Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: A few short chapters, and then I'll get to the good stuff!
After talking to Nigel, she'd found that her goodbyes really did get easier to say. Her talks with Bug and the rest of the morgue staff had been mostly uneventful, and she'd even managed to giggle over office gossip with Lily the way she'd always meant to, but had never found the time for. Now, however, she was headed for the only person in the morgue she hadn't spoken to yet, and she could already feel tears pricking at her eyes. This would be harder than all of the others put together.
Biting her lip, she rapped hesitantly on his door before slipping into his office.
"Garret?"
"Not now, Jordan," he snapped without turning around, throwing the file he was holding onto his desk and grabbing the ringing phone. "Macy…no, take care of it now!"
He slammed the phone back down onto the receiver, looking up to find Jordan still standing in his doorway. He fully intended to yell at her to find something more constructive to do than bothering him; it had been one of those days, and he didn't need Jordan going off on one of her obsessive-compulsive tangents. The words died in his mouth when he caught sight of the look on her face.
"What's wrong, Jordan?" he asked, remembering a time when she'd asked him the same question and deciding to steal her line. "You look like you work in a morgue or something."
She tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Garret…there's something I have to tell you."
He motioned her into his office, sighing inwardly. Yes, it was definitely one of those days.
"Talk, Jordan."
Jordan took a deep breath, looking up at the man who had been like a father to her for nearly a decade, and the words just spilled out.
"I love you."
He stared blankly at her, and she let out a nervous laugh.
"Come on, Garret, not like that. I just – you've been there for me beyond all sane expectations. You gave me a job; more than once you saved my career. You're a great boss, Garret. I've learned a lot from you." She sniffled, giving him a weak smile. "And besides, you're my bestest girlfriend."
He snorted at the reference to their ongoing joke, coming over to stand in front of her.
"Jordan, I appreciate your saying all of this, but what is this about? Are you in some kind of trouble?"
She shrugged, ignoring his second question. "You're one of the most important people in my life," she replied, "and I realized I'd never told you. So now I am. Telling you."
He watched her for another moment, trying to figure out the impetus behind her words. All he could see in her eyes was affection mingling with trepidation. Sighing, he threw his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.
"I love you too, Jordan," he told her firmly, resting his chin on the top of her head. "You drive me crazy, and I worry about you even more than I worry about Abby, but I love you."
She returned the embrace, and it was a long few moments before she'd pulled herself together enough to step back.
"You headed home?" he asked, noticing the bag slung over her shoulder, and she nodded. "Good. Get some sleep, will you? You look tired."
"I'll be fine," she lied blithely, pausing at the door to give him a wan smile. "You don't have to worry about me, Garret."
"You're right," he agreed, taking in the defeated set of her shoulders and knowing full well that something deeper was going on here. Sooner or later, he knew, he'd get it out of her, even if it meant he had to let her denial slide tonight. "I don't have to. I do anyway."