Authors Note: Yay! An update! I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but I have been hella busy. I was in a wedding the other day, and tomorrow is my birthday, so I've been excited about that. Here is chapter 2 of Falling Down for your reading pleasure.
Disclaimer: NCIS is not mine, blah, blah, blah, the title of the chapter is a song by Lady Antebellum so that isn't mine, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line, don't sue me.
Reviews are love, leave some!
Krystle
His eyes penetrate her and he can see through her lies, "I never wanted to hurt you, Kate."
She blinks once and looks back up at him, brown eyes meet blue and she replies bitterly, "Good job on that."
To say that he was shocked was an understatement. She was angrier than he thought.
Kate Todd was hardly ever angry, unless Tony did or said something that pissed her off. He was trying to talk to her, trying to open up, and she is so clouded by her anger towards him for ignoring their situation, that she didn't even let him get more than a few words out.
He doesn't want her to go home upset, but he finds himself stepping away from her and her vehicle. He watches as she grabs her belongings from the top of her car, unlocks her doors and slides into the driver's seat. He watches her lock her doors and place the key in the ignition, wishing that she will turn around and look at him; instead she backs out of her parking spot and leaves the garage.
~*~
She's always followed the rules of the road, but tonight she finds herself speeding out of the naval yard. Tears brim her eyes, and she has to pull over a couple of times to calm herself. These feelings that she has towards Gibbs are stronger than any she's ever felt before. She can't believe that she was stupid enough to actually think that he would feel the same way about her as she does towards him.
In his eyes, he probably sees her as a daughter considering their age gap. But he is no where near a father figure to her. She has been falling in love with him rapidly in her first month at NCIS than she did with her first boyfriend in high school. Jethro is so much more to her than just a hormone charged high school relationship.
She's imagined a future with him, and it's crazy that she has because they aren't even together, and gauging by his treatment of the passionate kiss that they shared earlier, there isn't going to be a relationship between them.
Once she's in the safety of her apartment, she locks the door and allows gravity to pull her to the floor. She leans against her door, head thrown back, and cries. She cries for the man she loves, she cries because he doesn't love her back, she cries because it's all she can do.
It's been a long time since Caitlin Todd has cried over a man, and she promises herself that it will be the last. After tonight, once she's cried all she can, she will no longer weep for Jethro Gibbs. She will not let him linger in her thoughts or dreams anymore. She's going to pick up the shattered pieces of her heart that he broke in so few words.
After crying for who knows how long, Kate gathers herself and walks down the hall to her bedroom. Deciding that a hot bath with her scented aromatherapy candles is what she needs, she strips out of her clothes and walks into the bathroom, she lights every candle one by one as the bath water fills her tub. She catches a peek at her self in the mirror and frowns.
She's a mess. Her day's makeup has run down her cheeks from her incessant crying, and her hair is a tousled mess.
"You're a mess, Kate," she says aloud to herself, and turns on her ocean sound CD. She steps into the tub and begins her healing process.
Tomorrow is a new day, and she's going to show everyone what she's capable of.
~*~
He downs more bourbon, and sands one of the ribs of his boat. He doesn't know what he's going to do. He has to prove to Kate that he doesn't regret the kiss that they shared. He can't do anything about it tonight, but he can tomorrow.
He's not anywhere near intoxicated, but he does have alcohol in his system. He picks up his cell phone and dials the number of a cab service. He gives the person on the other end of the phone his information and waits for the cab to show up. Once the yellow car pulls up, Jethro slides in the front seat. He can't wait until tomorrow. He needs her now.
"Where to?" the Cabby asks.
Jethro rattles off an address and they are soon on their way. The ride is filled with silence, and he has no idea what he's going to say. It is one in the morning, and they both have work the next day.
Jethro hands the driver a twenty and gets out of the car. He walks into the apartment building, and follows the numbered doors until he gets to the one he wants. He stares at the door for the longest time before he knocks.
~*~
It's a quarter after one
I'm all alone
And I need you now
Said I wouldn't call
But I've lost all control
And I need you now
And I don't know how I can do without
I just need you now
Kate hasn't slept a wink all night. She's been on her couch staring at a far off point for hours. Her bath was soothing enough; she thought that it had helped. But the water soon turned cold, and she was forced to leave her bathroom.
In some ways, she wishes that the kiss never would have happened; but she's glad it did. She now knows what it's like to kiss Jethro Gibbs, however, it was her first and last kiss from the sliver haired, and blue eyed NCIS Agent. His kiss awakened something in her, something she hasn't felt in years. She goes over every relationship she's had, and every kiss that she has ever received, but nothing comes remotely close to the way she felt on the submarine. She hates that he has this power over her. He can make her melt just by one look, give her goose bumps by just one touch.
She's in love with him, and she hates it. She promised herself that she would never fall in love with a co-worker, let alone her boss.
She glances at the clock above her door, and notices that it's a quarter after one. She has work in the morning, and she hasn't been able to fall asleep. Every time she closes her eyes she sees him. She feels his lips press against hers, feels his hard body flex under her touch.
She's about to go to bed when someone knocks on her door. Everyone in their right mind should be sleeping at this hour. For her own protection, she grabs her Sig Sauer and walks to the door. She glances out the peephole and sees a head of silver hair.
"Gibbs," she whispers to herself.
She puts her gun back in the holster, and opens the door. His head snaps up, and his blue eyes meet her dark brown ones, silently asking permission to come in.
Kate steps aside and lets him in, and shuts and locks her door before turning to face him. They stare at each other for the longest time, neither knowing what to do or say.
He says the only thing he can think of.
"I'm sorry, Kate."
Kate's eyes grow wide. He never apologizes. Apologizing, to him, is weakness, and she knows that Jethro Gibbs is anything but weak.
Kate sighs, "Is that all you came over here for, Gibbs? To apologize? You could have done that over the phone."
He looks at her with pleading eyes, and she feels bad for snapping at him. "Kate, please let me explain." When she nods 'yes' he continues.
"The kiss we shared today was-it was amazing. You're amazing, Kate. I don't know if you know this about me, but I was married to a beautiful woman. Her name was Shannon. You remind me of her. You two are similar. She had this power over me, made me smile when no one else could, and made me laugh when no one else could.
We dated for about eight months before I proposed. Sure it was fast, but I was positive that I was in love with her. She was it for me, the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I didn't think it was possible to love another person as much as I loved Shannon, then our daughter, Kelly was born. I couldn't believe that Shannon and I had created this perfect human being. As I stood there, holding my daughter, all six pounds eight ounces of her, my life was complete.
Kelly was five when I was sent to fight in desert storm. It was mid February when my CO pulled me aside and told me what happened. Shannon had witnessed the murder of a Marine and she and Kelly were placed under Protection Detail. They were in a car with the person assigned to protect them when a hired hit man caused a deadly accident. Both Shannon and the driver of the car were killed instantly; Kelly was taken to the hospital with severe injuries and bled out on the operating table.
My life was taken from me that day, Kate, and I haven't been alive since. I'm scared of what happened today. I'm scared to get close to someone again, because I don't want to lose them. I've been married since Shannon, but none of the marriages last longer than four months.
When we kissed today, it awakened my soul, you made me feel alive. I'm sorry for avoiding the subject, and avoiding you. I just had to figure myself out. You know that I hate to apologize, I only apologize when I'm wrong, Kate. And avoiding you was wrong."
He just notices that his story has made her cry. Her eyes are red and her cheeks are stained with tears for the woman and child she never knew existed until five minutes ago. He can tell that she's processing everything that he just told her, and he follows her to her couch and sits beside her.
She wipes the tears from her face, and looks over at him. "Gibbs, I'm so sorry about what happened. I had no idea that you went through all that."
"The only people that know about Shannon and Kelly are Ducky, Abby, the Director and you. No one else, I keep them to myself."
"Thank you for trusting me with them, Gibbs."
Making a risky move, he places his left hand on her thigh, and his right on her cheek to rub away the remaining tears. "I trust you with my life, Katie."
Kate leans into his hand and turns her face to kiss his palm. To hell with reasoning and professionalism. He just bared his soul to her, and she's not about to let him just up and leave and forget everything that happened.
Gibbs looks into her eyes and whispers, "Come here."
Kate moves closer to him and meets him for another kiss. She swears that this kiss is different, but she doesn't care. They aren't rushed, or interrupted this time, and she never wants to let him go.