Relieved, she smiled at his words as he drifted off. The whole trip over, she'd been imagining conversations in her mind where Tim told her that he was leaving, and coming up with arguments to convince him to stay. She'd told herself that she was being paranoid, that he didn't have a reason to leave; but there was a little voice in the back of her head that kept saying he didn't really have a reason to stay. The team was like family to him, she knew that; but families drifted apart. None of them were very close to their biological families; they'd all left in search of other things. He'd changed so much; she'd thought that maybe this would be the opportunity he'd take.
She glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand. 3.30am. If she went home now, she could get about 2 hours sleep. She thought about it for a moment, then decided she didn't really want to leave his apartment. She wouldn't admit it to anyone but herself right now, but the chance of him leaving had scared her more than she cared to think about. Getting up from her perch on the bed, she went around to the unoccupied side and stretched out. She doubted he'd mind.
...
The sound of the alarm startled him awake. Groaning, he slapped at the clock, turning the alarm off. He decided that waking to the obnoxious sound of the alarm was one of the worst ways to wake up. Especially when you'd had less than 3 hours sleep. He sat up, knowing that if he lay there he'd go back to sleep and end up late for work, then froze as the opposite side of the bed creaked. The last thing he remembered was telling Abby he wasn't going to leave. What had happened?
Slowly he turned around, meeting her sleepy green eyes. She smiled
"Morning, Tim!"
He'd forgotten how chirpy she was in the morning
"Morning Abs" he replied automatically. He was more than a little confused right now, but politeness was a habit that was hard to break.
She sat up and stretched, seemingly unconcerned about waking up in her best friend's bed. "We should get moving McGee, you don't want to be late" she pointed out.
As if on autopilot, he stood and headed to the bathroom, taking one last backwards glance as he left the room. He needed to be a little more awake for this conversation.
...
He splashed cold water on his face, letting the chill wake him up. He took a few more moments than he strictly needed, trying desperately to recall the events of the night before. They'd both woken up fully clothed, so he knew nothing hinky had gone on. That was a relief, but in a strange way. If they'd had sex, he would have liked to remember. Mindful of the fact he had a guest, he quickly shaved and left the bathroom.
She was sitting at the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee when he walked down the hall, fully dressed if not fully awake.
"Bathroom is all yours, Abs" he told her, pouring his own coffee.
"Thanks Tim" she put her cup in the sink and headed up the hall. He watched her go, shaking his head. They'd need to talk about this at some point. The hell of it was that they wouldn't have time before leaving for work, which meant he wouldn't get an explanation until lunch time at the earliest. The obvious answer was that she'd just fallen asleep last night, but that left questions of its own. And knowing Abby, the obvious answer usually wasn't the correct one.
Finishing his coffee, he picked up his pack from where he'd dropped it on getting home a few hours earlier. He removed the balloons, bundling their strings together and tying them to his desk chair, then went back and dug through his pack again. He quickly found what he was looking for; her note. He smiled tenderly as he re read it, and then slipped it into one of the many folders he kept near his typewriter.
The jingle of the buckles on her favourite platform boots alerted him to her presence. He looked up
"We'd better get going, Abs" he told her, trying to act as if this was a normal occurrence, both leaving for work from his apartment. She nodded, grabbing the bag he hadn't even noticed she had and her coat. He gestured for her to precede him, locking the door behind them.
Her hearse was parked in the visitors spot in the building parking lot, a few spaces up from his Porsche. She unlocked the unusual vehicle, climbing in. He held the edge of the driver's door, stopping her from closing it.
"Want to get some lunch later, Abs?" he asked her, hoping she'd say yes. Otherwise he'd spend the whole day trying to figure this out... whatever it was.
"Sure Tim" she replied "Just let me know when you're free". He let the door go as she started the engine, watching as she drove out of the parking lot. Giving himself a mental shake, he went to his own car. It was going to be a long morning.