There is a pretty sparse selection here in this genre. I've been loving The Night Shift right from the start, and I am very disappointed that I'll have to wait a whole year to find out what happens next! This idea came to mind as I was looking at the three stories available to read (I believe there's more now). I just wanted to see something like this happen on the show.

Summary: after the Season finale, Jordan takes TC home and puts him to bed. When cleaning up his apartment (because let's face it, TC probably isn't the neatest of people, with everything else he's dealing with), she finds a certain small jewelry box just begging to be opened.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Night Shift or any of the characters

Jordan sighed as she flipped the switch on the wall, sending the bedroom into near darkness. She made sure to leave the door cracked slightly, so that she could hear if TC started to get restless or wake up.

She returned to the living room, and looked around at the mess with a critical eye. She could understand why he had let the housekeeping go, but this place was a pigsty.

She allowed herself a moment to collapse on the couch, as last night's shift overwhelmed her. So much had happened. Dwayne. Topher. She felt so guilty for how she had treated TC when he had returned from Afghanistan. She had thought he was playing it up, or just dragging it out. She had never really given him the consideration she should.

She had just gotten so tired of always being the strong one. She had just wanted him to get over it.

How stupid had she been.

She had been with that man for so long, she should have known that something was really bothering him. And after tonight, she thought she might understand a little more. After all, as she had told Landry, if she felt like this after fifteen minutes, how did TC feel after fifteen months?

With an inaudible groan, Jordan stood up and began moving around the living room, picking up dirty clothes and piling them in a corner to be washed.

When those were collected, she took them to the laundry room and started a load. Next, she began organizing the random medical books that were strewn about the room.

Once the floor was relatively clean, Jordan moved to the kitchen and began washing dishes. It seemed as if TC hadn't been cooking much for himself lately, if the takeout bags piled on the counter were any indication. Jordan knew that TC was actually a pretty decent cook, but he probably hadn't been thinking too much about taking care of himself. She was actually surprised that he didn't have a roach infestation, with all the crud in this kitchen.

It took over an hour, but eventually, the dishes were cleaned and put away, the fridge had been cleaned of anything expired – including the carton of milk that was more solid than liquid – the counters had been wiped down, and the floor had been mopped.

Jordan moved back into the living room, stopping by the laundry room briefly to move the washed clothes to the dryer, and start a new load. She ran the vacuum, hoping it wouldn't wake TC up, but not too worried. He could sleep like the dead when he was in the mood.

After another hour, the living room was relatively clean, and Jordan began taking clean clothes out of the dryer. She was taking the laundry basket to set by TC's bedroom door to be put away later, when she heard movement.

She pushed the door open hesitantly, and saw TC sitting up slowly, rubbing his head tiredly. She smiled softly and flipped the switch on. TC flinched at the sudden brightness, and Jordan's smile widened.

"Hey," she greeted gently.

TC snapped around to look at her, squinting in the brightness. "What are you still doing here?" he grumbled, blinking to wake up.

Jordan rolled her eyes. "Your apartment should have been condemned," she replied archly. "I was just making sure you didn't get overrun by roaches. You're welcome."

TC had to take a moment to process that. His brain was still a little muddled, but after a few seconds, he understood what she was trying to say. He nodded a little unsurely. "Thanks."

Jordan nodded briskly. "Glad to hear you can be grateful. Now, hop in the shower and clean yourself up, and I'll start putting these away," she gestured to the basket of clothes in her hands.

TC shook his head slightly. "You don't have to –"

Jordan felt like rolling her eyes again. "I know," she cut him off. "I'm not here because I have to be. Now get in the shower before I force you in."

TC briefly thought about making a sexual comment, but decided he was too tired, so he just nodded and stood up, heading to the bathroom.

That act, more than anything else, told Jordan how off TC was. Just a few days ago, he would not have passed that opportunity up. She frowned worriedly, and set the basket down on the bed.

This room was just as dirty as the rest of the apartment, so Jordan took a moment to gather the dirty clothes into a pile by the door, before she began putting clean clothes away.

She tried not to think about how comfortable she was with putting TC's underwear away, because that would say something about the status of their relationship, and she couldn't deal with that. They had broken up.

She ruthlessly ignored the voice in the back of her head that told her it had been a mistake. Because if she started listening to it now, she would have to acknowledge that that voice had been there for a while.

She also ignored the fact that, even after they were no longer a couple, she kept coming back to him. He would always come before Scott, before anyone else.

She put a few pairs of socks away, and pushed them back so that she could get the drawer to close.

She frowned minutely when she felt something hard brush against her fingers. What was that?

Knowing that she shouldn't be snooping around her ex-boyfriend's apartment, she reached forward, searching for whatever it was she had touched.

She pulled out a sock that seemed to have lost its mate, and reached back in. In the very back corner of the drawer, her hand brushed against the object again, and she grasped on, bringing it into the light.

And then she almost wished she hadn't been so curious. Sitting innocently in her hand was a black velvet jewelry box.

Holding her breath, she flipped the lid open, and then gasped, her eyes widening almost comically.

The ring sitting innocently inside was gorgeous. It was was white gold, the band molded in a lacey style that screamed early nineteen hundreds, with a princess cut diamond on top. On either side of the larger gem, two smaller sapphires sat gleaming in the dim lighting of the bedroom. Two more diamonds near the size of the sapphires framed the setting on the outside, and Jordan couldn't make herself breathe.

She turned the ring over in her hands, studying it, trying to imagine what it could possibly be doing in the back of TC's sock drawer.

There was a thump that indicated TC was turning the water off, and a moment later, the male doctor reappeared in the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. "Thanks for cleaning up, Jordan. I was going to get to it."

Jordan started and turned around, looking at him with an almost deer-in-headlights expression.

TC furrowed his brow, confused. "Jordan? Is everything all right?"

Jordan blinked slowly, and without saying anything, held out the ring.

TC swallowed harshly, his mind going blank as he tried to think of some explanation.

Jordan bit her lip, forcing herself to meet TC's panicked gaze. "T, what is this?"

TC sighed, his whole body wilting as he looked down at the floor. "I think it's pretty obvious," he murmured softly, and Jordan had to strain to hear him.

She shook her head. "I know that, T. I mean, what's it doing in your drawer?"

TC shrugged, going over to the dresser and pulling out some boxers, all without looking up. He pulled the underwear on and dropped the towel, not caring that Jordan was still standing there. She had seen him naked many times.

Finally, he looked back up, and Jordan was taken aback by the earnest expression clouding his face. "We were together for years, Jordan. Didn't you ever think about our future?"

Jordan gasped. "You were going to propose?" she whispered, one hand flying to her mouth.

TC nodded guiltily. "That was my grandmother's ring. She gave it to me before I left for Afghanistan the last time. I was going to ask you as soon as I got back, but…" he trailed off and shrugged again. "Anyway, things happen. Whatever."

Jordan shook her head quickly. "No," she growled. "Not 'whatever.' This matters, T. I didn't think… I just…" She couldn't figure out what to say.

She had loved him, so much, but when things got too difficult, she had run. She had left him alone, not even knowing that he had wanted forever with her.

She reached out and rested one hand on his bicep, ignoring the slight flinch he tried to hide as their skin came into contact. "I'm so sorry, T," she said softly, trying to pass along all of her feelings of love and regret without saying anything.

TC looked up, startled, hearing the laden emotions in her voice. He shook his head. "Jordan, you needed to think about you. I understood. I didn't like it, but I got it. You couldn't spend all your time worrying over me, and I was a mess. We broke up for a good reason."

Jordan gripped his arm tightly, hating how he tried to rationalize their break up. "It shouldn't have been that way," she argued. "I hated watching you self destruct, and I hated that I couldn't do anything to stop it. But I should have tried to be more understanding. I should have done more."

"You did what you could."

Jordan sighed, releasing her grip on TC's arm and sitting on the bed. She played absentmindedly with the ring box in her hands as TC sat next to her.

After a few minutes of silence, Jordan spoke again. "I wish I could go back to that moment," she admitted. "I wish I could tell my past self to stop being an idiot. I wish we had never broken up."

TC felt his breath catch in his throat. He had never stopped loving her, but he had to convince himself he wasn't dreaming. This was everything he could have ever hoped for, but he knew that life didn't work that way.

Jordan looked at him, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "T, I love you. I always have, and I'm pretty sure I always will. It won't matter who we date, or how much we try to keep ourselves apart. It's always been you."

TC smiled softly and reached over, cupping her face with a gentle hand. "For the record, I never stopped either." He leaned down a few inches and kissed her, relishing in the feeling of her lips against his once more.

After a few moments, they pulled apart, both breathless, but neither one remembering the last time they had felt so content.

Jordan absentmindedly mused that she had never felt this way when Scott kissed her.

As if sensing her thoughts, TC leaned back more, looking down at his lap. "What about Scott?"

Jordan sighed and shook her head. "He was a rebound that lasted entirely too long," she admitted. "He's a good guy, but I was using him to get over you, and somewhere along the way, I forgot that. I let myself believe that what we had was real. But it wasn't, T."

TC nodded slowly, looking back at his… what was she now? He didn't know, but he would spend the rest of his life trying to figure it out.

Jordan glanced down at the ring in her hands, and then turned back to TC. "You know," she hedged, "this really is a beautiful ring."

TC smiled and took the box from her. He pulled the ring out, and turned it over in his hands. "Thad and I went home for a family reunion right before we shipped out."

Jordan nodded. "I remember." She had had to work back-to-back shifts that week, or else she would have gone with them. She remembered being disappointed that she wouldn't get to spend as much time as she could have with TC before he had had to leave.

TC smiled and reached over, grasping one of her hands in his. Their fingers intertwined immediately and without conscious thought. "Everyone was disappointed that they wouldn't get to see you," he informed her. "My grandmother was pretty sick at that point, and she pulled me aside the day before we left to give me this. She told me to stop wasting time and just give it to you already."

Jordan chuckled weakly. "Why did you wait then? Why not give it to me before you left?"

TC shook his head. "I didn't want to give you that promise when I didn't know if I would be able to keep it."

Jordan inhaled sharply. He had clearly wanted to slip that ring on her finger the moment he had gotten it, but he had held off, for her. "T…"

TC gripped her hand tightly, cutting her off before she could say anything, not that she knew what she was going to say. "I wasn't going to risk making you a widow. I didn't want to promise you that we would have a future. Something could have happened. I saw it every day over there. I watched countless condolence letters get sent back stateside… I couldn't bear it if you had to get one of those."

Jordan knew she was crying now, but she didn't care as she leaned over and kissed him desperately.

When they pulled apart, both had wet eyes and large smiles on their faces.

Jordan sniffed and wiped her nose absentmindedly with the back of her sleeve. "It's a beautiful ring, T. I would have loved to wear it."

Though she phrased it in the past tense, TC knew her better than she knew herself, and he knew what she was really saying. He lifted the ring up and studied it, before turning back to the girl next to him.

"It will always be yours," he admitted. "I could never imagine this ring on anyone else's finger."

Jordan's breath hitched. "What exactly are you saying, T?"

TC took a deep breath and slid off the bed. He knelt down on one knee, looking up at the love of his life. His expression was earnest and his eyes were pleading, but full of love.

"Jordan, I've loved you since the moment you schooled Doctor Phillips during our second year of Residency. I was always arrogant, top of my class, Army Ranger and all that," he shrugged unabashedly. "And then you came along, and I actually had to work for something for the first time in my life. You were brilliant, and beautiful, and entirely too good for me. I knew it then, and I know it now." He shook his head when Jordan opened her mouth to protest. "It doesn't matter how many people tell me that's wrong, there will always be a voice in my head telling me that you deserve better. But I really don't care, and I want to spend the rest of my life proving that voice wrong." He took a deep breath. "This may be crazy. We broke up over two years ago, and this is so spur of the moment I can't believe I'm actually doing this, but Jordan Alexander, will you marry me?"

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "TC, are you asking me to marry you in your underwear?"

TC glanced down at his nearly naked body, and then shrugged, looking back up. "I promise to wear more at the ceremony. What do you say?"

Jordan smiled brilliantly, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "I thought you'd never ask," she murmured against his shoulder.

They pulled apart a few moments later, and TC shifted uncertainly. "Is that a yes?" he asked, wanting to be sure.

Jordan rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yes, T, yes. But you better give me the ring within the next two seconds, otherwise I'm going to have to reconsider."

TC smiled and took her left hand in his, slipping the ring onto her fourth finger gently.

Jordan admired it for a moment, before she looked back at her new fiancé, and grinned, leaning forward to kiss him again.

When they broke apart this time, Jordan pulled him back up, and onto the bed, where they lay down next to each other, holding hands and trying to convince themselves this was real.

After a few minutes, Jordan sighed. "I should probably break up with my boyfriend, huh," she commented idly.

TC snorted. "That'd be nice," he replied archly.

Jordan looked at him. "What about you? Things cool off with you and Landry?"

TC winced. "She broke up with me a couple weeks ago."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "What?"

TC shrugged. "Yeah. Apparently, I was still in love with you, and she didn't want to get caught in the middle of all that drama."

Jordan smiled, shaking her head. "So apparently everyone knew except us."

TC returned the smile. "Topher told me to let you go. He said you deserve to be happy."

Jordan frowned as she propped herself up on one elbow. "T, he shouldn't have said that."

TC shrugged again. "He was right, at the time. He just didn't want me to keep stringing you along, when you seemed to be happy with Scott."

Jordan sighed and lowered herself back down. "Well he still shouldn't have said it. It's our business, and even if they're our friends, they still shouldn't be getting involved like that."

TC nodded and leaned over to give her a kiss.

And even though the future was still a huge mess, even though they had a lot of things to sort out, for the moment, they didn't care.

For right now, they were just TC and Jordan. The future Mr. and Mrs. Callahan.

Whatever anyone else might think or say, to TC and Jordan, nothing else mattered. They would face it head on, the way they did everything.

And from here on out, they would do it together.

Right now it's a one shot, but I've got an idea for an additional chapter, where everyone at the hospital finds out. If I get enough of a demand, I will write a second chapter. Let me know and please REVIEW!