"Love Soon"
"I understand I wasn't part of the plan/a dollar short, a minute early/but I am your man/so come on and face it/so come on and face it/it's time that we say it/you can cross the line whenever you want to/I'm calling it love soon."~John Mayer
Setting: Post Mother's Day, Pre-Double Identity.
Disclaimer: I own a lot of stuff, unfortunately NCIS does not fall into that category.
"Ziva seriously, this is supposed to be FUN. Just pick out some stuff and try it on!" Abby said to a frustrated Ziva.
"No, we are here so that you can find a dress for that wedding. I am just here for moral support." Ziva replied as she quickly browsed the racks, not really looking at any clothes.
"Ziva, Ziva, Ziva, you don't need a reason to shop! I already found my dress, now we are just having fun. Come on, every girl likes to have a dress just to wear in case something comes up. So you pick something out and we are not leaving until you find something to at least try on!" Abby said excitedly as she skipped off to search through more racks of clothing.
Ziva groaned, she knew Abby would never let up; she was going to end up trying something on whether she liked it or not so she might as well put a little effort into finding a dress.
She looked through rack upon rack, nothing. She began to get annoyed. Sure there was some okay dresses but even if she did find one she liked, where was she going to wear it? She did not go to parties or clubs and she definitely didn't have a boyfriend to take her out. Not for lack of trying anyway, she rolled her eyes, she had been sending Tony signals that she wanted to move their friendship forward for weeks and she just did not understand why he was not picking up on it, she would sit right next to him when they watched movies, eat desert seductively, tease him with a little more sexual innuendo than she used to. Unfortunately, he just wasn't getting it and she was starting to get worried that his feelings for her had changed.
She kept going through the racks, picking up a couple dresses here and there. She saw Abby and headed over to her.
"Alright I am ready." She said, holding up the dresses so that Abby knew she really was trying something on.
"Okay, I will be back to render verdicts in a jiffy!" Abby said excitedly.
Ziva walked back to the dressing room, along her way a dress caught her eye. It was something way out of her normal range of fashion, it was one shoulder, black with blues and greens and some yellow splattered in, something about it just caught her eye. She grabbed her size and headed back to the dressing room.
She tried the first dress on; it was black, simple and pretty, but nothing special. She showed it to Abby who surprisingly vetoed it right away.
She tried on dress number two, it was yellow and it was definitely not her usual style but she had picked it out anyway.
She walked out to Abby who immediately made a face of disproval.
"Ugh, Ziva are you trying to blind me? That's practically neon. Come on, what in the world made you pick that out?" Abby asked.
Ziva threw her hands up in the air, obviously exasperated. "Well, I do not understand the point of this. It is not like I have anyone to wear a dress like this for. What am I supposed to do, put it in my closet and wait for some man to show enough interest in me to take me out to a nice dinner? Well the way I am going right now that will NEVER happen."
Abby raised her eyebrows, intrigued by Ziva's outburst. "What about Tony?" She asked.
"What about Tony?" Ziva responded, her attempt at being coy failing miserably.
"You two have been hanging out quite a lot, especially since you got back from Paris." Abby pried for information in the subtlest way possible.
Ziva smiled, "Abby nothing like that happened, and we are just friends."
"Ziva, I haven't seen you so happy in a long time, and obviously Tony has been a part of that, I can tell from that little grin on your face. Maybe nothing sexual happened between you two, but SOMETHING definitely happened. You gonna tell me what?" Abby was going to get something out of Ziva if she had to force it.
Ziva looked at her friend, she definitely was not going to take 'nothing' for an answer, she took a deep breath, "We just, we just….talked and cuddled a little bit. But it was no big deal; we just discussed how we missed each other's friendship and made a few things clear about my leaving and you all coming to save me. Nothing sexual, I swear to you." Ziva said, looking her friend in the eyes so that she knew she was telling the truth.
Abby took a leap in asking her next question. "Well, did you want something more to happen?"
"No. Yes. Maybe. I do not know." Ziva spewed off answers quickly, confusion evident on her face.
"Well, it sounds to me like you did." Abby said, quietly, so as not to set off her friend.
"I…I…think I did." Ziva said, her eyes focused on the floor.
"You think?" Abby said, needing a clear answer.
"Fine. I did. But it was not the time, it was too soon. But now, I just do not understand why he has not made a move. We are together all the time, I thought I was letting him know that I wanted to take our friendship to the next level but he just seems oblivious." Ziva said looking utterly put out.
"Give him time, I'm sure he just wants to do it right. You know Tony; he just doesn't want to hurt you. Just give him a chance, and in the meantime buy a great dress that doesn't make you look like big bird." Abby said with a smirk.
Ziva rolled her eyes and went back into the dressing room, she decided to bypass the other dresses she had picked out since she knew she would have to endure more 'what possessed you to pick this out?' comments, and go straight to the last one she had found on her way to the dressing room. She put it on and walked out of the dressing room.
"Oh my god, Ziva. That dress is incredible! You look fantastic!" Abby said, jumping out of her chair in excitement.
Ziva turned around to look in the mirror, she did look good. The dress was tight; it hugged her petit body perfectly and showed off her perfectly toned legs and one of her perfectly toned shoulders.
"Ziva that dress will look perfect with the shoes you bought a couple weeks ago!" Abby exclaimed.
"Ohh right, another item of clothing you forced me to buy that I will never get any use out of!" Ziva said, laughing at Abby's enthusiasm.
Abby chose to ignore her comment. "Take that off, you are buying it and we are going home and you are going to try it on with your shoes!"
Ziva laughed, Abby could be a lot to take sometimes but life was definitely better with her than without her.
They arrived back at Ziva's apartment. Abby and Ziva set their things down in Ziva's living room and both girls plopped down on the sofa.
"What are you doing? Try on that dress with those shoes!" Abby said.
"Abby what is the point? I will do it later." Ziva said, settling into her sofa.
"Ziva. You know I can be quite convincing, do you really want to sit here while I force you to listen to my long and passionate arguments which you will eventually give in to and I will have my way?" Abby said, looking at Ziva with a slightly amused expression.
Ziva laughed, she was probably right; she might as well just do it and get it over with. She made her way into her room to try on the dress.
Once Ziva was in her room Abby bolted over to her intercom and pushed the button, then all but glued her eye to the peephole. She looked back at Ziva's bedroom door to make sure she was still changing, "Come on, come on." She said, quietly urging her company. When she saw whom she was waiting for she quickly opened the door, motioning to come in and quickly shutting the door.
Just then, Ziva walked out of her room, she was looking down at the dress so she did not immediately see that someone had joined them. "Abby do you think I should…." She stopped mid sentence when she realized there was someone else in the room.
"Tony." She said, "What…what are you doing here?" She said, acutely aware that she was a bit out of her normal dress code.
Tony smiled at her, "Hey Z. You look beautiful. But, I think I have something that will complete your outfit." He then pulled a small black box out of his pocket and opened it up. Inside was a Star of David necklace, slightly smaller, but more intricate, than the one she had lost.
Ziva put her hand over her mouth; she did not know what to say.
Tony sensing her shyness carefully took the necklace out of the box. "Here, let me put it on you."
She nodded and turned around and pulled her hair out of the way. Tony secured the pendent around her neck and she turned back around, clutching it in her hand.
"Thank you, Tony. It is beautiful, you did not have to do that." She said to him.
He smiled, that beautiful Tony DiNozzo smile that made her go weak in the knees.
"I know I didn't have to. I wanted to. Plus, I heard that when a guy likes a girl she is more likely to agree to go out with him if her offers her jewelry." He said jokingly.
Ziva laughed until his statement fully registered in her mind, "Wait, go out with you?" She asked, a little confused.
"Well, I was hoping I could take you to dinner tonight. On one condition." He said, his green eyes staring deeply into her brown ones.
"I don't want to go out tonight just as friends, I want this to be a date. I want to take you out and hold your hand and tell you how beautiful you are. Ziva David, I want to date you, and I want to do it right." Tony said, stepping closer to her and grabbing her hands in his own.
Ziva smiled as she heard Abby squeal from a couple feet away. She looked into Tony's eyes. "I would love to go on a date with you. But I have one condition of my own." She said, eyes twinkling.
"Anything." He said, their faces only inches apart.
"You have to promise you will kiss me goodnight." She said with an evil grin.
"I think that can be arranged." He said, placing a chaste kiss on her lips.
Abby was now overwhelmed with excitement. "See Tony, I told you that she would say yes!" She said, jumping up and down and hugging her friends.
"You helped plan this?" Ziva asked, when Abby calmed down a bit.
"Of course! You two have been dodging around this relationship for too long. I had to do my part! Tony has been whining over how to ask you out forever, he did the necklace all on his own, I just set up the situation. I told him that I was taking you dress shopping and that he better be ready to come over to you apartment when I texted him because I promised that I would have you in your new dress and ready to go!" Abby stated, matter of factly.
Ziva smiled. "Well, thank you Abby, for helping us get our acts together."
"Anytime." Abby said with a smile. "Well, I should get going now so you two can get on with your date. Ziva, call me tomorrow, I want details!" She said as she ducked out the door.
Ziva and Tony looked at each other and laughed.
"So, Ziva asked. Should we get going?" She said, pointing at the clock.
"Oh yeah, we should." Tony said, taking his keys out of his pocket before looking at her again and placing another soft kiss on her lips, this time letting it last a little longer.
"What was that for?" Ziva said, a huge smile on her face.
"I just wanted to make sure this was real." He said, brushing her hair behind her ears.
Ziva smiled and kissed him one more time.
As they reluctantly broke apart Tony said, "I hope I get to do that for a very very long time to come."
"Do not worry, if I have any say in it, you will." Ziva said with a smile.
With that, Tony put his arm around her waist and they made their way out of her apartment and to the restaurant for their very first official date.
REVIEW PLEASE!! :]
Did you like it? This was supposed to be a one shot but I thought maybe, if I have time I might continue with more little Tiva dates here and there (nothing regular though, I already have to keep up with my other story). Would anyone keep reading if I posted sporadic Tiva dates on a very non-regular basis? lol. Let me know!
P.S. my gut tells me Tony really did give Ziva that necklace, I do not care if they never talk about it on the show, I know it happened!! Oh man, I am Tiva crazy! Lol But seriously though, he did. I know it!
ALSO, if you want to see a picture of Ziva's dress there is a link to it on my profile! It is one I actually own, Cote de Pablo and I have similar body types, very small, no curves, and we are fairly tall so I usually assume my clothes would look good on her. lol