"What is the matter with you today Tony?", Ziva asked as she sat at her desk, eyeing her partner suspiciously as he sat at his. He had been acting strangely all day, moods shifting from excited schoolboy to looking almost…guilty? She had been wanting to ask him what was the matter, and now that Gibbs and McGee had gone to tie up a loose end in the completed case leaving them alone at their desks, it was the perfect opportunity.
"Don't know what you mean", replied Tony as he stared deeply into his computer screen.
Unsatisfied by this, Ziva left her paperwork and sat on the edge of his desk, leaning into him.
"Tony, what is going on?"
Tony got up from his chair and walked around her, so he was standing in the middle of the bullpen. She turned to face him as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head and refused to make eye contact with her.
"I, uh, I have a…date…tonight Ziva"
Her heart immediately crumbled at the thought of him with another woman tonight. She knew he could see her face fall, even though she tried to hide it. He saw everything she tried to hide recently. She knew she shouldn't be so upset by the fact that Tony had a date. He wasn't hers, she didn't have any place to tell him to stay at home, alone, when he could be out with someone. They had been growing so close recently, and she had been taken aback by the sudden mention of anyone else in their lives.
His face fell with hers. He knew she was not okay with this, but when she smiled and asked why he was acting so strangely about it, he played along, even though he knew she had been hurt by the fact he was seeing another woman tonight. He played along because this was not the time or the place to discuss feelings, or relationships, or jealousy.
"It's just that, it's been a while you know? I've just been so busy lately I haven't had time to go out at all, so I, I guess I'm a little nervous"
To this explanation, Ziva smiled, somewhat half-heartedly, although that was not what she intended it to come across as.
"You will be fine, Tony"
And she turned and walked away. Just like that. Tony had said he was going on a date, and she acted like she was fine with it. He knew she wasn't. She knew she wasn't. After recent events, the whole world knew that she was not going to ever be fine with it.