A/N: Sorry about the delay. I've written this chapter a couple of times and I'm still not entirely happy with it. I hope that I haven't written the characters too OOC... I'm not going to lie, it's a bit fluffy! Anyway, I hope you enjoy! And thank you to everyone who has reviewed the previous chapters and started to follow this story!
Also, I have edited Chapter 3 if you're interested ;)
**Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters, only the plot!**
Chapter 5
Once DiNozzo and Ziva had bought in their suspect and placed her in interrogation, Gibbs had barely glared at her before she confessed. It had turned out that she was actually Thompson's girlfriend and he had been cheating on her. She was so hurt and angry that she stabbed him multiple times before she realised what she was doing. She panicked and had ditched the knife. After her confession, the team then spent the rest of the day typing up their reports. It was nearing 1800 hours and everyone, except for DiNozzo, had finished them. When DiNozzo had finally finished his report, Gibbs grabbed them and started to make his way up to the Director's office. As he reached the balcony, he heard Tony shout,
"Boss, its 1800 hours, can we leave?"
The expression Gibbs returned made him wince. Gibbs internally smirked at this; he liked to keep his team on the edge of their toes. He replied,
"Yeah DiNozzo" and continued on his way.
He had seen Jenny leave half an hour earlier, so he 'delicately placed' the finished reports on Cynthia's desk before heading back towards to bullpen. By the time that he had reached the balcony the bullpen was empty. His team were obviously in a hurry to leave; they had had a busy work load the last couple of weeks and hopefully they would have the weekend off. He strode down the stairs and headed towards the elevator, preparing himself for the talk with Jenny.
Jenny had just sat down in the basement to wait for Gibbs when she heard the slamming of a car door nearby. This was quickly followed by the footsteps of Gibbs, entering his house. After Jenny had left the Navy Yard, she headed to Gibbs' usual Chinese takeaway and bought dinner. She was feeling apprehensive about the topics they were going to discuss; they rarely bought up the past, and when they did it, it was out of spite. She knew a lot of the blame was on her part, and she was determined to prove to Jethro that they could make it work, that she wouldn't let him down, and that she wouldn't choose her career over him if another promotion were to arise. Being up the top was a lonely job.
She smiled up at Gibbs as he descended the basement stairs. She didn't want to appear nervous, she wanted to appear confident. She wanted to assure him that she was confident that their relationship was going to work, that he needn't doubt her intentions. She silently pulled out a tub of food and passed it to him, along with a set of chopsticks. They ate in silence for a while, only to be broken when she asked him,
"Did the case end up being solved?"
"Yep. Open and shut. The way I like it".
Clearly she was going to have to be the instigator of the conversation; Jethro was saying little as usual. She continued to take another mouthful, building up the courage to continue the conversation. She couldn't just sweep their past under the rug and hoped it wouldn't resurface.
"Jethro," she hesitantly said.
"Jenny," he replied back with a smirk.
Why was he being such a bastard she internally thought. Clearly he could see that she was uncomfortable, and he wasn't making it any easier.
"The reason why I wanted to talk was…" but before she could finish her sentence she was cut off by the man in question.
"I know Jen. You want to keep our relationship on the down-low for now. I also know that you regret leaving me in Paris, and that you still love me. I love you too, and I don't hate you nor am I angry at you. I could never stay angry at you for long anyway."
She sat their internally digesting everything he just said. He loved her! He wasn't angry! His mini speech bought a swarm of butterflies to her stomach, causing her to blush.
Gibbs was watching her intently, and when she didn't respond immediately, or even after 30 seconds, he said
"Jen, are you alright?"
Gibbs speaking to her again brought her out of her temporary daze.
"Umm…yeah. I'm just shocked. I don't think you have ever said that much to me at one time!" What did she just say! She was internally screaming at herself - what she had just said was all wrong. Why did her head and mouth not communicate at this really important moment? Now he was probably going to hate her. She then looked at Jethro to see his reaction, which caught her by surprise. He was laughing! Her moment of panic then turned to fury. Her predicament was not funny; it was embarrassing, and it was certainly not something that could be laughed about. She then glared at him, waiting for him to stop.
When Jenny had responded to his 'expression of love', he did not think that it would be a comment at how little he usually spoke. Her look of utter horror afterwards was highly amusing, so he started to laugh. The glare that he received in return was icy. He realised that laughing was definitely not the best move. In order to get himself out of trouble, he closed the distance between them and passionately kissed her. The kiss was heart-felt, and definitely conveyed how they felt about each other, and also consummated their un-spoken agreement to make their rekindled relationship work.
However, in order to do this, Gibbs decided to go on an unconventional path. Despite the fact that the kiss was getting hot and intense and could have easily been taken to the bedroom - if they even made it that far – he decided that he didn't want that tonight. Instead he said,
"Jen, I want to go about things differently this time."
At first she was surprised, but then smiled in return. He knew that she wanted to be in his bedroom at this very moment, doing what they both did best, but this approach hadn't really worked the last time. He quickly came up with an alternative plan, something he knew that Jenny would like and didn't involve watching him build his boat. He grabbed her hand and led her up the basement stairs and to his lounge room. He pulled a thick blanket out of a storage cupboard and placed it on the couch. He then revealed what they would be doing for the remainder of the night; he held up his DVD copy of "True Grit", his favourite John Wayne movie. Jenny smiled broadly in return.
He turned on his TV and tried to remember the steps Abby had shown him the previous Christmas. He smiled in satisfaction when it played on the first go. The look that he was receiving from Jenny told his that she was impressed. Yes, he was pulling out the big guns for his date.
As the credits for the movie started to play, he moved towards the couch, laid down and pulled Jenny into his arms. They both lay there watching the movie, happy to be holding the other in their arms. Once the movie had finished, they quietly caught up on each other's lives.
Gibbs briefly mentioned Shannon and Kelly, explaining to Jenny that the reason why he hadn't told her about them is that he didn't want her to think that she was a replacement. He thought it would be better for the relationship, and that he was wrong. Jenny accepted his explanation, and told him about her father and her need for justice. All of their secrets were out in the open, and they were now able to move on in their relationship. It was on the couch that the two eventually fell asleep in each other's arms, happy and content.
Sorry if this wasn't what you were expecting. This story was originally meant to be 3 chapters long, but I haven't quite finished yet ... There will be more drama coming up!
