ABBY
"Tim, open up." She knocked again, then buzzed the doorbell. Getting into the building without his help had been easy enough, but if she broke into his apartment, he really might not forgive her. Or at least, not as quickly as she'd like.
"Tim! You know I have boundless patience when I'm right."
Another long press on the doorbell. Still no answer. She turned round and leaned back on the door, then slipped out her mobile. She'd tried to ring several times, and was pretty sure there was no point trying again. Tim was pretty anal about text messages, though. If she sent enough of them, he'd answer just to make her stop.
I'm not going anywhere.
No response.
You know I'll sleep out here if necessary.
She was pretty certain she heard movement, but still no answer and the door was still locked.
Don't you know it's rude to ignore a visitor?
After half a dozen more texts without a reply, she started thumping on the door again.
"Timothy no middle name McGee, get your skinny butt out here now."
She hadn't really expected that to work, and jumped in surprise when she heard the tumblers of the lock clicking round. The door opened a couple of inches. He'd left the chain on, but she made an executive decision not to be insulted by that when she saw his face.
"What?" He was clearly trying to seem just grumpy and annoyed, but Abby saw through that even when Gibbs did it. McGee didn't have a hope of fooling her.
"You gonna let me in, Timmy?"
His frown deepened. "Why?"
She pursed her lips and cocked her head to one side. "Um, because you're hurting and you need a friend, and it's Saturday?"
He pouted (she'd always been a sucker for the adorable 'grouchy little schoolboy' look that gave him) and didn't move.
"Maybe I wanted to be alone."
"Maybe what you want isn't what you need."
"Maybe I know what I need better than you do."
"Maybe you should give in gracefully because you know I'm going to win this argument eventually. And also, I brought donuts."
An involuntary smile tipped one corner of his mouth up for a second, and she knew she had him. He raised his eyes heavenward, but took the chain off and opened the door. "Well, I guess you'd better come in."
"I guess so, McGee. I guess so."