Tony's POV

I lay on the sofa in front of the TV, watching the same movie I had been watching over and over again for the past few days. Only this time, I wasn't actually watching it. I was just staring at the moving pictures on the screen whilst I thought about everything I'd done earlier on that day. 'Was it a good idea?' I was asking myself over and over again in my mind. Why her? Why not Jeanne? I laughed at my own thinking.

"Because Jeanne is the girl that went around saying I killed her father," I told myself out loud. "Because I don't love her."

Love…

I still remember when I first said that to Ziva, or kind of said it to her. I'm not sure whether she got it or not, but either way I said it.

We pulled back from the kiss and rested our foreheads against each other's, breathing deeply.

"Wow," she whispered.

"Yeah, woah," I added. The kiss had been magical, like there were fireworks going off in my head. Not real fireworks, otherwise they'd give me a headache… oh no, I'm rambling again.

"Yes, you are," she said. I stared at her, wide-eyed. I had just said everything I was thinking right to her face. I was talking to myself out loud. I sighed, then looked into her eyes and smiled as the chocolate brown irises watched me with interest.

"You want to get some ice cream?" I asked. Even though it was sunset, the ice cream store would be open until way later. Hopefully.

"I do, yes," she answered. I offered her my hand and helped her up, gripping it lightly. As soon as she finished standing, I expected her to let go, but she didn't. We stood there gazing into each other's eyes for a while before I snapped out of it. I looked down at our hands and realized they were entwined. Ziva noticed this and looked down as well. We both blushed as we pulled our hands away. I was about to walk away when Ziva grabbed my hand. I looked at her, and she was smiling at me. I smiled back at her.

We headed down the beach, hand in hand, talking lightly amongst ourselves as we made our way towards the ice cream store. As soon as we got inside, there was a man smiling at us.

"Ah, Tony, how nice to see you!" he exclaimed. I smiled at him. His name was Paulo and he worked here at the store.

"Nice to see you too, Paulo," I returned. He turned to Ziva.

"And I see you've brought a date?"

"Oh, it's not a–"

But it was too late. He'd already grabbed her hand and kissed it like some sort of gentleman.

"Senorita," he greeted. Ziva blushed. What a best friend he was.

"So, what ice creams would you two lovebirds like?" he asked. I looked over at Ziva and smiled at her before I turned back to Paulo.

"A mint chocolate chip cone please," I asked. Paulo nodded.

"And for the lady?"

I looked over to Ziva.

"I will have a vanilla cone with chocolate sprinkles," she answered. Paulo smiled and nodded at her before disappearing to do his task. We just stood there, waiting for him to come back with the ice creams, whilst slowly creeping closer to each other. By the time Paulo had come back, we were practically touching each other. He smiled at us cheekily as he handed us our cones.

"Here you go: one mint chocolate chip and one vanilla with sprinkles." He smiled at us as we took the ice creams. I handed him two one-dollar bills before walking out of the store with Ziva in tow.

"Play nicely!" I heard Paulo call out behind us. Ziva and I just chuckled at the cheeky remark.

As soon as we got out of the store we headed straight back to our spot on the beach, which was now even darker due to the setting sun.

I sat down on the sand and Ziva joined me not long after. We sat in a compatible silence before Ziva decided to rest her head on my shoulder as we ate our ice cream. I put my arm around her shoulders and resisted the urge to kiss her forehead or do anything a loving boyfriend would do. I wasn't exactly that type. Yes, we had both been dating for a considerable amount of time, but I wasn't ready to make myself the 'caring and considerate boyfriend' as most women want. We both sighed as we stared into the sunset and finished our ice creams.

I looked down and observed Ziva's features. Her deep, chocolate brown eyes were staring out into the sunset, as if they were thinking deeply about something. Her long, curly brunette hair was tied back, showing off her soft cheeks. Boy did I want to kiss those cheeks. And her lips…

"Tony?" She sat up and looked at me.

"Yes?" I moved my arm from around her shoulders.

"Do you think there is… chemistry between us?" By the look on her face, I would think she was hopeful for a yes.

"I dunno, wh–"

Before I could finish that sentence, she kissed me. I was taken aback a little before I actually started kissing her. It was perfect, even better than the last one. It felt like even more fireworks were going off in my head, these ones even more magical than the others. As soon as we pulled back from the kiss, I pulled her back and we lay on the sand, my arm around her shoulders and her head on my chest with our free hands interlocking. I smiled down at her.

"Uh, Ziva?"

"Yes, Tony?"

I gulped. How was I supposed to say this? "Um, I'm not really sure how to put this, but I think I love you…"

By the time I'd realized it, the movie was already over and I hadn't paid much attention to it. I sighed and turned off the TV before getting up to head to my room. As I passed one of the tables, I couldn't help noticing the empty space that sat there. I paused to think about it, and smiled.

Soon, that space wouldn't be there. I'm gonna get married! I thought. I smiled at the thought. And we had to invite everyone, including Gibbs…

Gibbs…

My eyes widened. We hadn't even told him, yet! And as soon as he saw the ring on Ziva's finger and found out I gave it to her, we'd be screwed. No, I'd be more than screwed…

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