CHAPTER TEN
"Can we figure it out together?"
He gave in, grinning at her. "Absolutely."
She returned the smile, and waited with him for the nurses to discharge him. By the time she had driven him home, and they were on his couch watching a movie, she was having doubts again.
"Stop worrying," he told her, the concern clear on her face.
She exhaled. "What are we going to do when Gibbs finds out?" She asked, as he leant forward to stop the DVD.
"Are we really going to do this?" He asked her, and she frowned.
"Do what?"
"This," he gestured between them. "You come up with every possible reason for us not to be together, and then me, explaining why it won't be a problem?"
"Gibbs will surely make one of us change teams," she sighed, and he rolled his eyes.
"Guess so," he muttered, answering his own question. "Maybe Gibbs will never find out," he suggested, knowing as soon as the words came out of his mouth that they were ridiculous.
She laughed. "It is more likely that he already knows,"
"Yeah," he agreed. "You were way too worried after I got shot."
She swatted him on the arm without the bullet hole. "If anyone gives it away, it is you," she said.
"What about when it doesn't work out… Rule number twelve is there for a reason. Even if Gibbs were to not find out, when this ends, you will find work intolerable," she continued.
"And you won't?" He laughed, before turning to her, seriously.
"Why are you fighting this so hard?" He asked, his eyes searching for something in hers that he didn't find.
"Because this cannot end well. Sooner or later…" She trailed off.
"What makes you so sure this won't end well? How do you know it doesn't end with a white picket fence, a few little rug-rats and you and me?"
"What are rug-rats?" She frowned. "And what do they have to do with a white picket fence?"
"They're kids, Ziva. And the white picket fence is a symbol of the American dream… Look, that's not the point. Give us a chance."
His face was so earnest, so kind.
"There are things you don't know, Tony." She shook her head. "Things that I am not sure I am ready to share with you,"
"Well, when you're ready, I'll be there to listen," he promised. "I am not going anywhere."
She gave him a small smile, which he traced with his finger.
"Come here," he said gently, pulling her into an embrace. She lay with her back against his chest, as he placed a soft kiss to her shoulder, his good arm draped across her stomach.
"I love you, Ziva," he whispered in her ear. "Nothing will change that,"
"I am not so sure," she murmured almost inaudibly, words so soft that they drifted into the night, unanswered.
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