Drowning In Secrets

Open your eyes!

*one week later*

"Hey" Taylor walked into the bullpen holding a box of donuts, by now she was used to getting no reply so she just accepted it when no one said anything back. A week ago she looked fresh and happy, now she looked drained and exhausted, "figured you'd all be hungry" she smiled and placed the box of donuts on Kevin's desk since it was in the middle of them all. They all smiled at her thankfully apart from jay, he didn't even look at her, "thanks tayls" they all thanked her eventually. After everyone had gotten their donuts Taylor noticed jay still hadn't moved so she picked up the box which contained two donuts left and walked over to his desk to offer him one, he shook his head but kept his gaze on the computer screen signalling to her he didn't want one.

Her heart broke more and more whenever he ignored her even though it was a daily occurrence, "no problem" she spoke quietly and walked into the break room. She got to the table and noticed Hank wasn't here yet either so she wrote them a note since Adam would end up eating them both if she didn't.

*get your hands off them ruz, they're not for you! Voight and jay - just take one when you're hungry*

She left the note on top of the box since it was evident Adam would eat them both without a second thought, she made herself a coffee and walked back out to her desk before sitting down and avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. She felt tired from trying, it was clear they weren't gonna accept her into the team but she had no idea why, her first few days in intelligence were great. They welcomed her with open arms and treated her like one of their own, but now...God it was like war, a silent war, especially with jay. The person who's trust she wanted the most.

A few minutes later hank walked into the bullpen with a case file in his hand, "anyone know sign language by any chance?" Hank smiled slightly. They all stayed silent, "I do Sarge, you needing me to help with something?" Taylor sat up straighter. They all looked at her in confusion apart from jay since he knew about her sister, "my sisters deaf" she explained. Hank nodded, "I do need you actually, there's a witness to our new murder case downstairs but she's deaf, so how about you fetch her up and talk to her?" he smiled. Taylor nodded and stood up, she waited for jay to follow her since he was her partner but he just ignored her presence so she frowned a little but hid it from the team and walked off downstairs.

Taylor fetched up the witness and lead her into the break room where she took her statement, it was taking twice as long since jay didn't bother to help her so she had to sign and write it all down in the process of keeping the witness calm. Adam looked up to see Taylor signing and doing her thing in the break room but then payed attention to jay who was sat in a mood at his desk when he should be helping his partner work the case. "Jay you got a second?" He stood up and started walking over to the locker room. Jay shot his head up, "yeah I guess?" He shrugged and followed him.

"What are you playing at?" Adam closed the door behind the pair, jay looked at him in confusion, "the hell are you talking about?" He scoffed. Adam ran his hands over his face, "Taylor, okay? I'm talking about Taylor" he sat down on the bench as jay leant against a locker. Jay furrowed his brows together, "and? what about her?" He sighed in annoyance. Adam shook his head, "can't you see you're hurting her jay? Can't you see we're all hurting her? What we're doing here, is hurting her..." he tried to stay calm. Jay shook his head, "well..." he started but Adam cut him off, "jay, just stop okay? Stop and think for a second, is this really how you wanna do this? She's your partner and god dammit, she should be more than that, she should be your best friend man!" He raised his voice as jays ignorance.

Jay was shocked at his manner, "what's that supposed to mean?" He scoffed back. Adam tilted his head, "jay c'mon man, have you seen how sweet she is? She does everything for this team, she's trying her best jay and all you're doing is shutting her down... we all are..." he put his arms out. Jay sighed, "well that's not my problem, how am I meant to trust her?" He huffed. Adam looked at him blankly, "seriously? It's not your problem? Jay she was the one who done all of your paper work for you when you were in med a few days ago, she's the one who fetches donuts to work, she's the one who lights up this unit. And you're telling me it's not your problem? That You can't trust her?" He raised his voice again. Jay was stunned, he could see how much he cared for Taylor and he started to realise that he was actually being really harsh on her, "well what am I meant to do huh? I can't just trust her with a snap of my fingers..." he sighed.

Adam calmed down as jay done the same, "I don't care how you fix this man just do it, trust works both ways jay and I'm pretty sure she's gonna start losing trust in you too real soon if she hasn't already from the way you keep ignoring her. So like I said, just fix it" he huffed and stood up. Jay shook his head, "have you even told her why you're being such a knucklehead? Or is she still in the dark?" Adam stood opposite him and added to his lecture. Jay huffed, "I haven't told her but like I said last week, i shouldn't have to beg for answers" he got defensive again. Adam scoffed, "you're being so unbelievable right now! If this is about Erin then get your head out of the gutter" he warned him sternly. Jay laughed in disbelief, "it's not about Erin! I'm the one being unbelievable? God, why'd you even care?" He walked over to the bench to sit down.

Adam groaned, "jay! Open your eyes man! Maybe you can't remember how Taylor was when she first joined the unit, but the rest of us sure can! If you'd have paid any attention to her then you'd have noticed that she's lost her smile, maybe not evidently, but it's gone or at least it's fake now! So if you're not gonna step up and sort this out, you need to take some time to think about everything because your head clearly isn't screwed on straight" he ended the shouting match. Jay was shocked, he's never been shouted at like this before, only hank spoke to him this way. There was a moments silence since jay didn't know what to say, "look, I'm just trying to help you before it's too late man. It's hard to find a good partner, and I'm telling you, Taylor's the one. Once she's gone you'll never find anyone like her again, you'll regret everything. So please, just talk to her. Do it for you, for her, for us..." he placed a hand on jays shoulder.

Jay sighed in defeat, "fine, okay? Fine, I'll talk to her..." he agreed. Adam smiled weakly, "I'm just looking out for you jay, and for Taylor. She's taking this pretty hard and it's clear you're bothered by it too" he nodded. Jay looked up, "I know ruz, I know..." he huffed. The pair stayed in a comfortable, "thanks man" jay stood up and patted adams shoulder. Their conversation may have started as a shouting match but it ended in an understandable agreement from both sides, they both composed themselves before walking back out into the bullpen to see the team working on the case, Taylor was still talking to the witness. Jay figured it was too late to go step in and help her with that since she'd probably turn him down so he waited until he would have a better chance of solving things between them.