A/N: Here it is, as promised. Only one more chapter to go. F.

No plans for Valentine's Day? Tony's words echoed in his memory. Everyone who had someone had plans for Valentine's Day, at least in the Western world. That could only mean she'd broken up with her latest boyfriend. He felt his heart lighten a little at the thought. Not that Abby single on Valentine's Day meant he had any more of a chance with her than Abby with a boyfriend on Valentine's Day, but at least it meant he had one less guy to be jealous of tonight. He suddenly realised he'd been holding the door of the truck for at least the last few minutes. Gibbs would have his hide if he didn't get upstairs. He slammed the door shut and headed for the elevator.

...

He spent most of the afternoon running computer searches. Bank records, phone records, service records, all had to be searched for and checked. Gibbs had largely given up on sending him to Abby's lab lately, for which he was grateful. He still hadn't seen Abby today. Given the state of their relationship lately, that wasn't that unusual, but he was definitely going to go down and see her. He just had to find the chance to leave the base for a little while first. He didn't want to go down there empty handed. Not if he wanted the chance to put their friendship back on track.

Unfortunately the case had other plans. Try as they might, every single lead they had ran into a dead end. It wasn't a total dead end- all they really needed was a warrant- but no one could seem to find a judge willing to come in to sign off on one late in the afternoon. Finally Gibbs couldn't stand the lack of progress, and an increasingly whiny DiNozzo, any longer and dismissed them for the night.

McGee restrained himself from imitating Tony's mad dash for the elevator, but he still almost knocked Palmer flying as he headed for the parking lot. He was running out of time to get to the florist's before they closed.

...

She went to the machine for one last Caf-Pow. She'd drink it while she was shutting her babies down for the night, then she'd go. She knew she was stalling, but she couldn't help herself

While waiting for the jumbo sized cup to fill, she heard voices in the corridor behind her. Ducky and Palmer. They were laughing about how eager Tony was to leave.

"...Probably got a date. Even Agent McGee nearly bowled me over getting out of the elevator..." she distinctly heard Palmer tell his boss. Her heart sank. Tim had already gone. Without seeing her.

Disconsolate, she wandered slowly back to her lab. Grabbing Bert, she flopped down on the chair in front of her computers. She fought back tears. He was the one person she wanted to see today and he'd gone without coming by. That hurt. She admitted to herself that she cared a lot for Tim, maybe even loved him. Squeezing the hippo tightly, she allowed one or two tears to fall, then resolutely put Bert back on the desk and wiped her eyes.

"Damn Timmy" she told the stuffed toy "If he doesn't care about me, then I don't care about him"

"Who said I don't care?"

Tim's question came from behind her. Startled, she spun the chair to face the door. He was standing in her doorway watching her, an odd expression on his face and a bunch of flowers in his hand. He took a step into the room, his eyes intent on her face. Feeling herself blushing for no apparent reason, she stammered

"Palmer said... I thought you'd gone for the night"

"I left for a little bit, to pick these up" he lifted the flowers a little "Who said I don't care?"

Clearly, he was not going to be turned from that question

"No one said it, Tim, no one had to! You barely speak to me, you don't come down here, we don't hang out anymore..." she trailed off. The odd expression was back on his face.

"That's what you think, huh?" his voice was gentle and sad. He turned and put the flowers he was still holding in the refrigerator, then moved to her door and closed it. She distinctly heard the lock click as he turned it.

"What are you doing?" she asked. No one locked that door when she was around

"Something I should have done a long time ago, Abby" he planted himself in front of the door, preventing her from attempting to unlock it "We are going to actually talk for once"

...

He waited for a few moments, wondering if she was going to say something. It quickly became clear that she had no such intention. It was up to him to start.

"You're wrong, you know. I may not have been around much lately, but that doesn't mean I don't care" he told her. He saw the scepticism in her eyes, but she still didn't speak. He sighed in frustration. Why must she be so damned stubborn?

"Look, Abs-" he began, but she quickly cut him off

"So why have you been avoiding me then?" she sounded annoyed, and for some reason that irritated him. His normally even temper broke, all the frustration and hurt of the past few months coming to the fore

"Because I'm crazy jealous of the guys you've been dating! Because every time I talk to you lately you're telling me about another one, and I just can't stand it Abby! I had to talk myself out of putting out a BOLO on the last one" he saw how taken aback she was and took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and stop yelling. In a milder tone of voice, he continued "I'm jealous because I'm in love with you, Abs, and I'd give anything to be the guy that you're dating. But you don't think of me that way, so I'm stuck. Just don't ever make the mistake of thinking that I don't care about you"