Chapter Seven: Confrontation and Confession
"Hey, thanks for lunch," Jordan said brightly as JD held her office door open for her.
"Ah, any time, Cavanaugh," he replied. "Say…do you have plans tonight?"
Jordan snorted. "Yeah, my social calendar is just packed…what do you think?"
"Hmm…I'll take that as a no, then," he concluded. "What do you say I pick you up here at seven?"
"Sure…where are we going?"
JD winked. "It's a surprise."
She gave him a look. "You know I hate surprises."
Suddenly serious, JD looked into her eyes. "Just go with it, Jordan. No funny business, I promise."
She sighed. "Okay," she said softly. "I'll be ready."
"Great," he smiled. Then the playfulness returned. "Now, get back to work!"
Jordan laughed and waved as he turned to walk away. She watched him, thinking about how they had come to where they were.
They had hung out several times…just as friends. They hadn't discussed "The Issue" either, but at least Jordan felt secure enough to have a conversation with him again. She had also found herself falling asleep in his arms more times than she could count. She guessed that she felt comfortable enough with JD to let her mind relax, and have her body take over and give her the rest she needed.
Her relationships with her morgue family had improved, too. They had become more accepting of what she could give, and Jordan was slowly learning to trust again. All in all, having JD back in her life was a good thing.
Jordan stepped back from her inner thoughts and sat at her desk. JD was right—she did have work to get done. One thing that hadn't changed was her loathing for paperwork, so when someone entered her office just a few moments afterward, Jordan didn't mind at all.
Until she realized who it was.
"Woody?" she said, surprised. "Do you need something…for a case?" Her voice trailed off. Jordan wasn't working on any cases with Woody, and his face said that this wasn't a professional visit anyway.
"Why are you hanging out with him?" he demanded without preamble.
"Why am I hanging out with who?" she asked, though she already knew who he was talking about.
He gave a huff and stared at her, annoyed. "Pollack, Jordan. He's no good for you! You told me that you weren't ready for a relationship yet, and the next thing I know you're jumping into bed with him," Woody spat the last word out. "Why, Jordan? Why? You should be with—"
"Okay, back up," Jordan interrupted, holding her hand up. "First, I'm not jumping into bed with JD. Second, I don't owe you an explanation. I told you the truth, about the things that concern you. The rest is none of your business."
"Oh, come on, Jordan," Woody said, angry now. "That's bull and you know it."
"Woody, enough," she said, closing her eyes briefly. "You obviously have no professional reason for being here, and that's the only kind of 'relationship' we will ever have…..Leave. Now."
Jordan moved around her desk and held the door open for him. With one last angry look at her, Woody stomped off down the hall.
Jordan just rolled her eyes and returned to her work.
Seven o'clock on the dot, JD knocked on Jordan's door.
"You ready?" he asked.
"Yes, let's go," Jordan replied as she pulled her purse over her arm. "So…where are we going?"
"Sorry, Cavanaugh, you're not going to win," JD said, chuckling.
"Okay, fine. But at least tell me that it involves food. I'm starving."
"Your in luck…I've got Chinese in the car."
Jordan looked at him quizzically. "We're going to spend the evening in your car?"
Another chuckle. "No, not exactly…just go with it, okay?"
"It appears I don't have any other choice."
They stopped at the elevators and JD pushed the button. "No," he said, smiling. "You don't."
By the time they got where they were going, the car was completely filled with the aroma of their take-out—JD had forbidden Jordan to touch any of that before they arrived.
"Okay, we're here," he called out jovially.
Jordan looked out the window. "Uh…the ocean? JD, how are we supposed to eat at the ocean?"
"Come on, haven't you ever heard of a picnic?"
"Yeah, sure. With tables and grass—not sand."
"Whatever. It'll be fun…unless you'd rather not eat?" JD eyed her while taking the food out of the car.
Jordan's eyes narrowed. "You're something else, you know that?"
All he did was smile and start walking toward the shore. Jordan hurried to catch up with him.
JD picked a spot, spread out a blanket, and they sat down. A soft wind blew so that small waves came rolling up on the sand. They ate silently, content to watch the waves and be in each other's company.
When he was finished, JD turned to Jordan seriously. "Jordan…about what happened…"
"JD," Jordan began warily. "I'm sorry…it's still too soon. I don't want to talk about it yet."
Gently he tucked a flyaway curl behind her ear. "I know…it's all right. I just want to tell you something. All you have to do is listen."
After a beat, Jordan nodded.
"When I first came back…from witness protection," he started. "You said that everything you did didn't matter." He put his finger under Jordan's chin and turned her face to him. "You need to know that isn't true."
JD sighed. "I knew that I was going into witness protection, I just didn't know when or how. If I didn't know, then I couldn't screw it up. I wanted to see you just one more time, and they let me. If I had known what was going to happen, I never would have gone."
Another pause. "I figured that…that everyone would just forget about me when I was gone. Let's face it, none of your friends really liked me….you were probably with Woody by then…and even if not, our relationship wasn't exactly smooth sailing."
Jordan shook her head and started to say something, but JD stopped her.
"It's okay…it was my fault, too," he said. "But about DC…you could have proved your innocence a million different ways without catching my 'killer.' You didn't need to go after the Judge, but you did anyway…and you were hurt. That was a huge sacrifice…and it means the world to me. To know that you still, in some way, cared about me…that you probably wouldn't have forgotten about me…Jordan, that's not worthless." He finished softly, and looked down at his lap.
To his surprise, Jordan reached over and took his hand. "I never would have forgotten you," she said just as softly. "You…taught me too much about myself…for the good." He looked at her then, and she gave him a small smile.
"Thank you," she whispered. JD knew she was talking about more than just her admission.
He slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her to him, and tenderly kissed her forehead. They sat peacefully together as the waves continued to roll.
