He looks over at her, as she takes a bite of cheeseburger. She doesn't say anything, she just chews her food. Her eyes ask the question for her. He knows that look well. What? He can almost hear her say.
"You really were hungry."
She swallows, "I told you that I was."
"You do realize that isn't kosher, right?"
She wipes her mouth with her napkin. "Am I the poster child for being kosher?"
"No."
"I eat what I want, when I'm hungry."
"I know," he smiles.
"Something else on your mind?"
"This doesn't change anything, does it?"
"What are you talking about? Me eating a cheeseburger?"
"Not the cheeseburger, what happened this morning."
"What would it change?"
"I don't know, there are a lot of Brenda Bittner's in the world."
"I am not going to go on facebook and change my relationship status."
"You're sure?"
"Why would I? Our relationship hasn't changed."
"You're sure?"
"We've been in a relationship for five years. I don't know what else you would call a partnership. Sex doesn't change any of that, at least not for me."
He grins, "Did you know that the longest relationship I've had with a woman in my adult life, is you?"
"It's kind of sad, because I would have to say the same."
"Why are we so screwed up? Why is it that we can make things work between us, and we can never make romantic relationships work."
"Because romantic relationships come with expectations. Expectations that we aren't very good at meeting. When you're in a romantic relationship people expect you to change."
"You never have to change for me. I like you just the way you are."
"That is why our partnership works. We may have qualities that sometimes annoy each other, but we accept each other, for who we are."
"What are we doing wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why can't we make things work, with the other people in our lives?"
"Maybe the reason that we work, no matter how hard things get is because we put our lives in each other's hands."
"I just wish that other people understood me, the way that you do."
"I know. I wish that other people could read me, the way that you do."
"Do you think we'll ever have what we want?"
"What do you mean?"
"The elusive, one?"
"I wish that I could say yes, but I can't. We're both terrible at relationships. We do all the wrong things. We never say the right things. We always choose the wrong people. We pick people that we want to be with, but shouldn't."
"How do we fix it?"
"Tony, I don't think we can."
"Can I make a proposal?"
"What is that?"
"You have terrible taste in men."
"Yes, I will admit that, but you have even worse taste in women."
"Why don't I set you up with someone I think would be good for you?"
"Can I do the same?"
"I don't see why not. What could it hurt?"
"It's never going to be easy for us," she reminds him.
"Maybe we should try harder."
"I don't know how much harder I can try."
"Ray?"
"What about him?"
"You aren't in love with him? He's not the one?"
"He is fun to be with, but we're just friends."
"I see."
"And E.J.?"
"She's fun to be with. She's a goodtime girl."
"You want more?"
"You don't?"
"Yes, and that's the problem."
"Ziva?"
"Yes?"
"I'm glad we did this."
"Which part?"
"All of it. I'm glad that I could help you. I did help you, right?"
She smiles, "Yes, you did."
"You seemed more surprised than I did, when you didn't scream."
"I expected that I would."
"But you didn't. Are you going to tell me why?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"I am fully aware that there are things that you don't like to share. I know it's hard for you to talk about any of it, but I'm always here for you, if you want to. It doesn't matter when it is, or where I am, or what I'm doing. If you want to talk about it, I'll listen. You know that, right?"
"Yes."
"I won't push you."
"You haven't."
"It hasn't been easy."
"Why do you want to know?"
He shrugs, "I guess that maybe I think if you say it out loud, if I hear it, then I can take a little bit of the burden off you. Sometimes I feel like you're holding back. Some days I look at you, and I wonder if the old Ziva is ever going to come back. I wonder if I'm ever going to get any of you back."
"The old Ziva?"
"When you came back, you weren't the same person. I think that we can both admit that. You were someone else."
"You miss the old me?"
"I miss the fearless, unbroken version of you."