Tony sat back onto the couch. He handed Ziva her popcorn and grabbed the remote.
"Prepare for the best movie—no, the best thing—in the world. No, the universe."
"Tony, it is just a movie."
"How dare you. It's not just a movie. It's a classic."
"Another classic?"
"Oh, you uncultured agent."
Ziva rolled her eyes, but decided to say nothing. Tony could go on and on about his movies. The commercials before the movie began to play, and Ziva settled into the couch.
"Ziva, what are you doing watching a movie with me on the weekend?"
"My date canceled," she replied, causing Tony to raise an eyebrow. "What?"
"Again?" She could hear that his voice was skeptical.
"I did not have any plans." Tony grinned, now believing her.
"Same here."
"Why did you not have any plans?"
Ziva took a glance at him while sipping her coffee. Tony shrugged.
"I don't know. I just didn't make any. Other than this plan, I mean."
She nodded, understanding. The movie began to play, and Ziva found herself enticed by the movie. She leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, and her hands clasped. Unlike her, Tony found himself captivated by his partner. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her reactions to scenes.
Too soon, the movie ended. Ziva turned to look at Tony after he said nothing, and found him looking at her.
"What?"
"Nothing. Did you like the movie?"
"It was very good."
He grinned, happy with her answer.
"I'm glad you liked it." He stood up, and walked to the kitchen. "Now I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."
"When are you not hungry?"
Ziva followed him into the kitchen. Tony turned and made a face at her while opening the refrigerator, but didn't say anything. She peered over his shoulder to find the fridge almost empty.
"Tony, perhaps you should keep food in your fridge so that you can, oh I don't know, eat?"
He closed the refrigerator and turned to look at her, leaning against the fridge with his arms crossed.
"I haven't had time to go grocery shopping. We'll order take-out. What would you like?"
"I'll eat whatever you prefer."
"Pizza it is."
He walked over to the phone and ordered their pizza. During that time, Ziva went snooping around. She exited the kitchen and walked into the bedroom, not quite realizing what she was doing. She walked over to the nightstand, her eyes on a picture on the nightstand. Ziva picked up the frame, looking down into it. She smiled at the picture and at the memory. It was a picture of Tony, Abby, her, McGee, and Palmer. They had all gone out after completing yet another tough case. As the memory raced through her mind, she didn't hear Tony enter the room. At least, not until he approached her and spoke up. His voice was barely a whisper.
"I remember that night."
She looked up, still smiling.
"So do I."
Her eyes met his, and for a few moments, they stayed that way. Ziva holding the picture, Tony behind her, his hand resting on the nightstand, the two looking at each other with bright eyes. They were both thinking the same thing, something that they had both been thinking for quite a while about. Both thought for a second about what the other could possibly be thinking. Tony hoped she was thinking about him, and with that hope, he managed to work up the courage to do what he had longed to do for a while.
He leaned in and kissed her.
xxx
Ziva awoke with a start. She murmured to herself.
"It was just a dream. Only a dream…"
She frowned, and looked down.
"What… these are not my sheets."
She looked up, alert. Ziva found herself in a familiar room, with a picture of her, Tony, and the others on a nightstand.
"So it wasn't a dream."
It's not a dream. Tony kissed me. I kissed him back. The pizza came, so we ate. We went for a walk. Her frown turned into a smile. We held hands. We came back to watch another of Tony's movies. I must have fallen asleep during it.
With her heart and mind soaring, Ziva didn't stop to think about Rule 12. She eased her way to the bathroom. As she exited it, she spotted something, rather, someone, on the couch. Ziva walked over to it, and peered around the side to find Tony underneath a blanket, his arm and leg sticking out and hanging over the edge of the couch. Chuckling, she grabbed her wallet and left the house.
xxx
Tony rubbed his eyes as he sat up. It was light in the room, but the lights weren't on. He looked around and found that he was in his living room, sitting on the couch. Instantly, his mind flashed back to the night before, when he had kissed Ziva. She had kissed him back, but they didn't know where their relationship stood after that. Were they still friends or were they something more?
Only time would be able to tell. His stomach grumbled, and he grimaced. Tony hadn't eaten, and it was almost 12. He pushed himself onto his feet, and realized that there was an excellent aroma in the air.
"Eggs and bacon," he whispered.
He maneuvered around the couch and all but ran into the kitchen, where he found Ziva standing over a pan. She had changed into different clothes that were obviously hers, so he guessed that she had left for a short while during the time that he was sleeping. And by the look of the food, she had probably gone grocery shopping. He walked over and leaned against the countertop. Ziva didn't even move a muscle.
"Well good morning."
"I believe it is good afternoon, Tony. Correct?"
He grinned, and nodded. "Correct." He leaned over, resting his head on her shoulder to see what she was doing. Sure enough, in her pan was bacon. Although he already knew what it was, he asked anyway.
"Whatcha making?"
"Breakfast. Eggs and bacon."
"Brunch, Ziva. Not breakfast."
"Move over."
He moved out of her way, and she walked over to where there was a plate already halfway filled with scrambled eggs. She placed the bacon on the other side, filling the rest of the plate. She looked over at him as she placed the last pieces of bacon on the plate.
"I believe that you said that you didn't like sunny side up? I hope scrambled is okay."
Tony smiled. "You remembered. And of course it's okay. Thank you."
Ziva returned his smile with one of her own. "It was no problem."
She handed him the plate and shooed him out of the room so that she could finish unpacking the groceries and clean up after herself.
A while later, finally done with everything in the kitchen, Ziva walked to the living room to sit beside Tony. He was still eating. She opened her mouth to say something just as the phone rang. With a mouth full of food, Tony grabbed it and answered the call, responding first with, "Hello?"
He listened to the person on the other end. "Uh… sure… Director…" He gave Ziva a look that clearly read 'what the hell is going on here'. She returned the look. "I'll uh… be right there…" He hung up, putting his plate on the coffee table in front of them and turned to Ziva.
"Ziva, I'm so sorry. Director Vance wants my help with something over at NCIS and needs me there right away. I don't think it won't take long. Think you can camp out here until I get back?"
She nodded. "Go ahead. You cannot easily say no the Director. Go. I'll be here when you get back."
Tony got up. He gave her a quick kiss before grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.
xxx
It was 10 o'clock, and Ziva was sitting on the couch flipping through channels on the TV. She had made herself dinner and was finishing another cup of coffee, waiting for him to come back.
Her cell phone rang. Hoping it was Tony calling to tell her he was driving back, she grabbed it without even looking at the caller ID.
The voice on the other end was not the one she had been expecting.