"You gonna get out of the car, or you gonna stay out here all day?" Gibbs asked, leaning down into the passenger seat of his car from where he stood in his driveway. He had one hand on the roof and one on the open car door as he peered in at Tony, who was sitting in the car and looking at Gibbs' house with a strangely wistful expression on his face.
That seemed to snap Tony out of whatever daze he was in and he turned towards Gibbs with a grin. "I don't know, Boss, it's kinda nice outside, and you do have an awesome car," he said, and Gibbs rolled his eyes, stepping back to give Tony room to get out.
Tony could walk without a cane, but the hospital had suggested he buy one in case his leg gave him further trouble, which was quite likely, or in case he felt particularly dizzy or weak. While Tony felt very strongly against the idea, Gibbs had felt differently and bought one, and so he pulled it out of the backseat of his car, along with a bag of Tony's things that he had brought to the hospital.
Tony still had to grab onto the open car door for balance as he stood up, though, and he could tell from the way Gibbs tensed that he was resisting the urge to reach out and steady him. He rolled his eyes as he shut the door, and shooed Gibbs ahead of him as they walked into the house - mostly because he knew he was slower than usual and still unsteady, and he didn't want Gibbs watching him walk like that.
"When'd you start locking the door?" Tony asked, leaning against the front porch railing gratefully as Gibbs fiddled with his key.
Gibbs shrugged as he shoved the door open. "When I'm gone for a long time, I lock up," he said, and Tony followed him into the house and pushed the door closed behind him.
It was nice, he thought, to return to Gibbs' house, and see the familiar surroundings - the bookcase, the ancient TV, the soft couch - and he smiled as he followed Gibbs into the kitchen and watched him set Tony's things down on the floor and head straight to the coffeepot.
Tony put a balancing hand on the kitchen counter - because, really, this was more time spent in a vertical position than he'd had in a while - and continued to watch Gibbs, knowing there was a wide grin on his face and not caring because he was finally out of the hospital, at Gibbs' house, with Gibbs -
Gibbs turned away from the coffee pot and caught sight of him, and then Gibbs was smiling too, really smiling, not just smirking or giving one of his little guarded quirks of the lip, and Tony was suddenly struck by how sexy Gibbs was, and he felt his cheeks flush and he ignored the increasingly frantic thoughts in his mind about whether or not this whole crazy thing made him gay - because he thought maybe he was just Gibbs-sexual - and he leaned into the embrace when Gibbs made his way across the kitchen in two quick strides and wrapped his arms around him.
Tony smiled against Gibbs' neck, taking his hand off the counter and wrapping his arms around Gibbs' waist. Gibbs kept a hand on the back of Tony's head, holding him securely in place, and looped one arm around his waist.
"Glad to have you home," Gibbs said, and Tony thought he sounded a little gruffer than usual, and his smile widened into Gibbs' skin, the scent of coffee beginning to drift into the kitchen, the sunlight streaming in the kitchen window warming his back, and the feeling of home sinking into his bones.
Tony wasn't sure how long they stood there, but he began to feel tired, and he sighed against Gibbs' neck, pressing closer to him, leaning against him and letting Gibbs take some of his weight.
"You tired?" Gibbs asked, his hand running up and down Tony's back.
"Mm," Tony said, "not sleeping tired, just...I'm used to laying down."
"Come on," Gibbs said, shrugging out of the embrace and leading him by the arm to the backdoor. If Tony wobbled a little on the way, Gibbs didn't say anything. He just kept his hold firm, and once they were outside, Tony looked at him in surprise.
"This new, Boss?" Tony asked, gesturing towards an oak bench on the back porch he wasn't sure he'd seen before.
Gibbs was quiet for a moment, tugging Tony along and herding him onto the bench, glaring at him when Tony shoved his hands away and rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that look, Boss. I know how to sit down," Tony complained.
Gibbs' glare softened to a roll of his own eyes, and he sat beside Tony, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, eyes distant. "Not new," Gibbs said after a moment. "Had it in the attic for a while. Thought you might like it."
Tony was sure his heart stopped for a moment, and he stared at Gibbs' back, unsure of what to say, and just as he was about to reach out and put a hand on his back, Gibbs stood up.
"Stay here," he said, "I'll be right back."
Gibbs went back in the house, and Tony was dumbfounded. He ran his fingers along the smooth arm of the bench, knowing Gibbs had to have made this, because there really was no way he would buy a wooden bench when he could just make one. And if it had been in the attic, did that mean - Shannon?
Gibbs came through the door a moment later, a chipped red mug in his hands, one Tony knew was his favorite from all the time he'd spent in Gibbs' home. Gibbs sat down on the bench, eyes on the hot liquid in his cup, and Tony watched him hesitantly, breathing in the crisp September air and wondering what to say.
After a moment, Gibbs relaxed into the bench and leaned against the backrest, and Tony hesitantly shifted closer until their sides were pressing, and he let his hand fall to Gibbs' thigh. He felt Gibbs swallow thickly beside him, and Tony knew that for Gibbs, that was a serious display of emotion, and he rested his head on Gibbs' shoulder, relieved when Gibbs shifted and brought his arm up around Tony's back, pulling him close, and Tony felt a strange, quiet atmosphere descend over them, and he wondered if this is what Gibbs used to do with Shannon, if they used to have quiet lazy afternoons on the back porch, if they sat here and watched Kelly play in the backyard, if they ate their breakfast out here - and he sighed and squeezed Gibbs' thigh, and Gibbs squeezed his shoulder in return.
"It's a nice bench, Gibbs," Tony said. "Beautiful," he added, and he meant it.
Gibbs didn't say anything, just moved his fingers back and forth on Tony's shoulder.
"You cold?" Gibbs asked. Tony was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans, and though it was early September, the humidity of summer was already ebbing away to be replaced with the cool, crisp air of autumn.
"No, I'm fine," Tony said.
"Should bring a blanket out here," Gibbs remarked, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Mmm," Tony said, enjoying the feel of the soft cotton of Gibbs' shirt underneath his cheek and relaxing against his body.
Gibbs grunted when his phone rang and pulled it out of his jeans pocket, shifting a bit. Tony frowned when Gibbs removed his arm from around his shoulders, and Gibbs rolled his eyes and set his coffee on the arm of the bench so that he could use that hand for the phone, and obligingly put his arm back around Tony.
"Gibbs," he said, holding his phone flush against his ear.
Tony smiled and leaned back into Gibbs' side, letting his arm drift around Gibbs' waist. He was tired, and he had a bit of a headache, and if he really stopped to think, there were a whole lot of things still moving around in his brain that he knew would really put a damper on things if he let them take over his thoughts, but it was nice to just relax with Gibbs on the back porch, and he sighed when Gibbs' fingers idly brushed back and forth over his upper arm.
"Yeah, Abs, he's fine," Gibbs was saying. "Yeah, I know."
"Dinner?" Gibbs said. "Hang on."
Gibbs took the phone away from his ear and Tony looked up at him questioningly. "They wanna bring dinner," Gibbs said, jerking his head in the direction of the phone. "You up for it?"
Tony kind of wanted Gibbs to himself, but he let his head fall back to Gibbs' shoulder and shrugged. "Okay," he said. After all, the team served as a good distraction, and if it were just him and Gibbs, well, he might start thinking, so he sighed and listened as Gibbs told Abby it would be fine for the team to come for dinner.
"You go back to work tomorrow?" Tony asked, once Gibbs hung up the phone.
"Yeah," Gibbs said. "Took a personal day today, but I have to go in tomorrow. I'll come home for lunch if we don't catch a case."
"You don't have to do that," Tony said automatically. "I'll be fine."
"Don't have to do anything," Gibbs said. "I want to."
Tony smiled at the sulky tone of Gibbs' voice, and wondered what it would be like when they worked together again - and then his smile sagged as it suddenly hit him - yes, he was out of the hospital, but he was still sick, and he still had a disease that was not curable but manageable, and he had no idea what the hell he would be able to do when they got back to NCIS besides sit on his ass.
And even that could be difficult, because how would he see the computer at his desk if his eyes started acting up again? He tightened his fingers on Gibbs' hip and tried not to panic.
"Got a DVD player for the living room," Gibbs suddenly said, his words cutting into Tony's frantic thoughts.
"What-really?" Tony asked, surprised and glad to have something else for his brain to latch onto. "Do you even know what a DVD is, Boss? I mean, isn't that like jumping from 8-track to mp3 player? Did you even have a VCR? What are you going to watch on it? You don't have any-"
Gibbs gave the back of his head a light swat and Tony immediately stopped talking.
"Abby picked up some DVDs from your apartment and brought 'em over," Gibbs said.
"Really?" Tony asked, struck unexpectedly by how supportive everyone had been. It made him feel a little guilty that he'd selfishly wanted them to leave him and Gibbs alone for dinner, but he pushed that away and refocused on the conversation.
"Hey, I wonder if she brought over my copy of Titanic," Tony said, ducking his head automatically when he felt Gibbs' hand move from his shoulder. Gibbs found his head nonetheless and gave him a very mild headslap.
Tony smiled and relaxed into Gibbs' side again, and sighed when Gibbs pressed a kiss into the top of his head. He let his eyes fall closed, and breathed in the smell of Gibbs' laundry detergent, of Gibbs' soap, of Gibbs. He shivered when a cool afternoon breeze floated over them, ruffling his t-shirt and making Gibbs tighten the arm around his shoulder.
"Let's go in," Gibbs said, "it's getting windy."
"'sok," Tony said, "I like it out here." He marveled at how easily the two of them had shifted into this strange, physical thing, and at how natural it was to be sitting on the bench that Gibbs had brought down from the attic for him, with Gibbs' arm around him, with his own arm around Gibbs - cuddling. Because, really, he didn't think he could call it anything else, and it was so surreal that he felt a laugh bubble up in his throat. Gibbs must have taken that as some kind of sign that the cold was getting to him, because he abruptly stood, and Tony frowned, crossing his arms over his chest and running his hands up and down his arms because, damn, without Gibbs next to him it was chilly - the man was like a furnace. Gibbs kept his coffee cup in one hand and held out his other expectantly to Tony, who looked at it and took it with a sigh, allowing Gibbs to help pull him up, and letting Gibbs hold onto him for a minute when his head starting spinning from getting up too fast.
Gibbs pressed a short kiss to his lips before letting him go, and Tony followed him into the house, collapsing down onto the couch eagerly once they were inside.
"Gonna work on the boat?" Tony called into the kitchen, where he heard Gibbs shuffling around.
"No," Gibbs said, and Tony leaned his head back and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of Gibbs refilling his mug - he wondered for a moment what a caffeine-free Gibbs would be like and shuddered, not really wanting to find out.
When Gibbs came back, Tony opened his eyes and smiled at him, and Gibbs set his coffee down on the table and made his way over to the bookshelf, where one shelf had been cleared out and replaced with DVDs. Their shiny, colorful spines looked out of place in Gibbs' living room, and seeing them there made Tony feel strangely giddy.
"You tell me how to do it and I'll put one on for you," Gibbs said.
Tony grinned. "Really?" he asked, knowing that Gibbs would probably wind up throwing the DVD player across the room at best; at worst, he would probably smash the TV over Tony's head.
"Yes, really," Gibbs said, sounding impatient, hands on his hips as he glared at Tony. "What do you want to watch?"
"I don't care, you pick," Tony said.
"I don't even know what half these movies are," Gibbs said, peering at them skeptically.
"I don't know what Abby brought," Tony countered. "Just pick one."
"The Lady from Shanghai?" Gibbs said after a moment, looking at Tony curiously. "You like that movie?"
"Orson Welles? Rita Hayworth? Mexico? You're telling me you don't?" Tony asked. "Let's watch it."
Gibbs rolled his eyes and picked up the DVD case. "My dad used to watch this damn movie all the time," he said.
"Oh," Tony said, unsure of his choice, "we can watch something else if you want."
"Nah," Gibbs said, opening the case and plucking out the DVD. "Now tell me what to do to play this thing."
Tony grinned. "First, turn on the TV. That's that big box looking thing in front of you. There should be a large button that says 'power.' Do you need me to get your glasses so you can find it?"
Tony automatically brought his hands in front of his face when the DVD case flew in his direction and he laughed as he caught it, especially when he saw that Gibbs really did take longer than necessary to find the right button, furrowing his brow and looking at the TV in confusion. "Never use the damn thing," Gibbs admitted.
"I know," Tony said, and he easily talked Gibbs through the process of turning on the DVD player and even considered it a success - Gibbs only swore once, and Tony would give the handful of glares sent in his direction maybe a six out of ten.
Gibbs went back to the couch and settled in, pulling the blanket folded over the back of the couch down and laying it over them. Tony stayed on his side of the couch at first, not wanting to be presumptuous and just assume that Gibbs would want him to sit so close to him again, but Gibbs glared at him and held his arm out, so Tony wedged himself in as close as he could get, stifling a yawn as he curled into Gibbs' side, enjoying how familiar the contour of Gibbs' body was becoming.
And if he was sleeping only fifteen minutes into the movie - well, Gibbs wasn't going to wake him up. After all, he could use a nap himself.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.