See chapters 1 and 2 for the usual disclaimers. Don't own, don't sue.

A/N: ok so originally this was going to be a one shot. Then well I changed my mind. But my computer crashed and I had to rewrite everything and chapter 2 did not make me happy at the end. So I give you in my opinion a better ending!

Chapter 3

It had been a week since Gibbs and Abby had what was now referred to as "the talk", and Abby was no closer to knowing where she stood with him now then she was that day. It was driving her crazy. She knew she loved him and she knew that he loved her, but she couldn't figure out what the problem was. It seemed like a very easy decision, boy loves girl, girl loves boy, they kiss and then live happily ever after. Well, she didn't believe in happily ever after, but she knew what she wanted and it was Gibbs. So what was the hold up? Why was he being so difficult? He loved her, he said so. So what was the problem?

Gibbs on the other hand was trying to come to terms with his feelings for Abby. He loved her and he didn't have a clue what to do about it. He told her he loved her and she said she loved him, but he was still unsure whether this "relationship" was going to last with Abby. It was a hard place to be for him, a place he was not used to being and he wasn't sure how to handle it. He couldn't believe that he had let himself fall in love with Abby. Abby! Of all the red-headed women he had been with and married to, he fell in love with a raven haired goth forensic scientist. And he had fallen hard. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that HE was almost violently in love with her. How did this happen? And why on earth was he trying to break up with her?

Abby decided that she would just let Gibbs have some space and wait on him. She had said all she had wanted to say and now it was his turn. Yes, he had opened up to her and confessed his fears about their relationship, but he still hadn't answered if they were friends or what? She didn't even know what they were, she wanted to be in a romantic relationship with him, with all her heart she did. That was why she was so willing to wait for him to come to terms with everything. I mean this was Gibbs! Gibbs. Who she had been in love with from the moment she first met him and now she was waiting for him to decide whether he wanted her forever or not. So with a heavy heart…she waited.

His boat had never been sanded better. He was an idiot, that was all there was to it. A complete and utter idiot. She still seemed to want him even after he had taken her heart and used it as a football. He didn't mean to hurt her when he had told her he just wanted to go back to being friends, but he still saw the look in her eyes every time he closed his. A look of shock, disappointment, and hurt. The worst part was he was responsible for putting it there and yet she still pled her case. He remembers her saying how much she loved him and could never hate him and that they could make it work. He didn't deserve her. She was far too good for him, but yet she wanted HIM. At that moment realization dawned and he got up from his basement and walked out his front door.

Abby was sitting on her couch just about ready to go to bed, but still fighting the feeling of sleep. It had been a long and draining week, what with all of the cases that the team had been thrown and then the tension between her and Gibbs. She was too tired to move much less go to bed. So she sat and flipped channels till she couldn't stand it anymore. She went and climbed in her bed, snuggled down deep in her covers and started to drift off to sleep. A knock sounded on her door and Abby sprang up from bed, after having a stalker and a crazy assistant she always got a little nervous at unexpected company. She looked at the clock beside her bed and saw that it read 3:07, she dragged herself out of bed and went to her door. She looked out her peep hole and saw Gibbs standing there. She immediately opened the door, thinking she had missed a call about a case and he was coming to check on her.

"Hey, Gibbs. Little early to be banging on people's doors isn't it? Sorry I didn't hear my phone, I'll be ready to go in like 5 minutes. Come in and sit and I'll be right back." She was talking so fast it barely registered to him that she thought they had caught a case. It was only after she started to her room that he came out of his fog.

"Abby, we don't have a case." He said.

"What? Oh, well then why are you here at 3:09 in the morning? I would say 'Why are you here at 3:00 in the morning?' but that sounds so corny. I mean you hear it in movies all the time, but it's just not something that I would say, ya know? So why are you here, Gibbs?" Abby asked a little out of breath.

Gibbs looked at her and couldn't help but smile. She was beautiful, her hair was going in every direction, make up that hadn't come all the way off was smudged around her eyes and she looked like she was about to pass out from lack of sleep. She was beautiful and it hit him then just how much he loved her and how much he would miss her if they went back to being friends.

"Sorry to wake you, Abbs. But I just thought you'd want to know something." He said.

Abby was now getting suspicious, but she was curious as to why he would wake her up this early. If she knew Gibbs, he never did anything without a reason.

"Ok. What?" she asked.

This was the moment that he had played over and over in his head all the way from his house to hers. He didn't walk over to her or try to show her how he felt by looking directly in her eyes. He just stood there and tried to decide how he wanted to break the news to her. So after a few seconds that seemed more like hours, he shook his head and just took the plunge.

"Abby Scuito, I love you. I didn't realize till tonight how much I really do love you. I'm an idiot for not seeing it before now. I know I have all these rules and it's safe to say that rule 12 has been broken. But I'm gonna break another one tonight. Abby, I'm sorry for being an idiot and for causing you pain these last few days. If you'll find someway to forg " He didn't get the last part out of his mouth before she jumped him.

After fighting for his breath from one of the tightest hugs he had ever had he looked at her and grinned when he heard her ask,

"So will you stay with me forever?"

She couldn't help but smile at the answer she received right before he kissed her.

"Yep. Best decision I ever made. Love you Abby."

"Love you too, Gibbs."

End

A/N: this is it!