I lied – there will be three chapters, not too.
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By the time they were back to her apartment, Abby had mostly forgotten about the daughter comments and was cheerful as she put the fresh produce away while Gibbs filled a vase with water for the flowers he had picked out. It wasn't quiet time to start on dinner, so Abby went to switch the laundry while Gibbs finished reading the paper from earlier. The washer and dryer were right off the kitchen so as she transferred the load from the washer to the dryer, she could watch Gibbs as well. He was focused on the article, the glasses sitting low on his nose, his hand wrapped around a coffee cup – one of her favorites. Her eyes traced over his long, strong fingers, and up his arm to his shoulder and the broad expanse of his back. She loved the area of his neck that was visible, just above the collar of his polo. More than once she'd been able to press her face to his skin there and inhale deeply, taking comfort from whatever he was consoling her about. Her eyes traced up the shell of his ear and then to the side of his face. She loved the little wrinkles beside his eyes. She could see the corner of his mouth, and had to drag her eyes back to the task at hand before she got too carried away.
She found herself wondering if he realized how much spending this time outside of work with him was so special to her. She was being honest when she said she wanted him to be able to rest all weekend and get some real sleep, but at the same time, she never felt safer than when Gibbs was around. Even if they weren't in the same room, knowing all she had to do was call out to him made her feel more secure than ever. And sleeping with him curled around her had brought her to a whole new level of security she had never known existed. "Gibbs?" she called out. If she brought attention to herself, she couldn't lose track of time and continue to stare at him.
"Hmm?"
"Want to watch a movie with me after dinner?"
"Maybe."
"Okay." She picked up the clean towels that had been in the dryer and carried them toward the linen closet down the hall by her bedroom. If she was lucky, she could curl up against him.
Whenever Gibbs said maybe to her when she asked him to do something, it almost always meant yes. After dinner he had agreed to a movie and let her pick – it was an action flick laced with comedy, though the delivery was terrible and half the time they were laughing at the acting rather than the jokes. The movie slowed toward the end and as the credits rolled, Gibbs looked down to see Abby's eyes closed, he head resting on a pillow over his lap. He flipped to the news for a few minutes and then switched the TV off. He managed to slide out from under her and carried their coffee cups to the kitchen. He headed back to where she was sleeping and debated on if he should carry her to bed or not. Eventually, he decided that she needed a comfy bed as much as he did, so he slipped an arm under her shoulders and one under her knees and lifted her. "Bed time, Abbs."
"Mmm, okay." She wrapped her arms around his neck and was back asleep in moments.
He carried her to her bedroom and placed her carefully on the bed. He was glad she'd changed into sweats before the movie, so he figured that she might be a little warm, but that they were okay to sleep in. He pulled back the blankets and helped her to get settled before switching off the lights and going to the bathroom.
"Gibbs?"
He peeked in from the bathroom. "Yeah?"
"Don't leave," she murmured.
"I'm not, just brushing my teeth."
She was asleep again before he was back.
Having fallen sleep early on the sofa, Abby found herself lucky to wake up before Gibbs. His arms were wrapped around her, and his chest was flush with her back. His nose was pressed into her hair and his slow and steady breaths warmed the back of her neck.
She tried to turn in his arms, but he tightened his hold and she had to fight a giggle to keep from waking him up. It was still dark as she worked herself free so she could go to the bathroom. As soon as she was out of bed, Gibbs whimpered in his sleep and reached for where she had been, tugging her pillow to his chest. She smiled down at him and then headed to the bathroom. She was washing her hands when she heard him call out. Concerned, she headed back to the bedroom to see him lying there – his body was tense and her forehead covered in a light sheen of sweat. What had been a soft whimper had turned to what seemed to be a nightmare. Cautiously she climbed back into bed and scooted closer. The minute her body made contact with his, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, a sigh of relief escaping him. "Gibbs?"
He tensed and then his eyes fluttered open.
"You okay…? You were sleeping and then I got up to go to the bathroom and you… it seemed like you were having a nightmare by the time I got back."
He hugged her in closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm okay."
"Okay," she whispered. "Go back to sleep."
"S'okay, I'm awake now."
"I'm not," she lied. "It's still early. Stay…" She snugged in against his chest and hoped he would stay and fall back asleep. She decided she would lay there with him as long as needed if it meant he would get more sleep. She didn't think she would fall back asleep, but when she opened her eyes again, the room was bright and she was laying half over Gibbs' chest. He was clearly awake, his fingers pulling gently through her hair. She had never felt so relaxed in her life. "I could wake up like this every morning." The minute the words were out, Abby realized she'd said it rather than think it like she had intended.
Gibbs chuckled at the gasp she let out.
"Sorry, I…" She tried to pull away, embarrassed.
"Nothing to be sorry about. I'm pretty comfortable too."
"What time is it?"
"Almost 11."
Abby sat up quickly to check that he was right. "But I fell asleep before 10, how did I sleep that much?"
"I'm not the only one who hasn't gotten enough sleep. But we should get going if we're going to do that wall." When Abby sat up, he sat as well and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
Waking up after Gibbs the day before, she had missed the sight of his broad shoulders without a shirt. She swallowed a soft whimper and forced herself to get up and get dressed. If they were going to be around saw dust, she wasn't going to bother with a shower until afterward.
They made a quick lunch of their leftovers and started getting ready to leave. "Grab a clean outfit. You can change afterward and I'll take you to dinner – as a thank you for your help."
"Oh, you don't have to do that…"
"I know."
His look told her it wasn't up for discussion so she grabbed a change of clothes and shoved them in a grocery bag. She didn't want him to feel obligated, but at the same time, it certainly wasn't a hardship to spend so much extra time with him. He drove them both to his house first, and then, after gathering the tools they would need, they headed three houses down the street to Emma Johnson's house. As soon as the older woman saw Abby she pulled her inside and sat her on the couch so they could chat while Gibbs worked. Abby tried to get up to help, but until Gibbs came and said that he needed her help with moving the electrical outlet, Emma kept her busy chatting about church, the nuns, Jack and work at NCIS.
"Thanks," Abby whispered. "She's been feeding me cookies for the last two hours – we might need to push dinner to another night, I'm so full."
"Cookies, huh? Maybe I should see if she wants to feed me too."
"They are pretty good, though I can already feel the first few going straight to my left ass-cheek."
"I think you'll be alright."
Abby laughed. "What, you checking out my ass?" She sure hoped so.
"I'm only a guy, Abbs."
It took them another hour to finish the basics. Emma's son was flying in a few days later and would be doing the floor and helping to paint over the new drywall that Gibbs had replaced. They headed back to his house and he headed for the shower right away, having done much of the heavy work. When he was done he suggested ordering in instead of going out. Both had been munching on cookies all afternoon and while they weren't hungry, they needed something besides sugar in their system. He ordered them a pizza while she took a quick spin in the shower, taking a few extra minutes to luxuriate in the smell of his soap.
Despite spending the entire weekend together, they never ran out of things to talk about, and their time together wasn't forced. It was getting late and since Gibbs had driven them both to his house, he would need to drive her home, otherwise she was spending the night. It was close to midnight when she muffled a yawn in the middle of their conversation about the US justice system. She rested her head back against the couch. "Can I stay here tonight..?"
He hesitated a moment and then nodded to the stairs. "Go on up."
She was at the base of the stairs when she realized he wasn't following her. "You coming?"
Gibbs shook his head. "I'll rack here."
She frowned but headed upstairs and rummaged through his drawer of shirts until she found one long enough. She found a spare toothbrush in the bathroom and then when she was all ready for bed, she headed back down the stairs to find Gibbs stretched out on the couch with a blanket and pillow. Rather than ask why he wouldn't sleep upstairs, she ignored his watchful gaze as she pulled back the blanket and situated herself on the couch with him, just barely hanging on to the edge. It wouldn't take much for her to fall to the floor.
"Abbs…"
"Don't let me fall on the floor."
"What are you doing?"
She ignored him and answered with her own question. "Why won't you come up to bed?" For a moment she felt like she sounded like a nagging wife – not quite the image she wanted to send.
"Why didn't you correct that woman at the grocery store yesterday? About being my daughter."
They were both good at deflecting questions they didn't want to answer, but this one caught her by surprise. "I didn't think you'd heard it, didn't want to bring attention to it."
"That why you were so quiet yesterday?"
"Doesn't matter what that lady though, you're not my father. Why won't you come to bed?" She wasn't going to let it drop.
Gibbs' arms tightened around her and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Can't take you to my bed for one night only," he confessed. The two previous nights he'd been able to tell himself that he was there to protect her, but to have her in his own bed was entirely different.
"What?" She started to prop herself up, but her hips slipped and she found herself scrambling to keep from falling to the floor. It took a good 30 seconds before she was settled and cautiously looked back at him, ignoring the fact that he was trying not to laugh at her. "What did you mean by that?"
His smile faded and he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "If I bring you into my bed, I'm going to want more. This weekend… it's been good Abbs, but I have to draw the line before I want more than I can have."
"What makes you think you can't have… what you want."
"Because I want you, Abbs. And no one catches your eye for long, you've said so yourself."
Abby almost choked on her laughter. "That is almost true. I haven't been able to stay with anyone because they haven't been you." She worked free of his grasp, got to her feet and held her hand out to him. "Come to bed with me."
He hesitated, staring up at her for several long moments before taking her hand and letting her tug him to his feet. She walked slowly toward his bedroom, her heart pounding in her chest as he followed closely behind. Even if all they did was sleep, things were changing big time for them if they shared his bed. He had said he couldn't just have her in his bed once and she believed it.
"You're hesitating," he whispered into her ear when she stopped outside his bedroom.
"I'm giving you the chance to back out."
"I'm sure of what I want; just need you to be sure." He only just resisted nuzzling her neck, not wanting her to get caught up in the physical contact.
Abby leaned back against his chest, and pulled his arms tightly around her, lacing her fingers with his. "It's been hard to sleep next to you and not even get to kiss you, but I held back because you needed the rest. Don't take the fact that I kept my hands to myself to mean that I'm not interested." She tilted her head up to look at him and smiled when he nuzzled against her cheek. "Come on," she moved into his room, flipping off the lights as she went by.
Gibbs stopped her before she could get into the bed, and cupped her face in his hands. He leaned in and kissed her softly before circling around to the other side. They met in the middle and Abby snuggled happily into his arms.
"Was dreaming that I lost you."
"Hmm?" She pulled back to look at him through the dark.
"This morning, when you woke me up, I had been dreaming that I lost you," he confessed.
"How? How did you lose me?"
Gibbs shook his head and pulled her in close again. "Doesn't matter." If he didn't say it, it wouldn't come true. Abby started to push away again, despite Gibbs not wanting to let go. "Abbs…"
"I just want to kiss you, but I can't when you've got me tucked under your chin." She smiled when he finally relaxed his grip so she could resituate herself, sharing his pillow and then leaned in to kiss him softly. He kissed her back and groaned when her tongue tapped against his lower lip.
Abby pulled away with a giggle as she pushed her hands up under the back of his shirt to fan out across his back. "That sounded kinda needy, Gibbs."
"Abbs," despite the growl he smiled at her and them propped himself up on his elbow, his hand supporting his head. "I do need you, always have."
TBC