#anyway apparently this is american ninja warrior competitor chenford who have become v close friends training?? idk!!

[tuckersdeslauriers]

Chenford + Tim sees Lucy on a date and turns up at her door.

Lucy doesn't expect Tim to be sitting outside her door when she gets home.

She's not upset about it, exactly, but she doesn't expect it either.

He doesn't notice her right away, so she gives herself a moment to take him in – if she's dealing with a certain type of Tim, she wants to know ahead of time.

He's wearing a pair of jeans with a rip at the cuff that she knows is from getting snagged on a chain-link fence when they'd been walking back to their hotel after a night out in San Antonio, Tim running ahead and trying to rile her up and make her feel better after fucking up in the preliminaries.

For the record: she'd made it through, but by the skin of her teeth after bombing her second-to-last obstacle.

Tim's head is tipped back against the wall, his eyes closed, and the sharp line of his jaw tracing down to the tension in his neck makes Lucy frown.

He looks upset, which she doesn't love.

"Hey," she calls out as she makes her way down the hall, and Tim snaps his head up, raising his brows. "You looking for somebody?"

He offers up a smile and she can feel the relief in it. "Hey," he hops up to his feet, his limbs long, working quickly. "No, no way," he frowns, fake, not reaching his eyes which are still very much smiling back at her. "Just happened to be in the area."

"And, what," she pulls her phone from her back pocket, waving it around as she reaches him, "you couldn't call and see if I was around before I dropped in?"

"I," he scratches at the back of his neck and she squints up at him. "I mean, I figured-,"

"Why are you nervous right now?" Lucy laughs, shoving at his arm before digging through her bag for her keys. Tim mumbles something unintelligible and she unlocks her door, pushing it open and leaning against the frame to block him from following her in. "What's up?"

Tim slides his hands into his pockets, shrugging. "Nothing, nothing," he taps her shin with his foot. "What were you up to?"

"Oh," she waves her hand, "nothing. I mean, you saw me this morning, but after," she shrugs, "I ran errands, I went on a bad date, I grabbed a bottle of wine," she tugs the wine bottle from the top of her bag so he can see it. "You've just...been waiting for me?"

"I only got here," he squints around, then glances down at his watch, "half hour ago, or so. Figured you'd turn up at some point."

"Oh, what," she raises her brows, smirking up at him, "you don't think I'm capable of staying out all night, Tim?"

He snorts, rolling his eyes. "You have training at 5:45," Lucy groans as he continues, "I figured you were a sure thing for sleeping in your own bed."

She huffs, pushing the door open wider and leading Tim into her kitchen. She pulls the bottle of wine out of her bag and puts it on the counter, watching as Tim locks the door and kicks off his shoes. "Besides," he carries on, pulling two wine glasses down from one of her high shelves, "you looked pretty bored on that date, figured you'd need some quality entertainment by the time you got home."

Lucy freezes, her hand still digging into one of her kitchen drawers to pull out her corkscrew. She looks over her shoulder, squinting at him. She thought she'd seen a Tim-looking guy walk by the patio she'd been seated on with her date, John, but she'd shrugged it off and gone back to talking. John had been sweet, had asked her to dinner after they'd gotten to know each other during his first few training sessions at her gym, but he was definitely more of a friend than a flirtation.

Besides, she had Tim if she felt the need to flirt.

She glares at him, turning on her heel and pursing her lips as she crosses her arms over her chest. "What were you doing, huh? Spying on me?"

He smirks, shrugging. "I was going to the pet store across the way for Kojo stuff," he offers. "I saw you and they were finishing up a fresh batch of those peanut butter treats he liked, so...I might've grabbed a coffee, scoped it out."

Lucy scoffs, squinting at him. "Spy," she points, shaking her head. "A dirty rotten scoundrel of a spy, Tim, oh my god."

He laughs, his neck going a bit red, and Lucy grabs the corkscrew out of the drawer, bumping it shut with her thigh before making her way over to him. "I'm just saying, you looked bored. Sad, even," he holds up a hand in innocence. "I figured you'd need...reinforcements, or something. I ordered Thai when I got here, should be here soon."

She rolls her eyes, giving him another faux-huff. She's not actually annoyed – she'd planned to call him after pouring herself a glass, anyway – but she thinks he should have to grovel a little. "I had a great time, thank you," she works the corkscrew into the bottle, ignoring the fact that she can feel Tim moving closer.

"You said it was bad," his voice is low, she can feel his breath on her ear. "Don't lie, now, Lucy."

She shivers, shutting her eyes but making sure her hands don't stop moving. "I'm not lying," she mutters. "Back off."

Tim chuckles and she swallows hard, annoyed because this is almost always what proximity to his fucking body does to her and she can't stand it. Whether he's adjusting her grip on the bars while they're training or he's cornering her in her kitchen about some dumb shit he did, he's annoyingly, agonizingly hot. "John's like fifty, you know that right?"

She elbows him in the ribs and Tim groans, but she feels him back away and lets out a laugh. "You're not much off," she smirks over her shoulder. "Now get this open for me, would you? We can talk about how many push-ups you owe me once I've got a full glass of wine in my hand."

Tim rolls his eyes at her, but there's a smile to it that makes her stomach flip as he grabs the corkscrew and gets to work.