The day she meets her training officer, she enters his number into her phone.

Ofc Bradford.

It strikes her as she hits the button to save the contact that she's here, finally. She's no longer a recruit, but she's an actual officer with other officers' phone numbers in her phone because this is her job. Her career.

She's heard the horror stories about TOs. The ones that don't give a crap. The ones that just sit with a speedometer all day and write out parking tickets while their rookie trudges along.

The ones that treat you like absolute crap and use their power to make you feel small.

The ones whose way is the only way and everything they say is right.

She's not sure what she's got in Tim Bradford (definitely, they won't be holding speedometers all day) but it's sure as hell not about to be easy, she can sense that much.

But she's not going to be the rookie to wash out. She's strong and she can take whatever he throws her way. He's not going to break her.

After her final day as his rookie, she changes his name in her phone.

Tim.

That's it. Just Tim. Not Tim Bradford, even. Just Tim. After all he's the only Tim she knows and he's basically the person she spends the most time with (or, did, up until now – she's still having a hard time understanding that tomorrow she's not going to be riding with him and while she's excited to be off probation she also feels melancholy and there's no doubt about it that her list was mostly for her and not just to annoy him). Still, after twelve hours a day together for the past year, he's allowed the prestigious honor of being first name only in her phone.

Officer Bradford had suddenly seemed way too formal. After all, this man has saved her life. It's all she ever calls him, actually – Tim. She's never called him Officer Bradford or Bradford to his face – only when she's referring to him to someone else. It seems strange to have such a name in her phone, when that's not even what she calls him in person.

And now she's a P2 and she thinks they've become friends. Even he doesn't really deny it. There's no need for formality in her phone.

So now, in her phone as he is in real life, he's simply Tim.

The moment he says he could see himself marrying Ashley, she feels something she knows she isn't supposed to feel.

She's not sure why she's been harping on him proposing to her all day. Maybe she's hoping to scare him off of the idea. Maybe she's hoping if she harps on it enough, teases him enough, he'll realize marrying Ashley isn't what he wants. She wants to see that the idea of marrying Ashely rattles him, scares him, she wants to know that he's not about to propose.

Instead, he says yes, he could see himself marrying her and she feels everything come crashing down. She can't even respond; she just looks away and wonders why this is hitting her so hard.

Okay, so she knows why. But she doesn't admit it to anyone, not even herself.

It's stupid. Whatever feelings she may or may not have for him… it's not realistic. She's always known this. And she's with Chris, anyway. That's where her focus should be. Why the hell should she care what Tim and Ashley do? She's in her own relationship. She should be more worried about if Chris is going to ask her to Hawaii anytime soon than what Tim and Ashley do on vacation. She needs to get a handle on this.

In the locker room after her shift, she takes her phone out and changes his name.

BRADFORD.

Even she notices the all caps feels a little aggressive, but it's apropos right now. (Eventually she'll calm a little and change it to 'Bradford.')

That's what he has to be to her. BRADFORD.

Tim is too casual and sure, casual is fine – but she knows there's a difference between casual and what she feels and putting him into her phone in this way is only playing into what she can't be feeling.

They can be friendly, sure. They can ride together. But Tim… no, he can't be Tim. Because it's not just friendly emotions she's feeling and she needs to put boundaries around this.

Maybe he broke her a little bit, after all.

(It isn't long before she changes his name in her phone again.

This time, though, it's legitimate. The day she breaks up with Chris and Tim asks her out – officially – she goes to her car and deletes the eight characters staring back at her and replaces them with the simple three that he's always been to her.

Tim.

And it's not like there's no risk of getting hurt again – actually, that terrifies her – but this time, it's different because they don't need those boundaries now. Who would have the guy they're seeing, their – boyfriend? (could that be what he's about to become?) – in their phone listed by his last name?

Sure, there's still the fact he's technically her boss, but…

She thinks she might even add the heart emoji after his name this time.)