The bull pen was quiet. Gibbs was on his usual coffee run, Tony was in the head, and Ziva sat at her dest picking her nails with one of her many knives. Timothy McGee was bored. The team had no current cases, they were on call and waiting for the phone to ring and announce the death of a petty officer, or a missing lieutenant. McGee was reading a cold case file on a small drugs deal fifteen years ago on a carrier. Resigned, McGee rose from his desk and headed toward the elevator. The NCIS forensic scientist never failed to cheer him up.
The beep of the elevator alerted Abby to the presence of someone in her lab. Spinning around excitedly in her chair, her wide smile welcomed McGee to her lab.
"Hey Timmy!" exclaimed Abby in her usual bubbly manner.
"Morning Abby, anything interesting going on down here? We have squat to do so I thought I'd pay you a visit," responded McGee, happy to see Abby as always, his love for her still apparent, even though they hadn't dated for nearly eight years.
"Not much, I had some figerprints to run for EJ, but they turned out to be the victims, this port to port killer case seems to be going cold super quickly." Although Abby replied to McGee, she was desperate to tell him her news, but rather nervous of his reaction to it. Tim began to say something, but Abby cut him off before he had the chance, "Uhh Timmy? I have something to tell you, and ask you, and it's really important, but I don't want you to freak out, 'cause you're really important to me Timmy, and I-"
"Woah Abby, slow down, you're making me worry over here," McGee cut off Abby, knowing that once she got going, it would be difficult to get her to stop, or even take a breath.
"No no, don't worry. it's a good thing, but maybe we should go sit down anyway."
Not bothering with replying to Abby, Tim simply nodded his head, before smiling warmly and genuinely at her, and the pair made their way over to the large sofa in the back room in Abby's lab. Sitting down, Abby took a deep breath and decied to go with the 'just go for it' approach.
"Simon proposed to me." She blurted out. She regretted it instantly, for the look on McGee's face. He was silent for a long time, and Abby let him take his time, not wanting to push him.
McGee swallowed the lump in his throat, and realised he was holding back tears. "Cade?" He squeezed th single word out from between his lips.
"Of course Timmy, you knew I was seeing him," Abby said timidly, she was worried he was going to react like this.
"Wow. Congratulations Abby!" Abby was shocked to say the least, it was almost instant how Tim changed his feelings towards her big news.
"Thanks Timmy, I was worried for a second there. I know you're not the biggest fan of Simon, but I promise you he's a really good guy. And he's so smart! He's one of the few people that can actually challenge me intulectually! And he's so handsome, and so tall, and so strong, and so-"
McGee couldn't listen anymore. He'd tryed to but on the excited friend facade, but he was unsure how long that could last with Abby shouting about all the things that she loved about Cade, and all the things he wasn't. He leant forward towards Abby, and wrapped his arms around her to stop her. She retured the hug with great enthusiasm, God, he loved her hugs, and put all of his effort into stopping his heart from shattering.
"I have something else Tim." McGee heard her say as they were still embracing each other. He instantly became nervous, worried about how this situation could get any worse. He was calmed when he could hear the smile in her voice, but tensed up at the huge feat she was asking of him. "Be my best man? You're my best friend Timothy McGee."
"Of course Abby." He said quietly with a false happiness. Abby pulled away from Tim to look him in the eye and smile at him. I was at that moment that EJ walked into the lab, with the obvious intention of talking to Abby.
"See you later Timmy." Abby whispered, pulling away entierly from Tim, and skipping towards Agent Barrett in her black platform boots. As she pulled away, Tim felt his heart get ripped from his body. Her best friend. That was all he would ever be to her. He waas none of the things that Abby loved about Cade, and he would never be good enough for her. He'd tryed his best, done everything he could, he was reading up on forensic science and chemistry at degree level, he was such a gentleman to her, in an attempt to become more physically attractive, he'd even lost weight for her! It was never enough. Nothing he ever did was.
Worried about his legs not being able to support his body, Tim cautiously got up from the sofa, and made his was toward the elevator. As the doors slid shut in front of him, blocking his view of Abby, he felt cold. Colder than he'de ever felt, and there was an emptyness inside of him that he'd only ever felt once in his life; when Abby told him she wasn't looking for anything serious with him, and she told him goodbye.
He reached out his hand and smacked the emergency switch. Tim stepped backwards until he hit the back of the elevator. He then slid down the wall and sat on the floor, head in his hands, and cried. He cried for his love for Abby, and he cried for the collosal pain in his chest that he felt every time he breathed. He soon realised that someone would notice he was in here, so he stood up on shaky legs, and attempted to wipe his face dry. Taking a deep breath, McGee flicked the switch back, and prepared himself with facing the rest of the team.