Doubts, Tears and Something Else...
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Summary: Gibbs finally brushes up the courage to tell Ziva how he really feels about her but when he goes to her apartment, she answers the door in tears. Oops… ZIBBS
Gibbs took a deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh. He couldn't believe that he was actually doing it. It was completely and utterly insane. Had he completely lost his mind? He could come up with at least a thousand arguments why he should not do it. And yet there he was standing in front of that door with a bottle of red wine in one hand and a bouquet in the other.
He felt like a teenager on his first date… but not an average teenager, no, rather the clown of the class who was trying to ask the most popular girl out on a date. His palms were sweating and his breathing was somewhat shaky. He would have liked to turn around and run away but the marine in him didn't let it happen. He'd already made up his mind and he'd be damned if he backed down now.
So somehow he managed to grab both the bottle and the bouquet in one hand and he lifted the other one and knocked on the door. First his knock was hesitant, hardly audible and he felt like head-slapping himself for his cowardice. The second time his knock sounded loud and clear.
As he was standing there waiting for her to answer the door, suddenly he felt like an old fool. Gone was the timid teenager and its place was taken by a damaged ex-marine who spend his last fifteen years running away from life. That was ridiculous. What the hell was he thinking? He was an old man for Christ's sake! What could a young and beautiful woman possibly see in him?
He didn't have much time to dwell on these things, though, as he could hear shuffling inside her apartment and not long after that the door was opened.
Suddenly every thought and doubt had left his mind and his every sense was on alert.
"Ziva? You alright?" He asked the woman with concern evident in his voice. He was worried as he took in the appearance of the Israeli woman, who was standing in front of him in her old PJs with tousled hair and puffy red eyes. And that was what exactly worried him. Under different circumstances he was sure that he would have found her attire quite sexy. But at that moment all he could see was her puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks.
"Gibbs?" Ziva looked up at him in surprise. "I…" She seemed quite unsure of what to say exactly so Gibbs quickly decided that whatever the problem was it would be wise not to talk about it in the doorway. He gently led Ziva inside the apartment, she didn't even have the chance to protest. Gibbs shut the door and discarded the bottle and the flowers then he sat her down on the couch. He sat down close next to her and took her hands into his. Ziva tried to say something but it seemed that the words wouldn't come.
"Talk to me, Ziver." He asked her softly. Ziva was still struggling with the words as she looked into his concerned blue eyes. "Oh, Ziva…" Gibbs sighed seeing her hesitation. With one hand he gently stroked her cheek then brushed her hair out of her face regarding her with open affection. If Gibbs hadn't been so wrapped up in his worry, he could have noticed that Ziva's eyes were wide with confusion and puzzlement. "Whatever happened, I'm here, Ziver. You are not alone."
Everything about him, his look, his voice, his gesticulation was conveying his feelings towards the woman who was sitting next to him.
He could hear Ziva gasp and in the next instant he could feel her lips on his. Her lips were soft against his as she pressed them against his and he couldn't help when, after his initial surprise, he leant forward to deepen the kiss. To his greatest astonishment Ziva let him proceed without any hesitation and soon they were tangled in each other's arms exploring the other with their eager tongues.
By the time they pulled apart panting, they had been half lying, half sitting on the couch. Gibbs stroked Ziva's cheek with an adoring smile which hardly ever graced his lips.
"Nobody has ever told me that before." Ziva's voice was husky after their passionate kiss. "Nobody has ever deemed it important to feel concerned about me."
"I meant it, Ziver." He told her solemnly then scoffed mostly to himself. Well, he did quite a good job at getting Ziva into his arms. He wasn't quite out of his game after all. "Actually I came here to tell you all this."
"Oh…" For a moment Ziva looked genuinely surprised but then she roamed her sparkling eyes along Gibbs' body with appreciation. "Now that you mentioned that, you really have smartened yourself up. And all that is just for me." Ziva smiled at Gibbs while she adjusted the lapel of Gibbs' jacket.
"I brought flowers, too." Gibbs pointed out proudly.
"Aww… Is it not kind of you?" Ziva leant closer to him and kissed him again but soon she untangled herself from Gibbs embrace then went to grab the flowers to put them into water.
Gibbs looked after her with a silly grin on his face and his eyes involuntarily went down to check out her swaying hips. He couldn't believe what was happening.
A few minutes later Ziva returned to the couch with the wine bottle, a corkscrew and two wine glasses. She put them down on the coffee table then sat back next to Gibbs.
"You brought wine, too." She purred as she cuddled up next to the man. Ziva slowly ran her hand along his thigh and when Gibbs pulled her even closer and kissed her deeply, she moved to saddle his lap. She was about to push his jacket off of him when Gibbs pulled away and looked into her eyes trying very hard to focus behind the haze of his passion. Ziva frowned confused. With one hand, Gibbs slowly reached up and cupped her face.
"Ziva, before we do anything else, please, tell me what made you cry."
It was Gibbs' turn to look confused as Ziva whined and buried her face into his shoulder. For Gibbs she looked more embarrassed than troubled and he didn't really know what to think about it. It was true that now nobody could tell that Ziva had been actually crying when Gibbs arrived but the fact remained that she had indeed been crying. And Gibbs was still concerned about it.
"Ziva, talk to me." He whispered as he held her close in a protective embrace.
"I do not want to." He could hear Ziva mumble against his shoulder.
"Ziva, I told you that I'm here for you. So, let me be here for you."
She sighed then slowly lifted her head.
"Alright." Ziva looked at him seriously which was in sharp contrast with the mirth twinkling in her brown eyes. But she still looked somewhat shy. "But promise me that you will be next to me no matter what." Gibbs nodded solemnly then Ziva climbed out of his lap and offered a hand to the man. Together they made their way towards Ziva's bedroom. She entered the room hesitantly then turned to Gibbs and looked at him uncertainly. At first Gibbs didn't know what the matter was but then his eyes fell on the TV screen. First he could only see yellowish and brownish colors but then he realized what he was looking at. It was a canyon or a gorge with a rock in the middle and a lion cub on the rock. He looked down at Ziva with raised eyebrows.
Ziva was watching The Lion King.
He felt relief wash over him as he realized that nothing serious had happened to Ziva and at the same time, as he was looking at the Israeli woman who was in return looking at him with big brown eyes, he wanted to laugh out heartily at the absurdity of the situation. His fearless assassin was crying over a cartoon.
He didn't laugh out, though. He was sure that he would risk serious bodily harm then but he stepped closer to her and took Ziva into his arms.
"It's not even the crying part, Ziver." He murmured into her hair with a smile.
"But it is damn close to it and I know what will happen anyway." That was when Gibbs finally let himself laugh. And laugh he did. "That is so not funny, Jethro."
Gibbs' laugh stopped abruptly
"You're right." It was hilarious. But instead of voicing his opinion he took up a serious face and stroked Ziva's cheek while whispering into her ear. "It's a good thing that I'm here and I can hold you."
A beaming smile appeared on Ziva's face.
"You really want to watch it with me." She stated in awe.
"Sure. I promised. And I haven't watched a movie since Tony insisted on the team watching some crappy vampire movie." Ziva frowned at this and Gibbs only nodded. "Yes, that was a very bad idea."
"Alright then." Ziva hopped down on the bed excitedly. "Get rid of your shoes."
Gibbs laughed at Ziva's childish excitement then he did as he was told to do and together they settled down on Ziva's bed.
"I hope you are not the talking-through-a-movie-type." Ziva told him and Gibbs gave her a stare. "Of course you are not. Good. I hate those people who cannot shut up."
Ziva started the movie. Simba immediately started roaring at some reptile without suspecting anything bad. It was quite funny actually as the little cub tried playing a big bad lion but Ziva was already in tears and when Gibbs laughed a little, she gave him a dirty look. She really didn't like any interruption during her movie.
It wasn't until the characters finally spoke up that Gibbs realized they weren't speaking English and he couldn't understand a word. Ziva seemed unaware of this, or more precisely, unaware of the fact that Gibbs couldn't understand it.
"Hmm… Ziver?" Gibbs shifted a little not really wanting to disturb the woman whose whole attention was on the screen. "That's Hebrew." He pointed out.
"Arabic." Ziva quipped without taking her eyes off of the screen.
"What?"
"It is Arabic." She sounded annoyed, or at least as annoyed as her tears let her. "I could not find the Hebrew dub. Now shut up."
"I'm shutting up." Gibbs told her very much like Tony used to after being on the receiving end of a Gibbs stare. He frowned as Ziva continued sniffling next to him and he couldn't help wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into…
THE END
Well, that was it. I don't really know what to think but I hope you liked it!
Thanks for reading!