A/N: The next chapter will be a back chapter-- so you will find out what happened. I promise :) As for now, on with the show.
--- 4 ---
Kate kept herself upright expertly, sitting loosely on the workbench with her hands behind her, propping her up; her legs freely swinging back and forth like a child. Her skirt got hitched up around the middle of her thighs in the tangled mess of her efforts to get onto the bench in the first place.
What was left of the bun in her hair fell out 3 drinks ago as her long bangs brushed against her forehead and hung in her eyes. Her face was flushed and her eyes were red, but her crying had ended 2 drinks ago. She stared at the bottle that Gibbs held limp in his hands, sitting across from her on a tall metal stool. Kate broke their hazed silence.
"I don't like getting," she paused for a hiccup, "drunk." She said to him softly and slightly slurred.
Gibbs smirked. "Well," he perked his eyebrows in mild amusement, "You're really pretty good at it." He looked to the glass that she held to him, silently asking him for a refill.
Gibbs wasn't nearly as drunk as she was, if you could consider him being drunk at all—he matched her drink for drink, but he could hold it, whereas Kate's small frame… not so much. He'd admit that he was somewhat impressed with her ability to keep up; when he offered her a beer, she asked what else he had. But now, he was together enough to know when she'd had enough; beginning to feel a slight surge of guilt for allowing her to match his drinking pace.
He slid off the stool and put the bourbon back in its place next to the paint thinner and rubbing alcohol.
"C'mon, Kate. You're done." He said firmly, sidled back over to her, standing in front of her and placing a gentle hand on the side of her thigh.
She slowly put her glass back down onto the workbench as her eyes grew slightly narrow. "Don't.. you tell-me when-I'm-done…" she slurred gracefully.
Gibbs cocked his head slightly, gazing at her in a hazy, thoughtful scrutiny. He reached out the hand that had rested on her leg, and placed it on her shoulder, gently and methodically rubbing, soothing the skin of her exposed collarbone with his thumb. She closed her eyes and sighed, nodding:
"I'm drunk."
Gibbs chuckled low and light, deep in his chest before he placed both hands on her hips, preparing to hoist her off the workbench— not wanting an instant replay of her disastrous attempts of getting on to the wooden counter.
"C'mon Katie.." he murmured softly as he carefully influenced her body to follow his, lifting her hips slightly and edging her towards the ledge of the counter. She was complying, until the hand she had placed on Gibbs' shoulder pulled him towards her, slightly putting him off balance. His upper body stumbled forward, towards the workbench, his hands skirting out in front of him onto the wood, landing beside Kate's hips in order to keep him from landing on her. Gibbs had her provocatively pinned to the bench.
Her mouth was by his neck as her lips accidentally grazed his ear. He pulled back from her slightly, far enough to look to her eyes.
"You okay?" he asked her quietly. She nodded slowly.
Her hand went to the side of his neck to steady her posture. As he nodded before he pulled back from her completely, Kate leaned into him, softly pressing her lips to the corner of his mouth. He stilled immediately, but she didn't falter. She slid her lips flush over his, moving her hand to his cheek as she softly drew his bottom lip between both of hers, vaguely skating the tip of her tongue against his lip. She focused her intimate attention on his entire mouth when she pressed her lips against his, at the same time drawing him back towards her. A murmured moan escaped her as her drunken inner-self smiled in triumph when she felt him kiss her back. Even if it was only for a second.
Gibbs slowly pulled away from her mouth, standing upright and looking to her, bewildered, as he tried to sort out in his slightly bourbon laced brain, what had just occurred. Kate placed a hand on his chest.
"I'm okay." She slurred, finishing their conversation from 5 minutes ago. He faltered slightly before he nodded and brought his hands back to her hips, deftly lifting her from the workbench and placing her feet on the ground. He walked behind her, keeping one hand on her hip and the other squeezing her shoulder to keep her steady and standing.
"Time for bed?" she asked, soft and innocent, turning her head to look to him as they reached the stairs.
"Yep." Gibbs nodded and placed a firm hand at the small of her back, carefully guiding her up the cellar steps.
She turned her head towards him, throwing a goofy grin over her shoulder, "With yooou?" she cooed and chuckled drunkenly, her grin spread when she saw him smirk and duck his head. But when he looked up again, the smirk was gone and his eyebrow was softly raised. She turned her face back to the task at hand.
"Get moving." He mumbled quietly. Once she was turned again he opened his mouth in a smile, gently shaking his head as he closely watched her place one foot in front of the other.