A bit of post-Christmas fluff to keep us all going.
Even though Lee and Lucy are married now (oh wow) I'll still continue to write oneshots about how they got together as I find that's the type of stuff I enjoy writing most. I LOVED writing this by the way, so I hope you enjoy reading it.
I also think the last two episodes of NGO are the best two episodes of anything I've ever watched. Thank you so much to Lee Mack & co. for making seven series of brilliant comedy. :)
P.S – 5 Ways is still ongoing. It will still be updated, but I do have prompts waiting and other ideas I'd like to write but rest assured it will still be updated regularly.
Thank you for reading & hope you enjoy!
It was a cold January night and the snow was falling thick and fast, covering the streets of London in a wintry blanket. It had been snowing for hours now and still it showed no signs of stopping.
Lee sat on the couch, the TV only background noise as he bounced his leg up and down anxiously. Lucy's train should have long been in by now and yet he still hadn't heard from her. She'd been at a conference all day and had let him know she wouldn't be back until late, but it had never been this late before. A feeling of panic twisted in his stomach as he sent what seemed like his thousandth text to her that night.
/Lucy, are you back yet? Heard on the news they'd cancelled some of the trains. Getting worried now. Let me know. x/
He tried to calm himself down by distracting himself with the television but it was just story after story of cancelled trains and cars crashing in the icy conditions. Not helping at all. His mind wondered through a million possibilities. What if her train had derailed in the snow storm? What if she'd made it back to the station, got into her car and lost control on the drive back to the flat? What if she'd decided to leave the car and walk home instead and something bad had happened to her? What if, what if, what if...
Lee groaned in frustration, trying to chase the terrible thoughts out of his head. He wasn't usually one for dramatics or over thinking but this was one of the worst snow storms London had seen in years, it had said so on the news. Plus, the woman he loved was out there, God knows where, in the middle of it. Not that she knew he loved her. Well, he was beginning to suspect she knew but now wasn't the time to think about it. There were far more urgent matters to consider. Like why the hell Lucy wasn't answering her phone.
Not ten minutes later, Lee almost laughed in relief when his phone buzzed and Lucy's name flashed up on the screen. He opened the message as he let out a breath he didn't even realise he'd been holding.
/Train was delayed, I'm fine, don't worry. Going to leave the car and walk home. x/
He replied straight away.
/I'll come and meet you. You'll break your legs walking in those bloody shoes. x/
Lee put on his coat and scarf, not even waiting for an answer. He grabbed the flat keys and the umbrella resting by the door. He'd only just stepped out of the building when the next message arrived. Wiping at the screen with his sleeve, he chuckled as he read Lucy's text.
/You love the shoes. Don't think I haven't seen you staring at my legs when I'm wearing them. x/
Couldn't argue with that, he supposed. Trying to avoid lampposts and slipping with only a few meters visibility as he made his way to the station wasn't made any easier as he tried to tap out a reply.
/Just worried about your safety, Lucy. ;) Meet you at the cafe across from the station. x/
Lee could count the number of times he'd texted a wink face on one hand. Must be the excitement and relief of knowing she's okay, he thought to himself.
/See you soon. x/ was the last message he received before the train station came into sight.
Immediately, his eyes began scanning the line of cafes across the street and with only a couple of people milling around at this late hour, it didn't take long to spot Lucy. She was leant against one of the glass fronts, attention consumed by something or other on her phone as she bounced up and down slightly to try and keep warm.
Heading over, he watched her as she studied the phone, a slight smile on her face. She really is beautiful, Lee thought as he cleared his throat to get her attention when he was only a few steps away.
"Oi." She jumped slightly at the unexpected voice, relaxing when she saw it was Lee. "What's so interesting on there?" He added, nodding at her hands.
"Nothing for you to worry about." She told him.
Actually she'd been reading through their earlier conversation, touched at how much closer they'd gotten since Tim had left for Germany, but he didn't need to know that.
"Fine." He said petulantly, looking away from her dramatically.
She had to laugh at that, although she was quick to reassure him, knowing exactly where his mind was going. Not that she could blame him. Even she had to admit she'd been blowing hot and cold for quite a while now.
"Seriously, it's nothing." Lucy said, laying a hand on his arm. As expected, his head snapped back around to face her at the contact. "I was laughing at your texts from earlier if you must know. That winking face really was something." She laughed as she nudged him teasingly.
He couldn't help the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, even if she was taking the piss. This was Lucy and he didn't mind one bit. Besides, he took the piss out of her often enough.
"Come on, are we going or not?" He asked, offering her his arm.
She linked her arm through his without a word and the two began their slippery journey back to the flat.
After a couple of minutes making small talk about Lucy's conference and how bad the weather was the two fell into a companionable silence. Even though the weather had caused no end of problems tonight, it made for a picturesque walk through the now empty streets. It was almost peaceful. Lee could feel Lucy begin to lean more heavily against his arm; she must be exhausted from the day she's had, he thought to himself. He unlinked his arm from hers and wrapped it around her shoulders instead. She smiled up at him before leaning her head back against his shoulder and that was enough to let him know that this was okay and that she wasn't uncomfortable with the intimate gesture.
The peaceful atmosphere didn't last long, however, as the two turned the corner onto their block and suddenly found themselves downwind of the snow.
"Shit!" Lee exclaimed as he shielded his face and pulled Lucy tighter against him.
"This'll be fun." She said sarcastically, wrapping one arm around Lee's waist, the other covering her face from the onslaught.
"It's only another five minutes walk." He reassured her. He was aware she was no where near dressed for this kind of weather but there was no other way to get home. "I'll put the umbrella up, hang on."
Lee disentangled himself from Lucy and immediately she missed the warmth of his body. She watched as he fiddled with the umbrella, growing more frustrated by the second. There was no way it'd cooperate with how bad the wind was.
"Lee, can you hurry up, please. I'm freezing." She said as she bounced up and down, teeth chattering.
"I'm trying for god's sake." He replied as he tried bashing the offending item into shape by whacking it repeatedly against the ground.
"Just leave it!" Lucy snapped. "It'll only blow inside out with the wind. We'll catch our deaths standing out here like this."
The situation had quickly descended from almost-romantic to bickering. Daisy had commented the other day on how they were like like an old married couple and now Lucy was beginning to see why.
"Lee!" She shouted as he continued to fiddle with the umbrella. She hated been ignored and he knew it. Infuriating little shit.
"Look, stop nagging me, it's nearly done!" He shouted back, although both of them could see his efforts were futile.
"Right that's it, I'm going." Lucy said, marching off down the street, albeit a little bit wobbly on her heels.
"You'll go on your arse!" Lee called after her, but he leaned the umbrella down next to a wall and started following behind her all the same.
Christ, she could move in those shoes, Lee thought as he hurried to catch up.
"Lucy! Lucy, wait, I think I've got frostbite!" He shouted, determined to make her turn around.
"Piss off, Lee." She replied, tossing a half-amused-half-exasperated glare over her shoulder.
He could tell her heart wasn't in being mad any more, though. Which is why he did what he did next. Scraping up a decent handful of snow from the floor, he looked up to make sure she hadn't seen him. Nope, she was still making her way down the street a few meters ahead of him. Bloody stubborn.
Lucy gasped when she felt the snowball hit her at the back of the head, spinning around to face the culprit who had stopped walking and was looking around innocently. She tried to look angry and disapproving, she really did, but with him stood there like that, it was impossible.
"You're a bloody idiot." She laughed as she stuck a hand down the back of her coat and attempted to remove the icy snow that hag begun to melt. "For Christ's sake, Lee, it's gone down my coat!" She shivered.
Lee full on belly-laughed at that, doubling over and giving Lucy time to gather her own handful of snow. It hit him in the chest with a satisfying crunch and he straightened up to find her smiling mischievously at him.
"Oh, okay." He cocked his head to the side mock-seriously. "So that's how we're going to play."
They eyed each other warily for a second before simultaneously scraping snowballs together as quickly as they could and throwing them rapid-fire at each other as they got closer together. They were cold and it was well on its way to midnight but that didn't matter because in this moment they felt like a couple of kids having fun.
Soon they were close enough to each other that the throwing ceased, both Lee and Lucy holding one last snowball, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Lucy lunged, intending to shove the freezing snow down the back of Lee's coat (see how he liked it) but he must have been anticipating the move as he quickly caught her wrists in his hands and gently wrestled the snow from her grip.
"What are you going to do now?" She raised her eyebrows in challenge as they continued to grapple half heartedly.
The instant the words left her mouth, the playful atmosphere turned much more heated and eyes wondered to lips and back again. He released her wrists and pulled her closer, hesitant but eager all at once. The air around them grew more charged as the pair leaned into each other.
Lips met and almost straight away the kiss was deepened. The cold was soon forgotten about as Lee trailed a hand up Lucy's neck to cup her face, his heart almost turning a somersault when he felt her smile into the kiss. She was gripping onto his coat for dear life, not sure if she was more scared of falling over or of waking up from this moment to find out that it had all been a dream. This had been a long time coming, but now that it was actually happening, neither of them could believe it.
Some time later they pulled away from each other, both of them unable to keep the smiles from their faces.
"So, uh... What now?" Lee breathed. He didn't want to shatter the moment but they really would catch pneumonia if they stood out here for much longer.
"Now?" Lucy said as she plucked melting snow from Lee's hair before meeting his eyes seriously. "Now you're going to have to give me a piggy-back home because I've lost all feeling in my feet."
Lee chuckled slightly, unable to resist leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to her lips.
"Your carriage awaits." He said, turning around and crouching down so that Lucy could climb onto his back. "Comfy?" He asked as she shifted around and finally settled on draping her arms around his neck.
"Mm-hmm." She replied pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth before resting her chin on his shoulder. She tried and failed to suppress a yawn as she burrowed into his warmth.
"Lets go home then." He whispered as he started walking.