Chapter 2

Three sharp knocks at the door broke his reverie.

'Who the hell is coming to see me at two o'clock in the morning?' he thought to himself. He froze when he opened the door.

The woman he'd been thinking of most of the night was standing on his doorstep, dazed as if she had no idea where she was. When Tony looked closer, he noticed that the water on her face was not rain. His Ziva was crying.

"Ziva?" he asked tentatively. His voice seemed to snap her out of her trance. "What are you doing here, and why are you crying?"

~*~

Ziva pushed past Tony and into his apartment upon realizing where she was. She made it to the living room, and then collapsed onto the couch with her face in her hands, without so much as a hello to Tony.

Tony did nothing; instead, he grabbed two beers from the fridge. He opened them both and set them on the table in front of where Ziva was sitting before sitting on the couch next to her.

"Zee... what's wrong?" Tony desperately wanted to crack a joke and make her smile, but he somehow sensed that she needed this, so he kept his voice low and serious. She needed to let it all out, to cry, to be weak for once in her life.

Ziva didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell him everything; everything she'd been thinking of that night. But as she looked into his eyes, she could tell he had been thinking about the same types of things. The look in his eyes let her know that he understood what she was feeling. She could tell: his guards were down, the wall that had been there since Jeanne was gone.

Tony couldn't place what was different about her tonight, besides the tears. He had never seen Ziva cry before. But then, as he gazed into her eyes, he saw the wall behind them crumble as she opened her soul to him.

Ziva fell into Tony's open arms. She needed him to understand her feelings, but she had no clue how to say it. She didn't have to. She wanted to be vulnerable; he let her. She didn't even try to stop the tears from falling onto his shoulder. There was only one thing she needed now.

"I love you, Tony," she said softly. So softly, she thought that he wouldn't be able to hear her

Tony's eyes opened wide, and he smiled slightly as her words sank in.

"I love you, too, Ziva," he said just as quietly. He could feel her smile on his shoulder, and he kissed her forehead softly. Their hands moved up simultaneously, his to brush the hair from her face and the tears from her eyes, and hers to reach to her neck and grab the Star of David around her neck as she always did when she was incredibly happy or comfortable. Soon, Ziva was asleep in his arms, and Tony settled in, wrapping his arms around her tightly before drifting off into a happy, peaceful slumber.

~*~

Ziva awoke hours later to the sounds of birds in the trees singing outside the window.

Wait a minute… there were no windows in her bedroom.

She sat up quickly, disturbing what she had been sleeping on all night. She calmed when she realized where she was, and smiled at Tony's reaction to her start: he had grabbed her arm to cover his face from the light.

"Tony," she called softly. "Tony. Wake up, I need my arm back," she said through a laugh.

She giggled again as he pulled her back to him; she was now lying face down on top of him, her head on his chest. They were both fully clothed, but Ziva felt as if there was no way she could ever be closer to him than she was now. She could almost hear the smile in his sigh as she closed her eyes and listened as he started to speak.

"Good morning, Zee-vah," he said, stressing the syllables of her name the way he always did. She didn't know why, but she loved the way he said her name like that.

"Good morning, Tony," she said, not moving from his chest. "Sleep well?"

"Better than I have in weeks," he said cheekily, with his classic DiNozzo grin.

They laid together in silence for a moment. It started comfortably, but the silence went on and on. They were going to have to talk.

"Ziva, will you tell me why you were so upset last night?" Tony sat up as he voiced the question he'd been wondering all night. Ziva allowed him to sit up before settling back against him with her head on his shoulder and his arms holding her there.

"I just... I don't know. I guess I was just thinking about everything that has happened to me since I first came here. I do not even remember getting here. I remember being home and feeling like I had to get out, but the next thing I remember was you opening your door," she said quietly from his shoulder.

"Which memories?" Tony asked. He wanted to keep her talking; she looked like she needed it, and he wanted to hear them.

"All of them really; I thought about Jenny, McGee, Gibbs, Abby... you," she said. "Some good times, some bad," she answered.

"Me?" he said with his signature grin, attempting to cheer her up. She hit him in the shoulder, and then laid her hand on his, stroking his fingers gently.

"You know, my father used to tell me to bury everything, all my feelings. But for some reason, last night everything came up and I was regretting all my missed chances. I've had so many chances to talk to you, to tell you everything. I guess last night I finally worked up the nerve to do it, subconsciously."

Silence settled in as Tony thought about her words. It was beginning to grow awkward again. After several minutes, she broke the silence.

"Tony?" she said softly and tentatively.

"Yeah?" he said equally quietly, almost as if he was afraid of what was coming next.

"Did you mean it? What you said, last night... did you mean it?"

"Did you?"

"You first!" she teased, attempting to relieve the awkwardness.

Tony was quiet for a moment as he tried to find the words. He closed his eyes and smiled, tightened the grip of his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"Every word, Ziva. Every word," he said sincerely.

"Good. Because if you hadn't, I would've had to kill you..." She smiled, and tilted her head backwards to kiss him playfully.

"I love you, Ziva," he said quietly.

"I love you, Tony," Ziva said, leaning her head back on his shoulder. She let him hold her tight, and neither said another word.

~*~

A/N: Well???? What do you think? It's not like I can read your mind and magically obtain a response. See that little green button? Can you hear it? It's saying, "Click me and review!!" lol :D Until next time….