The next morning Tammy comes over, as she usually did since forever ago, to carpool. Neither of them really remember how it started—something about Tammy not being a morning person and Sebastian leaving long before she’s awake enough, while Hannah has Naomi over half of the time so she has to wait until she leaves for school before going to work. Their carpooling is approved by Naomi. So does the travel cups filled with coffee for Tammy and tea for Hannah that line up with the whole saving the earth campaign Naomi has been teaching them about.
Tammy nods in approval on the first sip of her coffee while Hannah locks her door. “How was it?” she asks as they make way to the car.
“Only their wedding bells.”
Hannah huffs while Tammy chuckles. She waits until Tammy rounds the car to get to the driver side before getting in herself. They settle in practiced ease, putting their cups away and buckling up. It’s a bit unusual when Hannah thinks about it, but again, even though the car is hers to use, it’s a facility that belongs to NCIS, so Tammy has as much right as she does to drive it. She prefers Tammy driving them anyway.
“That bad, huh?” Tammy asks, not taking her eyes off the road as they make a turn. “You got the urge to strangle her?”
“Only when she said she loves baking.”
Tammy hums, urging Hannah to continue.
“Ryan really has a good taste in women. We both do.”
“Did you just compliment yourself?” Tammy glances at Hannah while they wait on the red light, grinning back at her. “And what? You want Veronica too now?”
Hannah makes a face, which is unnoticed because Tammy is focused back on the road. “She’s a high school teacher, who loves baking, does yoga twice a week, lives with two dogs and a cat.” She got many warning stares from Ryan throughout the night, but Veronica had indulged her interrogation.
“Sebastian would do his happy dance if I got a Veronica.”
“Do you want a Veronica?” Tammy lets out a soft nope, but Hannah doesn’t let her off the hook. “What? Are you seeing someone?”
The itch is back and Hannah fights to keep her mouth shut. At first she thought it was the investigator in her, Pride said he has the same problem and it puts a strain on his relationship with Lauren. Yet looking back at how she grills Veronica last night and how she did with Tammy about Alyson, it’s obvious that they didn’t come from the same place.
She shot question after question at Veronica to protect mostly Naomi and looking out for Ryan, because she cares about them the most. While she too cares about Tammy, she was being a little too invested in her broken romantic relationship for the sake of her own sanity. Can’t date someone who’s already dating someone else. The breakup is opening that opportunity all over again and she pretty much pestered Tammy about it because she can’t deal with it.
Both Tammy and Roy, who is standing outside, are looking at Hannah with concern and she realizes belatedly that they’ve arrived at the office. She smiles back at Roy while patting Tammy’s hand that’s on her arm. She doesn’t even know when did they get so comfortable with each other, but it’s nice.
“Still trying to wrap my head around everything.”
Tammy nods, squeezes her arm, before getting out of the car. Hannah misses the contact already, but she gathers their cups—Tammy tends to forget hers, until she reaches her desk and then scrambles back to get it from the car, which is kind of cute. She greets Roy and goes inside, placing Tammy’s cup on her desk right on the moment she remembers about it. Something in her chest flutters when Tammy looks up at her with that smile and says you’re the best, baby.
They spend the day working on report of the previous case. They go to Tangipahoa Parish Jail to get Etta’s signed testimony of what went down during the arrest. Hannah read her statement first, nodding her approval before letting her signed it. Tammy notices the little exchange, but doesn’t mention it.
They have lunch on the way back; get a takeaway for Patton who keeps forgetting to eat when he’s busy. Tammy keeps their conversation light; about the movies Sebastian made her watch and the link Naomi’s sent about her latest find of plastic bag made of cassava. It’s like any other day, but the flutter in Hannah’s chest intensifies with every little thoughtful thing that Tammy does for her. It’s so bad that when she’s on the brink of boredom from typing in the same report she wrote that morning and Tammy brings her a cup of tea, she can’t handle it anymore.
Hannah almost regrets the question as soon as Tammy shrugs. Just because someone is a lesbian, doesn’t mean they will like her. She had learned it the hard way back in college, having her heart broken after being rejected by her crush.
“If you want to.” Tammy goes back to her desk, eyes still on Hannah across the room. “What brings this on?” she asks, all too casual.
In the last forty-eight hours there are things Hannah still can’t wrap her mind around, but this one takes the cake. “Ryan told me to bring you next time.” She blinks, just now recalling his too-wide smile that escaped her last night. “I said yes.”
The silence that follows stretches for a long moment until Tammy says, “If that’s what you want.”
“Other than going over there and make out with you?”
That gets a laugh out of Hannah. “Yeah?” She likes it, she realizes then. She likes Tammy and she likes their dynamics and she likes that they are friends first and foremost, even though she too wants to make out with her, and more. “And it’s mutual, the make out part.”
Tammy grins. “How about a date?”
