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Jimmy leaned against the wall, watching Gibbs with his glasses on, reading a book and smiled. He knew that Gibbs didn't like wearing his glasses at work but at home whenever Gibbs wore them, he looked so sexy and handsome.
Jimmy pushed off the wall and walked over to Gibbs, bent his knees and leaned in to kiss Gibbs gently before turning and sitting on the floor in between of his legs.
Jimmy gave a deep sigh and Gibbs put the book to one side and took the glasses off and put them on the top of the book.
"What's wrong, Jimmy?" Gibbs asked, sounding worried.
"Tony asked me if I wanted to go out with him on a double date," Jimmy said. "I had to make an excuse."
Gibbs put his hand on Jimmy's shoulder and squeezed it gently. He didn't know how to respond to that. He knew that it was difficult for Jimmy to hide the relationship from the rest of the team. Gibbs didn't see the need for the team to know about them, he wanted to keep his personal life separate from NCIS.
Gibbs was about to say something when Jimmy got up from the floor and looked down at him, sadness in his eyes and suddenly Gibbs felt something bad was going to happen.
"I want to tell them," Jimmy announced and Gibbs sighed, heavily.
"Why? We managed this long, why upset it?"
Jimmy rolled his eyes and stared at Gibbs hard. "We managed because I love you, but it is not enough anymore, Jethro."
"I love you too and it should be enough," Gibbs told him.
Jimmy chucked. "How long has we been together, Jethro?"
Gibbs stared at Jimmy and gulped hard. They often had disagreements over this but Jimmy usually backed off after he said 'I love you'. He began to realize that Jimmy wasn't backing off tonight.
"Six years," Gibbs resultantly answered. "But what that got to do with this?"
Jimmy glared at Gibbs as if to say that he was an idiot.
"It has been too long, Jethro," Jimmy sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I think...no, I know it is best for us to tell them."
Gibbs said nothing; instead he gave Jimmy a long and hard glare, letting him know exactly what he thought of his idea.
Jimmy laughed weakly and shook his head. "They are our friends...our family. Why don't you want them to know?"
"You know why we have to keep this a secret."
"Tell me," Jimmy put his hands on hips and looked at Gibbs who fidgeted in his chair.
"Look, I love you and you love me," Gibbs tried his trump card, it usually worked. "It should be enough."
Jimmy looked at Gibbs, sadly. "It is not enough anymore. I want my family to know how much I love you and you should want the same, Jethro. I know you consider them family too. Things have changed. The DADT has been repealed and you can't hide behind that, anymore."
Gibbs was confused. He was sure that it was best to keep the relationship a secret but at the same time Jimmy was right. The team was family and he should want to tell them but it has been so long. He always had to hide his sexuality from his father, from the Marines and even though he did love Shannon very much, he also hid it from her. It became a habit for him and he was scared that once people knew, they would look at him differently.
"I'm sorry but you have to make a choice, Jethro," Jimmy startled Gibbs out of his thoughts. He got up from his chair and got into Jimmy's personal space.
"You giving me an ultimatum?"
Jimmy didn't blink; he stood his ground and stared right at Gibbs. "Yes, I am."
Gibbs closed his eyes; suddenly scared that he might lose Jimmy if he didn't do what Jimmy wanted. He didn't know what to do or what to say next.
When he opened his eyes, Gibbs saw that Jimmy was gone.
* * * *
“You know, Mr Palmer, I have seen this before. Did you know…” Dr Mallard was telling Jimmy a story but he wasn’t really listening. He was thinking about last night and wondered if Jethro has made a decision.
After the argument…more likely a confrontation between him and Jethro, Jimmy has gone back to his apartment. He has not been there in almost two years as he has moved in with Jethro…unofficially.
When he woke up this morning, Jimmy didn’t want to go to work, worried about seeing Jethro and scared that he wanted to end things between them. But Jimmy knew that he had to go in because there were a lot of bodies and Dr Mallard needed his help.
So here he was in the Autopsy, feeling depressed and pretending to listen to one of Dr Mallard’s stories. He didn’t see Jethro when he walked through the bullpen and was thankful for that. Jimmy hoped to be able to avoid Jethro all day…until he heard the doors open and knew that it was Jethro. He knew his lover’s…ex-lover?...footsteps well.
“Ah, Jethro,” Dr Mallard looked up and turned to Jimmy. “Might you be kind to take this up…” but then Jethro interrupted.
“Duck, can you take that up to Abby? I wanted to talk to Ji…Palmer in private.”
Dr Mallard’s eyes widened in surprise but didn’t say anything. Instead he turned to Jimmy and smiled. “I will be taking this up to the lab, Mr Palmer. Would you be so kind to finish this off?”
“Yes, Dr Mallard, I will do,” Jimmy tried to smile but failed miserably. If Dr Mallard looked concerned, he didn’t show it. Instead he nodded to Jethro and disappeared through the sliding doors, to the elevator.
“Jimmy,” Gibbs began, then stopped, unsure what to say as Jimmy turned around slowly.
“Jethro,” Jimmy looked at Gibbs. For the first time in years, he saw that Gibbs looked old and sad. He badly wanted to take Gibbs in an embrace and tell him that they can forget what happened last night, but he knew that if they continued to hide the relationship, Jimmy will come to resent Gibbs and he didn’t want that. He wanted to get out early, all while loving Gibbs so much. He didn’t want to leave Gibbs, resenting him and being bitter.
“Have you made a decision?” Jimmy asked quietly but hopefully.
Gibbs looked away. “Can you come by tonight?”
Jimmy’s heart sank. He knew at once that it was over between them.
“I will come by,” Jimmy said, sadly and felt his eyes watering and turned around to try to not cry in front of Gibbs.
Gibbs wanted to say something; anything so that Jimmy didn’t look the way he did but when Jimmy turned around again, Gibbs was gone.
* * * *
Jimmy was in his car, outside their…Jethro’s house. He didn’t want to go inside, to get his stuff. He didn’t want to see Jethro. Hopefully, Jethro won’t be upstairs. He would be hiding in the basement.
Sighing heavily, Jimmy got out of the car and walked to the front door and frowned as he turned the door handle to find it locked.
“This is unusual,” Jimmy said to himself. “Jethro usually never locked this, unless I was here.”
Suddenly he heard noise coming from the backyard and frowned, puzzled. ‘What is going on?’ Jimmy thought to himself as he walked around to the side to the backyard.
When the backyard came into sight, he was startled to see the team. He searched for Jethro and found him at the BBQ. Jimmy was dazed and perhaps a little hurt.
Jethro was having a party when he was coming to collect his stuff. Jimmy knew that Jethro was a bastard but didn’t think that he could be this cold-hearted. He was about to turn away when Abby called out to him.
“Jimmy! We were waiting for you!”
Jimmy turned around to see Abby bouncing towards him and hugging him tightly.
Now Jimmy was truly puzzled. What did Abby mean when she said that they were waiting for him? He saw Tony and Tim by the fence, talking amicably. Ziva was with Ducky at a table; he was sure that they seemed to be having a cup of tea.
As Abby let go of Jimmy, he turned to see Gibbs coming towards him, smiling.
“Jimmy,” Gibbs said, and Jimmy heard a bit of nervousness in his voice. “You got here, finally.”
“Y…yes, I…don’t understand?” Jimmy spluttered, stunned.
Gibbs grinned and took Jimmy by the collar and kissed him furiously.
Jimmy’s eyes widened, stunned to find himself kissing Jethro in front of everyone…their friends and family.
There were cheering and clapping but they faded into the background as Jimmy kissed Jethro back, relieved that they were not going to break up. That Jethro was finally telling their friends about their relationship, in his own way. Jimmy should’ve known better; Jethro preferred to show instead of saying the words.
When they did finally part away, Jimmy stared at Gibbs, open-mouthed. “You…I mean…are you sure?”
Gibbs nodded, smiling. “I’m sorry, Jimmy.” He grabbed hold of Jimmy’s hand. “You were right. We should’ve told them. They are our family.”
Jimmy laughed, happily and rested his head on Gibbs’s shoulder.
“You should listen to me more often. I know best.”
Lidil
Posted Tue 10 Jul 2012 11:37AM EDT
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