DISCLAIMER: Crossing Jordan and all its characters are property of NBC. No infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic simply begged to be written. Takes place after "Mysterious Ways" [5x19]. Lu tries to come to terms with what happened between her and Jordan.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Common Psychology and a Bottle of Whiskey
By lysachan
Detective Lu Simmons stared blankly at the glass of whiskey in her hand. Alcohol wasn't really her thing; she only sought help from the bottle when there was an emergency she couldn't quite handle. The present situation, however, most definitely qualified as one. She downed the whiskey in one gulp and grimaced as the cool liquid burned the back of her throat. Yes, it was an emergency alright.
Grabbing the nearly full bottle, she poured herself more while desperately trying to sort out the mess that were her thoughts. What she had already figured out, was that psychology was crap. Complete and total bull. She couldn't actually find a single good reason for getting a degree in psychology all those years ago. Now it only fueled her already over-analytical brain to go through various scenarios she would have rather wanted to dismiss.
The second glassful didn't burn as much as the first one, but the taste was still disgusting. She didn't even like whiskey. Someone had given the bottle to her as a housewarming gift when she moved to Boston and it'd stood in the kitchen cabinet ever since. But not even bad whiskey could dull her brain enough; the earlier incident with Jordan played on a loop in her head and she couldn't, for the life of her, make it stop.
She could still feel Jordan's lips on hers, soft but firm, and this aroused sensations in her body that she actually couldn't remember having before. It both scared and excited her. The rational part of her brain put it down to stress; she'd had a tough time recently and her little thing with Woody wasn't exactly helping. But a little voice somewhere in the back of her mind nagged that this was definitely about something else – and she knew it.
She'd liked kissing Jordan. She'd liked it more than she even cared to admit, and she really didn't know what to do. Oh, why had she decided to come to Boston of all places?! She could've just taken that job in Seattle instead. Feeling absolutely mortified, she reached for the bottle again and started pouring yet another glassful when suddenly the doorbell rang.
Earlier she'd cowardly canceled her plans with Woody for the evening and now she hoped he hadn't come round to check up on her. With wary steps she walked to the door and took a peek through the peephole.
"What a...?" The cause of all her confusion was standing on the other side. She froze still, her pulse going through the roof. What the hell was she supposed to do? The doorbell rang again and she could hear Jordan's muffled voice through the wooden material between them.
"C'mon Lu, I know you're in there!"
"...shit!" she cursed and leaned her forehead against the door frame. Taking a deep breath, she unbolted the door and swung it open.
"Jordan. What's up?" she tried desperately to sound casual and uninterested, but her nervousness was more that obvious.
"Erm, can I come in? I would really like to talk in private, and this hallway gives me the creeps." Jordan answered and looked at Lu for approval.
"I don't think that's a...er, fine, whatever." She sighed and let the brunette in, closing the door behind her. Jordan walked further into the apartment and then turned around.
"Nice place." She smiled politely.
"Yeah, I like it," Lu said and then, as if realizing the situation, shook her head. "Erm, what's on your mind?"
"I...I wanted to apologize. About earlier. I'm known to be quite spontaneous and sometimes I tend to do things I probably shouldn't." Jordan scratched the back of her neck and then glanced apologetically at the blonde.
"Oh," was all Lu could come up with as her brain tried to process all the new information. "Oh." Great, she sounded like a broken record.
"Are you okay?" Jordan narrowed her eyes, taking a few steps towards the other woman.
"Yes, yes. I'm...I'm good," she exclaimed, trying to convince herself as much as the other woman. Suddenly Jordan's eyes widened.
"Are you drunk?"
"What?! No!"
"Oh, yes you are." The look on Jordan's face was nothing short of amused.
"I'm not drunk. I had a few shots, that's all." Lu could feel her cheeks redden.
"Uh-huh," Jordan was still smirking and it did weird things to the blonde's insides. "So, aren't you gonna pour me one?"
"What?"
"Well, I'm here. Can't I have one drink?" Jordan said and threw her jacket on a nearby chair. Lu sighed.
"Fine." She walked to the kitchen and could sense the brunette following her.
"Whiskey?" Jordan asked incredulously and raised her eyebrow. "That's...not you."
"Do you want the damn drink or not?" Lu sighed again, rolling her eyes.
"Christ, no need to bite my head off." Jordan raised her hands in a surrendering manner. Lu just glared at her and fetched another glass from the cupboard. Without saying a word, she poured Jordan a drink and handed it over.
"You're not having any?" Jordan asked when the blonde just stood there, tapping her fingers nervously against the counter.
"No, I've had enough, thanks." Her pulse was still faster than she would've preferred; she felt uncomfortably warm and the woman standing before her wasn't really helping the matter.
"Alright then," Jordan shrugged slightly and grinned wickedly.
Lu blinked, sweating profoundly.
"Oh, hells." Swearing under her breath, she reached for the bottle.
"I really am sorry about the...incident, you know," Jordan said and emptied the remains of her fifth glass of whiskey. Lu handed her the bottle which had mysteriously lost over half of its contents during the past hour.
"Oh, forget it. Worse things have happened to me, you know," she said, feeling a little tipsy.
"Well, thanks! Kissing me was that bad?" Jordan said in mock anger and poured more brown liquid into her glass.
"You know what I meant. And no, kissing you wasn't bad at all." Lu leaned back on the living room couch they'd conquered and closed her eyes.
"Made an impression, did I?" the brunette smirked, raising the glass to her lips.
"You're a good kisser." Lu said simply and reached for the bottle. Not bothering with the glass, she drank straight from it and grimaced. "This stuff really is quite horrible."
"You're not that bad yourself," Jordan said casually, snatching the bottle from her hands again.
"What?"
"You're a pretty good kisser," Jordan repeated and shrugged.
"Thanks," the blonde smiled shyly, feeling oddly warm inside.
A silence fell between them as they both quietly nursed their drinks. After a while Lu glanced sideways and realized that Jordan was doing the same. Their eyes met and Lu's breath got caught in her throat. She'd never realized how brown Jordan's eyes really were; they were warm and honest, eyes you could trust with your life. She couldn't help herself and leaned forward, only to find out that Jordan must have done the same because soon their lips were just mere inches apart.
"We probably...shouldn't," Lu whispered the obligatory objection, but at the moment couldn't care less about what should and shouldn't be done.
"No, we probably shouldn't." Jordan's voice was low and it made butterflies fly in the pit of Lu's stomach.
Their lips met tentatively at first, as if any stronger contact would cause the other one to pull away. A small voice in the back of Lu's mind told her that this was a really bad idea indeed, but she pushed it aside; feeling Jordan's warm and soft lips on hers felt too good and too right. She felt the brunette's hand sneak behind her neck and the contact with her skin made shivers go down her spine. She leaned further towards Jordan, surrendering herself to the mind-blowing kiss that she was sure would consume her whole.
When the kiss eventually ended, they were both looking flustered, their breathing shallow. Jordan looked Lu in the eyes, as if searching for something.
"Wow," Jordan said quietly, her hand still behind the blonde's neck.
"Yeah," Lu replied, unable to tear her eyes away from the brunette.
"Just...wow." Jordan shook her head, subconsciously licking her lips.
They kissed again, this time with more intent, this time both well aware of what was happening between the two of them. Lu had never kissed a woman before this day, and kissing Jordan made her wonder how much she'd missed; she'd never experienced anything like it before. Jordan pulled back slightly, resting her forehead against Lu's.
"Poor Woody." Lu's voice was a mixture of humor and regret.
"He's gonna be pissed," Jordan chuckled and Lu couldn't help smiling herself. They were both silent for a while, just enjoying the moment.
"I think I need more booze," Lu said suddenly and quickly pecked Jordan before raising to her feet. It took her a while to find her balance and she had to lean against a ragged armchair to keep from falling over.
"You sure about that?" Jordan grinned teasingly and Lu shot an irritated glance at her. "Well, I don't think I can stomach more whiskey anymore." The brunette pulled a face and sank further into the couch.
"I've got a bottle of Merlot hidden underneath the kitchen sink."
"Oh." Jordan blinked. "Erm...why?"
"I don't usually like to drink with other people." The blonde shrugged indifferently. Seeing Jordan's questioning look she rolled her eyes at herself. "Don't ask."
"Well, in that case I'm absolutely honored to be qualified as your drinking partner," Jordan joked and laid a hand over her heart.
"Oh, shut up." Lu stuck her tongue out at the brunette and chuckled. "So, are you up to some Merlot, doctor Cavanaugh?" The blonde's eyes were sparkling. Jordan stood up from the couch and slowly closed the distance between them. Lu could feel Jordan's hot breath against her skin as the brunette leaned forward and whispered to her ear with a low and husky voice:
"Lead the way, detective."
The End