Rain pelted the window pane as Ziva stood, staring into space in her kitchen. She hated fighting with him, hated it even more when she wasn't even at fault.

If his father hadn't have been in town, staying with him, making his life a misery and his shoulders tense then he wouldn't have snapped. She couldn't help biting; it was in her nature, never one to back down from a fight.

She had hoped that the harder than usual head slap they had both received would snap him out of it but after that, he'd just not spoken to her at all.

It hadn't been hard to miss the tension in him for the last week, all accumulating on the Friday, his father set to go home that afternoon.

After their near screaming match over a tiny detail that she could no longer remember he'd disappeared claiming he needed to drive his father to the airport. A flimsy excuse given how Senior's flight wasn't for another three hours, but Gibbs had allowed it, anything to keep the peace.

The moment Tony had left; Gibbs had turned to her and told her to fix it. She'd scoffed at the time, as if it was her problem to fix, but she realised that in reality, Tony was crying out for some one to help shoulder the load that was his father. To help him cope.

She was his partner, his friend, it was her job.

She could have helped; instead she'd been blind to his need. Rather than helping him, she'd simply made it worse.

She shook her head at herself before making a quick decision and grabbing her coat from beside her door. He'd should have been home for a few hours now, she'd just go round, see if she couldn't help him decompress. She'd pick up beers on the way, a peace offering.

She opened the door, just pulling her hair out of the collar of her coat when she walked head long into her partner, drenched from the rain, already preparing to knock. He quickly curled his hands around her waist to steady her before she could fall before setting her back on her feet and frowning slightly.

"Oh, you're going out." He murmured disappointed. "Course you are, Friday night." He shook his head at himself before turning to leave. Ziva gently wrapped her hand around his bicep, halting his retreat.

"I was coming to see you." She murmured softly, looking up at him through her lashes. He smiled gently. "Would you like to come in? You are drenched." He chuckled.

"Rain started mid way back from the airport." She watched him carefully as she closed the door behind them and held out her hand for his jacket, hanging it up along with her own as he made his way through to her living room.

"Did your father get off alright?" She asked as she came to join him, passing him a towel from the cupboard as she sat beside him on the sofa. He nodded before running the towel through his hair.

"Yeah." His reply was slightly muffled by the towel. "I just…" He hesitated, bringing the towel behind his neck with a sigh. "I just couldn't seem to settle. I was driving around for ages when…" He hesitated again, shooting her a shy smile. She smiled back, encouraging him to continue. "I ended up here." Ziva smiled, before leaning back against the couch, gently resting her hand on his thigh. He looked from it to the gentle smile playing on her lips.

"I am sorry about earlier." He opened his mouth to protest but she slipped her finger onto his lips to silence him. "I should have realised what having your father around does to you. I should have supported you better. I am sorry." Tony smiled against her finger before kissing it gently.

"We're still pretty new at this." She smiled shyly, gently winding her hand through his hair to curl around his ear. "I should have told you the effect he was having rather than expecting you to guess and lashing out when you didn't." He smiled, gently pulling her closer. "C'mere." She smiled and shifted so she was curled into his side, head lying on his chest, one hand around his back, the other taking his own and resting them at his waist. "We'll work this out eventually Zi." She smiled, pressing a kiss to his chest before curving one of her legs over his to rest in his lap, tucking herself tighter into his side.

"I love you Tony." He gently kissed the top of her head before putting his feet up on the table and pulling her closer.

"Love you too Ziva." Both settled properly for the first time in a week and while the rain outside continued, they stayed warm and safe, asleep resting in each others arms.