AN: Written for The Gabby Effect.
Thanks for making me a Gabby Shipper.

The song no one heard…

With rose petals scattered on the dance floor from the bouquet she had slammed to the ground minutes earlier, she held back the tears. The slow rumble of thunder in the distance and the cool breeze that caressed her face did nothing, but make her feel even more like the shit.

Today was suppose to be the day she would remember for the rest of her life, instead it had become the day she wished had never happened. She felt stupid that she counted down the days, hours, and minutes for this fucked up day. He was different or so she thought. He had come into her life and swept her off her feet, brought those butterflies back to life and reminded her what it felt like to be wanted. She never knew she loved him so much, then again she did not know that she could feel this kind of anger. On the edge of hating of him and on the brink of screaming that's when she heard footsteps on the dance floor.

Not knowing who it was she turned away. No doubt it was Tony or McGee coming out here to tell her to come inside or to tell her that everything will be fine. She knew nothing could make her feel better, at least not now. Nearly an hour ago she had screamed at them to leave her alone and ever since she had been sitting outside. Now someone had the nerve to not give her the space she wanted.

The footsteps came closer until they stop right next to her. She wanted to tell who ever it was to go away, but then the sudden thought hit her… what if it was him? Now with her heart racing, she jump to the conclusion that it was the man she did not want to see right now. Ready to unleash all her anger if it was 'him' she was not going to hold back all that she wanted to say. After all, he was the one who left her heartbroken and feeling stupid at the church today. Clinching her fist, she swore that the diamond ring on her finger would leave a scar on him too, like it would leave one on her heart after tonight. Anger simmering beneath the surface and heartache claiming her heart she was ready to scream "leave me the fuck alone!" as a hand rested on her thigh. Clinching her jaw and fist she turned.

There kneeling down beside her was not the man who broke her heart at the church, but the man who had broke her heart when he told her he would not give her away. Why did it have to be him? She wondered out all the people in her life to be here with her on the worst night of her life, why did it have to be those pretty blue eyes staring back at her?

Quiet as ever and gentle as usual, he took her hand in his. No words would ever mend her heart and he knew it. Feeling the pulse in her hand as he slowly pulled her to her feet as he gripped her cold fingers. He was surprised that she had not been crying or maybe she really was as strong as he knew she was.

Expecting to be led back into the house she was surprised when he stopped in the middle of the dance floor and locked his blue eyes with her dark green ones. Wordless, he took her hands and draped them on his shoulders, while he slid his arms around her waist. Chills ran over her body as his hands glided over the thin material of her white dress. Her pulse raced as his warm body gently pressed against hers. Tearing her eyes away from his she looked at the instruments that no one was playing and at the darkness all around them. The darkness is what stood out the most, but even the overwhelming darkness did not compare to those pretty blues that only saw her.

She never shed a tear when the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with broke her heart today, but those eyes and these arms holding her was what caused those tears to fall. Mascara bleeding and a broken heart beneath her chest, her breath shuddered as she pulled him in and clung to him. Quietly shuddering within his arms she cried into his chest as he began to dance with her.

Slowly swaying in his arms, she let all the hurt go and hung onto all that she had, including him. Her tears running dry, she breathed in the smell of sawdust that made her snuggle into his chest. Closing her eyes, she rested her head against his chest and listened to the only song playing for her tonight. The beating of his heart was a song she knew well and numerous times it had made her forget about the world, while reminding her that she was never alone in it.

Tonight was no different. He was here, even after she had told him not to come. The fight they had weeks ago seemed stupid now. The words she screamed at him echoed in her head as regret filled her aching heart.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered.

He said nothing as he nestled his face into the crook of her neck and softly kissed her inked skin.

Tears burning her eyes once more she held him tightly against her. Feeling his warm breath on her neck and strong arms around her, she blindly kissed the exposed skin above his hoodie. Tonight she planned on dancing with a man who would love her to the edge of eternity and with a trail of warm wet kisses on her neck, she smiled at the thought.

"Why you smiling?" He breathed between kisses.

"I'm not smiling." She lied.

Pulling back, he looked down at her with that familiar 'I know when you're lying' look on his face.

Ignoring him she pulled him close once again and rested her head on his shoulder. There was no need to explain her glimmer of happiness to him, let alone tell him why she cried when he held her in his arms. After all these years, she hoped that he knew just what he could do to her without saying a single word.

White lights shimmering above them and tiny splashes of raindrops on the dance floor they danced her pain away.

"You know why he left?" Her voice cracked.

"He was scared to spend forever with you?" He replied.

Giggling she looked at him and shook her head. Noticing that the sprinkle of cool rain was turning to a light shower she smiled that his hair was now getting wet. A smile tugging on the corner of her lips she looked into the blue abyss she loved getting lost in, although it had been months since that happened.

"He…" she paused for moment, "said he wanted some time. He wanted to make sure he wasn't making a mistake." She grimaced.

He didn't reply.

"A mistake… that's what he called all this." She said as she looked around the deserted reception. "That's what he called me."

Stopping their slow dancing in the rain, he took her hands from his shoulder.

"Would you ever call me that… a mistake?" She quietly asked.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the diamond ring on her finger. "Nope."

Looking down at her hands she watched him run a finger over the shining diamond that brought her nothing but heartbreak.

"I've made them all my life." He began to tell her. "But… the day I met you wasn't one of them. The first time I kissed you, wasn't one of them. The first time I woke up with you, wasn't one of them… but that day I told you we had to end what we had is a mistake that still haunts me." He admitted to her.

Quietly she looked at him as she remembered those short weeks she felt like the happiest girl on earth. Not a secret she was ashamed of, simply a love story she never told anyone.

"Abbs, I fucked up okay… I know I did. The thing is, I got scared because I loved you the way I loved… Shannon." He turned his attention to her. "That scared the hell out of me."

Her heart began to race.

"I wanted to get drunk tonight and hate you in the morning." Looking back to the ring on her finger he took a deep breath. "It's funny… I've been trying to do that for the past twenty years and all I good at is being hung-over and loving you one day more."

Unsure about how to reply she drew in a shaky breath that made him smile as his fingers continued to run over the ring on her finger. Most would think he never spoke much, but the truth was when he was with her he said a million pretty things that caused her to fall for him time and time again.

"When I was drunk the other day you told me I was too late to love you… is that still true?" He asked as he gently tugged on her ring.

"Jethro…" she whispered.

"Drunk or sober, I still love you, Abbs." He quietly replied.

Watching him slowly slip the ring off her finger she nervously spoke. "I was going to dance with the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with tonight."

Taking the ring off her finger, he looked at her. "You just did." He whispered.

Tears filling her eyes she giggled. "Gibbs are you crazy?"

A smile tugging at his lips he nodded. "I've been going crazy since that Thursday I first met you."

The rain began to fall even more and hid the stream of tears that flowed down her face.

"Take all the time you need to think about this… I only have the rest of my life to wait for you." He told her, making her laugh through her tears.

"You just can't come here, make me love you just like that, and forget about all this." She replied.

"Didn't I?" He smiled.

Smiling she looked at him. "Fuck you, Gibbs."

Smiling at her, he placed the ring in her hand and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Fuck you." She laughed as she draped her arms over his shoulders again.

Resting his head against hers he breathed in the smell of rain and the aroma that was purely her.
"It's not like I planned to say all this to you tonight… I just wanted to dance with you, one last time before I lost you forever." He whispered into her ear.

"I'm always yours, you know that." She said as she looked up at him. "You'll always be mine too." She smiled at him through the now pouring rain.

He didn't reply, but simply traced her lips with his thumb.

"After all this is in my past and I'm ready to love again, will you be okay with Tony and everyone else knowing that you're my future?" She quietly asked the gunny.

"They're gonna say were all wrong for each other and that it will never work." He replied.

"Will that bother you?" She asked.

With a slight smirk on his face he shook head. "I never cared what people thought of me, why should I start now? Plus, they don't know that we have history." Looking at the ring she gripped in her finger he took in a breath. "What about him?"

Ignoring his question, she asked him another. "You scared of spending forever with me, gunny?" She smiled up at him.

Pulling her close, he watched the rain trickle down her beautiful face. "Forever will never be enough when it comes to you, Abbs." He replied softly.

Those words were the final flames that melted her heart. "I don't care what people will say or what he will think…" Letting go of the ring in her hand she cupped his face with both her hands. "I don't like it when you break your own rules Gibbs, even if it's for me." She teased.

Smiling he leaned in close to her. "I'm not gonna date you Abbs. I'm just wanna love you everyday until were gone, if you're okay with that."

Giggling she leaned closer into him. "I'm perfectly fine with that." She whispered before kissing him like the way she used to all those years ago.

Raindrops, rose petals, and a diamond ring covered the dance floor where two lonely hearts were beating to the song that was being written on a dark stormy night. Although they knew their love would never be perfect and filled with up and downs, that did not matter. With history and friendship all on the line, they laid all their cards down and let the walls around their hearts crumble into a heap that they would never need again.

Tonight was meant to be filled with cake and her husband at her side in a designer tuxedo instead, she was left with heartache and the pouring rain. Smiling against his lips 'fuck it' she thought, because kissing the man of her dreams in the middle of a lonely dance floor in her ruin wedding dress was turning out to be the best night of her life. Who needed a husband in a designer tux anyway? When a gunny in a hoodie and jeans, made her knees weaker & life more complete than anyone ever did.

'til the end'

That is what was written inside the forgotten diamond ring at their feet. Sad, but true, because tonight the illusion of love had come to a painful end. While in the aftermath of that so called love, true love came back to reclaim the hearts it once knew many years ago.

"It's raining." Abby whispered against Gibbs lips.

"Is it?" He replied before kissing her again.

To be continued…