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Tony pulled his car into Gibbs' driveway. He had been staying here for three weeks now and hadn't had a nightmare since the first night. Gibbs even seemed to be ok with him being there. Today they had finished up a case in which a sailor had been murdered by his wife after she discovered he was leaving her for another woman. Gibbs sent them all home early after they were finished with all the requisite paperwork since they had been working around the clock. Tony was tempted to stay at the office with Gibbs, but then decided spontaneously to surprise him with a home cooked meal. It was Friday night and he needed to unwind.

Not many people knew that Tony could cook. They saw him as an overgrown frat boy who didn't even know how to boil an egg. He did have to admit that he never bothered to disabuse people of this notion. He liked being the class clown. It was easier than letting people see inside to the mess he often was underneath. He had to admit that he started learning to cook to impress a girl, she was taking a cooking class and he joined just to get to know her. But to his surprise, he had actually enjoyed it. The even bigger surprise was that he was also good at it. Tonight he was going to make Gibbs a lasagna, a nice garden salad and some crusty garlic bread. He had even bought a couple of bottles of red wine to go with the meal. He was really excited to cook for Gibbs. He hoped he liked his cooking.

Tony stopped what he was doing as that thought flashed through his mind. He had always wanted to impress his boss, but this excitement and anxiety was new for him. Desires he'd been suppressing were suddenly pushing at him. No he wasn't going to think about this right now. Gotta focus on making his sauce.

Gibbs got home about two hours later. He walked through the front door and an amazing scent engulfed him. "DiNozzo, whatever you ordered, there better be enough for me," he called out to his senior agent. He watched the smiling man walk out of the kitchen with a large bowl of salad. He was looking better lately. Gibbs had been worried about him at first, but now he was starting to see the old Tony coming back. He liked seeing the sparkle in back in Tony's beautiful green eyes. Wait, did he just think that? It's not that Gibbs had never been attracted to a man before, but DiNozzo? Not happening! He'd never given in to his feelings for a man before, but Tony was on his team so he was definitely not going there.

As he was banishing the unwanted thoughts from his brain, he heard the other man speaking to him. "I actually didn't order this Boss. Believe it or not, I cooked." Gibbs stopped in his tracks, "You can cook?," he asked incredulously. Tony turned and smirked at him, causing a reaction in his stomach that was not welcome. "Hah, I've finally managed to tell you something you didn't already know," Tony said with one of his goofy grins. "I never thought it'd happen!" Gibbs had to smile at that. "Shut up and feed me DiNozzo."

After what had to be the best lasagna that Gibbs had ever eaten, even though he'd never tell that to Tony, the younger man had enough of an ego without that boost, he was building a fire while Tony babbled on about some movie he wanted to watch. Gibbs liked that Tony never seemed to need him to respond to his ramblings. It was nice just to listen and not have to join in. When the fire was where he wanted it, he sat back on the couch with his beer and watched the animated man across from him. He was wearing jeans that were much too tight for Gibbs tastes, even though he couldn't help but notice how well they framed the younger man's figure. His gray t-shirt hugged his chest perfectly. Dammit, Gibbs hadn't thought like this for so long he'd started to convince himself that this attraction to men wasn't real. He'd never explored his feelings, partly because he was a soldier and wouldn't risk losing that for sex, and partly because he'd never gotten that close to anyone who'd turned his head. And now, having Tony in his house, it was affecting him, and he didn't like it. But he couldn't send him away, not when the dark circles under his eyes were finally starting to fade. Also, and Gibbs hated thinking this, it was nice having the younger man around.

Gibb had been thinking so hard he had failed to notice that Tony had stopped speaking. "Gibbs?," Tony asked with apprehension. "Are you ok, am I talking too much? I'll shut up." "No, DiNozzo. I think the wine got to me," Gibbs said with a smirk. "Not used to drinking that stuff." Tony smiled, "Yeah, we drank both bottles. But you gotta admit, it was good wasn't it?" Tony knew Gibbs had enjoyed the food and the wine, he'd had three pieces of lasagna! But he wanted to hear Gibbs say it.

He always wanted to hear what Gibbs thought of him. Gibbs' opinion mattered so much to him, sometimes it scared him how much. And then the way Gibbs had just been looking at him, it was like he was studying his body. It made Tony's stomach do weird things. He wasn't used to Gibbs looking at him that way, nor was he happy with the way it made him feel. It had been a very long time since Tony had allowed those kinds of thoughts about this man to come to the forefront of his mind. But he could swear the look in Gibbs' eyes were...no, it was the wine, he was imagining things. Definitely the wine, and the beer too.

"Want another beer?," Gibbs asked.
"I'd rather go out and get some," Tony said.
"Go out? Where?," Gibbs asked suspiciously.
"I don't know. Anywhere. Come on Boss, it's Friday. We've been working non-stop and now we have a free weekend. Let's have some fun!" Tony was getting excited.
Gibbs couldn't help but smile. Tony looked so cute when he was like this. Cute? What the hell was he thinking? He needed to go to sleep before he said, or did, something stupid. But before he could stop himself, he did it anyway.
"Sure, why not?"