Tony made it through movie critique but he wasn't paying much attention. He kept looking at Ziva trying to figure out how to fix things between them. She had moved away from him, sitting across the room. It was the first day and he already messed things up. The bell rang signaling it was time for school to be over. He watched as Ziva walked out of the room and headed down the hallway. He ran to catch up with her.
"Ziva!" He yelled after her, not caring who looked his way. Ziva kept on walking as if she never heard him. He ran faster. He finally made it up to her and moved to stand in front of her. He was out of breath as he spoke.
"Wait, please. Just listen. You don't have to say anything, just please listen to what I have to say. If you don't like it then feel free to slap me or something. Please just listen to my explanation." When Ziva stood still, silently signaling for him to continue.
"Yes. I slept with her. Yes, it was at a party, and yes I'm known in this school for being a skirt chaser." Ziva huffed and moved to walk away. Tony gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back to look at him. She could see the unshed anger at himself in his eyes.
"Please. But you're different. As soon as I saw you, you seemed different. Special even. I don't know what it is about you, but I didn't want to get to know you because I wanted to sleep with you. I wanted to get to know you because you seem like such a...I don't know the words to describe you. I just feel this connection with you that I've never had with anybody else." He smiled at her, looking into her beautiful brown eyes.
"I want to be your friend if you'll let me. I never meant to hurt you, Ziva. I guess I'll see you around." With that, he walked away. He didn't want to hear her rejection. He couldn't handle that. He turned around to see her walking towards her house. He wished he could give her a ride home. He would gladly skip practice if it meant he got to spend time with her. He looked at his watch and noticed that he needed to be at the gym and meet Tim. He walked through the hallway and saw Tim leaning next to the door, glaring through the window at who he presumed to be Sacks and Langer.
"Hey man, sorry I'm late. I had to do something." Tim looked at him with a question in his eyes.
"Did it have to do with Ziva?" Tony looked down at the ground.
"Yeah. She's not happy with me. I just went to talk to her, to try to make things right. I don't know Tim. She probably hates me." Tim slightly nodded.
"Just give it time, Tony. It's her first day. She's probably overwhelmed with classes and Jeanne with her lackeys. She just needs time." Tony nodded, he was probably right and he wasn't making things easier.
"What are they up too?" He wanted to change the subject. Needed to get Ziva out of his mind, at least for now. He looked through the window and saw the two guys picking on a geek in the bleachers.
"Alright, here's the plan. I got to go get changed or Fornell will have my head. I'll meet you back here and we'll go in. Keep an eye on Dorneget. Don't let him end up like Jimmy." Tim nodded and turned back toward the door, looking through the window. Tony made his way to the locker room and got changed into his practice uniform. The number 8 on the front and back with "Gibbs" written on the back. He changed into his sneakers and made his way back to Tim. Tim's jaw was clenched as he walked up to him.
"What's going on?" Tim looked his way.
"We need to go in." Just then they saw Sacks land a punch to Dorneget's gut. Tony and Tim opened the door to the gym and made their way over to them. Tony put his hand on Sacks' shoulder and pushed him away from Dorneget. Sacks looked up and laughed.
"Well if it isn't the liar. Heard you changed. All because of some girl. Why does that not surprise me?" Tony's jaw clenched. Nobody would talk about Ziva like that.
"Look, we're not here to fight. We just want to talk." The bullies laughed. Dorneget saw his opening and fled the gym, running as if his life depended on it.
"Come on, Tony. We beat up chumps like him." Sacks took a step forward. Tony didn't back down. Langer was evil eyeing Tim. Tony was somewhat uneasy about bringing Tim into all this. Tim was one of the geeks in the school, just like Jimmy, just like Dorneget. Tony wanted to stop this before they came near either him or Abby.
"You gotta stop this, Slacks. Nobody else needs to get hurt. You two need to grow up." The boys laughed, Sacks took another step forward. He was right in Tony's face.
"Or you'll do what?" Sacks grinned. Tony was about to say something when a foot came through the two of them and crashed into Sacks' gut. Sending him to the ground. Langer went over and tried to help him up, which was actually making things worse. Tony and Tim looked behind them to see Ziva standing there with a smirk on her face. Tony smiled at her, she looked his way and gave him a slight nod. Tony's smile somewhat left his face and he turned away from her, facing the bullies who were still on the ground.
"Come near Palmer, Dorneget, or anybody else and we're coming for you." The boys finally stood up and ran off the other side of the gym. Tim gave Tony a pat on the back and went to get his backpack. He walked out with a smile and wave, directed at him and at Ziva. Tony turned around to see Ziva still standing there. She was looking around at the players warming up. Tony took a small step closer to her.
"Thank you..for helping. You didn't have to do that." She actually took the step closer to him this time.
"I remembered what you said at lunch and figured I would come and help." Tony smiled.
"That was one mean kick. Are you like a ninja or something?" Ziva let out a small laugh.
"You could say that." She looked up into his eyes and she couldn't help his earlier words run through her head. She felt he was telling her the truth earlier, she felt she could try to trust him. She still couldn't get over that wrench earlier. She was glad the school day was over. Now she could go home to her mother, finish putting away things from boxes, and eat dinner.
"I better get home. It has been a long day and we still have things to unpack. I will see you tomorrow." She turned to leave when Tony finally spoke up.
"I could drive you home. It's dark out and now I know you can handle yourself, but I can give you a ride. My house is down that way." Ziva bit her lip, something Tony found memorizing.
"I do not know Tony. I am still not sure..."
"There's nothing to it. Just a ride home." She looked in his eyes, considering her options. Her feet were already killing her, but even though Tony seemed that he was honest, she wasn't too sure about him, but she agreed in the end anyway.
They both made their way to his car. Tony opened the door for her and she gave him a slight smile and climbed in. Tony went around to his side of the car and hopped in. He turned the key and the engine roared to life. They set off towards her house and turned the radio on. They rode in silence as Tony didn't want to upset her further and Ziva didn't know what to say to him. They pulled into her driveway not even 10 minutes later. He got out before she could and opened her door for her. She slightly smiled at this action. Abby had come up to her earlier and they talked in the hallway after school ended. She talked all about how Tony was such a cool guy and how much he had talked about her in the last two days. She decided she would give him another chance.
He walked her to her door and was about to leave when Ziva put her hand on his shoulder.
"Would you like to come in?" He looked at her with shock in his eyes. After all that happened today, she was inviting him into her home? He thought over it for a second. Now that he knew she was a ninja was she going to kill him? After a few seconds of silence, he agreed with a nod of his head.
"Sure. I just have to tell my parents where I am." Ziva gave a small smile, again his insides twisted. She nodded and went inside to tell her mother that Tony was coming in. Tony pulled out his phone from his back pocket and pressed on the group message between his family.
Tony: At Ziva's. Won't be home till later.
Within 30 seconds, his mother had replied.
Mom: Okay. We had leftovers for dinner. Will be in the fridge when you get home.
Tony: Sounds good. Some things happened at school today that need to be cleared up. Should be home within the next hour or so.
Tim was the one who responded to that.
Tim: Yeah, she seemed kind of off earlier. Is everything okay?
Tony sighed. He wouldn't explain this to his family. It was between him and Ziva. Nobody else.
Tony: Yeah. See ya soon.
He put his phone back into his pocket. He looked up to see that Ziva had returned from inside with two cups in her hand. He took it with a smile.
"Thanks." She nodded and started walking over to the right of the deck where there was a porch swing hanging from the roof. She sat down and motioned for him to sit with her. He moved over cautiously and sat down to the right of her. The reflection from the street lights were making her glow and he could barely breathe as he looked at her. After five minutes of silence, Ziva turned to face him and brought her legs up to sit crisscrossed.
"I owe you an apology." She finally spoke. Her voice was so gentle that he barely heard her. He looked her in the eye and physically melted at the sight she was giving him. This beautiful girl was looking at him with those beautiful brown eyes. He couldn't help but melt. But her words rang through his head.
"Why do you owe an apology? It should be me apologizing. After everything today, I just made it harder. It was your first day in a new place. I just made everything worse." Ziva sat her mug down on the floor of the deck and turned to look at him.
"No. I assumed so much about you when I barely knew you. For that is why I am sorry." Tony looked down into his mug.
"You had every right to assume. I don't have the best reputation around school. Something I wish I could change. Something I'm working on." Ziva's eyebrows raised as she listened to him.
"So the girl that came up to you in the gym, was right? You did sleep with her?" Tony slightly nodded, ashamed of himself that he used to be like that. But, he wasn't like that anymore. He told all his friends that and he would continue to do so. He wanted to be a better person, a better man. Someone that Ziva approved of. Someone that Rivka approved of.
"We were at a party and we were drinking. It got out of hand." He still couldn't look her in the eye.
"That is not my business, Tony. I went underboard with my reaction today." Tony chuckled. Ziva looked at him with confusion written on her face.
"What?"
"I think you mean overboard. But you had every right too. You weren't clear of my intentions. Not that I have any intentions. Cause I don't." Ziva started laughing at his rambling and her laugh made him stop talking. Her laughter made him smile a genuine smile.
"I was raised to suspect everybody. To never trust. I was terrified because I trusted you so easily. My father would not have approved." Tony was confused, why would her father not be approved. It was like Ziva read his mind.
"My father was... a part of a government agency. In his line of work, you learn not to trust easily." Tony understood that. After all, his mother was the director of a federal agency and his father was a lead agent there.
"Yeah. I understand that." Ziva's eyebrows drew together, asking him through her eyes if he would explain. Tony could read it so clearly that it was almost like he was a mind-reader.
"My parents work for NCIS." Recognition flew across Ziva's face. Her father had talked about NCIS before. How they were seemingly good people who worked for a seemingly good agency. She couldn't remember what NCIS was or what they did, but if her father knew them then it had something to do with his line of work.
"NCIS." She whispered.
"Yeah. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service. A lot of people actually haven't heard of it. Dad always jokes about how they're the lowest in the food chain." He let out a chuckle. Ziva stared at his handsome face as he laughed. Maybe he wasn't so bad. Maybe trusting others wasn't such a horrific thing. Maybe he could be trusted. Ziva had always been good at reading people, well except Tony earlier. But from what he told her when school was over, she could practically feel the truth radiating off of him. She decided that from now on, she would listen to him more clearly, and hopefully, they could become closer. She had a feeling that they would get a lot closer than she ever expected. But instead of feeling scared, she felt excited. She was looking forward to that.
Seeing that Ziva was lost in thought, Tony found the chance to take another look at her. God, she was beautiful. He couldn't say or think that enough. She looked like she was glowing in the moonlights and he felt privileged to be able to look at her like this. He felt earlier that she was different from other girls and he knew that that was true in every imaginable way possible.
She was different. And now so was he.