Chapter 12 – The Longest Time
Poised at the top of the snow covered hill several hours later, Abby shuffled back against the strong body that surrounded her. She was seated on one of the larger toboggans they'd found in the cabin, Gibbs' arms and legs wrapped around her from behind. Her scarf was wrapped around her neck tightly but he managed to push his cold nose up against the skin just under her jaw, the contrast of his warm breath making her shiver.
Even with the thick layers of clothing both of them had on she felt his warmth permeating through to her, his hands spread out over her stomach, the firm grip keeping her securely in place, her backside nestled between his thighs. Abby rubbed her gloved hands up and down the outside of his calves and over his knees, hearing and feeling him breath out when she circled her thumbs up towards the inside of his thighs.
They'd done far more intimate things than this, but the sheer closeness of him, his body so snug around her, protecting her and flooding her senses was just as overwhelming. He consumed her simply by being near and Abby doubted that would ever go away, not when she'd been so easily distracted by him for years.
Abby leaned back into him and sighed as Tim and Tony argued about who was using what toboggan, Gibbs squeezing her, his lips moving higher to skim over the shell of her ear. A black woolen hat sat on top of her head and he rubbed his nose against the soft material, pushing it up and toying with the tip of her ear between his teeth.
"Love you," Gibbs whispered.
His face was obscured from the boys as they continued with their insults, Gibbs' voice low and husky as his hot breath flowed across her skin. Ziva was on her toboggan on the other side of McGee and DiNozzo, randomly throwing in her own comments to get them to hurry up.
Abby twisted so she could see Gibbs' face, the change in angle bringing her lips up to meet his. She smiled as their cold lips brushed together, the kiss brief but further reaffirmation on what they'd talked about back at the cabin. For a moment she blocked everyone else out but Gibbs.
"Pretty sure I love you more," she breathed quietly against his lips.
"Not possible." The half grin Gibbs gave her warmed her insides, her smile widening when she kissed him again.
"Okay, enough of the mushy stuff over there," Tony hollered at them. "Prepare to eat snow."
Their earlier mood of fun and relaxation had returned after her upset with Gibbs, neither of them needing to say anything to the others, Abby knowing the smile on her face and their entwined fingers told their friends everything when they'd walked out of the bedroom.
Abby rolled her eyes and turned to face Tony. "We were waiting for you two to get yourselves sorted...we had to fill in the time somehow."
"Well we're sorted now," Tony grinned innocently at her, "and I'm about thirty seconds away from covering you all in a lovely fluffy blanket of white."
Abby snorted and reached out over Gibbs' leg to gather up some snow in her hand. Tony's eyes narrowed in on her as she placed the snowball she formed down on the toboggan in front of her before doing the same thing again.
"I'm not entirely sure the game conditions are fair here, seeing how there's two of you."
McGee let out an exasperated groan. "Stop whinging Tony, let's just go."
Abby saw Jimmy, Breena and Ducky all waiting down at the bottom of the hill, the walk up had been too steep for the M.E. and Jimmy and Breena had offered to sit on a fallen tree with him to keep him company. Though Abby suspected Palmer had declined to join in mostly because of Tony's competitiveness and his threat to push him downhill.
"You know my pride is at stake here right?" Gibbs told Abby, shifting his body weight around her and gripping onto the rope connected to the end of the toboggan. "But if we win I'm sure I'll be able to repay my gratitude...several times."
Abby giggled and ran her hands over his as he held them in front of her. "So what you're saying is, if we inflate your ego a little now, I can inflate certain other parts of your anatomy later on?"
Gibbs chuckled. "That's one way to look at it."
"Prepare to kiss the ground Tony," Abby yelled out enthusiastically, "Team Gibbs is about to turn you into a human slushy."
"On the count of three," Ziva yelled out.
"Aren't you meant to be standing in front of us waving your underwear," Tony joked, flashing his teeth at her.
"I will wave something at you Tony and it will not be my underwear." At the stern look from Abby, Ziva got comfortable on her toboggan and looked ahead. "One...two...three..."
Gibbs quickly pushed them off and Abby watched as the others started to move beside them. She knew Gibbs was concentrating on watching where they were going so before they could move too far away from the starting point, she picked up one of the snowballs she'd gathered at her feet and threw it in Tony's direction. It zoomed past his face and hit McGee in the side of the head, the agent losing control of his toboggan in the process and falling to the ground in a flurry of limbs.
"Sorry, Timmy," Abby yelled behind her in between bouts of giggling.
Tony erupted into laughter as well. "Bad luck McFrosty, we'll pick you up on the next trip...one down, two to go."
"You better take him out Abbs," Gibbs told her. "I don't think either of us wanna lose."
She continued to throw her remaining snowballs at Tony and Ziva as they raced towards the bottom of the hill, none of her shots actually hitting but doing enough to make them lose balance or almost fall over.
The cool air rushed around them as they got closer to the bottom of the valley, Gibbs' body blocking most from Abby except for her face, her eyes beginning to water. She could feel the iciness on her cheeks and as much fun as she was having, looked forward to warming up in front of the fire later with Gibbs.
When she'd run out of snowballs to throw they were slightly ahead of Tony and Ziva, her hands clutching hard onto Gibbs' legs. She looked across at Tony who had his face contorted in concentration, as if that would somehow make him go faster.
Seconds later Gibbs and Abby sped past Ducky, Jimmy and Breena in front of Tony and Ziva, Abby launching her hands into the air in triumph. The action caused Gibbs to lose control of where they were going and they both rolled off the toboggan, Gibbs' arms holding her securely within them.
When they came to a stop Gibbs was on top of Abby, both of them covered in snow.
"This is familiar," Abby teased.
She fought the urge to thrust her hips up into Gibbs', knowing he had a limit with how much affection he was comfortable with in public.
Silver hair fell down over his forehead, his grin sending a surge of desire through her. She reached up to tug on the black scarf he had around his neck, pulling his face down to hers, the warmth of his breath heating her flushed cold skin.
"It appears you have a fair bit of gratitude to repay me for."
Their kiss was over far too quickly for what Abby wanted to turn the embrace into, but there would be time to make up for it later.
"Look forward to it." Gibbs' eyes sparkled and she tenderly stroked her fingers through his ruffled hair before he rolled off her.
They dusted the snow off one another that had stuck to them in the fall, taking their time to wipe it off backsides and places they couldn't easily reach themselves.
After rejoining the others Gibbs opted to sit out and watch, letting Abby go on her own, his knees weren't going to be happy about more than one trip up the hill anyway.
He watched on with Ducky, Jimmy and Breena as Abby and his agents continued to climb up the slope, his gaze rarely wavering from Abby, her enthusiasm never dwindling despite the fact that everyone's energy levels dropped after a few races on the toboggans. She shed the top layer of clothing under her jacket, giving it to Gibbs to hold onto, his fingers unconsciously running over it where it sat on his lap.
"I dare say she will keep you on your toes Jethro." Ducky smiled fondly as all four set off from the top of the hill, laughter and yelling echoing around them as they sped down the hillside.
"Ya think, Duck?" Gibbs watched as Ducky stood up to walk around a bit, stretching out his arms and legs in an attempt to warm up a bit.
"She's loved you for a long time," Breena said shyly, ignoring the way Jimmy shook his head, his eyes widening in terror. She covered his hand, looking at Gibbs as she went on. "I haven't known you both that long...but long enough. I can see it in her eyes when she looks at you."
Gibbs was unsure of what to say, he saw the love in Abby's face every time he looked at her now too. He hoped she saw the same depth of feeling in his eyes because he felt as if it was that which was keeping him alive just as much as the blood running through his veins and the oxygen in his lungs.
"It has been evident in you both for a while," Ducky said, sitting back down and sensing Gibbs was having trouble in knowing how to respond. "Sometimes these things need to be nurtured first before we can truly appreciate and understand how much they mean to us."
Gibbs nodded and turned back to look at Abby. He felt a little uncomfortable saying anything about his feelings with Palmer and Breena there, but he also had a new level of trust in both of them.
Not only were he and Abby growing together, they were all growing as a family...one that he knew would guard their privacy and protect anything he or Abby shared. He felt reassured that he could show Abby simple signs of affection without feeling awkward or like he was being judged. Only those that had experienced the same things they had could fully comprehend what he and Abby had been through and how much they needed each other.
After declaring she'd had enough once they'd made it down the slope, Abby walked over towards Gibbs, picking up her sweater and sitting down on his knee. Some of the snow had melted through her clothes to her skin, and she could see Tony, Ziva and Tim were also looking particularly wet.
"I'm already sore...my arms and legs...and I think I pulled a butt muscle," she huffed, resting her head on Gibbs' shoulder. "But it was so worth it."
Tony collapsed on the ground, McGee and Ziva doing the same beside him. "I think we'll have to call it a four-way tie," he conceded.
"What, no demand for a final showdown Tony?" Abby smirked.
"Clearly the playing conditions are unfair cos you have more energy than anyone else."
Gibbs couldn't help but smile at that, even without a constant supply of caf-pow she was still as bubbly as ever. Just as Ducky suggested he knew he'd have his hands full keeping up with her, both in and out of bed.
"I need food," Tony piped up, a chorus of groans coming from everyone else. "Hey, that one sandwich I had hours ago for lunch was burnt off four mountain trek's ago."
"I must admit I'm looking forward to a nice hot cup of tea," Ducky said, slowly getting to his feet. "It's quite chilly sitting here."
"Do you need a cuddle to warm up Ducky?" Abby offered, standing up and holding her arms out. "We shouldn't have kept you out here so long, are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine my dear, just eager to be near a nice warm fire and a cup of nicely brewed tea." He smiled and accepted Abby's hug, despite his declaration that he was alright.
Ducky patted Abby gently on the arm when he stepped back from her several moments later, a silent gesture to show his thanks for her trying to look after him.
When he began to walk towards the cabins everyone else followed his lead and stood up, Gibbs taking hold of Abby's hand and pulling her back once the others were walking ahead. They were too busy talking and discussing what to eat and drink to notice when Gibbs and Abby fell even further behind, all of them vanishing beyond the trees leaving the couple alone.
"I've loved you for a long time Abbs," Gibbs started, thinking about Breena and Ducky's words. He lifted his hand to run the back of his fingers down her cold and flushed cheek, his touch instantly sending a jolt of electricity through her. "Don't ever think that because I took so long to say something that I didn't care about you."
Abby leaned into him, her forehead against his. "I know...we were both scared, but it's okay, we'll make up for all that lost time now."
There was so much he wanted to say to her, but the frustration of not knowing where to start and how to tell her everything left him unable to say anything at all.
"We'll get there, Gibbs," Abby whispered, kissing his top lip. "With what we've been through together already, we can make it through anything."
Gibbs nodded, his hands resting on her waist. "I might've done this before Abbs, but I suppose I'm out of practice where it counts...not since Shannon..." He trailed off unable to say how scared he was of messing things up between them, eventually taking a deep breath before continuing. "I could've screwed everything up earlier."
"But you didn't, I know how hard you're trying...and that means a lot. We'll both make mistakes but we'll work through them, together."
His strong arms enfolded her, his kiss leaving her breathless from its intensity and tenderness, the one word he murmured against her lips when they broke apart making Abby believe time had come to a complete standstill around them.
"Together."
TBC...