After finally returning into his house, Gibbs looked around and wondered what to do next. He'd played his hand and lost. Scrubbing his face, he decided that working on the boat would calm him down a bit.
As he drew up to the boat, he ran his hand along the frame, feeling its smoothness. With a sigh, he picked up the plane and began sanding. Generally the motions of sanding the boat would help clear his mind and let him think, however today it seemed, the boat had other plans.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he frowned at the wood and put the plane down. There was no way continuing work on the boat would help with his current problem. Sighing, he scanned his shelf for his desired bottle, quickly picking up the bourbon.
Another quick search located his cup. Gibbs shot down the first cup, relishing the burn of the alcohol down his throat. He poured himself another cup and downed it just as fast, hoping it would take away the heaviness of his heart.
After pouring his third cup of bourbon, Gibbs sat on his workbench and sipped at it. As he stared at the skeleton of his boat, he thought over his conversation with Tony. He couldn't have planned it to go any worse; everything had gone pear-shaped.
Maybe he should have ignored Abby's wise words of wisdom. But then, it would have been ten times worse when it did come out.
Perhaps he should have just kissed Tony senseless and then talk… or not. He could have had ‘jarhead' to arrange to meet Tony – although that probably wouldn't have worked either as Tony thought he had a stalker and would have invited the entire team to witness the meet. That could've been fun…
Gibbs took another sip of his bourbon. How could he have screwed up so royally? And how the hell was he gonna get Tony to stay?
Taking a deep breath, Gibbs scrubbed at his face. He couldn't bear the thought of losing Tony. And for something so trivial. Well, it wasn't really trivial. Tony had shared his soul with him, thinking he was somebody else.
But then, in the end, if they could get past this ‘thing', this not trusting thing, then everybody would get what they want. Tony would get him, and Gibbs would get Tony, and then who else cared about whatever else Tony had told him? Sure, everybody thought Gibbs was a bastard, and occasionally his words and actions cut deep, and for that he had a lot of ass-kissing to do… or if Gibbs had his way, then a lot of other things involving Tony's ass to do…
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Tony rang the doorbell again, hefting his shoulder strap higher onto his shoulder. Eventually the door opened and a confused Abby looked out.
"Tony!" she exclaimed with happiness, opening the door, then when she got a good look at him, she changed her tone, "What the hell happened? What did Gibbs do?"
Tony attempted a smile, but failed miserably, "I, ah, can I take you up on that offer?"
"Of course you can, Tony!" Abby replied, getting out of the doorway, "Here, let me take one of your bags,"
Tony followed Abby through her apartment and into the spare room, dumping his stuff on the bed.
"Make yourself at home," Abby told him, then rethought it and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the room, "But first, you need coffee, or a beer, or something stronger,"
"Coffee will be fine, Abs," Tony replied, sitting on a stool
Abby nodded and quickly filled up her pot, "Okay, spill. What happened?"
"Gibbs," Tony said simply, "Gibbs happened,"
Abby patted his hand, "Honey, you're gonna have to be more specific than that,"
Tony sighed and got up, "God, I don't know. You'd think I'd know the man a bit better now that I've worked with him for so many years, but I don't! He's such a bastard, and he spends most of the time reminding me of it. And believe me, I needed reminding because I was starting to think of him as a person,"
Abby nodded at him, handing him his coffee.
"Thanks," Tony mumbled, cradling the cup in his hands
"So, what happened?" Abby asked
"Where do I begin?" Tony asked, with a small laugh
"The beginning would be good," Abby replied with a smirk
Tony sighed, "Ah, okay. Gibbs said he was gonna take me out to dinner because he had no food in his fridge, then he decided that he needed to tell me something urgently and told me he loved me. Then he told me that he was my internet friend and – "
"Hang-on, back up. Did you just say that he told you he loved you?" Abby asked, raising her eyebrows
"Yeah, I did, I mean he did. Anyway, he was Jarhead all along and – " Tony paused at Abby and gasped, "Oh shit. He told me he loved me,"
Abby smiled, "Okay, then what happened?"
"I walked out on him, told him I needed time to think," Tony said quickly, as if saying it quicker would make it not to have happened at all. Tony put his head in his hands, mumbling, "Oh shit, what did I do?"
Abby touched Tony's shoulder from across the bar, hoping her touch would give him the support she thought it would, "It's okay, we can make this better,"
"How?" Tony asked, looking at Abby, "I walked out on him,"
"Yeah, well he kinda deserved it," Abby replied
"Yeah, he did," Tony replied with a sigh, "But I also kinda threatened to quit. And by threatened, I mean he thinks I'll be handing in my resignation tomorrow,"
"Uh oh," Abby responded
"Exactly," Tony replied, "I mean, I wasn't going to, I just said it,"
"Oh dear," Abby said
"Yeah," Tony mumbled
"No, I mean, ah. I already put that idea in his head," Abby told him, "I told him you were sick of his shit and were planning on resigning and joining the feds,"
"I'd never join the feds," Tony replied, frowning at Abby
"I know, I just kinda hoped it would make him get his act together and do something about you and him. And I told him you would be gone in about a month, if that," Abby told him, "Sorry,"
"Yeah, well he did do something about it. He told me and I didn't even take the hint," Tony responded, "And now he thinks I'm leaving,"
"Okay, I have a plan," Abby replied, holding up her finger, "This is what you do…"
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs thinks about his actions and Tony talks to Abby
Chapter End Notes:
Sorry about the delay, been busy getting last minute things done before I go away next week. I'm hoping to get another chapter posting before I leave...
Hope you like it! Please give me feedback, I thrive on it!
Hope you like it! Please give me feedback, I thrive on it!