The next week flew by, almost in a blur. By the end of it, Tony had enlisted McGee's help in finding him an apartment in Spain, as well as the best movers. Abby had come over and brought him dinner that first night, which they ate while simultaneously watching their favorite films and packing up the non-essentials. Tony realized that he had too much to take it all with him, and by a stroke of luck, Ducky offered him the unused space in his cellar, which ended up being a perfect arrangement. It was Palmer who helped him move those boxes into Ducky's basement, and they spent the evening with Ducky, his mother, and the dogs, enjoying a home-cooked meal and the free entertainment. Ziva had stayed away. Tony knew he had to talk to her, but he was admittedly a bit nervous about what she might do to him, so he had avoided it for now. Gibbs, although not outwardly different, was clearly proud of Tony and wanted him to succeed, as was evidenced by the lack of head slaps and the constant reminder of 'the rules', as if Tony could ever forget them!

Tony was gathering the last of his things to leave for the weekend (despite the fact that it already was the weekend, it was Saturday), when Jenny called to him from the staircase. The look in her eyes told him that she had manufactured the break-up story that he was to tell Jeanne before he left. She turned back to her office to wait for his arrival. As he slowly climbed the stairs, he reflected on the interactions with Jeanne over this past week.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They stood outside in the cold, walking along the street.

"I love window shopping, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah. Me too." Then, after a pause, "only when I'm with you."

"Cold?"

"It's… invigorating."

"Chilly?"

"Freezing."

"Oh, poor Tony. I dragged you out here to go window shopping. Next time maybe you should choose."

"Hot tub."

"I know something else we can do to stay warm."

"Really?

"Mhmm."

"I wonder what that could be?"

The street vendor interrupted: "One cappuccino, one latte."

"Coffee?"

"Mmm. Dancing."

"Dancing? Dancing would make you warm."

"Then tonight we dance."

"Tonight…"

"Don't tell me you have to work."

It was hard keeping up this act. Technically, if his job was, as he had told her, an online professor, he could make his own hours and it wouldn't matter if he left the work for the next day. But he had to play along, and figured he'd take the heat from Gibbs. It wouldn't be too bad, not since he'd be leaving so soon. "Tonight dancing, tomorrow work."

"You don't seem too happy about that."

"I'm worried" he admitted, honestly.

"Worried about what?"

Well, he couldn't answer that one honestly. "Well, we're going dancing tonight, and I haven't got a thing to wear."

"Has anyone ever told you you're an idiot?"

"Yeah, my boss, all the time."

And they did dance. Jeanne was impressed that he actually knew how; Tony had more fun than he ever had in his life dancing. They danced under the streetlights on the darkened roads that night; he brought along an array of songs on an old tape player. She laughed at how vintage it was and smiled at his thoughtfulness as they danced the night away. Before long, they had moved inside to her apartment, where the dance turned into a slow, sensual sway, with their bodies pressed tightly to one another, to the music that played only in their head.

But they were too close, and Tony knew that if they kept this up, he wouldn't be able to resist making love to her, and that just couldn't happen. So with a sweet and tender kiss, he tucked Jeanne into bed and drove home, ignoring the frustration that had been building up within himself all night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Despite the part of him that screamed that he was allowing himself to get too close to her, he decided that if the opportunity to make love to her arose again, he would do it. He wasn't going to force it, but if he could have that memory of her, he would cherish it forever.

His chance came last night. Lounging on Jeanne's couch in her apartment, his arm around her shoulders, Tony was only partially paying attention to the foreign film they were watching together, his thoughts running wild.

"Wait a minute. I thought they were brother and sister."

"They are, but they don't know it. Haven't you been reading the subtitles?

"There are subtitles?"

"So much for being a film buff!"

"Hey! Listen, I could bore you to death with a lecture on German expressionism in film, if you'd like."

"You could never bore me."

"Well, that is very sweet of you, but you underestimate me. It is my contention, Miss Benoit, that the abstract nature of expressionism in film…"

Jeanne cut him off: "What are we doing, Tony?"

"Well, I'm boring you with German expressionism in film."

"We've been dating for over a month. Don't you find it a little curious that… we haven't taken it to the next level?"

"You mean Italian, you know, realism? Japanese—"

She cut him off again. "No."

"—cinema?"

"Sex."

Tony responded with a chuckle, reminded of the irony of the situation. He knew that she was indirectly referring to the night before. She must have been just as frustrated as he was. "Yeah. Sex. Right."

"Yeah. Is that something you might be interested in?"

"Yeah" Tony replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, I get that vibe from you. And yet we still haven't had it and you don't seem like the type who usually waits."

"Yeah. Well, it could be because you remind me of my sister" he joked.

"You said you were an only child."

"I am."

"Could I have a serious answer? Please?"

"I didn't want to rush things."

"Date two is rushing things, Tony. Date eleven, that's a violation of the Geneva Convention. Just so you know, whenever you're ready, so am I."

"I'm ready, Jeanne…" he whispered, and he kissed her, passionately.

They moved to her bed, pulling one another's clothes off along the way. They littered a trial from her couch to her bedroom, where they divested themselves of any clothes that were left, which, at that point, was not much. He spent the night making love to her—it was sweeter than he ever could have imagined. He relished the moments afterwards almost just as much, as he held her close in his arms while she slept soundly through the night, before falling into the calmest sleep he'd experienced since this whole thing had begun. Tonight, there was nothing else in all the world but the two of them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was with a heavy heart that Tony found himself at the door of the Director's office, after a slow ascent up the staircase. She had come up with a story, and in the coming days, Tony was going to have to enact it, and use that lie to break-up with the only girl he'd ever felt truly safe with.