5 ways Lee and Lucy could have got together, and one way they actually did.
The format of this will be five ways it could have happened (throughout series 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) and how they actually get together (in my mind, anyway) in series 7.
I was undecided whether or not to make this a multi-chapter story but ended up deciding that it should be. I'll try and update regularly. The chapters will basically be extensions of episodes, so there will be a lot of familiar dialogue, although I will be tweaking it slightly.
In this chapter, I skimmed over the part where Lee/Tim confront Guy about the diamonds as I wanted to begin with Lee's speech about Lucy being an independent woman etc.
It took me about two hours to write this first chapter and I'm not really sure about it, or about the story idea in general. Please let me know what you think.
But for now, enjoy the first chapter!
#1 – Gangster (Series 2, Episode 7)
It could have happened like this…
Lee and Tim had tracked Lucy and Guy to the airport with little time to spare. By the time they finally made it, Guy was holding Lucy by the arm, desperately trying to steer her towards the check-in area. That was until Lee and Tim came to stand directly in front of him, blocking the way.
Guy looked incredulous. Lucy looked confused and a little irritated.
Guy looked even more incredulous and Lucy looked even more confused and irritated when Lee and Tim explained what they thought Guy was doing. Diamond smuggling!? Lucy thought they were crazy but couldn't help feel a little relieved that her brother and flat-mate had stepped in when they had. Things were moving a little too fast for her liking, and Guy wasn't an easy person to try to slow down. At least now she'd have time to talk to Guy, they'd probably missed their plane now anyway. She breathed a sigh of relief, already running through what she'd say to her controlling man in her head.
The relief didn't last long though, as Guy got down on one knee.
At first she didn't get what was happening, thought the gaudy ring was just another extravagant gift but one glance to the side at Lee and Tim's shocked faces told her everything she needed to know. He was proposing!?
"Will you marry me?" Guy asked confidently. In his mind there was no doubt that Lucy would say yes.
For a split second there was silence, until Lucy became aware of the scuffle taking place beside her. It seemed Tim was trying to drag Lee away from the scene, give her a bit of privacy, but Lee wasn't having any of it. He pulled his arm free from Tim's hold.
"Hang on!" He snapped.
Lucy looked at him questioningly. He seemed genuinely distressed.
"Alright, maybe he's not a gangster, but he's still not right for you, Lucy. You're an independent woman with independent thoughts; you don't need some man making decisions for you."
She stared at him, eyebrows raised in surprise. Lee hadn't even been living with her for a year yet, but he already seemed to understand her more than any man she'd been with in the past. He acted all tough and macho around the flat but over the months he must have been paying more attention to her than he'd been letting on to sum her up so perfectly.
They stared at each other in silence, seeming to forget that Tim and Guy were there for a few seconds, and neither Lee nor Lucy knew what to say.
That was until Lee opened his mouth and the moment was over. "So tell him you'll say no!"
Tim rolled his eyes, having had enough of Lee's antics for one day, and succeeded in pulling him away.
Night falls, and Lee still doesn't move from his position on the sofa, head in his hands. He'd sent Barbara home a couple of minutes ago so when he hears someone come through the door, he isn't surprised. Barbara was always forgetting something or other and having to come back to collect it. He doesn't even raise his head when he hears the door close behind whoever just came in.
"Forget your duster? You wanna keep that as a down payment on the breakages." The quip comes out harsher than he intended it to, but he's too upset to put any of the usual humour in his voice.
"Hello." She breathes sadly.
Lee's head whips around to face the door, because that wasn't the voice he was expecting. Lucy stands there, bags scattered on the floor around her, looking like she's trying hard not to cry.
"What are you doing here? Thought you'd be in Sicily." For some reason he can't stop staring at her as she comes to sit on the sofa beside him.
"You know what those budget airlines are like. They took a wrong turning and I ended up in the corridor." Lucy replies, trying to make light of the situation but failing to hide the tremble in her voice.
When she turns to face him there are tears in her eyes and Lee feels a stab of something in his chest. He feels like punching the living daylights out of Guy for making Lucy so upset. He'd never make Lucy feel like that if he was with her. 'But you're not.' Says a little voice at the back of his mind.
"What happened?" Lee asks softly, not wanting to pressure her into talking about.
Lucy stays silent and stares down at her hands, not trusting herself to speak in case she starts crying.
"Wanna talk about it?" He asks in an almost-whisper.
She shakes her head as tears begin to pool in her eyes again.
"Sure?" He tries one last time.
Lucy sighs, fidgeting with her hands to try and distract herself. "I said no."
Lee looks unsure, wondering if she means no to him or if she said no to Guy. He sincerely hopes it's the second option.
"Sorry do you mean to me just then or-" He asks.
"To Guy." Lucy clarifies.
Lee looks at Lucy, trying to figure out what to say next. "Why?"
She turns to face him. May as well tell him the full story now instead of dragging it out.
"He was too controlling. Said he wanted to take care of me. He's gone to Sicily on his own… it's over." She starts crying then, because even though Guy was a bit of an arsehole, she'd been going out with him for quite some time.
"Don't do that." Lee instinctively reaches out to put an arm around her and even though it's a little awkward at first, Lucy soon relaxes into him. He moves his hand gently up and down her arm, wanting nothing more than for her to stop crying.
"Is there anything I can do?" He asks, still holding her against him.
She turns toward him, their faces closer than innocent flat mates should be.
"There is actually. You know how some nights you just need to be with someone, to talk to them and to hold them… Will you stay with me tonight?" She whispers.
He nods, his other hand finding its way to her waist and when instead of stopping him, her own hand comes up to cup his cheek, he says "I'll stay with you for as many nights as you'll have me."
And it's so unlike anything she's ever heard Lee say, she's not surprised when she closes her eyes and kisses him. One of his hands moves up to tangle in her hair and things soon get heated, the only sounds of the traffic outside and their frantic breaths.
"Are you sure?" Lee pants between kisses.
Lucy just nods, grabbing a hold of his shirt collar and pulling him down on top of her.
It could have happened like that. But it didn't.
