Chenford-The Bar

10

"What."

Chris said coldly. He hadn't said it like a question. Lucy took a step back. "This just isn't what I'm looking for, Chris. We barely see each other, and when we do," She sighed.

"It just doesn't feel... right." She tried desperately to say these things as nice as she possibly could, but she knew it wouldn't make a difference.

Chris stayed silent for a few more moments. Lucy knew this was a bad sign. She knew his silence meant he was furious.

Lucy finally spoke up. "Chris? I think we should talk about this. I know it's sudden, but -" She was cut off.

"What's there to talk about? You obviously don't have feelings for me anymore. Using your psychology degree to try and explain why wouldn't make it any better."

His words cut her deep. Lucy wasn't trying to be like her parents. Wasn't trying to make him feel worse. She just wanted to make things better. She always wanted to make things better. She slightly nodded and looked at the floor.

Chris shook his head. "I just don't understand why now. I mean, it's obvious you've felt this way for a while. So why now?"

Lucy was caught off guard. She didn't actually have an answer. She had to take a moment to ask herself why. Why now? Why did she feel this obligation to cut him loose?

She could blame it on Tamara, but even then, she knew that this wasn't how she wanted to do it. She wanted a plan. Something to go off of.

"I don't know."

It was all she could muster up. Chris scoffed. "Seriously?" He turned to give her a face with disbelief plastered on it.

"You plan everything you do days in advance, and all of a sudden, you decide to break up with me without a second thought?" He took a step back towards the door.

Lucy didn't say anything. Despite everything, he was right. She couldn't think of any reason she had to do this today. Right now. This moment. She just gave a desperate look and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Chris. I really am."

He shook his head and walked out. Lucy followed. Not to chase him but to make sure he wouldn't cause a scene. She knew he knew better than to do that, but it was always an unknown with Chris and his ranging emotions.

Lucy just wanted this whole thing to be over and to get back to her shift, but the universe had other plans because as soon as Chris had walked out of the door, he crashed into Tim, their shoulders connecting hard.

Chris kept walking out and was apparently unaware of the man he had just run into. Lucy watched as he walked out into the lobby and through the doors.

She was relieved that he had left without doing anything stupid. Besides blind siding Tim. She stopped walking and turned back towards Tim.

"What the hell was that about?" Tim asked. Bewildered by the fact that not only had Chris completely ignored Tim's presence but also the fact that he was running away from Lucy of all people.

Lucy shook her head. She hadn't planned on telling Tim anything, but she also hadn't planned on breaking up with Chris in the first place, so she decided today was the day to try out new things.

"I broke up with him."

Not wanting to look too shocked, excited, and all-around thankful to everything that existed, Tim opted for a slow nod of his head. His steel wall of emotions cracking at the prospect of Lucy being single.

He thought for a few moments. Shooing away the delusion of having a chance. He conjured up some questions that he knew he would never ask in a professional setting.

Why had she broken up with him? What did she say to make Chris storm out? Did this have to do with him?

He snapped back into reality when the delusions crept back in. He didn't want his mind to make everything about him. He knew better than that.

"Huh." He finally said. Like a slack jawed idiot, that was what he had landed on.

"Mhm." Lucy said. Her favorite game of guessing Tim's expression was getting increasingly difficult as it kept changing.

She noted that it looked like the face he had made the night they had kissed. When she had described the backstory of Dim and Juicy. Mouth open, flustered, and trying to keep his cool.

She squinted her eyes at him, giving him a confused look. "Why do you look so shocked? It's not like you liked him."

Tim got his face under control and shrugged. "Well, it seemed pretty last minute plan, and by they way it went," he gestured at the path Chris had just taken, "It didn't go great. It's not like you to just," He stammered, trying to find the right words. "Break up with someone, and thats their reaction." He looked at her.

Concern.

Lucy knew this emotion well. "I'm fine, Tim." She said before he could ask. He nodded. "I know. But maybe next time, don't break up with someone without a plan."

Lucy sighed. She hated when he treated her like she was just born. It was something Chris had done often, and she was sick of it.

"I know! I didn't know I was going to, okay? It's not your business anyway." She started walking away.

Tim looked around, checking to make sure no one saw and would get the wrong idea. He grabbed her wrist, gently, and pulled her into the investigation room.

"Tim, what the hell." She pulled her wrist away. It was easy to maneuver as Tim wasn't exactly holding it tight. Just enough to move her.

He shook his head. "It is my business, Lucy. I have to make sure you're in the right headspace to be out there." He gestured to the station. "If you can't han -"

"Jesus Christ, Tim! You've given me this lecture MANY times before. You have to understand that I am NOT your boot. I know what I can handle. You don't have the right to tell me when I can and can not handle my personal life. Or how."

She stood across from him, staring. He pressed his lips together and nodded his head. It wasn't an agreeing nod. It was out of anger. Even if he knew she was right. It was hard for him to admit.

He looked down. It had been a few moments of silence. "I know you can, Lucy." He said sharply. His words could cut through the tension that was between them.

He hesitated with the words he was trying to communicate. Leaving silence in the air again. "But I can't let you spiral. Not just as your sergeant but as your friend." Tim hated being just her friend, but that's what he had chosen to be when she came into his life.

Lucy could tell he was being genuine. He usually was. She just didn't know how to feel about it. She knew she shouldn't have left him in the dark about this. He didn't have the right to know details, but he did have the right to know what was going on.

"I'm sorry." Lucy finally said. "I should've chosen a better time." She looked down. "I just couldn't handle being in that relationship any longer." She stepped back and sat down in one of the chairs at the investigation table.

Tim turned to look at her and shook his head. "No. I should apologize. I understand that feeling. I just don't get why. I mean, you seemed pretty happy with him." He sat down across from her. She scoffed and shook her head.

"Far from it."