She sat staring at the clock, waiting for the numbers to change. As they switched from 3:24 to 3:25, she sighed. It was never supposed to be this way. She never wanted him to leave and as much as she told herself it wasn't true, she knew she was the reason he was gone. He was somewhere in the beautiful city of Los Angeles, most likely with another girl in his bed and she was stuck here, alone, in her empty apartment in Washington DC. She never should have doubted his feelings and she should have listened to him. But there was nothing she could do now, except go on as if nothing had happened. No one at work knew what was going on. Everyone, including Gibbs, was under the impression Tony truly had left for LA because of family. He told everyone he was going to see his father and he would be back within a month. But Ziva knew. She knew he was in LA to blow off steam. He was there to try and get over her, like she had claimed she had done over three weeks ago. He will be back soon, she thought to herself, and you can fix everything then. But that wasn't good enough for her. She needed things fixed now. She needed to know things were going to be okay and she knew he was the only one who could help. She grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts, landing on his name. She hesitated; trying to figure out what time it was in California. She knew he would be awake but didn't know if he would answer. She sat with her phone open for what seemed like hours when she finally decided to close her phone and set it back on the table, her eyes falling back on the bright red numbers of the clock.
The next thing she knew, that same clock was shrieking at her, and the time read 8:45.
xxxxxx
He tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position to lie in. It was his last night in this Los Angeles hotel room and he was certain the hurting would have stopped by now. But as he lay, motionless, in this bed, he could still feel the pain in his heart, the pain that she had left. He never should have told her, he should have kept it to himself like he had for the last 4 years. He turned onto his side and grabbed his phone, flipping it open. He smiled as his eyes were met with a picture of her face, a picture he had snuck almost 3 and a half months ago. 3 and a half months ago, he thought. That was when they were happy, when they were simply friends. Before any of their confessions had happened. Before either of them had decided it was all too much. He mentally cursed himself for saying so much, for admitting so much to her that night, that cold, rainy night in June. They had returned to his apartment after their usual Thursday night dinner and were preparing to watch a movie, just as they always did. But what happened after that was a blur. He remembered telling her he wanted to be with her, and not just for that night. He remembered the look on her face when she realized he was being serious. He remembered the way he felt as he watched her leave his apartment, the movie far from being over. The next few weeks at work were a blur as well. They barely talked at work, their dinner "dates" became scarce and she rarely ever joined him for movie nights anymore. Suddenly, they were only crossing paths at work and even that was a stretch.
As uncharacteristic as it sounded, he missed her, but he was in no rush to get back to town at the moment, and he had no idea why.
xxxxxx
She rubbed at her eyes, her whole body tired from the lack of sleep she had been getting lately. As her feet padded on the carpet that led down the hallway, she yawned and rubbed the back of her neck, trying to wake herself up. As she stepped into the bathroom, she stood in front of the mirror and quickly pulled her hair off her neck and tied it behind her head with a ponytail. She took a step back and tried to look at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, there were bags under her eyes and her cheeks were red. She pulled her favorite shirt, his shirt, over her head and let it fall to a pile on the floor, standing there in just boxer shorts. She turned the nozzle on the bath tub and watched as the warm water ran from the shower head. She threw the rest of her outfit on top of the shirt and climbed in, letting the hot water run over her entire body. As she let the water run over her face, her entire body felt as if it was going to break at any moment. She had never felt this way before, not after losing Ari or Michael, not even after leaving Tel Aviv and cutting all ties to her family. Why did she feel so lost without Tony around? As she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around her aching body, she stepped out of the shower and jumped when her phone started to ring. She felt a bit of excitement until she read the caller id bar.
"Good morning, McGee."
"Ziva, I was calling to see if you wanted to meet Abby and I for coffee this morning."
Ziva smiled as she wiped the steam away from the mirror, looking at her own reflection again. Even after just a quick shower, she looked different. Her hair was wavy again, her face looked rejuvenated and the smile she was wearing was a sight for sore eyes. "Of course McGee. I will be there in 20 minutes." She snapped her phone shut and left the bathroom, the smile still on her face. Because in that moment, she knew she would be okay.
xxxxxx
"We're going to miss you, Mr. DiNozzo."
Tony smiled as he pulled his credit card from his wallet. "Amy, I told you to call me Tony. Mr. DiNozzo is my father."
Amy, the receptionist Tony had grown to know over the last month, laughed as she pressed a few buttons on her keyboard. "So are you ready to return to DC?" she asked.
"It's a mutual feeling at the moment. I will say I am going to miss the everyday sunshine though. We don't get that on the East Coast."
Amy handed his credit card back and reached over to grab his receipt. "Well you are always welcome back here. Have a safe flight, Tony."
He took his receipt and shoved it into his bags before walking away. He walked out the double glass doors and looked for the cab he had called. He quietly loaded his bags into the trunk and slid into the backseat, the sun beating down even at 7:15 in the morning. The entire car ride blended together, Tony not remembering anything until he took his seat on the plane. It wasn't until he put his headphones in and leaned his head back against his chair that he realized there were butterflies in his stomach, something he hadn't felt since the first night they had been together. And he was suddenly very nervous about returning to Washington.