As I promised, here is the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews. It was nice to hear that you liked it. I hope like this too, maybe there is going to be another chapter, but I'm not sure yet.

Long awaited Confessions

The door snaps shut and she remains for a second in her position trying to calm herself down. She doesn't succeed at all, so she turns around to not make him suspicious. Tony is standing directly in front of her. She gets lost in his green eyes and she has her knees turn to jelly.

No she cannot get weak now. She has to be strong. She was strong her entire life and she's not changing that now. All her life she denied every glimpse of some sort of feeling. Now she's going to do the same. She manages to form a question without her voice sounding too shaky. She always gets so nervous when she's so close to him. She could hide it from him all the time, but the last weeks had become more difficult. "What are you doing here?", she asks trying not to sound suspicious, but still with a light quaver in her voice. This goes not unnoticed by Tony, but he decides not to dwell about it.

Instead of answering her question, he takes her wrists in his hands. He asks in a soft, low voice: "What happened?" She never saw Tony so soft, but he couldn't look him in the eye. She's afraid about what he would think about her. So she looks down avoid his glance. He releases one of her wrists and he shoves his forefinger under her chin to make her look him in the eye. In his other hand still holding her wrists he carefully strokes her knuckles. This sends sparks through her entire body and makes her shiver a bit.

"It's not from the accident…", he comments in a similar soft and low voice. "It's from the training, Tony. It's not important.", she says in a whisper, so he barely hears it. "Yes it is…", he says. His voice still soft, but also determinant. "What were you training for?", he asks. "Bodnar", she says and lets out a sign, she didn't know she was holding. This one single word, this one single name and everything is clear. There's no need to elaborate. He knows what she is intending to do and his concern raises in his body.

"No! Don't do that, Ziva!", he calls out in a loud voice. Getting a little bit angry about his reaction she exclaims: "Why not Tony? Why not? He killed my father!" He can hear the anger in her voice and he notices that she refits her mask. She's defensive like the past few weeks. "Because he is going to hurt you, Ziva. I don't want you to be hurt!", he answers honestly. "Wouldn't be the first time…", she replies. Her voice barely above a whisper. "Exactly…You've been through so much in your life and personally I think now is the point where it's enough!"

She backs of a little, and gets angrier while she tries to find the reason for Tony's behaviour. "Why Tony? Why do you care so much about me? About what I do?", she shouts at him, looking at him with an angry but also curious face. He can see how desperately she wants answers to the question, but he also sees how much she tries to hide her feelings from him. She inhales one deeps breath and says: "Because I cannot live without you." She exhales a sigh and shakes her head. "Really? That is your reason? Because you cannot live without me?", she shouts, trying to stay angry. She cannot give in now. Not now.

As she hears the next words, she cannot hide her feelings anymore. Her mask falls down and this time completely. She lets him see her true emotions, the ones she tries to hide from him all the time. She cannot be strong anymore. She's tired of pretending. All that happens because he finally says: "I care so much about you, Ziva, because I love you!" She can see the anxious on his face, but also the urge to say something more. She nods to give him the permission to go on. And he does: "I fall in love with you the time we met. You were different and untouchable. Every day a piece of your protective wall crumbles and every day I fall in love with you a little bit more. In Paris. In Berlin. I just could never admit it."

She can feel the tears rise in her eyes, but he's not ready yet. "As we were in that car accident I realized that I could lose you each day and that life is to short to waste it with denying the feeling. I love you and I always will, no matter what happens…" She cannot believe her ears. That's all she ever dreamed about and thought would never happen. One single tears scrolls down her cheeck, but is immediately wiped away by Tony's thumb. She looks him deep in the eyes and she sees the pure truth in them, but she has to hear it from him. "Do you really mean that, Tony?", she asks in a quiet voice. "Yeah, I meant every word I said…!"

Flashback

"Couldn't live without you, I guess."

"If you'd meet my boyfriend, what would you say?" "Handle with care. Contents priceless!"

"Someday you will find someone!"

"Then I should stop her on the way to the airport…you know…thank her!"

Suddenly a big smile appears on Ziva's face and Tony calms down a little bit. This has to be a good sign and he's right. The words she says next, will change their lives for good. "I love you too, Tony!" He feels all his concern disappear and it's replaced by pure happiness. The woman he loves, loves him too. He cannot withstand anymore, he has to kiss her. Their heads come closer and closer. Soon their lips touch and they forget everything around them. It's a sweet and soft kiss and they put every emotion they have in it. Soon the kiss gets hot and passionate. After a while they have to break apart in need for air.

They just look at each other and smile. Again Tony begins to speak: "I want you to know that I don't want to keep you from something. He deserves to die, I'm just afraid he'll hurt you." Ziva just smiles at him and says: "I know Tony. I don't want to get hurt either." "That's why we'll do it together.", he says and pulls her into a hug. "Just you and me…", he whispers. "But Tony, what if we get in trouble. We could lose our jobs.", she throws in. "We won't and I don't care. I want you to be happy again!" Ziva puts her head on Tony's chest and mumbles: "Yeah, me too." She looks up in his eyes and their lips meet for another breathtaking kiss.

That's all for now. I hope you like it and reviews would be great…