A/N: Okay, this is something I've had in my head for days now, and it came about when I was cleaning the kitchen at work and this song came on, but anyway, that's another story for another day. Anyway, this is a fic based VERY loosely on the song Need You Now by Lady Antebellum, and features Tony and Ziva in present day, as they are. If you've heard the song and know the lyrics, you'll probably get it (I hope!), but I hope it's a nice story even if you haven't. It goes a bit off the song towards the end, where I got a bit carried away with myself hahahaha…
I do not own NCIS or the characters, and the song (not that it's mentioned in any great capacity), is not owned by me either, but by the fabulous Lady Antebellum.
"I cannot believe you are doing this Tony!"
"How can I not Ziva? Someday you're gonna have to wake up and realise that there are people in this world that care about you!"
"Well maybe I don't want them to care about me right now, I need to do this alone!"
"I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU DO THAT!"
"WELL I WILL. BECAUSE I AM NOT DRAGGING YOU DOWN WITH ME TONY, NOT AGAIN"
"ZIVA COME ON!"
And with that she had stormed off, presumably going home for the night. He hated fighting with her, hated every argument and harsh word they threw at each other, painful reminders that they could tear each other apart with just one sentence.
He sat in his apartment, drinking whiskey and replaying the conversation in his head, thinking over and over again what he should have said, or should have done. They were partners and friends, but they argued like this because there were so many feelings built up inside of them, and thinking back on the fight they had had it all finally became clear to him. He cared about her. More than anyone he had ever cared for in his entire life. He loved her. He had felt it when she told him what she was planning to do, and he had just snapped, refusing to let her go, fiercely trying to protect her from harm, all the while coming across as spiteful and dominating. He knew she felt it too, the way their eyes had made contact for a split second of intimacy, there was no way she didn't feel even half of what he felt build up inside in that moment.
He looked at the door, for some reason expecting someone to knock. Someone. Her. He wanted her to knock. He wanted her to come running to him and tell him they were going to be okay. He wanted to kiss her, and hold her, and tell her that they would always be okay, that they were going to spend their lives together. But he knew she wouldn't. While he didn't know where she was, he hoped she was at home. He hoped she was thinking about him, because he couldn't get her out of his mind.
He looked at his phone to check the time, and saw double for a second. Wow, he must have drunk more than he thought, but she could do that to him. After regaining his vision he looked at the numbers on the screen. Quarter after one? When did it get so late? He hated to drink alone, he felt the silence when he did that. He didn't know why he let himself get in such a state over her, let himself drink until the early hours, let his mind fixate on her when they weren't even a couple, but he knew one thing. He needed her. And he needed her now.
She regretted everything she had said to him earlier that day. She couldn't stop thinking about the conversation, and as she lay on her bed in the Ohio state t shirt she had stolen from his apartment when she had stayed with him for the night after her father died, she couldn't help but think of him, and of the times they had had together. She thought of Paris. Paris. Her phone was on the bedside table, and she was fighting the urge to pick it up with everything she had. Fighting picking it up, calling him, telling him everything she felt, saying she was sorry, saying she didn't want him to get hurt because she loved him. There was so much to say. But she couldn't. Not after everything she had already said to him.
She wondered if he was thinking of her, because he was the only thing on her mind. Everything he had ever said to her, all the times he had comforted her, been there for her, made her laugh. She hoped he was thinking of her. Because she sure as hell thought about him, and not just as she lay on her bed in his shirt. All the time. He always crossed her mind.
She had stormed home after the fight they had and opened a bottle of wine, which was now lying on her bedroom floor, empty. She turned her head and looked at the clock, her eyes red with tears. Quarter after one. She was all alone. She didn't know why she felt this way, she didn't know how they had gotten to this point in their relationship, where feelings were so overwhelmingly strong for each other that they just came spilling out. But she did know one thing. She needed him, and she needed him now.
He threw his phone back on the sofa where it had been, sighed and leant back, resting his head. Just as he began to fall asleep he felt a sharp vibration next to him, and his ringtone set off. He shot up, like lightening to check the caller ID. Ziva. She had called him.
"Hello?"
"Tony?"
Her voice was cracking, and she sounded so small and vulnerable it made his heart cry out for her.
"Yeah, baby I'm here"
He had no idea why he was calling her baby, when they hadn't even admitted their feelings yet, but he couldn't help himself, he felt she needed to hear this, she needed to hear someone who cared.
"D-do you want to come over?"
His breathing quickened. She sounded like she was crying, like her heart was feeling exactly what his was. She had lost control. She also sounded a little drunk, but so was he, so he didn't care. He just wanted to see her, hold her, and tell her everything he'd ever felt.
"Yes, I'll be over in a second okay, I promise, just hang in there baby"
There was that word again, baby. Twice in the same conversation, and he could feel all the love in the world for her at that moment. All he knew now was he had to get to her as fast as possible. He had been drinking. It was raining outside. So he put on his shoes, and he ran to her.
It was raining heavily outside, but she couldn't wait for him in her apartment any longer. She had to be closer to him than ever. Feelings bubbled up inside her and she knew what they were even though she had never felt them before in her life. Love. Never had she felt like this about anyone, and as she ran down the stairs of her apartment block to wait for him in the doorway she thought about how he could make her head spin like it never had before.
As she got outside the cold reached her, and her tipsy mind reminded itself that she was wearing nothing but underwear and his shirt, which was more like a dress on her. She stood in the doorway all the same, getting soaking wet waiting for him, just needing to see him, needing him there with her, and it all became clear. She was hurting when they had the argument because she loved him. She cared about him, and she loved him. She'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all.
Looking across the street straight ahead of her, she saw someone running. He was wearing an expensive suit, and unsuitable shoes, and was running like crazy through the falling rain. No way did he run here, it can't be him. But as the man loomed closer she saw it.
"Tony", she whispered to herself, unable to believe what was happening. She was wearing hardly anything and she was cold, but she didn't care. She couldn't care less.
"TONY!", she cried his name into the night this time, and ran towards the figure, who had slowed slightly, looking tired.
He saw her running towards him and he stopped, grinning from ear to ear when he saw his (now soaking wet) shirt draped around her, seemingly the only thing she was wearing. There seemed so much to say, but so little words to describe how he was feeling seeing her standing in front of him, both soaked to the skin, so he settled with,
"I'm sorry"
"I'm sorry too"
He knew she was crying, he could see it in her face even if the rain hid her tears from him, and at everything he felt for her, he knew he was crying too, and he knew she could see it. So he said something he had needed to say for far too long.
"I love you baby"
She stepped towards him so they were inches apart and he grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him, so their bodies were touching. Her arms wrapped around his neck and he leaned his head in so that their foreheads were touching. They both closed their eyes, feeling everything they needed to feel at that moment, and he brushed his lips up against hers. He had kissed girls before, obviously, but this was more of a tender gesture than a kiss, and neither of them had ever felt like this. He felt her sharp intake of breath, and felt her heart beating faster through her chest.
"I love you too"
She smiled into his lips as she said the words he had been longing to hear from her all night, and his arms wrapped completely around her back and he deepened the kiss, lovingly caressing her back while she ran her hands through his wet hair. They had said everything that needed to be said for now. With only three words they had said enough for that night, and the rest would be discussed later. As she kissed him with everything she had, she knew that he was telling her with everything he had that they were going to grow old together. Nothing that felt this good could be wrong.
Eventually, Ziva pulled her face away from Tony's, smiling at him and biting her bottom lip, turning him on even more, if it was possible.
"Come on"
She grabbed his hand and they ran through the rain and into her apartment, where they didn't get a wink of sleep all night, and where their warm bodies didn't part until the next morning. He didn't know how he could do without her, and she didn't know how she could do without him. They needed each other.