Chapter 3:

Meanwhile, across town, Tim sat with Angela, phone in hand on Lucy's contact, mind spiralling as the echos of his last conversation with Lucy haunt him.

Tim- "Oh uh hey."

Lucy- "hey uhm."

Tim- "clocking out?"

Lucy- "really? You really wanna pretend like nothing is going on right now? Have you ever thought that maybe I have something I wanna say to you? You were so concerned about what I deserve, how about a real adult conversation Tim?"

Tim- "Lucy… I can't give you what you're looking for."

Lucy- " then you clearly have more to figure out than I realised and you need somebody else besides me to… help you with that so good luck…"

The way she walked away was the only reason he even started therapy with Blair.

Angela leaned against her sofa, giving him a look that saw straight through him. "You really broke up with her like that?"

Tim sighed, " I thought it was the right thing. Chain of command, potential conflicts-"

Angela cut him off." Stop. You didn't do it because of chain of command. You did it because you're scared."

"She deserves better than this mess." He muttered.

Angela's expression shifted, now softer, " you're right, she does. But, that doesn't mean you just bail on her. You can't just throw away something real without even fighting for it, especially not with Lucy."

Tim said nothing, just looked at the glasses beside the almost empty wine bottle.

Angela looked at the time and continued, " look, I know you think you're protecting her but if you ask me? You were protecting yourself. And now, she's the one picking up the pieces once again."

Tim looked up at her, though those words stung, Tim knew they were true.

Suddenly, he shifted his tone, "well, aren't you getting late to Tamara going away party?"

Angela stared at him, eyes full of sympathy," I'm sorry" and she left.

Tim just sat there, eyes blanc. Out of everyone in the station he was also one of the closest people to Tamara and wasn't invited,it was such a painful sight that he remembered the morning quite clearly.

Lucy-" and by check in you mean evaluate?"

Grey- " *sighs*…."

Lucy looks a Tim and then walks away towards Aaron*

Lucy-"Aaron! I'm hosting a going away dinner for Tamara, tonight, are you free?"

Aaron-"oh for sure….count me in!"

Lucy"oh…great! You're also invited sir.."

Grey-"thank you, me and Luna have plans already."

Lucy-" yeah, of course…uhm..are you ready?"

Grey-"yeah…"

Lucy-"ok, thanks"

Grey"*pats Tim on shoulder* good luck…"

Tim-"you too"

Blair-"think you're right, this defiantly won't be boring!"

Tim-"yeah…"

Tim slouched back into the couch and stared at the tv screen, he knew he messed up, in his words if he had started therapy earlier than maybe this mess would've never happed, maybe if he had understood earlier that just because his father had punished him for every "wrong doing" he had done then he didn't need to enforce that upon himself, he's gone, and so is Lucy

…