A/N: This is it folks, the last chapter. And it's a longer one too :) Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story. F.

McGee was undecided about what do about Abby. He loved her; he'd never denied that- at least to himself. But would she believe him if he told her? It was only a few short months since Emily had left; if he told her, he didn't want that hanging over them.

As the weeks went by and he wrestled with his decision not to tell her that he loved her-yet, he tried his best not to act like he had when they'd split up 6 years ago. No jealous looks, no overt interest every time her name was mentioned, and no hanging around the lab unnecessarily. And every day his yearning for her grew.

...

Abby noticed when McGee started to withdraw again. It was a subtle thing; after their conversation about Emily, he'd started spending time in the lab again. Now he was only there for brief periods of time, and usually when he'd been ordered to help her. They'd been through phases like this before; it was during the last one that she'd finally admitted to herself that her feelings for her best friend went way beyond friendship. She wished she knew what triggered this one, though. Usually these phases happened because she pushed him too far, and she worried that she'd damaged their relationship beyond repair by telling him that she loved him. She relaxed a little when she heard via Tony that McGee was unusually quiet with the rest of the team as well as with her. If it was because of her, he wouldn't be withdrawn with the rest of the team, would he?

...

Working back late one night recalibrating some of her equipment, she was surprised to hear the elevator ding. She thought the team had left for the night, and it wasn't late enough for the janitors to be coming through. She was even more surprised when no one entered; her lab was the only thing that elevator accessed. Turning, she found McGee hovering in her doorway, apparently undecided about entering.

"You don't have to stand out there all night, McGee" she told him.

He advanced a couple of steps into the room. "You looked busy; I didn't want to disturb you."

She put down the rack of test vials she was holding. "You're not; I'm just running some calibrations. What are you still doing here? I thought Gibbs sent you guys home hours ago."She studied him as she spoke; he looked ill at ease, even more so than he had around her for the past few months. She was right; something was going on with him. He exhaled noisily. "I was finishing up some things."

He settled on his usual chair, spinning it around so he faced away from the computer. She waited a minute, wondering if she was going to get more of an explanation out of him. Whatever was bothering him, he was close to talking about it. While he wasn't exactly secretive as Tony had once called him, he had the ability to carry on as if nothing was out of the ordinary if he didn't want to discuss it. Like when he'd written his first book. No one except for Gibbs had had the slightest clue that he was a bestselling author. Not even her. For him to come in search of her late at night... well, it was obvious he needed to get something off his chest.

When it became apparent that he wasn't going to talk, at least immediately, she picked up her abandoned rack of vials and continued on with her testing of Major Mass-Spec.

...

McGee sat, trying to decide what to say. He'd gotten up from his desk upstairs and marched down here, determined to tell Abby how he felt about her. But he'd gotten to her lab and his courage had failed him. As he sat, swinging the chair from side to side in his nervousness, he watched her move around the lab, totally at ease with the complex equipment. It constantly amazed him. How did this intelligent, outgoing, caring, beautiful woman fall for him? He was smart, sure, but otherwise... He was shy, and gawky, and terrible with women. Sometimes he thought he was going to wake up and find this was one of the dreams he had about Abby.

Finally he stood and touched her elbow to get her attention. He had to do this now; before he chickened out and lost whatever remaining chance he had with her. She turned, still holding one of the delicate glass tubes she'd been handling.

"Can we talk?"

He looked pointedly at the test tube in her hand. She slotted it carefully into a nearby rack, looking at him quizzically. He took a deep breath and began, haltingly. "A few months ago, Abs, you told me something."

She cut across him. "I told you that I love you, McGee." Her voice was a little curt. "That didn't work out so well." The memory of that night obviously still hurt.

"One day I hope you'll forgive me for that, Abs" he told her softly.

"Why are you bringing this up now, Tim?" The question came out through gritted teeth.

He took a small step closer to her. "Because I love you, Abby. Because I don't want to waste another moment." He took another half step toward her, hoping she wouldn't push him away. She looked up at him in confusion. "But... But you love Emily."

He shook his head. "I loved Emily, Abs- for a few months. I've loved you for six years. Emily started because I couldn't have you." "You told me that" she said numbly. "You said I'd had six years." He nodded. "Emily was a mistake. And I know I'm probably too late, and I'll try to understand if you've changed your mind... but do you think we could try?"

She stared up at him for a moment while he tried desperately to read her expression. Then she moved suddenly, and she was in his arms, her lips on his. As he crushed her to him, the thought crossed his mind that Abby felt good to him in a way that no one else had ever come near.

It was his last conscious thought for a long while.