Lie Again

A Night on the Couch

^^^Just a few quotes I think nicely sum up Ziva's thoughts...

*****

She sat down next to him, but not as close as he had wanted.

Oh well.

She took the beer from him and took a pretty impressive swig of it. "Okay, Tony, what did you want to talk about?" She already sounded so resigned, so tired.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"Tony, I could easily leave."

"What happened two nights ago?" he blurted out. He winced after the fact. He could've phrased that a little better.

Ziva sighed. "Dinner plans with Ray."

"And then what?"

"Dinner alone."

Was she just going to give him fragmented answers? Or maybe she just didn't want to confess that Ray had stood her up. Not in those exact words.

"Sorry. Did he say why?"

"Yes."

He waited for her to go on, to tell him what the excuse was, but she wasn't budging.

Ziva could be very stubborn sometimes.

"So what are you guys doing now?"

"I ended it."

That would defintely explain her dark mood when she returned from her lunch break.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he was. But only about her feeling bad. He wasn't sorry that they had broken up. That part had him singing.

Figuratively, of course.

She waved off his apology. "Do not bother. It is not worth your time. It is not worth my time."

"Do you regret meeting him?" Tony asked softly.

"No... I regret who he became."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he didn't say anything. He didn't to say the wrong thing.

He couldn't do that to her.

"Could we just... watch a movie?" she asked, so softly that for a moment he wondered if she had actually said anything.

"Sure," he said. He got up and put in a movie. He picked one that would keep him laughing any other night, but he doubted he'd laugh tonight. He just wanted something lighthearted for Ziva's sake.

They sat in silence for a good while, completely focused on the movie.

Or at least pretending to be. Tony couldn't stop thinking about what Ziva had said, what she had left unsaid. She put on a good act, but he knew she was falling apart inside.

He just didn't know how to put her back together yet.

***

Unlike earlier, Ziva was hyperaware of everything. She noticed every time Tony shifted his weight, every time he sighed, every time he seemed to be distracted.

Despite the alcohol, her mind was still reeling from earlier.

Ray was the longest relationship (if you could call it that) she'd had in a very long time. She didn't know what to do now that it was over. She couldn't remember what it was like to not be with Ray.

She hated herself for it.

Ziva David, the assassin, the weapon, the fearless warrior, had been completely and utterly under that man's spell.

Until she wasn't anymore.

She missed the feeling of being someone's, even though she hated the thought of belonging to anyone.

She was just drifting along in the ocean now, waiting for someone else to take pity on her and carry her along until they too pitched her overboard without warning.

Ziva shook her head, simultaneously annoyed with her pitifulness and wanting to be pitied.

The latter won out, and she leaned over to use Tony's shoulder as a pillow. She knew he wouldn't mind.

***

Tony almost smiled as Ziva sank into his side and let out a little humming noise.

He kept his eyes on the TV, but his senses were fixated on the woman beside him.

He wasn't sure how to fix it without breaking her in the process.

The movie eventually ended, and when Tony went to get up, he realized that Ziva had fallen asleep.

For a moment he just stared at her, but he eventually came to the conclusion he needed to move her, at least enough that he could get up.

He carefully eased himself off the couch and slipped a pillow under her head. He didn't have a blanket right there, but he quickly retrieved one from his room and draped it over her. He didn't want her to be cold.

Tony took what was left of their drinks and dumped them out in the kitchen sink. No sense in keeping them.

He paused on his way to his bedroom, drawn to Ziva for whatever reason. It seemed so normal to have her sleeping on his couch, even though this was the first time it had ever happened.

He smiled to himself and then continued on to his room, shutting the door behind him.

Maybe tomorrow things would be a little brighter for the both of them.

*****

Short chapter but I don't know where I'm going from here...

Also... All Your Fault updates tomorrow!