[Drunk and Jealous]
3rd Person POV:
The team had been given a couple weeks leave after everything had been sorted out with Kate's funeral and her case. Even though there was some protest, everyone knew that they needed the time to grieve for their friend and get on with the healing process. However, this didn't mean that they spent all that time apart from each other. Tony and Claire used the time to spend most of the break in one another's company to help deal with the emptiness that had made a place in their hearts. In those days Claire's strong feelings for Tony only grew as she spent alone time with him. Nearing the end of the leave Tony had opted for a day out around the city, the café being their first stop.
"Do you think Gibbs puts something special in his coffee?" Tony asked randomly. Claire smiled in amusement as she watched him peer down at his own cup of caffeine.
"No, I'm pretty sure he drinks it black." She told him in a 'duh' tone. This was common knowledge to anyone that knew the older agent. Tony shook his head and gave her a thoughtful look.
"Not the regular stuff…..like maybe he puts some booze in it….or special vitamins that gives him his unhuman like instincts or something." He rattled off, staring at the far wall as his mind reeled with possibilities. Claire laughed.
"I think you're going a bit stir crazy." She told him with a wince. If she was honest she couldn't blame him, not working was driving her nuts.
"Yea that's probably it…I can't wait to get back." He told her honestly. The two paused as they thought about how different work would be now. It would be a while before they could completely get past it.
"How are you by the way?" she asked him, watching his reaction carefully. Tony wasn't one for confronting his feelings.
"Fine." he told her, obviously lying. Claire gave him a look.
"Or I will be anyway." He amended. She reached across the table and grabbed his hand comfortingly, rubbing circles with her thumb. Tony brought his eyes up to meet her own.
"It'll be ok. We'll get back to work and it'll get easier." She assured. He wasn't really sure if she was trying to convince him or herself, but either way it helped. Suddenly Tony's cell rang and he reached for it, taking his hand out of hers. Claire watched him intently as he answered and started conversing with the other person. Her smiled dropped hesitantly as his brightened even more, talking about making plans for the day. As he hung up she quickly fixed her features, turning them back to neutral.
"Who was that?" she asked casually. Tony chuckled in amazement before looking up at her, a new light in his eyes.
"That was Paula Cassidy, she's in town and wants to meet up." He told her, smiling broadly the whole time. Claire's smile dropped. Of course, he would get excited about her coming in, Tony was still hung up on her which bothered Claire more than she would have liked.
"Today?" she asked hesitantly. That is after all what he had been suggesting on the phone.
"Yea, you don't mind right? I mean this is probably the only time I'll see her before we got back to work." Tony quickly explained, already picking up his jacket. Claire's heart constricted painfully. He had already made up his mind and just wanted her permission so he wouldn't feel guilty. A large part of her wanted to tell him 'no' since this was their day together, but then again it wasn't like she was his girlfriend or anything. In his mind she was just a friend…and just a friend wouldn't get so possessive.
"Yea, sure go ahead." She agreed, plastering a strained smile on her face. Tony didn't notice and hopped up eagerly.
"Thanks you're the best!" he adamantly told her as he dashed out the door. Claire sighed and stared down at the cup in her hands. She had to quickly get a grip on herself with this whole relationship thing. Tony was not hers so she shouldn't act like he was. After another half hour of self-pity, Claire decided to call up Abby. Some girl time was in order.
...
Later that night the two of them had headed out to do a bit of clubbing before the work week hit. The last time they had done so was with Kate quite a few months ago. Pushing the feelings of hurt aside they strode in, ready for the major hangovers that were headed their way. Inside the two easily made their way to the bar, much to the tender's delight. After ordering their drinks the man brought them back and gave it to them 'on the house', eyeing Claire up the whole time. Not that she noticed. During the time she had to herself, Claire had dwelt on what Tony had done. In all honestly it had made her mad. How dare he blow her off like that, it was just hurtful and rude. This of course did nothing but add to her growing jealously of Agent Cassidy. As she thought hard on all of this Abby leaned over towards her.
"He's cute." Abby whispered impishly after the bartender had walked off to cater to another customer. Claire glanced at her in confusion.
"Who?" she asked. Abby rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"The cute bartender who was eyeing you up." She elaborated. Claire looked over at the man, who was incidentally smiling over at her. He turned back to his work.
"He's ok I guess." She admitted nonchalantly. Abby gave her an odd look.
"Claire he is totally into you." She pressed with a surprised smile. Claire rolled her eyes.
"Just because the drinks were on the house does not mean he was into me." Claire defended, sipping her drink slowly. She actually wanted to remember part of the night so drinking had to be slow.
"Is there anyone else that you think would be better than hot tamale over there?" Abby asked, looking at her curiously. She knew full well who would turn Claire's head and it wasn't the bartender. Claire scoffed innocently.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She dismissed, looking anywhere but at her friend.
"Well, he's tall, dark, and obnoxious." Abby joked, watching her friend's reactions. Claire shot her an unamused look.
"Yea well that's not going to happen." She told Abby with a bitter undertone. This got Abby's attention.
"What makes you say that?" she prodded curiously. Something obviously had her worked up.
"Because I don't have short, blonde hair and the last name Cassidy." Claire muttered, draining the rest of her drink.
"Cassidy? You're all upset because you're jealous of Paula?" Abby asked. She watched in amusement as Claire groaned, holding her head in her hands.
"I know it's so juvenile" she whined. The two of them giggled at her pitifulness.
"What made you think of her, isn't she still on ship or something?" Abby continued, sipping her drink as she listened.
"Apparently she's in town now." Claire muttered, absently running her finger around the edge of her glass. Abby nodded in understanding, but Claire wasn't done.
"I'm usually not this bad. If the jerk hadn't have dropped all our plans to run after her, it would have been fine." She ranted, reaching for the next drink that had been prepared for her. She shot the man a thankful smile, which he easily returned. Abby watched the two in amusement but almost spit out her drink at the last comment.
"Wait, he ditched you when you two had already made plans?" she asked incredulously. Claire nodded.
"That bastard." Abby gasped seriously, making Claire laugh.
"But seriously, don't worry about Paula. You're not the type to be the psycho jealous admirer." Abby told her, a gently expression on her face.
"Yea, I know. This is just the first time I've felt this strongly about someone and the whole violent jealously feeling is new to me." Claire admitted. Abby patted her back in reassurance.
"Just don't let it get to you. After all it's not Paula's fault." She reminded. Claire sighed but nodded reluctantly.
"I guess I should forgive him then too huh?" Claire asked.
"Who said anything about that? He still ditched you when you two had plans. You stay mad at him as long as you want, I'll even help you." Abby suggested with a broad smile. Claire laughed even louder and held her glass up for a toast.
"Here, here!" she cheered as they tapped glasses. The two spent the night in much happier spirits now that the air had been cleared. If only Tony knew what was coming for him the next time they saw him.
...
In the wee hours of the morning, Claire got out of the taxi and made her way up to her house. The night had been a long one and Claire was more than ready to be in her bed. As she reached the stairs she stopped abruptly, almost tripping over the person that was sitting on them.
"Tony what are you doing here?" she asked blearily. Even though she wasn't blackout drunk, she was still a bit buzzed. Tony stood up quickly.
"Why are you out so late?" he asked instead. Claire blinked hard and made her way around him tiredly.
"I asked you first." She weakly countered as she unlocked the door. Tony watched her silently as she walked in the house, leaving the door open for him to follow.
"I don't know…..I just needed some company." He told her quietly, shutting the door behind him. Claire huffed out a sigh and plopped herself ungracefully on the couch in the living room. Tony remained silent as he watched her, suddenly unsure if he should be here or not. Claire looked over at him and patted the spot beside her.
"Come on, tell me what happened." She urged, sounding much like a tired mother talking to her troubled child. He walked over and sat down obediently.
"Paula broke it off." Tony told her after a few minutes of playing with his fingers. Claire blinked, trying to keep her unstable emotions organized. Maybe her buzz was a bit more than she had thought.
"You were dating?" she asked, trying to clarify the situation. Tony shook his head.
"Not really…..I'm not really sure what our relationship would be categorized as but I did like her." he admitted. She nodded, starting to get the picture.
"Well then I guess there's not much you can do about that." She told him gently. Tony glanced at her in confusion. Claire caught the hurt look in his eyes and shook her head, thinking of a better way to rephrase it.
"What I meant was that you should give her some space. I know you and when you genuinely like someone you can be relentless." Tony didn't correct her, but listened intently as she continued.
"I know you like her but just let this play out and see what happens. Who knows, maybe she'll come back to you and life will be all good again." She told him, wanting to choke on her words. Loving someone meant that you wanted them happy no matter what. And right now his happiness came from Paula and not her. That and she was too tired to fight right now.
"Thanks Claire." He smiled at her gently. Claire nodded and rubbed her forehead tiredly.
"So why are you out this late?" he asked curiously, noticing her distracted state.
"Why does it matter to you? You had other plans so I made some more of my own." She told him, getting a bit defensive at the end. Tony raised his brows in surprise at her tone.
"What happened? Did I do something wrong?" he asked her in confusion. She turned to glare at him. Was he kidding?
"Just forget about it, I'm in no mood to be mad at you right now." She muttered as she stood up. Claire teetered a little bit, causing Tony to jump up and steady her.
"Wow you got hammered huh?" he asked her in a joking tone. Claire blinked hard again and pointed up at him.
"I'm not hammered….just a little bit of a buzz." She countered pointedly. Tony smirked at her. She was starting to sway and surely would have stumbled around had he not been there.
"Ok then buzz, let's get you to bed." He told her, leading her down the hallway.
"Is that supposed to be some pickup line? Cause I don't care how cute you are, I am not sleeping with you while under the influence." She told him defiantly. Tony chuckled and glanced at her in amusement. Her face scrunched up in confusion as she processed what she had just said.
"That came out wrong. Maybe I'm more drunk than I thought." She rambled tiredly, letting Tony drag her around her house. He watched her intently with a small smile as she looked up at him helplessly.
"Hi Tony." She mumbled with a goofy smile. He laughed, she was going to have a major hangover tomorrow for sure.
"Hi Claire, go get ready for bed." He instructed, handing her the pajamas that were on the dresser. She muttered a 'kay' and obediently went to get dressed in her bathroom. Tony watched her go and stood in her room listening for any indication that she needed help. However, she fared just fine and eventually padded out of the bathroom. She wobbled over and unceremoniously flopped onto her bed with a giggle. Tony smirked and headed towards her.
"Under the covers is best Claire." He scolded playfully as he helps maneuver her limp body under the covers. Once he had wrested her in she contentedly dug her face into her pillow.
"Tony." She called out quietly. Tony sat down next to her.
"Yes?" he asked making sure she wasn't getting sick or anything.
"Can you get me a drink?" she asked looking up at him with big eyes.
"Water?" he asked, already making his way across the floor.
"No! Scotch." She ordered. Tony paused and looked back at her with a smile.
"I think you've had enough alcohol." He countered gently, walking back to her side. Claire whined.
"But the bartender let me have whatever I wanted. And some of it was free." She argued childishly. Tony rose an eyebrow.
"He gave you free drinks?" he asked incredulously.
"Yea, he was cute and Abby said he had the hots for me." She mumbled into her pillow. Had she been sober she would have noticed the off put expression Tony had across his face.
"Did she now?" he asked lowly, not liking the idea of another man hitting on her.
"Yea but it's ok because he wasn't being mean to me." She chirped pointedly. Tony was confused.
"Are you saying someone else was mean to you?" he asked, immediately hopping up to run after whoever it was.
"Yea you were." She pouted. His expression dropped to one of utter confusion.
"How was I mean to you?" he asked, this time kneeling down to look at her face. She glared at him tiredly.
"I'm not telling." Claire pulled the covers over her face. Tony shook his head with a smile and gently pried them out of her hands so he could look at her again.
"Oh come on Claire, I'm sorry?" he told her as more of a question, hoping that would make her open up. She glared at him again.
"If you don't know what it is then don't apologize. I'm mad at you." She glared again. Tony sighed and looked down in frustration. What had he done? Claire was a pretty truthful drunk and he just wanted to know what he did that bothered her.
"Claire why are you mad at me?" he asked again but when he looked at her she was fast asleep. The alcohol had finally caught up with her. Knowing he wasn't going to get her back any time that night he simply readjusted the covers around her shoulders. After a moment of hesitation he leaned down to kiss her forehead, knowing full well that she would never remember it. Making his way out of her room he glanced back one more time before shutting the door and heading out of the house. They had work in the morning and needed their sleep for the long day. Hopefully he would pry the reason she was upset out of her tomorrow. As he drove home he started to mentally prepare for that feat. It was much harder getting Claire to open up when she was sober.