A/N: OH MY GOD! I'm so blown away by the response this story has been getting so far :O You guys are crazyyyy and I love love love you! x33 :D Thank you to every single one who followed this story or favorited it and thank you to all of you guys who took the time to review! I love reading your thoughts and I'll make sure to reply to every single review! (I'll get started riiight now!) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
So, here's the second chapter :) Please enjoy reading!
Tony sat on his couch, staring at his phone. What the hell had just happened? Why would Ziva call him and then hang up without saying a word? That didn't sound like Ziva at all.
Something was wrong. Well, obviously. Her father had been murdered, she'd killed her father's killer and they'd quit their jobs today. But something was just..wrong.
He couldn't quite place a finger on it. The only thing he knew was that he needed to go check on his partner. Now. He got off the couch and grabbed his keys. However, just before he could reach the door an idea hit him.
Maybe she didn't want to see him tonight. He could understand if she wanted to be alone. Hell, he wanted to be alone himself. Yes, he felt alone and yes, company would probably be nice any other evening.
But not tonight. Tonight he had needed to clear his head, get his thoughts off of work – or rather what used to be his work. He got his cell phone out of his pocket again and dialed the all too familiar number.
The number one on his speed dial. Not even Gibbs came before her. She was his number one priority – in more ways than one. It took her two rings to answer and when she did she sounded almost..normal.
"Tony, listen, I didn't mean to worry you, I just..", she started to explain immediately but he cut her off: "Well, you did. What's wrong? You wouldn't call me after midnight and hang up without saying a word if there wasn't a good reason."
Silence. Then: "There was no reason, Tony. I dialed the wrong number." "That's bullshit, Ziva, and you know it!", he exclaimed, his voice raising. Her constant lies were really getting on his nerves and they were the last thing he wanted to deal with right now.
He heard her sigh. "Can we not discuss this on the phone?", she asked eventually, sounding very tired. He reached for the door handle. "I'll be there in 10.", he said.
"It's almost 1am, Tony. It can wait until the morning. Meet me for breakfast?", she stopped him. He sighed and leaned back against the door. "Sure. 10am, my place.", he agreed, defeated.
"I'll get us something to eat on my way.", she offered, knowing full well that he didn't have any food in his fridge on workdays. Except now he'd have to change that because he would spend seven days a week in his apartment.
No workdays anymore. "Sounds good.", he agreed. They said their goodbyes and hung up. Tony put his keys back into their place and then headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed.
But even when sleep overtook him after what seemed like an entirety, his thoughts never left Ziva.
Ziva had picked up their breakfast twenty minutes ago, just around the corner. And now she was standing in front of his apartment building, unable to convince herself to just ring the damn bell.
She stared at the door, trying to get up the courage to face this. She'd known this would be coming when she'd called him last night. But that hadn't stopped her from doing it.
She'd needed to hear his voice, hear him say her name. That had been all she'd needed. And now, of course, he was worried about her, wanting her to explain.
But how could she possibly explain that she'd just needed to hear his voice, him saying her name. That she'd just needed him. And that that was the only thing she'd possibly ever need. Him.
But these days, he'd probably just laugh at her, not believe her words. She couldn't blame him though. The whole Adam thing had been stupid. There was no denying it.
However, she couldn't take back her actions. It had happened and she couldn't change it now. Even when she wished she could. And now that they'd resigned, she needed Tony more than ever.
She needed him to be her rock, her shoulder to lean on. She needed him to take her hand and tell her that it would all be okay. She needed him to hold her at night and take all her nightmares away.
And she hated herself because she'd ruined everything with just one night of weakness at her father's funeral. How could she have been so stupid? She should have just called Tony that night.
Just like she'd done yesterday. Why had she chosen Adam instead? It had been stupid. And she hadn't even liked it. It had been the worst night. That could have to do with the fact that another man had been on her mind the entire time. Tony.
And, damn it, he had even told her that she was not alone in her mother tongue before she'd left. How could she have been so stupid as to ignore him like that.
And then a week ago, Tony had told her something that wouldn't quite leave her alone. They'd been talking about the Adam thing and then Tony had said: "My Hebrew must not be as good as I'd thought, because I could have sworn that I told you you were not alone when I dropped you off at the airport."
Had he meant that he would have taken Adam's place if she'd asked him to? Because if that was what he'd meant, then she couldn't accept that. Tony meant much more to her than just one night of weakness.
She'd never ask that from him. So, maybe it was good that she'd turned to Adam for that kind of..comfort. Because had she turned to Tony, things would have been awkward between them, ruined.
Even more ruined than they were now. God, if only Parsons had never ever come to NCIS. If only Bodnar had never ever caused that car crash. Berlin was..spectacular.
The dance. Her realization. And then the moment in the car, when he'd told her that he needed to thank Orli for making her the person she was now. The way he'd taken her hand then.
The feeling of her hand in his, their fingers intertwined was still imprinted in her mind. Forever probably. And that was exactly what she needed from Tony right now. She needed him to be her rock, her something permanent.
She needed him as more than a partner, as more than a friend. She needed him to tell her that it would be okay, needed him to hold her, hold her hand, touch her and most importantly, love her.
A single tear made its way down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. Now was not the time for self pity. Now was the time to make it right. She took a deep breath and rang the bell.
A/N: I know, not much action and stuff. But this is about..feelings, emotions ya know?! ;)
Please let me know what you think, what you would like to see in future chapters, but also what could possibly be improved, in the reviews section :) I'm open to any ideas and suggestions :)
The next chapter should be up tomorrow (as long as you guys are still interested that is ;D)
Love y'all and thanks again for your amazing feedback! It's literally what keeps me go on writing :)
~ C.
