Love Me Like You Do
Disclaimer:
As per usual, I own nothing!
Rating:
K+
Genre:
Romance/Family
Pairing(s):
Tibbs
Annie/Tim
Auggie/Abby
Lyrics Used:
Chuck Wicks - "Stealin' Cinderella"
I'm Just Some Fella Ridin' In & Stealin' Cinderella
I went to see her dad for a sit down man-to-man | Wasn't any secret | I'd be askin' for her hand | I guess that's why he left me waitin' in the living room by myself | With at least a dozen pictures of her sittin' on a shelf, she was
Playin' Cinderella | She was riding her first bike | Bouncin' on the bed and lookin' for a pillow fight | Runnin' through the sprinkler with a big Popsicle grin | Dancin' with her dad, lookin' up at him | In her eyes, I'm prince charming, but, to him I'm just some fella | Riding in and stealing Cinderella
Oh, he slapped me on the shoulder | Then he called her in the room | When she threw her arms around him | That's when I could see it, too
She was playin' Cinderella | She was riding her first bike | Bouncin' on the bed and lookin' for a pillow fight | Runnin' through the sprinkler with a big Popsicle grin | Dancin' with her dad, lookin' up at him | If he gives me a hard time | I can't blame the fella | I'm the one who's stealing Cinderella
Auggie Anderson was carefully pacing back and forth in the living room that had become increasingly familiar to him over the last year. Though, this time, he was alone as Tony had taken 'Little Abby' as she'd become known for the sake of differentiating her from her namesake, Auggie's lover, down to the basement with the rest of their friends. It was true, the CIA operative and the forensic scientist had gotten to know each other rather well while they'd been aiding in the search for the scientist's father-figure, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Now, here he was, pacing Agent Gibbs's living room and fondling a small velvet box in his pants pocket.
Auggie had requested to sit down and speak with Gibbs, privately. Though, he knew the older man was no idiot. He was sure that Gibbs knew, exactly, why Auggie wanted to speak with him. And, Auggie – himself – had made no secret of it – at least not to Gibbs. He suspected, however, that Abby Sciuto may well be the only person that didn't know what he had planned for that evening. He'd arranged for Annie, Tim, Tony and Ziva to wait with Abby in the basement until he was ready to proceed with his plan.
Hearing the older man walking into the room, Auggie turned toward the sound of the man's footsteps as he spoke. "Agent Gibbs – sir – You know, exactly why I'm here." He offered, trying to maintain a sense of confidence despite the nervous butterflies rapidly populating his stomach.
"Yes, Mr. Anderson, I do." Agent Gibbs replied, exuding an air of an overprotective father.
"Guys, seriously!" Abby Sciuto whined, impatiently. "What are we all doing down here and why aren't Gibbs and Auggie down here with us?!"
"Patience, Abby!" Tony assured her, gently. "It's a surprise."
"Yeah, I got that!" Abby argued, eagerly. "But, what I don't know is for who?! And for what?!"
"Trust me, Abby." Annie offered, gently. "All will be revealed in due time."
Wrapping an arm around his girlfriend, Tim McGee added "And, trust me … It's gonna be worth the wait."
Smiling as she leaned into the shoulder of the man that she'd come to know and love since he'd aided in rescuing her brother, Annie couldn't help giggling at the forensic scientist's growing impatience. Turning her head, she placed a kiss to her boyfriend's lips as they all settled in for the wait.
"Agent Gibbs … Sir …" Auggie began, summoning his courage as he built up to the reason why he was here. "I'd like your permission to ask Abby Sciuto for her hand in marriage."
Gibbs couldn't resist the uncontrollable smile that broke out across his face. He'd seen this coming for a while, now. He had never seen Abby look at or talk about anyone the way she did Auggie Anderson. And, it was plain to see that Auggie adored her, as well. Hell, he never would have let the younger couple last this long if Auggie didn't adore her. Stepping over to the man he already considered a son-in-law, Gibbs clapped him on the shoulder – secretly enjoying the man's nervous jump – as he spoke. "Auggie … son …" Gibbs paused, savoring the moment as a proud grin broke out across his face as he added "It's about damn time."
Auggie heaved a mental sigh of relief as he replied "Thank you, Agent Gibbs. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have your blessing." He gushed, knowing that the moment would be so much better once Abby knew that they had Gibbs's blessing. "I know it'll mean the world to Abby knowing that we have your blessing."
"Oh, I know it will." Gibbs hummed in agreement, making his way toward the kitchen. "I think we could use a drink, don't you?!" He called out, just a bit louder than necessary to ensure that their guests in the basement would hear their cue.
"That's our cue." Tony declared, hiking 'Little Abby' up a little higher on his hip as he turned to Abby. "C'mon, Abs!" He added, waving her to go up, ahead of them.
"I still don't know what the heck's going on, here." Abby huffed, though, she complied with Tony's invitation, ascending the staircase up to the kitchen, while the others all followed her.
"Gibbs, what is …" Abby began to demand to know what was going on from the man she'd grown to love as a father before she stopped dead in her tracks, seeing Auggie standing, nervously, in the living room. "Auggie?" She questioned, curiously. "What's going on?" She wondered, as she noticed everyone else gathering around them in a small circle with excited expressions plastered all over their faces.
Annie slipped her hand into Tim's as they all anxiously awaited the big moment. She couldn't believe her friend and handler had finally found somebody to settle down with that – not only loved him, unconditionally, but – understood his job and respected the inherent secrecy involved with working for the CIA. Annie could appreciate how rare a find was as she gave Tim's hand a squeeze. She couldn't believe her luck in finding a man like Tim McGee who respected her career choice as a CIA operative and – much like Abby – understood and respected the inherently clandestine nature of her work.
"Abby…" Auggie began, slowly, stepping toward the direction where he'd heard her voice coming from. As he stepped forward, he reached one hand out to feel for the scientist's hands while his other hand fished in his pocket for the small velvet box that he had previously been fondling while he waited for Gibbs. "The last year has been – hands down – the happiest of my life."
Abby gasped, quietly, as she placed her free hand over her mouth in shock. Annie just smiled, knowingly, as she squeezed Tim's hand as they all watched the exchange between their friends. Tony picked his daughter up off of the floor, perching her back up on his hip as he leaned in to Gibbs's side, smiling as he watched the proposal unfolding before their eyes.
"I always knew that … working for the CIA would make having a personal life difficult…" Auggie conceded staring directly into what he was sincerely hoping and praying was Abby's eyes. "But, you … You make it seem so much easier. And, honestly, there have been days that you've been the only thing keeping me going …" He added, sincerely, his voice growing thick with emotion. "And, I never even want to imagine a life for myself without you in it." Abby listened with tears building in her eyes and watched as Auggie carefully lowered himself down onto one knee as he pulled his hand free from hers before opening the box to reveal a black gold engagement ring with white diamond accents on all sides of the split-twisted shank and a diamond-shaped floral setting with more white diamond accents with two small leaf-shaped accent settings lined with white diamond accents all surrounding a diamond-shaped setting housing a two-point-four carat black diamond center stone. "Abigail Evelyn Sciuto … Will you do me the honor of making me the happiest man alive and will you marry me?"
The rest of the group of their friends gathered around all broke out into excited grins as Abby shrieked, excitedly, as she pulled Auggie to his feet before jumping into his arms, throwing her own arms around his neck and shoulders. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" She squealed. "Yes!"
The group of friends all burst out into excited cheers and rounds of congratulations as Auggie pulled far enough away to carefully pull the ring out of its box before feeling around for Abby's hands before carefully slipping the ring onto her left ring finger. Squirming excitedly, Abby waited – albeit rather impatiently – for Auggie to finish slipping the ring onto her finger before gripping his face in both of her hands before kissing him, passionately as the rest of the friends celebrated with cheers and cat-calls. There were no words to describe their shared joy for their friends. For two people working in careers that consumed so much of their lives – both personal and professional – it seemed as if they'd beaten the odds to find their happy ending. We should all be so lucky. Ziva David thought to herself as she watched the exchange. Abby and Auggie were well on their way toward living out their fairy-tale happy ending as they moved forward to spend the rest of their lives, together.
Author's Note:
I hope you've all enjoyed this first installment in my sequel series for my story "Going the Distance". More to come as soon as possible. However, I'm about to start a new job that will have me working about 45-50 hours a week and my husband and I have started trying to have our first baby. So … No tellin' how much time I'm gonna get to write.
~Skye Coulson
