A/N: Hello again! Okay, here I am again with yet another chapter of my newest fic! I'm going to make this author's note short cause I've noticed my other ones have been very long and nobody seems to read them. This chapter is to the song Life After You by Daughtry and it's one of my favorite songs! It's about four months after Tony and Ziva's marriage (which hasn't been written yet, but I will do a song for that one too). Alright, please please please review! And if anyone has any song requests, I'd be happy to do them!
Also, this is my first chapter for this fic that's in the first person POV. It's Ziva's. hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or anything affiliated with it or the song Life After You. They belong to DPB and Chris Daughtry respectively.
This was a first. Tony and I had gotten into a fight. We have been married for just over four months and this was our first major right. I forget what we were fighting about now, but I had walked out then. I had just gotten so mad that I left our apartment and drove to Abby's apartment. When she opened the door, I just started crying.
That was Friday night and now it was Saturday night . I stayed at Abby's last night, cooling down, and now I missed Tony. Sometime over the night, I had forgiven him. But I had still been mad when he had sent me a text last night before I went to sleep. If one of us was ever out for the night, one of us would always call or text the other. I ignored his text last night.
Abby and I hung out at her place all day today. We just sat around and talked and ordered food for lunch. But now I was headed home. I forgave Tony and I missed him and I had to tell him that.
That's why I did not see the car coming at me, I was too preoccupied. I swerved to miss it, but it hit my back passenger door. I was a little jostled from that and then I hit my head hard on the headrest of my seat. Then I slammed into it again as I hit the guardrail on the front driver's side on the left side of the front of my car. The air bags did not go off because I had not hit the guardrail hard enough. I was okay, but my head hurt and so did my left leg and I knew I could not drive home like this.
I knew that I should call Tony, but I decided to wait a few minutes so that I could get my breathing under control and et everything strait in my jumbled brain. I turned on the radio and sat back as a song came on.
Ten miles from town and I just broke down
Spittin' out smoke on the side of the road
I'm out here alone, just tryin' to get home
To tell you I was wrong, but you already know
Believe me, I won't stop at nothing
To see you, so I started runnin'
I would run if I could, I thought to myself. My leg was too hurt to get out of the car on my own right now. Just a few more minutes, I said to myself. When this song is over, I will call Tony.
All that I'm after is a life full of laughter
As long as I'm laughin' with you
I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after
After the life we've been through
'Cause I know there's no life after you
That part of the song really caught my attention. It was all completely true. That was exactly how I felt about Tony. He was the only one who could get me to smile when I was having a bad day and he always seemed to know what to say when I needed to hear it.
Last time we talked, the night that I walked
Burns like an iron at the back of my mind
I must have been high to say you and I
Weren't meant to be and just wastin' my time
Oh, why did I ever doubt you?
You know I would die here without you
That was what I had said. In the heat of the argument, I had screamed that the two of us apparently were not meant to be and that I was sorry that I had wasted his time. He was silent after that. At the time, it had made me feel better, I had made Tony DiNozzo speechless. For probably the first time in his life, he had no annoying movie quote to help him figure out what to do and say next. Now, it hurt me, too. After I had yelled that, I had stalked out and went to Abby's.
All that I'm after is a life full of laugher
As long as I'm laughin' with you
I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after
After the life we've been through
'Cause I know there's no life after you
And now I missed him almost as much as I had last summer, when I was in Africa. Every day, I would wish that I could see him one last time, to apologize. Near the end, I had exiled myself to the fact that I would never get that chance. The day Tony and Tim were in the cell that I was brought into was one of the happiest days of my life. At first, I thought we were all going to be killed, but after Saleem went down and stayed down, all hell broke loose. After that, I was free. I owe Tony, Tim, and Gibbs my life, even though they say I owe them nothing.
You and I, right or wrong, there's no other one
After this time I spent alone
It's hard to believe that a man with sight could be so blind
Thinkin' bout the better times, musta been out of my mind
So I'm runnin' back to tell you
It was true, all the time I had spent away from him, I missed him. At the beginning I was mad at him, yes, but I still missed him. I just wanted to be with him right now, just have him hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay and not to worry and that he forgave me.
I was more mad at myself right now. How could I have gotten into a crash? My driving may be faster than others, but I had not been in any accidents since my first few months here. This was holding me back from seeing my husband.
All that I'm after is a life full of laughter
Without you, God knows what I'd do, yeah
All that I'm after is a life full of laughter
As long as I'm laughin' with you
I'm thinkin' that all that still matters is love ever after
After the life we've been through
'Cause I know there's no life after you
Know there's no life after you
Know there's no life after you
Know there's no life after you
Know there's no life after you
Know there's no life after you
Know there's no life after you, yeah
As soon as the song ended, I called Tony. He picked it up on the first ring.
"Zee?" he asked.
"Tony, can you come and get me?" I asked him.
"Of course! Where are you?" he asked, hurriedly. "Are you okay?"
"I am… not exactly okay, but I will be," I told him honestly.
"Zee? Baby, what happened?" he asked and I heard a car door slam shut and then the engine in his mustang start.
I told him where I was and he said he was on his way and he'd be there soon.
He got there five minutes later. He slammed on his brakes and jumped out of his car and opened my door.
"Zee, baby, what happened? Can you get out? Can you walk?" he asked, looking at my damaged car.
"I hit my head and my leg hurts. I figured I should not drive home. It would not have been safe," I said.
"No, it wouldn't have been safe. Does it still run?" Tony asked.
"Yes, I had the radio on before you got here," I told him.
"Okay, can you walk? Can you get out of the car?" he asked.
I tried to move, but I could not swing my leg out without it hurting. "No, my leg hurts too much," I said.
"Does anything else hurt besides your head and your leg? Did you hurt your back or your neck at all?" he asked me, looking concerned.
"No, I just hit my head on the headrest and I do not know how I hurt my leg, but I cannot move it without it hurting," I told him.
"Okay, Zee, I'm going to lift you out of the car, alright? Unless you'd rather I call 911, but they'd insist on putting you on a stretcher with a neck brace on. Your choice," he said, already knowing what I'd pick.
"I trust you, Tony. I just want to get out of here," I said. "Please."
As he lifted me out as gently as he could, my leg hurt, but I did not tell him because I wanted to be out of the car and I did not want to deal with the paramedics and being strapped down to a board with a neck brace and unable to move. Either way I was going to the hospital, but I wanted to do it on my own terms.
Tony carried me bridal-style to his car and gently put me in the front passenger seat. "I'm going to call a tow truck and we're going to get your car fixed, so I guess you're stuck using my car until then," he said.
"Tony?" I said.
"Yeah, Zee?" he asked.
"I am sorry, about everything. I was mad and so I went to Abby's and I calmed down and I was coming home to see you and did not mean for-" I said in a rush, but he cut me off.
"It's okay. We both said things we didn't mean and you're here now and you're safe and that's what matters," he told me.
"I love you, Tony," I said.
He leaned into the car and gave me a hug. "I love you, too, Zee. Don't ever forget that."
A/N: Okay, so what did you think? This is one of my new favorite songs and this chapter is thanks to my friend, Meghan, who told me to listen to it and use it as a chapter, so it's thanks to her that we have this chapter. This one's for you, dude!
Okay, you all know the drill, please review! They make me really happy and I accept anonymous reviews, so anyone can submit them! Even if it's only a few words, something, anything! Your contribution is welcome!
And feel free to submit a song request! I'm slowly but surely running out of ideas so any help is welcome! If you submit a song, the chapter I write it will be dedicated to you!