If you got chemistry, you only need one other thing.
Timing. But timing's a bitch.
"WHAT?"
"Try being a little louder, McGee, I don't think everyone heard you scream", Abby yelled at McGee, a little louder than she planned, then she turned to her other coworker and continued slowly, "Let me get this straight, you, Anthony Dinozzo, are getting married?! And to a woman that is not Ziva David?! How?! In what world?"
"Okay. Did you both get it all out of your system?", Tony asked looking at his friends.
"No. But you're being an ass so I'm not going to talk to you anymore."
"Abby, c'mon, you can't seriously be mad at me for finding someone I love and settling down. Of all people I thought you'd be happy for me."
"Who found love and is settling down?"
Tony turned around, knowing he was going to meet those brown eyes he had been most scared to meet. Ziva was standing right in front of him, completely reddened by the cold outside. "Outside is snowing like crazy. Other than that, what's new?", she asked, while trying to remove all the snow from her jacket.
"Tony's getting married. That's what's new.", McGee answered, not trying to hide his disapproval.
"Oh.. Wow. I never thought this day would come. Well who's the lucky one?", Ziva asked.
"Jeanne."
"Well congrats. I'm so happy for you both.", brunette almost seemed happy.
"People, we have a case. Let's go!", they were interrupted by Gibbs.
(...)
Following weeks had a weird tone to them. It was unexplainably uncomfortable.
(...)
(Day of the wedding)
(in front of the church)
Three people stood in front of the church, while everyone else was going inside. The man looked very handsome in his tuxedo, with a little flower in his pocket. Both women were wearing dresses and looked stunning in them. Ziva in her long, emerald green silk dress, that was falling of her shoulder perfectly and Abby in her knee-length purple dress, with a matching hat.
They seemed to be bickering over something.
"Wait that is for real? I thought that was just for the movies."
"Wait you really thought that?", McGee couldn't contain his laugh.
"It's for real, Ziva. It's not as often, but it's real. The pastor really says 'Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace', it's not made up.", Abby said.
"And you should definitely stand up when the preacher asks that", McGee continued with his idea.
"McGee, that's so childish. I'm not doing that. We're all adults here. He's our friend for god's sake. We should support him no matter what. It doesn't matter whether we think it's a mistake or not.", Ziva looked as if she was trying to convince herself of that.
"Your choice, but don't stand here trying to convince us and yourself that there's nothing between you two. It's evident to everyone.", McGee wasn't quite ready to quit his argument.
Woman in the green dress didn't say a word, because she knew deep down that he was right. It was painfully obvious. She had feelings for the man that was about to commit himself to another woman. After all she spent over two hours getting ready for today and she is not a woman who does that. Not to mention how she felt, for the past few weeks, since they found out about the wedding. Like she couldn't get enough air to her lungs, like she was suffocating. But she would never admit it. She couldn't. She wasn't someone who allowed emotions to override her brain. He was just a man, but as she started walking towards the church, looking at all those people there, knowing she's going to lose him soon, she couldn't help but feel like she had a huge stone pressing on her chest.
As she sat down, she felt like throwing up. Ziva simply couldn't fantom how could a man make her feel this bad. She needed to leave, she couldn't be there, there wasn't enough air for her to breathe.
Before she could get up, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. It was the only person that could calm her down at the time. Gibbs. He looked at her like he knew exactly what she was going through. He only whispered:" Breathe, Ziver." And that was enough for her not to leave. She took his hand, as he sat down next to her and gave him a weak smile. She looked at Abby who was staring at the altar in awe and couldn't contain her smile.
Ziva felt better, she knew it wasn't going to be easy, but it wasn't as hard anymore.
Her eyes were on him, she couldn't take them off of him. He looked so handsome.
He knew she was looking at him and he knew that if he were to look at her, he wouldn't be able to go through with the wedding. She was the one. He was sure of it. No woman ever, made Tony Dinozzo as nervous and as excited as Ziva David. Once he saw her walk into the church, in her beautiful green dress, that looked like it was made for her and her only, he knew she is the one that should be wearing white that day. Emerald green dress gave him flashbacks to that special assignment and that night. There was something sacred about that assignment, something that made Tony whimper just by thinking about it. He made a mistake and looked at her. She had a big smile on her face, but her eyes. Oh her eyes. They were the eyes of a person who looked at the love of their life, knowing they're about to lose them. He couldn't help but feel anxious. He felt so helpless. He couldn't realize why isn't he stopping the wedding, why isn't he running out of that church with Ziva David in his arms. He wanted to move, he knew not one of his friends and family would be mad, but he couldn't move.
Then it was simply too late. Jeanne was walking down the isle. She was undeniably beautiful, but in his eyes, no woman could compare to the deadly Ziva.
Ceremony was beautiful.
The moment, five people in that church were waiting for, finally came. The preacher said "Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."
Tony looked right at Ziva.
Ziva stood up. She said :"You can't do it. You can't marry her. Because you're in love with me and I'm in love with you.", or at least that's what she wanted to say.
Instead she just sat there, not saying anything and not moving at all. The silence was too loud. It felt like ages, for both of them.
Next minutes were a blur.
Tony and Jeanne got married. It was too late.
The celebration was at the restaurant. Everyone was dancing, drinking and having fun. Gibbs was dancing with Ziva and McGee was dancing with Abby. The newlyweds danced together. After a while, Tony came up to Gibbs and Ziva and asked to dance with her. As they started dancing 'It must've been love' started playing.
.
~It must have been love
But it's over now~
.
They weren't two people, two coworkers, two friends anymore, they were two broken souls that were a part of one whole.
.
~Lay a whisper
On my pillow
Leave the winter
On the ground
I wake up lonely
There's air of silence
In the bedroom
And all around
Touch me now
I close my eyes
And dream away~
.
They didn't take their eyes off of eachother the whole time.
.
~It must have been love
But it's over now
It must have been good
But I lost it somehow
It must have been love
But it's over now
From the moment we touched
Till the time had run out~
.
They clinged to each other like they were drowning and the other one was saving them.
.
~Make believing
We're together
That I'm sheltered
By your heart
But in and outside
I turned to water
Like a teardrop
In your palm~
.
They were holding onto a dear life. They couldn't let go.
.
~And it's a hard
Winter's day
I dream away
It must have been love
But it's over now
It was all that I wanted
Now, I'm living without
It must have been love
But it's over now~
.
As the song progressed, they held each other tighter and tighter.
.
~It's where the water flows
It's where the wind blows
It must have been love
But it's over now
It must have been good
But I lost it somehow~
.
It was like the words were made for them
.
~It must have been love
But it's over now
From the moment we touched
Till the time had run out
Yeah, it must have been love
But it's over now
It was all that I wanted
Now, I'm living without
It must have been love
But it's over now
It's where the water flows
It's where the wind blows
It must have been love
But it's over now~
.
They knew they had to let go.
It wasn't written in the stars.
.
~It must have been love
But it's over now~
.
As the song ended, two almost lovers let go of each other.
He went to his wife but couldn't take his eyes off of his one true love. He wasn't the type to think that, but he knew deep down that he'll never love the woman in front of him as much as he loves Ziva.
(...)
"Hey."
"Hey.", woman looked like she had been crying.
"Is everything okay?", a man asked, knowing she's feeling the same hole inside her guts as he does.
"If I stood up", she suddenly turned around and looked at the man, " If I had stood up, right there in the church and said that I love you, would've that change anything. Would you had left her? For me?"
"Yes."
That one simple answer hit her right in the heart.
"Why? Why didn't you do it?"
"The same reason you asked her to marry you, the same reason you went through with the wedding."
"I love you. You know that, don't you?"
"I do, Tony. And I love you too. But I don't wanna do this. You made your choice. You proposed to her. You married her, for God's sake! We shouldn't be having this conversation at all."
" I didn't know! Okay! I didn't know you felt this way about me, Ziva!"
" You should've done something about it!"
"You also didn't do anything about it!"
"You were with another woman! How could've I known?!"
"Ziva... I'm sorry. Really."
"Well... That simply isn't enough."
.
As he watched he walk away, he knew. He had lost her forever.
