Author's note: This is just a short, two possibly three chapter story that I couldn't resist writing. Hope you like it! I should have the next chapter up tomorrow. F.

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters etc. Pity.

Abby loved Valentine's Day. She spent most of it getting flowers. Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Ducky and even Palmer usually sent her her favourite black roses. She was able to take most of them in the friendly spirit they'd been intended.

McGee's however... She never admitted to anyone but herself that the sight of flowers from Timothy McGee made her heart leap. She could imagine for one brief second that he still had feelings for her. Those days were long gone, she knew that.

The thought of Tim made her frown a little. She wished she knew what to do about him. She'd been thinking about him way too much lately for her peace of mind. She'd tried going out with a bunch of different guys in an attempt to push the thoughts aside, but it hadn't worked. Conversely, her irritation with herself and with his apparent lack of interest in the subject had made her snappy and short tempered with him. He'd reacted by withdrawing from her, becoming grave and silent to the point that she wondered if he still even considered her a friend. That made her more unhappy, and so the cycle continued. Their relationship had always been complex, but this was starting to get ridiculous. Trust her to become interested in a guy when he'd apparently decided he didn't want anything to do with her any more.

Still, it was bound to be a good day.

...

She entered her lab and started powering up her machines, slipping on her usual lab coat as she did so. Valentine's Day or not, today was a work day, and she needed everything working properly. She checked the searches she'd left running overnight; there wasn't really anything of great importance, but it was easier to let the routine stuff run while she wasn't there; that way it wasn't taking up valuable computing time when she needed to work on something high priority.

The day started off slowly; Gibbs, Ducky and Tony all found excuses to come down to her lab and wish her a happy Valentine's Day. Every time someone entered, she looked up, hoping to see McGee. Soon she heard from Palmer that the team had been called out into the field, and she resigned herself to the return of a normal day at the office.

...

McGee grumbled to himself as he took photos of their latest crime scene. It was shaping up to be a good day so far. He'd gotten in to work late, had a near heart attack when he thought he'd spilt Gibbs' coffee- luckily the cup was empty when he knocked it over- and now he could feel Tony watching him. He knew what that was about.

He'd given Abby roses every Valentine's Day since they met. Always the same thing, 11 black roses and 1 red one. Every year, without fail, he was the first one down to the lab to give them to her. Except this year.

He'd ordered the flowers from his usual florist, but he was honestly still in two minds about giving them to her. He loved Abby. He always had; he'd included the single red rose as a private joke in the bouquet that first year. But he just didn't know what to think any more. Sometimes it seemed like they were on the edge of something other than friendship; other times, like now, it seemed like he barely knew her.

Her behaviour lately was driving him crazy. She'd been dating like mad, flaunting what felt like a new guy every week, while alternately ignoring him and snapping at him. He'd tried not to let it get to him, and it had worked at first. He'd been able to tell himself that it didn't matter, they were friends and that was it. But gradually he'd found it harder and harder, and finally he'd succumbed to jealousy. He'd started avoiding her lab so she couldn't see exactly how badly it was affecting him. She'd always been able to read him like a book.

So what did he do about the flowers? Did he sneak off when he could and pick them up? Would she even notice if he did? He hadn't spoken to her except for strictly work-related conversations for almost a fortnight. Last time he had, she was dating some guy she'd met at a concert, and he just hadn't been able to stand it. If she was still dating the guy, he doubted she'd notice the presence or absence of his traditional bouquet.

...

They piled into the truck for the trip back to the Navy Yard, McGee resolutely avoiding eye contact with Tony. He knew that if he gave Tony the chance, the questioning would begin. He tuned out the bickering that was Tony and Ziva's normal conversation, still trying to make a decision. Finally they arrived back at the Yard, Tony pulling the truck into the evidence garage. He missed the look that passed between Tony and Ziva, and the nod that went with it. She walked away, saying something about getting more evidence crates. He went around the back of the truck and started unloading, Tony next to him.

"So, you been down to see Abby today?" Tony asked. McGee shot him an almost angry look before replying

"No" his tone should have left Tony in no doubt of his unwillingness to discuss the subject, but Tony didn't notice. Or chose to ignore it.

"She seemed a little down when I was there" His interest was sparked by that. He hated to see her unhappy, even more than he hated seeing her with another guy.

"No plans for Valentine's Day will do that to you. I'm gonna take this up to her" Tony picked up the stack of evidence crates and headed for the elevator, leaving a confused but hopeful McGee behind him.