"Damnit!"

Gibbs slammed the front door of his house shut with a loud bang, needing to take out the anger and disappointment he was feeling right now on something. He couldn't believe it. Could not believe that after six months of being together - and practically living together for five of those months - Tony preferred to spend Christmas someplace else.

Preferred to spend Christmas without him.

It wasn't that he had that much planned. On the contrary, Gibbs' idea of a perfect Christmas involved a tree with a couple of decorations, a few presents, food, drinks, and a lot of time spent together naked in front of a fire in the fireplace. Nothing fancy but perfect nonetheless. He'd thought Tony would like it, too, so when he asked the man about his plans for Christmas he hadn't been prepared for the slightly flushed look on his lover's face, nor the somewhat stammered answer.

"I ehm…I got this tradition of spending Christmas with my frat brothers and…."

It was all Gibbs had needed to hear before he'd nodded once, turned and stalked off with a murderous look on his face. He felt like his heart had been ripped out. It had taken him a lot to admit to himself that he was in love with Tony. It had taken him even more to admit it out loud to Tony. He could still feel the sense of relief that had washed over him – followed by a rush of excitement – when he learnt that Tony felt the same.

It had been the first time for each of them - falling for a man. So far they'd kept their relationship hidden. For the most part. The only two people that knew were Ducky, because he seemed to have some kind of sixth sense when it came to Gibbs' feelings, and Jack, who'd decided to show up unexpectedly about two months into the relationship and had walked in on them making out on the couch. Both Ducky and Jack had taken it very well and had tried to convince them both to just come out to their other friends.

So far that hadn't happened and Gibbs wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Sure, it'd be nice to just touch Tony whenever he felt like it instead of looking around first to make sure no one saw. But on the other hand, he was a private man and hadn't flaunted his previous relationships either. Hell, he'd probably had relationships no one at NCIS had been aware of.

Keeping it hidden didn't make it any less real though. He was in love. More in love with Tony than he'd been with anyone in a very long time and he knew with all the certainty that his gut could give him that this was the real thing. Which was exactly why he'd been looking forward to Christmas with Tony so much. He'd considered asking Jack to join them as well, but after a couple of days of internal debate he had decided against it. Their first Christmas together should be theirs and theirs alone.

And now Tony just told him he'd rather spend those days with his frat brothers than with him. Probably a bunch of juvenile men in their early forties looking forward to getting drunk and laid as soon as they could.

Gibbs growled out loud as he walked down the stairs to his basement, stomping a little harder on the steps than strictly necessary. The toys he'd been making for the last couple of months - toys he was supposed to bring to the children's hospital the next day - suddenly seemed to be mocking him. They were meant to bring Christmas cheer to kids. A feeling he couldn't imagine finding any time soon. All he felt right now was anger, disappointment, jealousy and grief. It felt as if Tony had broken up with him, even though he was fairly sure that wasn't something Tony planned to do. It didn't stop him from feeling like it though.

Not in the mood for any woodwork, he shook some screws out of a jar and poured about four fingers of Bourbon in it. He swallowed half of it in one large gulp and, after taking a deep breath, hung his head, eyes closed. Just two more days until Christmas. Two more days of working alongside Tony and trying to pretend nothing was wrong. Two more days.. and then three days of nothing but loneliness down in his basement instead of the plans he'd made for them.

"Damnit!" he cursed again, tossing the now empty jar against the wall next to the stairs. The sound of it shattering and falling to the ground gave him some satisfaction.

"HEY!"

The loud voice sounding from the stairs made Gibbs look up, not entirely surprised to see Tony walking up to him. "Watch where you're throwing that, will you? You could've hit me."

Gibbs huffed. "Wasn't really expecting you, Dinozzo. Thought you'd be busy planning Christmas with your frat brothers."

Tony came closer still, until he stood nearly toe to toe with Gibbs. "If I were you, I'd try for a bit more contempt in those words," he said sarcastically. "I don't think you've reached your maximum yet."

The green eyes that Gibbs loved so much were dark with anger and he forced himself not to look away, not ready to give up without a fight. "I'll talk about them anyway I want," he shot back, wincing internally when he realized he sounded like a sullen teenager. "But I'm glad you told me, because it's crystal clear now how important I am to you."

Tony blinked, anger and confusion contorting his face. He'd been pissed at Gibbs for taking off when he'd started to explain his Christmas plans - and the near hit with a glass jar had made it worse - but Gibbs' words confused him. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"What the fuck I'm talking about?" Gibbs repeated. "I thought what we have is real, Tony! I thought this was a relationship that could last. But if you are already trying to spend our first Christmas as a couple someplace else - with friends instead of with me - I'm not so sure about that."

Realization suddenly dawned in Tony's eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he shook his head at his lover. "Oh God, that's it, isn't it…?" He reached out and grabbed Gibbs' arm, pulling him closer. "You stupid ass."

Gibbs tried to remain where he was, his body tense as he tried to keep the distance between them. Tony's touch, the way his voice dipped a little lower, always made it impossible for him not to give in - angry or not. "Let go of me," he muttered, voice lacking any bite.

Tony shook his head again. "Not in this life," he answered, yanking Gibbs against him and wrapping both arms around the older man before he could object. He was holding him tight enough to make it nearly impossible for Gibbs to move. He gently bumped his forehead against Gibbs', his eyes locked with the ice blue ones of his partner. "Rule 8."

Gibbs tilted his head a little, questioning look on his face. "What about it?" He was still feeling angry and annoyed and the fact that Tony somehow had gotten over his own anger. It made him feel like he was missing something - and that only annoyed him more.

"Well, since you walked away before I'd even finished my first sentence, you assumed I was saying I wouldn't be in DC for Christmas and would rather spend it with my frat brothers than with you, correct?"

"Hmmpf," Gibbs grunted, hating the fact that Tony seemed to read him so well.

"Thought so," Tony nodded. "But if you'd stayed a bit longer instead of stomping off like a bull that just spotted a red flag somewhere, I would've had time enough to tell you that it's a tradition for me and my frat brothers to get together on Christmas Eve… and that all our partners join us." He sighed softly. "I wanted to introduce you to them, Jethro."

Gibbs blinked, anger leaving him so fast he felt dizzy for a moment. "You what? You're sure?"

Tony nodded. "Very." He chuckled, sounding a little nervous. "Although truth be told I have no idea how they're gonna react. I mean, if the jokes they've been making so far are anything to go by, I might end up spending Christmas Eve alone with you anyway." He nuzzled Gibbs' nose. "Not that that's a bad thing, but I'd rather see it end differently."

"You really want to do this?" Gibbs clearly hadn't wrapped his mind around Tony's words yet. Gibbs had been the one bringing up the idea of telling people since early on, knowing Tony wasn't one to keep his private life that much of a secret for long, but so far Tony hadn't felt comfortable with the idea. "I mean…"

"Yeah I know," Tony interjected. "I was the one who wasn't ready. But it starts to feel more and more like I'm lying to everyone, you know? My frat brothers, Ziva, McGee, Abby…" He looked Jethro in the eyes again. "They deserve to know how happy I am. How happy you make me. So yeah, I think it's time."

Gibbs groaned and shook his head, causing Tony's eyes to widen in shock. "Unless you don't think so," he quickly backtracked. "If you'd rather not that's fine, too, I just…"

Gibbs closed a hand over Tony's mouth to stop his rambling. "I broke Rule 8 and I'm gonna break another one right now," he said. "I'm sorry, Tony."

Tony's eyes widened further and Gibbs could feel him mumble something against his hand. "Sorry for assuming, sorry for walking out on you, and sorry for being an insecure old bastard. I thought you didn't want to spend Christmas with me, and instead of just asking I jumped to conclusions and took off before you could explain. That was wrong and I'm sorry." He took his hand off Tony's mouth and smiled a bit sheepishly. "And I'd love to join you on Christmas Eve."

The smile on Tony's face was brilliant enough to light up the entire room. "Really?"

Gibbs smirked. "Well, yeah, Dinozzo. Wouldn't have said it otherwise." Tony suddenly furrowed his brows and looked pensive. "What?" Gibbs asked. "Something else wrong?"

Tony shook his head, look still thoughtful, but Gibbs could see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I think we just had our first completely non-work-related fight."

Gibbs blinked, needing a second to follow the change of subject. He grinned. "We did, didn't we?"

Tony nodded. "And you know what happens after a fight, right?" He released Gibbs from the embrace he still had him in and took his hand, tugging him in the direction of the stairs. "Totally hot makeup sex!"

Gibbs chuckled to himself as he allowed Tony to drag him up the stairs. They came to a standstill in the living room where Tony apparently needed a moment to decide if they'd stay right where they were or move things to the bedroom. The few seconds of distraction was all Gibbs needed to yank Tony flush against him. He wrapped one arm around Tony's back and tangled the fingers of the other hand in his hair, drawing him even closer.

Tony looked at him, their lips just a hair's breadth apart. "I need you, Jethro," he breathed. "If you wanna take it slow you have to wait for the next round because right now I really need you."

Tony's voice seemed to go straight to Gibbs' groin and after a nod to let Tony know he'd heard him he closed the distance between them, claiming Tony's mouth in a hard kiss. The second their lips touched he felt Tony's mouth open and the next moment their kiss deepened as their tongues slid against each other. Tony's hands had moved to Gibbs' ass, kneading the firm cheeks and keeping him in place so he could grind his hips against his lover. It caused Gibbs to moan into their kiss and he could feel a shiver run down Tony's spine.

With a gasp Gibbs broke their kiss and rested his forehead against Tony's. "Strip," he said, voice soft yet commanding.

Tony nodded, reluctantly letting go of his lover as he tried to get out of his clothes as fast as he possibly could. He could feel Gibbs' eyes on him the entire time and the intense look in his lover's eyes almost felt like a caress. In under a minute he stood before Gibbs, completely naked and rock hard.

"What about you?" he asked, looking at Gibbs who stood there fully dressed.

"I'll get naked," Gibbs answered, aiming for sounding casually but hearing the slightly breathless undertone in his own voice. "Naked enough for you to suck my cock anyway."

Hearing Gibbs talk like that never failed to turn Tony on more and without realizing it he licked his bottom lip, eyes drifting to Gibbs' groin where a large bulge was straining against the zipper of his jeans. He stepped closer again and reached for the waistband of Gibbs' jeans. "Can I?" he asked, knuckles teasingly rubbing over Gibbs' erection.

Gibbs nodded, spreading his legs a little to get a better balance. He watched Tony sink to his knees before him, his eyes on Gibbs' groin as he opened the button and slowly slid the zipper down far enough to free Gibbs' cock. "Glad you decided to go commando," Tony whispered, hot breath a caress against Gibbs' sensitive skin.

Gibbs grunted his acknowledgement and let one hand come to rest on Tony's head, silently urging him to take him in his mouth. He looked down, eyes locked with Tony's as he watched his lover move forward enough to take the head of his cock between his lips. The sight alone was enough to nearly make him come but he wanted more, wanted to bury himself deep inside Tony and make him feel who he belonged to.

"Gimme your hand," he said huskily, breath hitching for a second when Tony took him deeper into his mouth, using his tongue just right. Tony hummed around his mouthful and lifted his hand for Gibbs to take. Gibbs lowered his head enough to take three fingers of Tony's hand into his mouth, sucking them and getting them wet with saliva before releasing them again.

"Get yourself ready."

The moan Tony let out reverberated through Gibbs' entire body and he had to close his eyes for a moment when he saw Tony shift to be able to slide his finger – or fingers – into his ass. A deep breath later he opened his eyes again and looked down, unable to not look for even a moment longer. He felt as if his entire body was on fire. Every time Tony moved his mouth up and down his cock, every time that sinful tongue licked around his head and dipped into the slit he felt himself get closer and closer to his orgasm.

With almost superhuman effort he tightened his hold on Tony's hair and pulled him off his cock. "Ready?"

Tony looked up as he leaned back a little and spread his legs wider, making it easy for Gibbs to see his leaking cock. "More ready and I'm done," he answered, sounding as breathless as his lover. "Lube?"

"Couch," Gibbs answered, pulling Tony to his feet and guiding him to the couch where he pushed him down onto his stomach. He reached under a cushion to retrieve the lube he kept there just in case and slicked himself up before straddling Tony. He leaned over, mouth close to Tony's ear as his slick cock rubbed against Tony's loose opening. "I hope you're ready," he said hoarsely, "because there's no way I can go slow now."

Tony didn't answer, he just pushed his ass up against Gibbs' erection in a silent plea for him to continue. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down just a little, Gibbs stretched himself out over his lover and wrapped his arms around him to hold him close as he slowly – as slowly as he could manage – entered him in one smooth motion. Once fully inside he held still for just a moment to give Tony a second or two to adjust.

"Move!" Tony cried out nearly immediately, turning his head in an attempt to look at Gibbs. "God please, Jethro….move!"

Unable to hold back after Tony's plea, Gibbs dropped his head on Tony's shoulder blade and started moving in and out of his lover, aiming for – and finding – his prostate with every thrust. It was hard and fast and he knew Tony probably would feel it for a while but he needed it. They needed it after a day that had felt there was a huge distance between them.

"Jeth…" Tony choked out, rubbing himself against the couch and pushing up against his man as much as he could. "Gonna…."

"Come, Tony," Gibbs breathed, feeling his own orgasm build up fast. "Let me feel you come."

He changed his angle just a little, hitting Tony's sweet spot dead on and the next moment he felt Tony's entire body convulse under him as his lover's orgasm washed over him. Gibbs held on for a few more seconds before he let go too, hips jerking as he came deep inside Tony. He slumped down on top of his man, breathing hard and still holding him tight.

"I love you," he said softly, kissing Tony's shoulder.

Tony turned his head. "And I love you," he answered. "Even when you're being stupid."

Gibbs groaned and shook his head. "Can we not start this whole argument all over again? "

Tony grinned. "Why not? I kinda like the making up part!"

ncis***ncis***ncis***ncis

It was a little past 6 pm on Christmas Eve when Tony and Gibbs walked up to Palena, one of Washington's finer restaurants. On the drive from Gibbs' house to the restaurant Tony had been unusually quiet. Now walking up to the entrance, even his steps had gotten slower than usual - like he was dragging his feet in going somewhere he'd rather not be.

"You can still back out of this," Gibbs said softly, brushing his hand against Tony's. "I won't hold it against you."

"No!" Tony shook his head. "No," he repeated. "I gotta do this. I want to do this." He chuckled nervously. "I've never been happier with anyone, Jethro. By not telling anyone it feels like I'm ashamed or something. And I'm not."

"I know you're not," Gibbs said quietly. "I never thought you were." A sudden grin appeared on his face. "Embarrassed by our experience with Jack, maybe, but not ashamed."

The memory of Jackson Gibbs catching them in the act of getting naked for a quickie on the couch was both funny and embarrassing, and it caused Tony to shoot Gibbs a lopsided grin. "At least this time we've got our clothes on." He opened the door and walked inside, scanning the restaurant and locating the table where his friends were sitting. Gibbs was walking close behind him, barely resisting the urge to keep his hand on the small of Tony's back for some support. He wasn't sure that would be appreciated though, and this was Tony's show, so he'd follow his lead for now.

"Hey guys!" Tony said cheerfully as he looked at the group of men and women sitting around a large oval table. "And ladies, of course. Merry Christmas!"

"Tony! You're finally here!" Several of the men stood up to greet him with a hug while others clapped him on the back by means of hello. None of them noticed Gibbs, most of them assuming he was part of the restaurant staff.

"Merry Christmas to you, too, man! How've you been? We haven't heard from you in ages."

Tony shrugged. "Been busy," he said, not yet giving anything away just yet.

One of the guys smirked at him. "Busy with some lady, probably. Or ladies, knowing you!" Several others chuckled as they looked at Tony, waiting for him to jump on the statement.

Tony took a deep breath. "Not really," he said, looking a little uncomfortable and glancing over his shoulder at Gibbs, who was still standing close behind him. "That is to say…."

Gibbs had watched in silence so far and could sense Tony's internal struggle. He saw the tension in his lover's broad shoulders, the way his fingers kept moving against his thigh, and the way he was at a loss for words - something that rarely happened. Before he could question it, he stepped to Tony's side and stuck out his hand to the man that had been smirking at Tony. "Jethro Gibbs," he said as casually as he could manage, hoping to come across as someone who had introduced himself like this many times before. "Tony's partner."

From the corner of his eye he caught the look of relief that washed over Tony's face and he took Tony's hand in his – the other one still held out for Tony's friend to shake. Said friend was standing in front of Gibbs with his jaw hanging open, looking completely baffled by Gibbs' words. An elbow from the woman who was obviously the younger man's wife startled him out of his daze, sending him into motion, and he automatically grabbed Gibbs' hand. "Hi," he said, voice pitched a little higher than earlier. "I'm Pete - nice to meet you."

The woman with the dangerous elbow stepped forward, batting Gibbs' outstretched hand aside before giving him a brief but heartfelt hug. "I'm Joyce," she said. "It's a pleasant surprise to meet you." She looked over his shoulder at Tony, who stood frozen, and grinned. "I think the unthinkable has happened – he's been shocked into silence!"

Joyce swiftly moved past Gibbs and hugged Tony tight. "It's so good to see you, sweetie. It's been way too long since you had time to join us for dinner - thanks to that boss of yours!" She huffed, "Or slave-driver, actually. Seriously - I'm surprised you even have time for a relationship with the hours you're putting in!"

The corner of Tony's mouth started to twitch and as he quickly looked at Gibbs, noticing his partner was having some trouble holding back his laughter, too. This didn't go unnoticed by Joyce. "What?"

Tony snorted out a laugh, poking Gibbs in the ribs and causing him to laugh as well. "Joyce, meet the one and only slave-driver," he hiccupped. "Jethro's my boss at NCIS."

The deep red blush on Joyce's face was enough to break the tension, and soon two chairs were pulled out for Tony and Gibbs. Feeling relieved that everyone only seemed surprised about his revelation, Tony quickly introduced everybody else, even though he knew Gibbs wouldn't remember everyone's names right away. He was glad to see his lover already talking amicably to the people sitting closest to him. So far the whole issue about him being with a man seemed to be a non-issue to his friends.

"So, you suddenly decided to become gay?"

Tony looked to his right and into the face of Richard, one of his oldest friends. The look on his face was unreadable and for a moment Tony felt his stomach clench. "Not really," he answered truthfully. "I never considered it before I fell in love with Jethro." He gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I doubt someone becomes gay all of a sudden. I you wanna label it then I'm probably bi."

After a moment, Richard nodded. "Okay."

It sounded so odd that Tony blinked. "Okay what?"

Richard shrugged. "When you just introduced your boyfriend - or partner or whatever - I thought you'd been lying to us since the beginning. You know… that you've been pretending to be straight all this time and you thought we were these bigots you had to hide from. If you say it wasn't like that then that's cool."

Tony slowly nodded. "So we're good?"

A deep voice bellowed from across the table with exaggerated sarcasm. "Jesus, Dinozzo! You're screwing a guy – it's not like you killing puppies or something! Quit making such a big deal out of nothing, and for God's sake, let's order dinner because I'm starving!"

"You tell him, Mark!" Another voice rang out, causing all others - including Gibbs - to start laughing. And just like that the whole big announcement was done. After just a few more minutes Tony even wondered why he'd been nervous about this in the first place. Before he knew it, dinner was over and the couples started saying goodbye to each other, promising to keep in touch a bit more often and have dinner soon.

It was past midnight when Tony and Gibbs slowly walked back to their car, arms around each other. "Did you have a good time?" Tony asked as they reached the car. Gibbs nodded. "They're good people," he answered, opening the car door for Tony and holding it open. He kissed Tony lightly on the lips before his lover got in the car. "Although I'll be glad to have two days all to ourselves as well."

Tony closed the door and watched as Gibbs walked around the car, getting in behind the wheel. "Me too," he said softly. "As much fun as my friends are they definitely can't compete with you and me naked in front of a fireplace."

Gibbs reached for Tony's hand and squeezed it briefly before starting the engine. "You got that right," he agreed.

End