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Chapter Fifteen

Abby woke with a start. She reached out for Gibbs, but her hand met cold sheets. Oh God, he thinks it was a mistake. She listened for sounds of him moving around her apartment – the kitchen, the bathroom, anywhere, but heard nothing. Pushing the blankets aside, Abby grabber for her robe and headed for the kitchen. Maybe he's quietly drinking coffee in the kitchen.

The coffee was made, and Gibbs' mug was on her dining table, but there was still no Gibbs.

Abby wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged herself tightly. She should have known Gibbs would wake up and realize his mistake, but she didn't think it would make it any easier if she had known he'd regret it ahead of time. They hadn't even done anything and she felt her heart breaking into a million pieces.

Suddenly she heard the front door open and she turned in time to see Gibbs step in, a silly grin on his face. "That little old Mrs. Kaplan sure likes to talk. I think she-" Gibbs kicked the door shut behind him. "Abbs? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I thought you left." Abby caught her lower lips between her teeth and willed herself not to cry.

"I didn't think you'd be up for awhile, so I went downstairs to get the newspaper." Gibbs tossed the paper aside and walked up to Abby, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I'm not going anywhere."

Abby nodded and pressed her face to his neck. "Can we go lay down again? You can bring your coffee and the newspaper."

"Sure." Gibbs gave her a quick kiss and then reached for the newspaper and then his coffee. "I can't spend the whole day in bed though. I need… I still need to talk to Kelly. About us."

"Oh. Okay. It's fine. I've got plans with the nuns later this afternoon."

"Hey," Gibbs tucked the paper under his arm and used his free hand to grab Abby's. "She'll be happy for us."

Abby allowed him to lead her back to bed. Gibbs sat with his back against the headboard with Abby curled up, her head resting on his lap. The newspaper sat untouched on the bedside table as Gibbs was content to stroke her hair and watch her as she rested.

"Abbs?" He ran a gentle finger along her cheek.

"Hmmm?"

"I just need to be clear that although you and I are together, Shannon will always be a part of my life. She's the mother of my daughter and so," he thought for a moment, "she'll be around."

"I know."

"I don't want you to worry, though. I care about her, but we're not in love. I need you to know that. I need you to understand."

Abby sat up and turned to face him. "I can't promise that the idea that you've changed your mind, that you want her again, won't go through my head, but I know you'd never…. You just have to promise me that if you do want out, if you do want to be with her again, you have to say something. I don't want you trying to stick it out with me because you don't want to hurt my feelings. I just want you happy."

"I want you."

Abby leaned in to kiss him. "And I want you. So I don't think we'll have a problem."

0o0o0

Abby fidgeted nervously in her lab Monday morning. It was Gibbs first day back at NCIS, and she knew it would be long until he made his way down. She had seen him the previous morning, but had spent the afternoon and evening with the nuns, so they had spent the night apart.

Gibbs had reassured her (multiple times) that Shannon had moved her things to the guest room across the hall, but a part of her still worried that Shannon would change her mind and want to try for the happy family life.

Abby startled when a strong arm wrapped around her waist and a Caf-Pow! was set down in front of her. "Jesus, Gibbs. I'm going to start laying bubble wrap in front of the doors again if you're going to sneak up on me like that."

"You okay?" Gibbs ignored the bubble wrap comment. "You looked deep in thought."

"Yeah, just bored. I'm running updates on my computers because no one has any open cases. I mean, I don't want anyone to die, but…"

"Tony said the last few days the past week were like this. He's driving me nuts upstairs and I've only been in an hour."

"Took you an hour to come see me?" Abby pouted.

"There was a mountain of paperwork on my desk."

"I tried to stack the papers neatly for you." Abby's frown turned into a smile. She'd been in before everyone else, and had tried to make his desk look presentable.

"I noticed. Thanks."

"And, um, I was wondering if you wanted to come over tonight. That is, if you don't already have plans?"

"I'm taking Shannon and Kelly to the airport, but I could swing by afterward and we could grab dinner?"

"I'd like that."

"Good." Gibbs kissed her cheek. "I'll pick you up around seven."

"I can't wait!"

The rest of the day went by slowly for the entire team. While Gibbs and his team kept busy with cold cases, Abby spent the majority of her day with Ducky, drinking tea and talking. He didn't mention anything about Gibbs and Abby kept her mouth shut on the topic. She was fairly certain he knew something had happened between them, but she preferred to keep quiet about it for now.

By the time seven o'clock rolled around, Abby had showered and changed and had been waiting anxiously for Gibbs to arrive. What if saying goodbye to them at the airport, even if it was were just for a week or so, had been a wakeup call and he couldn't do it? Stop Abby, stop doing this to yourself. He told you he wasn't going anywhere, Gibbs doesn't say shit he doesn't mean. But what if-

The downstairs buzzer brought her out of her thoughts and she buzzed him in immediately.

"You look good," he said when she answered the door, and Abby felt her earlier thoughts float away. She blushed when he gave her a predatory once-over and then stepped past her. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I just need to grab my jacket." Abby disappeared down the hall to her bedroom.

"Grab anything else you'll need tonight and a change of clothes for tomorrow. Let's go back to my place after dinner." Gibbs listened for a response. "You could help me with our boat."

"I'd like that," he heard her call, and a few minutes later she appeared with an overnight bag in one hand, her jacket in the other.

She was just about to step past him when his arm snaked out to wrap around waist and pull her in close. He leaned in to kiss her softly and then let her go again without a word.

0o0o0

Halfway through dinner, Abby realized that although the status of their relationship had changed, nothing else had. Gibbs still let her ramble on about things he didn't quite understand (her babies, her music) and they talked about the things he did understand (the nuns, his boat).

Abby asked cautiously about Shannon and Kelly. "Was it hard to drop them off and watch them go back to Portland, even if it's just for a short time?"

"I think I will always worry that whenever they go somewhere, whether it's to the grocery store or to Portland, it'll be the last time I see them." Gibbs sipped his coffee.

"It's understandable."

"I worry the same about you, Abbs. Every time I walk out of your lab, or watch you drive away from my house…"

Abby smiled softly at him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You don't know that. You could have been seriously hurt or even killed the other night."

"It's out of our control, but Gibbs? Can we… can we not talk about it tonight?"

"Okay." Gibbs downed the last of his coffee. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah."

0o0o0

Back at his house, Gibbs carried her stuff upstairs and they both changed into something more comfortable to wear while working on the boat. Sneaking one of his old shirts, Abby moved to the bathroom to change.

Gibbs was waiting for her when she opened the bathroom door, and he led her by the hand to the basement.

Although she had seen it before, she was still shocked when she saw her name in elegant black letters on the boat.

"What?" Gibbs nudged her softly.

She didn't realize that she had stopped and was staring until Gibbs had interrupted her thoughts. "Oh, nothing. I still can't believe you'd put my name on a boat."

"I like it." Gibbs gave her hand a squeeze and moved away. "It suits her. She wasn't the easiest to work with in the beginning, but…"

"Are you calling me difficult?"

"Nope. The boat. But she's come along nicely, and she's sure to be the most beautiful one in the marina once she gets there."

Abby smiled, but it soon faded. "But I had to take apart 'The Kelly'."

"You still thinking about that? Abbs, you had to take it apart, you didn't have a choice. And you helped me put her back together. You know she's back in Mexico, as good as new."

"I know, I just hated to have to take her apart."

"Don't blame yourself. That was because Franks was pissing people off."

"True. So, you'll take me sailing on her?" The fact that he had earlier called it 'their' boat hadn't slipped past her.

"Of course. It's our boat. I expect we'll be spending lots of time on her."

In the end, there wasn't much Abby could help with, but she was content to sit back and watch as he worked on some of the more intricate details.

As her commentary slowed and then came to a stop, Gibbs turned to look at her and see what was keeping her occupied. He expected her to be lost in thought, but instead she had found one of the toys he had made with his father. They hadn't had time to finish painting it, so he had set it aside to finish later.

He smiled at the intense look of concentration on her face as she painted a detailed design on the side of the small wooden rocking horse. He loved the way her tongue peeked out from between her lips as she focused, and her nose scrunched up when she almost messed up.

Gibbs sat his tools aside and moved closer, though he said nothing.

"There! Look at what I – Oh!" She was surprised to see him standing right in front of her. "If you don't like it, I can paint over it again. It was fun to paint though."

"It's beautiful." Gibbs took it from her hands and examined it more closely. "Like you."

"Giiiibbs…" she drew out his name.

Gibbs set it aside and stepped closer until he was standing between her knees. He rested his palms on the work bench on either side of her hips and leaned in to kiss the side of her neck. "You can call me Jethro, you know."

"I know," Abby giggled when his lips ghosted over her tattoo. "I just… you've always been Gibbs."

"Whatever you want, I just thought I'd let you know."

"Well, I'd prefer to call you my silver fox, but I think you might not approve if we're in the middle of a tough case, or if the director is around, or – ow!"

Gibbs ran his tongue over the spot he'd nipped. "Don't even think about it."

"I might think about it, but I can keep my mouth shut… most of the time." She smiled when she felt his lips curl into a smile against her skin.

0o0o0

TBC…

Only a chapter or two left. Let me know if there is anything you want to see before I wrap it all up!