Tim is her anchor — he’s always there — and his presence alone can and has pulled her out of some of the deepest, darkest holes she’s ever been in.

-Little bit of Love by @chenfordspiral (submitted by @queseraone)

Haven't done this since chapter 29 so I thought why not today to make up for the sadness I caused earlier with that post.

Little bit of Love - ch. 38 sneak peek

They wrap up the conversation soon after because Genny has to get back to work and the exhaustion is finally really catching up to Lucy. She reluctantly lets Tim take Evie, who is finally asleep, from her after getting her swaddled up so he can put her in the little bassinet next to the bed. He climbs back in next to Lucy when she insists that she wants to cuddle, and quietly listens to her breathing even out as she falls asleep in his embrace.

He knows that she’s no stranger to being awake for over a day, particularly tough cases sometimes keeping her busy for far longer than shifts go, but this is different. She just spent 21 hours in labor, working through contractions that got worse and worse as each hour ticked by. She deserves all the rest she can get right now, and he’ll gladly be her pillow any time. And it’s the peaceful silence in the room with the two most important people in his life fast asleep that has him eventually drifting off as well.

He wakes… minutes or maybe hours later, he doesn’t know, when he hears Evie’s soft but unmistakable cries. He carefully disentangles his arms from around Lucy, breathing a sigh of relief when her eyes stay closed and she presses her cheek deeper into the pillow he just abandoned, and gets up to get Evie out of the bassinet.

“Hi, Everly. Hi. You’re awake, huh. Let’s let mama sleep a little longer, okay? Hi,” he whispers softly when she very slowly tries to blink her eyes open in between cries. “Okay, come here, baby. I got you.”

He carefully lifts her out of the bassinet and walks over to the armchair in the corner by the window. His daughter is having none of it, however, no matter how he tries to hold her or sooth her cries. But then he remembers what he’d read in all of the baby books he and Lucy had read over the last few months and what both Lucy's midwife and doctor had also said earlier: skin to skin with dad was also important and can help settle Evie down. Babies seem to love the warmth only body heat could provide.

So he gently puts Evie down to rest on his legs for a moment so he can remove the shirt he’d put back on a few hours before and then loosen the swaddle and get Evie out of the onesie. Her cries intensify as the cooler air of the room hits her skin, so Tim quickly picks her up again and settles her against his chest, draping the blanket she’d been swaddled in over her to keep her warm.

Anyone else ever get unnecessarily sad when they realize that we might never get a full season of Chenford being together? Cause same.

Not Grey's selfie with the painting 😭😂

Someone settle this for me please.

Then, he’s alone with nothing but his final thoughts. He thinks about a lot of things. Mistakes. Challenges. But it all comes down to the people he loves. Really, it all comes down to Lucy. When he first met her, he didn’t realize how she’d reconfigure his whole life, but he guesses you never truly know which people will do that until it’s already happening. She found her way in, where no one else might’ve been able to, but she did. It happened so slowly he didn’t put it together until it was too late. But that doesn’t matter now. He wishes he would’ve kissed her more though. More than kiss her. Do…Everything. House. Kids. They did do the dog, so there’s that. She’s been the most unexpected thing in his life, and somehow, also the best. He goes over the big moments between them, the small ones, too. It’s not enough, but he knows everything wouldn’t be enough. It’s okay. It will have to be okay.  Tim figures if he’s going to die, he might as well be thinking about Lucy Chen’s smile.

-I Just Wanna be Held in a Particular Way by @daisy-billy (submitted by @chenfordspiral)

Ffs. It’s 2am and my brain won’t shut up so here I am, making myself bawl my eyes out writing this monologue for the next chapter of Little bit of Love.

Never write when you’re tired. Just.. don’t. It can only end in tears 😭

writers and artists will go "this isn't good enough." my brother in christ, you're creating something new out of nothing and expressing yourself creatively. your productivity and unrealistic standards of perfection do not define you or the worth of your art. you're doing great.

cause I know that it's delicate

“You know you’re the biggest idiot I’ve ever met, right?”

Tim turned his head when he heard Angela’s voice beside him as she slid into the booth next to him.

“What?”

“You’re an idiot!”

“Thanks.”

“She was happiest with you, you know?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. Lucy. I’d never seen her as happy as she was with you. And she would’ve stayed to help you work through whatever you’re working through.”

“I know, that’s exactly why I walked away. She deserves better than to have to deal with my issues.”

“You didn’t even give her a choice, Tim. You just… walked away without asking her what she wanted.”

“It’s what’s best for her.”

“Is it, really? It’s best for her to be heartbroken over you? She’s been by your side through your worst when she was just your rookie, so what’s different now? Why can’t she see the worst of you now?”

Because now she wasn’t just his rookie anymore. Because now she was the person who mattered most. Because now she was the person he loved more than he ever thought he was capable of. Because he felt ashamed of who he truly was and he didn’t want her to see that side of him. Because her light didn’t deserve to be tainted by his darkness.

But he didn’t say any of that.

“I’m tired, okay? I’m gonna go home.”

He fished out a few dollar bills to pay for his beer and threw them on the table before sliding out of the booth.

“G’night.”

“You’re a coward, you know that?”

Yeah, he knew. And maybe in a perfect world, cowards didn’t exist and he could work through everything with Lucy by his side. But this wasn’t a perfect world, and he was a coward. And even after almost three months of therapy, he still felt lost. Maybe he always would and he could never find a way back — back to himself, and hopefully back to Lucy — and that hurt, because he’d love her with everything he had for the rest of his life and she would always be the best thing that ever happened to him.

keep reading here on AO3.

chenford + the music industry: loml

when your impressionist paintings of heaven turned out to be fakes well, you took me to hell, too and all at once, the ink bleeds

#flustered Tim Bradford

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but I can’t imagine a situation in which I don’t think you’re absolutely gorgeous.” Lucy turned her head just slightly toward him. “Even when I wake up after a sleepless night and my hair looks like a small animal made a nest in it?” “I’m sure I’ll love that bedhead look of yours.  Especially if I was the cause for the sleeplessness.” He whispered the last part into her ear and then started kissing down the column of her neck. Lucy felt a shiver go down her spine. “Okay. What if we’re out on a hike, and I fall into a big mud puddle and tear my pants?” “Still beautiful,” he mumbled into her collar bone as he continued to kiss her. “What if I have a stomach bug, and I’m pale and sweaty and have spent hours bowing to the porcelain throne?” “Then I sit there with you and hold back your hair.  I’ll wash off your face and cool you off with a soft washcloth.  And you’ll still be beautiful.”  He had reached her shoulder and then started kissing back toward her neck. “What if I’ve had a rough day at work, and I come home covered in scrapes and bruises?” “Come home?” he repeated in a whisper right in her ear. “If you’re coming home to me, then I’ll be the luckiest guy in the world.  I’ll kiss every scrape or bruise, and you’ll still be the prettiest woman I’ve ever met.”

-Catch of a Lifetime by @mamadoc (submitted by @queseraone)

I love you. I love you. I love you. But she doesn’t say it. The words have been on the tip of her tongue for weeks, months now. But actually saying them out loud is still terrifying. He’ll be the first and only guy she’ll ever say those words to. She wants to say them, but they remain lodged in her throat for another day. So instead, she looks up at him, stands on her tiptoes as the hand that had been resting on his back moves up to cradle the back of his head, and presses her lips to his, trying to pour everything she’s feeling into that kiss.

-when you're by my side by @chenfordspiral (submitted by @timandlucy)

Alright, reblog with your top 3 tracks from TTPD as of rn

Someone posted this on twitter

Not me immediately thinking of the Chenford breakup when they mention Mosul on Bones. 😭

Do we know the name of Lucy's therapist? I think they've only mentioned her/him once or twice but didn't give a name, right? I'm totally blanking here right now...