Title: Wrong Attitude
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: John Reese/Jordan Hester
Fandom: Person of Interest
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely John Reese or Jordan Hester, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

This evening's talk with Harold had been useless, to say the least.

John shoved his hands into his pockets and crossed the road when the "walk" sign began to flash, head down, not looking at the people around him, thinking of his talk with Harold.

It wasn't as though Harold disliked Jordan, he told himself. And it wasn't like Harold intended for John to be miserable. He just didn't seem to understand that Jordan wasn't a threat to what they did. He saw everyone who he didn't believe could assist them in what they did as some kind of obstacle.

He couldn't stop seeing Jordan as a liability, instead of seeing him as someone who could help them. And if he couldn't see past that prejudice, this would always be a bone of contention between them.

He needed to get the two of them to sit down and talk to each other.

That was the only way that Harold was ever going to see Jordan as anything other than a problem. If the two of them coudln't talk this out, then the problems would just pile up.

He didn't want Harold to persist in this attitude, but he didn't know how to change the way his partner thought. He had no idea what it would take to make Harold accept Jordan as part of his life.

Harold was accepting Jordan now, but it was only a grudging acceptance. John didn't expect Harold to welcome Jordan into their midst with open arms, but he did want the man he chose to work with in a close capacity to stop viewing his relationship as a bad thing.

This was the first time in so long that he'd been happy with someone, that he'd been able to see himself in a long-term relationship that could actually have a future.

He didn't want Harold's attitude to give him doubts, or to make him fee lthat he was doing the wrong thing by being with someone he truly loved. That could turn the relationship sour eventually.

How was he going to manage to change that attitude? Was it even possible?

He understood that Harold had emotional scars; they both did. But at some point, he had to realize that Jordan wasn't a liability, that John being involved in a happy relationship didn't mean that it would end in tragedy. He had begun to see everything as tragic, as something that would eventually end badly.

His relationship with Jordan didn't have to be like that, John told himself firmly. And he had to somehow find a way to make Harold see that and understand it.

He sighed as he stepped up onto the curb, walking towards Jordan's apartment. He ws going to see his boyfriend in just a short while, but he couldn't discuss this with Jordan.

As much as he wanted the two of them to talk over the problem, he didn't want to spend his time with Jrodan discussing how Harold felt about the two of them. It would only upset Jordan, or make him feel badly that Harold apparently had so little liking for him, or belief that he was good for John.

Jordan was good for him. Why couldn't Harold understand that fact?

Harold just wanted things to be the way they had been before Jordan had come into his life, John thought, suppressing a sigh. He supposed that he couldn't blame the other man for that.

Maybe he'd been unnecessarily harsh with what he'd said to Harold, but he knew that his words were the truth. Harold wanted John to be emotionally dependent on him, to feel that he was in control.

He saw Jordan and their developing relationship as a threat to his control -- and he was probably afraid that if John had to make a choice between continuing what they did, and being with Jordan, that he would choose Jordan. So he was trying to make sure that Jordan would be out of the picture.

John knew that Harold wouldn't go so far as to threaten Jordan -- he wasn't that kind of man. But he could manage to talk to Jordan, to convince him that they shouldn't be together.

Well, he wasn't going to let that happen. Harold could try to be as sneaky as he wanted, but he wouldn't manage to come between John and the man he loved.

Somehow, he would find a way to make things work out, though it wouldn't be easy.

He had to convince Harold that him being in a relationship wasn't a bad thing, and that it wasn't going to sway him from the work they did. That was the first order of business.

He'd have his work cut out for him with that, John thought, wincing. Once Harold made up his mind about something, it was like moving mountains to get him to change his attitude, unless he was presented with concrete proof. Well, he would just have to find that proof, then.

Harold wasn't immovable, and John could understand why he felt the way he did. But he had to be shown that his way of thinking, in this case, wasn't the right one.

Together, he and Jordan could do that. Somehow, they'd find a way.

Turning a corner, John smiled when he saw Jordan's apartment building at the end of the block. He was close to his boyfriend now; they'd be together in only a few more minutes.

All he had to do was walk into that building, take the elevator up to Jordan's apartment, and knock on the door. And then, he would be with the man he loved, and he could put his problems behind him for the night and simply enjoy the time he would spend with his lover.

They could talk about this tomorrow, in the clear light of morning. Time enough to deal with it then, but tonight was for them. Tonight, he needed Jordan's touch, his presence.

They could put Harold's wrong attitude aside for the night, and just enjoy being with each other.

***