"CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT" • CHENFORD IMAGINES

"𝙻𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐."

In this imagine, Tim and Lucy aren't dating yet!!

Tim Bradford hated working night shift. He'd much rather wake up every morning at five instead of getting home at that time.

Since joining Metro, his hours had been all over the board. He was a rookie again and he had to earn his keep. So for now, he was stuck working nights and he had to be okay with that. While things had been busy and hectic, he had a couple of cases he was working on and had a mountain of paperwork. The paperwork was his least favorite thing about being a police officer. He despised the mundane. To him, there was nothing better than being on the streets, chasing down criminals. It's what he was made for.

Black coffee in one hand, Tim headed for his office. The clock had just ticked past one in the morning and he finally had a break between calls. He did enjoy this time of night though, where he could start his paperwork and watch highlights of the Lakers game. He did love having an office of his own. With him having so many intense, high profile cases, it was nice to have a place in the station where he could shut everything out if need be.

He stopped outside when he saw that the door to his office was cracked, the light on inside. Tim never left the light on, not even by accident. The station was quiet, and on instinct his hand drifted to his gun on his hip as he slowly pushed the door open.

As a police officer, Tim learned very quickly that you can never be too careful, even in settings that are deemed safe. It wouldn't be the first time that a criminal had broke into someone's office at the station...

But thankfully, it wasn't a criminal. It was only Lucy Chen.

Tim breathed a sigh of relief as he took in the sight of his old rookie and partner, Lucy, on the couch in his office. There were papers scattered all over the couch and floor, two empty coffee cups on the table beside her. She was sitting cross legged, her body slightly sagging forward.

That was when Tim realized that Lucy was sleeping. Sitting up. For weeks now, she had been studying for the detectives exam that was quickly approaching. Since day one, it had been Lucy's dream to make detective. Tim spent his time as her training officer pushing her past her limit, because he knew she had it in her. He needed to teach her how tough the job could be, and he succeeded. Looking back, he almost felt remorse for the times he almost broke her. Almost. Lucy Chen was hard to break. He had never seen someone as tough and resilient as her in his almost twenty years of training, and he knew she was going to go far.

He was torn between letting her sleep and waking her up. But he knew when she woke up, her neck would be sore from the way she was sitting.

"Lucy," Tim placed his palm on her shoulder and lightly shook her body. "Lucy, wake up."

Lucy jolted awake, papers flying everywhere and a gasp leaving her lips. It took her a minute to remember where she was at, and she quickly jumped up when she realized she was in Tim's office and he was standing in front of her.

"I'm so sorry," she began to gather her papers, her movements panicky. "I didn't mean to... I should've asked..."

"You don't have to ask to use my office," Tim told Lucy, bending over to pick up some of her papers. "How long have you been studying for?"

Tim could see the exhaustion behind Lucy's eyes. The detectives exam was hard – there was a reason why he wasn't one himself. She was flustered and frazzled, the glasses on her face halfway fallen down her nose. Really, Tim didn't mind her studying in her office. He had missed riding with her ever since he moved over to Metro, although you'd never hear him say that out loud. He was happy to see her, but her shift ended four hours ago. Instead of being at home, she was in his office.

"Since I got off," Lucy explained, stacking her papers into a neat pile. "Tamara has friends over and I needed a quiet place to study... Let me get my stuff and I'll leave."

"No need to leave," Tim waved Lucy off, taking a seat behind his desk. "I'm just here to do paperwork. Feel free to study or sleep, doesn't matter to me."

Really, he didn't mind Lucy studying in his office. Ever since moving over to Metro, he missed riding with her. Tim considered Lucy a friend – possibly a best friend. He knew he could tell her anything, and he always felt like he could be himself around her. When they worked together, he felt like the best version of himself.

He looked up from his computer as Lucy's fingers plucked a highlighter off the corner of his desk. He could see her eyes getting heavy, her yawns becoming more frequent. He tried to focus on his paperwork, but he found it hard to keep his eyes off of Lucy. It was like for the first time, he was noticing how pretty she truly was. She was focused, her nose scrunched and eyebrows furrowed. Her hair was piled a top her head, eyeglasses he had never seen her wear before sitting on the bridge of her nose. Tim found many women pretty, of course, but there was something so effortless about Lucy. Something refreshing.

But he couldn't let himself get distracted by her. Sipping his coffee, he glued his eyes back to his computer screen. The office was quiet, both of them buried into their responsibilities. When Tim looked at the clock again, an hour had passed and he was nowhere close to being finished. His eyes drifted to Lucy on the couch, and he hated the way his heart expanded at the sight of her.

She had since placed all her papers in a neat pile on the floor, and was curled up on the couch. She was fast asleep, soft sighs slipping past her lips. Without thinking about it, Tim stood from his desk and slipped off his jacket. It felt like second nature as he took a step towards Lucy and draped his jacket across her body. He couldn't stand the thought of her possibly being cold, and he made a mental note to buy a blanket for his office. He walked to the door and flipped the light switch, his office falling dark aside from the dim glow of his computer screen.

He didn't know why he felt this way, like he had to make sure Lucy was warm and comfortable. He hadn't felt any of those things since, well, he was with Isabel. The thought was terrifying yet somewhat exhilarating. For a brief moment, as he stared down at Lucy's sleeping frame, he brought his finger down to her face. He pushed a stray hair off of her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. When he sat back down at his desk, he realized he was smiling.

Tim Bradford never smiled, especially for no reason. But deep down, he knew there was a reason, and that reason was Lucy Chen.

This was cute and soft and just something light 🥹 expect some smutty goodness soon!!