A/N Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny. Couldn't resist referencing that movie. Had to. Garret gets worse, not better.

Humor is... despair refusing to take itself seriously. -Arland Ussher
He lay there on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She was next to him, arms wrapped around him, sound asleep. He had to admit, her presence was comforting to him, he had actually gotten five hours of sleep without a nightmare. But he was wide awake now. He closed his eyes, trying to see if he could force himself back to sleep. But sleep was evading him.

After what felt like forever he finally gave up and slid out of the bed, careful not to disturb her, and into the kitchen. He rummaged through, looking for the instant coffee, making some in the coffee pot would surely wake her up. He found it and mixed it, fighting back a gag at the taste. It was the most awful stuff on the planet, but it was still caffeine. Still coffee.

He collapsed on the couch and flicked on the TV, trying to find something that wasn't a bad infomercial. But there was never anything good on at three in the morning. He settled on a movie that looked like a bad Leviathan rip off about a bunch of people in a submarine and everything was going wrong.

It was mindless, stupid, with no point. And he was enjoying it. It was something that he didn't need to think about, something to take his mind off of his problems. Off of the lack of something strong to drink, the lack of anything. He was empty, that's what it was. At least the alcohol made him feel something.

He ran a hand down his face, and stared down into the muck that was instant coffee. He could see in his reflection how broken he was, he was gone, he had nothing left. He had done something he had hadn't done in years the night before, completely broken down, he had just snapped.

He had done something he swore he would never do-hit a friend. Not just a friend. Jordan. A woman, someone who even though he knew she could fight back, wouldn't. He had split her lip open. And she was still there, still trying to comfort him. He didn't deserve that, he didn't deserve anything.

He downed another sip of the vile substance and leaned back against the cushions, making himself comfortable, stretching out. Waiting for the movie to end and something else bad to come on. There was never anything good on TV at three in the morning, he had learned that months ago. But he still looked for that one night where it would have something redeeming on.

She emerged from the bedroom about the time that the movie ended, and looked at him. "Good morning." She said just a bit to chipperly.

'It's a morning." He replied, another gulp of the coffee down his throat.

"Why not get out of the house Garret, go skiing." He shrugged.

"I'm quite comfortable." He said and she sat down on the love seat staring at him.

"You're just making things worse by wallowing in self pity. Go out there, you always enjoyed skiing before, it's something fun, something to take your mind off of everything." He shook his head and just stretched out more. "Am I going to have to drag you down the slopes?"

"If you want to go ski, go ski." He said, and she shook her head. He knew what she was thinking. He knew that she wasn't going to leave him alone in here. That she wasn't going to ever be far enough away from him to let him do something to himself.

"Garret-" She began and he looked at her. "Just do something, will you? You can't stay locked in here forever. I'm surprised cabin fever hasn't set in yet."

"Yes, well, I found a dead rotting woman in the bathtub this morning and there are the two little girls that keep asking to play-" She laughed, a genuine laugh.

"You still have your sense of humor Garret, c'mon-" He shrugged. He had even surprised himself with the joke. He had wondered where his sense of humor had gone, but it had returned, reared it's head and disappeared again. "At least go for a walk or something."

"A walk. In ten degree weather. I thought you came up here so that I wouldn't die." He was surprising himself with his humor's sudden return. It just came out of nowhere, maybe once it appeared it hadn't gone back to wherever it had been hiding.

"Skiing's fun, you know it is. Just do at least one run down, please?" It had been a long time since he'd gone down the slopes. And it might ease up on her watchful eye. She'd been all but hovering over his shoulder since she arrived, maybe doing something that she suggested would get her to ease up on him.