Fridge Organization

Harm couldn't help but stare in abject horror at the sight before him. Never in a million years did he ever think that something so horrific could happen in his own kitchen. For some reason, the yogurt was next to the carrots and the apples were in the same crisper as the cheese - things only got worse from there.

When he moved in with Mac, he figured it would be a dream come true. He never would've expected that she, being as squared away as a marine as she was, that she would be this bad at organizing stuff in the refrigerator. However, he supposed that the constant state of disarray that the files in her office were under should've served as a warning.

Harm had been unexpectedly called onto an investigation the day after they moved in to their new home, and few days spent away on the Henry meant he'd missed a lot of the initial settling in. For the most part, this had been fine. He trusted Mac to have decent taste with furniture and interior design. He knew she was capable of deciding what kinds of plants would look good on their front porch.

On his third day of being TAD, Mac had casually mentioned that she'd done some grocery shopping, and Harm had instinctively winced. He felt bad about it, but he had a feeling that even Mac herself would admit that her kitchen skills were not the strongest.

Even though Harm had been the bachelor before they'd gotten together, Mac ate like one. Apparently she also packed the fridge like one.

The kitchen had always been a kind of sacred place for Harm. He enjoyed having everything in its specific place and having at least majority control over kitchen happenings. That was his peace.

The current state of his - their refrigerator was the exact opposite of peaceful. "Is something wrong?"

Harm looked up from the fridge and saw Mac standing at the coffee maker, hair mussed from sleep and looking as beautiful as ever in the middle of their sunny kitchen.

"Why is the carton of milk next to the ketchup?" he asked, trying his best to sound as calm as possible. He had enough self awareness to realize that his zealousness about the state of his (their) kitchen bordered on abnormal - at least that was the critique he'd received from other girlfriends he'd lived with in the past.

Mac gave him a strange look as she dug around in the cabinet for her coffee mug. Harm had avoided taking a look at the cabinets, he'd been too scared to. "Ummm…I don't know, because that's where I put it when I unpacked the groceries. Could you hand me the coffee creamer?"

Harm looked at Mac. He looked back at the fridge. Then he looked at Mac again. He raised an eyebrow. "Where is the coffee creamer, exactly?"

With a sigh, Mac walked over to the fridge and gently nudged Harm out of the way. Harm watched in dismay as she dug around in the fridge for a solid fifteen seconds before finally pulling out the creamer - it was the cinnamon one, her favorite.

"It was right there," she said, holding up the creamer.

Harm blinked. "Where?"

"There."

He struggled to find the right words as Mac walked back to the coffee machine. "You know, babe, I really think I should handle the groceries from now on."

Being in a healthy relationship was all about communication, and Harm had to communicate this. Mac gave him a strange look. "Why?" Harm shrugged, still trying to feign nonchalance. "Because….I just don't want you to have to worry about it. You have enough on your plate already." "Is my grocery-getting not satisfactory?"

"Well…in a way yes, but I really appreciated the effort."

Mac nodded slowly. "I see…."

Harm finally shut the fridge door. "You know I love you."

"I love you, too."

"But I really, really think that the kitchen stuff should just be left up to me."

Mac turned to face Harm, one hand on her hip. "Harmon, if you don't like the way I put stuff in the fridge, please just say that."

Harm felt himself relax. At least she was aware of the problem. "I hate it, actually," he clarified. "It's really stressing me out."

"Okay…I'm sorry?"

Harm walked over to her, wrapping her up in his arms. He placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I accept your apology."

Mac looked up at him, an incredulous expression on her face. "Should I ask the Admiral to start scheduling your investigations around our grocery-getting days?"

"You know, that actually wouldn't be a bad idea-"

"Harm, I was joking."

After Harm managed to make them breakfast with the kitchen being in the state it was in, he spent the rest of their Sunday morning re-organizing the entirety of the kitchen to his liking while Mac watched from the safety of the living room couch. The trade off was that she got full control over how their bedroom and bathroom was organized.