Abby: You would make a great Santa.

McGee: Well I guess you just gotta believe.
 Abby: I do believe.

--

"So now what?" Abby dampened the tears of joy on her cheeks as Tim waited patiently at her door; waiting to walk her to her car.

McGee shrugged. "Tony and Ziva mentioned they were going to O'Conner's down town."

"You gonna go?"

"I don't know...I should probably see Sarah. I still owe her a rain check from Thanksgiving."

"Oh."

Tim examined her expression. "I could probably fit in one drink though."

Her face lit up again. "Yay!"

She started towards the door before Tim reached for her arm. "Wait a sec."

"What is it?"

"I guess this probably isn't the best time…but I think we should talk."

She cringed. "Oh boy…is this about your secret Santa gift? I really thought you'd like it…"

"No," he smiled a bit. "It's just something I think the two of us should air out…been bugging me for a while…ever since Amanda."

Abby anticipated his next statement. "You think I have feelings for you again don't you?"

Tim didn't think she'd come out with it right away, but this was Abby. "Do you?"

"Do you?"

She started to pace a bit. "Is this because I just kissed your cheek? Cuz there's an awful lot of cheek kissing going on at NCIS…that doesn't always mean romantic feelings…"

"So you don't have feelings then?"

She shook her head then nodded it up and down. "No…I mean yes. Well I don't know."

Tim almost smiled. "Abs listen…"

She interrupted quickly. "I know sometimes it seems like I get jealous…and I know sometimes you get jealous too…which is to be expected because we used to date…and so that's pretty normal. But just because we get jealous doesn't mean that either one of us are better for each other than the person that the other person is with…it just means that we're interested…not because we want that other person, but because we care about their well being and think they deserve to be happy…and its hard to see someone you love be happy with someone that's not you."

Tim opened his mouth to respond when he anticipated her second interruption. "Abs…hear me out."

She zipped up her mouth figuratively before respecting his request.

"I love you…I always will, always have. You know that."

"But…" She unzipped her mouth for only a moment.

"I wanted to be with you from day one…did everything I could to express that to you. But you didn't. I respected that…accepted it even, because of the love I had for you. That love hasn't changed…it's just been redirected." He thought for a moment. "Into our friendship."

She tossed away the imaginary key. "You always did have a way with words."

"I guess," he smiled at her. "I just wanted you to know how I felt. And there's no time like the present right?"

She took a step towards him. "Sometimes…like tonight. I wonder why I let you go like I did. And I guess seeing you happy with someone else, brings all those feelings up again. I'm sorry for acting awkward and weird before…I guess I'm still a little immature huh?"

He shook his head. "Sometimes, like tonight…I wonder why I didn't fight harder to keep you."

Abby wasn't sure how to respond; something unfamiliar to her.

Tim decided to rescue her. "Don't worry…I wasn't expecting anything."

"But you deserve a straight answer."

He simply waited.

"From the day we met…I knew you were special. Not special like the love of a puppy…but special like the kind of guy who loved with everything he had. And back then, it scared me. I'd never met anyone like that before…I wasn't sure how to handle it. So I figured a friendship was a safer place to be loved because the expectations were clear…I was happy when you were happy…I was sad when you were sad…and as time went by I found myself more afraid to lose you than to have you…I guess I just never had the guts to say that until now."

Tim absorbed her words and smiled at her. "So about that straight answer?"

"I never stopped having feelings for you either."

Tim swallowed. "So now what?"

Abby almost smiled, noticing their conversation had come full circle. "We keep loving each other…"

"The safe way or…"

She placed a timely kiss on his lips. "That a straight enough answer for you?"

He was still a bit scared, but if anyone was worth it, it was her. "Yeah, that works."

"Now what do you say we go make a toast to love?"

Tim smiled in agreement. "And friendship."