AU high school story. Pairings are: Ziva/Gibbs, McGee/Abby, Tony/mm, I don't know.
The atmosphere of Stillwater High School was somber. It had only been a day since Caitlin 'Kate' Todd had died-killed tragically in a car accident by a drunk driver. Kate had been one of those people you couldn't help but like-she had been friendly, kind, compassionate, and a loyal friend. The entire school was mourning her loss, but no one felt her loss more keenly than Senior Leroy Jethro Gibbs-Jethro or Gibbs for short.
Sitting in the woodshed in his backyard, Gibbs sanded vigorously at the halfway finished wooden chair in front of him. His mind was a tangled mesh of guilt and anger-anger at the drunk driver who had killed Kate and guilty…guilty because if it hadn't been for him, Kate wouldn't have been on the road that night, and she would never have gotten into the accident.
She would still be alive now if it hadn't been for him.
Goddamn it all.
"Hey Kate." Gibbs slurred into his cellphone. It was two 'o'clock in the morning on Sunday, and Gibbs was drunk as hell. He had spent the night hanging out with Tony and Ducky, his two closest guy friends at school, and both he and Ducky had gotten smashed on bourbon. Tony had driven Ducky home from their spot just outside of town where they went to drink, but Gibbs had no ride. Who better to call than his good friend Kate, who would always go whenever a friend needed her?
"Hi Gibbs." Kate didn't sound remotely tired, despite how early it was. Probably was up late studying, Gibbs thought to himself. "What's up?"
"Can you come pick me up, pleeaassee?" he asked. "I'm at our drinking spot and I'm really, really drunk and I need a ride home. Can you help me out, Kate?"
On the other side of the phone, Kate laughed. "Sure Gibbs." She promised. Gibbs could practically hear her smiling through the phone. "I'll come pick you up. I'll be there in about twenty minutes.'Kay?"
"Mmkay."
"Alright. I'll see you in a while. Bye Gibbs."
That was the last time Gibbs had spoken to Kate. It was the last time anyone had spoken to Kate. She had died fifteen minutes later, on her way to pick Gibbs up.
It was his fault his good friend was dead.
Gibbs sanded the chair leg harder-too hard. The chair leg snapped clean in half, the broken off half clattering to the floor noisily.
"GODDAMN IT!" he roared, standing up from his seat as he dropped the sand paper. He stared at the ruined chair angrily, breathing heavily. It was ruined. All his hard work that he had put into making the chair was wasted, just because he was a fucking screw-up.
If Kate had been here, she would have put a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. She probably would have told him something like, 'Don't worry, I'm sure it can be fixed. It'll be fine. I promise.' And he would have believed her.
Still breathing heavily, Gibbs sat back down in his chair, reaching down to pick up the broken piece from the floor. He stared at it for a moment before setting it down next to the rest of the chair. He put his head in his hands and unwillingly, started to cry, his grief overpowering him briefly.
Oh, Kate, he thought to himself miserably. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry.
/3 /3 /3 /3 /3 /3 /3 /3 /3 /3
Kate's parents had asked Gibbs to speak at her funeral, which was taking place on Tuesday, two days after the accident. They must not have known that it was him Kate had been going to pick up. He hadn't known what to say to them at first-he had still been in a state of shock when they asked-but ultimately had said no. He couldn't speak about her at her own funeral, not when it was his fault she was dead.
Tony spoke about Kate at the funeral instead.
At the funeral, Gibbs sat in the second pew of the church, by Abby and Tim McGee, both of whom had been good friends with Kate-Abby especially. The normally cheerful Goth cried silently into Gibbs' shoulder the entire time. Gibbs let her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him in a comforting embrace. On the other side of Abby sat McGee, who blinked his baby blue red rimmed eyes rapidly, trying to hold back his tears. Ducky sat on the other side of Gibbs, the Scottish teenager looking sad and somber.
Standing behind the podium at the front of the church, Tony paused his speech to swallow back the tears that threatened to undo him. He and Kate-they had had something special going on before she died. They had been best friends, partners-but they had slowly been moving towards a relationship that was something more than friendship. He had loved her-he just wasn't sure what kind of love he had felt for her. And now they would never know if they had had something more than friendship between them. It's not fair, he thought to himself bitterly.
Tony took a deep breath and continued on with his speech.
/3 /3 /3 /3 /3 /3 /3
"To Kate," Gibbs said respectfully, raising his glass of bourbon in the air. "The best girl ever to attend Stillwater High, and the best friend any of us could ever be lucky enough to have."
"To Kate," Abby, Tim, Tony, and Ducky echoed, raising their respective drinks in the air as well, and drinking from them. Kate's funeral had ended three hours ago. The five of them sat in their drinking area just outside of town, remembering Kate, and drinking to her memory.
As Gibbs stared at his group of closest friends, he could not help but notice how Kate's death had changed their group. There was a hole in the group now, a missing piece that only Kate could fill, and would now remain forevermore empty. And it was Gibbs' fault. Guilt and sadness colored his thoughts.
I'm so sorry, Kate.
AN: I can't promise how regular chapter updates will be, but I'll try my best to post a chapter every other week or so.
Next Chapter: Ziva comes to school…