"Here, let me help you with that," Tony says, reaching for Ziva's back as he notices she is having trouble zipping up her dress.

"Please tell me why we are going to this party again."

"One of my frat buddies is having this formal party."

"So why do I need to go with you again?"

Tony hesitates. "I kind of told him you were my date."

"Oh well, you never really asked me."

"And I also told him you were my girlfriend."

"What?!"

"He knows no DiNozzo can be single."

"Oh my goodness, the least you could have done was ask."

"Yeah, but he's all rich and stuff. Just play along for just tonight? You always were good undercover. Just think of it as an op."

"Fine, but only tonight."

When they arrive at the party, the host, named Fredrick Martin, greets them at the door.

"Tony!"

"Freddy!"

The two of them give each other a bro-hug. "My, my, my what a pretty flower you have here," Fred said, turning his attention to Ziva. He moves to kiss her hand.

"Thank you, sir," she says.

"Please, call me Fred."

They walk inside Fred's "mansion" and meet his wife, Sarah.

"Sarah, long time no see. And there is another one on the way," Tony says.

"Same to you, DiNozzo And yes…it's a girl." She smiles and gives him a hug.

Suddenly out of nowhere, two young boys show up behind Tony.

"Tommy! Carter! My goodness you have grown so much!"

"Yeah, no kidding Tony!" Carter exclaims.

"Hey, you wanna come play X-Box downstairs with us?" Tommy asks afterwards.

"Maybe, but I think I'm going to spend some time with the adults first, is that alright?"

"Yeah!" both of the boys shout. They both run off down into the basement.

"Tony DiNozzo." He hears a young women's voice. He turns around to see Fred's seventeen year-old daughter, Kathleen.

"Hey, Kath. You been listening to me about what I have said about those boys, that boys are…"

"…shit, yeah I know, Tony. Dad's been telling me the same thing for a few years now."

"Good, just remember that now."

"Who is it that accompanies you tonight?"

Tony turns to Ziva. "This is Ziva David."

Kathleen and Ziva shake hands. "It's nice to meet you," Ziva says.

"You are very lucky to have Tony. He's great isn't he?"

Ziva smiles, blushes even, and says, "Yes, yes I am."

"Well, please make yourselves comfortable," Fred adds.

"May I get you a drink, Ziva?" Tony asks.

"Sure, how about a glass of chardonnay."

"Will do." He walks away with Fred and Sarah, leaving Kathy alone with Ziva.

"So, how is he?"

"How is he what?" Ziva asks.

"In bed?"

"Oh, we haven't gotten that far yet."

"Really? I always thought of him as the really go for it kind of guy."

"He is," Ziva mutters.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I am excited to see someone take a nice interest in our relationship."

"I'm back," Tony says, holding two glasses of chardonnay.

"I'll leave you two alone," Kathy says giving them a wink as she walks away.

"How's it playing out?" Tony asks.

"It's fine. Your friends are quite nice."

"Good." There is a long pause until a slow song comes on. He holds out a hand. "May I?"

She places her dainty hand in his. "But of course, mon petit-pois."

He leads her out to the dance floor, where he takes one of her hands in his and his other goes around her waist. He starts swaying back and forth and she keeps in rhythm with him. They inch closer as the dance progresses, feeling the warmth from each others bodies surrounding the other.

"So this is what it feels like," Tony says, looking down into Ziva's chocolate brown eyes.

"What feels like?"

"Being in love."

She gazes at him, remembering when she danced with her father and he told her that she would dance with a man who deserved her love. She had been feeling a little something for Tony lately, but now, she knew she did. She hesitated, then closed her eyes and kissed him. While she had closed her eyes, he had begun closing his eyes too because he knew exactly what was going to happen. This was the moment Tony had been waiting for Their lips stayed locked for some time, and when they finally let go, Ziva whispered in his ear, "I love you."

"I love you too, Zee."

They danced for every slow dance and left around midnight. Ziva felt a little buzzy. Maybe I had a little too much to drink, she thought. Tony drove her to his home and they started making out on his couch. Piece by piece the clothes started coming off, slowly but surely, until both of them were butt naked. He pulled her up into his arms and led her into the bedroom, where they made sweet love all through the night. Damn, Tony thought, I never thought she was into dirty, kinky sex. After a few hours, they both fell into a deep sleep.

In the morning, Ziva had her head on Tony's chest and Tony's hand was on her bare back. He felt her starting to move and he started stroking her back. She squirmed a little, then opened her eyes.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey."

All of a sudden, she shot up and shouted, "Tony?!" She scrambled to cover her bosom.

"What's wrong, Zee?"

"Why am I naked, and in your bed? And why are you naked too? Don't tell me…"

"You don't remember?"

She looks at him like he's crazy. "No! I was a little drunk! I wasn't in my right mind! And you took advantage of that!" She got out of the bed and walks out to the livingroom, not caring that he saw her entirety, since he already had the night before.

"You told me you loved me! And you kissed me back! And you were the one that kissed me first! So why are you complaining?!" He reaches in his closet for a bathrobe, and then chases after her.

"And you thought it was OK that we have sex?!" she screams as she is putting on her clothes. "I thought you were better, Tony!"

"And you said you loved me and you didn't say no to the sex, so what are you yelling for?!"

"Because I was drunk, you stupid asshole! If I get too tipsy, I never say what I mean! And if I was sober, I sure as hell would not have gotten down on you!"

Tony tries to calm the situation down. "You were good though."

"That doesn't make any of this better! I'm leaving and I hope to never see you again! I wish you the best, dickhead!" She storms out without another word.

Then, it was there…silence. The sounds of their argument were ringing in Tony's ears. He walked over to the couch and he saw the necklace that he had given Ziva for her birthday two years ago. He picked it up and started to tear up. He buried his head in his hands, flashes of memories of Ziva.

"Maybe I am a dickhead," he said to himself. He got up and walked over to his scotch cabinet and pulled out a bottle. He sat in the silence, thinking of Ziva and taking swigs from the bottle. Soon he was passed out.

When he woke up, he started having visions of Kate.

"DiNozzo!"

He looks up tiredly. "What! Kate, you're dead. Why are you here?"

"I'm just here to talk about Ziva."

"You never even met her."

"Yeah, I know, but I've seen her pain. Her father, Bodnar, resigning, you."

"I'm a pain to her."

"No, I think she just is realizing that she wants you. Like that, DiNozzo."

"Well, she told me she loved me, but she said she was drunk."

"For that, she was quite sober. But everything after that, she was totally drunk. She wasn't ready for a sexual relationship with you. She just wanted a normal boyfriend-girlfriend relationship first. She might have wanted the extra stuff later. She covered up because she was mad."

"But, that means she does really love me, right Kate?"

"Yes. Now, you rest up and think about it. Oh and I need more food."

"You probably have all the food you need up there."

"Me the fish. I'm in her. See you around, Tony." With that she fades away.

He sits and thinks for a long time and then fall back to sleep.

The next day, he hoped that she would be back. Nothing.

The next week, still nothing.

Finally, two weeks later, it was a Saturday night and Tony was going to sit on his couch and watch a movie Ziva loved. He pulled out another bottle of scotch from his cabinet and prepared for the heartache. He started the movie and thirty minutes later, there came a knock on the door. Fortunately, he had not started drinking yet.

"Go away, Mervin! I don't want to go to your stupid laundromat!" he screams across the room.

Instead of hearing Mervin, he hears a feminine voice. "I know you are watching my favorite."

Confused and trying to comprehend, he gets up and walks to the door. He unlocks it to see a familiar face: Ziva.

"Hey." He pulled the necklace out of his pocket. "I bet you were looking for this." He hands it to her. "Bye." He starts closing the door sadly, but she catches it just before it closes.

"I came to say I'm sorry."

Tony opens the door again and looks at her.

She doesn't know where to start. "I know I made you upset and I didn't mean to. I just wasn't comfortable with starting a sexual relationship with you just yet."

"Yet?"

She puts her hand on his shoulder. "Tony, when I told you I loved you…that was no lie."

"Yeah you love me like a friend. I understand." He starts closing the door again.

She catches it and shouts, "DiNozzo!" Before he can say something, she grabs his face and kisses him full on the lips. When they break, he says, "It's too late to apologize." Then closes the door. Ziva drops to her knees and starts crying. Tony can hear her through the door. He reopens it to find the crippled NCIS agent on the floor. He then drops to his knees.

He places his finger underneath her chin and lifts her head up. "Hey, look. I'm sorry too. I was just so depressed because I thought I had lost you and I thought you didn't mean it. Let's start over."

She wipes away a tear streaming down her cheek. "But, where do we start?"

He smiles meekly and rubs his thumb over her mouth. "Here." Then he kisses her and she kisses him back. She whimpers between breaths because she is still crying. They kiss for a long time, slowly. They break and he says what he has been meaning to say, "I love you. Really."

"Me too." She smiles with gleaming tears on her face.

"You want to stay and watch the movie with me? I'll start it over."

"OK. And Tony…"

"Yes and I promise I will not have sex with you again until you are sober."

"Well, thank you. And I want to say…I did enjoy it."

"Of course you did."

They walk over to the couch and the movie starts again. By the end of the movie, they were asleep in each other's arms. A good silence filled the air.

"Well done, DiNozzo," Kate's voice lingers in the distance.