A/N Five days since the last update...that's good, right?

Taylor Swift is AWESOME in concert. Just thought I'd let you know. =)

Enjoy!

Chapter 12: It Smells Like Him

Later that night…

Ziva sat on Abby's couch, trying to get comfortable. Abby had already insisted that Ziva would have the bed for the duration of her stay, but Ziva still preferred to spend her time out in the lounge.

"Here we go," Abby said, walking in from the kitchen. "One…really massive cup of orange juice."

"Abby, it's an old Caf-Pow cup. You drink way more than this every day," Ziva said, accepting her drink.

"I am a self-confessed caffeine addict," Abby said, as if that was a valid excuse. "You, on the other hand…I don't think I've ever seen you drink this much in one sitting."

"For some reason, the baby always kicks me whenever I drink it," Ziva said slowly, remembering telling Tony the exact same thing.

Abby picked up on the change of mood. "Are you going to tell me what happened now?"

"Abby-"

"You know you're going to eventually. Just tell me now. The suspense is killing me."

Ziva sighed. As usual, Abby was right. "Tony and I went out for coffee-"

"Skip the details like that. Get to the point," Abby said, practically bouncing with excitement.

"He told me he loved me," Ziva said, taking a long sip of her drink.

Abby froze. "What?"

"He told me he loved me," Ziva repeated, the feeling of shame returning to her.

Abby stared at her. "Tony said-"

"-that he loved me. Loves. Not loved. Tony loves me," Ziva said quickly.

Abby slumped back in the cushions. "That's it?"

"What do you mean, 'that's it'?"

"That's all that happened?"

"Yes…"

"Ziva, he's been in love with you for years…"

"I realise that now."

"…and you've been in love with him for just as long."

Ziva blinked. "What?"

Abby laughed for a moment. "In the movies, this is the time where you realise that everyone else has been saying things about it for ages."

"But no-one-"

"That's the point. Everyone could see it, really. Me, McGee, Gibbs, everyone. McGee actually used you two in his book, but that's the biggest thing any of us did about it. You and Tony have been so obvious with your feelings but not obvious at all, if that makes sense. You guys have the most chemistry and spark that I have ever seen. The rest of us didn't say anything because we wanted it to unfold normally."

"You actually discussed it?"

"Well, no. But it's obvious that that was what we were doing."

Ziva frowned. "You do know that you are making barely any sense at all."

"My point is that I'm not that surprised by Tony telling you. The way he's been looking at you, the way he's been helping you...he was going to snap sooner or later."

"Abby-"

"And now," Abby continued. "The ball is in your court."

"What?"

"It's your time to make a move. He played his card, you play yours."

"Abby, we had a fight," Ziva said slowly and clearly. "I said some hurtful things to him, basically throwing his words into his face. It can't be fixed easily."

Abby stood up and took their now empty cups back to the kitchen. "Time for bed," she said as she walked back.

"Yes Ma'am," Ziva replied. She reached down and pulled her pyjamas out of her bag and began walking to the bedroom.

"Is that…" Abby trailed off, looking at Ziva's clothes. "Is that Tony's shirt?"

Ziva looked down at the shirt she was holding. "…yes."

"The one he was looking for the other day in the squadroom?"

"…yes."

"Can I ask why you have it?"

Ziva picked at the shoulder seam. "It smells like him," she said, very quietly.

Abby smiled to herself as she set herself up on the couch. It's only a matter of time now, she thought.

Ziva lay awake hours after she'd gone to bed. She didn't feel right.

For months now, she'd taken comfort that at the push of a button on her phone Tony would be there, that if she'd vaguely mentioned going somewhere he'd be right beside her as she went.

Now he wasn't.

It was strange. They still sat across from each other in the squadroom, they still took the same elevator on their way home, except they'd never been so far apart.

Maybe this time apart will be good, she thought, rolling over and settling herself on her other side. Maybe this will turn out okay.

Except she couldn't figure out how it would be.

The next morning…

Abby walked into the squadroom to find McGee working and Tony staring blankly down at his hands. "Morning," she said.

"Hi Abs," McGee replied cheerfully.

No response for Tony. "Tony?"

Tony looked up at her reluctantly, and she saw that the rims of his eyes were red, and he looked exhausted, both mentally and physically. "Hi Abs," he said quietly.

Abby pulled Ziva's chair over to his desk and sat down next to him. "She's fine," she whispered to him, making sure McGee couldn't hear. "She's just at my place for a few weeks until she can sort things out."

Tony nodded lamely and resumed staring at his hands.

"Okay, I lied a little bit," Abby admitted.

Tony snapped his head back up to her.

"She barely slept last night. She was tossing and turning until early this morning."

"She's not okay?" Tony croaked out. He was ashamed of how desperate and needy his voice sounded, but he knew Abby wasn't going to hold it against him.

"No, she's not."

"Okay," Tony said. "Keep me posted."

Abby smiled. "I will."

A/N Review!

Next chapter: Throwing pebbles. That's all I'm gonna say.