AN: I really don't know where this came from. I hope it works okay. I wrote it around 1AM last night (I'm a night owl) but I didn't find any glaring errors when I perused it today so I'm crossing my fingers. Enjoy! Reviews are appreciated!
Present Tense
Jenny sighed as her door slammed into the wall for the fifth time that day. She knew that the case the agency was currently working on was particularly rough, but that did not give Jethro the right to abuse her office. The strain was taking a toll on everyone and yet, somehow, the rest of her agents were coping.
"Jethro?" she asked wearily.
"The FBI is getting pushier, Jen. They keep saying NCIS doesn't have the resources to handle the investigation." He was standing so close his body was flush with the other side of her desk.
"I told you, Jethro, I'll take care of it. In case you haven't noticed, I have a lot on my plate today."
"Well, Jen, you also said you loved me in Paris, so excuse me if I don't consider your word particularly reliable." Shock radiated through every fiber of her being. He could not have just said that. Jethro had just casually shattered every unspoken barrier the two of them had erected between their past and their current working relationship.
Jenny rose to her feet. Before she could stop herself, or even realize exactly what she was doing, she slapped him. Hard. Jethro was clearly startled; he didn't even have time to block her hand.
"Feeling a tad unprofessional, Director?" he mocked. Ordinarily an inappropriate comment was not enough to make Jenny resort to physical retaliation, especially not at work. But what Jethro had said hurt her. There were no words to describe the pain she felt at being accused of insincerity. Did this man not know how many nights she'd lain awake wishing to God she'd followed her heart instead of her brain?
What hurt the most was that she knew he was being intentionally cruel. Jethro knew her goddamn tell, he would have known right away if she was lying. He was manufacturing doubt as a way to get at her and Jenny did not appreciate it.
"You think I wasn't telling the truth, Jethro?" her voice, which had dropped an octave from its usual pitch, was almost hoarse with anger. Her face turned to ice and every word dripped with venom. Her body language was terrifyingly calm. "Look me in the eye right now and tell me I'm lying. I love you."
The first time she'd said those words to him he'd been caught by surprise and he'd never seen if her eye had moved in its telltale twitch. He had believed her at the time but later, when she was gone, he'd begun to doubt the words were true. Now, reading her face, he found no trace of dishonesty. Jethro's mouth curled into a smirk.
"You made one mistake, Jen. You should have used the past tense." Jenny gasped slightly but it was cut off as Jethro's hands captured her face and pulled it closer, closing the gap between them. His lips crashed into hers , ruining any chance Jenny had of defending her choice of words. She kissed him back, but she was ready when he finally pulled away.
"I missed this, Jen," he whispered. "I've always loved you." It was after those words that her hand made contact with his face for the second time.
"Love me or not, Jethro, that was still a shitty thing to say, and you're going to be making up for it for a long, long time. And Jethro? I'm very sure the future tense is appropriate here."