It started to rain quite heavily somewhere between Waverly Terrace and the time she climbed out of the car. Kate stood in the driveway as she watched the taxi pull away from the curb, its taillights rolling off into the night. She looked up at the sky as the rain came down, wondering what she was going to tell him when he asked her why she came. She wrapped her arms around herself and turned to face his house. She walked till she got to the steps of the porch, and stopped.
This was a bad idea, she thought. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what was going to come out of her mouth when Gibbs answered the door. If he answers the door, she said to herself. Kate brought her wrist close enough to her face to make out the time on her watch. She shuddered from the cold and continued to stand there in the pouring rain at 2 o'clock in the morning-- not quite yet able to call for another cab to take her back home. She finally jogged up the steps to his front door and hesitantly pressed the doorbell. Waiting a minute and hearing no movement on the other side of the door, she rang the bell again and knocked on the storm door. She waited, pressing the bell and knocking again, but no one came.
Kate's shoulders fell while the anxiety disappeared from the moment. She walked off the porch and back down the steps into the rain. She looked up to what she could only imagine to be his bedroom window. Feeling like a fool for having come, she felt she'd only feel worse for leaving without some sort of closure. She scooped a handful of gravel from his front walk and made her way across the lawn. This is absolutely ridiculous. She tossed the first tiny stone and hit the drain pipe. The next landed on top of the roof. The third hit the edge of one of the shutters. And the last smacked against his window pane… and went right on through. Kate gasped sharply as her hand flew to her mouth, muffling her quiet astonishment. "Oh.. shit…" Kate cringed as a soft light filled the room with the now broken window. She wondered how fast she could possibly run when the window, which lay next to her naked vandalism, opened. Gibbs looked down at her, and then slightly leaned out to see the damage. He looked back at Kate with a furrowed brow of utmost confusion, "You broke my window…?" She couldn't look away from him, but she couldn't form the words. "I-I'm sorry," she choked out. Gibbs held up a hand for her to stop. He gently closed the window and disappeared from view. The room went dark once more.
She exhaled and looked at her feet. Idiot. Good plan. She walked back to the front path and dropped the remaining gravel that she held in her hand. That was something Dinozzo would have done. She shut her eyes tight and shook her head at herself.
She hadn't expected the front door to open, or for Gibbs to walk out onto the porch in a bathrobe. Kate stood on the front walk, the cold rain never let up and it seemed it had no intention of stopping. She had her arms dropped at her sides, her hair was wet, clinging to her neck and around her face, her clothes were drenched and soaking. Gibbs finally spoke out, "What are you doing here, Kate…?"
Her mind went into a tailspin. Kate spoke calmly. "Why did you kiss me." It more of a statement than a question. She stood there for what felt like a small eternity. Then she saw him frown slightly. Had she dreamt it all? She started to wonder how long she was asleep for in the car, and the color in her face began to rise.
Lightening sparked off in the distance and Gibbs looked to the sky with slightly perked eyebrows and a small look of concern. The following thunder almost drowned Kate out as she repeated her question, "Why did you kiss me, Gibbs."
He knew she wouldn't listen to any forceful pleas to come in out of the rain. "I don't know.. I don't know what you want to hear, Kate…" She took a few steps towards the porch. He could see the frustrated dismay on her face.
"It's… It's not about what I want to hear," she spoke with just a hint of agitation, "I wanna hear the truth." She stood a few feet away from him, still in the rain, still off the porch.
"Get out of the rain," He grumbled as he reached for her hand and tugged her lightly to stand next to him. He looked at her and tried to speak, finding that he couldn't manage the two tasks at the same time. Gibbs averted his eyes to anywhere but her face. He looked over to the side and became increasingly flustered, "I just don't.. I don't…"
Kate was in awe of his speechlessness, but became visibly impatient. If she was standing there a fool, she wanted to know it. "Say something!" He looked at her sharply as his own wave of agitation washed over him. Frustration towards her impatience, but more towards his own emotional inabilities. "You wanna know why I did it?"
"Yeah," She laughed with a huff, "Yeah, I do!"
"I wanted to! Alright? I've always.. wanted to…!" They fell into a silence, knowing that something important had just happened, and they each felt the anger quietly flowing out of the situation. Kate hadn't expected that. An answer of 'pity,' yes... But certainly not a bottled up proclamation of want.
She kept her hands at her sides and leaned up to kiss him with a small hint of force and a whole lot of need. She stepped closer to him and placed her hands lightly on his chest. His mind finally began to turn and register. His hands went to her shoulders and slid to her neck, cupping her face as he kissed her in return, tenfold.
The thunder seemed to just whisper through the trees as the rain boiled down to a drizzle. The two stood on the porch, their hands on the others' shoulders. Kate was the first to speak as she slipped her hand to the soft crook between his neck and shoulder, "You know, it's late.." she exhaled and nervously looked to a anonymous spot over his shoulder, "you should probably take me home." He crinkled his eyes at her and then raised a single brow, pushing a wet strand of hair behind her ear. The corner of his mouth quirked upwards as his hands fell from her shoulders. He walked to his front door and opened it, motioning to her with his hand, an invitation.