Title: Baby Assignment

Chapter: 5

Disclaimer: I do not own ANY of the original characters from the show, they belong to the writers of NCIS.

Author's note: Thanks for the reivews! I love reading them and it really inspires me to write faster/better/more. So I was so happy with the reviews that I wrote a longer chapter (longest one yet) and I hope that you all enjoy it. I would really like to hear more from you guys, tell me if I'm doing a good/okay/bad job so that I know if I should keep writing like this, or where I need to improve. Thank you all for reading, I hope that you all enjoy reading this fanfic as much as I enjoy writing it! :) Enjoy!

Tony shut his car off and grabbed his backpack before hurrying into school. He put his bag away and grabbed his health textbook. He slowly made his way over to Ziva and her friends, he flashed them all a huge grin as they turned to greet him.

"Hey Tony." They said almost in unison, Tony's grin got even wider at the way they all looked at him, his grin disappeared however when Ziva rolled her eyes.

He turned to her, "Where's Jake?"

Ziva's eyes grew wide, "Oh my gosh! I have to call my dad!"

Tony laughed as Ziva rushed off, dialling her home number on her cell phone.

He turned back to the other girls, wondering why they weren't laughing too and couldn't help a silly grin from crossing his face as all he noticed quite a few others were also calling home with worried looks on their faces.

Tony merely shook his head and followed Ziva, after all the baby was his responsibility too. He found her outside, waiting for her dad to drop Jake off. He walked up to her and grinned, "I guess this makes me the responsible one in the relationship…"

He waited for a response and grinned when Ziva looked towards him, "You wish, everyone makes mistakes but I'm still the responsible one."

Tony was about to object when Ziva's dad drove in the school parking lot. Ziva ran to the car just as her dad was getting out. He smirked at her, knowing that he needn't say anything more, Tony would take care of that. "Thanks Dad." Ziva said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, I owe you one."

"You owe me many, but that's okay, just don't loose him again, something tells me this doll isn't cheap."

"Thanks Gibbs." Tony said, making sure to drop the mister as Ziva's dad didn't like the sound of it much.

Gibbs nodded, "No problem Tony, just try and watch Jake more closely, seeing as you can't expect Ziva to do so." Tony nodded at the glare Ziva gave her father.

"Bye Dad, you can go now." She said, practically shoving him in the car.

"What? I don't get to talk to your friends?" He asked teasingly. Ziva rolled her eyes and closed the car door for him. "See you tonight!"

Tony grinned and walked towards Ziva, "Here, I'll take Jake, I don't want you to loose him again."

She rolled her eyes, "If I so irresponsible maybe you should take care of Jake all by yourself and I will relax, that way I won't lose him." She looked at Tony, waiting for a response.

"Uh… yeah about that… Um… Everyone makes mistakes?"

Ziva grinned and took Jake back, "That's what I thought."

They quickly walked to health class and sat down just as the bell rang.

Dr. Mallard began, "Good morning class. I hope that you are all making excellent progress on your baby assignments. Today we will be learning more about…."

Tony let his mind wander while Dr. Mallard rambled on. Tony thought back to before class and the how cute Ziva looked when she realized she'd forgotten Jake. It had taken all of his self-control not to kiss her right then, but he didn't dare try that yet. He had to make sure she felt the same way first; he had to make sure he wasn't just setting himself up for a broken heart.

Tony thought back to yesterday's events. He couldn't have been happier when Ziva was assigned to be his partner. Although they were best friends and therefore spent lots of time together, they rarely got to spend time just the two of them, the way they would have to for a good portion of this week.

He'd really enjoyed yesterday, although their football game left him with more questions than answers.

Tony knew how he felt. He'd fought it for a long time, but he finally admitted to himself that he was in love with Ziva last year. Ever since then he'd been watching her intently at any chance he got, hoping that she would drop him a clue.

Until yesterday, he didn't have any luck. He'd tried making her jealous, but that never worked. He'd tried hinting to her, but that didn't work. Tony had been sure that she didn't return his feelings, and the thought really stung, but then they played football. He never would've thought that tackling her would change everything so quickly.

He could've sworn that he saw something in her eyes after he fell on her. That one look in her eyes had given him hope that maybe she did care. Maybe she did see him as more than a friend.

He was about to lean in and kiss her before the stupid cook called him in. Then things became awkward. They'd both gotten up as quickly as they could, and they couldn't even look each other in the eyes afterwards.

Tony was up all night replaying the scene in his head, trying to figure out if she had wanted to kiss him as much as he had wanted to kiss her. Judging by the look in her eyes she did. Tony grinned as he thought about the possibility that she loved him.

He quickly stole a glance at her and flashed his "DiNozzo Grin" when he noticed she was watching him.

Tony braced himself for the eye roll that was sure to come his way, but the bell rang before anything could happen.

Everyone filed out of the room and headed for their lockers, Tony stuffed his books in his locker and leaned against his locker so he could watch Ziva. She was chatting animatedly with Abby and had a huge smile on her face.

Tony grinned and slowly made his way towards them, "Hey."

They turned to him and smiled, "Hey."

Ziva turned around to grab Jake and Tony subtly checked her out. A huge grin spread across his face, but he quickly hid it as he noticed Abby smiling at him.

She opened her mouth to say something but Tony cut her off before she could, "So I was just wondering if you still had Jake."

Abby looked confused, "Of course she does, where else would he be."

Tony grinned mischievously, "Well, she could do what she did this morning and lose him."

Abby's eyes grew wide and Ziva turned around quickly, handing Jake over. "I did not lose him, I knew exactly where he was, I simply didn't bring him to school with me."

"Yeah… sure." Tony said, sarcasm dripping in his tone. Ziva opened her mouth to speak but he didn't let her, "Anyways, I have to go, see you guys at lunch."

He walked away and Ziva yelled, "I did not lose him!"

Tony simply rolled his eyes, he really loved teasing her and her stubbornness was just one more thing that he loved about her.

~~~NCIS~~~

Tony made his way towards the cafeteria, math class had seemed to last even longer than normal today. He couldn't wait to talk to Ziva and see if anything had actually changed between them since last night.

He really hoped that something had, he hoped that there really was a "look" in her eyes when he fell on top of her.

It was that look that could either fulfill his dreams or be the driving force of his nightmares. Tony inhaled to calm his nerves before he went into the cafeteria.

Pushing open the doors he went and bought his lunch. Tony was looking around the room, looking for Ziva when he stopped dead in his tracks. Tony saw Ziva, but he didn't like what he saw with her.

Matt was leaning against table and talking to her, Tony could tell just by their body language that they were flirting.

He watched as Matt leaned closer to Ziva and she smiled, Tony was filled with rage as he realized what Matt was doing--he was using Tony's method of hitting on a girl, the one Tony used right before he asked a girl out.

Sure enough, Ziva nodded and Matt grinned, making Tony's blood boil.

Tony turned around and slammed his tray down, he grabbed Jake and didn't even bother to cover his anger as he stormed out of the room. Thankfully the cafeteria was large and although Tony turned a few heads, neither Ziva nor Matt looked at him.

Tony made his way to his lockers so he could get his car keys. Tony fumbled with the lock but it refused to budge, adding to his frustration.

He was so angry that he began kicking his locker, after only a couple bangs students were looking his way. Tony pulled himself together and tried one more time, this time the lock gave way and he grabbed his keys.

He closed his locker with a bit more force than necessary and hadn't even realized that Melissa had walked up to him, "Tony what's wrong?" She asked with concern in her voice.

Tony shook his head; he wasn't in any mood to talk to anyone right now so he simply said, "Nothing."

He began to walk away but Melissa followed him outside. Tony was almost at his car when he turned around and faced her. "WHAT?!"

Melissa looked a little miffed at the way he was acting, but she inhaled to calm herself, "What's wrong Tony?"

He gritted his teeth to help control his anger as he answered, "Nothing."

Melissa simply looked at him, "Tony…"

"No!" He exploded, "Nothing is wrong now will you PLEASE leave me alone?!"

Melissa looked a little hurt and she backed down, "Whatever, keep it all locked up and let it gnaw at you over time, see what it matters to me. By the way, I had wanted to ask you if instead of catching a movie you'd like to go to the dance this Friday for our first date, but the way you're acting I'm not sure if there's going to be a first date!"

She turned on her heel and began walking away but Tony caught up with her. He instantly felt bad for the way he was treating her, it wasn't her fault Ziva didn't love him.

He attempted to swallow the pain as he touched her arm, "Look, Melissa, I'm sorry."

He began but she ripped her arm from his grip, "I forgive you…"

She began and noticed the way Tony grinned, making him seem more like himself again. She continued, "On one condition… you tell me what's really bothering you."

Tony's grin disappeared and a sour look came over his face upon remembering what had just happened and how easily his heart had shattered into a million pieces when he saw Ziva accept Matt's offer to what Tony guessed was the dance.

He forced a grin to his face and began, "It's nothing."

Liar!

He saw the doubt in Melissa's eyes and shrugged, "I'm sorry, just having a bad day and my temper got the best of me, please go to the dance with me?"

He flashed her his infamous "DiNozzo grin" as all the girls at school called it, and even though the sparkle in his eye was gone Melissa nodded.

"Fine, I'll go. You'll pick me up at 7?"

Tony nodded, "Sure, I'll see you then. Again, I'm sorry I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you, it's not your fault I keep refusing to accept reality, guess after what I just saw I don't have much choice anymore." He grinned, doing what he always did, trying to cover up his pain with a smile and a joke, hoping no one would dig any deeper.

He smiled at her but continued talking before she could ask him what he meant, "You going to watch my game tomorrow night?"

Melissa paused, she was wondering if she should continue digging and find out what Tony meant or simply forget it like he obviously wanted her too. Her eyes showed uncertainty, but when she saw the pain in his she decided to let it go, he'd tell her when he was ready.

Grinning she said, "You bet, I can't wait to see my boyfriend beat the Ridgeton team. I'll be cheering for you." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before walking back inside school.

Tony grinned and watched her walk away, but even after her kiss he couldn't help but think about how much happier he'd be with Ziva--how he was sure he could make her happy if only she gave him chance.

Thanks for reading :) I love hearing back from you so please review! Also, I have tons of ideas for this story, but if you have any suggestions at all, I would love to hear them and I'll try to fit them in the story (as long as it fits with the plot.) Again thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!