Chapter 29 –
"You're later than usual," Tali said, not even looking up from her book to watch Ziva walk through the crooked door of their apartment. She didn't sound angry – just observant.
Ziva laughed. "I thought it was my job to take care of you."
Tali smiled bashfully, snapped her book shut with a thud, swung her legs off the side of the sofa and wrapped her arms around her sister without a word of warning.
Ziva hugged her back, of course, but was a little surprised. Tali had never been big on physical affection.
The younger girl pulled back with a frown. "You smell," she observed.
Ziva scoffed. "Thanks!" she replied sarcastically.
"No, you smell like . . ." She sniffed again. "Cologne?" There was a pause, before she gasped and her eyes lit up. "Did you talk to Tony? After I left?"
Ziva hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. Tali gave a 'whoop' and threw her fist victoriously into the air.
"Why the enthusiasm?" Ziva asked, though deep down, she was just glad that Tali was glad.
"Because Tony makes you happy," she answered without a second's thought. "You can see it. You haven't been happy without him. I hate it when you're like that."
"That was a lot before he came around, hm?" Ziva said, a little sadly, stroking her sisters unruly hair.
"Yeah."
"You know you're still my favourite, okay?"
Tali grinned. "Oh, I know. No question!"
...
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Ziva asked for the millionth time.
"It's okay, Ziva. I'm tired, anyway. I'll just go to sleep," Tali assured her.
"God, you're grown up," Tony interrupted, looking almost proud.
"The neighbours are at home. They said they would be happy to help you if you need. Or you can call me."
"You used to leave me at home every night, Ziva, it's okay. Really." Truthfully, Tali did not like being left alone, but Ziva had not spend a night without her since changing jobs. It had been months. And since Tony and Ziva had gotten back together, it had been three and a half weeks of Tali feeling like she was infringing on their time together – which was limited as it was. She insisted that they go out to dinner – she had even looked up the restaurant they should go to.
"Ziva, we're gonna miss our reservations," Tony prompted, trying not to sound too pushy. He ended up sounding far too adoring for the words to have any real effect. He couldn't help it.
"We'll be back by ten," Ziva promised.
"We live within a few hundred yards of a Police Department, Ziva," Tali reminded her. "I'll be safe. Don't worry. Not to mention, my sweet self-defence skills. Thanks to Abba."
"Abba?" Tony asked.
"Our father," Ziva informed him in a hushed voice. It was rare for Tali to mention their parents. She had been so young, especially when their father died. Too young to find even the most obvious of Eli's flaws. In some ways, Ziva envied her for that. In others, not at all. It would be strange to live in a world where Eli David even slightly resembled the perfect father, which he most certainly was not. The perfect father, for example, did not raise his children like pigs for slaughter for the sake of his precious Mossad.
Ziva reluctantly closed the door on Tali. When she looked up at Tony, he was smiling at her.
"What?" she asked, still holding the door handle.
"Permission to make inappropriate comment?" he requested.
She smiled with avid curiosity. "Granted."
"That dress is . . . hot."
Ziva laughed loudly and tapped his cheek with her fingertips. The dress was plain and black and pretty modest – nothing extravagant. And still, he responded to it. Even a comment so basic made her inconceivably happy for some strange reason. It was an assurance that after everything – the tears, the drama, the seriousness of their relationship for the most part – he could still make a light-hearted comment and it could make her smile. He could call her hot or sexy and it was okay because they were past caring about where they had come from. They were past being overly complicated. And they were past it because they had both accepted that it would be a fault to them both if they did not make the most out of what they had.
...
By eight thirty, dinner was over. Tony sipped at a beer and Ziva at a soda because she was still a little on edge about Tali.
"You seem tense," Tony observed.
"I'm fine. It was just strange, leaving her," Ziva replied, anxiously fiddling with her gold necklace.
"I bet this restaurant's doing nothing for that, though. It's loud and hot. We could go to my apartment if you – "
Ziva didn't really listen. She took a deep breath and began staring at the couples and groups at the surrounding tables, studying them closely. "It's like . . . I'm . . ." She wasn't sure what to say next.
"Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of?"
She looked back to him. "Exactly."
"Breakfast at Tiffany's. Great movie."
Her gaze floated on his lips for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Let's get out of here."
...
"I can't believe you haven't seen it!" Tony said again, as he walked through the door of his apartment, with Ziva following him. She had lost count of the amount of times he had expressed his disbelief since they left the restaurant. "It's a classic."
"Shut up," she growled, before pinning him to the wall kissing him deeply and suddenly, catching him by such surprise that it was a few seconds before his hands inevitably lifted to hold her by the waist.
Her hands clawed through his hair and she slipped her tongue into his mouth. He fought back a groan and she laughed against his lips. That ought to keep him quiet.
"Whoa," he panted when she finally stepped back from him, with a look nothing less than sultry in her eyes. "What was that for?"
"Well, I do like kissing you, Tony," she said, the words bouncing against his skin at such close proximity.
"You seem less on edge," he pushed out, hardly able to focus on anything other than that Ziva's body was pressed right up against his.
"You're good at making me feel like that," she told him, and that comment alone was less to get his attention and more to be honest. She slipped her fingers underneath his shirt to touch his skin, and he sucked in a breath.
"The way you're going, you're going to feel a whole lot better," he told her daringly, before kissing her again.
