Chapter 2

Ziva's eyes slowly flutter open. Gibbs sits on the side of the bed showered and fully dressed. She quickly blinks and rubs the sleep from her eyes. She notices he is fiddling his thumbs and having a hard time looking her in the eye. She subconsciously pulls the sheet further upon her bare shoulders.

"Good morning." She says, unsure of herself.

"Morning." He mumbles as he leans over and kisses her forehead.

She accepts his gesture but his actions make her feel uncomfortable. He is once again acting distant even though the night before had been filled with promise and what she almost dared herself to think: love. He returns to his spot on the edge of the bed. She remains stoic on the outside while her insides are in turmoil. She is completely confused. His mixed signals are now giving her full blown emotional whiplash. She's speechless, but her stomach isn't. Her stomach betrays her as it grumbles from lack of food. Finally, he turns to her once more.

"You should get dressed and come down for somethin' to eat." Then he stands and walks out of the room. She slams her head back on the pillow before jumping up and dashing into the bathroom with the sheet fully wrapped around her and dragging the floor.

She looks at herself in the mirror.

"You have to get a grip." She chastises herself as she turns the sink on. After several cold splashes of water to her face she still feels tears stinging at her eyes. She decides to shower to give her more time to get her emotions in line.

Gibbs leans against the wall just outside of the bedroom, mentally berating himself. He wasn't trying to push her away, but everything he said seemed to come out wrong. He'd been contemplating whether or not to wake her up because of how content she seemed, and not to mention the fact that she was naked in his bed on his pillow. The before he knew it she surprised him by catching him in thought. He wanted to kiss her but for some reason he'd shied away from it and instead kissed her forehead. Then her stomach growled and he felt guilty because he knew she was hungry. So once again he just came out looking like an ass. One would think you'd be better at this by now. He tells himself. The he hears the shower turn on and his mind wonders to the night before and then to her being in his shower. He instantly wants her again. He re-enters the room and crosses to the bathroom door. He knocks.

She stills herself in the shower.

"Just a minute." She calls as she continues her shower. He twists the door knob. Locked. She locked him out. Damn, he thinks. He tries to control himself, he is a gentleman after all. So he waits outside the bathroom door. A few minutes later he hears cabinet doors opening and closing before then hearing the sink turn on. Then finally she opens the door, wrapped in a towel because her clothes are still scattered around the room. She stops as he blocks her path.

"I…uhm…there's ah something I wanted to say to you… about last night." He tries to formulate a coherent thought while looking at her clad only in a towel, still partially wet. He stands there for a moment, not saying anything.

"Gibbs?" She brings him out of his daydream.

"Yeah, well, I was a little drunk and I think I made a mistake about…(she feels as if she's falling, her stomach now bottomless, but it still manages to growl.) You know it can wait. Let's eat." He changes the subject and tries to contain himself even though all he wants is to take her back to bed. "I have some clean sweats if you want… they may be a lil' big but…" he shrugs and goes to his dresser and pulls a shirt and sweats from his drawer. She takes them with a shaky hand. "You okay?" He asks, noticing her hand.

"Mmhmm." She whispers as she nods. He looks at her strangely and then goes down to make breakfast. By the time she comes down he has eggs and coffee made. She enters the kitchen and his assumptions were correct. The clothes effectively swallow her small frame and she walks on the bottom of the pants. Even now he still thinks she looks sexy.

"You did not have to make me breakfast." She says taking a cup of coffee he offers her. She tries to act normal.

"I wanted to. I figured I owed you that much after last night."

"What?"

"The food. All the food you made… for the party." He rushes realizing how he came off. "Had a hell of a time finding the eggs there's so much in there." He sits at the table. She sits cautiously. Almost as if she's afraid the chair is going to be jerked out from under her right at the last moment. They eat in relative silence and while it isn't awkward it is unnerving to Ziva.

"Well, I should go probably go." She says awkwardly after swallowing the last of her food. She stands and he stands with her. He's confused.

"Well—" He starts but she cuts him off.

"What did you want to say to me? Upstairs. When I got out of the shower. I mean. You started to say something and then you didn't and I want to know what it is… Unless you don't want to tell me and in that case it's fine." She rambles.

He steps out from the table and walks closer to her.

"I…uhm… I wanted to apologize."

"Why? You already apologized for the party and you never apologize." She rushes and rambles.

"I wanted to apologize for after…for you know… when we went upstairs-" She stops him with a toss of her hands.

"Oh, I cannot believe this. I have to go." She says as she scrambles away in search of her keys.

"Ziva, wait. That's not what I mean." He tries to stop her but she's still frantically searching for her keys. He grabs her by the arm to stop her and before he knows it she flips him and he's lying on his back.

"Damnit!" He screams as his body aches from the contact with the wood floor.

She immediately stops as the reality of what she just did hits her.

"Gibbs, I am so sorry."

"I was just trying to tell you I can do better! Last night I was drunk. I was gonna say I can love you better than last night! Damnit!" He yells at her without thinking. Now he feels stupid, hurt, and angry all at the same time. Great. He thinks.

She immediately straddles him on the floor and kisses him.

"I'm sorry." She tells him between kisses. "Last night was fantastic." She assures him as she kisses him again. He breaks the kiss.

"Is that my consolation prize for you breakin' my back?"

"I said I was sorry." She pouts.

"Hmmm." He groans as his hands move under her shirt to massage her hips and lower back. She stills his hands and moves them from under her shirt.

"You are still an ass for making me think bad things." She says as she stands and returns to the kitchen.

"I didn't make you think anything. You did that all by yourself." He calls out to her.

He gets to his feet and arches his back trying to shake the pain there. He follows her to the kitchen. She is cutting a piece of the cake.

"Hey, I didn't get to blow out my candles yet."

"Yes, well maybe you should have thought about that last night." She tells him as she seductively licks the icing from her finger. She returns her full attention to her slice of cake.

He walks up to her and presses himself against her back. He stills her hands and turns her around. She looks at him while chewing a bite of cake. He reaches around her and gets icing on his finger and then wipes a bit on her neck. As she begins to protest he leans down and kisses the spot, using his tongue to remove the icing. She closes her eyes remains still. His kisses move up to her.

"I promise." He whispers. And kisses along her jaw-line, making his way to her mouth. He gently kisses her mouth before moving on to her other ear.

"Tonight will be better. Much better." He whispers before nibbling on her ear. At the same time, he reaches behind her for the cake. This time he takes the saucer that has her piece on it and he turns on his heel and walks out of the room.

He leaves her standing there frustrated and incredibly turned on.

Tonight, huh… I'll be the judge of that. She grins as she devises a plan..