A/N: My first proper Valentine's Day FanFic. It has taken me 3 days to write due to work and distractions. Dedicated to Kibbs : ) Enjoy and review.
Disclaimer: not mine : (
Happy Valentine's Day
Kate's POV
When I walked into the office this morning I expected it to be like any other day at work. Regardless of it being Valentine's Day. DiNozzo had plans, she knew that and so did the rest of the office. Abby and McGee were going out somewhere and Ziva had a date with a guy she met in her coffee shop. Ducky was taking Jordan to the opera or some theatre. Gibbs…Gibbs was probably staying in the office just like I'll be doing to, hoping the day would quickly pass us by.
I walked off the elevator t see Tony snooping around my desk. He looked up, probably to see if anybody was coming to the bullpen, anybody meaning me. He saw me glaring and instantly threw whatever it was back on my desk and retreated back to his.
"DiNozzo!" I yelled across the office, "I swear I will not be held responsible for what I'm about to do to you."
"Just wanted to know who the Valentine's card was from." he defended himself.
"What card?" I asked.
"That one," he pointed to the red envelope.
I reach my desk and look at the envelope. I discard my coat and bag to one side and sit down at my desk. Furrowing my brow I pick up said card and inspect it carefully. Who was it from? I wondered. I look at the writing on the front, "To Caitlin" it read in neat handwriting. I can see DiNozzo is growing impatient, wanting to know who it was from.
"Oh, come on Kate!" he whined at me, "Open it already." I knew it wouldn't take long.
"Open what?" Gibbs said as he strode in, coffee in hand.
"Nothing that can't wait until later." I say to my boss. My very sexy boss. I slide the card into my drawer and lock it away from prying eyes.
The day went by slowly, too slowly for my liking. I had seen enough this morning. Some guy sent an obscene sized bouquet to the woman down the hall. I rolled my eyes at the scene portrayed in front of me, flowers, balloons and chocolates. What a complete waste of money and don't get me started on the size of the card. I hate this day. Anywho, we're all in the office now typing up our reports, then Abby rushes in with a white box.
"Hey guys." she greets us all.
"Hey Abs. What's in the box?" Gibbs eyed the package suspiciously as she plonked it down on his desk.
"I took the liberty of buying you guys a treat."
DiNozzo shot up and rushed towards Gibbs desk. I never seen him move so fast. Not unless he's being shot at, "Oh, can we have it now?" he almost begged.
"Sure help yourselves." she smiled.
DiNozzo's eyes lit up, cakes. But not just any cakes, Valentine's Day cakes. Little buns covered in red icing and love hearts and little messages like, "Be Mine" or "Love You". I roll my eyes again. Did I mention I didn't like this time of year already. I notice Gibbs' expression, almost mirroring mine. The rest of the team dug in leaving just 2 buns in the box.
"Hey, you guys haven't eaten yours yet." she looks at me and Gibbs. We both give her a look. "Tony, two more cakes for you." he grabbed them quickly and sat back at his desk, shoving them in his mouth one after the other. 'Greedy pig. He'll be sick soon.'
It was now 1345 and everyone barring me and Gibbs had gone out for a late lunch. Gibbs is engrossed in his work so I take my chance to open the card from this morning. I slowly tear into the envelope and pull out the card. On the front it has a heart with a little teddy bear with a bunch of flowers in its hands. The words on the front read 'Be My Valentine'. I open it up, heart pounding, to read 'Antonio's bar 2000.…love ?' so I was supposed to meet this guy then? At Antonio's? at 8 o'clock? He could be some sick twisted pervert for all I know. This meant only one thing some girl time with Abby. I excuse myself to see my best friend for some advice.
Gibbs POV
I'd had second thoughts about this all weekend but decided I would give it a try. What did I have to lose? My heart. This is why I was second guessing my final decision. I bought the card because it was plain and simple. 'Be My Valentine' simple. I wrote the card the night before and knowing that she would be in after me. I place the card on her desk and go about my usual coffee run, trying to occupy my mind. Yeah, right. When I returned to the bullpen DiNozzo was annoying Kate, as usual. I walk past as DiNozzo is asking her to open the card.
"Open what?" I ask as I walk passed her desk.
"Nothing that can't wait until later." she says to me. I notice her slide the card into her drawer and lock it away from DiNozzo's prying eyes. She doesn't realise that I am watching her.
Now we're all in the office, Tony had given up on teasing Kate and Ziva and McGee have been busy working on their reports. Every now and again I glance over at Kate, heart pounding as I watch her, she is so beautiful and I wonder if she knows how beautiful she really is sometimes. I realise that I shouldn't be staring at her and wanting to kiss like she's never been kissed before by any other man. Oh no, I should definitely not be having these thoughts. An hour or so has gone by and the silence is broken by Abby and a box of cakes. DiNozzo rushes like nothing I've seen before, unless he's being shot at. I look in the box…cakes covered in little heart shapes and writing. Sickly looking things but DiNozzo didn't pass up the offer of two more that Kate and I declined. As the afternoon drags on I notice all but Kate and I are left in the bullpen. I should just say it was me that sent the card and to say forget about the whole thing. Then I see her glance at me, I try to look busy and she's buys it. She opens the envelope and I see numerous expressions cross her features; shock, worry and confusion. She suddenly excused herself, mumbling something about having to speak to Abby. I see the card in her hand as she briskly walks by. I catch the scent of her perfume. She always smells nice, like strawberries or apples or something else I'm not quite sure of just yet but I will soon. I sigh heavily as I lean back in my chair, 'This is definitely not a good idea'.
So now I'm all alone in the bullpen, think I need coffee. Yes, yes I definitely need another coffee.
I return to the bullpen 30 minutes later to find nobody but myself and a bouquet of flowers in a vase on Kate's desk. Half a dozen red roses that I had specially delivered to NCIS with a little card attached. I forgot bout those, I should hide them. Yes I should, but where? I'll never get away with it in this busy office. Just then Kate reappears from the lab, stopping instantly as she sees me at her desk looking at the flowers. Crap she knows it's me. I'm feeling a little nervous now, I hope it doesn't show on my face too much.
"Did you see who dropped them off?" she asks me as she continues her walk to her desk.
"Yeah, the delivery man." I lie.
"Oh," she saw the card and quickly opened it. I watch her intently as she stares blankly at the little card. I know what it says.
Kate's POV
I am now in the safety of the lab with Abby. Thank God. I walk in to find her dancing around. I watch her for a moment before interrupting her.
"Hey Abs."
"Hey what's up?" she spins around to face me.
"I need to talk. About this." I hold up the card.
"Sit girl." she says patting the chair next to her.
I explain everything that's happened and she tells me 'not to worry' and that I should go to the bar tonight after promising that she would be there too. Spying of course.
"Fine, I'll go." I agree, "but you better be there too."
"Promise." she holds her little finger up in front of me. "Pinky promise." we say together, hooking our little fingers together" I may have to leave at some point cos I'm going somewhere with McGee later."
"Thanks Abbys." I hug her tightly.
I decide it's now best to get back to the bullpen. Gibbs is probably still there, working away. Oh no, what if he thinks I have a boyfriend or something? I don't and haven't in a while since I realised it was him that I wanted. I make the all too quick elevator journey back to the 3rd floor only to find Gibbs stood at my desk looking half a dozen red roses on my desk. He has a strange look on his face, one I can't quite place. I walked over to my desk, "Did you see who dropped them off?" I ask him.
"Yeah, the delivery man." he replied dryly.
"Oh," I say as I survey the flowers for a card. I reach for it and open it, reading it carefully 'look for the guy in a black suit, red shirt and white tie'. Well at least I know what the guy will be wearing and I'll assume he'll know what I look like. Gibbs is watching me, I can feel his eyes on me, "Secret admirer." I clarify.
"Uhuh. Figured that."
I decide to make a move on completing my reports. The rest of the team arrive 15 minutes later. The day drags on.
I am now at home deciding what I want to wear. Red or black? Thin strapped, knee-high, red dress and red high heeled sandals. And a matching bag of course. I'll decide on how I have my hair after my shower. After my shower I retreat to the kitchen to get a glass and a bottle of wine. I return to my bedroom to get ready whilst listening to some music.
45 Minutes later
I am almost ready now. I apply the last of my make-up and lip gloss. I have decided to curl my hair but not too much. Double checking my appearance in the mirror. Perfect, I'm ready and with half an hour to spare. My cab is waiting downstairs for me. I've rung Abby to make sure she will be there and not seen or heard and she will be. For moral support, or at least that's what I'm telling myself.
My heart is racing as the cab pulls up to the curb across the street. I pay the driver and get out the car. I close my eyes to collect my thoughts and take a deep breath. 'I can do this. I can do this' this will be my new mantra for the night. Carefully I cross the road and enter the restaurant/bar and start scanning the joint for my mystery man…or woman. It's only a small place but I've heard great things about it. It was decorated to suit the day. Sweet music playing away in the background, candles and a red rose on every table. Romantic. I commence my search. Searching…searching…still searching. My eyes suddenly fall upon the man at the bar. Black suit. Red shirt. White tie. Grey hair. I am literally glued to the spot when I realise who it is. No it can't be. I couldn't possibly be…Gibbs?
Gibbs POV
This afternoon has gone fast but not fast enough. I've spent the past few hours staring at the clock in the corner of my computer screen. Time seemed to have frozen for 4 hours. As usual I am the last to leave the office. I don't want to give anything away. As soon as I am sure everyone from my team has gone I make a mad dash for home. I need a shower, preferably a cold one after all the thoughts I've been having all day of Caitlin. My clothes are already pressed and hanging up on my wardrobe door. Abby chose them for me. She also helped me to chose the card, the flowers, the restaurant and the other gift I have for Kate. Abby has promised that she will be there for me tonight but she cant stay long because she and McGee are going somewhere. I didn't ask and she didn't tell.
I am dressed and I still have an hour to kill before my date. I sit down in the basement for while and silently hope that tonight goes well.
At the restaurant
I'm now at the bar waiting for Caitlin to arrive. I have taken the liberty of pre-ordering dinner, Abby had also helped with that as well. She knew what Kate liked and disliked. I do too but not that in-depth. I have ordered lasagne for Kate and spaghetti and meatballs for myself. I lean against the bar, drink in hand, partly facing the entrance so that she can see me when she scours the room. I know that she won't be late but I can't tear my eyes from my watch 7:56pm. I hope she isn't having second thoughts.
I see Abby not so far away, she gives me the thumbs up. She's definitely gonna be here within the next couple of minutes. And as if on cue she walks in. A gorgeous red dress to her knees, matching shoes and purse. Her hair is down and lightly curled. She is utterly stunning, I hear two men next to me at the bar comment, "I hope she's come on her own." "I bet I can get her number and sleep with her tonight." I shook my head, jerks. She looks 'round and then she sees me. She seems to be frozen to the spot so I will take my cue to make a move towards her before the two jerks do.
"Hi." I manage to get out.
"Gibbs," she says to me, "it was you? All along?"
"'fraid so."
"You sent the flowers?"
"Uhuh."
"Why?" she asks me. What the hell do I say? She looks at me, waiting for my reply.
"Because…because," 'Say it!' says the voice in my head, "I'm in love with you." I manage to say. Her eyes have widened in shock. "Kate? Say something."
Kate's POV
I'm frozen to the spot. The words racing through my mind. I'm trying to process what he has just said to me. He loves me? He loves me. He. Loves. Me. Oh, my god. He feels the same way about me. What do I say?
"I love you too." I say without even thinking, heck I've been thinking about it a lot lately so it's about time I came out with it.
I look into his eyes, they're full of love. Love for me and only me. The next thing I know his lips meet mine in a passionate yet sweet kiss. He taste nice like coffee and mint. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer, deepening the kiss. Right now I don't care that we are in the middle of a restaurant or that my best friend is watching from across the room. We break for air and stare into one another's eyes for what seems like an eternity. We are broken out of our trance by a waiter clearing his throat, ready to show us to our table. We follow him to the corner of the restaurant to a private booth. We are seated and Gibbs talks to the man in Italian; something I didn't know about my boss. I find his accent quite the turn on to be honest and I know that I'll be hearing more of that later on in the evening.
"I didn't know you spoke Italian."
"Yup, mama taught me well." he joked. "I pre-ordered dinner. Is that okay?"
'Wow' "Yeah. How'd you know I'll like what you've ordered?"
"Abby." who had since not long ago left to meet McGee.
"Abby?" I ask him. I knew it. No wonder she talked me into this date. I'll thank her later.
Gibbs POV
The evening is going great so far. Awkward at first, that is until I kissed her and she kissed me back. She loves that I speak fluent Italian. I will most definitely be using that later. We've joked and talked and I feel that now is the time to give her her next present. As she eats her desert and chats on I pull out the small box and set it on the table. She stops mid-sentence, looking between me and the box.
"What's that?" she asks me as she eyes the box.
"A gift." that's the only answer I will give her.
I watch her pick up the box and slowly open it up. Her eyes are wide, mouth gaped open, "Oh, Gibbs this is beautiful." she exclaimed.
It was a necklace, 24 carat gold with a rose pendant, complete with a small diamond in the centre. I can see she likes it already.
"You shouldn't have." she says, glancing at me, unable to tear her eyes away from the necklace for too long.
I'm glad she likes it. Her eyes fill with love and adoration. I'm love that I make her feel that way and I love that she makes me feel the same way too.
"I wish I'd gotten you something." she sighs as she plays with the pendant around her neck. I knew it would look great on her.
"You have given me something." I reply.
"What's that?"
"The pleasure of you company tonight. And for not standing me up."
"You're welcome." she blushed. Red filling her cheeks. "But I think I have something else for you too." she says seductively.
"Could we have our bill please?" I ask a passing waiter.
Back at Kate's apartment
Kate's POV
Gibbs drove live a mad man from the restaurant to my apartment. We couldn't restrain ourselves any longer as we approached my door. I fumbled with the key in the door for a minute before Gibbs took over. We only just made it through the door as we kissed and relished each others touch. I let out a small shriek as he swooped me up with no warning at all and took me to my bedroom, which I had to direct him to. He laid me gently on the bed and hovered just over me, his face mere centimetres from mine. I gave him a small nod to say I wanted to do this with him. He whispered 'I love you' in his sexy Italian accent, he probably knew how much I loved hearing the language coming from him. He smirked his infamous Gibbs smirk….
(To readers: you decide what happens ;))
Gibbs POV
I have just made love to the most beautiful woman in the whole world. I'm glad Abby talked me into this. Very glad indeed. I made sure the trip back to Kate's was as quick as possible, I didn't hear any complaints from her. As we left Antonio's I overheard the two jerks at the bar, "Lucky bastard," I grinned like a Cheshire cat because I was a lucky bastard indeed, lucky enough to have this stunning women on my arm and leaving with me. All I wanted to do the minute we reached her apartment complex was to kiss her forever and make love to her like no-one else has and I'm pretty sure I have done just that. I knew she was amazed by the fact that I could speak Italian, something not a lot of people know about me, and that she found it sexy too. I found that out when I whispered 'I love you'. I wonder what other languages turn her on,. Something to think about next time I make love to her.
We are lying under the covers now, her head is on my chest and I can feel her breathing evening out. "Happy Valentine's Day, Katie." I say as I kiss the top of her head.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Jethro." I hear her say before we drift off to sleep.
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