Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Doesn’t it seem too sudden?”

Will looked up from his paperwork. Kym sat over his desk, one foot swinging and the other folded over the surface. She tossed her bubble pipe between her hands, instead of sitting down in her seat and finishing her paperwork for the day.

Will turned to the next page in his file.

“I think it’s high time Lauren’s finally moving on from Dylan.”

It was a welcome change, albeit surprising. After the past few years spent hearing stories of Lauren’s failed first dates, he dared say that he was excited for her when he found out about her and Kieran.

Though, I didn’t think I’d be the only one excited for her.

“Oh, that isn’t happening this easily.”

Kym scoffed, tapping her bubble pipe against her cheek, “No. It feels like there is something going on.”   

She frowned, blowing bubbles around her.

“Something else entirely.”

One of the soap bubbles landed on Will’s nose and burst. He swiped his fingers over the tip of his nose absently, grown used to the peculiarities inside the office.

Why does she even keep that in the office?

More surprising to Will than Lauren’s relationship was Kym’s change in behaviour.

She was the one successfully dragging Lauren out of her office. She was the one prodding Lauren to live her life all the time. She had been the one insisting Lauren to go out on dates in the first place. Yet, here she was, poking holes and completely shutting out the idea of Lauren and Kieran dating.

Will stretched his writing hand, the weight of his bones settling over him with each movement. The conversation sounded absurd to his ears, and he was thankful that most of the officers were still inside the locker room. However, he was also far too tired to continue working.

“Kym, why would Lauren lie to us about her date?”

Giving the woman before him his full attention, he shut the file. He rubbed at his eyes, “And then also ask us to keep it a secret?”

“Okay, so–“

Kym let out a laugh. She turned in her spot, leaning in to whisper furiously, “There isn’t a single date of hers that the entire office doesn’t know about, but suddenly, there’s a boyfriend–a steady one, at that–“

She rolled her eyes, pointing between the two of them.

“And she didn’t speak a word of this to either of us?”

Will couldn’t exactly deny that point. He himself wasn’t too sure of how much of it he had truly believed. Of course, there were several discrepancies in Lauren and Kieran’s story, but he was fine with it. He was content at missing out on some answers as long as Lauren was happy.

That was all that truly mattered.

He did know one thing though.

Kym was being unnecessarily scrutinizing.

Was she testing her ‘detective prowess’?

Will hummed, resting his head on his palm.

Given that we couldn’t find any leads on Lune?

He narrowed his eyes at her, “Is this an excuse for you to hone your ‘abilities of deduction’?”

Kym smirked at him, “Is that a joke?”

“Maybe it’s you?”

Will tapped at his desk, looking at the wall clock, “You did nearly jump him when you first saw him.”

“I did not!”

He sighed, glaring at her, “Nearly every single day before we found out, I had to remind you about workplace ethics and physically stop you– ”

Kym shot up, pointing at him with her bubble pipe, “If anything, I was only–”

She waved her pipe around, before she froze.

Her face went blank for a moment.

Huh? No rebuttals?

“No, no–“

Kym sat back down, blowing bubbles, “See, it barely takes one week to apply and get screened for the archivist job, and I’m sure that’s not the conversation you have on a first date.”

Staring at Will, she tossed the pipe at him. He caught it before it could poke him in the eye. Then, she put her hand to her forehead, dramatically leaning on his desk. Kicking her feet in the air, she wailed, “’Oh, it was my childhood dream to be an archivist so please don’t tell people we are seeing each other, miss officer!’”

The hell?

Will stared ahead in disbelief, mouth stuck in the shape of unsaid words. With Kym’s antics, he had half a mind to raid her home to see the type of stories she had grown on or was currently reading. And then, convince her parents to swap them all out for less chaos-inducing literature.

Or simply, just set them ablaze.

Kym pinched at his cheeks, “People don’t just do that, Willame!”

Will was beyond grateful that the only other person who would wilfully pay attention to Kym’s antics was not in the room. Thanking the heavens for Lauren’s day off, he cursed how his presence at work was still required. He ripped her hand from his cheeks, placing the pipe back in her hold.

“I wish you didn’t do it either, Sergeant.”

The past month had been taking a toll on Will in all aspects. Physically, mentally and emotionally. Early evening dinners with his father were a source of tension. His mother’s health had been dropping on the curve with no chance for recovery in sight.

Maybe it was selfish of him.

The story they’d been told was awfully conveniently sprung upon them but he did not have the heart to discredit it just yet. He quite liked the idea of one more person looking out for his best friend. It took some weight off his troubled mind; the idea that he did not have to worry too much about Lauren.

Will waved off a yawn, “Kym, stop.”

The impending end to their shift was lulling him into accepting his exhaustion. He began to gather all the files on his desk, “I personally don’t think we need to be worried, but fine. Let’s just wait and watch, alright?”

Kym sighed exaggeratedly, the sound loud enough to reach the hallway outside.

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

Is she agreeing with me–

There were still a few papers left on Will’s desk. Kym picked them all up, sorting them into a bunch as she handed them over to him.

And being helpful?

Will blinked twice, holding the papers in a deadly grip. Before he could comment on it, however, Kym jumped off his desk. She clapped her hands together, rushing to get her coat, “We still have to check if they even went on that ‘date’.”

L'Arlequin was a gorgeous establishment, worthy of a first date. Their record book for the past few months, hefty thing that it was, spoke volumes about its reputation.

Will looked over the pages with a calculating gaze. There was, indeed, an entry under Kieran and Lauren’s name, marked for the very same day that Harry Anslow was arrested at the Golden Clover.

“Huh.”

Kym shut the record book with a clap.

“So, they did go on that ‘date’.”