like we have any control over the hours we'll be working," she starts, Tim swearing he can physically see the gears turning in her head.

"Right..."

"And it's not like I'm going to ask you to leave Metro or anything."

"You better not, you're the one who got me there in the first place," he jokes, giving her a look. "And you know I'd never keep you from going after your dreams."

"I know," she says, smiling softly at him. "But then where does that leave us?"

Tim takes a second to study her hesitant expression, his eyes narrowing. "I feel like you have an answer to this that you want me to get to, but I'm just not getting there," he says honestly. "What are you thinking?"

Lucy sighs, her teeth continuing their assault on her bottom lip. "I don't know- I don't know if it sounds crazy or not. I’m not very good at this kind of stuff.”

“At what kind of stuff?”

She shrugs, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t know, all this serious relationship stuff. I’ve never really been in one before.”

“Is that what this is?” Tim teases, smiling at the incredulous look she gives him. He holds his hands up in defense. “Hey, we haven’t really had that talk yet, you know, the feelings talk?”

She makes her way towards him, her smile almost patronizing. “I thought it was implied.”

He lifts his shoulders, feigning nonchalance. “But it is nice to hear every once in a while, you know,” he says, his voice low, a sliver of truth seeping into his words.

She’s standing in front of him now, close enough for Tim to feel the heat radiating off her body. “Lay it on me,” he continues, staring into her eyes.

“Well, I was thinking that between you having to run home after every shift to feed Kojo and bring him out before having to drive all the way over here, that’s already taking up a lot of our time.”

Tim nods along. “I don’t know,” she says again, her eyes dropping to the floor. “If we could somehow find a way to get rid of all the back and forth, that might help.”

Tim leans back a little, his heart giving a little lurch in his chest. "Like moving in together, you mean?" he clarifies, his eyes searching hers.

She smiles sheepishly. "Yeah, something like that."

"Are you sure you're ready for that? I mean when Chris brought it up not even half a year ago-"

She makes a face at him. "That's different."

"How?"

She sighs, cocking her head. "Do you really need me to spell it out for you?"

When he doesn't answer, she steps closer, looping her arms around his neck, her face just far enough away that he's not going cross-eyed looking at her.

"I know we haven't been together very long, but, I've never felt this way before about anyone, ever," she says, her fingers gently running through the hair at the nape of his neck. "You feel like home to me, and I keep finding myself wanting to spend more time with you, not less."

"I feel the same way," he murmurs, leaning forward to gently rest his forehead against hers.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He kisses her then, softly, gently, and can feel her smiling against his lips.

"So I'm not being crazy?" she asks, her voice gaining more confidence.

"No," he says, giving her one more kiss, because for some reason, with her, he can never get enough. "I think it's a great idea."

Pulling back, he attempts to stifle a yawn, but is entirely unsuccessful. "So," he continues, rubbing his hands together. "Now that we have that figured out, can we go to bed please?"

"Really?" she snorts, looking at him like he's crazy. "That's all you have to say? It was that easy? I've been agonizing over this all day!"

Tim shrugs, crossing his arms. "I don't know, it's as they say- when you know, you know."

"And you know?" she asks, cocking an eyebrow.

Pushing himself to standing, Tim stretches his arms up and over his head before he brings one down around her shoulders, pulling her tight against his side as he smiles down at her, unable to resist kissing her for the third time. "Oh, I know," he mumbles against her lips, gently steering her towards the bedroom, wanting nothing more than to crawl under the covers and fall asleep with her tucked safely in his arms, knowing they'll have many more nights together just like this.

[ameliagiovanna0]

Feel Your Kiss On Me

Title from For You by Liam Payne and RIta Ora

Requested by @whiskeyloverbae ​ , thank you! 💕

“Tim has a hickey and he thinks it’s hidden by his collar but Angela calls him out on it. “

“Lucy!” Tim called from the bathroom.

“What?” Lucy returned, coming around the corner from her bedroom.

He couldn’t help but rake his eyes over her in the kimono and sleep shorts she wore, her hair wound messily on top of her head.

He grumbled, remembering he was trying to be pissed at her, and gestured to his neck and the purplish mark forming there.

“Oops,” she posited, but the mischievous grin that spread across her features betrayed her.

“Lucy, we have work today! What am I supposed to do with this?”

“I’ll go put a spoon in the freezer,” she tucked her lips between her teeth, trying to suppress her laughter.

Lucy rounded the corner once again, wrapping her arms around his waist as he dragged a razor through the shaving cream on his face.

She pressed her lips to his bare back, “You adding to the mess you’ve created?”

She smiled against his skin, “I wasn’t planning on it, but now that you mention it,” she chortled as she nipped at his shoulder.

“Luce!” he tried not to laugh, trying desperately to be mad at her, “We share a locker room!”

“Oh, like it’s the first time one of you’s had a mark.”

“It’s a hickey, Luce. I have a reputation.”

He tapped the razor in the sink before turning around in her arms to her raised eyebrow, “We both know that went out the window when you met me.”

“You’re impossible,” he said as his hand found the sides of her face. 

Tim wore a collared shirt into the station, forgoing his usual henley in hopes of hiding the mark his girlfriend left the night before, the frozen spoon not doing much to dull the offensive color. He put his white undershirt on and then uniform top on as fast as humanly possible, hoping none of the other officers noticed. He adjusted the collar in the mirror on the inside of his locker door and hoped it would stay in place all day.

“I should’ve starched these,” he complained to himself.

He left the locker room, seemingly unscathed. Angela asked him to see her when he came in for the day, so he made his way to her desk with two cups of coffee.

“Ange,” he set her cup in front of her.

“Hey, she greeted, “Thanks. The name Dennis Rand ring any bells?”

“Jesus,” he groaned as he balanced his arm on his duty belt.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes?’”

“I’ve arrested him maybe ten times over the years. Why?”

“He managed to get invol–”

Tim turned his head at the sound of glass shattering on the other side of the bullpen.

“Damnit, Smitty!” Angela barked before he even made it into her field of view.

“I’m sorry! It just slipped out of my hands!”

“Clean it up! That’s the third one this week!” she finally braved a glance at the mess of broken porcelain and coffee on the floor. 

Angela looked up, Tim’s head still pulled in the direction of Smitty dejectedly slinking toward the janitor’s closet.

“Timothy…”

His body stiffened as she stood up. It was never good when she used his full name.

He turned toward her, “Yes, Angela?”

She pinched the collar of his shirt, pulling it away from his body and laughing like a maniac. He rolled his eyes at her antics.

“Tim,” she managed to get out between snorts, “Is that a hickey?”

“I’m going to kill her,” he griped.

Angela simply laughed harder, nearly doubling over, having to brace herself with a hand on the edge of her desk.

“Are you done?” he asked when she managed to stand up straight again.

“Oh, no. Not even close.” 

“You two have fun last night?” She giggled again, “Oh, lemme guess. You bet on who could list the most penal codes in sixty seconds, and this was your punishment for losing?”

“No, wait! Lucy decided that she’d had enough of other women hitting on you, so she finally decided to do something about it?”

Tim blushed. This is not the conversation he’d envisioned for his Monday morning.

“No, no, I got it. Were you misbehaving?”

“I have work to do,” he turned to walk away.

“No, Tim, wait!” she tried not to laugh again. 

He turned around only long enough to flip her the bird.

“Your life would be so boring without me!”

He shook his head, a reluctantly amused smile on his face as he made his way to his office. He kind of hated her for it, but it was just Angela’s way of showing affection.

Sitting behind his own desk, Tim placed his coffee down when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

A: Dennis Rand, asshole. I needed info

T: Maybe you shouldn’t have made fun of me then 

A: whatever, I’ll just ask Lucy. Among other things 😁

T: I hate you both

A: You love us

Tim shot a text off to the woman in question.

T: in case you didn’t hear the cackling coming from the bullpen, Angela found the monstrosity you left on my neck 

T: Maybe I should return the favor tonight

L: don’t threaten me with a good time bradford 

He chuckled, setting his phone down. 

This was going to be a long day.

[kanerallels]

Chenford + Christmas Magic, please?

PERFECT Chenford song ten out of ten!!

“I know I shouldn’t be surprised,” Lucy said, “but seriously? You don’t like Michael Buble?”

Shaking his head, Tim said, “He’s overhyped. I don’t get the excitement. He’s no Nat King Cole, that’s all I’m saying.”

This made Lucy start laughing. Shaking her head, she said, “You are such an old curmudgeon sometimes.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tim rolled his eyes, unable to hold back a smile despite himself. Because even with the relentless teasing, spending Christmas with Lucy was way better than some of the past Christmases he’d had. Even when he was with Isabel, their schedules had kept them so busy that a lot of Christmases had been lonely. After they’d split up, it had only gotten worse.

Now— in Lucy’s apartment, a small tree sparkling in the corner and the smell of baking cookies coming from the oven— Tim could barely imagine life back then. He was luckier than he could begin to describe. So instead of trying, he just dropped a kiss against Lucy’s temple, warmth spreading through his chest.

[leavingubehind]

We're gonna be okay (5.21 missing scene)

My first attempt at a Chenford drabble. It's my third fic so please don't be too harsh, I'm still so new at writing... I'm more of a photoshop girl ^^'

Missing scene in 5.21, set when Lucy ask Tim to lock the door. Gif by @tim-lucy

"Lock the door first" Tim looks at her with a little smile and turn around to lock the door.

As soon as he turns back around, Lucy is crashing her mouth on his, kissing him fiercely.

He takes her in his arms, helping her wrap legs around him while they're still kissing. He backs them up until her bottom hits the washing machine and then he sets her on it. She helps him take off his jacket and start to unbuckle his belt, letting his pants fall down at his feet. He's quick to take off his boxer and then he's helping her take off her pants and panties. He align himself at her entrance and looks at her for permission "yes, please". He waste no time to bury himself into her as they both moans in unissons. He goes slowly at first but then his pace quickens, like he's desperate, his head burried in the crook of her neck.

When they're done and dressed, he won't look at her. "I should get back-"

"Tim" she says to get him to look at her "Tim, look at me"

Still his eyes won't meet hers. "Tim, please, look at me"

And then he's looking at her, his eyes pooling with unshed tears.

She puts her hands on his cheeks, caressing them with her thumbs."Hey...I'm okay. We're okay" she says as she puts her forehead against his.

He nods slowly. He came so close to losing her tonight.... "When I heard the gunshots and I couldn't see you... see if you were okay..." he closes his eyes in pain. "God, Luce. I was so scared...I know it was only seconds but it felt like an eternity."

"I know, I know. But I'm fine, okay? I'm here and I'm okay" He open his eyes and nods. "We're gonna be okay" She tells him, a small smile on her lips.

He takes her in his arms, but it only last a few seconds before he has to, reluctantly, let go of her. Grey is gonna be wondering what is taking him so long.

"I should get back" he says sadly

She nods and give him a small peck on the lips. And as he's about to open the door. "Tim" he looks back at her "I love you"

"I love you too" He says smiling at her and leaving to go update Grey.

They're gonna be fine, she truly believes that.

[hecckyeah]

two weeks of chenford 2024 day 5 - april 20th

prompt: silence

type: drabble (exactly 100 words)

.

.

.

Oh, the familiarity of silence.

Breathless moments simply drinking in the burning closeness, listening to nothing but the other’s heartbeat. 

Comfortable slices of time between their words.

Panicked seconds, waiting for the click of a radio and confirmation that the other is alive. 

Unbearable nights alone, tossing and turning in the dead of night on a tearstained pillow, wondering if anything will ever be the same as it was.

They both know that deafening quiet which threatens to send them spiraling into nothing, as well as stillness they wish would never end.

But at least silence is a constant. 

. . . Comfortable.

.

(find it on ao3)

[literali1110]

Chenford + “next time, wake me up before you leave”

“Lucy.”

Lucy turns at the sound of her name, clutching the clothing she hadn’t managed to put on yet to her chest.

“Sorry,” she whispers to him, “I was trying not to wake you.”

“And leave without saying goodbye?” There’s a touch of hurt in his voice.

She takes a few steps towards him, explaining, “I wanted you to get another full hour of sleep before your alarm goes off. We didn’t get much sleep last night…”

The smirk he gives her as he no doubt remembers what they’d done last night should be illegal. “You know you could just stay here and get the extra hour…”

The way he’s looking at her, eyes running unabashedly over her undressed state, his hair mused, and bare chest on display, is really making it hard to say no.

But they’ve discussed this already, numerous times.

“You know why I can’t stay, Tim.” She needs to get home before Tamara wakes up and wonders where she’s been all night, and she definitely doesn’t want any of their extremely observant coworkers taking note if she and Tim were to arrive at the station at the same time, from the same direction.

But she knows they can’t continue doing this forever. Whatever this is. They’re going to have to have a real talk about it soon. But it’s just, she’s been enjoying the not talking part so much. And she’s not ready to complicate it with serious discussions about what it’ll mean for them at work. Or about feelings. Because there may be a tiny part of her that’s scared this means more to her than it does to him.

And it means everything to her.

“I know,” Tim sighs, leaning his head back against his pillow. And then, he pushes himself up and out of bed, sauntering over to her in all of his naked glory.

He pulls her towards him, molding their bodies together as much as possible with her pile of clothes between them. It’s still close enough that she can feel how one part of him is clearly not tired. She tries to hold back a moan and fails. He captures her lips in a fervent kiss, licking into her mouth, and she responds with enthusiasm, nipping and sucking on his bottom lip. His hands are all over, tracing over her arms, and back, and lower. Memories of the night before, and the numerous rounds that started just like this, flash through her mind.

Tim pulls back from the kiss and she whimpers at the loss, chasing after his lips, but he’s too far away now. He looked pointedly down at the clothing in her arms, reminding her that she was the one who decided to leave. A decision she’s this close to changing.

“Go,” he tells her, somewhat gruffly, fixing her with an intense gaze, “but next time, wake me up before you leave.”

[love-as-simple-as-shaving-soap]

Post 5x16 Fic

Los Angeles, February 15th, 2022

Lucy knows it’s only a matter of time before it will come up again. It being the fact that Noah only clocked that Tim was that Bradford after she mentioned him sleeping in her bed. She wasn't sure why she didn’t want Tim to know. Sure, the morning after the incident, she found it equal parts heartbreaking and embarrassing when she thought about it for too long, but there wasn’t any reason to hide anything now. They were together now— an actual full-blown couple. He was blissfully asleep, his face an inch from hers with his arm draped over her middle. The story of him being that Bradford only added to their history.

Sacramento, c. 2021

She and some of her UC classmates had found a dive bar in downtown Sacramento to blow off some steam for the evening. It started off lively with an animated trading of war stories and the jukebox playing one classic rock hit after the other, but within a couple of hours, she felt herself recede into her head. She looked around the table at the laughter, at the chatter and she felt so disconnected. None of it was familiar. And that had made her feel lonelier than she had in awhile.

Lucy couldn't help but let her mind wander to Tim— to missing Tim, to being angry with Tim for telling her to come here, and then to the look she must have dreamt that flashed across his face just before he left her heartbroken in the corridor of her apartment building. She knows it isn’t the “right thing”… the “right thing” would be for her mind to wander to Chris, the guy that is still technically her boyfriend, right? She feels the spiraling begin and makes the genius decision to try and drown it out with another drink. But soon, one more drink turns to two and two turns to five and she finds herself spilling her guts to Noah.

She really didn't mean to spill her guts like this, but the rest of the group moved onto another bar to “keep the party going,” while she and Noah hung back to wallow apparently. He was going on about missing his girlfriend, April, when Lucy chimes in with, “At least she misses you back.”

“You don’t think your boyfriend misses you back?” Noah asks as he takes a swig of his beer.

“He isn’t my boyfriend. He’s— he’s…” she trails off. She could blame her lack of answer on being drunk, but she knows that even stone-cold sober, she wouldn’t know how to define Tim and what he is to her. To call him a superior or even a friend would be factually correct, but severely lacking of all the layers of the something more they have built over the years. After all, what do you call the person who you have the most important relationship of your life with? Especially when that person is not the person you’re dating?

“It’s complicated. Got it. But, it kinda sounds like maybe you should talk to him. You know, lay all your cards out on the table and all that,” Noah offers.

“He just— he doesn’t want me in the same way. I thought he might… for minute there, I thought there was something… but then he told me to move on,” she says as her voice gets slightly choked up and before she knows it, tears begin brimming her eyes. She glances to her surroundings and the crowded bar and she begins to feel crushed by the over-stimulation of it all. “I need to leave. I need to get out of here.”

“Yeah, of course, lemme close out the tab and we can grab you a cab.” Noah quickly springs up from his chair and sets off through the crowd.

Lucy pulls out her phone and begins to scroll through the few photos she has of Tim. One with him and Kojo. One with him from Angela’s courthouse wedding. And two of him from the day he got his award. One was with just him and one was with both him and Jackson displaying their awards proudly. That’s the one that breaks her. She’s desperate to talk to him. Someone who knows her, someone she felt safe with. But just as she is scrolling through her contacts to call him, her phone’s screen goes black. Dead.

Before she can even talk herself out of it, Lucy’s up from her seat with her purse in hand and heading to the dimly lit corridor that leads to the restrooms. She had noticed on one her earlier trips to relieve herself that there was a payphone mounted to the wall. And all she can think now is that she misses Tim and that she needs to see him or talk to him. She just needs him someway, somehow.

She rummages around in her bag for her wallet to pull out some loose change in the zippered coin compartment. Her vision is blurred by tears and she can barely stop from shaking as she begins to shove whatever coins she can into the slot. With a few steadying breaths, she begins to dial the number and after a few rings, she’s only greeted with his voicemail. But, it doesn't stop the words that the tequila has been forcing her mind and heart to replay from falling out of her mouth in a rush.

“Tim, it’s your me. I mean, it’s your Lucy— I mean it’s just Lucy … I don’t know what I am to you exactly, so sorry for… that… but to be fair, I don't know what you are to me. You’re not TO Officer Bradford. You’re not Sergeant Bradford. You’re not even my bestest bud Bradford. You’re— look, I know you probably don't feel the same way, but fuck it, I’ll just say it… you’re important to me. You’ll always be more than you are. I just miss you. I’m here in UC school like you told me I should be… but I haven't moved on, okay?” she pauses to inhale sharply as she swallows back the acid that begins to rise in her throat. “That night in the hotel room when we were on the op, I shouldn’t have said it was just biology, it wasn’t. That kiss, it felt right. I should have—”

“If you are satisfied with your message, please press one. To rerecord, please press two.”

The automated voice jolts Lucy out of her self-imposed pity party and she punches down on the 2 key and slams the receiver down. She feels her legs about to give out from the adrenaline and nearly considers sliding down to sit with her back against the wall. Just as she begins frantically wiping away at the tears streaking her face, a loud trill comes from the payphone in front of her. And as if there’s some mysterious string that always pulls her and Tim toward one another, she picks up the receiver and places it to her ear and waits for the voice she somehow is expecting to hear.

“Hello?”

It’s him. It’s his voice. She remains quiet, just wanting to recommit the sound to her memory.

“Hello? I can hear music… is anyone there?”

She wants to say something. Anything. She wants to let the words that spilled out earlier in a moment of recklessness to be said clearly in a moment of bravery, but she can’t bring herself to. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

So instead of responding, she hangs up one more time. She turns around resolving to finally head home when she sees Noah standing at the end of the corridor.

“How much of that did you hear?” she asks him as she clutches the strap of her purse to channel her nervous energy.

“Honestly? I caught everything after you told him you don't know what he is to you. Bradford, I mean.”

Lucy groans in even further embarrassment at the revelation that he also clocked Tim’s name.

“Don’t worry Hot Pants, I won’t tell a soul. Now, let’s get you in a cab.”

She gives him a small smile in appreciation and follows him out through the bar.

Los Angeles, February 15th, 2022

When Lucy wakes up the next morning, she finds that the left side of her bed is empty. Light clanking comes from her kitchen, so she quickly gets up to investigate. She finds Tim already showered and dressed standing at the counter, mixing bowl in hand and whisking some kind of batter.

“You’re up already! I was expecting to finish up making breakfast before I went to wake you.”

“You could have woken me up so we could cook together.” She rounds the counter to offer him a quick good morning kiss.

“Thought I’d let you sleep in a bit. I mean it’s only fair, I did wear you out last night,” he says with what Lucy can only describe as his signature flirty eye-twinkle.

“Um, for the record, I also wore you out. You’re just being an amazing boyfriend and powering through delicious exhaustion to make me breakfast. It is the cherry on top of a night of make up sex, after all,” she says with a giggle.

“Well since we’ve officially made up and we have some extra time before work, how about you tell me why I’m that Bradford.” She looks back up at Tim to find him smiling teasingly at her.

She grabs the mixing bowl from his hands and places it on the counter before pulling him down into a slow deep kiss.

“I’ll tell you soon. But right now… I think there are other things we could do with our extra time, right?” she says as she pulls away just enough so that she can still feel the heat radiate off of him.

“Agreed,” he breathes out.

As she backs them up towards the bedroom with Tim’s lips firmly attached to hers, all she can think is that while he is indeed that Bradford, he is more importantly her Tim.

[artifanatik]

52 hours. That is how long it has been since Lucy went undercover. It’s not supposed to be a long op. A week at most.

There is just something about undercover that really gets to Tim. It’s not necessarily the danger. It’s not that she is simply away for some unknown amount of time. It’s that for all intents and purposes, they are strangers. He can’t call her. He can’t text her. If he happens to cross her path, she doesn’t know him.

He wishes more than anything, he could just text her. A simple “hey” from her would suffice. But alas, that was not an option. There was one thing that did help- that helped him through those months when he and Lucy weren’t talking.

He walked over to his nightstand, pulled out an mp3 player and put the headphones in. “Split Second Leadership by Curtis Filbrick. Read by the best rookie, you’ve ever trained.” Her voice flooded his ear drums and a smile grew across his face.

This would just have to be enough until he could hold her in his arms once more.

[londonrih]

—-

@ellickalways hope ya like it!

“I just found a body…It’s Sergeant Tim Bradford.”

For the longest, Aaron’s words had just been replaying in my head…over and over again. I couldn’t stop it, as hard as I tried to block it out—as hard as I tried to convince myself that he wasn’t talking about Tim, he couldn’t be. Deep down in my heart, I knew he was, but…I didn’t want to believe it.

I heavily sighed as I sat down in the seat. I watched the production team finish setting up. Haven’t seen this camera setup in a while, usually, I love doing this type of thing—doing a ‘True Crime’ documentary. But this…it felt different. I felt empty inside. I stared deep into the camera lens, and that’s when everything started to come back to me.

Lucy Chen

Lucy’s Apartment // Los Angeles, CA// Tuesday // 03.21.23 // 09:37 A.M

“So, tell me what happened the morning of May 15th, 2022,” the interviewer spoke.

I sighed shakily as I looked up at the ceiling, “Well, it started out as any other day. Tim and I were outside the precinct. We were waiting for my roommate to arrive. She said that she had this surprise that she wanted to show us both—it was a car. She was over the moon about it, too. And I don’t blame her. However, being the cops that we are, Tim and I inspected the car.”

“Judging by your reaction you found something?”

“Yeah, it was…a couple of bricks of cocaine—stashed in the trunk. So of course, we had to take it in. We needed to run the name of the original buyer, and Y’know who owned the car first. So, after running the plate numbers into the system, we got a name. Jake Butler. Who ironically, looks exactly like Tim.”

I looked over at Tim, who had been sitting right next to me. He glanced at me briefly before we looked back at the interviewer.

“Lucy and I had called Jake, and brought him in for questioning,” Tim took over, “And of course, at first he made the looking-alike debacle an entire thing for a couple of minutes. But eventually, we sat him down and made him listen. In the end, he told us about this guy that he’d been working for, Roy Hajek. So, in order to get to the bottom of this, I went undercover as Jake, to keep him safe, and put into police custody.”

I looked down at the floor, as my leg began to shake. In all honesty, I wanted to put this entire case behind me. One person died, and for a second—I ended up thinking that it was my own boyfriend.

“There something you’d like to add, Officer Chen?” The interviewer asked.

I jerked my head up when he said my name. I answered as I shook my head, “No…Im good.”

Was it weird…that I couldn’t even look at Tim? It’s not like I was mad at him or anything. It’s just—I couldn’t come to terms with what happened. So many things were happening at once…

From Tim disappearing “Tim just disappeared.”

To see the video of Tim who was dressed exactly like Jake getting stabbed in an alleyway. That was all the information that I had. No one would tell me anything. All I knew is that…Tim went missing, and then he ended up getting stabbed in an alleyway. I went into complete shock. I don’t think I could ever get that moment out of my head.

~

“We have footage of Tim, just hours after his disappearance. I’m sure that you haven’t gotten anything about him, so—we thought that it’d be best to show you.”

I focused my eyes on the screen that was sitting next to the interviewer. One minute Tim and…some random guy was arguing, the next he’s pushing him up against the wall, and he pulls a knife on him. I’ve known Tim for a while, and when he gets himself into a predicament like this, he always finds a way to pull himself out, that’s just the nature of who Tim is. But something was off, I could feel it.

The guy pushed him to the ground. He didn’t want to waste another second, I could tell he didn’t. And that’s when he did it…He stabbed Tim, numerous times, in various different areas. Even without the audio, I just knew…that he was in pain. All I wanted to do was just kick myself because I wasn’t there to save him.

I gulped as I looked down at the floor, “That’s enough,” I muttered. But he continued to play the video, I looked up into his eyes, trying my hardest to keep myself together, even if my bottom lip was quivering, “That’s enough!” I raised my voice, and it slightly cracked. I removed the tiny microphone that was planted on my shirt. I rose from the seat and began to walk off.

“Officer Chen…” the interviewer said my name. I completely ignored him. I didn’t want to be in that bullpen for another second. I wanted to be alone, that’s it.

When I rushed down the hallway to the storage room, I kept my head down, as tears began to run down my face. I couldn’t hold it in for much longer. I was just with him…and now he’s gone—just like that.

I opened the door to the storage room, I closed the door shut behind my back once I entered the dark room. My hands covered my mouth as I slid down the wall until I hit the floor. This couldn’t be real…I mean really. Just a couple of weeks ago, Tim and I were chasing a twelve-year-old boy around the precinct, and talking about our future, and our kids and how they’d be…now here I am. Sitting on the floor of a dark storage closet. And having to accept the fact that I’ll never see Tim again. How am I supposed to move on from that? The man that I love is—

“Seven-Lincoln-Seven, I just found a body—it’s Sergeant Tim Bradford,” Aaron announced over the radio.

This had to be some dream, right? Some awful nightmare that I can’t wake up from. I wanted to scream, punch a wall, track down the guy who did this to Tim, and make sure that every second of his life feels like absolute hell. Because that’s what it feels like for me right now. Hell. And complete emptiness.

My heart started to beat rapidly, as my fists began to bottle up on the cold marble floors. I felt like the room began to spin, and I felt like my heart had suddenly dropped My eyes slowly fell onto the gun that was secured in the holster. Oh, how easy it would be…to find that guy, and pull the trigger on him without even thinking twice about it.

But I knew that’s not what Tim would want. I had to keep all of my bottled-up anger to myself. And scream from within. But what good was that gonna do me?

~

When I snapped back into reality, I cleared my throat as I fixed my posture in my seat. Tim leaned against my chair, and whispered into my ear, “You okay?”

I was still stunned by the events that had occurred in only the span of what? Seventy-two hours? Could’ve been more, at this point, I have no clue. “Mhm, I’m okay.”

“So, Officer Chen—we do have your reaction to all the news regarding Tim, from his ominous disappearance to the stabbing, but we never got your take on the death notification. And what’s your initial reaction to Tim being fine? Do you have anything that you’d like to say to him?”

“Well, after walking out after showing me the video, I was clearly already a wreck. And then that’s when I heard the call come in…and Aaron said that he—he’s found Tim’s body. I’d shut down completely. There were so many emotions traveling through my mind to the point that I had completely forgotten where I even was. I felt so…empty, Y’know? I mean, I watched s video of who I thought was the love of my life get stabbed in an alleyway, and then I hear over the radio that his body’s been found, and discarded?” I could feel the tears form in my eyes, as I continued, “…I was—I was just hoping that all of this would be some sort of nightmare. ‘Cause, it definitely was. I thought I was never gonna see Tim ever again. Never hear his voice again. Never have s future with him, I couldn’t imagine that. I didn’t want to either.”

I began to sniffle, as tears started to roll down my cheek, “I’m sorry,” I whispered, I used my hand to wipe away my tears, “…This case has been a lot, for both of us. A lot of confusion, definitely. Heartbreak. Fear. And I mean, sure we’ve all experienced that type of pain before…But not like this. I highly doubt that there’s a single individual—except for one person— out there who can relate to me, and what I’ve gone through, what Tim’s gone through—our entire team. It’s been brutal for us all. I thought my boyfriend was dead!” I yelled, as more tears began to fall, I kept wiping them away but, it was doing very little power, “I thought my boyfriend was dead, and you’d think the same if no one was telling you anything, they just kept looking at you, and dismissing you. And then boom—he just showed up here, perfectly fine, alive. Not a single scratch in sight, well, not on his face. This entire time, I’ve been thinking that my life would never be the same…but that wasn’t true at all. Now, there’s a camera being shoved in my face, and I’m being asked all these damn questions, but…not a single time have you—interviewer, have you asked me if ‘I’m okay.’”

“Well…are you—”

“—I’m hanging on by a loose thread. It’s definitely gonna take some time for me to…heal. But I’m getting there. In the meantime,” I said as I grabbed the cords, “You can continue with this interview without me… ‘cause I’m done.”

I threw the wire, and the microphone onto the floor, and I walked away from the setup with my head down. Still trying to wipe the tears off my face. I entered my bedroom leaving Tim and the interviewer alone.

The man spoke again, “So, should we continue—”

“—No,” Tim said flatly. He removed the microphone from his jacket and rose from the seat. He left the man in the living room as he entered my bedroom.

[pattysfics]

Chenford + Rosalind escaped...

He's out on patrol when the news first reaches him. Tim's foot slams on the brakes as he jerks the wheel to the right to pull off the road to avoid being hit. Beside him, Jones is staring at him wide-eyed. "Sarg?"

Tim doesn't answer. He checks the mirrors, flipping on the lights and sirens as he turns the car away from Mid-Wilshire. He needed to get home, he had to get home. He needed to be there before she heard the news. He needed to be there to comfort her as a new set of fears washed over her.

Cars are diving out of their way as they go. Tim swerves around the ones that are a touch too slow. His foot never leaves lifts off the pedal and never leaves the floor. It's only minutes later, no time for the news to hit the television yet when the tires squeal to a stop in their cement driveway.

Tim's heart is racing, threatening to beat out of his chest as he jumps out of the car. His strides are long and quick with purpose as he races to the front door. He's reaching for his keys, he needed to unlock the door when the brass door handle catches his attention.

The door is open. Cracked just enough for him to see, enough for fear to creep up his spine and his heart to drop out of his chest.

Behind him, he hears Jones' boots as he runs up the cement driveway towards him. He hears the indistinguishable click of a pistol leaving a hostler as Jones stands across from him now.

He should not have to do this. There should be no reason that he is having to breach his own house. No reason to have to draw his gun to make sure that his house was secure. No reason why he should have to make sure that his thirty-eight-week pregnant wife was not in danger in their own home.

He sends the younger officer a subtle nod before they way entering the house. The door hits softly against the wall as they move in the silence. Hand signals are all they use to move. The house is eerily silent as they move.

Tim stays in the living room as Jones clears down the hallway before they move toward the master. There is no sign of Lucy, no sign of his pregnant wife.

A movement in the backyard causes him to spin like a top. Relief washes over him as he catches sight of her. She's smiling, he can almost hear her laugh through the glass, as Lucy plays with Kojo. The pup is now years older, but still protective over his human mother.

Tim secures his weapon back in its holster and rushes toward the backyard. "Tim," Lucy questions, surprised to see her husband walking towards her when he was supposed to be halfway through shift. "What are you doing here? What's wrong," she asks instead seeing the apparent worry on his face.

Tim remains silent as he pulls her into him, fitting her swollen body against his the best he could. "Tim," she asks again, her voice muffled by his chest.

"The door was open," he tells her, his voice still hard as he holds her. "I was so scared. The door..."

"Hey," Lucy tries to calm him, pulling away from him. "I must have forgotten to close it all the way when Kojo and I went for a walk. But it's okay. We're okay," she soothes smiling up at him.

But Tim does not return her smile. His features were still hard and filled with worry. "Luce," he starts.

"Tim, what's wrong," she asks again. She had only seen him this shaken once before, at Angela's first wedding and the events that followed after. "Tim," she pushes.

"There was a fire at California Center Women's Facility. Rosalind escaped."

[lovemesomechenford]

Chenford + I'm scared I'll ruin us

“Babe?”

Tim and Lucy were sitting on the couch in their living room, just finished watching The Notebook. Lucy shifts from her position under Tim’s arms to look at her boyfriend in the eyes.

“I ruined my marriage with Isabel. She said I put too much pressure on her to be perfect. I don’t want to do that to you. To us. I don’t want to lose you like I did her.” Tim confesses, drawing her back into his hold.

“Oh, Tim.” Lucy could see the vulnerability slowly bleeding out of him. Her heart was heavy with love for this beautiful man. The emotional growth he’s gone through since they first met is astronomical. The trust he has in her to listen and not judge, to still love him despite all that he unloads. The want to share his deepest and darkest fears and trauma. “You won’t.”

“But you don’t know that, Lucy. What if—”

“I do. I do know, Tim. You won’t ruin us. I know this to be true just like I know that the sky is blue, the sun always rises, and that Kojo definitely loves Tamara more than us.”

She interrupts him mid-sentence. On a normal day, Lucy would let Tim get all of his feelings out about things that bothered him, but this was too important to let him tailspin. She knows that moving in together this soon into their relationship would be an adjustment. It feels natural and right and neither could wait any longer, but it also brought up the past. After all, this house was the one Tim and Isabel purchased and lived in together as husband and wife. It was also the house where Isabel left him in the middle of the night for drugs. It holds beautiful and painful memories. Lucy understood.

“Only because she spoils him with table scraps.” He huffs in exasperation, rolling his eyes to add theatrics. Lucy giggles at his grumbling.

“I’m serious though.” Tim looks down at her expectingly, silently waiting for her to continue. Wanting to stay close yet properly hold his gaze, Lucy adjusts her body to straddle Tim.

“The reason I’m so confident that you won’t ruin us is the fact that we’re having this conversation in the first place.” Tim makes a puzzled face but Lucy continues, “You’ve changed, Tim. You’re not who you were when you and Isabel were together. The Tim I first met would have built skyscrapers around himself the moment he had these thoughts. He never would’ve shared or even acknowledged them. I don’t know what it was like when Isabel was around, and I don’t have to. The Tim that loves me and that I love is open and receptive and thoughtful. All I feel is love and comfort, not pressure. Look, you and I both know we are not perfect individuals and that is okay. Our relationship is not going to be perfect either. There will be highs and lows, and that’s okay too. We fight for each other. We talk things out when something is on our minds. We vocalize our needs with each other and we don’t shy away from them. That’s what is going to make us work, babe. That’s why I’m not scared you’re going to ruin us, or that I will.”

“Okay Lu.” Her unwavering declaration pacifies the thundering waves storming in his head, tempering down to a tranquil sail. Meanwhile, Tim’s heart beats a little stronger and wilder for her. Tim whispers a “thank you” onto Lucy’s lips, wrapping himself in the warmth of her love.  

“I love you, Tim Bradford. You’re a good man.”  

“I love you, Lucy Chen.”

[dreamerrgirl]

Chenford + pregnancy scare post canon!

Hi lovely anon!

First, I would like to thank you for being the first person to request a prompt from me; I'm honored! I hope this gives you everything you wanted and more! 😊

Lucy wasn't entirely sure how long she'd been sitting there, perched on the edge of her tub, the solid pink line of the pregnancy test staring back at her.

Not pregnant.

As soon as Lucy had finally gathered the courage to look, a myriad of emotions had run through her so fast she could barely keep up. First came the predictable relief, her breath rushing out of her lungs in one solid exhale. When she had made her New Years resolutions a few months ago, an unexpected pregnancy had definitely not been one of her goals for the coming year.

Next, came the feeling of freedom; knowing her body was still entirely her own, and nothing was going to interfere with her trajectory at work for the foreseeable future. Watching Harper, then Nolan, and finally Tim moving up in the department over the last year had motivated her to start thinking hard about her own next steps in her career, and a baby would only complicate that by tenfold.

But then, much to Lucy's surprise, a third emotion had floated to the surface, one that stayed with her long after she'd thrown the test away and drove over to Tim's for dinner.

Disappointment, with a hint of sadness mixed in.

As she sat at Tim's kitchen island watching him cook them dinner, she couldn't stop picturing what he would look like with a baby, their baby, cradled in his arms. He would be an amazing father, and the idea of him being the father of her children made Lucy's heart ache so bad it hurt.

While they had only been dating for six months, Lucy had known from the moment he kissed her in the food truck parking lot that she was head over heels in love with him. Honestly, this was Tim Bradford she was talking about, how could she not be?

Their relationship was moving faster than any relationship Lucy had ever been in, but every time she thought she would be freaked out by their speedy progression, it actually ended up being the exact opposite. Everything with Tim just felt so right, like it had always been meant to be.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Blinking, Lucy was startled out of her reverie, the corners of her mouth curving into a smile as she regarded the shiny penny that was being held in front of her face, Tim's curious gaze blurry behind it.

Gently taking the coin from his grasp, Lucy turned it over in her hand, debating with herself on whether or not she should tell him. If it had been anyone else, Lucy wouldn't think twice to lie about it, but she and Tim had promised each other from the start that they'd always be honest with each other, even when it was hard or scary.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Lucy admitted, "I was just thinking about some, news, I got today."

"Is everything okay?" Tim immediately asked, brows furrowed.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Lucy quickly reassured him, reaching out to cover his hand with her own. "It's just- I thought I might be pregnant; I'm a few days late, and my stomachs been a mess, but I wasn't sure if that's because I was a few days late, you know? So I decided to take a test before I came over, just to check."

Tim stopped breathing, his gaze locked on hers.

"It was negative," she continued gently, watching his face intently as he processed the news.

She swore she saw something like disappointment flash across his face before he schooled his features back into place, his hand squeezing hers.

"Well that's good news, right?"

Her heart rate starting to rise, Lucy said, "Yeah, it is, this wasn't something we were planning for."

"But?" he asked softly, picking up on her hesitation.

"But, I also feel a little sad about it, which I wasn't expecting."

Tim was quiet for a few moments, Lucy's anxiety continuing to rise. Maybe she had shared too much; been too honest.

But then Tim was giving her a small smile, his thumb gently rubbing over the top of her hand.

"I know what you mean," he said, his gaze soft.

"Really?" Lucy breathed, hope starting to weave its way into her heart.

"Really," he said, letting go of her hand to walk around to her side of the island, his strong arms wrapping around her as he hugged her to his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"You don't think we're going too fast?" Lucy murmured quietly, leaning back into his embrace.

Tim shrugged, his shoulders brushing the bottom of her ears. "I don't if you don't."

Craning her neck around, Lucy looked into his eyes, finding the love she was feeling reflected in his gaze.

"I don't," she answered softly, her eyes fluttering closed as he kissed her forehead.

"There's a few things I'd like to happen first before we throw a kid into the mix, but I also won't be mad if it happens before then."

"I don't think I will either," Lucy admitted, resting her head against his chest.

"Yeah?'

"Yeah."

"Well, while we're being honest with each other, I've had something I've been meaning to ask you."

Lucy spun around, his arms falling away from her body as she twisted the barstool to face him.

"Not that," he said with a chuckle, Lucy feeling a sense of relief wash over her. She wasn't sure she was ready to hear that question, at least not yet.

"I uh, I heard you grumbling the other week about how your lease is almost up, and how rent is going up for your building next year. And I was thinking, seeing as how we've barely spent a night apart since we started dating, I was thinking maybe you and Tamara might wanna come stay here, with me."

"Like, move in with you?" Lucy asked, her eyes searching his face.

"Yeah, I know it seems fast, but-"

"Yes," Lucy interjected immediately, a smile breaking out over her face.

"Really?" he asked, the surprise and vulnerability in his voice making Lucy reach out and kiss him.

"Really," she mumbled against his lips, cupping his face in her hands. "I mean, I'll have to talk about it with Tamara, see how she feels, but for me, I've been getting tired of all the running back and forth between your place and mine; it'd be nice to have a place that's ours."

Tim pulled back slightly to stare at her, his expression happier than she'd ever seen it.

"I love you," he breathed, leaning in to give her a soft, slow kiss.

The moment their lips parted, Lucy couldn't wait to tell him, "I love you, too."

[tim-lucy]

An Epilogue Before We're Done

Fandom: The Rookie Ship: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen Word Count: 4,474 Chapter: 1/1

Whether it’s from the literal ticking time bomb merely feet away or the effect his words have on her body, Lucy is shaking when Tim captures her chin and tilts her face up to meet his gaze.

“I’m sorry for making you think you aren’t the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m sorry for making you believe, even for a second, that I’m not crazy in love with you. Because sometime in the last three years, you, Lucy Chen, became my whole goddamn heart. And that…” he whispers, “is why you can’t die in here.”

[Read on AO3]